I Stopped Paying $200 for Roaming — My Honest NomadeSIM Review

My sister flew in from Toronto last spring, landed at LAX, and texted me four hours later from the hotel Wi-Fi: “my phone bill is going to be insane.” It was. Her carrier charged her something like twelve bucks a day just to use the maps app I take for granted. By the end of the week she was staring down a roaming bill north of two hundred dollars, most of it racked up before she’d even figured out the rental car.

That was the trip that finally pushed me to figure out eSIMs. I’ve now run NomadeSIM on a few U.S. trips and handed it to a couple of friends visiting from abroad, and this is the real rundown — what it costs, what setup actually feels like, where it shines, and where it annoyed me.

Quick context before we dig in: NomadeSIM isn’t some fly-by-night app. It covers 200+ destinations and sits at 4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot across tens of thousands of reviews, with a 4.8-star App Store rating. So this isn’t a “will they take my money and vanish” situation. The real question is whether it’s the right way to get online in the States.

Why staying connected in the U.S. is weirdly annoying

If you live here, you probably never think about it. If you’re visiting, you hit a wall fast.

Your home carrier wants a daily roaming fee, and that adds up painfully on a two-week trip. The airport SIM kiosks are overpriced, and the lines are brutal after a red-eye. Buying a prepaid SIM at a drugstore means popping out your real SIM, keeping that tiny plastic chip somewhere you won’t lose it, and giving up your home number for the whole trip.

And hotel Wi-Fi? Fine in the lobby, useless the second you’re in an Uber or standing at a trailhead with no idea which way the car went. For the stuff you actually do on a trip — rideshare, maps, splitting a check on Venmo, posting the good taco photo before it goes cold — you need data that just works the moment you land. That’s the entire pitch for a travel eSIM, and once you’ve used one, going back to roaming feels silly.

Okay, what even is an eSIM?

Skip ahead if you already know this. An eSIM is a SIM built into your phone that you activate with software instead of a physical chip. You buy a data plan, scan a QR code (or tap through the app), and your phone picks up a second line just for data. Your regular SIM stays put, so you keep your home number for calls and texts. The eSIM only handles the internet.

Most phones from the last five years or so support it — iPhone XR and up, Samsung Galaxy S20+, Pixel 3 and newer. If yours is reasonably recent, you’re almost certainly fine. Still worth a thirty-second check before you buy.

Why I landed on NomadeSIM over the dozen other apps

There are a lot of these apps now, and on the surface most of them look identical. A few things made NomadeSIM stick for me.

Hotspot works on every plan, with no cap. This is the big one. My sister’s visiting and wants to use my data on her laptop? Fine. I’m on a day trip and sharing with a friend? Also fine. Plenty of competitors throttle or cap tethering — Holafly in particular limits it — and NomadeSIM just doesn’t. That genuinely changes how you use the thing.

Your validity starts on first use, not the second you pay. I hate plans that start counting down the moment the charge clears. Buy your eSIM a week early, have it sitting on your phone ready to go, and the clock doesn’t start until you actually switch it on at your destination. Nothing wasted.

You keep your home number. Dual-SIM means your real line stays live for the texts and calls you can’t miss, while NomadeSIM runs your data quietly in the background.

The network’s legit. NomadeSIM leans on Tier-1 carriers — in the States that means the big names like AT&T — so you’re not stuck on some third-rate network. Speeds depend on where you are, like with any provider, but the backbone is solid.

Top-ups are painless. Run low mid-trip and you add data right inside the app without buying a whole new plan. Small thing, big quality-of-life difference when you’re out and your meter’s blinking.

Setting it up — here’s what the five minutes actually looked like

I’ll be straight with you: I expected more of a hassle than this was.

I picked a U.S. plan in the app the night before my friend arrived, paid, and got a QR code. Installing it took maybe two taps. The whole thing was done in under five minutes while I was half-watching TV. When she landed, she switched the eSIM on, flipped data roaming to on (yes, you leave roaming on — that’s how the eSIM connects to the local network), and she had bars before she’d found baggage claim.

The one thing I’d flag: install it before you travel, while you’ve still got reliable Wi-Fi. Activation needs a connection, and the whole point is to not be scrambling for internet the second you land. Set it up at home, leave it switched off, and turn it on when you arrive. That’s it.

