ALT: A young woman checking her phone on a busy Shanghai street · Photo: Margo Evardson / Pexels
HelloRoam, the named-carrier pick, runs China data on China Unicom 5G and China Telecom 5G, and every plan takes a mid-trip top-up across its 185 destinations. Nomad, the long-stay option, lists $35.00 for 50 GB over 45 days. Saily, the fixed-size mid pick, lists $26.99 for 10 GB over 30 days.
One handset can store several e SIM profiles, and only one carries data at a time
Recent iPhones and flagship Android handsets store several eSIM profiles and keep two active together. Storing a profile is not the same as running one. Only one carries your data, and you pick it in settings.
So a China trip deletes nothing. Your home line stays installed for calls and verification codes. Name the profiles as you add them, because “China” and “Home” beat two lines both called Cellular at 11pm in a taxi rank.
A cellular smartwatch needs its own carrier plan, not the travel eSIM
A cellular Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch has an eSIM inside, so people assume a travel plan drops onto the wrist. It does not.
Watch cellular is an add-on from your home carrier that shares your phone number. Your carrier provisions it, not a QR code from a travel seller. Travel sellers list data-only profiles built for phones. Away from the phone and Wi-Fi, the watch is a watch. Ask your carrier about its international terms before you fly.
Each row below pairs a plan size with the days it covers
Each row below pairs a plan size with the days it covers, and the longer table of scored China eSIM plans breaks the same providers down by price per gigabyte. That is a comparison site rather than a seller.
Ranked rows are sorted on the 1 GB, 7-day rung, the plan a first week in China actually buys, and a tie there breaks on the next rung up, 3 GB over 30 days. The 10 GB month sits in the same cell so both sizes read together. Jetpac takes that 10 GB month at $16.00 and still ranks last, because it sells nothing at the entry size.
China eSIM plans at the entry rung and at 10 GB over 30 days, August 2026
| Rank | Provider | Entry plan, then 10 GB over 30 days | Host network | Best for |
| 1 | HelloRoam | $3.49 for 1 GB over 7 days; $23.49 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom 5G and China Telecom 5G | Cheapest first week of data, refilled rather than replaced |
| 2 | Ubigi | $4.00 for 1 GB over 7 days; $17.00 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | Cheapest 3 GB month here, at $7.00 |
| 3 | Nomad | $4.00 for 1 GB over 7 days; $17.00 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | The longest window sold, 50 GB over 45 days |
| 4 | Saily | $4.49 for 1 GB over 7 days; $26.99 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | A fixed ladder that tops out at 20 GB |
| 5 | Airalo | $4.00 for 1 GB over 3 days; $26.50 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | Sells 10 GB over 7, 15 or 30 days |
| 6 | Jetpac | $12.00 for 5 GB over 30 days; $16.00 for 10 GB over 30 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | Lowest 10 GB rate over 30 days here |
| Not ranked | Holafly | $36.50 for unlimited data over 10 days | China Unicom and China Telecom | Bills by the day with no gigabyte count |
Method: two rungs per provider, the entry plan and China at 10 GB across 30 days, taken from rates published on 26 August 2026 in US dollars. The HelloRoam row comes from its own published China rates for the same month. aloSIM is absent because no China host network could be confirmed for it. Prices change without notice.
Saily charges $26.99 for 10 GB over 30 days in China and Jetpac charges $16.00 for 10 GB over 30 days, a $10.99 gap for identical gigabytes over identical days.
Jetpac is the row with no small plan. Its China list opens at $12.00 for 5 GB over 30 days, so a two-night stopover has to buy five gigabytes it will never touch.
A plan is two numbers, not one. The gigabytes say how much you can move, the days say how long you have to move it. Every provider here rides China Unicom and China Telecom, because none owns masts in China, so that column is a check to run rather than a coverage league.
1. HelloRoam: the cheapest first week in China, at $3.49 for 1 GB over 7 days
That is about 13 percent under the next rows at the same size and window. Every China size it sells takes a mid-trip refill, so the entry rung is a starting point rather than a ceiling.
2. Ubigi: the cheapest 3 GB month here, at $4.00 for 1 GB over 7 days
Ubigi matches Nomad at the entry rung and breaks the tie one step up, listing $7.00 for 3 GB over 30 days against Nomad’s $9.00 for the same size and window.
3. Nomad: the longest window on the page, at $4.00 for 1 GB over 7 days
Nomad is the only seller here pricing $35.00 for 50 GB over 45 days. Nothing else in the table stretches past a calendar month.
4. Saily: a fixed ladder that tops out at 20 GB, at $4.49 for 1 GB over 7 days
Saily prices every China size in the middle and none of them lowest. Its range ends at $39.99 for 20 GB over 30 days.
