Vietnam SIM card or eSIM from the UK: what roaming costs and what to choose
In short
The best eSIM for Vietnam depends on what your UK network charges there, from nothing on Sky VIP Diamond to £5 a MB on giffgaff. Vodafone charges £8 a day of use, EE £26.50 for 7 days, Sky £2 a day (checked on 24 October 2026, EE price guide). Our Vietnam eSIM from the UK is £7.99 for 5 GB over 30 days, data only. You have four ways to stay connected: your UK network, a travel eSIM, a local SIM or pocket Wi-Fi.
Information verified on 24 October 2026 at the official sources listed below. This is not immigration or legal advice; check GOV.UK and the official website of your destination before you travel. How we check information.
On this page
eSIM for Vietnam from £3.99 — see plans At a glance
- Purchase QR code by email · after payment
- Installation profile on your phone · up to 365 days
- Activation first network on the trip · the clock starts
Get an eSIM for Vietnam — from £3.99
This site is not affiliated with any of the networks mentioned here; we sell eSIMs. How we compare
You may not need an eSIM. Sky VIP Diamond and Three Complete plans include Vietnam, and Three pay as you go has no daily charge there: you use your Data Pack (checked on 24 October 2026). Check your network’s row below first.
What do UK networks charge in Vietnam?
Roaming in Vietnam on UK networks runs from £2 a day on Sky to £5 per MB on giffgaff (all rows checked on 24 October 2026). Five networks price Vietnam differently from Thailand: O2, Three, Lebara, giffgaff and Lyca.
| Option | Price | What you need | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roaming on your UK network | Included on 1 of 15 UK networks, within fair use otherwise £2.00 to £65.00 a day or pass from about £1.75 per GB | Data roaming on; on some networks a pass bought before you fly | Paid passes cost more per GB than the eSIM |
| Pocket Wi-Fi router | Not verified | Collect it, keep it charged and return it | One connection for the group, only while you stay together |
| Local SIM bought on arrival | Not verified | A free SIM slot and a shop after landing | On a one-slot phone it replaces your UK SIM |
| Travel eSIM from this site | from £3.99 by card; from £1.05 per GB | An eSIM phone that is not locked to one operator | Data only: no calls or texts on your UK number |
Roaming prices as published by the 15 UK networks, checked on 24 October 2026; price per GB is our derivation (price ÷ GB). eSIM prices are in pounds at the day’s rate: your card is charged exactly that amount. This site is not affiliated with these networks; we sell eSIMs.
| Network | Vietnam charge | Condition | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| EE | £5.50 for 24 hours, £26.50 for 7 days | Rest of World Zone 1; no data without a pass | 24 October 2026 |
| Vodafone | £8 a day of use | Zone D, pay monthly from 11 August 2021 (£6 before) | 24 October 2026 |
| O2 | Bolt Ons: 100MB £26, 500MB £45, 1GB £65 | Zone 3, Pay Monthly; not on Ultimate; no data without a bolt-on | 24 October 2026 |
| Three | £8 a day; passes £30 for 7 days, £60 for 14 | Around the World; Lite and Lite+ joined or upgraded from 18 December 2025; included on Complete; no daily charge on PAYG | 24 October 2026 |
| iD Mobile | Roam Beyond: 2GB £5 for 1 day, 10GB £20 for 5 days, 20GB £35 for 10 days; otherwise £1.50 per MB | £45 roaming data limit by default | 24 October 2026 |
| Lebara | 1GB £4 for 8 days, 3GB £12 for 15 days | Zone 5 add-on | 24 October 2026 |
| giffgaff | £5 per MB | Rest of world; no travel add-on for Vietnam | 24 October 2026 |
| Tesco Mobile | see Tesco’s page | Vietnam is not named in Tesco’s region lists | 24 October 2026 |
| Sky Mobile | £2 a day | Roaming Passport Plus; a call or text you send, or over 10MB, starts 24 hours; free on VIP Diamond | 24 October 2026 |
| VOXI | 2GB £16 for 8 days, 4GB £26.60 for 15 days | Global Roaming Extra, with minutes and texts | 24 October 2026 |
| SMARTY | 10p per MB | Roaming 1, from out-of-plan add-ons | 24 October 2026 |
| Talkmobile | 500MB £5 for 1 day, 5GB £20 for 8 days, 8GB £30 for 15 days | World Holiday Booster, Zone B; no data without one | 24 October 2026 |
| Lyca Mobile | 1GB £10 for 7 days, 2.5GB £20 for 14 days | PAYG country pass from top-up credit; up to 5 in 30 days | 24 October 2026 |
| BT Mobile | see BT’s page | Roaming Zone 7; not one of the 12 Travel Data Pass countries | 24 October 2026 |
| Asda Mobile | £1 per MB | World Group 1 | 24 October 2026 |
At giffgaff’s £5 a MB, 100MB costs £500 (our arithmetic). Vodafone, Three and Sky charge for each day you use the phone, not each day you are away. Our pages on EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three give the full rates.
