How to buy an eSIM on Telegram, step by step

Atli lives in Telegram as a bot, @AtliEsimBot. You open it, tap Start, say where you are going, pay on a secure checkout page, and the eSIM comes back into the same chat with buttons that install it. Because Telegram chats live in the cloud, the same conversation is on your phone, your laptop and the web, which changes a few things about how you buy and install. This guide covers each step and the Telegram details that matter.

Want the short version, with prices? That is the buy a travel eSIM on Telegram page. This article is the long one.

What "buying an eSIM on Telegram" means

There is no shop to visit and no Atli account to make. The bot is the shop: it shows plans, sends the payment link and delivers the eSIM, all as messages. You need Telegram and a phone that supports eSIM, nothing else.

Two questions tend to travel together. Buying through Telegram is this guide. Using Telegram on a travel eSIM is about your account: your number stays yours, because Atli is data only, and the only thing to think about is where your login code goes if Telegram asks you to sign in again abroad. That is covered below and in full on Will I keep my Telegram number with a travel eSIM?

Before you start

• A phone that supports eSIM and is carrier-unlocked. Most iPhone XS, XR and newer, Pixel 4 and newer, and Galaxy S20 and newer do. Check your exact model before you pay.
• Telegram on that phone. You can buy from Telegram Desktop or the web, but the eSIM is installed on the phone, so the chat needs to be there too. It will be: Telegram syncs it.
• Wi-Fi for the install, and a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay for the checkout page. You never type card details into Telegram.

Step 1: open @AtliEsimBot and tap Start

Search for @AtliEsimBot in Telegram, or tap Buy on Telegram on the buying page, which opens the bot directly. A Telegram bot waits for you to go first: tap Start and Atli says hello and asks where you are going. Atli answers in the language you write in.

Beside the message box, Telegram shows a menu button. It lists Atli's commands, among them My eSIMs and plans, so you can reach your eSIM without remembering what to type. Typing works too: wallet, check data and invite do the same.

Step 2: say where you are going

Type the destination and how long you will be there, like Bali, 10 days. Atli replies with the plans that cover it: a few fixed data sizes, and an Unlimited plan. A regional plan covers every destination on its list, and Global covers all of them, so one plan can carry a multi-stop trip. Tap a plan to see its details, or ask for a different size.

Not sure how much you need? The travel data calculator sizes a plan from your days and habits.

Step 3: pay on the secure checkout page

When you pick a plan, Atli sends a link to a checkout page run by Stripe. It opens in your browser, on whichever device you are chatting from. Pay there by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay where available, then come back to the chat. If you have Atli credits, eligible orders use them automatically at checkout.

Buying for someone else? Tap 🎁 Share it at checkout instead. Atli gives you a claim code to send; they claim it in Atli on their own phone. How gifting works.

Step 4: install the eSIM from the chat

Atli confirms the payment in the chat and sends your eSIM. Three ways to install it, all from that message:

1. One tap, on the phone. Open the chat on the phone that will carry the eSIM and tap Install on iPhone or Install on Android. The phone's own eSIM setup opens.
2. QR code, from a screen. If you bought on Telegram Desktop or in the browser, leave the QR code on the screen and scan it with your phone's camera.
3. Manually. Enter the details in your phone's eSIM settings.

Where to tap on each phone, and which settings to turn on afterwards, are in How to install an eSIM on iPhone and Android. Installing is not activating: nothing is used up yet.

When the plan starts

Your plan starts when your phone first connects to a supported network in a destination the plan covers. Buying or installing does not start it, so buying early is fine. A plan that has not started within 30 days of purchase expires. When does my plan start?

During the trip: data checks and more data

• Check data. Type check data and Atli shows data used, data left, days left and the expiry date for each plan. How much data do I have left?
• More data, or the next destination. Type check data and tap Buy another plan. The new plan goes onto the same Atli eSIM, with no new QR code and no reinstall. Need more data or going somewhere new?
• Your eSIMs and plans. Type wallet, or pick My eSIMs and plans from the menu button, to see your eSIM, every plan on it and the QR / Install button again.

Telegram itself, on the road

• Your number stays yours. Atli never touches the number your Telegram account uses. Chats, groups and Telegram calls run on your Atli data the way they run on Wi-Fi.
• If Telegram asks you to log in again, the code arrives inside Telegram on another device you are logged in on, or by text to your own number through your own carrier. Keep your own SIM switched on so a text can reach you, or set up a passkey before you fly under Settings › Privacy and Security › Passkeys and log in with your PIN, face or fingerprint instead.
• Save data. In Settings › Data and Storage, turn off automatic media download for mobile data; photos and videos then download only when you tap them.

If something does not look right

• You deleted the chat. Nothing is lost: open @AtliEsimBot again, tap Start and type wallet. Your eSIM and plans are still there.
• You cannot find the QR code or the install message. Type wallet, open your eSIM and tap QR / Install. Can't find your QR code?
• You landed and there is no data. Turn Airplane Mode off, make sure the Atli line is on, turn Data Roaming on for Atli and pick it for mobile data, then wait two or three minutes. eSIM not working abroad? has the fixes in order.
• You want a refund or a person. Type Talk to a human at any point and the support team picks up the same conversation. Refunds may be available for an eligible technical or network failure that support cannot resolve, requested within 14 days. Payments and refunds.