5. Airalo: several windows at one size, at $4.00 for 1 GB over 3 days
Airalo publishes no 1 GB week for China. Its 1 GB plan runs 3 days, which is why it sits below the four rows that price a full seven.
6. Jetpac: the lowest 10 GB month here, at $16.00 for 10 GB over 30 days
Jetpac takes the size this page compares most and still ranks last on the axis, because its China list starts at 5 GB.
Holafly is quoted by the day, so it sits outside the ranking
Holafly sells days. Its China plan is $36.50 for unlimited data over 10 days, with no gigabyte count to divide into. That answers a different question entirely.
The China profile rides two host networks, and the handset picks between them
China Unicom and China Telecom rank among the country’s main mobile networks, and one HelloRoam China profile registers on both of them, each listed as 5G. Checkout does not ask you to choose.
Your phone picks, and it keeps picking as the signal changes. The other route is a local Chinese prepaid SIM, which means real-name registration in person at a carrier shop.
Be straight about this. Your phone joins as a visiting device, not a local subscriber. Data on a visiting profile is commonly carried back through the issuing operator’s gateway rather than breaking out inside the country. No seller publishes which services a route carries, and nobody can promise you a particular app or site. Treat access as unknown and agree how you will reach home before you fly.
Band support on your phone decides which host network it can reach
Two host networks only help if your handset can talk to both. Chinese networks run bands that some phones built for other markets do not carry in full.
Handsets bought in the last few years from the big global brands generally cover the main Chinese bands. Older phones and single-market models are where gaps turn up.
The QR code and the confirmation email belong on the phone before takeoff
An eSIM profile downloads over the internet, so it installs at home, not at the gate. Install it over Wi-Fi the night before you fly. Check your handset against BestESIMforTravel.com’s compatibility list first, because a phone without e SIM support will not take the QR code at all.
- Confirm the handset supports eSIM in its mobile data settings.
- Buy the plan and scan the emailed QR code on home Wi-Fi.
- Label the new line China, and leave your home SIM on for calls and verification codes.
- Turn data roaming off on the home line, then set the China profile as your data line once you land.
Plan size follows the hours you spend away from hotel Wi-Fi
Gigabytes go during the hours your phone sits outside a network you already pay for. Someone who navigates, messages and pays by QR code all day, and leaves video alone, uses a few hundred megabytes daily. Two weeks of that fits inside 10 GB.
The ladder rewards buying up. Move from $23.49 for 10 GB over 30 days to $35.99 for 20 GB over 30 days and the rate per gigabyte falls from $2.35 to $1.80.
Tethering a laptop can double what a phone alone would use
A phone rations itself. Apps sleep in the background, video defaults to a small screen, and updates wait for Wi-Fi.
A laptop does none of that. Put it on your phone’s hotspot and it syncs a cloud drive, pulls updates and streams to a full-size screen. Size the plan around the laptop, and run heavy transfers on hotel Wi-Fi.
Nomad carries one purchase across a 45-day stay
Nomad is the pick when a trip outruns a calendar month. It lists $35.00 for 50 GB over 45 days, and nobody else here sells a window that long.
Nomad’s China plan also costs $17.00 for 10 GB over 30 days, below HelloRoam’s $23.49 for 10 GB over 30 days, the same size and the same window.
Two named host carriers on one profile, with a top-up on every size, is what HelloRoam offers instead.
China e-SIM answers, from visitor access to running out of data
Can visitors use an eSIM in China?
Yes. Overseas providers sell China travel plans that install by QR code before you fly, with no trip to a carrier shop. Your handset needs eSIM support and the right bands. HelloRoam lists six China sizes across its 185 destinations.
Which carrier will my e SIM connect to in China?
China Unicom or China Telecom, and your phone decides which. A HelloRoam China profile reaches both on 5G from one install, and the handset moves between them on its own. Every provider above resells those same two networks.
Is e-sim service sold for China?
Yes, and it is sold from outside the country. Seven providers list China plans above, from a fixed 10 GB over 30 days to unlimited data billed by the day. You buy online and the QR code arrives by email.
What do China eSIM plans cost?
HelloRoam’s China sizes open at $3.49 for 1 GB over 7 days and top out at $53.99 for 50 GB over 30 days. On the compared plan, 10 GB over 30 days, the six fixed-size providers above sit between $16.00 and $26.99.
What is a fair price for an e SIM in China?
Judge every quote at one size and one window. The six fixed-size plans above run from $16.00 to $26.99 for 10 GB over 30 days, so that band is the market. A low headline on a three-day plan is just a smaller plan.
What happens if I run out of data in China?
You top up the profile already on your phone. Every HelloRoam China plan takes a mid-trip refill, across all six sizes with no exceptions. Nothing gets scanned twice and nothing gets installed again. Check a refill against the next size up.
