Saily comes from Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, and it shows. The app is polished, the security extras are genuinely thought through, and the brand carries trust that most travel eSIM startups would pay a fortune for.
It also costs about three times what we charge for the same data on the same networks. Both of those things are true at once, and the useful question is whether the extras are worth the difference to you.
Every price in this article was read off each provider’s own website on 25 August 2026, in US dollars, from a US connection. Providers change prices often, so check the live page before you buy. Where the other provider is the better choice, this article says so.
Is MegaEsim cheaper than Saily?
On every plan the two companies both sell, yes. A 5GB plan for 30 days in Japan is $3.78 with us and $10.99 with Saily. The pattern holds from the smallest plan to the largest.
Japan, read from both providers’ own sites on 25 August 2026, in US dollars. Only plans we both sell in the same size and duration appear here.
Why does the table stop where it does?
Because a comparison is only honest when it compares the same thing. Every row above is a plan both companies sell in the identical size for the identical number of days.
Saily also sells 20 GB / 30 days at $24.99 in Japan. We do not offer those exact sizes there, so they are left out of the table rather than compared against something different.
It would be easy to put our 50GB plan next to their 20GB one and claim a bigger win. It would also be meaningless.
What does Saily do better than MegaEsim?
Three things, and they are not marketing fluff.
Security features. Saily bundles ad blocking, malicious site blocking and virtual locations. If you already pay for a VPN, having it folded into the eSIM is genuinely convenient and has real value.
The Nord name. Buying from a company you already trust with your VPN is worth something, especially if you have been burned by an unknown provider before.
A phone number add on. Saily sells a US number that can pair with a calls and texts plan. We do not offer that at all. If you need to receive a text on a real number, that is a genuine reason to choose them over us.
Do you actually need the security extras?
Depends entirely on you. If you already run a VPN on your phone, the Saily bundle may duplicate something you pay for. If you do not, and you use hotel and airport wifi a lot, it removes a decision.
Worth being precise about one thing though. A VPN protects traffic on untrusted wifi. It does not make mobile data safer in any meaningful way, because mobile data is already encrypted between your phone and the network. So on the eSIM itself, the security benefit is smaller than the marketing implies.
Where it genuinely helps is when you are on public wifi, which is exactly when you are not using the eSIM.
Is the coverage and speed the same?
In most destinations, yes. Both providers buy wholesale roaming from the same local operators. In Japan that means the same national networks either way.
Neither of us throttles a standard per gigabyte plan. Your speed is decided by the mast you are standing under and the phone in your hand.
Our country pages name the local operators so you can check before buying, for example on the Japan eSIM page.
What about Saily unlimited plans?
Saily sells unlimited alongside the per gigabyte range, at $48.99 for fifteen days in Japan. They are also unusually clear about the fair use policy: 5GB a day at full speed, then up to 1 Mbps.
That honesty deserves credit, because plenty of providers leave it vague. It also tells you exactly what unlimited means here. It is a generous daily allowance with a slow floor underneath, not infinite full speed data.
1 Mbps handles maps and messaging. It does not handle a video call. We wrote about the category wide version of this in what unlimited actually means on a travel eSIM.
Which is easier to install and use?
Saily leans on their app, which is genuinely well built and handles installation, top ups and usage in one place. If you like managing things in an app, they do it better than we do.
We email the QR code and keep it in your account, so nothing needs downloading. That suits people who would rather not install another app for a one week trip.
Either way, install before you fly while you have reliable wifi. The plan does not start counting until it first connects abroad. Our setup guide covers iPhone and Android.
Do either give you a phone number?
This is the clearest difference between us. Saily sells a US number as a paid add on. We do not offer one at all.
Both base products are data only. Calls and texts work through WhatsApp, iMessage or any internet calling app, but a bank text sent to your home number will not arrive on a data only plan, and you cannot dial emergency services on it.
Keep your home SIM in the phone with data roaming switched off. You keep your number for texts and emergencies, and the eSIM carries the internet. If you specifically need a second number, Saily can do something we cannot.
How do Airalo and Holafly compare on price?
Airalo sits within a cent of Saily. Their 5GB 30 day Japan plan is $11.00 against Saily's $10.99 and our $3.78.
Holafly is a different product entirely, unlimited only, starting at $3.90 a day in Japan. Seven days there is $27.50.
We compared both directly in Airalo vs MegaEsim and Holafly vs MegaEsim.
What should you check before buying either?
Whether you will use the security features. If you already pay for a VPN, you may be buying it twice.
Which network you will be on. If a provider will not name the local operator, ask before you pay.
When validity starts. On both providers the clock starts when the plan first connects, not at purchase, so installing early costs you nothing.
What happens when the data runs out. Both allow top ups without reinstalling the eSIM.
The refund terms. An eSIM you never installed can be refunded with us for six months. Check what Saily offers before assuming.
So which should you buy?
Buy Saily if you want the security bundle, if you need a US phone number, or if buying from the Nord family matters to you. Those are real reasons and the extra is not imaginary.
Buy from us if you want data at the lowest price on the same networks. On a 5GB Japan plan that is $7.21 back in your pocket, and more on larger plans.
What we would not do is tell you the cheaper option is better for everyone. It is cheaper. Whether cheaper is what you want depends on what else you were going to use.
Does the gap hold outside Japan?
Saily runs Cloudflare protection that blocks automated checking, so unlike Airalo and Holafly I could not pull their prices country by country without doing it by hand. Rather than guess, here is what I can show honestly.
