Best eSIM for Vietnam: Viettel, VinaPhone or MobiFone, unlimited plans and prices compared

Which Vietnam eSIM fits your trip?

Vietnam is long and narrow, and most itineraries run from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, or the other way round. A Vietnam plan works along the whole route; what changes is how much data you need and how remote you go:

• Two weeks on the classic route (Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City): 8 to 15 GB covers maps, Grab rides, messaging, translation apps and photo uploads for typical use. A plan with 1 to 2 GB a day at full speed works as well.
• Motorbike loops in the north, such as Ha Giang or the roads around Sapa: choose a plan that lists Viettel, or several networks, and download offline maps before you set off.
• A month or more, for example remote work from Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City: compare large 30-day packages with unlimited plans that have a high daily allowance.
• Vietnam combined with Cambodia, Laos or Thailand: compare a regional Asia plan with separate country plans.

How much data typical activities use is explained in our guide to how much data you need for travel.

Viettel, VinaPhone or MobiFone: which network is best in Vietnam?

Vietnam has three large mobile networks and a smaller fourth one. Travel eSIMs connect to one or more of them, and providers write the names in different ways:

In the cities and along the main north–south route, the three large networks generally give you fast 4G. The differences appear in the mountains of the north, in national parks and on boat trips, where Viettel usually reaches further. A plan that can switch between two networks, for example VinaPhone and Viettel, is the safest choice if your route leaves the cities.

5G: Viettel and VinaPhone started commercial 5G in late 2024, and coverage is concentrated in cities and larger towns. Many travel eSIMs for Vietnam are labelled 5G, which means they can use it where it exists and the provider's roaming agreement allows it. Elsewhere you are on 4G, which is fast enough for everything a traveller usually needs.

Coverage from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta: where the signal gets thin

Coverage along the usual tourist routes is good, but several places that are popular with travellers have gaps:

• Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay: near the harbours and on many cruise routes you have signal, but among the limestone islands and further out it comes and goes. Download what you need before boarding an overnight cruise.
• Ha Giang loop, Sapa and the far north: the towns have 4G, while the high passes and the valleys between them have stretches without signal. Viettel generally covers the most of this area.
• Phong Nha-Ke Bang: the town and the main roads have coverage; the caves and the jungle trails do not.
• Hai Van Pass and the Central Highlands: mostly covered, with short gaps on mountain roads.
• Phu Quoc and Con Dao: the main towns and beaches are covered; remote parts of the islands and boat trips less so.
• Mekong Delta: towns such as Can Tho and the main roads are covered; on smaller waterways the signal can drop.

Before trips outside the cities, download offline maps for the area in Google Maps or another map app, and save tickets and booking confirmations on your phone. A plan with more than one network in its list reduces dead spots, but no plan covers every valley.

Vietnam eSIM prices: the cheapest plan for every data amount

Each row shows the cheapest plan we track for that amount of data with at least a week of validity. A few points help you compare:

• Compare the price per GB, not just the price of the package; a larger package often costs only a little more.
• Check the validity: a cheap 7-day package does not help on a three-week trip, and two small packages usually cost more than one larger plan.
• Check the networks: the cheapest plans sometimes use a single network. In the cities that rarely matters; for the north or a motorbike trip, a plan with Viettel or with two networks is the safer choice.
• Regional plans can appear in the table when they are the cheapest option for Vietnam. They also work in the other countries they list.

Some providers offer discount codes for a first purchase; current ones are on our Vietnam promo codes page.

Unlimited data in Vietnam: what happens after the daily allowance

Unlimited plans for Vietnam almost always have a daily allowance at full speed, after which the speed drops until the next day. In our database the most common rules are 1 GB or 2 GB a day followed by 384 kbps; also common are 2 or 3 GB a day followed by 1 or 2 Mbps, and some plans offer 5 or 10 GB a day.

