Bcengi and Airalo both sell travel eSIMs: a digital SIM you install on your phone before you travel, so you have mobile data when you land. They differ in how you buy and pay for that data.
How Airalo works
Airalo sells data packages. You pick a destination, or a regional or global plan, and buy a package with a set amount of data and a set number of days, for example 3 GB for 7 days in the US for $9. You install the eSIM, and the package starts when it first connects at your destination. When the data runs out or the days end, the package is over and any data left is lost. For more data or another trip, you buy another package; the same eSIM can be reused and topped up with it, and some packages can renew automatically.
How Bcengi works
Bcengi works like a prepaid balance. You install one eSIM, add money, and pay only for the data you use, at the rate for the country you are in: for example $1.68 per GB in the US and $1.19 in Italy and the UK, in 200+ countries. There is no package to choose and no validity period: the money you don't spend stays in your balance, never expires, and is there for your next trip, in any country. You can top up by hand or set it to refill automatically.
Side by side
Why 1.38 GB and 3.16 GB: these are the median amounts of data used on one-week and two-week trips by the travelers in our 2026 International Mobile Data Usage Report, so each row shows what a typical trip of that length costs with each service.
| Bcengi | Airalo | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Per GB you use, from a prepaid balance | A package: a fixed amount of data for a fixed number of days |
| A week in the US (1.38 GB) | $2.32 | $9.00 for 3 GB, 7 days |
| A week in Italy (1.38 GB) | $1.64 | $7.50 for 3 GB, 7 days |
| Two weeks in the UK (3.16 GB) | $3.76 | $12.50 for 5 GB, 15 days |
| Data left over at the end | Not charged: your money stays in your balance | Paid for and lost when the package ends: 1.62 GB of 3 GB on the US week |
| Expiration | Your balance never expires | Each package has a validity period |
| Your next trip | Same eSIM and balance, in 200+ countries | A new package once the last one ends |
| Reusable eSIM | Yes | Yes |
What the difference means for your trip
Which is cheaper. A package is priced by its size, so you pay for all of it whatever you use. Bcengi's price follows your use. On the three trips above, Bcengi is 3 to 4.5 times cheaper. To compare your own trip, check your destination's rate per GB against the package you would buy.
What happens to data you don't use. Our 2026 usage report found the median week abroad used 1.38 GB. On a 3 GB package, that leaves 1.62 GB, more than half, which expires when the package ends. With Bcengi you pay for the 1.38 GB, and the rest of your money stays in your balance for your next trip.
Which to choose. Choose Bcengi if you want to pay only for what you use, travel more than once a year, or cross borders on one trip. A package fixes the price before you travel, but you pay for its full size whether you use it or not.
Questions
On the trips we compared, yes: 4 times cheaper for a week in the US, 4.5 times in Italy and over 3 times for two weeks in the UK.
Can I use the same eSIM on my next trip?With Bcengi, yes: the same eSIM and the same balance work in 200+ countries, with nothing new to buy before you go.
What happens to my Airalo data when the package ends?Any data left when the package's validity ends is lost. With Bcengi, money you don't spend stays in your balance and never expires.
How we compared: USD prices recorded October 6, 2026. Bcengi: GB used times our country rate. Airalo: the cheapest single package on its US, Italy and UK pages that covers each trip's data and days. Usage is the median for 6 to 8 and 13 to 15 days of use in our 2026 usage report.
