HOLASIM vs Revolut eSIM (2026): Which Travel Data Plan Wins?

Revolut eSIM is the more convenient option for people who already bank with Revolut and simply want a data bundle inside an app on their phone, while HOLASIM is the stronger travel eSIM on the things that actually matter once you are in transit: coverage in 200+ destinations, genuinely unlimited plans, a profile that never expires, and 24/7 support from humans who speak your language.

These two products look similar in a comparison table and behave very differently in practice. Revolut is a financial app that added travel data as a convenience feature for its existing customer base. HOLASIM is a travel connectivity company whose entire product is the eSIM. That difference shows up most clearly in two places: what happens when something goes wrong at 2am in a foreign airport, and what happens to the data you paid for but did not use.

HOLASIM Overview

HOLASIM sells travel eSIMs across more than 200 destinations, with both fixed-data and unlimited plans, starting from around USD 1.70. Its defining feature is that the eSIM profile does not expire. You install it once, and for every subsequent trip you top it up rather than buying a new product and scanning a new QR code. Support is staffed 24/7 by people, in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Reasons to choose HOLASIM:

• Coverage in 200+ destinations on a single profile, so a multi-country itinerary does not mean multiple eSIMs
• The eSIM never expires — install once, recharge per trip, and the profile stays on your phone between journeys
• Unlimited data plans, which no Revolut tier offers at any price
• 24/7 human support in English, Spanish and Portuguese, not a chatbot queue
• Instant QR activation, so you can be online before leaving the arrivals hall
• Entry pricing from ~USD 1.70, below Revolut's typical entry bundle in most markets
• No financial account, credit check or app ecosystem required

Reasons to avoid HOLASIM:

• Unlimited plans cost meaningfully more than a small fixed-data bundle, so a light user on a two-day trip will overpay for a tier they do not need
• It is a standalone purchase rather than a feature of an app you may already open daily
• There is no free monthly data allowance tied to a subscription, which Revolut's top tier does offer

Revolut eSIM Overview

Revolut's eSIM lives inside the Revolut app and is available to anyone with an active Revolut account, including those on the free Standard tier. It covers more than 100 countries and territories with local, regional and global plans. Typical bundles run 1 GB for 7 days, then 3, 5, 10 or 20 GB over 30 days, with some destinations offering 50 GB or 100 GB over 60 days. Plans are data-only: no phone number, no calls, no SMS.

Reasons to choose Revolut eSIM:

• If you already use Revolut, buying data takes three taps inside an app that is already installed and already has your payment method
• Competitive entry pricing — roughly €3.99 (about USD 4.54) for 1 GB over 7 days in markets like the US, Thailand and Turkey as of mid-2026, with local plans from around £1.50 in some regions
• Local, regional and global plan structures give reasonable flexibility for different trip shapes
• RevPoints can be redeemed for data plans from 100 points, which effectively makes some trips free for heavy Revolut spenders
• Ultra subscribers (around £55/month) receive 3 GB of global data each month at no extra charge
• In-app top-ups at any time, with no need to leave the app

Reasons to avoid Revolut eSIM:

• An active Revolut account is mandatory. If you are not already a customer, you are opening a financial account to buy a gigabyte of data
• No unlimited plans at any tier
• Prices are visible only inside the app for your specific market and destination, which makes it almost impossible to comparison-shop before committing
• Fewer destinations than the specialist providers — 100+ versus 200+
• Standard, Basic and Plus subscribers get no free data allowance; the perk is reserved for Ultra
• Plans are tied to the device they were purchased on
• Revolut publishes no information about connection speeds, throttling thresholds or tethering policy
• Support is Revolut's general customer service, trained on banking issues rather than APN configuration and carrier selection

Head-to-head: HOLASIM vs Revolut eSIM

	HOLASIM	Revolut eSIM
Entry price	from ~USD 1.70	from ~€3.99 / ~£1.50 depending on market
Destinations	200+	100+
Unlimited data	Yes	No
Profile expiry	Never expires, recharge per trip	Bundle expires at end of validity
Hotspot / tethering	Allowed	Not documented
5G	Where the local network supports it	Not documented
Support	24/7, human	Revolut in-app support (general)
Languages	English, Spanish, Portuguese	Revolut app languages
Account required	No	Yes, an active Revolut account
App	Dedicated eSIM app	Inside the Revolut banking app
Top-ups	Yes, onto the same permanent profile	Yes, in-app
Price transparency	Published before purchase	In-app only, varies by market

Prices and specifications are approximate and change frequently. Confirm both before buying.

Coverage

HOLASIM's 200+ destination footprint is roughly double Revolut's 100+. For most European or North American trips that gap is academic — both will cover Spain, France, the US and Japan without drama. The gap becomes real on less-trodden routes: Central America, parts of Africa, the Caucasus, Pacific islands and smaller Caribbean and Asian territories are where a 100-country list starts returning "not available."

Neither company owns a network. Both are resellers riding local carriers' roaming agreements, so in any given country the physical signal you get will be similar. What differs is which countries are on the list at all, and how a multi-country trip is priced.

One practical note on Revolut: its country list is published in the app's FAQ and the company states that it may change. If a specific destination is make-or-break for your trip, verify it inside the app before you travel, not from a blog post.

