Best eSIM for Uzbekistan (2026): Prices, Networks and Which Plan to Buy

The best eSIM for Uzbekistan on price is Wayfarro, and it isn't close: 5GB costs $8 against Nomad's $11, 10GB $12 against $18, and the 7-day unlimited plan is $11 against Nomad's $25 and Airalo's $27.50. Wayfarro ties Nomad only at 1GB and 50GB and beats it everywhere else. Nomad runs on Uzmobile and Airalo on Unitel, the company behind Beeline Uzbekistan, two of the country's four networks. Wayfarro's prices come straight from its store; Nomad's and Airalo's were checked in October 2026.

Uzbekistan isn't covered by EU roaming or by most carriers' roaming bundles, so an EU, UK or North American SIM pays full rates from the moment it connects at Tashkent airport. And the country registers phones by IMEI, which makes a local SIM more hassle than it's worth on a short trip; a roaming eSIM sidesteps the rule, as explained below.

Uzbekistan eSIM prices compared

Prices for the plans travelers actually buy, read from each provider's Uzbekistan page. Providers run sales often, so check before you buy.

Plan	Wayfarro	Nomad	Airalo
1GB · 7 days	$4.50	$4.50	—
2GB · 15 days	$5.50	—	—
3GB · 30 days	$6	$7	—
5GB · 30 days	$8	$11	—
10GB · 30 days	$12	$18	—
20GB · 30 days	$17	$29	—
50GB · 30 days	$39	$39	—
Unlimited · 1 day	$4.50	—	—
Unlimited · 3 days	$6.50	$11	$12.50
Unlimited · 5 days	$8.50	$18	$20.50
Unlimited · 7 days	$11	$25	$27.50
Unlimited · 10 days	$14	$33	$35
Unlimited · 15 days	$21	$39	$49
Unlimited · 30 days	$40	—	—
Networks	Not named on the plan page	Uzmobile	Unitel (Beeline)

How to read this table: Wayfarro ties Nomad at 1GB and 50GB and is cheaper on every other row, by a wide margin on unlimited, where its 15-day plan costs less than Nomad's 5-day one. Airalo's Uzbekistan page showed unlimited plans only when we checked; it also sells fixed-data plans, so check its site for those. A dash means the provider doesn't sell that exact plan, or we couldn't confirm its US-dollar price.

Wayfarro's unlimited rows are its Unlimited Lite plans: 1GB a day at full speed, then 512 kbps until the next day. It also sells Unlimited Essential (1GB a day, then 1.25 Mbps) and Unlimited Plus (2GB a day, then 2 Mbps); seven days costs $13 on Essential and $25 on Plus. Nomad's page states its own rule, 2GB a day at 4G/5G and 1 Mbps after that. Airalo's states full speed for the first 3GB each day, up to 20 Mbps, then 1 Mbps.

Which is the best eSIM for Uzbekistan for your trip?

Almost everyone does the same route, Tashkent to Samarkand to Bukhara to Khiva, so the question is how many days and how much uploading:

• A few days in Tashkent: 1GB at $4.50, the same at Wayfarro and Nomad, covers maps, ride-hailing and the metro, whose 1977 stations are the main thing people photograph. For a weekend of posting, the 3-day unlimited plan at $6.50 is well under Nomad's $11 and Airalo's $12.50.
• A week of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara: 5GB at $8 for most people, or 7-day unlimited at $11, which costs about the same as 5GB and removes the counting. Both are cheaper than Nomad's and Airalo's equivalents.
• The full Silk Road fortnight adding Khiva: 10GB at $12 or the 15-day unlimited at $21, against Nomad's $39 and Airalo's $49. The unlimited plan is the one to buy if you'll stream on the long train legs.
• A month, including the Fergana Valley or Karakalpakstan: 20GB at $17, well under Nomad's $29, or 30-day unlimited at $40, which neither competitor sells. 50GB is $39 at both Wayfarro and Nomad.
• Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, or onward to Asia: Wayfarro's Asia regional plan covers Uzbekistan with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and six more countries on one eSIM, from $4.50 for 1GB, though it doesn't include Kazakhstan. The Global plan covers both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. For Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, add a separate plan in Trip Builder.

Networks and coverage in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan has four networks of similar size, which is unusual for the region. Ucell, formerly Coscom, is the largest with about 10 million subscribers at the end of 2024; Beeline, owned by VEON and operating as Unitel LLC, had 8.3 million; Uzmobile, the state operator inside Uztelecom, had 8 million; and Mobiuz, formerly UMS, had 7.8 million. All four run 4G, and Ucell, Uzmobile and Mobiuz run 5G on the 3300 MHz band. Nomad uses Uzmobile, Airalo uses Unitel, and Wayfarro's plan page doesn't name its partner, so the network shows on your phone when you land.

