I run Akariq [0] which sells travel eSIMs in 190+ countries and regions in the world. It does not require an app or account. Customers like it for ease of use. Many HN users have bought eSIMs including countries like China, Japan, Australia and USA. I have overall received positive feedback.
Recently, I have a few Digital Nomads in Europe switching over from Nomad to me due to very good pricing [1]. A lot of customers have also come over from Airalo due to customer service. For example, recently major eSIM providers had a huge incident and left customers stranded for Internet. Akariq had backup resources and replacement eSIMs during those upstream telecom providers issues. I even wrote an Incident Report here [2].
Customer satisfaction remains my highest priority these days.
Akariq has taken most of my time [0]. I sell travel eSIM plans for 190+ countries, no app or account needed! Since last time, many HN readers have tried it with very positive reviews. I reply to each and every customer who reach out to me and also implemented some feedback they gave.
On July 24 2026, all major eSIM providers including Akariq faced disruptions. However, Akariq was able to serve all customers even during the downtime either by switching to backup resources or issuing replacement eSIMs free of cost. Some customers of major providers like Airalo experienced serious down time. I wrote more about the incident here and what I am striving to be better in terms of automation etc [1].
One review from a customer in China [2] made all my effort worth it. They said that they were able to use Akariq to access Gmail, WhatsApp etc around the GFW. It even worked smoothly in areas like Beihai and Weizhou island apart from the cities. Tethering with their laptop was helpful too.
Thanks! We've been working on it since late last year, only really announced it here in February or March, I think (I'd have to check). Cold emailing some privacy-minded folks and posting here and in other privacy-focused forums like Privacy Guides (that were recommended to us after cold emailing people).
I am continuing to work on Akariq [0] which provides travel eSIM data plans to 180+ countries around the world. I have had many paying customers over the past few months from Vietnam to Mexico to Europe and US of course. The three benefits of using Akariq are
1) No app, no user account which leads to literally 3-click install
2) Full transparency - you know what you are getting. A lot of other eSIM providers hide details like unlimited plan speed caps etc
3) I connect to the best network available in the country. For example, someone like Airalo would connect to VTC in Vietnam, I offer Viettel which is the undisputed local network king.
And obviously, I am 2-3x cheaper than Airalo and the big players.
How do you judge "the best" network? It normally depends on if you're in the city, countryside, island etc.
I travel fulltime and constantly buy new esims. Normally I just go on esimdb and buy the cheapest one. Then when I get to the location I'm staying at, I chat with folks to figure which network works best there. Normally it's cheaper to get a local plan as well.
You are quite a bit more expensive than the no-name folks I buy from.
As far as best network goes, yes it depends in the city etc but there are always best networks for 99% locations in a country. I gave an example in another comment of Viettel vs VTC in Vietnam and Zain vs STC in Saudi Arabia.
I mean obviously it's cheaper to buy local plans. You can't compare local plans to travel eSIMs.
Which locations are you traveling to? Generally, I have the best quality to price ratio for North America, Europe, South East Asia, China and Japan. I saw your comment history and you visited Japan. The cheapest eSIM on eSIMDB in Japan for 5GB shows $2.42 via eSIM DOG [0]. But ... that's for a breakout IP in Hong Kong. That introduces latency on your network. So lets you want to move to a Japan IP, eSIM DOG doesn't have one. Their most expensive option is $7.49 which is a 3x price increase and that comes with a UK breakout IP. Now, contrast that to Akariq where you get 5GB for $4.86 and a Japan IP + NTT Docomo network [1] which has the best coverage and reliability. So yeah, I am generally the cheapest in at least those 4 regions for the quality I provide. I sell the best possible option option in that country and avoid selling junk eSIM plans.
I mostly travel around Africa & Asia (east, south east, central). Yeah, I used esim.dog with the HK break out IP and it was fine.
I guess my usage falls into two categories:
1. I have reliable wifi, and don't need to use mobile data for work
2. I don't have reliable wifi and I have to use mobile data for work.
If I'm in situation 1, then I don't really care too much. The cheapest junk esim works. If I'm in situation 2, I need a large amount of data and need a local plan.
