Our top pick, reviewed properly
Airalo in Costa Rica
Airalo sells Costa Rica under the name Hot Telecom, and its product page names the local network you are actually buying: Liberty.
The Airalo Costa Rica plans
USD, checked 2026
Airalo brands its Costa Rica eSIM Hot Telecom. The Hot Telecom+ line adds local calls and texts (10GB comes with 100 minutes and 100 SMS) for two to four dollars more. Airalo's page names Liberty as the primary network and describes Hot Telecom+ as operating on Claro.
| Plan | Price | Per GB | With +506 number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB / 3 days | $7.50 | $7.50 | $8.50 |
| 3GB / 7 days | $19.00 | $6.33 | $20.50 |
| 5GB / 30 days | $26.50 | $5.30 | $28.50 |
| 10GB / 30 days | $34.00 | $3.40 | $36.50 |
| 20GB / 30 days | $40.50 | $2.03 | $44.00 |
| Unlimited / 7 days | $36.50 | — | 3GB per day at full speed, then 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. Data-only. |
| Unlimited / 15 days | $49.00 | — | |
| Unlimited / 30 days | $89.00 | — |
The shape of this ladder matters more than any single number. Below 10GB, Airalo is expensive: $19 for 3GB over a single week is poor value against Yesim's $9.36 for 3GB over thirty days. From 10GB up it is competitive, and at 20GB it is $7.49 cheaper than Saily. Buy Airalo at the top of the range, not the bottom.
Airalo against the other four
where each one wins
| Airalo | Yesim | Saily | GigSky | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10GB / 30 days | $34.00 | $25.20 | $36.99 | $39.99 |
| 20GB / 30 days | $40.50 | $37.80 | $47.99 | none |
| Network named | Liberty (Claro on Hot Telecom+) | Claro (3G) + Telefónica | not disclosed | Claro + Liberty |
| Unlimited cap | 3GB/day, then 1 Mbps | none published | 3GB/day, then 1 Mbps | 3.5GB/day, cheapest |
| Trustpilot | 4.2 · 48,959 | 4.3 · 2,996 | 4.7 · 32,870 | 4.3 · 8,403 |
| Local calls and texts | yes, Hot Telecom+ | no | no | no |
| Free trial | no | no | no | 100MB / 7 days |
Read it column by column and Airalo wins nothing on price and most things on disclosure. Yesim is cheaper at every size but prints no unlimited cap and lists Claro at 3G only. Saily has the best review record and will not say whose towers you are renting. GigSky lets you test free and then charges $39.99 for the 10GB Airalo sells at $34.00. Airalo is the compromise with the fewest unknowns, which on a country like Costa Rica is worth paying for.
What Airalo actually reaches in Costa Rica
place by place
| Where | What to expect on Airalo |
|---|---|
| San José, Alajuela, Heredia | Airalo lists its Costa Rica eSIM as 4G. Solid across the Central Valley; no complaints here on any brand. |
| Liberia, Tamarindo, the Guanacaste strip | Liberty is genuinely strong here, which suits Airalo's named network best of anywhere in the country. |
| La Fortuna, Monteverde town, Manuel Antonio | Reliable in town. The signal fades on the access roads and dies inside the reserves, on every network including Kölbi. |
| Nosara, Santa Teresa, Sámara | Fine in the village, unreliable on the dirt roads between villages. Remote workers report carrying a second SIM. |
| Uvita south, the Osa, Sarapiquí, Tortuguero | The Airalo limit, and the limit of every Claro or Liberty eSIM. These areas lean on Kölbi, which Airalo does not name. Expect one bar or none. |
Airalo's page shows Liberty as the primary network for its Costa Rica eSIMs, and its Hot Telecom+ description says Claro. Knowing that lets you check the Liberty or Claro coverage map before you pay. What it does not change is the underlying map: a Liberty or Claro line does not cover the Kölbi-only pockets, and the Kölbi page explains what to do about that.
Hot Telecom+ and the +506 number
the feature nobody else we link has
Almost every travel eSIM sold for Costa Rica is data-only. Airalo's Hot Telecom+ packages are the exception in this lineup: they add a minutes and SMS allowance (100 of each on 10GB, 200 on 20GB). Airalo says only local calls and SMS are supported.
