Nomad alternatives, and what leaving actually costs you

Why people look for a Nomad alternative

Not price. Nomad usually wins on price. Three other reasons come up.

The refund terms. Nomad now renders Australian dollars for Australian shoppers, so currency is no longer the reason to leave. The sharper question is what happens after activation.

The refund terms. They are the narrowest of any provider we have compared. There is effectively no cooling off period once a plan is activated unless the fault is theirs.

The unlimited throttle. Nomad’s own pages give three different answers about what their unlimited plans slow to: 512 kbps in one place, 1 Mbps in another, and silence in a third. That is not a small discrepancy, and it means you cannot know what you bought.

If none of those apply to you, Nomad is a good buy and this page is mostly telling you to stay. The longer version of that argument is in is Nomad eSIM worth it.

The price comparison is now in Australian dollars

Nomad’s Australian storefront rendered AUD automatically on 25 August 2026. The earlier dual-currency table is therefore stale and has been removed.

Current 10GB/30-day examples:

Nomad’s China and Canada pages showed higher regular prices alongside the sales, so check the live total. This is why the alternative decision should begin with the exact destination and date rather than an old provider-wide price claim.

Full nine-provider table, dated and re-checked monthly: travel eSIM prices in Australia.

1. Us, if you want the price in the currency you pay in

Where we can beat them: destination by destination, when our fixed AUD price is below Nomad’s current AUD total. Check the exact live plan rather than carrying an older US-dollar comparison forward.

We are The SIM Shop Pty Ltd, ABN 50 699 035 704 and ACN 699 035 704, Brisbane, online only. Prices are in Australian dollars. The SIM Shop is not registered for GST, so GST is not charged.

What you give up by moving to us, and this list is longer than usual.

Nomad’s rewards programme is better than ours for many regular buyers. Five per cent back, a repeat-purchase bonus, referrals and a free trial are fully published. Our public SIM Shop Credit terms offer 5% on eligible spend with caps and a 12-month expiry, but no equivalent repeat bonus or free starter eSIM.

We publish plan-level high-speed allowances and reset rules, but not a universal numeric reduced-speed figure where supplier data is absent. Nomad’s inconsistent generic figures remain difficult to compare.

We now publish the supported carrier or carriers on each exact plan. Nomad also names networks on destination pages, so compare the exact plan rather than the brand alone.

Nomad’s live AUD prices can be lower than ours. Its captured Asia Pacific plan was A$5.64 below our seven-country Southeast Asia plan, but the country lists differ, so check the route before the headline price.

2. Ubigi, if you use a lot of data

Where they beat Nomad: Ubigi bills Australians in Australian dollars, so there is no conversion. Europe A$26.00, the UK A$19.00, the USA A$24.00, Vietnam A$22.00.

The real reason to look at Ubigi is the unlimited terms. They publish 25 to 60 gigabytes per plan depending on destination, then 2 Mbps, which is the most headroom and the fastest throttled speed of any published policy we found. Against Nomad’s three contradictory figures, that is not a close contest. Ubigi is the retail brand of Transatel, owned by NTT.

What you give up. Nomad’s rewards programme, entirely. Ubigi runs nothing comparable. Ubigi’s terms are governed by French law with disputes in Paris. Their regional Asia plan at A$48.00 is one of the dearest in that row.

3. Airalo, if you want tethering guaranteed in writing

Where they beat Nomad: Australian dollar billing. Thailand A$16.00, Japan A$26.00, the UK A$27.50, New Zealand A$35.00.

Airalo is the largest catalogue in the category, and their fair use policy is the only one we found that states there is “no limit on tethering or the number of devices.” If you plan to run a laptop off your phone, that sentence is worth money.

Their loyalty programme is the only one that competes with Nomad’s on structure: tiered at 5, 6, 7 and 10 per cent by lifetime spend, with a localised A$5 referral for Australia. Whether it beats Nomad depends on how much you spend. Nomad’s flat five per cent plus repeat bonus is better for ordinary buyers; Airalo’s top tier is better if you buy constantly.

What you give up. Airalo’s unlimited plans allow 3GB a day then drop to 1 Mbps, which is at the low end. Its destination pricing can sit above Nomad’s live AUD offer, and there is no free trial.

4. SimCorner, if you are going to Thailand or want a physical SIM

Where they can beat Nomad: a current destination price or an exact product covered by SimCorner’s 5% price-beat terms. Regional Asia was A$34.00 in the dated comparison, against Nomad’s current A$29.31, so Nomad now leads that captured row.

They have traded since 2013, they are the only provider here that will post you a physical SIM if your phone does not support eSIM, and they hold 4.2 stars from 345 reviews on ProductReview.com.au.