I've saved your site though, never know what situation might come up. I don't know how esimdb chooses who to index, but I would try to get on there (I'm assuming it's free?).
I've spoken to quite a few travelers and they mostly fall into two groups. Those that use airlo or some other big provider or they use esim comparison sites to get the cheapest offer.
I like but for many of my regular destinations you are still 2-3x more expensive than what I can trivially find myself, especially longer visiting times and more data.
Thank You! Can you please tell me your destinations?
I plan to make the higher volume data plans cheaper very soon. I'm happy to provide you temporary code to make it cheaper for longer visits you have soonish. Can you e-mail me at `hello@akariq.com`? I don't see an e-mail on your profile.
The one thing I want to add is that cheaper also depends on quality. So for example, if you look at Vietnam - I may not be cheaper than Airalo. But ... a big but, I offer network on Viettel while Airalo does on VTC. So, I am cheaper for what you get for the quality. In addition, I don't route data via HongKong or China to make it cheap. I have in country / region networks for like 87 countries and I keep improving [0]. Very few providers on the market can guarantee that.
I can confirm that you are completely right about Vietnam mobile networks. I could only reliably work after getting a real viettel sim. Even viettel branded stores sell some bootleg sim to tourists that work terribly.
The problem with eSIM is that usually there is no way to judge the quality until you buy one, so people sort by price and choose the cheapest. If your solution offers the best network in the country then I’m interested, because even at x2 or x3 price it doesn’t matter much compared to the other expenses when traveling.
Not sure how you can convince customers outside the hn bubble.
And it's not just Vietnam. It's the same problem thoughout the world. Let me take an example like Saudi Arabia. Airalo connects to Zain and my service connects to STC. There are many such examples.
You are right people do go for the easy thing as there's too much decisions to make. I wonder how I can make it even more explicit on my website than it is now.
Please do try my service and leave a review on Trustpilot. I have a few reviews today but far more people have used my service and have been happy with it.
Fine, but that's true of several of the segment leaders as well (Saily, Airalo, etc). A lot of people don't want the hassle of physically walking into a shop in a foreign country, or just don't care about $5 vs $15 expense on a $5000 vacation.
All my China eSIMs are non GFW eSIMS. You can also use a Hotspot to tether to your laptop etc. They breakout via HK. Try them out and if you have any issues send me an e-mail.
My website is available in China so you can provision it from China. Of course, your phone should support eSIM. I have had quite a few people use my service in China. I am happy to give you a trial - write to me hello@akariq.com
That sounds super cool! When you say Duolingo do you mean spaced repetition? If yes, have you identified what type of spaced repetition approach you will take?
I am building Akariq which provides data eSIM data plans to 185+ countries and regions across the world. I am 2-3x cheaper than big brands in the same space. I also prefer local data routing i.e. I don't route traffic from US or EU to Hong Kong, they stay in your country / region.
Just curious, I have no idea how eSIM reselling business works: How can you offer 2-3x cheaper prices? Is it because others have very high margins, or because you have a secret optimisation method?
Great question. Cheaper prices come from a mix of focus on customer value primarily. That includes making sure that the eSIM is high quality (low latency, data routing in the region) and also focusing on getting the best eSIM plan to the customer - transparency, better FUP etc. So there's an element of optimisation involved here.
Recently, I have a few Digital Nomads in Europe switching over from Nomad to me due to very good pricing [1]. A lot of customers have also come over from Airalo due to customer service. For example, recently major eSIM providers had a huge incident and left customers stranded for Internet. Akariq had backup resources and replacement eSIMs during those upstream telecom providers issues. I even wrote an Incident Report here [2].
Customer satisfaction remains my highest priority these days.
[0] https://akariq.com/en/
[1] https://akariq.com/en/esim/region/europe-31-areas/
[2] https://akariq.com/en/blog/akariq-backup-esim-service-interr...