How to check eSIM data usage comes down to two places. Your eSIM provider’s app shows how much data you have left on the plan, and that’s the number that counts. Your phone’s settings show how much you’ve used on each line: on iPhone under Settings > Cellular, on a Pixel under Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, on a Samsung under Settings > Connections > Data usage. Check the app for the balance, and the phone for which apps are eating it.
Last updated 30 October 2026.
Data left versus data used
These two numbers rarely match, and that confuses plenty of travellers. Saily’s help article on how its data plans work lists the usual reasons. Your phone’s counter was last reset on a different date from when the plan began. The phone also counts traffic from other SIMs. It may miss some background traffic, or round differently.
Saily counts everything that passed through its network during the plan’s active period. Google’s Pixel help says the same thing from the other side: your phone measures its own figure, and “some carriers measure usage differently.” Apple goes further and suggests contacting the carrier for the most accurate number for a current period.
So, in practice: trust the provider’s figure for what remains, and use the phone’s figure to find out where it went. Most people miss this, then panic when the two disagree by a few hundred megabytes.
Check it in the provider’s app
Saily
Saily’s article How can I check my current Saily data usage? keeps it short. Open the Saily app. “The remaining data will be displayed in the middle of the screen under your Saily eSIM.” That’s it.
Unlimited plans work differently. Saily says each day brings a high-speed allowance; after you use it, speed drops to about 1 Mbps for the rest of the day, and the allowance resets at midnight in the eSIM’s local time. So on an unlimited plan, the number worth watching is today’s allowance, not a running total.
Airalo
Airalo’s article How can I check my current data usage? gives three steps: open your Airalo account, go to My eSIMs, and choose the eSIM. “If available, the data bar will show the amount of data you have remaining.” When there’s no bar, Airalo sends you to your phone’s settings instead.
Two extras help. On iPhone, Airalo offers a home screen widget: press and hold any app icon, tap Edit Home Screen, tap +, find Airalo, pick a size and tap Add Widget, then long-press it and tap Edit Widget to choose which eSIM it tracks. And according to its page on data amounts and validity, Airalo sends low-data notifications at 25% and 10% remaining.
Check it on iPhone: Settings > Cellular
Apple’s article Use cellular data on your iPhone or iPad, published 14 September 2026, gives this path:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Cellular (or Mobile Data / Mobile Service, depending on region).
- Scroll down to see which apps are using cellular data.
- Tap System Services to see data used by iOS itself.
On a phone with two lines, Apple says you can see how much cellular data you’ve used with your selected cellular data number. Airalo adds the detail that trips people up: on iPhone, a travel eSIM’s usage shows under Current Period Roaming, because the phone counts it as roaming even though you bought a local plan. Saily describes the same screen as showing usage “per period” lower down the page.
Don’t forget that “current period” means since the last reset, not since you landed. Which brings us to the most useful button on that screen.
Reset statistics when you land
At the bottom of the Cellular screen, Apple lists Reset Statistics. Tap it on arrival day, and from then on the counter covers only this trip. If you’ve never reset it, the figure may include months of history, which makes it useless for budgeting a ten-day plan.
Check it on Android: Pixel and Samsung
Menu names differ by maker, and Google warns that its steps apply to Pixel phones on Android 8.0 and up.
Google Pixel. Google’s Reduce & manage mobile data usage page says: open Settings, tap Network & internet > SIMs, and total usage appears at the top. Tap App data usage for a graph, then use the down arrow to pick a time period. Per-app figures sit below the graph. With two SIMs, select the travel eSIM first so you’re reading the right line.
Samsung Galaxy. Saily and Airalo both give the same route: Settings > Connections > Data usage. Saily notes you’ll see data used on your SIM, your Saily eSIM and Wi-Fi there. Airalo’s data-saving guide says to scroll to your active eSIM and tap Mobile data usage.
Other Android phones. Airalo suggests Settings > Network and Internet > Data usage or Mobile Network, with usage listed under Mobile. Steps vary by model.
Set the cycle, a warning and a limit
Android offers something Apple’s data article doesn’t describe for iPhone: an automatic cut-off. Airalo’s data limit article gives both routes.
- Samsung: Settings > Connections > Data Usage > Billing cycle and data warning. Set Start billing cycle to your arrival date, then turn on Set data warning and Set data limit.
- Pixel: Settings > Network & Internet > SIMs > Data warning & limit. Set Mobile data usage cycle to your arrival date, then the warning and the limit.
