Roaming on your home plan is still the easiest way to stay online abroad, and often the most expensive. The two cheaper routes are a travel eSIM bought online before you leave, or a physical SIM from a local carrier when you land.
Travel eSIMs have become the default for short trips. You buy a data plan from a reseller such as Airalo or Holafly, scan a QR code or install it through the app, and switch it on when you arrive. Airalo's small country plans start at around $4 to $5 for a gigabyte or two. Holafly sells unlimited data by the day, from $6.90 for one day to $75.90 for 30 days. Unlimited usually comes with a fair-use cap, so read the terms if you plan to tether a laptop.
The catch is compatibility. Your phone has to support eSIM and be carrier unlocked. On an iPhone, look under Settings, General, About for a line that reads No SIM Restrictions. American iPhone models from the iPhone 14 onward have no SIM tray at all, which settles the question for you. Many phones can hold several eSIMs and use two at once, so you can keep your home number for texts while data runs on the travel plan.
A local SIM still wins in some cases. If you are staying weeks rather than days, a prepaid plan from a local carrier is usually cheaper per gigabyte and gives you a local phone number for restaurants, taxis and delivery apps. Travel eSIMs are typically data only. Some local carriers also sell their own eSIMs, which gets you local pricing without a plastic card.
The downside is friction. You may need to show your passport, find a carrier store and deal with a menu in another language. Many countries require passport registration for any local SIM.
The short version: for a trip under two weeks, buy a travel eSIM before you fly and install it at home while you still have Wi-Fi. For longer stays, or if you need a local number, pick up a local SIM or local carrier eSIM on arrival. Either way, confirm your phone is unlocked first.