NomadeSIM U.S. plans and real prices

Here’s the part you actually came for. Prices shift, so always check the live numbers before you buy — but as of writing this, the U.S. lineup looks like this:

Plan	Data	Validity	Price
Starter	1 GB	7 days	$4
Light	3 GB	30 days	$8
Standard	5 GB	30 days	$13
Plus	10 GB	30 days	$19
Heavy	20 GB	30 days	$35
Max	50 GB	30 days	$49
Unlimited (day plans)	Unlimited	3–20 days	$11–$49

Entry price is $4 for 1 GB over a week, and at the bigger tiers it drops to well under a dollar a gig. For context, that’s a sliver of what daily roaming runs you across a trip of any real length — a $19 plan covers two full weeks for the price of a day or two of carrier roaming fees.

How I’d actually choose:

A long weekend, mostly on Wi-Fi? The 1 GB or 3 GB plan is plenty. You’re using data for maps and messaging, not marathoning Netflix.

A one-to-two-week vacation where you’re out all day? Go 5 GB or 10 GB. The 10 GB at $19 is the sweet spot for most people, and it’s what I’d grab for a standard trip without thinking twice.

Working remotely, video calls, lots of tethering to a laptop? The 20 GB plan or an unlimited day plan. If you’re online all day for a set stretch, the unlimited day plans are the move so you’re never babysitting a meter.

One money tip: if you’re traveling with a partner or buying for the family, the THANK25 code takes 25% off when you grab two or more eSIMs. That stacks up quick.

Check current NomadeSIM U.S. plans and prices →

The honest pros and cons after a few trips

No product’s perfect, and I’d rather you hear the trade-offs from me than discover them at the airport.

What I loved: the uncapped hotspot, the clean app, the fact that validity doesn’t start until you flip it on, and no surprise fees or sneaky subscription in the background. Setup really was as fast as they claim, which almost never happens.

What bugged me: it’s data-only, so there’s no U.S. phone number attached — you can’t get a regular call or SMS on it. For most people that’s a non-issue, since you keep your home number on your main SIM and use WhatsApp, iMessage, or Signal anyway, but it’s worth knowing going in. Data doesn’t roll over either, so if you don’t use it, it’s gone when the plan expires — buy roughly what you think you’ll need and top up if you come up short, rather than over-buying. And if you’re a true data hog chasing the absolute cheapest unlimited plan, a couple of competitors undercut NomadeSIM on the very heaviest tiers.

Who NomadeSIM is (and isn’t) for

It’s a great fit if you’re visiting the U.S. and want data working the second you land, if you’ll tether to a laptop or share with the people you’re traveling with, or if you want to keep your own number live while you’re here. Doing a multi-stop trip across several countries? The regional and global plans mean you never swap a thing.

It’s probably not your pick if you need an actual U.S. phone number for calls and texts, or if you’re here for months burning through unlimited data every single day — in that case a local prepaid carrier or an unlimited-focused provider might pencil out better.

Quick questions people keep asking me

Can I use WhatsApp and iMessage? Yep. It’s data-only, so anything that runs over data works fine, and you keep your home number on your main SIM for everything else.

Does it come with a U.S. phone number? No — the standard U.S. plans are data-only. (NomadeSIM has started adding plans with real numbers in a few regions, but don’t count on it for a U.S. trip right now.)

Does hotspot really work with no cap? It does, on every plan. It’s the main reason I recommend it over a couple of rivals.

What if I run out of data? Top up inside the app. No need to buy a fresh plan or reinstall anything.

Is there a way to try before committing? New users can grab a free 1 GB trial, so you can see how it performs in your area before paying for a bigger plan.

My verdict

Think back to my sister’s phone bill. The whole reason I went down this road was to never do that to a guest — or to myself — again. NomadeSIM solved it cleanly. It’s not the rock-bottom cheapest option on the heaviest plans, and it won’t hand you a phone number, but for landing in the U.S. and being online within five minutes, with a hotspot that actually works, it’s the easiest recommendation I’ve made in a long time.

If you’ve got a trip coming up, set it up before you fly so it’s live the moment you touch down. Start with the free 1 GB trial to test it, or just grab the 10 GB plan and you’re sorted for a couple of weeks.

Get your NomadeSIM U.S. eSIM here →