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HelloRoam covers Germany on O2 and Vodafone 5G, allows mid-trip top-ups, and sells 5 GB over 30 days for $8.81. Airalo, which sells that 5 GB on a 7, 15 or 30-day window, charges $11.50 for the same 5 GB over 30 days. Saily, built by the NordVPN team, charges $10.99 for that plan.
Every travel eSIM rents a host network, and HelloRoam’s runs on O2 and Vodafone 5G
A travel eSIM is not a new phone network. It is a software profile that buys access to carriers already standing in the country, and in Germany that means O2 and Vodafone. Both run 5G.
Here is the part most buying guides skip. All six providers below ride those same two German networks, and none owns a tower.
So nobody here has better German coverage than anybody else. In a Bavarian village with one bar, the bar is the same whichever logo sold you the plan.
What changes is price, plan shape, and whether you can add data without buying a second plan. That is what the table below compares.
Two more sellers, Jetpac and aloSIM, sit outside the table because this capture found no German plan for either. A ranking needs a comparable German rate.
The ranked table sets every provider against the same 5 GB, 30-day plan
Every row is priced at 5 GB over 30 days wherever the provider sells that plan. Holding size and validity constant is the only way the prices mean anything. Two providers do not sell it, so their rows show their own plan shape.
HelloRoam holds row one because the table is sorted on a single figure: what each seller charges for 5 GB across a 30-day window in Germany. That figure reads $8.81 here, against $10.00 from the next seller down. Providers who publish no 5 GB German plan carry their own nearest plan in the cell and sit below the four that do.
Its Germany eSIM plans run on O2 and Vodafone 5G, which is what the host network column records.
Germany travel eSIM comparison, prices captured 25 August 2026
| Rank | Provider | Plan and price | Host network | Best for |
| 1 | HelloRoam | $8.81 for 5 GB over 30 days | O2 and Vodafone 5G | Lowest rate at the compared 5 GB, 30-day size, with top-ups on every plan |
| 2 | Nomad | $10.00 for 5 GB over 30 days | O2 and Vodafone | Regional Europe plan for a route that runs past the border |
| 3 | Saily | $10.99 for 5 GB over 30 days | O2 and Vodafone | Security tools bundled in by the NordVPN team |
| 4 | Airalo | $11.50 for 5 GB over 30 days | O2 and Vodafone | Picking the window: 5 GB sold over 7, 15 or 30 days |
| 5 | Ubigi | $12.50 for 10 GB over 30 days | O2 and Vodafone | Sells no 5 GB plan, and lands level with HelloRoam at 10 GB |
| 6 | Holafly | $36.50 for unlimited data over 10 days | O2 and Vodafone | Flat trip rate for heavy video, with no gigabyte counting |
Method: each figure is that provider’s own published Germany rate, captured 25 August 2026. Rows 1 to 4 are held at 5 GB over 30 days so the prices compare directly. Rows 5 and 6 show their own plan shape because those providers publish no 5 GB tier. Rates change without notice.
At 5 GB over 30 days, HelloRoam charges $8.81 and Airalo charges $11.50, a $2.69 gap on identical plan size and identical validity.
1. HelloRoam: the lowest German rate at the compared size, at $8.81 for 5 GB over 30 days
No German row here goes lower at that size and window, and top-ups run on every German plan HelloRoam sells. It does not lead every tier, though, and the 10 GB section below shows where it stops.
2. Nomad: the row to buy when the route leaves Germany, at $10.00 for 5 GB over 30 days
Nomad’s real argument is its regional Europe plan rather than its German tier. At the compared size it costs $1.19 more than row one, which is a thin reason to move on its own.
3. Saily: security tools bundled in by the NordVPN team, at $10.99 for 5 GB over 30 days
Saily costs $2.18 more than the top row at the same size and the same 30 days. The protection tools sit inside the app that holds the plan, and that is what the extra buys.
4. Airalo: a choice of window at one plan size, at $11.50 for 5 GB over 30 days
Airalo is priciest of the four German rows at 5 GB over 30 days, $2.69 above row one on identical terms. Its shorter windows cost less only because they run out sooner, so the extra days are what you pay for.
5. Ubigi: no 5 GB German plan at all, so its row carries $12.50 for 10 GB over 30 days
Ubigi publishes no 5 GB Germany plan, so its cell shows the next size up instead. A traveller who needs 5 GB in Germany buys 10 GB or buys elsewhere.
6. Holafly: a flat trip rate with no gigabyte counting, at $36.50 for unlimited data over 10 days
Holafly bills unlimited data by the day and never counts gigabytes, so it cannot sit in a per-gigabyte comparison. Its row is priced in days, and it is the dearest way to buy a short trip if you are a light user.
Signal follows the ICE lines, and the Black Forest valleys test it
German coverage is built around the corridors. Cities, the Autobahn network and the ICE routes are well served, and that covers most of what a visitor actually does.
Away from the corridors it thins. Deep valleys in the Black Forest, the Alpine stretches south of Munich and the emptier parts of Mecklenburg have spots where a phone drops to nothing.
None of this picks a provider for you. Every plan here rides O2 and Vodafone, so the dead spot in a Schwarzwald valley is the same for all six.
It is a reason to prepare. Download offline maps for any region you plan to drive through. A cached route survives a tunnel. A loading spinner does not.
