Local Viettel eSIM vs Airalo, Holafly, Saily, and Nomad

The network line, which is the whole argument

On 7 October 2026, Airalo’s Vietnam eSIM page showed VNPT as the network and sold unlimited-day packages: 3 days $11.50, 5 days $18.50, 7 days $27, 10 days $34.50, 15 days $48, and 30 days $69. VNPT is the parent of Vinaphone. That is a real mobile network with strong city performance. It is not Viettel’s rural grid. If your trip is District 1 and a resort, you may never notice. If the trip includes Ha Giang or Sapa, you are choosing the network with the lower coverage-experience score in Opensignal’s August 2026 report.

Holafly’s Vietnam page the same day listed the network as GPC Vinaphone (VNPT). The day prices on that page were 3 days $11.90, 5 days $20.50, 7 days $27.50, 10 days $37.50, 15 days $51.50, and 30 days $76.50. Holafly tells travelers to turn data roaming on, and says hotspot sharing is 1GB per day of the plan rather than the whole allowance. It also says a fair-use policy can slow the line for no more than one day. The plan is positioned as unlimited data. The roaming switch and the Vinaphone name are the parts that change how the phone behaves compared with ours.

Saily’s Vietnam page listed fixed bundles with prices next to them: 1GB for 7 days at $3.99, 3GB for 30 days at $7.99, 5GB for 30 days at $10.99, 10GB for 30 days at $17.99, and 20GB for 30 days at $28.99. It described an unlimited option as high-speed up to 5GB per day, then slower until the next day. The page said to enable data roaming, said hotspot had no separate restriction, and did not name Viettel, Vinaphone, or MobiFone. We will not fill that blank in for them. A 5GB high-speed cap that then slows is a different rule from our 5GB that then stops.

Nomad is in the title because travelers compare it. On 7 October 2026 we could not load an official Nomad Vietnam page that stated a carrier, so this article does not say Nomad uses Viettel, MobiFone, or anyone else. Third-party blogs disagree with each other. Use the network name on Nomad’s own checkout if you are about to pay them. Until that name is Viettel, do not assume the Ha Giang sites are included.

How the phone is supposed to be set

• eSim For Vietnam: install on Wi-Fi, then in Vietnam set mobile data to this line and data roaming off. First Viettel attach starts the clock. No passport upload.
• Holafly: their page says turn data roaming on after arrival so the roaming profile can attach. Doing that on our eSIM is the wrong setting.
• Saily: their page also says enable roaming, and that the plan starts when you arrive with the eSIM and roaming on.
• Airalo: install on a normal connection. Their Vietnam network label we saw was VNPT, not a local Viettel registration.

Data rules side by side

Our 30-day plan is $18.99 for up to 5GB of high-speed data each day, 150GB if you use every day fully, which is about $0.13 per GB of that full allowance. Unused data does not roll into a piggy bank. The day resets at 23:59 Vietnam time. Hotspot is included with no extra daily cap beyond that 5GB. There is no voice and no SMS. You cannot add a top-up to the same profile today.

Airalo’s listed unlimited days are a different shape: you pay more per week ($27 for 7 days on the page we fetched) and you are on VNPT. Holafly’s 7-day price was $27.50, with the 1GB-per-day hotspot share they describe and a possible fair-use slowdown. Saily’s fixed 20GB for 30 days at $28.99 is cheaper if you use very little, and smaller if you use a full 5GB every day. Pick with your actual days and your actual roads, not with the word unlimited.

Prices above for Airalo, Holafly, and Saily are quotations from their public pages on 7 October 2026, for comparison. They are not our offers. Our checkout is the Whop product, with code HelloVietnam for 10% off.