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eSIMcoffee

July 28, 2026

What "unlimited eSIM" actually means

Almost every unlimited plan slows down after a few GB a day. Here is where that number hides, and how to compare plans properly.

You buy an “unlimited” eSIM, land, use it all day — and by late afternoon Instagram stops loading. Nothing is broken. That is the fair-use policy, and it was there the whole time, just not on the page where you made the decision.

The number that matters

Nearly every unlimited plan on the market works the same way. You browse at full speed up to a daily allowance, usually 3 GB, and after that the speed drops — typically to 1 Mbps — until the counter resets, 24 hours after activation rather than at midnight.

At 1 Mbps you can still use WhatsApp, maps, email and social feeds. Streaming video in decent quality, or uploading a lot of photos, becomes painful.

So “unlimited” means no extra charge, not no limit.

Where that number usually lives

At the larger providers the daily cap exists and is documented — on a resources page, or inside the package details, and not on the card you click Buy on. Technically disclosed. Practically invisible.

There is a worse case: suppliers who publish no policy at all. Then there is no way to know whether the cap is 1 GB or 10 GB a day until you are already using it and something slows down.

How to compare properly

Looking at two unlimited plans, compare three things:

  1. How many GB a day at full speed. This is the real difference between plans. 3 GB/day is the market norm; less than that is restrictive for a trip involving maps and photos.
  2. What speed you get afterwards. 1 Mbps is still usable. 512 kbps is painful. 384 kbps is close to decorative.
  3. When the counter resets. Usually 24 hours after activation — which means activating at 11pm spends most of a day.

If a site does not answer those three before you pay, you are comparing prices in the dark.

How much you actually use

To calibrate, per day of travel:

  • Maps and navigation: 50–150 MB
  • WhatsApp and messaging: 50–100 MB
  • Scrolling social feeds: 300–800 MB
  • Video streaming: 700 MB–1.5 GB per hour

An ordinary sightseeing day without streaming rarely passes 1.5 GB. That is why 3 GB/day is comfortable for most people — and why the difference between plans only shows up if you watch video or tether a laptop.

What we do

We write the daily cap and the reduced speed on the plan card, before payment. Where a supplier does not disclose it, we write that too, in those words. Leaving it out and letting the plan look unlimited is the same thing as getting it wrong.

See the plans and their limits · Work out your own daily usage