Saily Review: The Smoothest eSIM Setup We've Tested

Saily purchase process

Purchase process

Vefru rating

Quick checkout with Google sign-in and Google Pay, but the eSIM comes only through the app and marketing emails are on by default.

7/10

Verdict: Buying takes a couple of minutes with Google sign-in and Google Pay. The eSIM comes only through the Saily app, and the sign-up fine print opts you into marketing.

The Saily website is clean and easy to use, which fits a company that also builds NordVPN [1]. In our test, sign-up with Google took seconds and Google Pay made the checkout quick. The thank-you page then sends you to download the app. There is no other way to get the eSIM, because it is not emailed to you.

How to buy a Saily eSIM

1. Pick a destination and plan on saily.com or in the app. Prices are shown in US dollars [1].
2. Sign in with Google or Apple, the two options we saw. The terms also mention an account password [2].
3. Choose your tax country. It sets the VAT and decides which Saily company you contract with [2].
4. Pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The full list is below.
5. Download the Saily app. Your eSIM waits there, and nowhere else.

Saily payment methods, currencies and credits

• Cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, UnionPay and JCB [1].
• Wallets: Apple Pay and Google Pay [1].
• PayPal: not among the checkout logos, although the terms name a processor used only for PayPal payments [2].
• Currency and tax: prices are in US dollars and include VAT and other taxes [2].
• Contracting company: Saily UAB in Vilnius for the EEA, CyberQuay in Sydney for Australia, Saily Inc. in Chicago for everyone else [2].
• Credits: every plan earns 3% back in Saily credits, and Ultra earns 8% [6] [10]. The site footer also links a referral program and a student discount [1].

Saily sign-up fine print: marketing is on by default

One thing we did not like sits under the sign-up form. The fine print says Saily will send you marketing messages and that you can opt out by emailing them. In our view, an opt-out by email does not meet GDPR. Yesim does the same, as we found in our Yesim test.

The privacy policy is kinder than the form. It gives three opt-out routes: a toggle in your app profile, the unsubscribe link in each email, or an email to Saily [3]. Marketing emails stop one year after your last plan ends unless you opt out first [3].

Saily mobile app

Mobile app

Vefru rating

Clean, quick and easy to use, with auto top-up, a VPN, an ad blocker and web protection built in. The eSIM lives only here.

9/10

Verdict: The best-polished eSIM app we have used, at least on par with Airalo, with a VPN and an ad blocker as a bonus.

The app follows the website: clean, quick and easy to find your way around. It has everything you expect and not more. After purchase you see your plan and a window asking you to install the eSIM. It also says that installation will not start the plan, which we liked.

That detail matters. Yesim starts the clock the moment you pay. Saily lets you install at home and keep the data for the trip. Our Airalo and Saily head-to-head compares the two apps in detail.

What the Saily app can do

• Auto Top-Up: buys a new plan when the current one runs out. You switch it on yourself, and it switches itself off after a failed payment [2].
• Virtual location: a VPN that routes your traffic through a server in another country. It is on only when you turn it on [2].
• Ad blocker and web protection: DNS filtering against ads, trackers and phishing sites, on by default. Ads served from a site's own domain get through [2]. Saily claims the ad blocker saved 28.6% of data in a lab test of 22 websites; we did not measure that ourselves.
• Help center and live chat: built into the app and covered in the support section.
• Usage by app category: Saily logs where your traffic goes and the app category to show your usage and to judge refunds [3].

The ad blocker only saves data if you are not blocking ads already. For more ways to stretch a small plan, see our data-saving tips for vacation. The website comes in 16 languages, including Czech and Polish [1]. The app is rated 4.7 on the App Store and 4.5 on Google Play.

Two warnings. Saily says access to its app may be limited in China and Turkey, so set everything up before you fly [9] [8]. And once your data is used up, the app itself goes offline, as our speed test shows.

Saily eSIM installation

eSIM installation

Vefru rating

The smoothest install we have seen, done inside the app. You still turn the eSIM on in your phone settings yourself.

9/10

Verdict: The smoothest eSIM installation we have tested. The app installs the eSIM and reminds you about data roaming, but you still switch the eSIM on in your phone settings.

