2026 · 5 providers · 28 plans compared
Best eSIM for Greece
Picked by your trip scenario, not by hype. With the real fair-use caps the brands keep away from the buy button.
Do you need an eSIM in Greece? six honest cases
Your carrier's roaming runs $10–12 a day. Ten days in Greece costs more than a month of any plan here. Saily 10GB at $21.99 ends that math.
EU SIMs roam in Greece at home rates. Keep your card, close this tab, enjoy the islands. One exception: month-plus stays can hit your carrier's fair-use roaming cap; then come back.
Ferries and small islands are where cheap networks fold. You want an eSIM riding Cosmote: that's Saily among our five. The map has to work on the boat.
Hotspot for a laptop eats 2–3GB a day; hotel wifi will betray you on deadline day. Take unlimited with a published cap: Saily's 5GB/day is the only one that fits real work.
One or two days ashore need maps and messages, nothing more. GigSky 1GB is $2.99, Airalo's entry plan is $4. Cheaper than one ship-wifi hour.
No EID when you dial *#06#, or a carrier-locked device? An eSIM can't help. Unlock first, or take the physical SIM route: shop, passport, done.
Your trip three taps, one answer
Answer three quick questions and we match the right eSIM to your trip, with the reason spelled out. Already know what you want? Jump straight to the picks.
How long are you going for?
How will you use it? Pick everything that applies.
Just Greece?
The picks in short
Saily
Best for most trips and for the islands $21.99 10GB / 30 days- Runs on Cosmote + Vodafone, the coverage that survives ferries and hill villages
- Unlimited plans have the largest real cap: 5GB/day
- By the NordVPN team; refunds actually work
Watch out: You pay for the network. More per GB than GigSky or Yesim.
Trustpilot 4.7/5 · 30,290 reviews
See Saily's Greece plansGigSky
Best price per GB, season-long validity $18.29 10GB / 30 days- Cheapest 10GB of the five
- 20GB / 90 days for $35.49, one purchase for a whole season
- Free 500MB trial, no card needed
Watch out: No Cosmote. Vodafone and Nova only, registration on arrival can take a few minutes.
Trustpilot 4.3/5 · 6,084 reviews
See GigSky's Greece plansAiralo
The known name, cheapest short plans $12.00 5GB / 7 days- Biggest eSIM brand, most guides and answers online
- $4 entry plan for a weekend
- Unlimited from $10 for 3 days
Watch out: No Cosmote. Runs on Nova and Vodafone, which trail Cosmote on the smallest islands.
Trustpilot 4.1/5 · 41,238 reviews
See Airalo's Greece plansAll five one honest table
| Provider | Best for | Price anchor | Greek network | Unlimited cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saily | Most trips, islands | 10GB · $21.99 | Cosmote + Vodafone | 5GB/day |
| GigSky | Budget + long validity | 10GB · $18.29 | Vodafone + Nova | 3.5GB/day (daily plans) |
| Airalo | Short trips, first eSIM | 5GB/7d · $12 | Nova + Vodafone | 3GB/day, then 1Mbps |
| Yesim ¹ | Cheapest big-GB | 20GB · $25.50 | Cosmote + Vodafone + Nova | cap not published |
| Holafly | Unlimited-only brand | — | varies | cap not published |
¹ Yesim: Trustpilot pulled their score while removing fake reviews (checked August 31, 2026). Their 20GB is still the cheapest by far. We link it because the plans are real, and we tell you this because you'd want to know. Holafly is listed for completeness; it isn't sold through our partners, so that row is unlinked.
You want it to just work everywhere: islands, ferries, hill roads. The safe default, and the pick when your route is longer than your patience for network settings.
Full review →You count price per GB, or you stay past 30 days. The 90-day and 180-day plans are the only ones that survive a whole season, and the 500MB trial costs nothing.
Your first eSIM, a short city break, and a brand you have already heard of. Runs on Nova and Vodafone: fine for cities and big islands, no Cosmote for the far corners.
Full review →Maximum gigabytes for minimum money, and you have read our caveat above. 20GB at $25.50 is unbeaten; the trade-off is trust, not technology.
Full review →You need a real phone number in Greece: bank verification, local bookings, incoming calls. Pay-as-you-go and pricey per GB, so it is for the number, not the data.
Full review →Cheapest at every size winners only
| You need | Cheapest | Price | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB | Yesim | $2.90 / 30 days | GigSky $2.99 (7 days) |
| 5GB | GigSky | $10.79 / 30 days | Yesim $11.13 |
| 10GB | GigSky | $18.29 / 30 days | Yesim $18.54 |
| 20GB | Yesim | $25.50 / 30 days | GigSky $35.49 (90 days) |
| Unlimited | Saily | from $18.99 / 5 days | Airalo from $10 (3 days, 3GB/day cap) |
Winners on price alone; the Yesim caveat from the table above still applies. Prices checked August 31, 2026.
The networks what you are really buying
Cosmote
Keeps working when others failHill villages on Naxos, gorge trailheads on Crete, mid-crossing between islands. If your trip leaves the cities, you want an eSIM that rides Cosmote.
Vodafone GR
Strong secondCities, resort corridors and the big islands. On easy routes it feels close to Cosmote.
Nova
Urban budgetFine in Athens and Thessaloniki. First to fade on ferries and small islands. Ex-Wind.
