Russia: Best Tourist eSIMs Reviewed (2024)

Are you planning to visit Russia soon and looking for the best travel eSIM to stay connected while exploring the country?

There are many eSIM providers (re)selling plans and packages for Russia, but not all are equal.

Some offer unlimited data, while others include a phone number for local, regional, or global use.

Some have blazing-fast speeds, while others have extended validity.

Whatever you need, there will be an eSIM for your liking.

In the case of Russia, I recommend one of these eSIM providers, which I have tested in numerous countries on multiple continents:

• Alosim
• Holafly
• Nomad

What do these eSIM providers offer?

eSIM	Packages	Prices	Data	Phone Number?	5G NR?	Discount Code(s)
Alosim	5	5 USD – 29 USD	1 GB for 7 days – 10 GB for 30 days	Yes (CA/US number) 1	No	PTW (5%)
Holafly	5	19 USD – 57 USD	Unlimited for 5 days – unlimited for 20 days	No	No	PHONETRAVELWIZ (5%)
Nomad	7	6 USD – 35 USD	1 GB for 7 days – 20 GB for 30 days	No	No	ADU123 (3 USD) 2

¹ Alosim allows you to pick a Canadian (CA) or American (US) phone number through its sister app Hushed, giving you credits worth 30 minutes (within Russia or from Russia to anywhere else) or 50 texts (same conditions as calling)
² if you have never purchased a Nomad eSIM, use code ADU123 for 3 USD off. On Tuesdays, use NOMADTUE for 10% off on plans of 10 GB or higher

What about eSIMs for world travelers who want to install one eSIM only – do global eSIMs exist?

Yes, they do!

eSIM	Global eSIMs?	Countries	Phone Number?
Airalo	Yes (Discover(+))	120+	Yes (Discover+ only)
Alosim	No	N/A	N/A
Holafly	No	N/A	N/A
Nomad	Yes (Global 109/136)	109 & 136	No

Of course, the discount codes mentioned earlier can also be redeemed for the regional and global eSIMs when applicable.

Now that we have an overview of what our options are, let's go through each and find out about the benefits of them.

Each section will focus on the respective eSIM provider's Russia and global eSIM variants.

But if you already have an eSIM provider in mind, just click on the links next to jump to the respective sections: Alosim, Holafly & Nomad.

Original publication: 1^st of September 2022. Last updated: 25^th of March 2024.

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Table of Contents

Alosim Russia eSIM

Alosim has only one eSIM that can be used in Russia: Russia.

Below is a quick overview:

eSIM	Coverage	Packages	Prices	Data	5G NR in Russia?	Phone Number?
Russia	Russia only	5	5 USD – 29 USD	1 GB for 7 days – 10 GB for 30 days	No	Yes

Remember that you can use code PTW for 5% off any Alosim purchase (as many times as you wish for as many eSIMs as you want).

Alosim is an eSIM provider by AffinityClick, which is known for its Hushed app (“Temporary & Second Phone Number App for Wifi, Data Calling & Texting”, as it calls it (8 million+ downloads)).

It took some time and effort (from my end), but Alosim finally agreed to bundle its products.

What do I mean by that?

With any Alosim eSIM purchase, even country-specific ones with just 1 GB of data or a regional one with 10 GB of data, you will get a Hushed redemption code, giving you up to 30 international minutes or 50 international SMS.

AffinityClick offers American (+1), British (+44) & Canadian (+1) phone numbers from over 300 area codes (but only +1 phone numbers are part of this combo deal).

While it is looking to expand its offering in terms of phone numbers, you cannot get a Russian phone number at this point due to local regulations.

However, this makes Alosim the only eSIM provider I know of that gives you a phone number for each eSIM purchase.

Additionally, you do not have to switch back to your base SIM card in case you need to make international calls (and will save a lot on international call costs, which are often overly expensive).

Anyway, let's talk about Alosim's eSIM offering.

It has eSIMs for over 170 countries, including Russia.

Alosim Russia eSIM

For Russia, you have the following five choices:

1. Russia 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD
2. Russia 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 9 USD
3. Russia 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 11.50 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Russia 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 17 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Russia 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 29 USD

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 11^th of March.

Alosim's Russia eSIM gives you access to the Beeline Russia network.

Unfortunately, none of them offer 5G NR access at this point in time.

For more information on how Russian operators perform, check out my Russia SIM card buying guide, where I discuss the performance of each SIM card (in terms of coverage and speed).

Alosim eSIMs for Russia Summarized

To summarize, these are the characteristics of each Alosim eSIM covered in this section:

• Russia:
  • is priced between 5 USD and 29 USD
  • has five variants (1 GB for 7 days – 10 GB for 30 days)
  • has no 5G NR access
  • includes a free +1 (American or Canadian) phone number through Hushed
    • allows for up to 30 international calls and/or 30 international SMS (within Russia or from Russia to any other country

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Holafly Russia eSIM

Holafly has only one eSIM that can be used in Russia: Russia.

