Traveling to Ukraine is a wonderful experience. You can visit incredible places such as Bukovel, Kyiv, or the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve. You can improve your travel experience if you add a data eSIM when you travel to Ukraine. eSIMs are one of the best and cheapest alternatives you can use versus roaming services in Ukraine.
If you have little or no information about SIMs, don’t worry! In this article we will show you how this product works, its features, its requirements, and most importantly, how much it costs, and the data plans you can buy. Let’s get started!
Contents
Requirements to install the eSIM Ukraine
The first thing you should know about eSIMs is the requirements you need to buy one of these products for your trip. This is particularly important because if you don’t meet them, you may not be able to buy one and you’ll end up wasting time and money.
Although eSIMs are more and more popular among users, some smartphone manufacturers still don’t include this technology in their cell phones. So, before buying an eSIM, we recommend that you consider the following information:
- First, you must have a smartphone that supports eSIM technology. Then you must make sure that your smartphone is compatible with the eSIM that you are interested in.
- Second, you should keep in mind that you must have an email to receive the eSIM.
- During the installation process, you must have internet so that there is no problem.
- You can only activate the eSIM when you arrive at your destination. That is, you can’t activate the eSIM before landing at your destination.
- In some cases, you will have to install an app from a provider to use or activate the eSIM.
Not everyone has a cell phone compatible with eSIM, so those who need to travel and still have their old cell phone, they can choose to buy a prepaid SIM card for Ukraine for their trip. With this product, you can also connect to the internet, and you can buy it before leaving.
Cellular eSIM providers to travel to Ukraine
Now that you’re familiar with the requirements, the next thing you need to know about eSIMs is the available providers that can offer you an eSIM to travel to Ukraine. You should keep in mind that these providers sell international eSIMs for business or tourism purposes. This means that these eSIMs are not intended for people who are going to stay in Ukraine for a long period of time. The current providers are:
- Holafly
- Knowroaming
- TravelSim
Prices and data plans of eSIM providers to travel to Ukraine
If you are interested in knowing the prices and data plans offered by these providers, you have come to the right place. In Roaming, we will show you one by one all the prices and data plans that are available for you. However, you should keep in mind that the price of eSIMs will depend on the amount of data, the days, and most importantly, the coverage that the eSIM has in Ukraine.
Holafly plans and prices in Ukraine
- Unlimited data for 15 days at $47 USD
- Unlimited data for 30 days at $64 USD
Knowroaming plans and prices in Ukraine
- 5GB for 30 days at $55 USD
TravelSim plans and prices in Ukraine
- 3GB for 30 days at $59 USD
Comparison of eSIM providers for Ukraine
| Provider | Data | Days | Price (USD) | Language | Sales channels |
| Holafly | Unlimited data | 15 to 30 | $47 to $64 | Spanish, English, German, and French | Web |
| Knowroaming | 5GB | 30 | $55 | English | Web |
| TravelSim | 3GB | 30 | $59 | Spanish | Web |
Features of the eSIM to travel to Ukraine
Now that you know the providers, the prices, and also their requirements, it’s time for you to check the main features of the Ukraine eSIM. For you to learn more about the product you are buying, we present below the most common features of the eSIM Ukraine.
- Almost all eSIMs offer only data, so services such as calls won’t be possible during your stay in Ukraine. However, if you want to communicate through voice calls with your loved ones, we recommend that you use WhatsApp, Messenger, Zoom, or Skype.
- eSIMs can only be installed once, so don’t delete your eSIM from your cell phone without consulting your provider.
- You will have a dual-SIM smartphone when you install your eSIM because you can use the Ukraine eSIM and your traditional SIM card simultaneously.
- You can add multiple data plans, but it’s only possible to use one at a time.
- In the case of eSIM Ukraine from Holafly, you can enjoy unlimited data.
Coverage of the eSIM to travel to Ukraine
One of the most determining factors in the price of an eSIM is the coverage they offer in the destination you want to travel to, in this case, Ukraine. Why is this important? The main reason why you should consider the coverage of your eSIM in Ukraine is because, if it’s poor, you will have constant internet connection problems during your trip. Also, if your coverage is low enough, you may end up having no internet in certain areas of Ukraine. This situation can be very frustrating.
For this and more reasons, you should consider the eSIMs coverage when buying one. Because, although you can buy an eSIM at a fairly cheap price, it’s most likely that this eSIM won’t have good coverage.
To find out if the eSIM has good coverage in Ukraine, we recommend that you check the roaming agreements between the eSIM you are buying and the cell phone operator in Ukraine. If the eSIM uses the best cell phone operators in Ukraine, which are Kyivstar, Vodafone, and Lifecell, this means that the coverage of the eSIM is going to be quite good. As in the case of the eSIM Ukraine from Holafly, which uses the cellular network of Kyivstar and Vodafone, which are among the bests in the country.
Kyivstar 4G coverage map in Ukraine
Vodafone 4G coverage map in Ukraine
Lifecell 4G coverage map in Ukraine
Local cellphone operators offering eSIM in Ukraine
Ukraine is a country that has been developing constantly. We can see this in the quality and coverage of their networks. However, you can see this even more with the eSIM offered by their local cellphone operators. These eSIMs, unlike others, include a Ukrainian cell phone number, which allows you to make calls and send or receive messages. This is because these eSIMs are intended only for residents of Ukraine and not for travelers.
However, you can buy an eSIM from these local providers without living in Ukraine. To do so, you will have to conduct a series of somewhat long procedures and meet certain requirements. Cellular operators that have this choice available are:
- Kyivstar
- Vodafone
- Lifecell
FAQ about eSIM in Ukraine
If you read this article and still have some doubts, don’t worry, see below for the most frequent questions people have about eSIMs.
It’s not necessary to present a passport to get this product. But some providers do require your address to give you the eSIM. Therefore, to buy this product you can show that you have a temporary residence address in Ukraine, such as a previously booked hotel.
This will depend on the features of the eSIM that you bought from your provider. You can do that with certain providers only.
The activation process will depend on the operating system of your smartphone. You must scan the QR code sent to your email after buying the eSIM and once you do this, you must choose it as the default means of mobile data, activate data, and roaming and your virtual SIM should now work.
There are two aspects that you must consider. The first is the amount of data you use often. The second is the days you will stay in Ukraine. Based on this information, you will be able to choose the best SIM card for your trip. This way you won’t run out of data, and your data won’t lose validity during your trip to Ukraine.
During your trip to Ukraine, you will have different options to connect to the internet. However, most of these alternatives are expensive and very inconvenient. Among these alternatives, you find the roaming service and Pocket WiFi.
