Airalo vs. Nomad vs. Saily: Asia eSIM Review Comparison

If you’ve been traveling abroad for decades like we have, you probably remember the days of juggling SIM cards – each one tied to a different country, carrier, and plan.

We’ve had to navigate local shops, language barriers, and unexpected charges (we once got notices for a year after canceling a plan in Ecuador).

But eSIMs are changing the game.

We’ve now done several tests of popular eSIM providers, Saily, Airalo and Nomad, on our Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, etc.) and Japan trips.

Disclosure: We received complimentary data plans from Saily, Airalo, and Nomad so that we could test and review their products. All opinions are our own. This post also contains affiliate links. You are not obligated to purchase through our links, but if you do, we may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. 

In this post, we’ll compare our experience using these eSIMs so you can choose the best travel data plan for your itinerary and budget.

We’ll cover setup, pricing, coverage, pros and cons and answer key questions.

Updated: May 2026. Original test: February 2023. Second test: April 2026.

What to know about eSIMs

For a full overview of how eSIMs work and what makes them so useful for travelers, be sure to check out our eSIM Guide and video here. But here’s a quick recap…

An eSIM is a digital version of a SIM card for your phone.

Installation is quick and convenient. Data plans through eSIMs are significantly more affordable than purchasing international plans from US cell phone companies.

Your phone needs two things to take advantage of eSIMs for travel:
1. eSIM capability
2. Unlocked from your carrier

You can install eSIMs from different companies and purchase a la carte plans based on your travel needs. There’s no contract.

Saily vs. Airalo vs. Nomad: Similarities

All of these companies offer eSIMs and prepaid data plans. How they all work is fairly similar.

You find and purchase the data plan you want using their website OR mobile app. You’ll need to create a user account as well.

They will then send you instructions (via email, the website, or the app) on how to install your eSIM.

Once the eSIM is digitally installed on your phone, using their mobile apps, you can then activate a data plan whenever you’re ready.

E-SIM companies offer individual country plans as well as multi-country/region-specific plans.

With the regional plans, you can travel from country to country and stay connected to cellular data without needing to reinstall or change plans. It’s very convenient!

We’ve found that Saily, Airalo and Nomad offer competitive pricing, compared to local carriers, and far superior pricing and data options compared to US based phone companies that offer international data plans.

We also like that these companies have easy to use websites and mobile apps with strong Help sections and documentation.

I felt fairly confident that most people could use their sites and get started without needing assistance.

How are Saily vs. Airalo vs. Nomad eSIMs different?

First the obvious: each offers different plans and pricing.

Their eSIM prepaid data plans differ by data amount offered, length of time, and price per plan. But these differences are negligible.

Their plans and offerings are pretty similar to one another, just not exactly the same.

Maybe the most important difference to note is that there’s different country availability for their regional plans. It would be worth going through their website/app to find the plans that best fit your needs and check the country availability.

Saily and Airalo bundle 18 or 19 countries into one Asia plan offering. Nomad has several Asia options, including an 8-country SEA-Oceania plan, 14- or 21-country APAC plans, or 3-country mini-region plans.

Saily and Nomad have some Unlimited data options for Asia, or you can upgrade to Saily global Ultra plan for extra perks.

Just be aware that “Unlimited” plans do have a cap for high speed usage. For example, if you use more than 2-5 gigs per day, the speed on the rest of your usage is throttled to 1Mbps or less.

Finally, Nomad offers some plans with a local number for SMS texting and calls for Thailand. Otherwise, all the plans we’ve seen are data-only from these providers.

Asia eSIMs Review: Testing on our Asia Digital Nomad Trips

We’re happy to report that our eSIMs have worked great for our travels in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan.

Before we even got on our first flight, we set up our eSIMs. In most cases, they worked each time we changed countries – sometimes we just had to restart a phone to connect to a new network.

The process to purchase and install our eSIMs and their respective plans was smooth.

Here was the breakdown of plans from Saily, Airalo, and Nomad for the Asia region. You’ll also notice that I added T-Mobile’s options for international data passes, as they are our US cellular company:

*Regional plan. Saily offers access to 17 Asian countries + Australia and New Zealand for the above prices.
**Regional plan. Airalo offers access to 18 Asian countries for these options.
***Regional plan. Nomad offers access to 12 Asian countries + Australia and New Zealand for the above prices.

Important note: Prices, data options, and availability change all the time. What you see above was what was available to us at the time of our update (04/2026).

Here are the Asian countries covered by Saily, Airalo and Nomad:

To quote one of our favorite Vietnamese sayings, these eSIM companies are “same same, but different” in terms of the different country connectivity they offer for Asia.

How to purchase a data plan and install an eSIM from Saily, Airalo or Nomad:

• Go to the company’s website OR download their app from the Apple App store or Android Play store.
• Find the plan you want and make your purchase using a credit card.
• Create an account and login.
• Follow the instructions sent in the confirmation email (or the app) to install the eSIM to your phone.
• When you’re ready to travel, activate the plan using the app while connected to WIFI.
• Go to your cellular settings and customize which apps you want to use your data plan.
• Start using your phone abroad!

