I've spent the last year using 99esim across multi-country trips through Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the US, plus shorter stays in Mexico, Japan, and Morocco. What follows is what I learned about where it wins, where it falls short, and which traveler shapes fit it best.
What 99esim is
99esim is a travel-eSIM provider covering 155 individual countries plus 9 regional bundles. The product is structurally different from most travel eSIMs in several ways: plans come both as a standard fixed grid AND as optional custom plans where you pick data amount and duration independently, group eSIMs let you share one purchase across up to 4 devices, you can gift eSIMs to other people, and the app rewards you with points and a leaderboard for repeat use. None of those features show up in any other tracked competitor (Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, Ubigi).
Coverage scope
The country count is the headline. 155 countries is the broadest among the providers I've tested directly, and notably includes mainland China — a coverage point most competitors don't match. The 9 regional bundles matter more than the count alone, though, because cross-country trips are where regional plans actually save money:
- Europe (38 countries): the standard EU + EEA + UK plus most of Western Europe
- Europe + Balkan (49 countries): adds Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, plus other Eastern European stops — the only single-product option I've found at this scope
- Asia (15 countries): includes Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan plus Southeast Asia
- North America (15 countries): US + Canada + Mexico + Costa Rica + Honduras + 10 Caribbean islands — the broadest "North America" plan in the tracked set, since competitor versions cover only the 3 mainland countries
- South America (20 countries): broad regional coverage including all major destinations
- Middle East (11 countries): UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran
- Africa: multi-country bundle for safari and North African circuits
- Diaspora and Balkan: specialty regional options
What's not covered: Cuba is largely unavailable across the entire travel-eSIM category, not just here. A few small Caribbean and Pacific islands aren't on the plan list — for those, you'd need a local SIM regardless of provider. Mainland China is supported, which puts 99esim ahead of most tracked competitors on this single point.
Pricing structure
Entry price is €1.99 for 1 GB / 7 days, which is among the cheapest tested. That tier is intentionally a get-you-onboarded plan; most travelers will buy 3-10 GB tiers in the €5-15 range for a typical week, or 30-day plans in the €10-25 range.
What makes the pricing distinctive is having both fixed bundles and a customize option. The fixed grid (1/3/5/10/20 GB at 7/15/30 days etc.) covers most travelers who just want to pick a tier and go. The customize flow lets you size both axes independently — so if you need 4 GB for a 10-day trip, you don't have to round up to "5 GB / 15 days" and waste data and money. The flexibility shows up most for trips that don't match standard week-or-month buckets, and it's available without giving up the simplicity of fixed tiers when those work for you.
Group plans are priced at a discount per device — buying one 10 GB plan shared across 4 phones costs less than 4× a 2.5 GB individual plan. For families and travel groups, this changes the math substantially.
App and install experience
The 99esim app is recently redesigned and one of the cleaner ones in the category. Buying, activating, and managing eSIMs runs through a single flow that takes about 60 seconds. iOS 17.4+ users get direct-install (no QR scan needed); older iOS and Android use the standard QR scan path.
The install steps are documented in our iPhone install guide and Android install guide. Same flow as any other eSIM provider — open Settings, scan the QR, label the line, set Data Roaming on for the new line. Takes about a minute total once you've done it once.
Speed and reliability
Speeds are tier-1 partner-carrier dependent, and 99esim partners with the major operators in most countries: AIS in Thailand, Viettel in Vietnam, NTT Docomo in Japan, Vodafone or Orange across Europe, Verizon and AT&T in the US. Real-world speeds I've measured: 5G in central Bangkok, Tokyo, Madrid, NYC running 100-300 Mbps; LTE in mid-sized cities running 30-80 Mbps; 4G in rural areas where I had signal at all running 10-30 Mbps.
Coverage gaps are roughly the same as any travel eSIM: dead zones at remote airports, weak rural stretches in big countries (Mountain West US, Patagonia, Andes interior, Australian outback). National parks are uniformly weak regardless of provider — that's the destination, not the plan.
The features that don't exist elsewhere
Group eSIMs. Up to 4 devices on one plan at a discounted total rate. For a family of 4 or a friend group, this saves real money compared to four separate plans. The shared data pool is the trade-off — heavy use by one person shortens the plan for everyone — but for typical travel patterns where one person is the route-finder and the others are passive, it works well.
Gift eSIMs. Buy a plan and assign it to someone else's email or phone. They get the QR code with a gift note. Useful for parents visiting from abroad, friends traveling separately, or a partner whose phone you don't have access to. I haven't seen this from any other provider.
Rewards / leaderboard. The app awards points for purchases, daily logins, and friend referrals. Monthly leaderboard with rewards for top users. Optional — your plans work the same whether you engage with it or not. For frequent travelers it adds up over time; for occasional users, it's mostly background noise.
