How we test and get paid

What we compare. Every Costa Rica plan from the five providers we can monetize, plus the two names we cannot: Holafly and Kölbi. For each one we record prices in USD, the Costa Rican networks it publishes, fair-use caps, hotspot rules, validity windows, and Trustpilot scores with review counts. Every number on this site carries the date we checked it, and prices are refreshed monthly.

The one test that runs this site. Our default pick is Airalo, which pays us the lowest commission of the five providers we link. GigSky pays the most and is recommended only for short trips and free trials. Yesim pays more than Airalo and carries a warning we wrote ourselves. If the ranking followed the money it would look completely different, and you can check that claim against the commission order rather than taking our word.

What we do not claim. As of September 2, 2026 we have not driven every road on the coverage table, and we say "traveler reports" where that is the source. Our coverage claims rest on three things we can name: Opensignal's Costa Rica Mobile Network Experience report from April 2026, SUTEL's 2025 road-based speed evaluation, and the operators' own published coverage maps. Where a brand publishes no fair-use cap, we write "not published" rather than inventing a number. Where a purchase flow is reported broken, such as buying a Kölbi eSIM from abroad, we say travelers report it rather than claiming we tried.

How the ranking is built, in order. First, does the provider publish which Costa Rican network it uses, because on this country that is the fact with the most consequences. Second, does it publish its fair-use cap. Third, price per gigabyte within those constraints. Fourth, the review record. That order is why Airalo sits above cheaper Yesim and above better-reviewed Saily, and it is written down here so you can disagree with it specifically rather than vaguely.

How the money works. Links to Airalo, Saily, GigSky, Yesim and Drimsim earn a commission through the Travelpayouts network when you buy. Your price is identical either way. Holafly is not in that program, so we review it, list it in every table, and link nothing. Kölbi pays us nothing and never will, and it has an entire page telling a share of our readers to buy it instead of the products we are paid for.

Who writes this. One independent researcher. Not a mobile operator, not owned by or affiliated with any eSIM brand or Costa Rican carrier, and selling nothing directly.

Corrections. A stale price, a wrong network claim, or a coverage experience that contradicts ours: email [email protected]. Verified corrections ship in the next update and we say what changed.