A Saily alternative, compared honestly
Short answer: Saily is the travel eSIM from the team behind NordVPN, and it is sold alongside security features. If you want those features, that bundle is a fair reason to buy. If you only want data, you are comparing a data plan against a data plan — and that is the comparison this page helps you make.
Saily comes from Nord Security, and its pitch leans on the security tooling that comes with it as much as on the data itself. That makes the comparison a question about bundling rather than about gigabytes: are you buying connectivity, or connectivity plus a security product you would otherwise pay for separately?
Both answers are defensible. What is not defensible is paying a bundle price for features you will not open, so it is worth being honest with yourself about which one you are.
Work out whether you want the bundle
Ask a plain question before comparing any prices: would you pay for a VPN or ad-blocking this month if no eSIM were involved? If yes, a bundle that includes them may be good value and the data is effectively discounted. If no, the extras are not a saving — they are a feature you are being charged for, and you should compare on the data alone.
A second thing worth knowing: a VPN and a travel eSIM solve different problems. The eSIM gets you a working mobile connection in another country. A VPN encrypts traffic over whatever connection you already have. Neither substitutes for the other, and a travel eSIM does not need a VPN to work.
Comparing on the data alone
If it is the data you are buying, the comparison is ordinary. We sell fixed data: 6 sizes from 1 GB to 20 GB, across 202 destinations, from £1.49. The plan stops when the data is used, nothing auto-renews, and tethering is enabled throughout.
As a concrete anchor, 5 GB for Spain is £4.99 valid 30 days. Price the same size and validity on Saily’s own plan page for your destination and compare the two numbers directly. If their data price wins on your route, buy theirs.
The subscription question
Products that come out of the subscription-software world sometimes carry subscription habits — auto-renewal, stored cards, plans that roll into another month. We sell no subscriptions at all: every plan is a one-off purchase, and when the data is gone the plan stops rather than charging you again.
That is a preference, not a virtue. If you travel constantly, something that renews on its own may genuinely suit you better. If you travel twice a year, it is the thing most likely to bill you for a month you were sitting at home. Check what you are agreeing to either way.
When Saily is the better choice
If you already pay for Nord Security products, or you want a VPN and travel data from one account with one bill, the bundle is a real convenience and we do not have an equivalent. We sell travel data, and that is all we sell.
The checklist, side by side
| What to compare | eSIM Ventures | What to check on Saily |
|---|---|---|
| What you are actually buying | A stated number of gigabytes. 6 sizes, 1 GB to 20 GB. | Fixed data or unlimited-with-fair-use? If unlimited, find the throttle threshold before you compare prices. |
| When the data runs out | The plan stops. Nothing renews and no further charge is made. | Does it stop, throttle, or auto-renew into another charge? |
| Hotspot / tethering | Enabled on every plan we sell. | Allowed, restricted, or disallowed? This is the one most often quietly limited. |
| Topping up | Available in the app for eligible fixed-data eSIMs, under My eSIMs. | Can you extend an active eSIM, or must you buy a whole new one? |
| Keeping your own number | Yes — the travel eSIM carries data; your usual SIM stays in place for calls and texts. | Same on most eSIMs, but confirm if you need your number reachable. |
| Price you compare on | From £1.49, shown in GBP, with the checkout price identical to the listed price. | Is the headline price the price at checkout, or does currency conversion and tax change it? |
The right-hand column is deliberately a list of questions rather than answers. Saily’s terms are theirs to state and they change; ours are above and come from the live catalogue. Check both before you decide.
Compare us against the others
The same questions apply whoever you are weighing us against. These pages walk through each one:
- Holafly — the unlimited-with-fair-use model, and when it genuinely wins
- Airalo — the biggest marketplace, and how to price a route against it
- Nomad — fixed data, with validity and top-up as the deciding details
- Ubigi — carrier heritage, and where it does and does not matter
- All of them side by side — the checklist on one page
We quote no Saily prices here: they change, and a stale figure would be unfair to them and useless to you. Every figure on our side is pulled from our live catalogue. Check their current plan page alongside ours and decide on your own numbers. Last reviewed 4 November 2026.
