For people running Android without Google services, on Pixel, Fairphone and other eSIM-capable hardware, worldwide.

eSIM for a de-Googled phone

You do not need to know your ROM's name to answer this. You need to know three things about the phone in your hand, and all three can be checked in about five minutes without spending anything.

$25

Two independent questions: does the chip exist, and does the build ship a profile assistant
An EID proves the hardware; a working add-eSIM flow proves the software
Older privacy-friendly handsets often have no eUICC at all and never will
No Google account, no app and no store are needed to buy or use the line
Real UK +44 carrier line, incoming SMS and calls, $25 once then $15 every six months
Crypto only, no KYC, no email, 8-character lookup code in the AB12-CDEF format

Buy UK eSIM - $25 How it works →

cryptoinstant QR

Most people arrive at this question in the same order. They removed Google from a phone, or bought one that came that way, and now they want a second line without walking into a shop and handing over a passport. Then they read five contradictory forum threads and give up. The contradictions are real, but they are not random: eSIM support on a de-Googled phone is decided by two independent things, and almost every argument online is two people describing different combinations of them.

The first is hardware. Your phone either contains an eUICC chip or it does not, and nothing you install can add one. The second is the build. Downloading a profile needs a local profile assistant, usually written LPA, which is system software that has to be part of the operating system image. Two people running what they call the same ROM on different phones can genuinely get different answers. So the useful move is not to search for your ROM's name. It is to interrogate the device.

Start with the hardware, because it is the fixed part

The chip is a manufacturing fact and it does not change with software. Every eUICC carries an EID, a 32-digit identifier that stays the same no matter how many profiles you add or delete. If your phone can show you an EID, it has the chip. On stock-style Android you will find it under Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, on the eSIM entry, and on many devices dialling *#06# shows it beside the IMEI. Devices with the hardware also declare the feature android.hardware.telephony.euicc, which you can see through adb if you have it set up.

This is where a lot of otherwise excellent privacy phones stop. Plenty of well-supported, long-lived handsets simply predate eSIM. Fairphone is the clearest example: the Fairphone 3 and 3+ do not contain the chip, and Fairphone has said that means eSIM will never be supported on them, while later models do have it. Finding out you are in that category costs nothing and saves you a purchase you cannot use.

Then find out whether your build ships a profile assistant

AOSP does not include a general-purpose LPA. Google's own documentation describes it as a system app that should be included in the build image, with manufacturers expected to implement their own. That means the presence of eSIM support in your build is a decision somebody made when the build was assembled, not something derived from the hardware. It is also why a phone can advertise eSIM on its spec sheet and still have no way to use it after you flash a different system.

The check is direct. Go to Settings, Network and internet, SIMs and look for an option to download a SIM, add an eSIM, or a plus button beside your SIM entries. Start it. If a QR scanner opens or you get a field for entering an activation code manually, your assistant is functioning. If the option is absent, or worse, present but does nothing when tapped, that is your answer and no seller can change it. A button that does nothing is a documented symptom, not bad luck.

Where the common systems tend to land

Broad patterns exist and are worth knowing, as long as you still verify on your own device. Hardened Android systems built on Pixel hardware generally keep eSIM working, sometimes behind a setting you have to turn on first, because the vendor components are present. Systems derived from LineageOS are the least predictable, because official builds have historically not shipped an LPA at all, so identical-looking builds for different devices behave differently. Manufacturer-blessed privacy builds shipped on the manufacturer's own hardware sit in between, generally working because the vendor's own components came along for the ride.

We keep dedicated pages for the individual systems, because the details differ enough that a single summary would be wrong for someone. What matters on this page is the method rather than the table: check the chip, check the installer, and only then look up what other people report about your specific combination. Treat any compatibility badge that claims a whole ROM family works as marketing, because nobody can test every build for every device.

What you can honestly expect from buying this way

Once a profile is on the chip, the line is plain Android telephony. Incoming SMS arrives and calls ring, whether or not Google software is present, and removing or adding other software later does not disturb an installed profile. That is the whole appeal: a working mobile line with no store, no app and no account attached to it. Our UK +44 number is a real carrier mobile line, not VoIP and not a shared pool number, receiving unlimited incoming SMS and calls worldwide over roaming, with no mobile data at all. It is $25 once, with the first six months included and $15 every six months after, and nothing renews by itself because we hold no card. Travel data is separate, from $1.99 across 190+ countries, data only with no number. Payment is crypto only across twelve methods, with no KYC, no account and no email, and you get an 8-character lookup code in the AB12-CDEF format to find the order later.

The ceiling deserves stating plainly, because this audience is the one most likely to be told a lie about it. Buying without identity checks removes the paperwork at the point of sale. It does not remove your device IMEI, your IP address, or the records a carrier keeps about a line that is in use on its network. And we sell the profile, not your operating system: we cannot promise that a given build will install it, which is why this page is a set of checks instead of a compatibility badge. The UK number QR is single use and a deleted profile is never reissued, so run the checks before you pay, not after.

The five-minute check, on the phone you actually intend to use

1
Find your EID. Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, then the eSIM entry on stock-style Android, or dial *#06# and look for a 32-digit number next to the IMEI. An EID means the hardware is there. No EID anywhere usually means the phone has no eUICC and this whole question is closed.
2
In the same SIMs screen, look for an option to download a SIM, add an eSIM, or a plus button. Its presence tells you the build exposes an eSIM installer.
3
Tap it and go one step further. You want to reach either a QR scanner or a field for typing an activation code by hand. Reaching that screen is the real proof, because a build can show the entry point and still have nothing behind it.
4
Note anything that stalls. Some builds stall partway through a download for reasons that have nothing to do with the profile, and those are usually documented per system rather than per seller. Search the symptom together with your system's name before concluding the code is bad.
5
If both checks pass, you can buy with reasonable confidence. Our UK +44 number arrives as a standard activation code that installs through exactly that screen, and if your setup is unusual, ask us first, because the UK number QR is single use and is never reissued.
6
If the installer is missing, look for whether anyone has built your device's ROM with an open-source profile assistant included. Where nobody has, a physical SIM is the honest answer.

Questions & answers

Can I use an eSIM if my phone has no Google apps at all?

Usually yes, provided your build includes a local profile assistant. The download is done by that system component, not by a store or an account, and once the profile is installed the line behaves like any other. The absence of Google apps is not itself the obstacle. The absence of the profile assistant is.

How do I know which ROM I am running?

Settings, About phone will normally show a build number that names the system and the device. You do not strictly need it to answer the eSIM question, because the checks on this page look at the device rather than the label, but it helps when you go searching for reports from people with the same combination.

My phone lists eSIM on its spec sheet but I have no add-eSIM option. Why?

The spec sheet describes the chip and your operating system decides whether anything can talk to it. AOSP does not ship a general purpose profile assistant, so a build assembled without one leaves the hardware unreachable. This is a build-level gap and no eSIM seller can work around it from their side.

Will you refund me if my phone cannot install the profile?

The UK number QR is single use and is never reissued, and that purchase is not refundable, which is exactly why we ask you to run the checks first and to contact us beforehand if you are unsure. Travel data profiles are more forgiving if something goes wrong during installation. Please ask before paying rather than after.

Does a no-KYC purchase make me anonymous?

It removes identity paperwork at the point of purchase, and that is all it removes. Your device still has an IMEI, your connection still has an IP address, and a carrier still keeps records about a line in use on its network. We would rather say that plainly than let you assume something we cannot deliver.