Best eSIM Indonesia: The ideal data plan for travellers

And the best eSIM for Indonesia is…DTAC Go Inter – 10 Days! It comes with 6GB of mobile data to be used over 10 days not just in Indonesia, but in several countries in Asia, Australia, Israel, Qatar and the USA too! You can get all that without the need for a plastic SIM card for just $15 USD.  

This eSIM is the best for people who are going to travel to other countries apart from Indonesia, or those who have layover flights in countries such as Qatar (as is the case with Qatar airways). That way, they can travel without needing to depend on Wi-Fi for their device to be connected to a network and without getting hit by those expensive roaming charges.

Indonesia is an island country with stunning nature, including volcanoes, beaches and jungles. It also has amazing food, with delicious dishes such as Nasi Goreng (fried rice), the national dish of Indonesia. 

What is eSIM and what are its benefits?

eSIM (or embedded SIM) is a chip that is, as the name suggests, embedded into your phone and allows you to connect to your preferred mobile network without the need for a physical SIM card. All you need to do is download and activate your data plan and you are good to go!

Some of the benefits of eSIM include flexibility, convenience and sustainability. eSIMs are flexible given that you can change data plans whenever you are going to travel somewhere without needing to swap out a SIM card that you use regularly. Also, the fact that you don’t need to spend time at a SIM card store in a foreign country makes eSIMs a lot more convenient than a physical SIM card. Finally, you waste less plastic and carbon emissions with eSIM, making eSIMs more sustainable than a SIM card. 

Top 5 best eSIMs for travellers in Indonesia

Below is a table comparing the 5 best eSIMs for those looking to travel to Indonesia:

DTAC Go Inter

Great Value for Money

As you can see from this table, the DTAC Go Inter eSIM has the perfect blend of features while maintaining a great Price/GB. Given that you only pay $2.50 USD for every gigabyte, the fact that it has such a wide coverage, as well as tethering is absolutely extraordinary.

Provided by a mobile carrier

DTAC is one of the main mobile carriers in Thailand, meaning that the company providing this eSIM does not have to pay an operator to supply the connection. This saving of cost is then transferred to the price, giving you this amazing value for money. This also means that support from DTAC will inherently be better, as the chain of communication is shorter.

Bikago

Local Seller with many options

Bikago is a local Indonesian seller, with many options for amount of mobile data and plan duration, including offering different durations for the same amount of data. This means that you can tailor your eSIM to best fit your stay in Indonesia. Its price per GB for the closest plan to DTAC’s is similar (can be slightly better or slightly worse depending on how many days you put on the 5GB data plan), and there are some huge eSIM plans for those staying in Indonesia for a long time.

Indonesia only

Bikago’s many eSIMs only have coverage in Indonesia, meaning that if you have a layover, you will have to hope that the place you are staying at has a good Wi-Fi network in order to connect to the internet for important flight information. 

Airalo Indotel

More expensive on smaller plans

While Airalo may be cheaper when it comes to the larger plans, their smaller plans are more expensive than those of Bikago and DTAC (in the 5GB case). Airalo also offers fewer options for data plans. Furthermore, Airalo is a global seller, meaning that support is less local than DTAC and Bikago. While Airalo and Bikago have similar pricing schemes, the fact that Airalo is more expensive on the eSIM plans that people would be looking to get puts them in 3rd place.

Tethering Unclear

Both DTAC and Bikago support tethering. However, it is unclear based on their Indonesia page whether they offer tethering. If Airalo does support tethering, that is great, because if they don’t, it means that you cannot share your data with another mobile device. If you have a friend that needs to call home via WhatsApp and does not have a local SIM card, your best option would be to use a personal hotspot. Airalo should make this information more accessible if they want to be a more recommendable service.

Holafly

Expensive unlimited plans

Holafly mainly offers eSIM plans with unlimited data, however they are very expensive, starting at $19.00 USD for just 5 days. Holafly best for those who are staying in Indonesia for a long time and need a really large amount of data, as it makes little sense for the average tourist to need so much data for a short stay.

No tethering

Apart from the large price tag, the main drawback of Holafly is the fact that they do not offer tethering. With a plan from Holafly, you can only use the unlimited data that you get on one device, meaning that the main reason why a tourist would want a huge amount of data (sharing with others) is gone. Also, these Indonesian Holafly plans only cover Indonesia. While Holafly does have some Asian regional plans, they are also expensive. To summarise, buying a plan from Holafly only really makes sense if you are going to use a huge amount of data.

Nomad

Expensive, short, unlimited plans

Like Holafly, Nomad mainly offers unlimited data plans that are quite pricey. However, unlike Holafly, Nomad only offers shorter eSIM plans. While they may be cheaper than Holafly, it gets rid of the main target audience for an unlimited plan, such a long-time heavy user. One could argue that Holafly and Nomad could be used for sending many photos over WhatsApp, but to what extent that justifies the price is up to the buyer.

Fair-Usage Policy

Holafly and Nomad both have fair-usage policies which make sure that their networks are not saturated. According to their websites, Holafly allows people 90GB per month before their speed is slowed down, and Nomad allows people 2GB a day before their speed is slowed down. If we assume that the average month is 30 days, Holafly allows people 3GB a day vs Nomad’s 2GB. Add to that the fact that Holafly checks on a monthly basis whereas Nomad checks daily, and you can see why Nomad is in 5th place.

Does my phone support eSIM?

While more phone companies are progressively integrating eSIM technology into more of their mobile devices, not all devices are compatible with eSIM. Companies like Apple, Samsung and Google are some of the main forces of progress in this regard. Apple is pushing eSIM especially hard, as they have not only incorporated it into their iPhone line, but also their iPad and Apple Watch lines.

In terms of what phones are compatible with eSIM, you will have to check your provider, as it could be that your provider hasn’t yet optimised their product for the newest technology. Generally, all Apple devices newer than the iPhone XS,  iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR are compatible with eSIM. All flagship Samsung devices (Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy Z Series) newer than the Samsung Galaxy S20 and Samsung Galaxy Fold are usually compatible with eSIM, and so are all the Google Pixel phones newer than the Pixel 3. Also, check if your phone has Dual SIM, so that you can use your regular SIM card as well as your travel eSIM.

Mobile Coverage in Indonesia

There are 4 main carriers in Indonesia, IM3, Smartfren, Telkomsel and XL Axiata. Your coverage with each carrier might be different depending on your device and location.

If you are staying in one of the main cities such as Jakarta, you will have better coverage, than if you are going to travel to somewhere more remote in Indonesia. Below is a map of Telkomsel’s network coverage. If you are using a different carrier, click here.

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