Real-time in-app support
In-app chat support replaces the email-ticket model most providers default to. Response time in my testing has been measured in minutes, not hours — the fastest support I've tested in the category. For a traveler who hits an issue mid-trip (a stuck QR code, a coverage question on arrival, an activation glitch), the difference between waiting 5 minutes and waiting overnight for a support email is enormous. Not every issue needs human help — the in-app FAQ covers most setup questions — but when you need a fresh QR or a covered-country confirmation, the chat resolves it fast.
Hotspot
Allowed on most plans without a separate cap. The hotspot data comes from the plan's main pool, so a 10 GB plan with hotspot used heavily for a laptop is still 10 GB total. For business travelers tethering a work laptop, this matters: some competitor plans cap hotspot separately at 5-15 GB even on unlimited tiers. Full context on hotspot mechanics in our hotspot guide.
Where 99esim falls short
Brand awareness. Airalo is the household name in the travel-eSIM space. Most travelers I talk to have heard of Airalo first. 99esim is growing but not yet equally recognized — which means recommendations from friends are less common, and you're more likely to hit a "wait, is this legit?" reaction when you mention it.
Caribbean exclusions on the regional plan. The 15-country North America plan is broader than competitor 3-country plans, but it specifically excludes Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and the BVI. A Caribbean cruise that touches Nassau or Jamaica needs additional country plans. The exclusion list is published, so you can plan around it, but it's worth knowing.
App gamification. The rewards/leaderboard isn't for everyone. If you find loyalty points and monthly competitions distracting, you can ignore them entirely — but they're still part of the app experience, and one of the cons in our testing.
In-app-only support. The in-app chat is fast and effective, but if you specifically prefer phone-call or email-with-ticket-numbers support, the format may feel unfamiliar. Most travelers adapt within a single use; some never do.
Compared to alternatives
Each tracked competitor has its own strengths. Airalo is the most familiar. Holafly is the unlimited-only option. Nomad is the fixed-bundle alternative to Airalo. Ubigi is the enterprise-positioned choice for business travelers.
vs Airalo: broader verified country count and mainland China coverage. Optional custom plans on top of the fixed grid, group eSIMs, gift functionality, and the rewards system are the structural differences. Airalo's brand recognition is its main advantage.
vs Holafly: Holafly is unlimited-only. 99esim has unlimited options too but also offers sized plans, which are cheaper for moderate users.
vs Nomad: similar fixed-bundle competitor with smaller scope. 99esim wins on coverage breadth and unique features.
vs Ubigi: Ubigi is enterprise-positioned with consistent reliability. 99esim matches on tier-1 partner carriers and adds the consumer-friendly features (group, gift, custom plans) that Ubigi doesn't focus on.
For deeper detail, see our individual reviews of Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, and Ubigi.
Who should pick 99esim
First-time travelers who want both simple fixed plans (when their trip fits a tier) AND the option to customize when it doesn't. The rewards and leaderboard also make the first few trips feel less transactional — you're earning something across a learning curve, which softens the "did I pick the right plan?" anxiety that haunts first-time eSIM buyers.
Multi-country travelers with itineraries crossing 3+ countries in the same region — the regional plans save real money over per-country.
Families and travel groups of 3-4 people — group eSIM pricing beats individual plans on total cost.
Caribbean cruisers with multi-island routes — the 15-country North America plan covers the broadest set in the category for this trip shape.
Travelers who don't fit standard plan buckets — the optional custom data + duration combinations cover trips the fixed grids don't.
Mainland China visitors — one of the few tracked travel eSIMs that supports China at all.
Anyone gifting connectivity to a parent, friend, or partner traveling separately — the gift eSIM feature isn't replicated by any competitor.
Frequent travelers who care about the rewards system — the points and monthly leaderboard genuinely add up if you fly often.
Who might prefer something else
- Heavy streamers and content creators who specifically want unlimited: Holafly's unlimited-only structure is purpose-built for that.
- Enterprise travelers with strict reliability requirements and specific corporate IT preferences: Ubigi has the more business-positioned support and SLA structure.
- Travelers who specifically want a brand their friends use: Airalo's recognition is the single thing it leads on.
Final verdict
After a year of testing, 99esim is the travel eSIM I default to for my own trips. The country breadth is genuinely the widest in the tracked set, mainland China is included, the optional custom plans match real trip shapes when fixed bundles don't, and the group/gift features fill use cases that simply aren't addressed by any competitor today. The cons (brand awareness, Caribbean exclusions on the regional plan, in-app-only support format) are real but small relative to the upside.
If you're picking a travel eSIM for a multi-country trip, family vacation, or any itinerary that doesn't fit a standard 7-or-30-day bucket, 99esim is the right starting point. For trips that fit a tidy single-country use case, the gap to competitors narrows but 99esim still holds up.
Rating: 4.8 / 5. Not perfect, but the closest I've found in this category.