Below is a quick overview:

eSIM	Coverage	Packages	Prices	Data	5G NR in Russia?	Phone Number?
Russia	Russia only	5	19 USD – 57 USD	Unlimited for 5 days – unlimited for 20 days	No	No

Remember that you can use code PHONETRAVELWIZ for 5% off any Holafly purchase (as many times as you wish for as many eSIMs as you want).

Holafly is probably the eSIM provider with the most extensive coverage in terms of unlimited data eSIMs.

Yes, Holafly has unlimited data eSIMs for Russia and most countries it supports, which is over 160 countries.

Of which about 100 have unlimited data eSIMs.

One thing that you should note already, and I will repeat it later, is that the prices of the Russia eSIM and the Europe eSIM are exactly the same.

So, if you plan on visiting multiple supported countries during your trip (the list will be provided later), you should get the Europe eSIM instead of the Russia one + another country-specific one to save a lot of money.

Holafly Russia eSIM

But I got ahead of myself – you have five unlimited data eSIMs for Russia:

1. Russia unlimited data eSIM for 5 days, costing 19 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
2. Russia unlimited data eSIM for 7 days, costing 27 USD
3. Russia unlimited data eSIM for 10 days, costing 34 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Russia unlimited data eSIM for 15 days, costing 47 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Russia unlimited data eSIM for 20 days, costing 54 USD

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 11^th of March.

I will tell you already: Holafly's Russia eSIMs are the most expensive ones mentioned in this guide.

But unlike all the others, you get unlimited data (at fast speeds depending on the selected network).

Speaking of network, you can be on Megafon Russia.

Holafly eSIMs for Russia Summarized

To summarize, these are the characteristics of each Holafly eSIM covered in this section:

• Russia:
  • is priced between 19 USD and 57 USD
  • has five variants (unlimited for 5 days – unlimited for 20 days)
  • has no 5G NR access
  • has no phone number

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Nomad Russia eSIMs

Nomad has two types of eSIMs that can be used in Russia: Russia and Global.

Below is a quick overview:

eSIM	Coverage	Packages	Prices	Data	5G NR in Russia?
Russia	Russia only	7	6 USD – 35 USD	1 GB for 7 days – 20 GB for 30 days	No
Global	Russia & 108/135 other countries	6 (3 for 109 countries & 3 for 136 countries)	25/19 USD – 45/57 USD 1	1 GB for 7 days – 5 GB for 30 days	No

¹ 25 USD and 45 USD apply to the 109 Countries Plan. 136 Countries Plan eSIMs costs between 19 USD and 57 USD

Use code ADU123 for 3 USD off your first Nomad order (new customers only). But existing customers can use NOMADTUE on Tuesdays only for 10% off on plans of 10 GB or more.

If you already have an eSIM variant in mind, just click on the links next to jump to the respective sections: Russia and Global.

Nomad, not to be confused with the (digital) nomad lifestyle, is an eSIM provider that has significantly improved over the past few years.

Not only has it been adding more countries, but it has continuously been dropping its prices where applicable.

Right now, Nomad has eSIMs for more than 160 countries.

While Nomad is not a marketplace of eSIMs, it does sell eSIMs powered by different partners.

Some countries have “duplicates” of the same variant of eSIM (1 GB for 7 days, for example) because of different partner offerings (although Nomad has reduced duplicates in recent months, as per request. Look at this old Italy example).

Nomad Russia eSIM

For Russia, you have these seven choices:

1. Russia 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (Nomad Black), costing 6 USD
2. Russia 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (eSIM Go), costing 7 USD
3. Russia 3 GB eSIM for 30 days (Nomad Black), costing 12 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Russia 5 GB eSIM for 30 days (Nomad Black), costing 15 USD
5. Russia 10 GB eSIM for 30 days (Nomad Black), costing 22 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
6. Russia 15 GB eSIM for 30 days (Nomad Black), costing 28 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
7. Russia 20 GB eSIM for 30 days (Nomad Black), costing 35 USD

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 11^th of March.

Heads up: eSIMs with “(Nomad)” are powered by an unknown provider (unthrottled speeds). “Nomad Black” = Tele2 Sweden (@ max. 35 Mbps). Truphone (rebranded to 1Global) is just Truphone/1Global (unthrottled speeds).

Depending on who powers the eSIM, you can access different Russian mobile networks (you can see the network list by pressing See Details on the Nomad Russia eSIM product page).

My Russia SIM card buying guide will inform you which network(s) is/are the best regarding coverage and speed.

Nomad Global eSIM

Finally, we have Nomad global eSIMs.