eSIM for Vietnam: selected plans
The entry plan, our pick and a bigger one. “Our pick” is a mid-size plan chosen by us, not a sales ranking.
Prices are in pounds; you are charged in GBP, exactly the amount shown. The seller is registered in the United States, so your bank may apply its own rules to a payment to a seller abroad — how card payment works. It appears on your statement as JET SHARING. You pay on the secure Stripe checkout page, by card, or Apple Pay or Google Pay if Stripe shows them on your device.
What it costs per day
Plan price in pounds ÷ days, at the rate of 1 Nov. A longer plan usually costs less per day: pick by your trip length, not by the lowest daily price.
Is a travel eSIM worth it for Vietnam?
A travel eSIM is worth it when your network charges by the day: 14 days of use in Vietnam come to £28 on Sky, £53 on EE and £112 on Vodafone (our arithmetic, checked on 24 October 2026). Our 5 GB plan covers 30 days for £7.99, data only.
| Network or plan | 14 days | 28 days | How we added it up |
|---|---|---|---|
| EE, Zone 1 | £53 | £106 | weekly passes at £26.50 |
| Vodafone, plans from 11 August 2021 | £112 | £224 | £8 a day of use |
| Three, Lite and Lite+ | £60 | £120 | 14-day passes at £60 |
| Sky, not VIP Diamond | £28 | £56 | £2 a day of use |
| Lyca, pay as you go | £20 | £40 | 14-day passes, 2.5GB each |
| Lebara | £12 | £20 | 15-day add-on (3GB), then two 8-day (1GB each) |
| Our Vietnam plan, data only | 5 GB, £7.99 | 5 GB, £7.99 | one 30-day plan |
Source: each network’s own price page, checked on 24 October 2026. The prices are the networks’; the totals are ours.
These are different products. The passes use your UK allowance and number; our plans are a data-only eSIM on a second line, and WhatsApp stays on your UK number. Keeping your UK number covers the set-up; roaming or eSIM runs the same decision for any country.
Our Vietnam plans are GB and days plans, from £3.99 for 1 GB over 7 days to 20 GB over 30 days; 10 GB over 30 days is £12.99. They run on 
VNPT, which the listing marks 5G; for 4G/5G coverage in a given town we give no map. Hotspot and tethering depend on the plan card.
Vietnamese tourist SIM or eSIM?
Our 24 October 2026 check covered no local SIM prices, so we give none. A tourist SIM at Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City airports, or in a shop in town, is bought in person: take your passport, and expect prices and rules to vary by shop.
Vietnam SIM card vs eSIM comes down to practicalities. A local SIM gives you a Vietnamese number but takes a SIM slot, and you buy it after landing. An eSIM goes on at home. Pocket Wi-Fi is one more device to charge.
An eSIM needs an eSIM-compatible phone: dial *#06#, and if an EID shows, it takes one. Install before you travel, at home on Wi-Fi; the plan starts on first connection in Vietnam, and you have 365 days from purchase to install it. How to install an eSIM has the steps.
Read the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice for Vietnam before you book.
