I was introduced to the world of eSIMs in 2023 and have since tried a few options on the market. Saily is one of the most budget-friendly, secure, and easy-to-use eSIM providers out there. If you’re new to the world of eSIMs, have no fear — I’m here to help. I’ll explain how Saily works, what it costs, where you can use it, and how it compares to more well-known options like Airalo. Whether you’re planning a short holiday or a longer adventure, here’s what to know about using a Saily eSIM for travel. (And a 5% discount on your first one!)
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Saily eSIM review — my honest experience
I’m always on the hunt for anything that can make my life easier when I travel.
I’d tried two eSIMs previously: Airalo, which turned out to be pretty hit and miss, and Holafly, which worked well and offers unlimited data but is significantly more expensive. I’d heard great things about other peoples’ experience with a Saily eSIM, so I gave it a go. I’ve also been a long-time NordVPN user — the same team behind Saily.
To test the eSIM without waiting months before my next trip, I decided to try it here at my home base in New Zealand.
Set up
I set up my eSIM from the comfort of my home with a strong Wi-Fi connection. Everything looked like it had gone smoothly with the installation and set up process, my settings seemed correct, but I was only getting LTE and it wasn’t super fast. I contacted customer service and they took a look at all my settings and couldn’t find any issues.
They suggested some quick tips like restarting my phone, which gave me 3G for a minute but quickly defaulted back to LTE. I started all this quite late at night, and decided to leave it to figure out in the morning. When I woke up, everything was fine and the eSIM was working as intended. I had no issues for the rest of the week!
Customer service
I reached out to customer service for help with my Saily eSIM setup issue.
The person I spoke to was helpful, knowledgeable, and the chat function in the app was user-friendly. It started with a bot (as all things do these days) but I got through to a real human in a minute, tops. They couldn’t find anything wrong, but it sorted itself out and the eSIM may have just taken a little time to kick in.
In theory, it should give you an immediate connection. I haven’t seen this mentioned as an issue on any of the review sites, so it must have just been a weird thing on my end.
Get $5 off your first Saily eSIM with my referral code: NAOMIO3998
What others say about their Saily eSIM experience
What, I’m not good enough for you? Nah of course it’s always a good idea to check review sites to see what the majority of users have experienced. My general takeaway is that a Saily eSIM is a pretty low cost/low risk thing to try. So maybe just start with a small plan to test the functionality and you can always top up if it goes well. Here’s what the internet has to say:
Saily eSIM on Trustpilot
Saily has over 3,000 reviews and a solid 4.2/5 on Trustpilot.
People always rave about the strong cell service, internet speed, customer service, and price of their Saily eSIM. Poor reviews included complaints about the app and it not being clear enough that prices are always listed in USD.
- 5 Stars: “I bought a plan thanks to a recommendation and I couldn’t be more happy. It worked perfectly and it was very easy to install. The rates are fair and affordable compared to other companies in the market.” — Mickey BVM, April 2025
- 5 Stars: “Saily has been a game-changer for staying connected while traveling. Activating the eSIM was quick and easy, and the internet speed was fast and reliable everywhere I went.” — Jorge Vasquez, May 2025
- 1 Star: “The service was good but what we did not use should roll over to the next country.” — Kevin Ewer, March 2025
- 1 Star: “Price are in US$ and it isnt indicated nowhere. Big surprise, when you realized that you have paid 30% more.” — J, December 2024
- 5 Stars: “I bought a plan thanks to a recommendation and I couldn’t be more happy. It worked perfectly and it was very easy to install. The rates are fair and affordable compared to other companies in the market.” — Mickey BVM, April 2025
Saily eSIM on Reddit
Reddit is the most negative place on the internet, and even most people here have good things to say about their Saily eSIM experience.
