Da Nang Airport has free WiFi in the T2 arrivals hall, and it is a safety net with a mood. It works until you are in the exit, trying to open Grab, while someone offers you a special price. I install the eSIM at home, on a sofa, where the WiFi is mine.
For a normal week I buy Saily if a laptop is coming, because they say the hotspot has no restrictions and 5 GB for 30 days is US$10.99. I buy Yesim if I want more gigabytes for the money and I can live with a hotspot that “depends on the operator”: 20 GB for 30 days is US$26.40. Airalo is the short stay. One gigabyte for three days is US$4.00, and their unlimited plans slow to 1 Mbps after 3 GB in a day.
All three are data plans for Vietnam, not a local phone number. A Viettel, Vinaphone or MobiFone SIM at the airport is the non-affiliate option if the phone has no eSIM, or you want a Vietnamese number. I am not printing a SIM price. I did not re-read a carrier tariff on 27 Oct 2026.
The three plans, side by side
Per-GB figures are the plan price divided by the gigabytes. Yesim also prints its own per-GB number on the page, and it matches. Saily and Airalo do not, so those are my division of the price I read.
| Best for | Plans I read | Per GB | Hotspot | Top-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yesim | A bigger fixed plan | 1 GB / 30 days US$3.00. 5 GB / 30 days US$11.52. 10 GB / 30 days US$19.20. 20 GB / 30 days US$26.40 | US$3.00, US$2.30, US$1.92, US$1.32 | Depends on the operator | Yes. Balance top-up, and automatic top-up if the subscription is active |
| Saily | Sharing data with a laptop | 3 GB / 30 days US$7.99. 5 GB / 30 days US$10.99. 10 GB / 30 days US$17.99. The page says plans start from US$3.99 | US$2.66, US$2.20, US$1.80 | No restrictions. You can share data freely | Not stated on the Vietnam page I read |
| Airalo | A few days, or a capped unlimited | 1 GB / 3 days US$4.00. 5 GB / 30 days US$11.00. 10 GB / 30 days US$18.00. Unlimited, 7 days, US$27.00 | US$4.00, US$2.20, US$1.80. Unlimited is a daily cap, not a per-GB price | Yes. Set the hotspot APN to match the data APN, and turn data roaming on | Yes. Their help says you can top up if you need more |
Read 27 Oct 2026: yesim.app/country/vietnam/, saily.com/esim-vietnam/, airalo.com/vietnam-esim, and Airalo’s help article “Can I use tethering (Personal Hotspot)?”.
See Saily Vietnam plans See Yesim Vietnam plans See Airalo Vietnam plans
Yesim
Yesim’s Vietnam page is a one-country, data-only plan. The fixed plans I could read, all 30 days, were 1 GB for US$3.00, 3 GB for US$8.40, 5 GB for US$11.52, 10 GB for US$19.20, 20 GB for US$26.40 and 30 GB for US$33.60. Their own per-GB line on the 20 GB plan is US$1.32. That is the cheapest large fixed plan of the three.
Hotspot is the catch, and they print it in plain language: “Depends on operator.” I would not buy Yesim for a laptop and hope. Buy it for the phone. Maps, Grab, messages, a photo sent home. If the hotspot works, lovely. If it doesn’t, you found out in the hotel, not in the product description.
Top-up is available, and they say it can top up automatically if the subscription is active. You have 180 days from purchase to activate. The validity clock starts when the eSIM connects to a compatible network, so install it at home and leave it off until you land. Speed is 3G, 4G, LTE or 5G depending on the provider. Their coverage note names Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and other cities. It does not print Da Nang. Hue is an hour up the coast. I am not going to pretend the page named the beach.
Saily
Saily is the one I would hand to someone who is going to tether a laptop in An Thuong. Their Vietnam page says “No hotspot restrictions or limitations — you can share data freely with a Saily eSIM.” That sentence is the whole reason they win the laptop trip. The 10 GB plan is also a cent cheaper than Airalo and a dollar-twenty cheaper than Yesim: US$17.99 for 30 days, which is US$1.80 a gigabyte.
The other prices on that same page: 3 GB for 30 days at US$7.99, and 5 GB for 30 days at US$10.99. Plans start from US$3.99. I am not pinning that US$3.99 on a 1 GB plan, because the page does not spell the size out next to the “from” price. They also sell unlimited plans. I am not printing a fair-use cap for those, because the Vietnam page I read did not state one.
Activation is the easy version. Install in the app, turn the eSIM on, enable data roaming, and the plan starts when you arrive. You have a 180-day window to do that. Calls and SMS exist only if you add a separate phone-number plan. The data plan itself is data. Their FAQ names the coastal corridor between Da Nang, Hue and Nha Trang as a stronger path, and says mountains are weaker. That is the honest shape of it. My Khe will be fine. A ridge on the Hai Van Pass might not be.
I could not find a top-up promise on the Vietnam page. If running out mid-trip worries you, Yesim and Airalo say you can add data. Saily did not, on the page I read.
Airalo
Airalo’s Vietnam page lists VNPT as the network and sells both fixed data and unlimited. The fixed plans I pulled from the page on 27 Oct 2026:
- 1 GB / 3 days, US$4.00
- 3 GB / 3 days, US$7.50
- 3 GB / 7 days, US$8.00
- 5 GB / 7 days, US$10.00
- 5 GB / 15 days, US$10.50
- 5 GB / 30 days, US$11.00
- 10 GB / 7 days, US$17.00
- 10 GB / 15 days, US$17.50
- 10 GB / 30 days, US$18.00
- 20 GB / 15 days, US$28.00
- 20 GB / 30 days, US$29.00
- 50 GB / 30 days, US$49.00
The 5 GB plan for 30 days is US$11.00. Saily’s matching plan is US$10.99. That is the same purchase. The difference is the hotspot sentence, not the dollar.
