How much data do you actually need?
A quick reference for what common activities cost in data, plus daily and per-trip estimates so you buy the right eSIM size the first time.
Try it yourself
Adjust your trip length and usage style to see a live data estimate.
How many days?
How will you use data?
Where are you going? (optional)
Where it goes
Plan sizes that fit
Your estimate rounds up to a 5 GB plan. Here are three good fits.
Still not sure how much you need?
The co:sim ONE card bills per MB, so there is no plan size to guess at — you pay for exactly what you use, and whatever you do not use stays on your balance for the next trip. The card is free to open and opens soon.
Data usage by activity
Ranges are estimates. Actual usage depends on your device, connection quality, and app settings.
What can you do with each plan size?
1 GB
Enough for a short trip with light use: messaging, email, and a few dozen map lookups a day. Stream music sparingly and keep video calls brief — a 1 GB plan covers roughly 15–20 minutes of video calling or about 3–4 hours of browsing and chat, spread across your stay.
5 GB
Comfortable for most short-to-medium trips. You can check maps constantly, post to social media daily, and stream an hour of standard-definition video, or take a couple of 20-minute video calls, without watching your usage closely.
10 GB
Built for regular streaming and calling on top of everyday browsing. Expect room for a few HD episodes, an hour or more of video calls, and unrestricted maps and social use across a one-to-two-week trip — the most common choice for travelers who want to stop counting.
20 GB
For heavy users or longer stays: daily HD streaming, frequent video calls, hotspot use for a laptop, and background app updates all fit comfortably. A good match for a month abroad or for working remotely off your eSIM.
Daily data budgets
If you would rather plan by day than by activity, start from one of these baselines and multiply by your trip length.
Round up: it is cheaper to have a little spare data than to run out and buy a top-up mid-trip.
Data needed by trip length
| Usage profile | 1 week | 2 weeks | 1 month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 2 GB | 4 GB | 9 GB |
| Moderate | 5 GB | 10 GB | 21 GB |
| Heavy | 10.5 GB | 21 GB | 45 GB |
| Very intensive | 21 GB | 42 GB | 90 GB |
Ways to stretch your data
Download offline maps
Save your route before you land so navigation works with little to no live data.
Limit background refresh
Turn off background app refresh for apps you are not actively using so they stop syncing on your data.
Lower video quality
Drop streaming apps to standard definition on mobile data and save HD for Wi-Fi.
Watch hotspot sharing
A laptop tethered to your eSIM can burn a day of data in an hour, so cap it to what you actually need.