Saily vs Nomad: a free security bundle against the best loyalty in the category

At a glance

Price

Both of these will charge you in a foreign currency, so we are showing each in what it actually bills. We are not converting and presenting the result as a price, because the rate moves and your card’s foreign transaction fee is your card’s business.

Ten gigabytes over thirty days:

Nomad is cheaper on all nine, and the two regional plans are where it stops being close. Europe at US$23 against US$35.99, and a regional Asia plan at US$21 against US$35.99, are gaps big enough that no promo code on the Saily side closes them.

Nomad also discounts constantly, which is good for you at the checkout and means any price table is a snapshot. Ours is dated for that reason.

Unlimited is the one place where the shapes differ enough to change the answer.

Saily charges a flat US$48.99 for unlimited on any trip from five to thirty days. Same price for five days as for thirty.

Nomad prices unlimited by days, so a three day Japan plan is about US$11, seven days about US$25, and fourteen about US$41. In Thailand, thirty days of unlimited is about US$33.

So on unlimited, Nomad is much cheaper on short trips and still cheaper on most long ones. Saily’s flat rate is only compelling if you are near the top of the range and going somewhere Nomad prices high.

One structural advantage to Nomad that price tables miss. Its Global-EX range runs to 365 days of validity, with fifty gigabytes over a year. Saily’s longest plans are shorter. For a gap year or a long posting, that is decisive.

The throttle, where Saily is clearly ahead

Saily publishes the full mechanism in its terms:

“Users on the Regular Unlimited Data Plan receive a full-speed data allocation for each 24-hour period, running from 00:00 to 00:00 (local midnight) in the User’s current time zone. The size of the allocation depends on the destination country and is either 3 GB or 5 GB, as specified in the applicable offering. If the User exhausts the allocation before the end of a period, data speed will be reduced to 1 Mbps for the remainder of that period.”

Allowance, throttled speed, reset basis, all three. Saily also commits to trying to give notice before restricting your service.

Nomad gives three answers depending where you look.

• Nomad’s own country pages describe the throttle as 512 kbps after the daily high speed allocation.
• An independent plan database lists Nomad’s Japan unlimited as 2GB a day at full speed then 1 Mbps.
• Nomad’s terms and conditions do not mention throttling at all.

We are not suggesting Nomad is concealing anything. The likeliest explanation is that the throttled speed varies by plan and the generic pages have not kept pace. But the effect on the buyer is the same: you cannot find out before paying what your unlimited plan degrades to, and 512 kbps and 1 Mbps are not the same experience. One will carry a low quality video call and the other will not.

Saily’s reset basis is also the more sensible design. It rolls at local midnight and follows you across borders:

“The reset is always tied to local midnight in the User’s current location, and a change of time zone does not create an additional allocation, forfeit an existing one, or otherwise alter the User’s entitlement.”

Our international daily high-speed eSIM guide explains how daily allowances and reduced speeds work across plans.

Rewards, where Nomad wins by a distance

Nomad publishes the whole programme:

• 25 points per US$5 spent, redeemed at 100 points to US$1, which is a straight five per cent back.
• 200 bonus points, worth US$2, on any repeat purchase of 10GB or more, up to five times a calendar month.
• Points can be taken as bonus data, extra days or extended validity instead of money off.
• Points expire after six months, except points issued as a refund, which do not expire.
• Referral pays US$5 to the referrer and US$5 off for the new customer, capped at five friends.
• There is a free starter eSIM for new users. Sources disagree on whether it is 1GB or 500MB, so treat the size as unconfirmed.

Saily’s credits programme sits at roughly three per cent and is less prominent in their material.

If you buy more than one eSIM a year, Nomad’s programme is worth real money. Two honest notes on it, though. Six month expiry is a use-it-or-lose-it mechanic. And refund-to-points is a retention device: turning a refund into non-expiring credit keeps your money inside Nomad. Take the card refund if you want your money rather than a balance.

The extras, where Saily wins

Saily includes an ad blocker and web protection with its plans at no extra cost, which comes from its parent’s security business. Nomad bundles nothing.

Saily also sells a phone number add on, which is genuinely useful if you need to receive verification codes on something other than your Australian number while travelling.

Nomad’s equivalent is narrower but arguably better where it applies: its UK plans include actual minutes and texts, which almost nothing else in this category does. If you need to make British phone calls, that is a real differentiator.

Hotspot

Neither of these is clean.

Saily’s terms list this under prohibited activities on unlimited plans:

“Excessive tethering or sharing of data via hotspot with multiple devices or users beyond occasional personal use.”

No device count, no definition of occasional. And Saily’s own country pages advertise unlimited sharing with no restrictions, which is not what the terms say. Where marketing and contract disagree, the contract is the one that governs.

Nomad states that its eSIMs support tethering and hotspot, and publishes no limit either way. That is better than a low cap and worse than an explicit “no limit.”

Both prohibit reselling or commercially sharing the connection, which is standard everywhere.

If tethering is central to your trip, neither of these gives you the written permission that some competitors do. Our travel eSIM hotspot guide explains the checks that still vary by plan and phone.

Refunds

Before you activate, Saily is clearer: thirty days from purchase, stated as a rule. Nomad’s terms permit a refund “prior to the installation and activation” without publishing a window; third-party sources say thirty days but we could not verify that against Nomad’s own material.

After you activate, both are hard, in different ways.

Saily’s is a usage threshold:

“The non-subscription-based Data Plan has been activated … but the data remains generally unused (more than 99% of the Data Plan balance left)”

On a 5GB plan that is about 51 megabytes. Background app sync on landing can spend that before you open a map.