Unlimited is where Airalo is specific. A 7-day unlimited plan is US$27.00. A 3-day one is US$11.50, a 30-day one is US$69.00. The fair-use line on the package is full speed for the first 3 GB each day, then 1 Mbps, resetting every 24 hours from when you start using it. 1 Mbps will send a Grab ping and a message. It will not stream. If someone sells you “unlimited” without that sentence, they are selling the adjective.
Hotspot works. Airalo’s own help article says yes, you can use a personal hotspot, after you save the hotspot APN to match the eSIM’s data APN and turn data roaming on. That is one extra settings screen. It is not a mystery, and it is not “depends on the operator.” Their help also says you can top up if you need more data.
A local SIM, if you would rather queue
Viettel, Vinaphone and MobiFone sell physical SIMs at the airport and in town. Take your passport. The counter is the right answer when the phone is locked to a carrier, or it has no eSIM at all. It is also the right answer if you want a Vietnamese number for a restaurant booking that will not accept a foreign one.
I am not putting a dong price on that SIM. The long-stay notes on this site have an older range, and I did not re-check a carrier page for this guide. The cost I will talk about is the queue. A bank of flights lands, the counter grows a tail, and your Grab is still a rumour. The eSIM is how you skip that tail. The SIM is how you get a local number after you have dropped the bag.
Install it before you fly
The phone needs to be eSIM-capable and unlocked. If it is neither, stop here and buy the local SIM. Nothing in the table will fix a locked handset.
On a phone that qualifies, do this on WiFi at home:
- Buy the plan. Saily is an app install. Yesim and Airalo give you an eSIM to install from the app or a QR, on WiFi.
- Leave the new line installed and switched off until you are on the ground, or follow that provider’s activation rule. Yesim starts the clock when it connects. Saily starts it on arrival if roaming is on.
- When you land, turn the travel line on, set it as mobile data, and turn data roaming on for that line. Keep your home SIM in the other slot for calls and codes.
- Open Grab only after you have a connection. Match the plate. The airport transfer guide is the rest of that arrival, including the car I would book if I do not want to open an app at all.
T2’s free WiFi is the spare tyre. Use it if the eSIM sulks for the first ten minutes. Do not make it the plan.
Which eSIM should I buy?
Buy Saily’s 5 GB / 30 days at US$10.99 if a laptop, a second phone, or a travelling companion is going to share the connection. The hotspot line is the one I trust, because they wrote “no restrictions” and the other two did not.
Buy Yesim if the phone is the only device and you want the gigabytes. The 1 GB / 30 days at US$3.00 is the cheapest entry I could read, and it lasts the month, unlike Airalo’s 1 GB which dies in three days. The 20 GB / 30 days at US$26.40 is the one I would buy for a working fortnight. Accept the hotspot caveat or do not buy it for a laptop.
Buy Airalo if the trip is a long weekend, or you want the unlimited plan with the cap printed on the package. The 1 GB / 3 days at US$4.00 and the 3 GB / 3 days at US$7.50 are the short stays. The 7-day unlimited at US$27.00 is for someone who will burn 3 GB a day and then live with 1 Mbps. I would not buy the 30-day unlimited at US$69.00 unless I have already watched myself do that for a week.
Then go and book the car, or don’t. Grab from the airport to My Khe is the cheap default once the phone works. A name board is a different purchase, and it lives in the airport transfer guide. City rides after that are in getting around Da Nang.
Buy Saily Buy Yesim Buy Airalo
FAQ
Which eSIM should I buy for Da Nang?
Saily, if you will hotspot a laptop: 5 GB for 30 days is US$10.99 and they say hotspot has no restrictions. Yesim, if you want more data on the phone: 20 GB for 30 days is US$26.40, and hotspot depends on the operator. Airalo, for a short stay: 1 GB for 3 days is US$4.00. Read 27 Oct 2026 on each provider’s Vietnam page.
Do these eSIMs include a Vietnamese phone number?
No. Yesim’s Vietnam plan is data only. Saily’s data plan is data, and a phone number is a separate add-on, not a Vietnamese SIM. Airalo’s Vietnam packages I read were data. For a local number, buy a Viettel, Vinaphone or MobiFone SIM and take your passport.
Can I use a hotspot?
Saily says there are no hotspot restrictions. Airalo says yes, after you set the personal-hotspot APN to the same value as the eSIM data APN and turn data roaming on. Yesim says it depends on the operator. If the laptop matters, I buy Saily.
Can I top up if I run out?
Yesim says balance top-up is available, including an automatic top-up if the subscription is active. Airalo’s help says you can top up if you need more. Saily’s Vietnam page, as I read it on 27 Oct 2026, does not say.
Is a local SIM cheaper?
It can be, and I am not printing a price I did not re-check. The local SIM is the right buy when the phone cannot take an eSIM, or you need a Vietnamese number. The eSIM is the right buy when you want data before you join the airport queue.
Will an eSIM work for Grab at Da Nang Airport?
Yes, once the line is on and roaming is enabled. T2 also has free WiFi, so you can book Grab even if the eSIM takes a minute. Match the number plate. The ride itself is in the airport transfer guide.
When should I install it?
At home, on WiFi, before the flight. Yesim and Saily both give you 180 days to activate. Turn the line on when you land, not in your kitchen, or you start the clock early.