- Happy Redditor: “Overall, I’m pretty happy with my experience. Maybe I should have had 5G speeds, but I don’t know. For the price, I didn’t miss it. Installation was easy, and the ability to do it before leaving and not have to worry about a separate “activation” step was nice. A single eSIM for multiple international coverage plans was nice. We’ve turned our Saily lines off for now, but we will keep the eSIMs installed for our next trip.” — u/Aprehensive_Ant3436
- Unhappy Redditors: There was a thread from a few months ago (December 2024) where many people complained about service not working in Japan, specifically. But some other Redditors replied in the thread saying they’d had no issues, so it may just be a phone model thing. Who knows.
- Happy Redditor: “Overall, I’m pretty happy with my experience. Maybe I should have had 5G speeds, but I don’t know. For the price, I didn’t miss it. Installation was easy, and the ability to do it before leaving and not have to worry about a separate “activation” step was nice. A single eSIM for multiple international coverage plans was nice. We’ve turned our Saily lines off for now, but we will keep the eSIMs installed for our next trip.” — u/Aprehensive_Ant3436
Why a Saily eSIM is the best alternative to Airalo
A Saily eSIM is the best and most comparable alternative to Airalo. It’s slightly more affordable, has far better security, works in nearly all the same countries, and has superior customer service.
I’m comparing it because Airalo is one of the major players — the self-titled “world’s first eSIM store.” It was the first eSIM I tested, and I had a mix of good and bad experiences.
But Airalo has been falling apart in the last few months. More and more users are complaining that their accounts were hacked and that their cards have been getting random charges with no support from customer service. And worse, no refunds. It’s all unconfirmed as of now, but I’m seeing it everywhere and it’s never worth risking your phone and credit card, is it?
So whether you’re considering an eSIM for the first time or looking to jump ship from Airalo for a better alternative, Saily should be your go-to.
Price
Saily is the most consistently affordable eSIM option. Occasionally you’ll find promotions on with other companies for certain destinations, so it’s never a bad idea to shop around. But Saily is always the cheapest regardless of the country or region. Even if sometimes it’s just $0.01 less than Airalo, haha.
Security
Saily has the most security features of any other eSIM I’ve tried. It has a particular focus on security and a great reputation. It’s operated by the same people behind NordVPN. (VPN stands for virtual private network.)
The service encrypts your internet activities and can change the location of your IP address, keeping your information private and protected when you’re online. Airalo’s recent alleged data breach is a perfect example of why all of this is important.
Saily eSIMs have similar online safety features, including:
- Ad-blockers: Loading ads while you’re using the internet can suck the life out of your data package. So Saily’s ad blocker doesn’t just get rid of annoying ads, it preserves those GBs you’ve paid for — around 30%! Pages usually load faster without ads, too.
- Web protections: This fights off malware and phishing scams. Something you definitely don’t want to deal with ever, let alone when you’re traveling.
- Virtual locations: This basically makes it look like you’re in Canada, the US, etc. while you’re actually accessing the internet in Thailand (or wherever). Some websites are geo-restricted, and some people say you can find cheaper flights based on where you’re searching from, so a VPN really comes in handy.
Read more: Is Airalo Worth It? My Honest Review
Functionality
You can get a Saily eSIM for 200+ destinations, which includes regional packages. For example, instead of just getting an eSIM for Thailand, you could get one for all of Southeast Asia. Perfect if you’re planning to do a bit of country-hopping!
Saily can keep you connected nearly anywhere in the world, from Uruguay to Vanuatu to Mongolia.
One of Saily’s standout features is that you don’t need to keep downloading new eSIMs for every new trip or destination.
For example, the way it works with Airalo is that I’d download an eSIM for Qatar, and then a separate one for South Africa and a separate one for the UK. With Saily, you just download it once and then top it up with packages for different destinations as you go. It cuts down on finnicky settings adjustments.
Customer service
You can get 24/7 live chat support if you have any issues with your Saily eSIM. I found the customer service infinitely better with Saily vs. Airalo.
One of the most consistent and biggest complaints I see with Airalo is the lack of support (including in my own experience). So Saily’s actually supportive customer support is is a huge benefit. Especially if you’re new to the world of eSIMs!