No QR code is needed; the Saily app installs the eSIM itself [1]. In our test the install was quick and ran entirely inside the app. At the end you get a reminder to turn on data roaming. We think that is the most common reason an eSIM does not work, so the reminder is a good idea.

One correction to our first impression: the app installed the eSIM but did not turn it on. We had to open the phone settings, enable the eSIM and finish the setup, including which SIM carries data. Our pages on adding an eSIM on iPhone and adding an eSIM on Samsung show where those switches are.

How to install a Saily eSIM

1. Connect to Wi-Fi. Saily's terms require a stable internet connection for the download [2].
2. Open the Saily app and tap the install prompt shown next to your plan.
3. Let the app install the eSIM. No QR code, no copying of codes.
4. Turn on data roaming for the Saily line when the app reminds you.
5. Open your phone settings, switch the new eSIM on and pick it as your data line for the trip.
6. Leave the plan alone until you land. It activates on your first connection at the destination [4]. Installation does not start it.

If this is your first eSIM, our page on buying and installing a first eSIM in five steps covers the basics. Regular plans that you never activate start on their own 180 days after purchase, so do not buy too far ahead [2].

Saily eSIM not working? Try this first

• Data roaming is on for the Saily line, not just for your home SIM.
• The eSIM is enabled and set as the data line in your phone settings. The app does not do this for you.
• Your phone is unlocked and takes an eSIM. Saily's terms require a carrier-unlocked, eSIM-compatible device [2]. Check our list of phones with eSIM.
• You set it up before Turkey or China. Saily says app access may be limited there [9] [8].
• Still stuck? Open the chat in the app, or work through our eSIM troubleshooting checklist.

Saily customer support

Customer support

Vefru rating

Help center first, then a chatbot, then a fast human agent who asks for screenshots. Neutral, respectful and useful.

10/10

Verdict: The best support flow in our test. Help center, chatbot, then a fast and useful human, all inside the app, in a neutral and respectful tone.

Saily steers you to its help center first, which cuts the number of support requests. If that does not solve it, a chatbot takes over and advises you as far as it can. Then a human agent steps in, asks for screenshots and works on the problem. In our test the replies were fast and useful, and there was nothing to complain about.

How Saily support handled our request

1. Help center first. The app shows help articles before it lets you open a chat.
2. Chatbot next. It advises you as long as it can.
3. Human takes over. The agent asked for screenshots and worked through the issue with us.
4. Fast, neutral, useful. The tone was respectful and the answers were to the point.

How to contact Saily support

• Live chat, 24/7, in the app. A bot answers first and hands over to a human [1] [2].
• Email: [email protected] [2].
• No phone line. The terms list only email and the in-app chatbot [2].
• Priority support for Ultra subscribers [10].
• Lost or stolen phone: email Saily; it cancels the service within 72 hours after verifying your account [2].

Customers describe the same flow in their reviews: an AI chat that hands over to a patient, competent human. Saily sits at the top of our ranking of eSIM customer support with 10 out of 10. Only eSIM4Travel matched that score in our tests.

Saily speed test

Speed test

Vefru rating

174 Mbps down and 70 Mbps up on 5G is decent, but far below what the same network can deliver.

8/10

Verdict: Decent 5G speeds, enough for anything a traveler does, but well short of what the same network can deliver.

We test every provider on a 5G network with good signal and a direct line of sight to the mast. Saily has 5G coverage in Switzerland, where we tested, so we hoped for more than we got. For comparison, a Swiss Swisscom SIM reaches nearly 1 Gbps download in the same spot.

Saily 5G speed test results

174 Mbps down and 70 Mbps up is plenty for maps, video calls and HD streaming. The gap to the local SIM shows that Saily does not use the full potential of the 5G network. If 5G matters for your trip, read our 4G vs 5G comparison.

The data cut off right at 1 GB and 7 MB. The phone still showed 5G and mobile data, but nothing loaded, including the Saily app. Saily has no zero-rated traffic, so you need Wi-Fi to buy more data unless Auto Top-Up is on.

Which networks does Saily use?

Saily picks the network operators itself and gives no promises on coverage, quality or availability [2]. Japan plans run on KDDI and SoftBank [6], China plans on China Telecom and China Unicom [9]. The Turkey page only says "best networks" [8]. Our explainer on eSIMs with several networks shows how to switch operator by hand.

