2026 · 6 providers · 45 plans · 3 networks
Best eSIM for Vietnam
Picked by your route, not by hype. Starting with the question most of these companies leave off the buy button: which Vietnamese network are you actually buying?
Do you need an eSIM in Vietnam?
six honest cases
AT&T and Verizon day passes are about $12 a day and Vietnam is a two-week country. Ten days of roaming costs more than a 50GB plan. Airalo 10GB at $18 ends that arithmetic on the taxi ride out of the airport.
Grab is how you move around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the driver calls you. Without data you are standing on a corner watching a motorbike circle the block. Any plan on this page fixes that for the price of two coffees.
Some T-Mobile plans include Vietnam data at throttled speed. That is enough for Zalo messages and not enough for a map redrawing while a taxi is moving. Land, test it, keep a $2.99 GigSky 1GB in the phone as the fallback.
Travelers rate Viettel best in the northern mountains. Airalo and Holafly publish VNPT. Yesim's page lists Viettel among three networks, and Viettel sells its own 5GB-a-day tourist eSIM from 60,000 VND (≈$2.30) at the airport, passport in hand.
Hotspotting a laptop runs 2 to 3GB a day and cafe wifi in Vietnam is fast until 19:00 and then it is not. Take unlimited with a published cap: Saily prints 5GB a day and Airalo 3GB, both then 1 Mbps.
An all-inclusive with real wifi, one boat trip a day and no scooter needs almost nothing. GigSky gives away 100MB for seven days with no card, which covers the airport and the ride to the hotel.
Your trip
three taps, one answer
Answer three questions and we name the plan, with the reason written out. Already know what you want? Jump to the picks.
How long are you going for?
How will you use it? Pick everything that applies.
Where are you going?
The picks
in short
Airalo
Best for most trips, and it names its network $18.00 10GB / 30 days- Its own store page lists VNPT as the Vietnamese partner, so you can read a real coverage map before paying
- Unlimited option with a printed 3GB/day then 1 Mbps cap, not a vague fair-use paragraph
- 50GB for $49 is 98 cents a gigabyte, the best big-bundle price in this comparison
Watch out: Not the cheapest at any size under 20GB. GigSky is $1.21 less for the same 10GB.
Trustpilot 4.2/5 · 48,959 reviews
See Airalo's Vietnam plansGigSky
Cheapest at the sizes most people actually buy $16.79 10GB / 30 days- Cheapest 3GB, 5GB and 10GB plans here, and 5GB for $10.29 covers a normal two-week trip
- Free 100MB for 7 days, no card, so you can test the signal at your hotel before spending anything
- Cheapest unlimited here: $24.49 for 7 days, $65.99 for 30, with 3.5GB a day at full speed
Watch out: Will not say which Vietnamese network it uses, which is the one thing this site cares about most.
Trustpilot 4.3/5 · 8,403 reviews
See GigSky's Vietnam plansSaily
Best support record, and the one to hotspot from $17.99 10GB / 30 days- Trustpilot 4.7 from 32,870 reviews (checked 2026), the best record of the four brands we link
- Tethering is allowed with no separate hotspot ceiling, unlike Holafly’s 1GB a day
- 20GB for $28.99 is the cheapest big fixed bundle short of Airalo’s 50GB
Watch out: Publishes nothing about its Vietnamese network, and its "unlimited" is 5GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
Trustpilot 4.7/5 · 32,870 reviews
See Saily's Vietnam plansYesim is the fourth linkable option, the cheapest 20GB here ($26.40), and the only travel eSIM we link whose own Vietnam page lists Viettel (next to Vinaphone and Vietnamobile). Trustpilot shows 4.3 from 2,996 reviews, checked 2026. Its con: the unlimited plan has no published daily cap. The full Yesim review explains when it is the right buy.
Compare every Vietnam plan
side by side
| Provider | Best for | Price anchor | Vietnamese network | Unlimited cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | Most trips; names its network | $18.00 / 10GB | VNPT (published) | 3GB/day, then 1 Mbps |
| GigSky | Cheapest 3, 5 and 10GB | $16.79 / 10GB | not published | 3.5GB/day; cheapest unlimited |
| Saily | Best support record, hotspot | $17.99 / 10GB | not disclosed (local partner networks) | 5GB/day, then 1 Mbps |
| Yesim ¹ | Cheapest 20GB; lists Viettel | $19.20 / 10GB | Vinaphone, Vietnamobile, Viettel (published) | no cap published |
| Holafly | Truly uncapped phone data | $36.50 / 10 days | GPC Vinaphone (VNPT) (published) | no daily cap; hotspot 1GB/day |
| Viettel Tourist eSIM (local) | A Viettel-only line with a +84 number | 60,000 VND (≈$2.30) / 7 days | Viettel | 5GB/day; SIM price extra |
Prices in USD, checked 2026, before any promo code. Viettel is priced in VND on Viettel's own tourist eSIM page; USD at the Vietcombank sell rate of 26,020. Holafly and Viettel are listed unlinked because we earn nothing from either; they are here because leaving them out would make the table a lie. ¹ Hover the marker for the Yesim caveat.
