PlainSIM is a UK travel eSIM service for Turkey, the Gulf and North Africa. We are building it now.
There is nothing to buy here yet, and nothing to sign up to. When we open, this page becomes the shop. In the meantime there is one genuinely useful thing below: check whether your phone takes an eSIM at all.
What we are building
Twelve countries across Turkey, the Gulf and North Africa, each with its own guide, rather than two hundred countries covered thinly.
An eSIM is best bought and installed at home, on your own wifi, while you can still sort out anything that is not right. Some countries make that essential rather than merely sensible.
Written for UK travellers, in plain English, including the parts that are awkward. Where a country has a catch, we would rather say so than sell around it.
Why these places
Turkey, the Gulf and North Africa all sit outside the inclusive roaming zones that UK networks apply to Europe. Your usual home allowance does not follow you there, so data is charged separately, either through a daily pass or at whatever your network charges without one. Exactly what you pay depends on your network and your plan, so it is worth checking yours before you travel.
Before anything else
This is the question worth answering first, and it has nothing to do with buying from us. Search 219 handsets from 15 makers.
Results appear as you type. Use the up and down arrow keys to review them and Enter to choose one.
The surest test is the handset, not a list. On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Mobile Data (called Cellular in some countries) and look for Add eSIM or Add Data Plan. On Android, open Settings, then Network and internet or Connections, then SIMs or Mobile network, and look for Add eSIM. If the option is there, your phone supports eSIM. The exact wording varies between makers.
A universal shortcut: dial *#06#. If you see an EID, a long
32 digit number, your phone has eSIM hardware.
One more thing that matters and is easy to miss: your phone must also be network unlocked, meaning it is not tied to a single mobile network. A locked phone can show the eSIM option and still refuse a travel eSIM. If you are not sure, ask whoever you bought the phone from to confirm.
Device support last verified 28 July 2026. It changes with new models, firmware updates and regional policy, so where support depends on the variant we say so rather than guess. Treat this as a guide and confirm on your own phone.
Planned at launch
The most complete guide, and the template for the rest.
Business and luxury leisure, and the priciest roaming band of the set.
High UK holiday volume, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic coast.
Jordan is in the launch set. Lebanon is held back on travel advisory grounds, and stays that way until that changes.