Arriving from outside Europe, sort your data out before you land. Roaming from North America, the Gulf, Asia or Australia is expensive. Ten minutes of preparation will save you a lot of money. A travel eSIM is the usual answer. You buy it online, install it at home and switch it on when you land at Luqa.
There is one exception worth knowing before you spend anything. Malta is in the European Union. A plan from any EU or EEA country works here at its home rates, so you do not need to buy anything. Coverage is not a consideration either way: the islands are thirty kilometres end to end and comprehensively covered, Gozo and Comino included.
Who needs to buy something
An eSIM is the simplest answer
Arriving from outside Europe, roaming is expensive enough that it is worth ten minutes of preparation. A travel eSIM is bought online, installed before you leave and switched on when you land.
Your usual number stays on the phone for calls and messages, and the eSIM carries the data.
Compare the four
Check yours before you fly
Some UK operators kept free roaming in the European Union after Brexit and others brought back a daily charge. Check your own operator before you travel.
If yours charges, a week of daily fees usually costs more than an eSIM for the same week.
What a trip costs
You are already covered
Roaming rules mean your own allowance applies in Malta at your domestic price. There is no daily fee and nothing to activate.
The one thing worth checking is your operator’s fair use limit on data, which applies to long stays rather than to a holiday.
Know before you go
An eSIM installed before you travel costs less than one day of roaming.
The four travel eSIMs, compared
These four sell data for Malta and they do not price it the same way, which makes them hard to compare. One sells gigabytes, two sell unlimited data by time, and the fourth publishes nothing outside its app. Work out whether you are buying an amount or a duration first, and the choice becomes obvious.
Yesim
Cheapest on data
This had the lowest price on every bundle size we checked. It also gives you the longest time between buying a plan and starting it. Choose this one if you only want the cheapest data for Malta.
- 1 GB
- €2.5030 days
- 10 GB
- €16.0030 days
- 20 GB
- €22.0030 days
Unlimited from €3.50 a day, falling as the trip gets longer.
A plan can be bought now and started any time in the next 180 days.
See current Yesim plans
Saily
Simple and widely used
This costs a euro or two more at every size. It is the easiest of the four to set up if you have never installed an eSIM before. It is made by the company behind NordVPN, so the name may be familiar.
- 1 GB
- €3.997 days
- 10 GB
- €17.9930 days
- 20 GB
- €24.9930 days
Unlimited is sold in lengths from 5 to 30 days, priced on selection.
Plans start automatically on arrival and must be used within 30 days of buying.
See current Saily plans
Airalo
Better if you are visiting other countries
This is the most expensive of the four for Malta on its own. It suits you if Malta is one stop on a longer trip. Its regional plan covers the European Union and the United Kingdom for less than its Malta plan costs.
- 1 GB
- €4.503 days
- 10 GB
- €18.0030 days
- 20 GB
- €25.0030 days
Unlimited €24.50 for 7 days or €62.00 for 30. Regional plans from €4.00.
The Malta plan runs on Epic, one of the three Maltese networks, so it behaves like a local line.
See current Airalo plans
Drimsim
Pay for each megabyte you use
This works differently from the other three. There is no bundle and nothing expires. You are billed for the data you use, at one cent a megabyte. The card works across borders and changes rate on its own.
- 100 MB
- €1.00no expiry
- 500 MB
- €5.00no expiry
- 1 GB
- €10.24no expiry
No unlimited option, and no monthly fee either.
It is the cheapest of the four below about 250 MB and the most expensive above a gigabyte. It suits maps and messages on a short trip, but not heavier use.
See current Drimsim plansEvery price read from the provider’s own Malta page, in euro, on 18 August 2026. All four also sell in dollars and sterling, and all four run offers. Treat these prices as a guide rather than a quote.
One more is worth naming even though it is not in the table. GigSky sells the cheapest unlimited data of the group, at €22.09 for a week against Airalo’s €24.50. It also gives you 500 MB free for seven days to test the coverage. It is not in the table above because we have no commercial arrangement with them. If you want unlimited data, check GigSky before you decide.
A local SIM instead
Malta has three mobile networks: Epic, Melita and GO. All three sell prepaid SIMs. A Maltese number is useful if you are staying a while, because many local services expect one. You need identification to register a SIM here, so take your passport.
For a week’s holiday it is more effort than it is worth, and an eSIM does the same job without a shop. For a month or a summer it is cheaper. If you are moving here, do this on your first day.
Common mistakes
- Your phone has to support eSIM
- Most phones sold since about 2019 do, but not all of them, and a phone locked to a network may refuse a second line. Every provider has a compatibility checker and it takes a moment.
- Install before you fly
- Installing an eSIM needs an internet connection, which you will not have when you land. Install it at home on wifi and switch it on when you land.
- Activation windows differ
- A plan bought today does not always wait indefinitely. The windows here run from 30 days to 180, so buy close to the trip unless the provider says otherwise.
- Data only, usually
- Most travel eSIMs give you data and no phone number. Calls and texts continue to arrive on your own number, and anything over the internet works normally.
- Tethering is not guaranteed
- Sharing the connection with a laptop or a second phone depends on the plan and the network behind it. Check it if you intend to work.
- Unlimited is not always unlimited
- Fair use policies apply and speeds can be reduced after a threshold. For a holiday this rarely matters; for remote work it can.
Wifi is widespread in hotels, cafes and bars, and there is free public wifi in a number of town squares. It is enough for messages and maps if you would rather buy nothing, though it will not carry you round a day out.
Living here rather than visiting is a different question, with contracts, fibre and bundles: that is covered under internet and mobile.