The cheapest Vietnam eSIM at each size
one row, one winner
| You need | Cheapest | Price | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB | GigSky | $2.99 / 7 days | Yesim $3.00 / 30 days |
| 3GB | GigSky | $7.49 / 15 days | Saily $7.99 / 30 days |
| 5GB | GigSky | $10.29 / 30 days | Saily $10.99 / 30 days |
| 10GB | GigSky | $16.79 / 30 days | Saily $17.99 / 30 days |
| 20GB | Yesim | $26.40 / 30 days | Saily $28.99 / 30 days |
| 50GB | Airalo | $49.00 / 30 days | Yesim 30GB $33.60 / 30 days |
Read the validity column, not just the price. GigSky's 3GB is 51 cents cheaper than Airalo's and expires fifteen days sooner, which matters on a three-week trip and not at all on a long weekend. GigSky's 1GB beats Yesim's by one cent and lasts 23 fewer days. Checked 2026.
Two ways to act on that table. Take GigSky and pay the least at the size most people buy, or pay $1.21 more for Airalo, which tells you which network you are riding.
See GigSky plans See Airalo plans Work out your size firstWho each provider is actually for
plain answers
You want to know which network you are buying, and above 20GB you want the best price per gigabyte anywhere in this comparison.
Full review →You are buying 3, 5 or 10GB, which is most people, and you would rather test a free 100MB at the hotel before committing a cent.
Full review →You are hotspotting a laptop, or the support record matters to you more than a dollar. Trustpilot shows 4.7 from 32,870 reviews.
Full review →You want 20GB for the least money, or you are heading north and want the one linked brand whose page lists Viettel. You accept an unlimited plan with no published cap.
Full review →You genuinely will not count gigabytes and you accept a 1GB/day hotspot ceiling at $73.90 a month. We earn nothing from this one.
Full review →Which plan fits your trip?
days × GB a day, cheapest first
| Cheapest plans that cover it | Price | $/day | $/GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick a trip length and daily use. | |||
Same prices as the tables on this page. "Unlimited" plans are counted only where their published daily high-speed cap covers your daily use.
Which network does my Vietnam eSIM use?
brand by brand, from their own pages
Vietnam has three national operators: Viettel, Vinaphone (VNPT) and MobiFone. Most travel eSIMs that name a partner name VNPT. One brand we link, Yesim, lists Viettel. And Viettel and MobiFone now sell tourist eSIMs of their own.
| Provider | Network named on its own Vietnam page | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Airalo | VNPT (5G) | airalo.com/vietnam-esim |
| Holafly | GPC Vinaphone (VNPT) | esim.holafly.com/esim-vietnam/ |
| Yesim | Vinaphone, Vietnamobile, Viettel | yesim.app/country/vietnam/ |
| GigSky | not published | gigsky.com/country/esim-in-vietnam |
| Saily | not disclosed ("local partner networks") | saily.com/esim-vietnam/ + terms |
| Ubigi (not linked) | VNPT | cellulardata.ubigi.com |
| Nomad (not linked) | Vietnamobile, MobiFone, Vinaphone | nomadesim.com/vietnam-eSIM |
Checked 2026 on each brand's own page. "Not published" means the page names no Vietnamese network. A listed network is what the brand says it can use, not a promise of which one your phone attaches to in a given valley.
Viettel
Largest carrier · listed by Yesim · sells its own tourist eSIMThe army-owned incumbent and the largest carrier in the country, reported at about 54% of the market, with 4G reaching 98.6% of the population. Travelers rate it best on the Ha Giang loop, over the Ma Pi Leng pass and in the Sapa valleys. Yesim's Vietnam page lists it. Viettel also sells a Tourist eSIM at airport kiosks, 5GB a day from 60,000 VND for 7 days.
Vinaphone (VNPT)
What most travel eSIMs publishThe state-owned number two. Airalo and Ubigi name VNPT. Holafly names GPC Vinaphone, the same operator. Yesim and Nomad list it too. This is a genuinely good network for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Nha Trang and the coast road that links them.