Vietnam and Cambodia on one trip
For Vietnam and Cambodia, the best eSIM for Vietnam may not be a Vietnam plan: one Asia plan covers both. Our 10 GB, 30-day Asia plan is £10.99; 5 GB over 30 days is £7.99 for Vietnam and £8.99 for Cambodia, all data only.
| Option | Data and days | Networks listed | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam plan | 5 GB, 30 days | VNPT (5G) | £7.99 |
| Cambodia plan | 5 GB, 30 days | Smart (4G) | £8.99 |
| Asia plan | 10 GB, 30 days | VNPT International in Vietnam; Viettel (Metfone) and Cellcard in Cambodia | £10.99 |
Add the first two prices and set the sum against the third. The Asia plan covers 18 countries, Thailand and Laos among them; its 50 GB plan runs 90 days for £50.99. It starts on first connection in any of them: fly in through Bangkok and the clock starts there, not in Hanoi.
For Cambodia, the FCDO says: “FCDO advises against all but essential travel to within 20km from the land border with Thailand.” Read the FCDO travel advice for Cambodia before you cross overland.
Check before you fly
What if the eSIM doesn’t work when you land in Vietnam?
Check four settings, in this order, before you write to us.
The first is the line for mobile data. In the phone’s SIM settings, pick the travel line for mobile data; your UK line stays on for calls and texts, with its mobile data off.
The second is data roaming, for the eSIM line only. The eSIM is a foreign profile, so the phone treats Vietnam as roaming for it.
The third is the APN. On this plan it sets itself, so leave it alone; you don’t need to type one.
The fourth is a restart. Restart the phone or switch aeroplane mode on and off, and let it find VNPT; this can take a few minutes after you leave the plane.
Still no data? Write to us on WhatsApp or at support@esimworld.co.uk with your order number, or go through the no-signal checklist. Do not delete the eSIM to “try again”: a deleted profile usually cannot be installed twice from the same code. If the eSIM doesn't work and it isn't your phone's fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.
What I’d choose (and when NOT to buy the eSIM)
For a week of maps, rides and messaging I’d take 1 GB for 7 days, £3.99. For two weeks or more, with photos and social media, I’d go for 5 GB for 30 days, £7.99. If you video-call and stream every day, take the unlimited plan for 7 days, £19.99, with 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
I would not recommend the eSIM in three cases. If your UK plan already includes Vietnam and its fair use limit is enough for you, roaming costs you nothing extra and keeps your number (compare the networks). If your phone has no eSIM or is locked to one operator, it cannot take the plan: check your model first. And if your group travels together all day and shares one connection, a pocket Wi-Fi can cover everyone.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth getting an eSIM for Vietnam?
Yes, if your UK network charges by the day or the MB there. Fourteen days of use cost £28 on Sky, £53 on EE and £112 on Vodafone (our arithmetic, checked on 24 October 2026). A data-only eSIM covers 30 days for one price; your UK SIM stays on for calls.
Do you need a SIM in Vietnam?
No, but without one you depend on Wi-Fi or roaming. EE and Talkmobile give no data in Vietnam without a pass; O2 sells only Bolt Ons, from £26 for 100MB. Vodafone, Sky and Three’s Lite plans charge by the day; iD, giffgaff, SMARTY and Asda charge by the MB (checked on 24 October 2026).
What is the best eSIM for Vietnam on a long backpacking trip in Asia?
A regional eSIM installed at home, for data across several countries. Our Asia plan covers 18 countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and its 50 GB plan runs 90 days. A local number needs a local SIM in each country; we have not checked their prices.
Sources checked: EE price guide, 31 March 2026 (PDF) · Vodafone roaming guide · O2 data roaming Bolt Ons · Three Your Way price guide, post 19 April 2026 (PDF) · iD Mobile roaming · Lebara Zone 5 roaming add-on · giffgaff roaming · Tesco Mobile roaming · Sky Mobile roaming · VOXI Global Roaming Extras · SMARTY price guide (PDF) · Talkmobile Booster details · Lyca Mobile roaming · BT Travel Data Pass · Asda Mobile roaming · FCDO: Vietnam travel advice · FCDO: Cambodia travel advice.
Sources are linked in the text; reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova. For the terms of your own contract, check with your network.
Unfamiliar term? See the eSIM glossary.
Get an eSIM for Vietnam, from £3.99 Pay by card in pounds. The seller is registered in the United States, so your bank may apply its own rules to a payment to a seller abroad. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by email after payment. See plans