Did we have any issues with our eSIMs while traveling in Asia?

There were only a couple of things worth noting.

When we landed in different places from an airplane, the data connection took some time. It wasn’t always instantaneous once we turned off airplane mode.

Actually, we found that we sometimes had to turn off the phone and turn it back on to reset the cellular network connection when landing in a new country.

One other time neither of our eSIMs worked was while attending a fireworks festival in Japan. We can only assume that the large number of people gathered in one place had overburdened a local cell tower or something.

We were on two different networks at the time and both stopped working until we left the busy event area. (This is why it’s always a good practice to have offline map data as a back up.)

TIP: If you’re a Toolkit Member, you have access to several courses that help you prepare with offline back ups so you’re never stuck, even if cell service drops unexpectedly.

Are eSIMs Good for Digital Nomads in Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan?

Yes! In our tests, all of the eSIMs were great for use in Vietnam and Thailand. 

Japan was a little extra challenging for us because we didn’t have WiFi at our accommodations, and even the “Unlimited” plans weren’t enough data to handle our online work loads for a full three weeks. (We ended up getting a truly unlimited WiFi hotspot from a local company for that purpose.)

Getting up and running was pretty smooth and network connection for eSIM data happened a short time after landing in each new country.

It was a relief to be able to start using our apps immediately upon arrival in a new country. We could see how much taking a Grab car from the airport to our hotel was going to be or look at the traffic/directions in Google Maps as soon as we landed.

Asia eSIM Speed Tests

Here are examples of speed tests we’ve done.

Hoi An, Vietnam (2023):
Airalo: 8.92mbps download, 5.16 upload
Nomad: 12.7mbps download, 5.26 upload

These data speeds are more than enough to do anything you’d want to with your smartphones.

The biggest speed difference is not between companies but rather a factor of the location. Speeds have also gotten better over time in Southeast Asia.

In Bangkok, Thailand:
2023 (Nomad): 38.7mbps download, 45.2 upload
2026 (Saily): 210mbps download, 50.1 upload

Semi-rural coverage in the central Vietnam and northern Thailand countryside has been good. Most of the time we were in urban or semi-urban areas, and we didn’t seem to have any issues with connection.

Two of the main apps we use often while traveling in SE Asia are Google Maps and Grab (a ride share app). Both worked well.

Sometimes Grab had a hard time pinning our exact location in Bangkok but I don’t think that was any fault of the data connection with our eSIMs.

Saily eSIM Review

Saily is owned by the company who provides the VPN we use, Nord Security. With an easy to use website and app, they provide data-only eSIM plans across 200 countries.

What we liked about Saily:

• Plans are easy to find and search through.
• Installation is easy(smooth process with good instructions)
• Good support library within their “Help Center”.
• Good mobile app with live chat for support.
• Competitive pricing, even on long-term options.

In addition to the variety of prepaid regional plans for tourists, Saily also has a premium Ultra plan. It’s a monthly subscription option that works globally and comes with extra travel perks. If you’re traveling for months at a time across multiple continents, Ultra could be a good option for you.

Airalo eSIM Review

Airalo started in 2019 and has been a notable player in the eSIM market. Their website is easy to use with a country search right at the top of the site. This made for easy viewing of their plans.

What we liked about Airalo:

• They provide a great overview of how it works (good visuals and explanations).
• They have an extensive support library within their “Help Center”.
• Good mobile app.
• Smooth process to find a plan and make a purchase.
• Great long-term options.

Where Airalo shines is with their long-term options. Not only was the duration longer, but it was more economical than using multiple Nomad plans over 6 months.

Nomad eSIM Review

Nomad doesn’t share much company information on their website but they are a brand owned by LotusFlare Inc.

Nomad has good plans and options for the prepaid eSIM data plans. They also offer SMS text plans for 3 countries with plans to offer more.

What we like about Nomad:

• The website and app’s styling and functionality.
• Plans are easy to find and search through.
• Lots of good individual-country and regional plans.
• Different data plans to meet a variety of needs.
• The process to find a plan, purchase, install the eSIM, and get connected was smooth.
• Good support library.

Asia eSIM Review Conclusion

We’re convinced that travel eSIMs are the new way to go for digital nomads and everyday travelers. To be honest, you can’t really go wrong with Saily or Nomad or Airalo if you’re looking for the best Asia eSIM for digital nomads.

These eSIM companies worked great for us. We recommend using whichever one has a plan that works best for your itinerary, budget, and data needs.

Read next:

• Should Travelers Use eSIMs? International Travel E-sim How To and Tips
• Digital Nomad Tech Gear Essentials
• Vietnam Travel Tips
• Thailand Travel Restrictions: What Travelers Need to Know
• Intentional Travelers Toolkit Membership

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