MobiFone
Named by Nomad · gives tourists a free eSIMThe third operator. Nomad lists it. MobiFone itself gives international tourists one free Travel eSIM per passport every 30 days: 10GB valid for 24 hours, with top-ups of 50GB for 10 days at 150,000 VND (≈$5.80). Travel blogs claim Airalo rides Viettel; Airalo's own page says VNPT, so we quote the page.
So the practical rule for Vietnam: a travel eSIM on VNPT is the right buy for Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phu Quoc and every road between them, which is most people's entire trip. For the Ha Giang loop, Sapa and Cao Bang, either pick Yesim, whose page lists Viettel, or add Viettel's own tourist eSIM at the airport. Two profiles on one phone is normal.
Sources & freshness: Network names from each brand's own Vietnam page on 2026: Airalo VNPT, Holafly GPC Vinaphone (VNPT), Ubigi VNPT, Yesim Vinaphone / Vietnamobile / Viettel, Nomad Vietnamobile / MobiFone / Vinaphone, GigSky and Saily none. Viettel Tourist eSIM plans from Viettel's own guide. MobiFone Travel eSIM from mobifone.vn. Viettel's market share and 4G population figures come from 2026 carrier summaries, not from a document we could open at Viettel.
Is unlimited really unlimited in Vietnam?
the caps in one table
| "Unlimited" plan | Real daily high-speed cap | After the cap |
|---|---|---|
| Airalo Unlimited (10 days, $34.50) | 3GB/day | Speed drops to 1 Mbps for the rest of that day. Both numbers are printed on the plan, as on Saily. |
| Saily Unlimited (30 days, $71.99) | 5GB/day | The highest daily allowance on this table, then unlimited at up to 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. Hotspot allowed. |
| Holafly Unlimited (30 days, $73.90) | none published | No daily figure anywhere. The fair-use text lets the local operator throttle for up to one day at a time. Hotspot is separately capped at 1GB per day, which is the real limit for anyone with a laptop. |
| Yesim Unlimited (30 days, $68.40) | none published | Yesim mentions a fair usage policy and never gives the number. Cheapest of the four, and the only one where you cannot know what you bought. |
| GigSky Unlimited (15 days, $44.99) | 3.5GB/day | The cheapest unlimited here at every length ($24.49 for 7 days, $65.99 for 30). After the cap data slows (speed not published), never stops; full speed resumes 24 hours from activation. |
Every figure above comes from the brand's own published terms on 2026, not from a test. If a cell says "none published" it is because the brand would not give the number. The full unlimited breakdown works out the price per real gigabyte, and for most trips a 20GB fixed plan wins on both.
If you want unlimited you can plan around, the published cap is the whole point. Saily prints 5GB a day and Airalo 3GB, both with 1 Mbps after it. Holafly and Yesim print no daily number.
See Saily Unlimited See Airalo Unlimited Compare the capsHow much data a Vietnam trip actually uses
real numbers
| Trip style | 5 days | 10 days | 14 days | 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maps, Zalo, WhatsApp, booking Grabs | 1GB | 2GB | 3GB | 6GB |
| Plus photos, stories, some video | 3.5GB | 7GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| Plus laptop hotspot and calls | 8GB | 16GB | 22GB | 48GB |
| Sizes that fit | GigSky 5GB | GigSky 10GB | Saily 20GB | Airalo 50GB |
Assumes wifi at your accommodation most nights, offline maps downloaded before you leave a city, and no video streaming over cellular. Vietnam pushes the top row lower than most destinations because wifi is genuinely everywhere and genuinely free, and pushes the middle row up because Grab reloads the map every time the driver turns. The full calculator breaks it down per app.
Where a travel eSIM works and where it does not
place by place
Nobody can promise you a bar of signal at a specific homestay. This table is what traveler reports say each place leans on. It is not an operator coverage map and we have not tested these routes ourselves.
