South America is the one continent where picking the wrong eSIM costs real money. In Europe the gap between a country plan and a regional one is small enough to shrug at. Here, a month of data costs more than three times as much in Bolivia as in Brazil, and the plan with the continent's name on it is not the cheapest way to cover the continent. We sell all of it, so this is written from our own catalogue rather than from a brochure. Three findings shape everything below. Two country plans usually still beat a wide regional or global one, but three never do, at any size we sell. The regional South America plan costs more than a wider global plan at every matching size, and the global one covers sixteen of its twenty destinations plus a hundred-odd others. And nothing sold for any single South American destination runs longer than thirty days, which matters enormously if you are going for a season rather than a fortnight. What follows is the order to think in: how many countries, then which ones, then how long. Prices move, so treat the comparisons as the shape of the market and check the live numbers on the plan pages before you pay.
Start with how many countries, not with the map
Almost every wrong purchase on this continent comes from starting with geography. People look at a map of South America, see one landmass, and buy the plan that matches the shape. The question that actually decides the answer is duller: how many separate destinations will your phone have to connect in?
That number, not the distance you cover, is what moves the price. A three-week trip that never leaves Brazil is a single-country purchase even if you fly four internal legs and cross the country twice. A ten-day trip that touches Peru, Bolivia and Chile is a wide-coverage purchase even though it is shorter and the three countries share borders.
The rest of this guide follows that split. If you are visiting one or two destinations, buy per destination. If you are visiting three or more, buy one wide plan and stop counting. The interesting part is which wide plan, because the obvious answer is the wrong one.
- One destination: buy that country's plan. Nothing wide comes close.
- Two destinations: usually still two country plans, but it is genuinely close, and Bolivia or Panama flips it.
- Three or more: one wide plan, every time. No combination of three country plans we sell beats the wide option at any size.
What a month of data costs, country by country
The spread here is wider than on any other continent we sell across, and it does not follow the pattern travellers expect. The biggest, richest, most visited country is the cheapest. The landlocked, less-visited ones are the dearest. Neighbouring countries can differ by a factor of three for exactly the same amount of data over exactly the same thirty days.
Brazil is the cheapest mainland destination in South America at every size we sell, from the smallest weekly bucket to the largest monthly one. It is also one of only two South American countries where we sell a very large monthly bucket at all. If your trip is mostly Brazil, you are in the good part of the catalogue.
At the other end, Bolivia is the most expensive destination on the regional coverage list, costing roughly three and a half times what Brazil costs for the same monthly allowance. Panama is next, at about two and a half times Brazil. Costa Rica and El Salvador sit just below them. Step off the regional list altogether and it gets worse: Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela are dearer still, and Belize is the single most expensive destination anywhere in the Americas, Caribbean islands included.
The cheapest data in the Americas, meanwhile, is in the French territories. Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy and French Guiana all price at or below the United States, which makes them a rounding error on any itinerary that includes them.
- Cheapest mainland: Brazil, by a clear margin at every size.
- The middle band, within a few pounds of each other: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Uruguay.
- Expensive: Costa Rica, El Salvador, then Panama.
- Most expensive on the regional list: Bolivia.
- Off the list and dearer again: Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and Belize above all of them.
- Cheapest of all: the French territories, at or below United States prices.
Two countries or three: where separate plans stop making sense
This is the only calculation in the guide worth doing carefully, so we did it exhaustively rather than by example. Taking every country on the regional list that we sell a monthly plan for, we compared every possible pair and every possible trio against the wide global plan at the same size.
At two countries it is a real toss-up. Roughly half of all possible pairs still come out cheaper bought separately, and which half depends entirely on which two. Brazil plus almost anything stays cheaper. Anything paired with Bolivia or Panama does not.
At three countries the toss-up ends. Not one trio, out of several hundred possible combinations, beats the wide global plan. Not at the small monthly size, not at the medium one, not at the large one. Even the three cheapest countries on the continent bought together cost more than one wide plan covering all of them and a hundred-odd places besides.
So the rule is blunt, which is the best kind of rule when you are booking at midnight three weeks before you fly. One or two destinations, buy them separately and check the total. Three or more, stop adding up country plans.
- One country: the country plan wins outright.
- Two countries: about half of pairs win separately. Add them up before you decide.
- Two countries where one is Bolivia or Panama: the wide plan already wins.
- Three or more: the wide plan wins in every combination we sell.
Why the plan named after the continent is rarely the one to buy
Here is the part nobody advertises, including, until now, us. Once you have decided you need a wide plan, there are two on offer that cover South America: the regional one named after the continent, and the broader global one that covers well over a hundred destinations worldwide. The regional one is the obvious pick. It is also the more expensive of the two at every single size we sell.
