Saily vs Holafly: which eSIM provider is better for travel in 2025

Not too long ago, staying connected while traveling was a challenge we all dreaded, but eSIM providers have made it much easier. No more hunting for local carriers at the airport or swapping SIM cards while on the move.

If you’ve been looking for a better way, you’ve likely come across Saily and Holafly a lot. They’re among the most popular eSIM providers—but which one’s actually better?

Mariam Volobueva

Saily vs Holafly overview

Saily and Holafly are two of the most popular eSIM providers on the market, offering travel-ready connectivity without the need for physical SIM cards. Both cater to travelers looking for convenience, coverage over broad destinations, and eSIM plans that work across multiple devices.

Here’s how they compare:

Holafly is known for its unlimited data plans, which are ideal for those who stream, navigate, or work online frequently while abroad. It also allows you to text and make calls. Saily, on the other hand, is a data-only service that offers a wider range of pay-as-you-go and regional eSIM plans, giving users more control over their data usage and spending. It also offers several added eSIM security features, giving you more than just a basic eSIM service.

The right choice depends on your priorities: whether you value the simplicity of unlimited data plans, or prefer tailored eSIM plans that match your travel style and data needs.

Saily vs Holafly features

One of the biggest differences between Saily and Holafly is the additional features you get with the product. Namely, Saily offers a few of those but Holafly does not. 

Here are the additional features you’d get with Saily:​

• Virtual location – You can mask and encrypt your real location by routing traffic through remote servers. This makes it easier to access geo-restricted content and enhances privacy and security. It’s particularly useful if you need to be able to access services available back home.​
• Ad blocker – Not only does this get rid of annoying ads, but Saily’s built-in ad blocker improves browsing speed and can cut down your data consumption by around 28.6%, on average.
• Web protection – This blocks malicious websites, phishing attempts, and online trackers, giving you a much safer browsing experience while connected to public networks.​

In this category, Saily clearly comes out as the winner. If you’ve already got apps for these things, it may not be for you. If you don’t, Saily offers a nice suite of additional features to make your trips easier, safer, and more convenient. 

Coverage

When it comes to coverage, both eSIM providers have you pretty well covered. Saily eSIM works in over 200 destinations. Holafly covers a few more at around 250. 

While that sounds like a big difference on paper, in reality, most travelers won’t notice it. If you’re heading to popular destinations like Europe, Asia, North America, or Australia, either one will do the trick. If you’re venturing into more remote or less-traveled destinations—say, some parts of Africa or Central Asia—Holafly has an edge.

That said, even though Holafly technically wins in terms of the total number of countries, coverage quality matters just as much as quantity. Both Holafly and Saily rely on local carrier networks, so the actual service you get depends more on which networks they partner with in each country.

Pricing and plans

This is where these two eSIM providers really start to feel different.

Let’s start with Holafly’s plans. Their whole thing is unlimited data plans for a flat fee. While this sounds great, these unlimited data plans come with a daily “fair use” limit, usually around 2 to 3GB per day. After you hit that cap, your data gets throttled—sometimes to the point where it’s barely usable for anything beyond texting or checking your email. 

Saily’s plans take a different approach. They’re pay-as-you-go. You choose exactly how many gigabytes you want—1GB, 3GB, 5GB, 10GB, 20GB or unlimited. For everything other than the unlimited plan, they generally never hit the fair use limit, meaning you can use all of your gigabytes at top speeds. 

However, if you’re a very heavy user, the shorter duration unlimited plans from Holafly are definitely a good option as the prices are on the lower side so if you’re staying under the fair usage limit (generally around 20 – 30 GB) by the time your plan expires, you can purchase a new plan so the limit renews—and you save money. 

For everyone else, Saily will actually give you better speeds for a fair price. 

Both Saily and Holafly offer country-specific, regional, and global packages. So whether you’re planning to visit a single location or you’re planning a tour across multiple countries, either one will work. 

