Airalo prices 3 days of unlimited India data at $20.50 against $11.50 for China, and 30 days at $99 against $69, both read live on Airalo on 2026-09-17. Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan all sit close to the China figure at every length, which makes India the one Asia Pacific country priced apart from its neighbours.
Because Airalo prices it that way, and has for as long as the current package list has been live. Read on 17 September 2026, the India page lists 3 days of unlimited data at $20.50, against $11.50 for the same 3 days in China. At 30 days the gap is still there, $99.00 for India against $69.00 for China. Both countries sell unlimited data with no cap or throttle stated on the page.
The two eSIMs run on different networks, VI India for the India plan and China Unicom for the China plan, and Airalo does not publish a reason for the spread on either page. What is visible is the size of it. At the shortest window India costs 78% more than China. At the longest window the premium narrows to 43%, but it never closes.
That spread is the whole story most comparison pages miss. A search for why an India eSIM costs so much turns up a Reddit thread guessing at causes and a handful of thin round-ups quoting per gigabyte figures pulled from different months. None of them put the India page and the China page side by side, read on the same day, which is the only way to see that the gap is real and not a rounding artefact of two different sources.
The gap is also consistent across the whole ladder, not just at one length. Every duration Airalo sells for India costs more than the matching China duration, and the dollar difference grows with the length of the plan even as the percentage difference shrinks. A traveller comparing only the 3-day price sees the widest percentage gap, and a traveller comparing only the 30-day price sees the widest dollar gap, which is part of why round-ups quoting a single number from a single month disagree with each other.
| Duration | India, VI India | China, China Unicom | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $20.50 | $11.50 | $9.00, 78% more |
| 5 days | $31.50 | $19.00 | $12.50, 66% more |
| 7 days | $39.50 | $27.00 | $12.50, 46% more |
| 10 days | $46.00 | $35.00 | $11.00, 31% more |
| 15 days | $62.00 | $49.00 | $13.00, 27% more |
| 30 days | $99.00 | $69.00 | $30.00, 43% more |
The full India ladder on Airalo, read the same day, runs from $20.50 at 3 days to $99.00 at 30 days, and every length in between is priced on its own step rather than a flat per-day rate. The cost per day falls as the window gets longer, from $6.83 a day at 3 days down to $3.30 a day at 30 days, so a trip already planned in full is cheaper to cover with one long plan than with two short ones bought back to back.
That drop-off matters most for anyone tempted to buy a short plan twice rather than a long one once. Two 15-day plans back to back cost $124.00 in total. One 30-day plan covers the same period for $99.00, a saving of $25.00 for buying the longer window directly.
The same shape shows up on China's ladder, just at a lower starting price, so the degressive pricing itself is not the India story. What is specific to India is the level the whole ladder sits at, roughly $9 to $30 above China at every step, which is why the total for a two-week India trip lands closer to what a month in China costs.
| Duration | Price | Cost per day |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $20.50 | $6.83 |
| 5 days | $31.50 | $6.30 |
| 7 days | $39.50 | $5.64 |
| 10 days | $46.00 | $4.60 |
| 15 days | $62.00 | $4.13 |
| 30 days | $99.00 | $3.30 |
Yes, and by a wide margin. Checked on the same provider on the same day, Airalo's other big Asia Pacific destinations all sit close together while India sits apart. Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan are all priced within two dollars of each other at 3 days and within twenty dollars of each other at 30 days. India is $9 to $30 above every one of them at every length checked.
That makes India the single outlier in the region rather than one of several expensive markets. For a closer look at two of the countries in the comparison, see the Japan eSIM guide and the Thailand eSIM guide, and for how a travel eSIM's validity and activation actually work before you buy any of them, read how a travel eSIM works.
For anyone building a multi-country Asia Pacific trip, the practical effect is that India is the one leg where waiting to buy on arrival, or shopping a second provider, is worth the extra few minutes. On the rest of the route the four countries above are close enough to each other in price that the choice comes down to network coverage rather than cost, the same flat pattern we found when three days of eSIM data priced the same across four separate countries.
| Country | Network | 3 days | 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | VI India | $20.50 | $99.00 |
| China | China Unicom | $11.50 | $69.00 |
| Vietnam | VNPT | $11.50 | $69.00 |
| Thailand | True | $9.50 | $49.00 |
| Indonesia | 3 (Hutchison) | $11.00 | $69.00 |
| Japan | Softbank | $11.50 | $69.00 |
On Airalo, the cheapest way to cover a trip is to match the plan length to the trip length rather than buying a round number out of habit. A 3-day plan at $20.50 covers a long weekend for $6.83 a day, but a traveller staying 10 days pays $4.60 a day by buying the 10-day plan once instead of stacking three short ones.
Airalo is not the only seller of India data. Some providers price India by a fixed data allowance instead of unlimited, which can undercut an unlimited plan for a traveller who only needs maps and messaging rather than video. That trade, a lower price against a data cap, is worth weighing against your own usage before you buy, and the validity and activation mechanics work the same way across sellers, covered in how a travel eSIM works.
Check current India eSIM prices on AiraloThe exact page these prices came from, so you can confirm today's rate before you buy.Tracked on mobile web only, the page works on desktop too.
For most visitors, yes, despite the premium over the rest of the region. A tourist SIM bought in India in person typically means an identity check at the airport or in the city, which takes time most arriving travellers would rather not spend. An eSIM installed and tested before departure removes that step entirely, and $20.50 for 3 days of connectivity from landing is a small line against a trip already priced in flights and hotels.
The exception is a traveller adding India onto a longer Asia Pacific route who can shop the other legs on the same page. If China, Vietnam, Thailand or Japan are also on the itinerary, check whether travel insurance already bundles any connectivity before paying twice, covered in what travel insurance actually covers, and see the full India versus China figures again in the methodology behind these prices.
Airalo's own prices, read 17 September 2026, show the gap directly. 3 days of unlimited India data costs $20.50 against $11.50 for the same 3 days in China, a 78% premium. At 30 days the gap is $99.00 against $69.00, a 43% premium. The two plans run on different networks, VI India and China Unicom, and Airalo does not state a reason for the difference.
On Airalo, read 17 September 2026, India's unlimited data plans run $20.50 for 3 days, $31.50 for 5 days, $39.50 for 7 days, $46.00 for 10 days, $62.00 for 15 days and $99.00 for 30 days. The cost per day drops as the window lengthens, from $6.83 at 3 days to $3.30 at 30 days.
Yes. On the same Airalo pages read 17 September 2026, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan all price 3 days between $9.50 and $11.50 and 30 days between $49.00 and $69.00. India prices the same durations at $20.50 and $99.00, above every one of those countries at every length checked.
Match the plan length to the trip length rather than rounding up. One 10-day India plan at $46.00 works out to $4.60 a day, against $6.83 a day on the 3-day plan, both read on Airalo 17 September 2026. Travellers who only need maps and messaging can also check sellers with fixed data allowances, which sometimes undercut unlimited plans.
For most visitors, yes. A physical tourist SIM in India needs an in-person identity check on arrival, while an eSIM installs and activates before departure. Paying $20.50 for 3 days of unlimited data, the Airalo price read 17 September 2026, buys that convenience on a trip already priced in flights and hotels, even though it costs more than most of the region.