Most travelers do not need it. Costa Rica runs on WhatsApp, and your tour operator, your lodge and your driver will all message you there. Where the +506 number earns its two to four dollars is narrower and real: booking systems that send an SMS code to a local number, a rental car company that wants to reach you, or a long stay where you need to be callable by a Costa Rican business that will not use WhatsApp.
The premium is small. 10GB with a number is $36.50 against $34.00 without, so the number costs $2.50. If there is any chance you will need it, buy the plus version and forget about it. The phone number page compares all three ways to get a local number.
Buying and activating Airalo
the four-minute version
- Buy on the Airalo website at home on wifi. Our links go to the web checkout on purpose; the app tracking does not credit this site, and the price is identical either way.
- Install the profile before you fly. The plan does not start counting until it first connects to a Costa Rican network, so buying a week early costs you nothing.
- On landing at SJO or LIR: switch the Airalo line on for data, leave your home line on for calls with its data roaming off.
- If nothing connects within five minutes, go to network selection, set it to manual and pick Claro, then Liberty if Claro fails. Full setup and symptom fixes.
Buy it or skip it
the honest split
Buy Airalo if
You want to know which network you are buying before you pay, which on a country with Costa Rica's coverage gaps is the single most useful fact available.
You need 10GB or more: this is where Airalo's ladder becomes competitive and where 20GB at $40.50 beats Saily by $7.49.
You want unlimited with a number on it: 3GB a day, then 1 Mbps, printed, at $36.50 for a week.
You might need a +506 phone number: nobody else in this lineup offers one.
Skip Airalo if
You need 3GB or less: $19.00 for 3GB over seven days is bad value against Yesim's $9.36 over thirty.
Price is the only thing that matters: Yesim is cheaper at every size, caveats included.
You want to test before paying: only GigSky gives you 100MB free.
Your route is Osa, Sarapiquí or Tortuguero: a Liberty or Claro eSIM does not fix that; a Kölbi chip does.
Questions
on Airalo in Costa Rica
Which network does Airalo use in Costa Rica?
Liberty: Airalo's Costa Rica page shows it as the primary network, checked 2026. The Hot Telecom+ description says Claro. Airalo does not name Kölbi; among the travel eSIMs we checked, only Sim Local does.
What is Hot Telecom?
It is simply the name Airalo gives its Costa Rica eSIM, the way it names every local eSIM after something local. Hot Telecom is the data-only line, Hot Telecom+ is the same data plus local minutes and SMS.
Is Airalo unlimited really unlimited in Costa Rica?
No, and Airalo says so: "Lower speed rate of 1 Mbps after 3 GB usage per day." Holafly and Yesim print no daily figure at all; Sim Local prints a higher one, 5GB or 10GB a day, on Kölbi. The unlimited comparison works out the price per usable gigabyte.
When does the Airalo plan start counting?
On first connection to a Costa Rican network, not at purchase. Install at home on wifi, land, switch the line on, and the clock starts then.
Can I hotspot on Airalo in Costa Rica?
Yes, on the fixed-data plans, and it draws from the same allowance. On the unlimited plans, tethering counts toward the 3GB daily full-speed cap.
Airalo or a Kölbi SIM?
Different problems. Airalo gets you connected before you land, on Liberty, with no shop visit. A kölbi SIM Turista (₡12,095, about $24) gets you the network that reaches the rural south and the northern lowlands, at the cost of a shop visit. On a Pacific-south road trip the honest answer is both, for about $58 total. The Kölbi guide has the full comparison.
Airalo Costa Rica · 10GB · $34.00
Liberty, named on the product page. 30 days. Local calls and texts for $2.50 more if you want them.
See Airalo's Costa Rica plansSources & freshness: Prices from airalo.com, checked 2026, in USD before promo codes (1GB, 3GB and unlimited figures are from earlier in 2026; Airalo showed us those only in CAD on the recheck). Network from Airalo's own Costa Rica product page. Trustpilot score from trustpilot.com, 2026. Compare all five: best eSIM for Costa Rica.