Airalo vs Nomad: scale against rewards, and the refund terms underneath both

At a glance

Price

Airalo prices Australians in Australian dollars off its own rate card. Nomad’s web store rendered US dollars when we checked it, and Nomad publishes nothing about which currencies it offers. Its Australian App Store listing mentions multi-currency payments without saying which. We could not confirm whether an Australian buyer is billed in Australian dollars, and we are not going to guess.

That means we cannot put these two in one column honestly. Here they are side by side in what each one charges, for ten gigabytes over thirty days.

Even allowing for conversion and a typical Australian card’s foreign transaction fee, Nomad is cheaper on every line of that table, and the Europe gap in particular is large.

Nomad also runs the deeper long-tail. Its Global-EX range goes to 365 days of validity, with fifty gigabytes over a year at US$129. Airalo has nothing that shape. If you are away for months rather than weeks, that is a real structural advantage.

Two caveats before you take the price at face value.

Nomad discounts constantly. Sale prices, seasonal codes, multi-plan codes. That is good for you at checkout and it makes any price table a snapshot. Ours is dated for that reason.

Airalo’s global plans are its weak spot too. Neither of these is the cheapest way to buy a genuinely worldwide plan, and if that is what you need, price both against the regional alternatives first.

The fair use question, where Airalo is clearly ahead

Airalo publishes a complete answer:

“Our unlimited data packages don’t have a fixed total data cap. However, to keep the network running fairly for everyone, when you use more than 3GB in a day, we’ll slow down (or ‘throttle’) your internet speed to 1 Mbps for the rest of that day… Your daily allowance resets every 24 hours, counted from the time you activated your eSIM.”

They even describe what 1 Mbps feels like, which almost nobody does.

Nomad gives three answers depending on where you look.

• Nomad’s own country pages describe the generic throttle as 512 kbps after the daily high speed allocation, resetting every 24 hours.
• An independent plan database lists Nomad’s Japan unlimited as 2GB per day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
• Nomad’s terms and conditions do not mention throttling at all.

We are not accusing Nomad of hiding anything. The likeliest explanation is that the throttled speed varies by plan and their generic pages have not kept up. But the effect on a buyer is the same: you cannot find out, before you pay, what your unlimited plan slows down to. 512 kbps and 1 Mbps are not the same experience. One will carry a video call badly and the other will not carry one at all.

This is the single clearest point in Airalo’s favour, and it is checkable in about ninety seconds on each company’s own site.

Our international daily high-speed eSIM guide explains how daily allowances and reduced speeds work across plans.

Hotspot

Airalo:

“You can also use your device as a personal hotspot to share your connection with other devices. There is no limit on tethering or the number of devices you connect.”

Nomad states that its eSIMs support tethering and hotspot on its country pages, and publishes no limit. That is better than a low cap and worse than an explicit “no limit”, because an unstated limit can be applied later and a published one cannot.

Both prohibit reselling or commercially sharing the connection, which is standard.

For a couple sharing one data plan, or anyone working off a laptop, Airalo is the safer choice because the permission is in writing.

Rewards, where Nomad wins by a distance

This is closer than it first looks, and which one wins depends on how much you buy.

Airalo’s Airmoney is tiered by lifetime spend, and the rate is published:

Airalo’s referral is also localised: an Australian referrer earns A$5, in Australian dollars, rather than a US figure that moves with the rate.

Nomad publishes a flat programme:

• 25 points per US$5 spent, redeemed at 100 points to US$1. That is a straight 5 per cent back.
• 200 bonus points, worth US$2, on any repeat purchase of 10GB or more, up to five times a calendar month.
• Points can be taken as bonus data, extra days or extended validity instead of money off.
• Points expire after six months, except points issued as a refund, which do not expire.
• Referral is separate: US$5 to the referrer and US$5 off for the new customer, capped at five friends.
• There is a free starter eSIM for new users, which no other provider in this comparison offers. Sources disagree on whether it is 1GB or 500MB, so treat the size as unconfirmed.

So the answer depends on your spend. Below about US$200 of lifetime purchases, Nomad is ahead: five per cent plus the repeat bonuses and the free trial beats Airalo’s 5 or 6 per cent base. Once you cross Platinum, Airalo pays ten per cent and Nomad has no answer to it.

For most holidaymakers buying one or two eSIMs a year, Nomad. For a frequent traveller who has already spent a couple of hundred dollars with Airalo, Airalo.

Two honest notes on Nomad’s. Points at six months’ expiry are a use-it-or-lose-it mechanic. And refund-to-points is a retention device: converting a refund into non-expiring credit keeps your money inside Nomad. That is not a scandal, plenty of retailers do it, but choose the card refund if you want your money back rather than a balance.

One honest note on Airalo’s. Airmoney expires, and it is denominated in US dollars, so an Australian’s balance moves with the exchange rate between earning it and spending it.

Refunds, where the shapes differ more than the windows

Nomad’s binding terms are narrow:

“Customers may request a refund or a change prior to the installation and activation of the E-sim or there is a known technical problem originating from NOMAD after activation of E-sim.”

Read that carefully. There is no cooling off period after activation unless the fault is Nomad’s, and the fault has to be a known technical problem originating from them. Third-party summaries add a thirty day purchase window and say that plans bought with a discount code are non-refundable, but we could not verify either against Nomad’s own terms or help centre, so we are labelling both unconfirmed rather than repeating them as fact. Given how heavily Nomad markets with discount codes, if the code exclusion is real it would affect a large share of buyers. Ask before you buy with a code.