| Where you are going | Network to prefer | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Cities and the coast road | ||
| Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City | Any | 5G on all three operators across the central districts. Every plan on this page is fine here, and this is where most trips spend most days. |
| Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue | VNPT or Viettel | Dense coverage the length of the coast. Da Nang in particular is the one place where working from a cafe on cellular is genuinely comfortable. |
| Nha Trang and Mui Ne | VNPT | Strong in town and along Highway 1. It thins on the inland roads toward the Central Highlands, not on the beach strip. |
| Da Lat | VNPT or Viettel | The town is well served. The pine-forest roads and waterfall stops outside it are where a second network starts earning its keep. |
| The north | ||
| Ha Long and Cat Ba | Viettel | Fine on land and on the Cat Ba ferry. Out among the karsts on an overnight cruise the signal comes and goes on everything, Viettel least. |
| Sapa and Lao Cai | Viettel | Sapa town is covered. The trekking valleys below it, Lao Chai and Ta Van, are Viettel or nothing, which is exactly the gap a VNPT eSIM leaves. |
| Ha Giang loop and Dong Van | Viettel | The single strongest reason to buy a Viettel profile. Over the Ma Pi Leng pass, Viettel holds a usable signal in places where the other two show no bars at all. |
| Cao Bang and Ban Gioc | Viettel | Remote, mountainous and close to the Chinese border, where handsets also like to latch onto a Chinese network. Manual network selection is worth knowing here. |
| The south and the islands | ||
| Mekong Delta towns | Any | Can Tho, Ben Tre and Chau Doc are well covered. The boat channels between them are not, on any network, for stretches of twenty minutes at a time. |
| Phu Quoc | VNPT | Good along the developed west coast and the airport road. The north of the island and the national park are patchier than the resort brochures suggest. |
| Con Dao | Viettel | One small island, thin infrastructure and a lot of travelers reporting that whichever network their eSIM landed on was the wrong one. Do not plan on working from here. |
| Phong Nha and the caves | Viettel | The village has service. Inside the karst and on the road to Paradise Cave there is nothing, which is a geology problem, not a network one. |
Compiled from traveler reports in 2026. We have not ridden every pass on this list and we are not going to pretend otherwise. How we test.
Local eSIM or travel eSIM?
Viettel and MobiFone sell their own now
| Viettel Tourist eSIM | MobiFone Travel eSIM | Travel eSIM (Airalo) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 60,000 VND (≈$2.30) / 7 days; 80,000 (≈$3.10) / 15 days; 150,000 (≈$5.80) / 30 days, plus the SIM price | Free: 10GB for 24 hours. Top-ups 150,000 VND (≈$5.80) / 10 days, 250,000 VND (≈$9.60) / 30 days | $18.00 for 10GB / 30 days |
| Data | 5GB a day | 10GB free; top-ups 50GB or 150GB | 10GB total |
| Network | Viettel | MobiFone | VNPT |
| Phone number | Yes, a new +84 number | Yes; calls come with the top-ups | No, data only |
| Where you buy | Airport kiosk (Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Cam Ranh) or a Viettel store | E-visa email link before arrival, or the QR poster at the airport | Online, before you fly |
| Passport | Physical passport, photo and selfie | Passport photo, plus a video call at the airport | No |
| We earn | Nothing | Nothing | 12% commission |
Viettel plans 5G60T, 5G80T and 5G150T from Viettel's tourist eSIM guide; Viettel does not state the SIM price. MobiFone from mobifone.vn/vin-travel, one free eSIM per passport every 30 days. USD at the Vietcombank sell rate of 26,020 VND. Checked 2026.
The local eSIMs win on price by a mile and give you a +84 number. The travel eSIM wins on one thing: it works the moment the plane lands, with no kiosk queue and no passport scan. Our call: travel eSIM for arrival and the cities, a Viettel tourist eSIM added at the airport if your route goes north. The Viettel page has the details.
The airport counters are open, and the law wants your passport
Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat
Unlike some destinations, the arrival story here works. Viettel, MobiFone and Vinaphone all keep 24-hour counters in the arrivals hall after immigration at Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City. You will get a working SIM in ten minutes.
Prices at the kiosks vary by package. Viettel publishes its airport tourist eSIM packs at 60,000 VND for 7 days, 80,000 for 15 and 150,000 for 30, all 5GB a day, plus a SIM price it does not state. Counter staff tend to steer you to the largest bundle on the board.
The alternative is the one this whole site is about: install a travel eSIM at home, land already connected, and decide about a local line later once you know whether your route needs one. The local SIM guide covers the shop route in detail, and the Viettel page covers its tourist eSIM.
Setting it up takes about four minutes
before you fly
- Check the phone. Dial *#06#. If an EID appears, the phone takes an eSIM. If it is carrier-locked, sort that out first, because no eSIM works on a locked handset.
- Buy and install on home wifi. Install the profile before you fly. Do not try to scan a QR code at the gate; the plan does not start counting until it connects in Vietnam, so waiting saves you nothing and costs you a working phone on arrival.
- Land, then switch. Turn the eSIM line on for data, leave your home line on for calls with data roaming off. That one toggle is what stops the $12-a-day charge.
- If it will not connect, set network selection to manual and pick the network your brand names: Vinaphone for Airalo or Holafly, Viettel or Vinaphone for Yesim. Full setup and fixes.
Vietnam eSIM questions
answered straight
What is the best eSIM for Vietnam?
