Best eSIM for the UK: EE, Vodafone, Three and O2 plans compared

Which UK eSIM fits your trip?

Start with the kind of trip, not the lowest headline price:

• A city break in London, Edinburgh or Manchester: 3 to 5 GB covers maps, transport apps, messaging and photos for a week. Hotels, cafés and many trains have Wi-Fi.
• A longer stay or remote work: 10 to 20 GB, or an unlimited plan with at least 2 GB a day at full speed if you use video calls or share the connection with a laptop.
• A road trip through Scotland, Wales or the Lake District: choose a plan that names more than one network, because coverage in rural areas differs between them.
• The UK plus mainland Europe or Ireland: a regional plan, but only one whose country list includes the United Kingdom.

The figures in the boxes and tables come from our database every time the page loads, so they show today's market rather than the day this guide was written.

UK eSIM prices: the cheapest plan for every data amount

Each row is the cheapest plan we track for that amount of data with at least a week of validity. Look at the price per GB as well as the total: a larger package often costs only a little more and saves you a top-up halfway through the trip.

• Country or regional plan: some of the cheapest rows can be Europe or global plans. They work in the UK like a country plan; check the country list if your trip continues.
• Validity: with most providers the days start with the first connection in the UK. A 7-day plan on an 8-day trip means buying extra data on the last day.
• Currency: many providers charge in US dollars. We convert at the daily ECB rate and mark those plans; your bank may add a fee.

Unlimited data in the UK: check the daily allowance

Almost every unlimited plan for the UK comes with a daily allowance at full speed, usually between 1 and 3 GB, after which the speed drops until the next day. In our data the reduced speed ranges from 128 kbps to around 1 Mbps. At 1 Mbps, maps, messaging and music still work; at 128 kbps even loading a map becomes slow.

The table shows two prices for each validity: the cheapest unlimited plan of any kind, and the cheapest with at least 2 GB a day at full speed. If the difference is small, the second is usually the better buy. Our guide Unlimited eSIM plans: how unlimited are they really? explains the models in detail.

EE, Vodafone, Three or O2: which network?

The UK has four mobile networks: EE, Vodafone, Three and O2. Providers do not always use these names, so it helps to know the older and company names you may see on a plan:

Vodafone and Three merged in 2025 and are combining their networks step by step, but plans still list them separately.

All four networks are strong in cities and along the main roads and railways. Differences appear in the Scottish Highlands, rural Wales, national parks and on some coasts. For a city trip any network is fine; for a trip into the countryside, a plan that names two or more networks gives your phone a fallback. All UK networks have switched off 3G, so your phone needs 4G or 5G, which every eSIM phone has.

Does a Europe eSIM cover the UK?

Not always. Since the UK left the EU, it is no longer automatically part of “Europe” in roaming deals, and a noticeable share of the Europe plans in our database leave it out. Before you buy a regional plan for a trip that includes the UK, open its country list and look for United Kingdom.

• Ireland: an EU country with its own networks. A UK-only plan does not work there, which matters on the ferry or if you cross the border from Northern Ireland. Plans for the UK and Ireland together, or Europe plans with both, solve this. Compare plans on our Ireland page.
• Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so a UK plan covers it.
• Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK for mobile purposes. Most UK and Europe plans do not include them; see our pages for Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
• Gibraltar is also listed separately, and many plans that include the UK do not include it.

Our guide Best eSIM for Europe explains how to compare regional plans and their country lists.

Roaming in the UK after Brexit

EU roaming rules, which let EU residents use their home allowance across the EU without extra charges, no longer apply in the UK. Some European carriers still include the UK in their tariffs voluntarily, others charge a daily fee or per-megabyte prices, and the conditions change from time to time. Check your own tariff before you travel.

The same applies the other way round: UK contracts are not covered by EU roaming either, and several UK carriers charge for use in the EU. With a travel eSIM you avoid both, as long as you switch off data roaming on your home SIM. Our guide eSIM vs roaming vs local SIM compares the options.

On the ground: the Tube, trains and the countryside

• London Underground: mobile coverage in the tunnels has been rolled out on many lines, but not everywhere. Whether you have signal underground also depends on which network your eSIM uses, so download maps and tickets before you go down.
• Trains: coverage on intercity routes is usually good but drops in cuttings and tunnels. Many trains offer Wi-Fi as a backup.
• Countryside: in the Highlands, on islands and in some valleys, signal can be weak or absent on one network and available on another. A plan with several networks, and offline maps, make a difference here.
• Arrival and onward travel: UK airports and large stations offer free Wi-Fi, which helps if you need to finish setting up the eSIM on arrival. On ferries to Ireland or France, phones can switch to the ship's own maritime network, which travel eSIMs do not cover; keep data roaming off on your home SIM at sea.
• Hotspot: most UK plans in our database allow tethering, so you can share the connection with a laptop. Unlimited plans count the shared data towards the daily allowance.

How to set up your UK eSIM

1. Check that your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked; our guide How to check if your phone supports eSIM shows how.
2. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi a day or two before you travel. Step-by-step help: iPhone and Android.
3. After arrival, select the eSIM for mobile data and turn on data roaming for that line; travel eSIMs connect as roaming guests.
4. Turn off data roaming on your home SIM, so it cannot use expensive roaming data in the background.

No connection after a few minutes? Restart the phone and try choosing a network manually. Our checklist eSIM not working abroad? 10 fixes covers the usual causes.