Speed and performance

Let’s be honest—fast, reliable internet can make or break your trip. Whether you’re navigating with Google Maps, uploading photos, or trying to call your Airbnb host, you don’t want your service to fail on you at the worst possible moment.

On the surface, Holafly appears to come out on top. Like many eSIM providers, they offer unlimited data—and at a flat price. On the other hand, Saily lets you choose how many gigabytes you need (along with a duration), which also includes 10 to 30-day unlimited options. 

While unlimited data sounds great, we actually prefer the options Saily provides. There are two main reasons for this:

1. Most people don’t need an unlimited plan—especially while traveling. Unless you’re planning to spend most of your time abroad watching Netflix in your hotel room or working online in places with no wifi, it’s unnecessary. 
2. Most carriers enforce a fair usage cap on how much data you can use at full speed. This means that after around 20 – 30 GB, your speed will be throttled, bringing it down to around 1 – 3 Mbps. This affects unlimited plans way more, as otherwise, you don’t reach the fair usage limit before you run out of data (and the limit resets with a new package).  

Checking how much data you’ve used is another disadvantage with Holafly. You can find out how many days are left on your plan, but not how many gigabytes you’ve used, making it difficult to anticipate when the fair usage cap may hit. On the other hand, you likely won’t have a cap with Saily and they notify you when you’ve used 80% of your data so you know when you’re running low.

Customer support and user experience

Even if you’re tech-savvy, eSIM providers can be a little finicky—especially when you’re jet-lagged, stuck on airport Wi-Fi, and just trying to get online ASAP. In moments like that, helpful and responsive support can make all the difference for customers.

Both Saily and Holafly provide solid customer support, but Holafly gives you more ways to contact them. 

Here’s how you can get support:

Flexibility and top-ups

When you’re on the move, plans change. Maybe you’re staying longer than planned, using way more data than expected, or jumping between multiple destinations. So how flexible are these eSIM providers once they’re up and running?

Saily’s whole system is designed around giving customers more control. If you run out of data, you can top up in the app, purchase a new plan, or enable auto-renewal. They also notify you once you’ve used 80% of your data so you know how much data you have left. 

You can even pre-purchase eSIM plans for multiple destinations (or opt for regional plans) and keep them neatly organized in the app.

 Holafly keeps things simple, but that comes at the cost of flexibility. Since their eSIM plans offer “unlimited” data (with fair use caps), there’s no option to top up. If your plan ends or you need more time, you’ll have to buy an entirely new plan and install a fresh eSIM. It’s not difficult—but it’s not exactly convenient either.

Also, Holafly doesn’t show your data usage, so you’re flying blind on how much data you’ve actually used. That’s especially frustrating if you’re a heavy data user and suddenly get throttled without warning.

So—Saily or Holafly?

It really comes down to what kind of traveler you are and how you use your phone abroad. Both eSIM providers offer useful features, but they’re clearly built with different types of customers in mind.

Go with Saily if:

• You want full-speed data without surprise slowdowns;
• You’re a light to moderate user (think maps, social media, email, and casual browsing);
• You like having control over your data, pricing, and plan top-ups;
• You’re traveling for more than a few days and want better value across multiple destinations.

Go with Holafly if:

• You want flat-rate unlimited data plans and don’t want to think about limits;
• You’re a heavy user—streaming, video calls, uploads—and okay with throttled speeds after a few GB;
• You need to be able to text and make phone calls.

Our Take?

In the Saily vs Holafly debate, we think Saily comes out ahead for most travelers. It’s faster (consistently), cheaper in many countries, and offers more control over your eSIM plans and spending. Saily doesn’t promise unlimited everything—it just delivers solid, full-speed data through reliable regional plans and global plans, with no weird slowdowns or guessing games.

That said, Holafly’s unlimited data plans are convenient if you’re planning to use a lot of data quickly and don’t want to worry about top-ups—especially for short trips to a single destination.

Either way, both eSIM providers save you from the old-school hassle of roaming fees and physical SIM swaps. But if we had to pick one to recommend for most people, we’d say start with Saily.

FAQ: Saily vs Holafly