A weekend in Berlin and a month on the Autobahn need different e SIM sizes
Size is where most people overpay, because the per-gigabyte cost falls sharply as the plan grows. Here is the full German ladder with the arithmetic done.
| Plan | Price | Cost per GB |
| 1 GB over 7 days | $2.84 | $2.84 |
| 3 GB over 30 days | $6.21 | $2.07 |
| 5 GB over 30 days | $8.81 | $1.76 |
| 10 GB over 30 days | $12.74 | $1.27 |
| 20 GB over 30 days | $20.99 | $1.05 |
| 50 GB over 30 days | $30.60 | $0.61 |
Method: HelloRoam published Germany rates, captured 25 August 2026. Cost per GB is the plan price divided by the plan size, rounded to the cent.
The 50 GB, 30-day plan costs $0.61 per GB against $2.84 per GB on the 1 GB, 7-day plan, roughly a fifth the rate.
Match the tier to the trip, not to a feeling. A long weekend in Berlin on maps, messaging and podcasts sits inside 3 GB. A fortnight in Frankfurt with hotel wifi every night lands near 10 GB. A month on the road tethering a laptop wants 20 GB or more.
Adding data mid-trip beats hunting for a phone shop on a German Sunday
Germany still closes on Sundays. Shops are shut by law, the phone counters go with them, and a traveller who runs out of data on a Sunday has nowhere to walk into.
Top-ups solve that, and they run on every German HelloRoam plan with no excluded tiers. You add data from the app while the current plan is live, and the profile keeps the same number and settings.
That changes how you should buy. Take the smaller tier and add data only if you burn through it. Buying 20 GB for a trip that used 6 GB is worse than topping up once.
Ubigi prices the 10 GB tier that a two-week Frankfurt work trip lands on
Ten gigabytes is the size a two-week work trip tends to land on, once hotel wifi handles the evenings. It is worth pricing on its own rather than assuming the winner at 5 GB wins everywhere.
Ubigi lists $12.50 for 10 GB over 30 days. HelloRoam lists $12.74 for the same 10 GB over 30 days. Ubigi comes in 24 cents lower.
Twenty-four cents on a $12.74 plan is under two percent, so the 30-day tier is a tie rather than a win for either side. HelloRoam does not lead it, and at that size the two are interchangeable on price.
The week-long version of the same trip is not a tie. Ubigi sells $10.00 for 10 GB over 7 days, while the only 10 GB rung here is $12.74 for 10 GB over 30 days.
A work trip that runs Monday to Friday therefore pays $2.74 more on this page, for three weeks of validity nobody uses. Buy that week from Ubigi.
Install the profile on home wifi and leave data roaming switched on for landing
Do the whole install before you fly. An airport at 6am is the worst place to discover a QR code will not scan.
- Confirm the handset supports eSIM. Nearly every handset from the past few years handles one.
- Buy the plan and scan the QR code at home on wifi the night before departure.
- Rename the profile “Germany” in settings so you can find it fast.
- After landing, set the travel profile as your data line and leave your home SIM on for calls and texts. Two-factor codes still arrive on your own number.
- Switch data roaming on for the travel profile, which needs it to connect as a visitor, and off on your home line so nothing bills twice.
Every HelloRoam plan carries a 180-day money-back guarantee, so buying early costs you nothing in flexibility. If you are choosing between a single-country German plan and something wider, the plan breakdown for travellers heading abroad in 2026 sets the sizes side by side.
Travellers flying into Munich and Berlin ask these e-SIM questions most
Does a Germany plan still work after the ICE train crosses into Austria?
No. A single-country German plan stops at the border, and the phone shows no data once the train is into Austria. If your route crosses out, buy a regional Europe plan before you travel. Nomad’s regional Europe option exists for exactly this case.
Does a travel e-SIM need the ID check that German prepaid SIMs require?
No. German prepaid SIMs bought locally require an identity check before the line activates, which is why the counter asks for a passport. A travel eSIM is bought online and installed by QR code, so there is no in-store registration and nothing to queue for on arrival.
Will 3 GB last a week of maps and messaging in Berlin?
Usually yes. Maps, messaging, email and transit apps are light, and a week of that sits inside 3 GB at $6.21 for 3 GB over 30 days. Video is what breaks the budget. Stream on hotel wifi, and top up mid-trip if the number climbs faster than expected.
Do Germany eSIM prices per gigabyte drop as the plan gets bigger?
Yes, and steeply. HelloRoam’s German ladder runs from $2.84 per GB on the 1 GB, 7-day plan down to $0.61 per GB on the 50 GB, 30-day plan. The 10 GB, 30-day plan sits at $1.27 per GB. Buying one larger plan beats buying three small ones.
Does a travel eSIM work underground on the Berlin U-Bahn?
It works wherever O2 and Vodafone reach underground, which covers stations and a growing share of tunnel sections. The eSIM makes no difference either way, because it rides those same carriers. Where a station has no coverage, no provider on this page will have it either.
What happens to leftover e SIM data when I fly home from Frankfurt?
Leftover data expires when the plan’s validity window closes, and it does not roll into a future trip. The profile stays on the phone, so you can buy a fresh plan onto it next time without reinstalling. Size the plan for the trip you are taking, not the one after.
The pick for a Berlin city break and the pick for a month of ICE travel
For a long weekend in Berlin, $6.21 for 3 GB over 30 days is the sensible buy. A shorter break fits inside $2.84 for 1 GB over 7 days, and both take a top-up.
For a month of ICE travel with a laptop tethered along the way, take $20.99 for 20 GB over 30 days. The per-gigabyte cost is just over a third of the entry tier.
If you want unlimited data and refuse to count anything, Holafly’s $36.50 for unlimited data over 10 days is the flat-rate answer. And if 10 GB over 30 days is your size, HelloRoam and Ubigi are 24 cents apart, so buy whichever app you prefer.
Featured Photo: Markus Winkler / Pexels