The gap is largest at the small end, where the regional plan costs about a quarter more than the global one for the same allowance over the same thirty days, and narrows as the buckets get bigger. There is no size at which it reverses. On top of that, the global plan is sold in a larger monthly size the regional one does not offer at all, and in longer-validity versions the regional one has no equivalent of.
The coverage question is the fair objection, and it mostly resolves in the global plan's favour too. The global plan carries sixteen of the regional list's twenty destinations, and the sixteen are the entire South and Central American mainland plus Puerto Rico. The four it misses are Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, which are among the cheapest destinations in the Americas and cost very little to add on their own if a Caribbean leg is part of your trip.
There is one thing the regional plan does that no global plan does, and it is covered further down: unlimited data across multiple countries is sold only on the regional lists. If that is what you want, the regional plan is your only option. For ordinary fixed-allowance data, it is not the one to buy.
- The regional plan costs more than the wider global plan at every matching size.
- The global plan is sold in a bigger monthly size, and in longer validities, that the regional plan does not offer.
- The global plan covers the whole South and Central American mainland plus Puerto Rico.
- Four French Caribbean islands sit only on the regional list, and are cheap to buy separately.
- Multi-country unlimited exists only on the regional lists.
What the regional South America list actually covers
Whatever you buy, read the coverage list rather than the name, because the regional South America plan is not a map of South America. It covers twenty destinations, and the membership is genuinely surprising in both directions.
Six Central American countries are on it: Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. So is Puerto Rico. So are four French Caribbean islands. A Costa Rica and Panama trip that never goes near South America is, as far as the coverage list is concerned, a South America trip.
Going the other way, three South American countries are not on it at all. Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname sit on no multi-country plan we sell, regional or global, and have to be bought as their own destination. Mexico and Belize are not on it either, which breaks the obvious Central American overland route north of Guatemala.
And then the oddity that catches people out: French Guiana is not on the South America list. It is on the mainland of South America, it borders Brazil and Suriname, and it is sold with the Caribbean instead. If Cayenne or the Îles du Salut are on your route, the continent's own plan will not carry you there.
- On the list: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay.
- Also on the list: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico.
- Also on the list: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy.
- Not on it, and on no wide plan at all: Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Belize.
- Not on it, sold with the Caribbean instead: French Guiana.
- Not on it: Mexico, which sits on the North American and global plans.
Bolivia breaks every rule on this continent
Bolivia deserves its own section because it inverts the normal advice all by itself. A month of data for Bolivia alone costs more than the plan that covers all twenty destinations on the regional list. It also costs more than the wide global plan at every size where we sell both, from the small weekly bucket upward.
Read that again as a buying instruction. For every other destination on the continent, a single-country plan is the cheapest way to get data in that country. For Bolivia, it is not. If Bolivia is anywhere on your itinerary, the wide plan has already won the argument before you count your second country.
The network situation reinforces it. Our coverage data lists a single operator in Bolivia, on 4G, where Brazil has three networks all running 5G. That means there is no faster network to switch to if the one you land on is congested, which is the usual fix elsewhere. Combine that with where people actually go in Bolivia, and the picture gets clearer still: the Salar de Uyuni, the altiplano crossings and the road to the Chilean border are long stretches where every network on earth thins out.
None of this is a reason to skip Bolivia. It is a reason to buy the wide plan, save your data for the towns, and download your offline maps in La Paz or Uyuni before the jeep leaves.
Six classic routes, and what to buy for each
Most South America trips are one of a handful of shapes. Find yours and the decision is already made.
Two of these deserve a note. The Iguazú trip is the classic two-country case where buying separately still wins, because Brazil is cheap and Argentina is mid-priced. And the Costa Rica plus Panama pairing is the classic two-country case where it does not, because both sit near the top of the price table, so the wide plan takes it at two destinations rather than three.
- Rio, São Paulo and the Brazilian coast: one Brazil plan. It is the cheapest mainland data on the continent.
- Iguazú from both sides, or Rio plus Buenos Aires: two country plans, added up, still beat a wide one.
- The Gringo Trail, Peru into Bolivia into Chile: a wide plan, decided by Bolivia alone.
- Patagonia, crossing between Argentina and Chile: two country plans, unless you add Uruguay or Brazil, in which case go wide.
- Ecuador and the Galápagos, or Colombia city to city: one country plan each. Both are single-country trips in practice.
- Costa Rica plus Panama: a wide plan, because both are expensive, and note that the regional South America list is what covers them.
- A three-month overland run: the only plan that spans it without re-buying is the longer-validity global option.