Saily states no speed cap for fixed plans. Unlimited plans run at full speed for 3 or 5 GB a day, then at 1 Mbps until local midnight [2].

Saily prices

Prices

Vefru rating

At market for 3 GB and cheap in Oceania, but among the dearest in most popular European destinations.

8/10

Verdict: Slightly above the market overall. Saily is at market for 3 GB and cheap in Oceania and on small islands. In 14 of 24 popular destinations it is among the two most expensive.

Our comparison tool matched every Saily plan against 13 other providers, as of 2 Oct 2026. Each match uses the same country, data amount and trip length. The median Saily single-country plan costs $14.99, or $3.80 per GB. Saily gets relatively cheaper the longer the trip: a 7-day plan sits 10% above the market, a 30-day plan 3% above.

How much does a Saily eSIM cost?

Saily sells one ladder almost everywhere: 1 GB for 7 days, then 3, 5, 10 and 20 GB for 30 days. The table shows the median price across all countries where each size is sold, as of 2 Oct 2026.

• 1 GB to 3 GB costs 2.25 times as much (+$6.50) and stretches validity from 7 to 30 days.
• 3 GB to 5 GB costs 1.4 times as much (+$5).
• 5 GB to 10 GB costs 1.6 times as much (+$10, or $2 per extra GB).
• 10 GB to 20 GB costs 1.6 times as much (+$12, or $1.20 per extra GB).
• Above 20 GB there is almost nothing: two 50 GB plans in the whole file. In 33 countries Saily sells only the 1 GB plan.

Pick the size by what you will do, not by the discount; our page on how much data you need for travel helps. 3 GB is Saily's best-priced size, at exactly the market median.

Saily eSIM prices in the USA, Japan, the UK, Turkey and China

These are the prices on Saily's own country pages on 7 Oct 2026, in US dollars [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]. Prices change, so use the plan finder at the end for live figures.

Saily is among the two most expensive providers in 14 popular destinations. They are the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt, Morocco, Mexico and Canada. Its only clearly cheap region is Oceania. See which providers win on price in our cheapest eSIM comparison.

Saily Global plan prices

The Global plan covers 121 destinations, not the 200+ in Saily's headline [4]. There is no unlimited Global plan; unlimited data worldwide comes only through the Ultra subscription [4].

• 1 GB, 7 days: $8.99 [4]
• 2 GB, 15 days: $16.49 [4]
• 5 GB, 60 days: $33.99 [4]
• 10 GB, 180 days: $56.99 [4]
• 20 GB, 365 days: $66.99, labeled "Best Choice" [4]
• 50 GB, 365 days: $129.99 [4]

Our comparison tool also lists 31 Saily multi-country plans. They range from a 35-country Europe plan to regional plans for Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. The Europe and Asia plans are the most expensive regional plans in our comparison.

Saily unlimited data: what you really get

In our snapshot Saily had 37 single-country unlimited plans, all 15 days at a flat $49.99, or $3.33 a day. 30 of the 37 are in Europe. On Saily's pages you can pick 5 to 30 days; the Japan plan cost $48.99 for 15 days on 7 Oct 2026 [6].

• Full speed for 5 GB a day, then 1 Mbps until local midnight [6] [2]. The terms add that some destinations get only 3 GB a day, but no page says which [2].
• Never the cheapest unlimited plan in our comparisons, and the most expensive in 62% of them.
• Worth it above about 36 GB. The unlimited plan costs 1.8 times Saily's 20 GB plan.
• Hotspot: Saily promises limitless hotspot sharing [4], but the terms ban excessive tethering to several devices on unlimited plans [2].

Saily Ultra subscription: prices and perks

Ultra is a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription for 121 destinations, in three tiers [10]. It starts at purchase, even before you download the eSIM, and renews at the then-current price [2].

Every tier comes with a phone number and 8% back in credits [10]. It adds airport lounge and fast-track passes through DragonPass, a ClassPass subscription and priority support. NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker and Incogni are included too [10].

One oddity: the terms describe Ultra as 30 GB of full-speed data a month [2]. The pricing page gives the Standard tier only 10 GB [10].