That is why Saily leads this page: the only pick of the five that rides both Cosmote and Vodafone and switches to whichever is stronger. City-only trip? Airalo on Nova/Vodafone is genuinely cheap. Island-hopping far off the ferry lines? Spend the extra $3 on Cosmote coverage.
"Unlimited" the real daily caps
| "Unlimited" plan | Real daily high-speed cap | After the cap |
|---|---|---|
| Saily Unlimited (5–30 days, $18.99–71.99) | 5GB / day | throttled to crawl until midnight |
| Airalo Unlimited (3–30 days, $10–71) | 3GB / day | 1 Mbps, maps and chat still work |
| Yesim Unlimited ($4.06–66.06) | not published | "may be throttled after heavy usage" |
| Holafly Unlimited | not published for Greece | daily throttle per their FUP |
A cap you can read beats a bigger cap you can't. 5GB/day covers a hotspot workday. 3GB/day covers evening streaming. An unpublished cap covers whatever the provider decides that day.
How many GB honest math
| Trip style | 5 days | 10 days | 14 days | 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maps, messages, a few photos | 1–2GB | 3GB | 4GB | 8GB |
| + social feeds, photo uploads, music | 3GB | 6–7GB | 10GB | 20GB |
| + video calls, some streaming | 6GB | 12GB | 15–20GB | unlimited |
| Hotspot for a laptop, daily calls | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited |
Assumes hotel wifi at night. Google Maps ≈ 5MB/hour navigating, Instagram ≈ 100MB per 15 min of Reels, a video call ≈ 700MB/hour.
Setup before you fly
- Buy at home on wifi. Installation needs a connection, and Athens airport wifi asks for a working phone number.
- Install from the app or QR code, then turn the line off until you land. Validity usually starts on first connection.
- On landing: enable the eSIM line, turn on data roaming for that line only. Keep your home SIM active for SMS codes, data off.
- No signal after 5 minutes? Pick the network manually: Cosmote or Vodafone GR if your plan supports both.
Full walkthrough with screenshots: Greece eSIM setup guide.
eSIM or airport SIM? the kiosk math
You can still buy a physical tourist SIM at Athens airport or a phone shop: Cosmote and Vodafone tourist packs run roughly €20–30 (about $22–33) for 10–20GB by summer-2026 traveler reports. Three catches. Greek law requires passport registration for every prepaid SIM, so you queue twice: once at the counter, once for the paperwork. The kiosk is shut when late flights land. And the price is rarely better than the eSIMs above.
A physical SIM still makes sense in two cases: your phone has no eSIM support, or you need a Greek number for weeks of local calls. Everyone else installs an eSIM at home and lands connected.
Questions actually asked
Which eSIM is best for Greece?
For most travelers, Saily: $21.99 for 10GB on Cosmote and Vodafone, the strongest island coverage of the five we compared. On a budget, GigSky ($18.29/10GB). For a short city trip, Airalo's $12 five-gig plan is fine. Checked August 31, 2026.
Should I get an eSIM for Greece or just use roaming?
US carrier roaming runs $10–12 a day, so a 10-day trip costs more than a month of any plan on this page. EU SIMs roam free in Greece; US, UK and Canadian ones don't. Unless your carrier includes Greece, a $20 eSIM saves you roughly $80–100 per trip.
How many GB do I need for 10 days in Greece?
About 3GB if your phone is for maps and messages, 6–7GB with social media and photo uploads, 12GB+ with video calls or streaming. Hotel wifi at night cuts these roughly in half. When in doubt, 10GB is the safe middle.
Can I use my American phone in Greece?
Yes, if it's carrier-unlocked and eSIM-capable (iPhone XS/XR or newer, most recent Samsung and Pixel). Dial *#06#: if you see an EID number, you're eSIM-ready. Locked phones need unlocking by your carrier first; most unlock free once the device is paid off.
Do eSIMs work on the Greek islands and on ferries?
On the islands, yes. Quality depends on the network: Cosmote holds best on smaller islands and port-to-port crossings, Vodafone is solid on the big ones, Nova fades fastest offshore. Mid-crossing on long routes every network drops, so download offline maps before boarding.
What's the downside of a travel eSIM?
Three honest ones. They're data-only, so calls go over WhatsApp or FaceTime (need a real Greek number? there's a separate option). Installation needs wifi, so do it at home. And "unlimited" plans throttle after a daily cap, see our table above.
Can I hotspot with a Greece eSIM?
On fixed-GB plans from Saily, GigSky, Airalo and Yesim, yes: tethering is allowed and just spends your allowance. On "unlimited" plans the daily cap is the limit. A laptop workday eats 2–3GB, so Saily's 5GB/day handles it and Airalo's 3GB/day is tight.
Greece · 10GB · $21.99
Our pick for most trips. Cosmote + Vodafone coverage, 30 days, refunds that work.
Get Saily for GreeceSources & freshness: Prices from provider stores via esimdb, verified August 31, 2026; Trustpilot scores as of August 31, 2026 (Saily 4.7, GigSky 4.3, Airalo 4.1); network coverage synthesized from summer-2026 traveler reports on Reddit r/GreeceTravel and Trustpilot review texts. We haven't run our own Greek speed tests yet and will say so until we have. Fair-use caps from each provider's published policy.