Almost all travel eSIMs give a welcome discount to whoever joins with another user's code. The real amounts range from €2.50 to about €9 on plans that cost between €5 and €40, you get themonly once, and several are not money but credit to spend in that same store. So the honest conclusion comes first: the discount should not decide which eSIM you buy. Coverage at your destination decides; the code comes afterwards.
What each one gives
These are the 8 eSIMs we have published, with what whoever joins through the code receives. Each one carries the date it was checked: between 27 October 2026 and 1 November 2026.
| eSIM | What you get | Checked | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holafly | 10% discount | official source ↗ | |
| Saily | €4.00 discount (€8.00 on the Ultra plan) | official source ↗ | |
| eSIM io | €2.50 of io balance credit | official source ↗ | |
| Roamless | $10 of Roamless credit | official source ↗ | |
| Nomad | $5 off your first plan | official source ↗ | |
| Airalo | €3 off your first purchase | official source ↗ | |
| Kolet | €3 off | official source ↗ | |
| Eskimo | 500 MB of data, no expiry and no purchase needed | official source ↗ |
In fixed amount Saily, with €8.00 on its Ultra plan, and Roamless, with $10 of credit, give the most.Holafly is the only one that discounts a percentage, 10%, and that changes the sum depending on what you spend: on a €30 plan it is €3, and it only passes Saily's €8.00 from around €80 of purchase. For a normal trip, the fixed amount tends to be worth more than the percentage.
A discount is not the same as credit
This is the difference most often disguised on invitation screens, and it changes what the gift is worth.
- Discount on the plan: you pay less on that purchase and that is the end of it. This is what Airalo, Saily, Nomad, Holafly and Kolet do.
- Credit in an internal wallet: you are credited an amount that can only be used to buy data within that app. This is what eSIM io andRoamless do. It is not worse, but it ties you to that brand: if you do not come back, you do not spend it.
- A mix of the two: with Airalo andKolet, whoever joins receives a discount and whoever invites receives internal credit. It is not a symmetrical split even if the figure is the same.
Mind the currency and the cap
Two details that round numbers hide:
- Roamless and Nomad publish in dollars, not euros, even if they show you prices in euros. Their "$5" is worth whatever the exchange rate is that day. Airalo and Kolet are denominated in euros.
- Caps differ a lot. Nomad stops at 5 invitations. Airalo says explicitly in its FAQ that it has no limit. The rest do not publish a clear cap.
- And there are minimums. Saily does not apply the code on plans below €5, and Nomad requires a minimum purchase of $5. On the cheapest plans, the discount simply does not apply.
The mistakes that leave you without the discount
None of them can be fixed afterwards. This is the part of this guide that really saves money:
- Buying before entering the code. With eSIM io it must be entered in the app’s referral-code optionbefore the first top-up; with Saily and Kolet, in the checkout box. None of them applies it afterwards.
- Mixing up the box. The "referral code" box is usually different from the coupon one.
- Already having an account or a previous purchase. Kolet says it bluntly: the code does not work if you have already bought there or if you have already used its 1 GB gift.
- Not reaching the plan minimum, with Saily and Nomad.
- Already being on another promotion. Airalo warns that if you are benefiting from another offer of theirs, the referral discount may not apply to you.
Do they expire?
When the reward is credit, the date matters as much as the amount.Saily's points are valid for one year. Roamlesspublishes general campaign terms (6 months of validity and 10 days to add funds), but it is not clear that they apply to its referral programme, so it is worth checking the date in the app. For eSIM io we have not found any source that says.
What should decide your eSIM
With discounts of between €2.50 and €9, getting these four things right is worth far more than choosing the most generous code:
- Real coverage at your destination, and which local operator it connects to.
- Type of plan: by country, by region or global. A regional plan usually works out better if you are going to cross borders, and worse if you stay in one place.
- Fixed bundle or pay as you go. Roamless and eSIM io work with credit that is used up; the rest sell bundles with a fixed amount and validity.
- What happens to what you do not use. Worth checking beforehand: eSIM io, for example, warns in its terms that it does not refund unused data or expired plans.
Why we put our name to this comparison
The links in this guide lead to our store pages, and those pages contain our own referrals: if someone joins through them, we gain something. We say so here just as every store page does with its#referido tag, because it is exactly what this guide is teaching you to look for. Every figure comes from the programme's official source, not from the invitation screen, and in more than one case theydo not match: with Saily the published conditions lag behind the app. When that happens, we publish the stricter condition, which is the one you will meet when you pay. You can check it yourself: each store page links to its source and shows the date we looked at it.