Saily phone number: calls and SMS cost extra

Saily data plans carry no calls or SMS, so calls go through apps like WhatsApp. An optional US (+1) number costs $1.99 a month, with call and text packs from $0.99 [1]. You must pass an identity check with a passport or ID first, and Saily may ask for a selfie or video [2] [3]. The number cannot be ported in or out, and emergency calls may not connect [2].

How Saily compares on 10 GB, 30-day plans

All providers ranked by median price per GB for 10 GB, 30-day plans, the same basket in every Vefru provider review. It is the size where volume discounts start to matter, and Saily's ladder stops two steps above it.

Saily price analysis against 13 other providers

The box below sums up Saily's price position against the market: its rank among fixed-data providers, how often it had the cheapest or dearest plan, and the countries at each end. "Cheaper" means more than 5% below the median for the same country, data amount and trip length; "pricier" means more than 5% above.

Saily customer feedback

Customer feedback

Vefru rating

4.7 on Trustpilot from more than 31,000 reviews. Praise for easy setup and human support; complaints about failed connections and refunds.

9.4/10

Verdict: One of the best-rated providers we track. Customers love the easy setup and the human support; the complaints are about eSIMs that fail to connect and refunds paid as credits.

Saily reviews on Trustpilot, the App Store and Google Play

Saily holds 4.7 on Trustpilot from 31,741 reviews, 4.7 on the App Store (12k ratings) and 4.5 on Google Play (94k ratings). That gives it a customer feedback score of 9.4, level with Holafly and Jetpac and behind only ByteSIM. Saily's homepage shows Google Play at 4.7, higher than the store itself showed when we checked [1].

Reviewers name Japan, Thailand, the United States, India, Spain and Vietnam as places where Saily worked well. That matches our traveler reports, where Japan is Saily's strongest country. Our analysis of customer reviews for 11 providers shows how these themes compare across the market.

What customers say about Saily

A summary of Trustpilot reviews and app store ratings, focused on the feedback that keeps coming up.

4.7 /5

Rating on Trustpilot

Based on 31,741 reviews

• App Store 12k ratings
  4.7/5
• Google Play 94k ratings
  4.5/5

What customers like and dislike

Often praised

Installing the eSIM takes a few minutes and the app walks you through every step, even if you are not tech-savvy

Prices are a fraction of what home carriers charge for roaming

When something goes wrong, the AI chat hands over to a patient human agent who fixes the problem

Often criticized

The eSIM sometimes fails to connect on arrival or stops working mid-trip, followed by long troubleshooting chats

Coverage and speeds are poor in some countries and remote areas

Refunds are refused once any data has been used and often come only as Saily credits

Typical reviews

Installation

I am not particularly tech savvy, but Saily’s instructions were straightforward, not ambiguous and required no technical knowledge. So reassuring. Very happy with the set up and the cost. Totally recommend to all other boomers!

Connection

I got a 25 unlimited plan for Mexico and never got any decent signal. I thought it was just the location, until all people around me got decent signal. I contacted customer support and the bot just told to connect/disconnect airplane mode. I requested a refund but they denied it.

Price

I purchased 2 eSims one for Japan and one for China, they were only about £5 each I downloaded them at home prior to travelling. I then used them for a week in each country on my recent holiday. They were easy to use and I had plenty of data. Highly recommend.

Support

I had an issue at the beginning, the e Sim wasn't working. I still give 5 stars because of the great human support I received from Saily. They have an AI chat but it then redirects to a human. The person was super competent and resolved my issue. It is great to have good human support these days. No issues since, happily traveling with internet.

Where customers report good experiences

• Japan
• Thailand
• United States
• India
• Spain
• Vietnam

Go to Saily Compare all eSIMs

Saily coverage

Coverage

Vefru rating

Plans for about 200 destinations, but traveler reports put reliability below the market average, with weak spots in China, Mexico and Australia.

8/10

Verdict: Wide coverage on paper, weaker in practice. Travelers reported Saily working in 80.6% of cases, against a market average of 85.3%.

Saily's destination pages advertise 200+ destinations, and its homepage says "hundreds of countries" [1]. We counted 199 country pages in its sitemaps, many of them territories like Guam and Mayotte. We found no plans for Iran, Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Syria or North Korea. Regional plans cover Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, and the Global plan covers 121 countries [4].