At 384 kbps, messaging, maps and booking a Grab still work, but video calls, uploading videos and working on a laptop become slow. At 1 to 2 Mbps after the allowance, a plan stays usable for most things except high-quality video. For remote work or hotspot use, choose a higher daily allowance or a faster speed after it. The right-hand column of the table only counts plans with at least 2 GB a day at full speed.

Hotspot: most Vietnam plans in our database allow you to share the connection with a laptop or a travel companion; a few exclude it, and for some the provider does not say. Our Vietnam comparison page shows what each provider states. How fair-use rules work in general is covered in our guide to unlimited eSIM plans.

Staying a month or longer: 30-day plans, top-ups and remote work

Vietnam's e-visa allows stays of up to 90 days, and many travellers stay three weeks or more. This table only counts plans valid for at least 30 days. There are three ways to cover a long stay:

• One large 30-day package of 20 to 50 GB suits most travellers who mainly use maps, messaging and social media. When it runs out or expires, buy a top-up or a new plan.
• An unlimited plan with a high daily allowance suits remote work and heavy hotspot use. Check what happens after the allowance: 1 or 2 Mbps keeps a laptop usable, 384 kbps does not.
• Top-ups: many providers let you add data or days to the same eSIM in their app, so you do not have to install a new profile. Check this in the plan details before you buy, because not every plan can be topped up.

Validity is usually counted in 24-hour periods from activation, so a 30-day plan ends at the time of day it started. For stays of two or three months, compare one long plan with a new 30-day plan each month; for very long stays a local SIM card can also be cheaper, as the comparison below shows.

Vietnam plus Cambodia, Laos or Thailand: country or regional plan?

Many trips through Southeast Asia combine Vietnam with Cambodia, Laos or Thailand. In our database Vietnam is included in many Asia and Asia-Pacific regional plans, as well as in global plans.

• A short side trip, such as a few days at Angkor Wat in Cambodia: a separate country plan for each country is often cheaper, especially for small data amounts.
• Three or more countries, or overland border crossings: a regional plan keeps one data allowance for the whole trip and works as soon as you cross the border.
• Check the country list: Asia plans differ a lot. Laos is missing from most of the Asia plans in our database that include Vietnam, and Cambodia from many of them.
• Check the networks in Vietnam: a regional plan does not always use the same Vietnamese networks as the country plans of the same provider.

Plans for the neighbouring countries: Cambodia, Laos and Thailand; regional plans are compared on our Asia eSIM page. Our guide to regional vs global eSIMs explains the trade-offs, and if Thailand is on your route, see the best eSIM for Thailand.

Travel eSIM or local SIM card from the airport?

In the arrival halls of Hanoi's Noi Bai and Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airports, kiosks of the Vietnamese operators sell tourist SIM cards. Both options get you online; the differences are in the setup and in what you get besides data:

For most visitors the home number matters more than a local one, because bank codes and app logins arrive by SMS on the home SIM. Zalo, Vietnam's most popular messaging app, is used by many hotels, tour operators and drivers alongside WhatsApp, and you can register it with your home number. If you need a Vietnamese number, for example for a longer stay, a local SIM or one of the few eSIM plans with a number is the better choice. How to run both lines side by side is explained in our dual SIM guide.

Set up before you fly to Vietnam

1. Check that your phone supports eSIM and is not locked to your home carrier; our compatibility guide shows how.
2. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi a day or two before departure. Our guide on when to activate an eSIM explains when the validity starts.
3. Install the apps you will need before you leave: Grab for rides and food delivery, a translation app with Vietnamese downloaded for offline use, your map app with offline areas, and Zalo or WhatsApp for messages.
4. After landing, switch the travel line on, choose it for mobile data and turn on data roaming for that line. Keep your home SIM for calls and SMS, with its data roaming off.
5. If nothing connects, our troubleshooting guide lists the usual fixes in order.

Step-by-step installation instructions are in our guides for iPhone and Android.