Unlimited runs on a shorter list, and it is expensive here
Unlimited across more than one country exists only on the regional lists. No global plan we sell has an unlimited tier, so if you want unlimited data spanning several South American countries, the regional product is the only route to it. This is the one job the regional plan does that nothing else does.
There are two unlimited coverage lists and they are not the same size. The narrower one covers six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. The wider one covers all twenty destinations, and costs about twice as much for the same duration. Colombia and Bolivia are the two names that decide which you need, because neither is on the six. Add either to a Brazil, Argentina, Chile or Peru itinerary and the price of unlimited roughly doubles.
Within the six, the regional unlimited is good value the moment you have two countries. Every pair of single-country unlimited plans on that list costs more than the six-country plan covering all of them, at every duration we sell. That is the opposite of how fixed-allowance data behaves, where two countries is a toss-up.
The catch is the absolute price. A month of unlimited on the six-country list costs more than twice what a large fixed monthly allowance costs on the wide global plan, and that global plan covers a hundred and twenty-odd destinations rather than six. Unlimited here is for people who genuinely stream and tether all day, not for people trying not to run out. As everywhere, unlimited means a generous daily allowance at full speed and a slower connection after it, resetting each day.
- Multi-country unlimited exists only on the regional lists, not on any global one.
- The narrow unlimited list is Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.
- Colombia and Bolivia are not on it. Adding either roughly doubles the price.
- Within those six, regional unlimited beats two country plans from the second country onward.
- A month of it still costs more than twice a large fixed allowance on the wide global plan.
Nothing sold for a South American country lasts longer than a month
This is the finding that catches out the people who need it most, and it is easy to miss because it is an absence rather than a feature. Every plan we sell for every individual destination on this continent tops out at thirty days. So does the regional plan. There is no ninety-day Peru plan, no six-month Brazil plan, no long-validity Argentina option, in a part of the world where three-month trips are completely normal.
Compare that with Japan, Thailand, the United States or the United Kingdom, where we sell plans that run for half a year and let a frequent visitor carry one eSIM across several trips. South America has nothing equivalent. The only plans that span more than a month anywhere in the region are the longer-validity versions of the wide global plan.
That gives long-trip travellers two workable options. Buy the longer-validity global plan and let it run across the whole trip. Or buy monthly plans leg by leg and top up as you go, accepting that you will be making a purchase every few weeks.
One piece of good news for planners: the clock starts when the eSIM first connects to a network abroad, not when you pay. Buying in September for a December departure does not waste a day of a thirty-day plan, as long as you install it and leave it switched off until you land.
- Every single-destination plan on the continent maxes out at thirty days.
- The regional plan maxes out at thirty days as well.
- The only longer options are the longer-validity versions of the wide global plan.
- Plans start at first connection abroad, so buying months ahead costs you nothing.
Venezuela, the Guianas and Belize are their own problem
Four destinations in this part of the world sit outside every wide plan, and if your route touches one, it needs its own purchase. Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname are on no multi-country coverage list we sell, regional or global. Neither is Belize.
They are also, with one exception, the expensive end of the map. Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela all cost considerably more than the mainland average for the same monthly allowance, and Belize is the most expensive destination in the entire Americas, dearer than any Caribbean island and dearer than Venezuela.
French Guiana is the exception, and the anomaly worth knowing. It is cheap, priced like mainland France rather than like its neighbours, but it is sold with the Caribbean rather than with South America. An overland run up the Guianas therefore needs three separate purchases at three very different prices.
None of this should change where you go. It should change when you buy. Work out before you leave which legs are covered by your main plan and which are not, because the moment to discover that Guyana needs its own eSIM is not the border post at Lethem.
Networks, empty stretches, and the last thing to do before you fly
Which network you land on matters more in some of these countries than others, and it comes down to how many there are. Our coverage data lists three networks in Brazil, all of them 5G, and three in Colombia and Guatemala. It lists one in Bolivia and one in Panama. Where there are several, switching manually in your phone's network settings is worth trying if the one you get is slow. Where there is one, there is nothing to switch to, and no settings change will help.
Top speeds vary too, and not always the way you would guess. Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and the French islands all have 5G on at least one network in our data. Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador and Panama are listed as 4G. Treat that as a guide rather than a guarantee: network rollouts move faster than any coverage table, and what you actually get depends on where you stand.
Then there are the stretches where none of it matters. Patagonia off the main routes, the Salar de Uyuni, the Atacama, the Amazon basin and the long altiplano crossings are places where every network fades, whoever you buy from. Download offline maps for each region while you are still in a city, and expect your connection to come back when the road does.