Traveler reports tell a less rosy story. Across 407 country-level reports from 80 countries, Saily worked 80.6% of the time, rank 11 of 14 providers. Adjusted for where people used it, Saily had 29% more failures than the other providers would have had in the same places.

Where Saily works and where it does not

• Strong: Japan, 36 of 37 reports (97%).
• Good: the United States (45 of 51, 88%), the United Kingdom (37 of 41, 90%), Thailand (15 of 17, 88%), Vietnam (11 of 12, 92%) and India (9 of 10, 90%).
• Mixed, take a backup: Turkey (13 of 17, 76%), Canada (11 of 13, 85%), Spain (8 of 10, 80%), Italy (7 of 9, 78%) and Germany (7 of 8, 88%).
• Weak: China (9 of 14, 64%), Mexico (7 of 10, 70%), Australia (4 of 8, 50%), and South Korea, Switzerland and Egypt (5 of 7, 71% each).

For Japan, see which plans and networks we recommend in our Japan eSIM page. The box below shows every country with Saily reports and how often it worked there. It also compares that with the other 13 providers in the same place and gives the number of reports behind each figure. Read it with the sample size in mind: one report is an anecdote, 30 or more is reliable.

Saily terms and conditions

Verdict: Standard consumer terms that mostly favor Saily. Watch the 180-day auto-activation, the narrow refund window and the logging of where your traffic goes.

Your contract is with Saily UAB in Vilnius if you are in the EEA, CyberQuay in Sydney in Australia, and Saily Inc. in Chicago elsewhere [2]. Delaware law applies, but EU consumers keep their local consumer law and courts [2]. The privacy policy names Saily Inc. as data controller, and you must be 18 or older [2] [3].

What Saily logs about you

• Traffic data: the destination of your network traffic and the app or service category, used to show your usage and to decide refunds [3].
• Device identifiers: your IMEI or phone number and mobile network details, plus your approximate location from your IP address [3].
• Retention: plan records 3 years, support records 3 years, billing 10 years, marketing email 1 year after your last plan [3].
• No no-logs claim. The policy makes none, and data can leave the EEA under adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses [3].

Saily review summary

Verdict: Saily scores 8.6 out of 10 and is the most polished eSIM we have tested, from purchase to support. You pay for that polish in Europe and the Americas, where its prices run above the market.

Saily started recently but brought a big game. The website and app are at least on par with Airalo, installation is the smoothest we have seen, and support replied fast and well. Speeds were decent at 174 Mbps down, though far below what the Swiss 5G network can deliver.

Prices are the catch. Saily is at market for 3 GB and cheap in Oceania, but among the two most expensive in 14 of 24 popular destinations. Traveler reports also sit below the market average, so keep a backup for China, Mexico and Australia.

Buy Saily if

• You want the easiest install and app. The eSIM installs inside the app, and the bot-to-human chat is the best we have tested.
• You want the extras. VPN virtual location, ad blocker and web protection come with every plan at no extra cost.
• You are going to Japan, the US, the UK, Thailand, Vietnam or India. Travelers report Saily working well there.
• You need about 3 GB, or you are headed to Oceania. That is where Saily's prices meet or beat the market.
• You buy ahead. Installing does not start the plan; it activates on your first connection abroad.

Look elsewhere if

• Price is your first filter. eSIM4Travel and Global YO cost about a third less than the typical provider for the same trip; see our cheapest eSIM ranking.
• You need more than 20 GB. Saily has almost no larger plans, and unlimited is capped at 3 or 5 GB a day.
• You are going to China, Mexico or Australia. Reports there are weak; Holafly, Maya Mobile and Roamless had the fewest failures across our data.
• You will not install an app, or you want PayPal. The eSIM comes only through the app, and PayPal is not at the checkout.
• You want calls included. Saily is data-only; the US number is a paid add-on with an identity check.

That is our Saily eSIM review in short: a top-tier experience at a mid-to-high price. Use the live plan finder below before you buy, and see how Saily ranks against the rest in our tested and compared eSIM providers.

Saily plans and prices

Verdict: Pick your destination, or several at once, in the finder below to see every Saily plan with live prices. For a two-country trip, try a Switzerland and Italy search.