While Nomad is one of the few eSIM providers with a global eSIM, it is pretty expensive (especially compared to Airalo's Discover(+) eSIMs).

However, the eSIM has one big fan… my dad.

Yes, really! He is a truck driver and sometimes visits countries not covered by regional eSIMs or Airalo's Discover(+) eSIMs.

So, instead of buying multiple eSIMs, he just uses Nomad's global eSIM 😎.

Anyway, the eSIM can be used in up to 136 countries – Russia included.

And two plans are available: 109 Countries Plan (Truphone/1Global) and 136 Countries Plan (eSIM Go).

Both providers have been introduced earlier, and the same conditions apply – 5G NR is available in many countries with the 136 Countries Plan eSIMs, which is not the case with the 109 Countries Plan.

Each plan has three eSIMs: 1 GB for 7 days, 3 GB for 30 days & 5 GB for 30 days.

The short validity and high prices, which I will show you shortly, make it hard for this eSIM to be a proper eSIM for world travelers.

Anyway, here is the list:

1. Global 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (109 Countries), costing 25 USD
2. Global 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (136 Countries), costing 19 USD
3. Global 3 GB eSIM for 30 days (109 Countries), costing 40 USD
4. Global 3 GB eSIM for 30 days (136 Countries), costing 40 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Global 5 GB eSIM for 30 days (109 Countries), costing 45 USD
6. Global 5 GB eSIM for 30 days (136 Countries), costing 57 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only). The (promotional) prices were updated on the 11^th of March.

Because I have no ongoing review for this eSIM, you can use the Nomad Global product page to find all supported countries or the map below.

Nomad eSIMs for Russia Summarized

To summarize, these are the characteristics of each Nomad eSIM covered in this section:

• Russia:
  • is priced between 6 USD and 35 USD
  • has seven variants (1 GB for 7 days – 20 GB for 30 days)
  • has no 5G NR access
  • has no phone number
• Global:
  • can be used in Russia and 108/135 other countries globally
    • 109 Countries Plan (powered by Truephone/1Global)
    • 136 Countries Plan (powered by eSIM Go)
  • is priced between 19 USD and 57 USD
    • 109 Countries Plan: 25 USD – 45 USD
    • 136 Countries Plan: 19 USD – 57 USD
  • has six variants (1 GB for 7 days – 5 GB for 30 days)
    • 109 Countries Plan: 1 GB for 7 days, 3 GB for 30 days & 5 GB for 30 days
    • 136 Countries Plan: 1 GB for 7 days, 3 GB for 30 days & 5 GB for 30 days
  • has no 5G NR access
    • 109 Countries Plan: no 5G NR access
    • 136 Countries Plan: no 5G NR access
  • has no phone number

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Overview of the Best eSIMs for Russia

I reviewed a handful of eSIM providers that offer numerous eSIMs to be used in Russia, neighboring countries & even globally.

Because I went over many things, here is a summary of characteristics so you can quickly decide which eSIM you want.

Russia-only eSIMs:

• Cheapest 3 GB Russia eSIM: Alosim (11.50 USD)
• Cheapest 5 GB Russia eSIM: Nomad (15 USD)
• Cheapest 10 GB Russia eSIM: Nomad (22 USD)
• Provider with unlimited data plans for Russia: Holafly
• Russia eSIM with the longest validity: Alosim & Nomad (30 days)
• Russia eSIM with 5G NR: N/A
• Russia eSIM with phone numbers: Alosim (American/Canadian)

Europe eSIMs:

• Cheapest 3 GB Europe eSIM: N/A
• Cheapest 5 GB Europe eSIM: N/A
• Cheapest 10 GB Europe eSIM: N/A
• Provider with unlimited data plans for Russia and Europe: N/A
• Europe eSIM with the longest validity: N/A
• Europe eSIM with 5G NR in Russia: N/A
• Europe eSIM with phone numbers: N/A

Regarding global eSIMs, Airalo's Discover(+) eSIM is superior to the Nomad global eSIM in terms of prices, data allowances & validity (+phone number).

However, Nomad's eSIM has better coverage (up to 135+ instead of 120+).

And do not forget to use one of these discount codes for extra savings:

• Airalo: APR15 for 15% off if you have never purchased an Airalo eSIM. If you have, use APR10 for 10% off (each code can be used 3000 times among all Airalo customers, so better redeem it quickly!
• Alosim: PTW for 5% off (the code can be used by anyone, including existing customers, as many times as you wish – no redemption limit)
• Holafly: PHONETRAVELWIZ for 5% off (the code can be used by anyone, including existing customers, as many times as you wish – no redemption limit)
• Nomad: ADU123 for 3 USD (or your currency's equivalent) if you have never purchased a Nomad eSIM

Enjoy your trip to Russia (and neighboring countries)!

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