Roaming Charges by Country (2026) — Full Table

Carrier roaming charges hurt most in island nations and remote territories. AT&T and Verizon charge the same flat $10/day in Samoa as in France — but in Samoa, an eSIM costs $19.65/GB due to limited network infrastructure and sparse competition among eSIM providers. A week of data in Samoa costs $58.95 via eSIM versus $70 via roaming — still cheaper, but the margin is smaller than in any other destination.

Caribbean island nations — Haiti, the Bahamas, Antigua, Grenada, and the British Virgin Islands — cluster in the top ten because their small populations cannot support the low-cost eSIM provider competition found in larger markets. Greenland, with under 57,000 residents and a single dominant carrier, reaches $8.03/GB. Angola and Sudan sit high due to network monopolies and low eSIM provider penetration. In every case, an eSIM still saves money over the carrier daily pass — but the percentage drops from 99% in Thailand to 16% in Samoa.

Thailand offers the cheapest eSIM data on the planet at $0.29/GB. A full week of heavy data use (10GB) costs $2.90 versus $70 on a carrier pass — a saving of $67.10 on a single trip. France and Germany follow at $0.61/GB, driven by a competitive eSIM market and high-speed 5G infrastructure from Orange, SFR, Bouygues, and Deutsche Telekom. Japan at $0.61/GB benefits from IIJ, Docomo, and SoftBank all competing aggressively on eSIM wholesale rates.

T-Mobile includes free 2G data in 215+ countries on the Magenta plan. T-Mobile's “free roaming” is throttled to 256 Kbps — too slow for Google Maps navigation, photo uploads, or video calls. At that speed, a 5MB map tile takes 160 seconds to load. T-Mobile's free tier covers texts and call forwarding, but not usable data. Some UK carriers on pre-Brexit legacy plans still include EU destinations within their allowance, but those plans are closed to new customers. Cheapest roaming is still more expensive than an eSIM in every destination included in this table.

T-Mobile Magenta includes international data in 215+ countries at no daily charge. The speed is throttled to 256 Kbps. At that speed, Google Maps takes over two minutes to load a single route. A 10 MB Instagram photo takes 5 minutes to upload. A WhatsApp voice call drops constantly below 500 Kbps. The “free roaming” tier covers texts and basic call forwarding — not usable internet.

Some UK carriers (EE and O2 on pre-2022 plans) still include EU roaming within the customer's existing data allowance under legacy agreement terms. These plans are closed to new subscribers. Vodafone and EE both introduced daily EU roaming fees for new plan customers after Brexit. Customers on pre-Brexit grandfathered plans pay nothing in the EU — but their plans carry higher monthly base costs that offset the roaming savings. Free roaming on any current carrier plan is either throttled to an unusable speed or restricted to customers on plans that no longer exist.

Europe is the cheapest region for eSIM data, averaging $1.20/GB across 52 countries. The competitive pressure from EU digital single market rules keeps wholesale data costs low. Southeast Asia follows at $1.41/GB across 11 countries, driven by Thailand and Vietnam at the bottom of the global price range. Africa is the most expensive region at $4.10/GB on average — 49 countries with thin eSIM provider competition and legacy mobile infrastructure.

Every US carrier publishes its international rate card online, but the pages bury the per-MB rates below the fold. The headline figures are the day pass prices, which look reasonable until you multiply them by trip length. Here is where to find the real numbers:

When AT&T sells you roaming data in Japan, they buy capacity from NTT Docomo at a negotiated wholesale rate — typically under $0.50/GB — and charge you $10/day. When Airalo sells you a Japan eSIM, they buy the same Docomo capacity at near-wholesale prices and pass most of the savings to you. The result: $0.61/GB instead of the carrier's effective rate of $150-200/GB on a day pass.

An eSIM installs as a second line on any eSIM-compatible phone. Setup takes under two minutes before departure. Your home carrier SIM stays active for calls and texts via WiFi Calling. The eSIM handles all data at local rates. You keep your phone number and pay nothing for data roaming. Four providers cover the 205 destinations in this table: Airalo (largest coverage), Holafly (unlimited plans), Saily (budget-first), and Nomad (North America focus).

See the full side-by-side provider comparison at /carrier-roaming-comparison. Check device compatibility at /esim-compatible-phones.