For most Vietnam trips the best eSIM is Airalo: 10GB for $18.00 over 30 days on VNPT, the network its own store page names. GigSky is cheaper at $16.79 but names no network. Riding the Ha Giang loop? Yesim's page lists Viettel, and Viettel sells its own tourist eSIM. Checked 2026.
Should I get an eSIM for Vietnam?
Yes, unless your carrier already includes Vietnam. US roaming day passes are around $12 a day, so a ten-day trip costs more in roaming than a 50GB eSIM. For the Ha Giang loop and the Sapa valleys, pick a brand that lists Viettel, or add Viettel's own tourist eSIM at the airport.
Which network does my Vietnam eSIM use?
Airalo, Holafly and Ubigi name VNPT. Yesim lists Vinaphone, Vietnamobile and Viettel. Nomad lists Vietnamobile, MobiFone and Vinaphone. GigSky and Saily name none, and we do not guess for them. Each from the brand's own Vietnam page, checked 2026.
Is unlimited really unlimited in Vietnam?
No. Airalo prints 3GB a day, then 1 Mbps. Saily's unlimited is 5GB a day, then 1 Mbps. GigSky Unlimited, the cheapest, is 3.5GB a day. Holafly publishes no daily cap but limits hotspot to 1GB a day. Yesim publishes no cap at all. Checked 2026. The full breakdown.
Local eSIM or travel eSIM in Vietnam?
Local is cheaper: Viettel's Tourist eSIM is 60,000 VND (≈$2.30) for 7 days at 5GB a day, plus the SIM, bought at an airport kiosk with your passport. A travel eSIM like Airalo ($18.00 for 10GB) is installed before you fly and needs no passport. Checked 2026.
What is the cheapest eSIM for Vietnam?
It depends on the size. GigSky is cheapest at 1GB ($2.99), 3GB ($7.49), 5GB ($10.29) and 10GB ($16.79). Yesim is cheapest at 20GB ($26.40). Airalo's 50GB at $49.00 works out at 98 cents a gigabyte. GigSky also gives away 100MB for seven days with no card. Checked 2026.
Can I buy a SIM card at Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City airport?
Yes. Viettel, MobiFone and Vinaphone all run 24-hour counters in the arrivals hall past immigration at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat, and they will register the SIM to your passport on the spot. Expect to pay roughly 30 to 50 percent more than the same plan in a city shop.
Do I need a phone number in Vietnam?
Usually not. All four travel eSIMs we link are data-only, and Vietnam runs on Zalo and WhatsApp, including with hotels and tour operators. If you want a +84 number, Viettel's Tourist eSIM comes with one, from 60,000 VND (≈$2.30) for 7 days. The phone number page compares the routes.
Does a Vietnam eSIM support 5G and hotspot?
Airalo's page lists VNPT 5G, and Yesim lists 5G on Vinaphone and Viettel. Saily allows tethering; Holafly caps hotspot at 1GB a day; Yesim says hotspot depends on the operator. Checked 2026.
Will one eSIM cover Vietnam and Cambodia?
A Vietnam-only plan stops at the border, and the Moc Bai and Bavet crossings are exactly where you do not want to arrive offline. Airalo's Asialink regional plan covers Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos on one profile. We price the regional plan against the local one here.
Do I need to register a Vietnam eSIM with my passport?
Not a travel eSIM. Decree 163/2024/ND-CP, which replaced Decree 49/2017/ND-CP in December 2024, requires every Vietnamese mobile line to be registered to the subscriber's identity, a passport number for a foreigner. So a local SIM or local eSIM means a passport scan. A travel eSIM roams onto a Vietnamese network under a foreign agreement, so there is nothing to register.
Buy the one that names its network
Airalo publishes VNPT as its Vietnamese partner, prints a 3GB/day cap and a 1 Mbps throttle on its unlimited plan, and sells 10GB for $18.00 over 30 days. It also pays us 12%, the lowest rate of the four brands we can link. Both of those things are true. Crossing into Cambodia, Laos or Thailand too? Compare regional eSIMs for a multi-country Asia trip.
See Airalo Vietnam plansSources & freshness: Plan prices from each brand's own Vietnam page, in USD, before promo codes, checked 2026. Network names from the brands' own pages; where a brand publishes nothing we say so rather than repeating a third-party claim. Coverage notes from traveler reports in 2026. Trustpilot scores checked 2026 on trustpilot.com. SIM registration: Decree 163/2024/ND-CP, Articles 19 to 21; Article 84 repeals Decree 49/2017/ND-CP. Prices move; we re-check monthly and date-stamp every table.