• Tashkent: 4G across the city, and 5G from three of the four networks where it has been switched on. Islam Karimov International Airport sits inside the city, about 6 km south of the centre, and is covered through the terminal and the taxi rank.
• Samarkand: full coverage around the Registan's three madrasas, Shah-i-Zinda and the Bibi-Khanym mosque, and at Samarkand International Airport, 6 km from the centre.
• Bukhara: 4G through the UNESCO-listed old core around Lyab-i Hauz, the Ark and the Kalyan minaret. Signal is weakest inside the thick-walled trading domes and the madrasas, and comes back the moment you step into the street.
• The Afrosiyob high-speed train: the Tashkent–Bukhara line runs 600 km in about 3 hours 20 minutes, and 4G follows the track through the Tashkent, Samarkand and Navoi regions with gaps in the open steppe past Navoi. The slow trains to Khiva across the Kyzylkum desert lose signal for long stretches.
• Khiva: the walled Itchan Kala has coverage throughout, and Urgench airport, 30 km away, is covered on the drive in.
• The Fergana Valley: the cities, Fergana, Andijan, Margilan and Kokand, are well covered, as is the Kamchik Pass road from Tashkent.
• Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea: Nukus has 4G; Moynaq, the former port now 150 km from the water, has signal in town and nothing on the drive out across the Aralkum desert to the old seabed. Download offline maps in Nukus.
• Chimgan: the ski area in the Tian Shan foothills near Chirchiq has signal at the base and on the main lift, and drops on the higher trails.

The IMEI rule and why a roaming eSIM is the easy answer

Uzbekistan registers phones by IMEI, and the rule is the main reason to pick a roaming eSIM over a local SIM. A phone used with an Uzbek SIM has to be registered in the UZIMEI system, for a fee, or it's cut off from the networks; foreign visitors now get 60 days from the first network event before that happens, up from 30. It has caused long queues at Tashkent airport, where arriving travelers who planned on a local SIM register their phones at the customs desk.

None of that applies to roaming. The UZIMEI registry says that using a foreign SIM on roaming in Uzbekistan needs no registration and costs nothing, and the operators say the same. A travel eSIM from Wayfarro, Nomad or Airalo is a roaming profile rather than an Uzbek SIM, so it sits on the exempt side of the rule. For a two-week Silk Road trip that's the whole argument for a roaming plan as the best eSIM for Uzbekistan: install the eSIM at home, skip the airport queue, and never see the registration portal.

Uzbekistan uses the sum, with prices in the tens of thousands for a meal, so card payments and ATM withdrawals also go through foreign-currency rules. A data plan paid in dollars before you leave is one less conversion to do.

How to set up an eSIM for Uzbekistan

Install at home on Wi-Fi, then switch it on when you land.

1. Check your phone is unlocked and supports eSIM. iPhone XS and later, Google Pixel 3 and later, and most recent Samsung Galaxy phones do.
2. Install before you travel. Scan the QR code or tap the install link; the step-by-step install guide covers iPhone and Android.
3. Label it "Uzbekistan" so you can find it in settings.
4. On arrival at Tashkent airport, set the Uzbekistan eSIM as your mobile-data line and turn on Data Roaming for it. Travel eSIMs technically roam, so data won't connect without this, and roaming is also what keeps you outside the IMEI rule.
5. Keep your home SIM on for calls and texts with its data roaming off, so bank codes still arrive. With no roaming deal covering Uzbekistan, leaving its data on is the expensive mistake.

Wayfarro's validity starts on first connection in Uzbekistan, not at install, so installing a week early costs nothing. Top-ups go onto the same eSIM without reinstalling, which matters on a two-week trip where the data runs out in Bukhara.

Bottom line

For Uzbekistan, the best eSIM for Uzbekistan in this comparison is Wayfarro by a clear margin: level with Nomad at 1GB and 50GB, cheaper on every other fixed plan, and far cheaper on unlimited, where its 15-day plan costs less than the competitors' 5-day ones. Nomad runs on Uzmobile and Airalo on Unitel, and with four evenly matched networks any of them is fine along the Silk Road cities. A roaming eSIM also keeps you clear of the IMEI registration that applies to local SIMs. If the trip continues into Southeast Asia, look at the Asia eSIM guide for the regional plan. See Wayfarro's Uzbekistan eSIM plans.