What you give up. Nomad’s rewards, and Nomad’s prices on most destinations. SimCorner’s refund policy covers “Sim cards and/or Accessory” and never uses the word eSIM. Their Europe Unlimited plan publishes “3GB/day (5G/4G), then unlimited @128kbps”, the lowest throttled figure we found anywhere.

5. Saily, if you want the throttle stated once and clearly

Where they beat Nomad: nowhere on price. Saily’s US$10.99 Thailand and US$17.99 Japan sit just above Nomad’s numbers, in the same currency.

Where they beat Nomad on terms: their unlimited policy is stated exactly once and unambiguously. 3GB or 5GB per day depending on the country, then 1 Mbps, resetting at local midnight. No second version elsewhere on the site. Saily is NordVPN’s eSIM brand and trades in Australia through CyberQuay Pty Ltd, a Sydney company.

What you give up. Saily still does not offer Australian-dollar pricing, while Nomad now does. No rewards programme comparable to Nomad’s. Their Australian review record is 2.5 stars from 13 reviews on ProductReview.com.au.

6. Simify, if you want a long multi-country trip priced simply

Where they beat Nomad: on shape rather than price. Simify charges A$49 for 10GB across sixteen destinations, and their long-stay tiers go to 100GB over 90 days at A$219, priced the same for every destination. Very few providers sell anything that shape.

They also publish both unlimited numbers, at roughly one to one and a half gigabytes a day before throttling to about 3 Mbps, which is the fastest throttled speed in this comparison.

What you give up. Nearly everything on price for a normal trip. Simify’s flat A$49 is often above Nomad’s live AUD destination price. Simify also runs three parallel refund routes with inconsistent conditions, so its paperwork is no clearer than Nomad’s.

7. Holafly, if you might cancel before you travel

Where they beat Nomad: the refund window, and only the refund window. Holafly publishes six months on an unactivated eSIM, which is the longest in this category. Nomad’s is effectively nothing once activated.

What you give up. A thirty day Holafly plan is A$117. They publish no throttle figure at all for their unlimited plans, and they cap hotspot use at one gigabyte a day.

Which swap for which problem

What we could not verify

The discount code refund question. Several third party sites assert that Nomad excludes orders paid for with a discount code from refunds. We could not find that clause in Nomad’s own terms or help centre, and we are not going to repeat a claim about a competitor that we cannot source to their own page. If you intend to pay with a code and a refund matters to you, ask Nomad in writing before you buy and keep the answer.

Which of the three throttle figures is current. We found 512 kbps, 1 Mbps and no figure at all across their own material. We do not know which governs.

Australian-dollar display is no longer unresolved. The Australian storefront rendered AUD automatically on 25 August 2026. Settlement should still be checked on the final payment and statement if a fee would change the choice.

Questions people actually ask

Is Nomad actually cheaper?

Sometimes. It now displays AUD, so compare its exact live price directly. On 25 August 2026 it led the captured China, Canada and 14-country Asia Pacific examples, with the first two marked as sales.

Which alternative has the best loyalty programme?

Airalo, but only if you spend enough to reach the upper tiers. At ordinary volumes Nomad’s flat five per cent plus repeat bonus pays more. Ours is public Australian-dollar store credit rather than cash, with caps and a 12-month expiry.

Does any alternative offer a free trial?

Not among the providers on this page. That is Nomad’s alone.

What happens to my rewards balance if I switch?

That is a question for Nomad and their published terms, not for us, and the answer will depend on the balance and how long it has sat there. Read the terms before you assume a balance transfers or survives.

Which alternative publishes the clearest unlimited policy?

Ubigi, at 25 to 60GB per plan then 2 Mbps. Saily is the clearest per-day policy at 3 to 5GB then 1 Mbps. Our exact plans publish their allowance and reset basis, but not a universal numeric reduced-speed figure where supplier data is absent.

Can I keep my Australian number on any of these?

On all of them. A travel eSIM is a second line, so your Australian SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts while the eSIM carries data. Turn data roaming off on the Australian line before you go.

Should I just stay with Nomad?

Yes if you buy travel data often enough for five per cent plus repeat bonuses to matter, or its live AUD price wins for your exact destination. Those are real advantages and most alternatives do not match all of them.

Sources

Nomad’s AUD storefront and China, Canada and APAC plan examples were captured from its own live pages on 25 August 2026. Other provider comparisons retain their dated live-page captures, with full methodology in travel eSIM prices in Australia. Nomad terms and rewards from nomadesim.com terms and conditions and their published rewards and help pages. Alternative provider terms from Airalo’s fair use policy, Saily’s Terms of Service, Ubigi’s Terms and Conditions, Holafly’s refund policy, SimCorner’s price-beat page and Simify’s live refund policies. The discount-code refund claim remains unverified because it does not appear in Nomad’s own published material.

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