Americas eSIM Price Index

Measured September 9, 2026. The monthly price-per-GB index for travel eSIMs, across a fixed panel and a fixed regional cohort, with a public methodology. Each edition is frozen on publication.

Primary metric: market-panel average price per GB. Coverage: 26/26 destinations. Market source snapshot: 2026-09-11T11:20:04.912Z.

September 2026 in three charts

Americas price-per-GB rankings, September 2026

These are market-panel prices. The Drift Americas catalogue metric is shown separately above. We also measure real network performance on the ground: see our the Americas field tests for speed, latency and coverage from actual locations.

How to read this index

For this region, the market metric uses a fixed external-only panel and excludes the Drift catalogue. Each market figure is the price of one gigabyte of prepaid eSIM data across up to 10 panel sources (Airalo, aloSIM, BNESIM, Instabridge, Jetpac, Maya Mobile, Nomad, Saily, Ubigi, Yesim). The panel metric and the Drift Americas catalogue metric are kept separate. Our sister observatory esimvoyage.fr records retail prices every week from public catalogues and the eSIMDB aggregator. For every plan we compute the price per gigabyte (plan price divided by included data), average those readings per destination, then take the regional median across all 26 Americas destinations priced by the panel. The provider count for each destination is retained in the downloadable dataset and destinations with fewer than two panel providers are excluded. Prices are collected in EUR and converted to USD at the European Central Bank reference rate frozen on the publication date; regional plans and unlimited plans with no fixed data allowance are excluded. Latest reading: September 2026. Open data, CC BY 4.0.

Frozen edition. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Drift Americas. Download the dataset (CSV) · Press one-pager (PDF).

The market report: September 2026 through the Drift Americas catalogue

The index above tracks the 10-reseller market panel. The report below reads the same month through the Drift Americas catalogue itself: what travellers actually pay here, destination by destination (catalogue median $3.57 per GB).

Americas eSIM pricing in September 2026

Across 26 American destinations we track, the median price of mobile data is now $3.57 per gigabyte (mean $5.42), up $0.08 since August 2026.

The cheapest data and the best networks rarely sit in the same country. Our price-per-GB index and mobile speed index track both sides, so you can weigh cost against coverage before you buy.

Where eSIM data is cheapest in the Americas

United States is the cheapest market we track at $1.38 per GB.:

The catch: several pair low prices with mid-tier networks. Cheap data is only a bargain if coverage holds where you travel, check the mobile speed index first.

The most expensive American markets

At the other end, the priciest markets we track pair a higher price with a stronger network:

Network quality across the Americas

The average network quality across the Americas is 72/100. The top is a global elite:

United States (97/100) leads. Networks at the bottom of the table can drop to slower speeds outside the main cities.

Real-world speed across the Americas

Price and network quality say nothing about raw throughput. Our mobile speed index scores each destination out of 100, built on Ookla median download speeds. The American average sits at 58/100.

A high score means video calls, streaming and tethering run without friction. A mid score is still plenty for maps, messaging and browsing. The index reflects measured median speeds, not operator marketing.

See the full mobile speed index

What changed since August 2026

Prices eased again, with the steepest cuts in premium markets:

All figures as of September 2026. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to DriftAmericas. Source: data-americas.json.