Saily publishes a single global price structure that varies by destination in the same way everyone’s does, and their Japan pricing sits within a cent of Airalo’s across the range. Airalo I did check in seven countries, and the gap against us ran from 2.1 times in Thailand to 3.6 times in Italy.
Given how closely the two track each other on the plans I could verify, it is reasonable to expect a similar shape from Saily. But that is an inference, not a measurement, and it is labelled as one. If you are buying for a specific country, check both live pages rather than trusting any article, including this one.
The full picture of what data actually costs per country is in our eSIM Price Index.
How were these prices checked?
Worth stating, because comparison articles have a reputation for quoting whichever number flatters the author.
The Saily figures were read from their own live site with the currency selector set to US dollars, on 25 August 2026. That detail matters more than it sounds: on a United Kingdom connection the same Japan plan displays as 8.49 in pounds, and quoting that as dollars would understate their price by roughly a quarter.
The MegaEsim figures come from the same database our checkout reads. Nothing here is a launch offer or a recommended retail price.
Prices move. If you are reading this months later, treat the shape of the comparison as the durable part and check the live numbers yourself.
What do people get wrong when switching?
Paying twice for the same protection. If you already subscribe to a VPN, the Saily security bundle may be duplicating something you have.
Deleting the old eSIM too early. Modern phones hold several profiles. Keep the old one until the new one is connected, then tidy up.
Installing at the destination. Install at home on wifi. The profile download needs a connection, and the moment you need it most is the moment you are least likely to have one.
Leaving home SIM roaming on. The expensive mistake. If your normal carrier’s roaming stays enabled the phone can fall back to it and bill you at full rate, whichever eSIM you bought. Our roaming switch guide has the steps.
Who should buy which?
| If this is you | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want the lowest price for the same data | MegaEsim | $7.21 less on a 5GB Japan plan |
| You need a US phone number for texts | Saily | They sell one, we do not |
| You already pay for a VPN | MegaEsim | You would be buying the security bundle twice |
| You want security features in one app | Saily | Ad blocking and virtual locations included |
| You want the widest country catalogue | Airalo | Bigger list, priced like Saily |
| You genuinely use huge amounts of data | Holafly | Unlimited only, from $3.90 a day |
Saily wins two rows there outright, and the phone number one is not close. A comparison where the author wins everything is not a comparison.
What happens when you cross a border?
A single country plan stops at that country’s edge on both providers. Buy a Japan eSIM, take the ferry to South Korea, and you have no data until you buy something else. In Europe this catches people constantly, because borders arrive faster than you expect.
Both companies solve it the same way, with regional plans covering a group of countries on one profile. If your trip touches more than two countries, a regional plan is almost always cheaper and considerably less hassle than buying each one separately.
The trap is assuming a regional plan covers every country in the region. They rarely do, and the missing one is usually the one you needed. Read the list before you buy. Ours are printed in full on the Europe and Asia pages, including the countries that are not covered.
What happens when something goes wrong?
Saily has 24/7 chat inside the app, backed by a large support organisation. That covers more hours than we can, and on a bad day at an airport that is worth something real.
We are small enough that an email reaches a person who can look at your actual eSIM, and we answer within 24 hours. There is no queue to escalate through and nobody needs permission to fix something.
Most problems are not the provider at all. Nine times out of ten it is data roaming switched off, or the phone using the wrong line for data. Our eSIM troubleshooting guide works through the fixes in order, whichever provider you bought from.
How much data will you actually use?
Less than most people assume, which is why the plan size you pick matters more than the brand. Maps, messaging, searches, some scrolling and the occasional video comes to roughly 300MB to 700MB a day for most travellers.
On that basis a week is about 3GB to 5GB and two weeks is 6GB to 10GB. Both our range and Saily’s are built around those sizes, which is why the 5GB and 10GB rows are the ones worth comparing closely.
Your phone already knows your real number. Settings shows last month’s total, and travel use is usually lower than home use because you are outside walking rather than streaming on the sofa. Our guide on how much data you need breaks it down by activity.
- ✓197 countries, plans from $1.29
- ✓Hotspot included on your normal allowance
- ✓The price on the page is the price charged
- ✓Unused eSIM refundable for 6 months
Frequently asked questions
Is MegaEsim cheaper than Saily?
Yes, on every plan both companies sell. In Japan a 5GB 30 day plan is $3.78 with us against $10.99 with Saily, and 10GB is $6.58 against $17.99. Both run on the same local networks.
Is Saily owned by NordVPN?
Saily comes from Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, which is why it bundles ad blocking and virtual location features alongside the data plan.
Does Saily give you a phone number?
Saily sells a US phone number as a paid add on that can be paired with a calls and texts plan. MegaEsim does not offer a phone number, our plans are data only.
Is Saily unlimited really unlimited?
Saily publishes its fair use policy clearly: 5GB a day at full speed, then speeds drop to around 1 Mbps for the rest of the day. That is enough for maps and messaging but not for video calls.
Do Saily and MegaEsim use the same networks?
In most destinations yes, because both buy wholesale roaming access from the same local operators. Our country pages name the specific networks so you can check before buying.
Can I keep my normal number with either?
Yes. Both are data only eSIMs that sit alongside your existing SIM. Keep the home line active for calls and texts with its data roaming switched off, and let the eSIM carry the internet.
Saily is a trademark of its owner. MegaEsim is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Saily. Prices were read from each provider's own website on the date stated above and are shown in US dollars.