Airalo’s is more structured but not more generous. The consumer withdrawal right “expires on the earlier of 14 days after making the purchase, or the date on which the eSIM is activated.” The fault route runs thirty days from the problem, but Airalo gets ten days to attempt a fix first, and on a one week trip that outlasts the holiday.

Where Nomad is genuinely better is payout. Card refunds in three to five business days, or points immediately. Airalo quotes seven to ten business days and “up to 30 business days” in its terms, which is about six weeks.

Where Airalo is better is that its refund rules are all in one place and all published. Nomad’s are split across terms, a help centre article and third-party reporting that we could not confirm.

Full write-ups: how an Airalo refund works and how a Nomad refund works.

One Airalo trap worth repeating: two of its four self-service refund reasons only offer Airmoney. Cash back on those means talking to a human.

Extras and edge cases

Calls and SMS. Airalo sells voice and SMS on USA, UK, Europe and Global plans. Nomad’s UK range includes bundles with minutes and texts, which is unusual and useful if you need a British number’s worth of calling.

Long trips. Nomad’s Global-EX plans run to 365 days. Airalo’s longest validity is shorter. For a gap year or a long work posting, that is decisive.

Deleting the eSIM. Airalo is blunt: “No, eSIMs typically can’t be reinstalled. We highly recommend you don’t remove any eSIM that you still intend to use.” Nomad publishes less on this, and third-party reporting says single-use eSIMs are non-refundable once removed. On either, disable the line rather than deleting it while you troubleshoot. Our Airalo sequence is here.

Support hours. Airalo publishes 24/7 chat and email. Nomad’s homepage claims 24/7 support; at least one independent reviewer describes its live chat as business hours only. We could not resolve that from Nomad’s own material, so treat the hours as unconfirmed rather than either figure as fact.

The Australian angle

Neither of these is Australian and neither pretends to be.

Airalo contracts through a Singapore entity, under the laws of England and Wales with exclusive English jurisdiction, and caps its total liability at US$100.

Nomad has no Australian entity, office or support hours that we could find, and its terms make no reference to Australian Consumer Law. Its “no refund after activation” clause sits awkwardly against Australian consumer guarantees, which apply to services supplied to Australian consumers regardless of what a contract says, and which cannot be excluded by a term.

Neither of those clauses removes your rights. Both make them harder to exercise over a thirty dollar data plan.

Which one for an Australian traveller

Choose Nomad if price is the deciding factor, especially in South East Asia or Europe, you buy more than one eSIM a year and want the rewards, you want a free trial before committing, you need a plan that stays valid for months, or you want UK calls and texts.

Choose Airalo if you want prices in Australian dollars with no conversion risk, you want the throttle threshold published before you buy, you need tethering permission in writing, you want all the refund rules in one place, or you want the largest catalogue in the category.

Choose neither if you want an Australian company on the other end of the email, Australian dollars end to end, and a published data policy in the same place as the price. That is what we do, and our destination pages show the current plans and prices.

Questions people actually ask

Is Nomad cheaper than Airalo?

On the plans we compared, yes, on every destination. Nomad charges US dollars and Airalo charges Australian dollars, so your real cost depends on the rate and your card’s foreign transaction fee, but the gap is wide enough that conversion does not close it. Nomad also discounts frequently.

Does Nomad charge in Australian dollars?

We could not confirm it. Nomad’s web store showed US dollars and their published payment information lists card brands without naming currencies. Airalo runs an Australian dollar rate card.

What speed does Nomad throttle you to?

Nomad’s country pages say 512 kbps. An independent plan database lists 1 Mbps for at least one Japan plan. Nomad’s terms and conditions do not mention throttling at all. Airalo publishes 1 Mbps after 3GB a day on every unlimited plan.

Which has better rewards?

It depends on your spend. Nomad pays a flat five per cent plus a US$2 bonus on repeat purchases of 10GB or more, up to five times a month, plus US$5 each way on referrals and a free starter eSIM. Airalo’s Airmoney is tiered from 5% to 10% by lifetime spend, so it only overtakes Nomad once you have spent about US$200 with them. Airalo’s referral pays Australians A$5 in Australian dollars.

Can I get a refund from Nomad after activating?

Only if there is a known technical problem originating from Nomad. Their terms provide no cooling off after activation. Third-party sources say discount code purchases are non-refundable, but we could not verify that against Nomad’s own material.

Which pays refunds faster?

Nomad. Three to five business days to your card, or immediately as points that do not expire. Airalo quotes seven to ten business days and up to 30 business days in its terms.

Can I use a hotspot on both?

Yes. Airalo states there is no limit on tethering or the number of devices. Nomad says tethering is supported but publishes no limit either way.

Which is better for a long trip?

Nomad, for the Global-EX range, which runs to 365 days of validity. Airalo’s longest plans are shorter.

Sources

Airalo pricing from their own Australian dollar rate card, and policy from their Terms of Use (last updated July 2026), Unlimited Data Plans Fair Use Policy and Help Centre. Nomad pricing from their own country pages in US dollars, and policy from their terms and conditions, Nomad Points help article and refunds help article. Items we could not confirm against a primary source are labelled as unconfirmed in the text. All retrieved 17 to 20 August 2026. We re-check every price in this article monthly.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.