How to buy an eSIM on WhatsApp, step by step

You can buy a travel eSIM without leaving WhatsApp. You message Atli, name a destination, pick a plan, pay on a secure checkout page, and the eSIM comes back into the same chat with buttons that install it. This guide walks through each step, what you need before you start, and what to do if something does not look right.

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

What "buying an eSIM on WhatsApp" means

Atli is a chat, not an app. The WhatsApp account @atliesim is the shop, the cashier and the delivery in one conversation. There is no account to create and nothing to download beyond WhatsApp itself, which you already have.

It is worth separating two things people search for together. Buying through WhatsApp is what this guide covers. Using WhatsApp on a travel eSIM is a different question: your WhatsApp number stays yours, because Atli is data only and never touches the number your account is registered to. That one has its own page, Will I keep my WhatsApp 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.
• Wi-Fi for the install. You buy any time, but install the eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly. The plan does not start until you connect abroad.
• A way to pay. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay where available. You pay on a checkout page, never inside the chat.

Step 1: open the chat

Tap Buy on WhatsApp on the buying page, or search for @atliesim in WhatsApp. Say hi, or skip the hello and type where you are going. Atli answers in the language you write in.

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.

Not sure how much data you need? Set your trip up in the travel data calculator and it sizes the plan for you.

Step 3: pick a plan and pay

Tap the plan you want. Atli sends a link to a secure checkout page run by Stripe. You pay there by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay where available, and your card details never pass through WhatsApp. If you have Atli credits, eligible orders use them automatically at checkout.

Buying for someone else? Tap 🎁 Share it at checkout instead of paying for your own line. 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

After the payment, Atli confirms it in the chat and sends your eSIM. There are three ways to install it, and all three come from that message:

1. One tap. Tap Install on iPhone or Install on Android on the phone you are chatting from. The phone's own eSIM setup opens and adds the line.
2. QR code. If you bought from WhatsApp Web or another device, scan the QR code with your phone's camera.
3. Manually. Enter the details by typing them into your phone's eSIM settings.

Where to tap on each phone, and the 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

Everything about the eSIM stays in the same WhatsApp chat.

• Check data. Type check data and Atli shows data used, data left, days left and the expiry date for each plan.
• 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 to see your eSIM, every plan on it, and the QR / Install button again.

If something does not look right

• You cannot find the QR code or the install message. Type wallet, open your eSIM and tap QR / Install. Deleting the chat does not remove your eSIMs or plans. 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 paid and want a refund. Refunds may be available for an eligible technical or network failure that support cannot resolve, requested within 14 days. Type Talk to a human in the chat. Payments and refunds.
• You want a person. Type Talk to a human at any point and the support team picks up the same conversation.