Pricing and value

On headline entry price, HOLASIM starts lower — around USD 1.70 against Revolut's roughly €3.99 for a 1 GB, 7-day bundle in most markets tested in mid-2026. But the honest comparison is harder than that, because Revolut deliberately does not publish a public price list. Pricing varies by your account's home market and by destination, and you can only see it inside the app. That is a real disadvantage for anyone who wants to compare before committing, and it is the single most common complaint about the product.

Two Revolut features genuinely change the value equation for some people. RevPoints can be redeemed for data plans from 100 points, so a traveller who spends heavily on a Revolut card can effectively get trip data for free. And Ultra subscribers get 3 GB of global data monthly folded into a subscription they are already paying for. If you fit either profile, Revolut's effective cost can drop to zero, and no amount of HOLASIM price-cutting competes with free.

For everyone else — Standard, Basic and Plus users — there is no free allowance, and you are paying retail for a bundle that expires. HOLASIM's never-expiring profile is the structural counter-argument: data you buy and do not use is not simply lost at day 30.

Unlimited data

This is the clearest split in the comparison. Revolut has no unlimited tier. Every plan is a fixed bucket: 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, and on some destinations 50 or 100 GB. If you run out mid-trip you top up, which is fine but means you are managing a counter.

HOLASIM offers unlimited plans. For a traveller who streams, navigates constantly, takes video calls or tethers a laptop, that removes the mental overhead entirely. It is not free — unlimited costs more than a small fixed bundle, and we would not recommend it for a light user on a short trip — but it is an option that simply does not exist on Revolut's menu.

If you are the kind of traveller who checks their data usage screen daily, Revolut will be fine. If you are the kind who would rather not think about it, only one of these two providers can help you.

Support and user experience

Revolut's eSIM is embedded in an app most of its users already open several times a week. That is a real usability advantage: no new download, no new account, no new card details. The purchase flow is genuinely quick.

The cost of that integration shows up when something breaks. Revolut's support team is built around financial products. An eSIM that will not attach to a network, an APN that needs manual entry on Android, or a profile that failed to download are telecom problems, and they land in a general support queue. Revolut also publishes nothing about speeds, throttling or tethering, so if your hotspot does not work there is no documented policy to point to.

HOLASIM runs 24/7 support with human agents in English, Spanish and Portuguese. For a traveller stuck at a border crossing with no data, the difference between a specialist who deals with APNs every day and a generalist queue is the whole product.

The device restriction is worth flagging too: a Revolut eSIM plan works only on the device it was purchased on. If your phone dies mid-trip and you switch to a backup, the plan does not come with you.

Which should you choose?

• Backpacker on a long multi-country route: HOLASIM. The 200+ destination list and the never-expiring profile are built for exactly this. Revolut's 100+ country list will have gaps on an extended overland route, and buying a new bundle in every country defeats the purpose.
• Business traveller: HOLASIM, unless you are already a Revolut Ultra subscriber. Unlimited data and 24/7 human support matter when a dropped video call has a cost. Ultra's included 3 GB monthly is a genuine perk for short, frequent, light-data trips.
• Family on holiday: HOLASIM. Hotspot allowance is documented, unlimited plans stop four phones from fighting over one bucket, and the eSIM can be topped up for the next holiday rather than repurchased.
• Digital nomad: HOLASIM, clearly. Tethering a laptop on a fixed bucket is how you burn 20 GB in four days. Revolut documents no tethering policy at all, which is not a risk worth taking when your income depends on the connection.
• Occasional traveller who already uses Revolut heavily: Revolut. If you have RevPoints to burn or you are on Ultra, the effective price is unbeatable, and for a weekend in a major European city a 1 GB bundle is all you need.

FAQ

Do I need a Revolut account to use its eSIM?

Yes. An active Revolut account is mandatory. You can be on the free Standard tier, but you cannot buy a Revolut data plan without the account.

Does Revolut offer unlimited data?

No. All Revolut eSIM plans are fixed-data bundles, from 1 GB up to 100 GB on some destinations. HOLASIM does offer unlimited plans.

Which covers more countries?

HOLASIM covers 200+ destinations; Revolut covers 100+. The difference matters most on less-common routes.

Can I see Revolut's eSIM prices before signing up?

Not reliably. Revolut shows prices inside the app, and they vary by your home market and destination. This is the main obstacle to comparing it fairly against published competitors.

What happens to unused data?

With Revolut, the bundle expires at the end of its validity window and unused data is gone. With HOLASIM, the eSIM profile itself never expires, so you keep the installed profile and top it up for your next trip.

Can I use either plan on a second phone?

A Revolut eSIM plan works only on the device it was bought on. Check your provider's terms before relying on moving a profile between devices.

Which has better support?

HOLASIM runs 24/7 human support in English, Spanish and Portuguese, specialised in connectivity. Revolut routes eSIM issues through its general customer support, which is built primarily around financial products.

The verdict

If you are already deep in the Revolut ecosystem — especially on Ultra, or sitting on a pile of RevPoints — the eSIM is a sensible convenience and sometimes effectively free. Take it for short trips to well-covered countries where 1 to 5 GB is plenty.

For everything else, HOLASIM is the better travel eSIM: twice the destination coverage, unlimited plans that Revolut simply does not sell, a profile that survives from trip to trip instead of expiring, transparent pricing you can check before you buy, and support from people whose job is connectivity rather than banking. Revolut built a good feature. HOLASIM built a product.