Finally, the one habit that prevents almost every problem people write to us about: install the eSIM at home, on your own Wi-Fi, before you fly, and leave it switched off until you land. Installing takes a working internet connection, which is exactly what you do not have standing in an arrivals hall in Lima. Tap the install link we email you, or scan the QR code if you prefer, then turn data roaming on for that line once you are on the ground. And before any of it, read the coverage list against your actual route, border crossings and side trips included.
- Several networks available: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, and most of the larger countries.
- One network only: Bolivia and Panama. Manual switching will not help there.
- Install at home over Wi-Fi, then switch the line on after you land.
- Check every leg of the route against the coverage list before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best eSIM for South America?
It depends entirely on how many destinations you are visiting. For one country, the country plan is cheapest without exception, and Brazil is the cheapest mainland country on the continent. For two, add up two country plans and compare, because it is close. For three or more, buy a wide plan, and the cheaper wide plan is the global one rather than the one named after the continent.
Is one eSIM enough for a multi-country South America trip?
Yes, if the plan you buy lists every country you are visiting. A wide plan keeps working as you cross borders, reconnecting to a network in the new country by itself, with nothing to swap or change. The thing to check is the coverage list, not the plan's name, because several South American countries are missing from the lists you would expect to find them on.
Is a regional South America eSIM cheaper than one plan per country?
Only from three countries onward. We compared every possible pair and trio of country plans against the wide options at each size. About half the pairs are cheaper bought separately, so at two countries you should do the sum. At three countries, no combination we sell is cheaper than a wide plan, so there is no sum worth doing.
Which countries does a South America eSIM plan cover?
The regional list covers twenty destinations, and it is broader than the name suggests. Alongside Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, it carries six Central American countries, Puerto Rico, and four French Caribbean islands. It does not carry Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Belize, Mexico or French Guiana.
Does a South America eSIM cover Venezuela, Guyana or Suriname?
No. Those three sit on no multi-country plan we sell, regional or global, so each has to be bought as its own destination. They are also at the expensive end of the catalogue. If your route crosses into any of them, plan a separate purchase before you travel rather than at the border.
Why is mobile data so expensive in Bolivia?
Bolivia is the most expensive destination on the regional coverage list, costing more for a month than the plan that covers all twenty destinations on that list. Our coverage data also lists a single network there, on 4G, where neighbouring countries have three. The practical consequence for you is simple: if Bolivia is on your itinerary, buy a wide plan rather than a Bolivia plan.
What should I buy for the Peru, Bolivia and Chile route?
A wide plan. That itinerary is three countries, which is past the point where separate plans ever win, and one of the three is Bolivia, which on its own costs more than a wide plan covering the whole region. Of the two wide options, the global one is cheaper at every size and covers all three countries.
Are Costa Rica and Panama on a South America eSIM?
Yes, and so are Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The regional South America list includes six Central American countries, which surprises most people. It is also the right buy for a Costa Rica and Panama pairing, because both are near the top of the price table, so a wide plan wins at two destinations rather than the usual three.
Is there an unlimited eSIM for South America?
Yes, on the regional lists only. No global plan we sell has an unlimited tier. There are two unlimited coverage lists: a narrow one covering Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay, and a wider one covering all twenty destinations for roughly twice the price. Colombia and Bolivia are not on the narrow one, so adding either one roughly doubles what you pay.
What is the longest eSIM plan I can buy for a South American country?
Thirty days. Every plan we sell for every individual destination on the continent tops out there, and so does the regional plan. Unlike Japan, Thailand or the United States, there is no half-year option for any South American country. The only plans that span more than a month in the region are the longer-validity versions of the wide global plan.
What is the best eSIM for backpacking South America for three months?
A long-validity global plan is the only single purchase that spans the whole trip, because nothing sold for an individual South American country lasts beyond thirty days. The alternative is buying monthly plans leg by leg and topping up as you go, which costs a little admin every few weeks but lets you match the allowance to each stretch of the route.
Which eSIM is best for Brazil?
A Brazil country plan, unless you are leaving the country. Brazil is the cheapest mainland destination in South America at every size we sell, and one of only two on the continent where a very large monthly allowance is available at all. A wide regional or global plan costs considerably more for the same data, so only go wide once a second or third country is genuinely on the itinerary.
Can I buy a South America eSIM before I travel?
Yes, and it is the right way to do it. The plan's clock starts when the eSIM first connects to a network abroad, not when you pay, so buying weeks or months ahead does not eat into your days. Install it at home over Wi-Fi, leave the line switched off, and turn it on when you land.
Will I get 5G in South America?
In much of it, yes. Our coverage data lists 5G on at least one network in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and the French islands, while Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador and Panama are listed as 4G. Rollouts move quickly, so treat that as a guide. Where several networks exist, switching manually is worth trying if the one you land on is slow.