A local prepaid SIM at your destination is often cheaper per gigabyte. That is true and there is no point hiding it. The question is whether the saving is worth what it costs you.
When a local SIM is better
- You are staying in one place for more than a month.
- You use a lot of data every day, for instance working from a laptop.
- You do not mind the counter queue and passport registration.
- You need a local phone number for calls, deliveries or reservations.
When an eSIM is better
- The trip lasts from a few days to a few weeks.
- You cross several countries and do not want a new SIM at each border.
- You want data working on landing, not an hour later after finding the counter.
- You do not want to remove your own SIM and risk losing it.
The hidden cost of a local SIM
The advertised price is rarely the price you pay. Activation, a mandatory first top-up and the cost of the card itself often get added. Then there is time: in high season the airport queue can take longer than a short-haul flight.
Some countries add paperwork. In Turkey, for example, a phone brought from abroad using a local SIM can be blocked after a period unless its IMEI is registered. A traveller eSIM connects to local networks as a guest and is outside that process.
The practical answer
For a holiday, a business trip or a multi-country route, an eSIM almost always wins once you count your time. For a long stay in one place, the local SIM wins on price.