Can you top up an eSIM? What 31 providers allow

By CheckeSIMRates · Help pages and prices checked 13 November 2026

Yes, you can top up an eSIM with most travel eSIM providers: of the 31 we compared, 20 let you add data to the eSIM already on your phone, and 10 more allow it on some plans. But a top-up rarely stretches the plan you already have, and small top-ups are expensive: per GB, a 1 GB package costs twice as much as a 10 GB package from the same provider.

We read each provider’s own help pages on 13 November 2026 and compared them with 63,968 plans from our nightly price check. Below is who lets you top up, what happens to your days and leftover data, how long an eSIM keeps working between trips, and when buying more data up front is cheaper.

Can you top up a travel eSIM?

At most providers, yes. Topping up means buying more data for the eSIM that is already installed, so you don’t scan a new QR code or delete anything. At most providers we checked, a top-up is simply another of its regular packages, bought for that eSIM in the app or your online account.

The exceptions are worth knowing before you buy:

• Only some plans: Airalo says only some of its eSIMs can be topped up. On eSIMCard, eSimGlobe, GigSky, Quibity and SimCorner it also depends on the plan, and Sim Local tops up only its Smartroam eSIMs.
• Days only: Simify lets you add days to eligible unlimited eSIMs, but not data to fixed plans.
• Mostly not at all: GIGAGO says most of its plans don’t support top-ups, and a new plan comes with its own QR code.

If you think you will need more data, check the plan page before you buy. eSimGlobe and Quibity, for example, say on the plan page whether it can be topped up.

Which eSIM providers let you top up?

Three big names changed their rules recently. Holafly, whose eSIMs bought before 30 September 2026 remain single-use, now says it “no longer uses traditional top-ups” but lets you add extra days or a new destination to the same eSIM, for purchases from 30 September 2026 (Holafly’s FAQ). Eskimo’s fixed-data plans stopped expiring in July 2026. And Saily says its older eSIMs can no longer take new plans or top-ups, and is moving customers to a new eSIM.

Does a top-up extend your eSIM’s validity?

Usually not in the way people hope. A top-up rarely adds days to the package you already have. Instead, providers handle it in one of four ways:

• Queued: the new package waits and starts when the current one runs out or ends. Airalo (“first bought, first used”), aloSIM, Breeze, Roamless, Ubigi and Holafly’s extra days work like this, so in practice you stay connected for longer.
• Its own clock: the new package has its own validity, counted from its first use or activation. SimAbove says “the days don’t add together”, and eSIMatic, GoMoWorld and Sim Local also give each package its own days.
• A fresh start: Orange Travel adds the new data to what you have left but restarts the validity, so the days you had left are replaced, not added (Orange Travel’s help page). It suggests topping up on your last day or when your data is used up.
• Rolled over: Kolet is the generous exception. If you top up before the plan expires, unused data and validity roll over for another 365 days.

Leftover data is the other catch. At most providers that say what happens to it, data you haven’t used is lost when the package’s validity ends, top-up or not. So a top-up is not a way to save data from one trip for the next, except at Kolet, at Eskimo (whose fixed data no longer expires) and with pay-as-you-go credit at Roamless or Quibity, which doesn’t expire.

If you are planning a stay of several months, our guide to eSIMs for a long stay compares renewing a 30-day plan with buying a longer one.

Can you top up an expired eSIM?

Often yes, if the eSIM is still installed and you are within the provider’s time limit. The plan expires, but the eSIM profile on your phone can live on and take a new package. How long it lasts varies widely:

• Airalo: an eSIM may be recycled if you don’t use or top it up by a set date, often 90 days from purchase, and the clock resets each time a package expires (Airalo help). If the carrier behind your eSIM has changed, it can’t be topped up at all.
• Breeze: recycled after 6 months without use.
• Orange Travel: reusable if it is registered and less than 6 months have passed since your last plan ended. Registration within 30 days is required by French law, or the line is suspended.
• Simify: you can add days up to 180 days after your most recent plan expires.
• Global YO: a €0.70 activation fee keeps the eSIM valid for one year.
• eSIMatic: top-ups for up to a year before you need a new QR code.
• Ubigi: the eSIM stays active as long as you buy a plan at least once in 18 months.
• No time limit stated: BNESIM, Kolet and Roamless say their eSIM itself doesn’t expire, and Holafly says buying a new package after expiry reactivates the same eSIM.