Airalo’s own example: with a 10 GB package, set the warning at 8 GB. The limit “will turn off mobile data when you reach the specified limit.” Google adds that some features won’t work once data is off, and that you turn it back on by switching Set data limit off.
A worked example: a 10-day work trip to Tokyo
Numbers make this concrete. Say you’re heading to Tokyo for ten days of meetings, and you estimate your own use at about 0.8 GB a day: maps between offices, messaging, email with attachments, and a short video call home most evenings. Your estimate, not a rule. Ten days times 0.8 GB is 8 GB, so you buy a 10 GB plan, leaving 2 GB of headroom for a bad day.
That gives a simple daily budget: 1 GB per day. Here’s how the checks fit together.
Day 1, on landing. On iPhone, tap Reset Statistics. On a Pixel or Samsung, set the usage cycle to start today, a warning at 8 GB and a limit at 9.5 GB.
Day 3, evening. You open the provider app. The budget says at least 7 GB should remain. It shows 6 GB, so you’ve used 4 GB, about 1.3 GB a day. Not a disaster, but the pace won’t last: 6 GB across seven days is roughly 0.86 GB a day.
Same evening, in Settings. You look at per-app usage. The culprit turns out to be photo backup running over mobile data, plus a maps app re-downloading tiles. You switch photo sync to Wi-Fi only and download offline maps of the neighbourhoods you’ll visit. Apple’s Low Data Mode, on a dual-SIM iPhone under Settings > Cellular > your travel line, pauses background refresh and automatic backups too.
Day 7. The app shows 3 GB left with three days to go. Exactly on budget.
Day 9. If you’d been on Airalo, the 10% notification would arrive around 1 GB remaining. You’ve still got a day and a bit, so you skip the top-up and finish on what’s there.
If you’ve ever run out mid-trip, you know the real cost isn’t money. It’s standing outside a station with no map. A two-minute check every couple of evenings prevents that. For more on picking a plan size for Japan, see our Japan eSIM page.
Common mistakes
Reading the phone counter as your balance. It shows usage since the last reset, possibly across several lines. The provider app shows what’s actually left.
Never resetting statistics. Without a reset on arrival, iPhone’s per-period figure mixes this trip with old data.
Forgetting the hotspot. Sharing your connection uses your plan; Airalo says a shared connection could be the reason for high data usage. Our guide to using an eSIM as a hotspot covers the rules.
Letting background apps run. Saily recommends turning off Background App Refresh on iPhone (Settings > General > Background App Refresh) or enabling Data Saver on Android (Settings > Network & Internet > Data Saver) while you’re on the eSIM.
Treating a data plan as daily. Airalo is clear that a 1 GB, 7-day package is 1 GB for the whole week, not per day.
What to do when you’re running low
Top up before you hit zero. In the Airalo app, go to My eSIMs > TOP UP. Airalo also offers renewals on many packages: turned on under My eSIMs > Details, a renewal is bought when 10% remains and starts when the data runs out, and it needs a saved payment method. Saily lets you top up in its app, and our Saily review and Airalo review cover each provider’s plans and refund rules.
When you can’t top up right away, switch mobile data off between uses, lean on hotel Wi-Fi for anything heavy, and keep the eSIM for maps and messages.
FAQ: eSIM data usage questions
Why does my phone show different data usage than the eSIM app?
Your phone counts from its last reset and may include other lines, while the provider counts everything on its network during the plan. Saily says a mismatch is normal. Trust the app for what’s left.
Where is eSIM data usage on iPhone?
Settings > Cellular. For a travel eSIM, Airalo says to look under Current Period Roaming. Scroll down for per-app usage, and tap Reset Statistics to start a fresh count.
Can I set a data limit on my eSIM?
On Android, yes. Pixel and Samsung phones let you set a data warning and a limit that turns mobile data off. Apple’s cellular data article doesn’t describe an automatic cut-off for iPhone, so use the provider app and Low Data Mode.
Does an unlimited eSIM plan need checking?
Yes, but differently. Saily’s unlimited plans have a daily high-speed allowance, after which speed drops to about 1 Mbps until midnight local time.
The short version
- The provider app shows data left; your phone’s settings show data used.
- iPhone: Settings > Cellular, then Current Period Roaming for a travel eSIM. Reset Statistics on arrival.
- Pixel: Settings > Network & internet > SIMs. Samsung: Settings > Connections > Data usage.
- On Android, set the usage cycle to your arrival date, plus a warning and a limit.
- Divide your plan by your days, then check every couple of evenings against that daily budget.