Whatever the provider, don’t delete the eSIM after your trip if you want to reuse it. Yesim and Orange Travel both say a deleted eSIM can’t be installed again. Turn the line off in your phone settings instead.

How much does an eSIM top-up cost?

Usually the same as the package would cost on its own, since most providers sell top-ups from their normal price list. eTravelSim is one of the few that publishes separate recharge prices: on 13 November its Europe recharges cost the same as a new Europe eSIM for 10, 25 and 50 GB and for unlimited data, and €1 less for 1 GB.

That makes the size of the top-up what matters. In our data, the smaller the package, the more you pay per GB:

A 1 GB top-up costs twice as much per GB as the same provider’s 10 GB package. The pattern held for every provider in the chart below: buying 10 GB once cost a median 16% less than buying 5 GB twice, and 20 GB once 17% less than 10 GB twice. Per provider, the saving ranged from 10% at eSIMCard to 25% at Kolet.

Two more costs to watch. Saily charges auto top-ups at full price if you paid for the first plan with credits or a discount code. And unlimited plans can’t always be topped up at all: Quibity’s unlimited plans for the US can’t, and Simify only adds days to unlimited plans. If you expect heavy use, our comparison of fixed-data and unlimited eSIMs shows when unlimited is the better buy.

How do you top up an eSIM?

The steps are almost the same everywhere:

1. Open the provider’s app, or log in to your account on its website with the email you bought the eSIM with.
2. Go to your eSIMs (“My eSIMs” at most providers) and select the one you want to top up.
3. Tap “Top up”, “Add data” or “Recharge” and choose a package. Some providers, such as Voye, ask you to pick your existing eSIM at checkout instead.
4. Pay. The data is added to the same eSIM, with no new QR code. eTravelSim says the data is added within 15 minutes.

Top up before you run out. You need internet to buy the package, and aloSIM points out that this means Wi-Fi or data. If you are travelling to Turkey, buy what you need before you go: Saily says its top-up options are unavailable within Turkey, and several eSIM sellers’ websites and apps have been blocked there since July 2025, as our guide to Europe eSIM coverage explains.

Should you top up or buy a new eSIM?

• Top up if you are staying in the same country or region and your provider allows it. It is quicker, nothing has to be installed, and you keep the same settings.
• Buy a bigger package at the start if you are unsure. Since 10 GB costs a median 16% less than 5 GB twice, a slightly larger plan often costs less than a small plan plus a top-up.
• Buy a new eSIM if your plan can’t be topped up, if you are moving to a country your plan doesn’t cover, or if another provider is much cheaper there. Our country pages compare every provider’s price for each destination.
• Check when the new package starts. If it is queued, as at Airalo, buy it before you run out. If it restarts the validity, as at Orange Travel, buy it on your last day.

Installing early is covered in when to activate a travel eSIM, since buying a package doesn’t always start its clock.

Why can’t I top up my eSIM?

When the top-up button is missing or a payment fails, the reason is usually one of these, according to the providers’ own help pages:

• The plan isn’t rechargeable. Airalo, eSIMCard and GigSky allow top-ups only on some plans; eSIMCard calls the others single-use.
• The network behind the eSIM has changed. Airalo and Simify both say an eSIM bought before a network change can’t be topped up.
• The eSIM is too old. It may have been recycled after a period without use, or, at Saily, belong to an older generation of eSIMs.
• You deleted it. A deleted eSIM usually can’t be reinstalled.
• You are in Turkey, where some sellers’ websites and apps are blocked.

How we checked 31 eSIM providers

We read each provider’s own help centre, FAQ or plan pages on 13 November 2026, and used only what the provider itself states. Where a page said nothing about a point, the table says “Not stated”. Where a provider’s pages contradicted each other, we used the most recently updated one. Third-party reviews were not used.

Prices come from the plan table CheckeSIMRates collects every night from the same 31 providers, as of 13 November 2026 (63,968 plans). For the price comparisons we matched packages of different sizes from the same provider, for the same country and the same validity, using single-country, data-only plans with a fixed amount of data. The 10 GB versus two 5 GB comparison assumes a 5 GB top-up costs the same as the provider’s 5 GB package, which matches how most providers sell top-ups. We did not buy top-ups ourselves, and providers change their rules often, so check the plan page before you buy.