Nomad’s is a fault test with no cooling off at all:

“Customers may request a refund or a change prior to the installation and activation of the E-sim or there is a known technical problem originating from NOMAD after activation of E-sim.”

Third-party summaries also say plans bought with a discount code are non-refundable. We could not verify that against Nomad’s own terms or help centre, so we are labelling it unconfirmed rather than repeating it as fact. Given how heavily Nomad markets with codes, if it is real it affects a lot of buyers. Ask before you check out with a code.

Nomad pays out faster. Three to five business days to your card, or points immediately. Saily publishes no card timing at all beyond a thirty calendar day backstop, though it does publish a five working day decision time, which Nomad does not.

One Saily trap worth its own line: “If you delete your account after purchasing a Data Plan … and subsequently request a refund, no refund will be granted.” Do not tidy your account before the money lands.

Full write-ups: how a Saily refund works and how a Nomad refund works.

The Australian angle, which is the real differentiator

Saily’s terms name a different contracting company depending on your tax country. For Australia:

“Australia: CyberQuay Pty Ltd, company code 689 412 119, principal business address LEVEL 41, 161 Castlereagh str., Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia”

And their governing law clause carves out local consumer law:

“some countries … have laws that require contracts to be governed by the mandatory provisions of the local laws of the consumer’s country. In such cases, mandatory provisions of the local laws of your country of residence apply.”

Nomad has no Australian entity, office or support hours that we could find, and its terms make no reference to Australian Consumer Law. Its “no refund after activation” position sits awkwardly against Australian consumer guarantees, which apply to services supplied to Australian consumers regardless of what a contract says and which a term cannot exclude.

Neither clause removes your rights. The difference is how you would exercise them. A company with a Sydney address is within reach of the ACCC and a local tribunal. A company with no Australian presence is not, in any realistic sense, over a twenty dollar data plan.

Neither of these is an Australian company. But on the paperwork, Saily is the closer of the two by some distance, and that is not something Saily’s own marketing bothers to tell Australians.

Support

Both are chat and email. Neither has phone.

Saily states the no-phone position in writing and runs 24/7 chat, but that chat only works inside the app: “Please note that Live Chat is available only via the Saily application.” On the web, the chat button just shows a QR code pointing back at your phone. If your phone has no data and no wifi, the only route is the email form from another device.

Nomad has chat in the app and on the web, and claims 24/7 on its homepage. At least one independent reviewer describes it as business hours only. We could not resolve that from Nomad’s own material, so treat the hours as unconfirmed either way.

Practical advice for both: screenshot your APN and installation details before you fly.

Which one for an Australian traveller

Choose Nomad if price is the deciding factor, especially on Europe or regional Asia plans, you buy more than one eSIM a year and want the rewards, you want a free trial before committing, your trip is short and you want unlimited, you need a plan valid for months, or you want UK calls and texts.

Choose Saily if you want the throttle threshold and throttled speed published before you buy, you want the included security extras or a phone number add on, you want a published refund decision time, or you want an Australian company on the contract with a local consumer law carve out.

Choose neither if you would rather pay in Australian dollars to an Australian company with no conversion in the middle, one published data allowance, and someone answering the email in your own time zone. That is what we do, and our destination pages show the current plans and prices.

Questions people actually ask

Is Nomad cheaper than Saily?

Yes, on all nine destinations we priced. The gaps are widest on regional plans: Europe is US$23 on Nomad against US$35.99 on Saily, and a regional Asia plan is US$21 against US$35.99.

Do either charge in Australian dollars?

Neither publishes Australian dollar pricing. Saily supports US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs. Nomad’s web store showed US dollars and publishes nothing about which currencies it offers. Expect a conversion and possibly a card fee on both.

Which one throttles you, and to what?

Saily publishes it: 3GB or 5GB per day depending on the country, then 1 Mbps, resetting at local midnight. Nomad’s country pages say 512 kbps, an independent database says 1 Mbps for at least one Japan plan, and Nomad’s terms do not mention throttling at all.

Which has better rewards?

Nomad, clearly. Five per cent back in points, a US$2 bonus on repeat purchases of 10GB or more up to five times a month, US$5 each way on referrals, and a free starter eSIM. Saily’s credits sit at roughly three per cent.

What does Saily include that Nomad does not?

An ad blocker and web protection at no extra cost, and a paid phone number add on. Nomad bundles nothing, though its UK plans include minutes and texts, which Saily’s do not.

Can I get a refund after activating?

On Saily, only if more than 99% of the plan is unused. On Nomad, only if there is a known technical problem originating from Nomad, since their terms provide no cooling off after activation. Both are restrictive.

Which pays refunds faster?

Nomad. Three to five business days to your card, or immediately as points that do not expire. Saily publishes a five working day decision time but no card payout timing beyond a thirty calendar day backstop.

Who am I buying from as an Australian?

On Saily, CyberQuay Pty Ltd in Sydney, with a clause acknowledging local consumer law can override their governing law. On Nomad, no Australian entity, and no mention of Australian Consumer Law anywhere in their terms.

Sources

Saily pricing from their own published US dollar rate card and currency configuration, and policy from their Terms of Service (last updated 15 July 2026) and Support Centre. Nomad pricing from their own country pages in US dollars, and policy from their terms and conditions, Nomad Points help article and refunds help article. Items we could not confirm against a primary source are labelled as unconfirmed in the text. All retrieved 17 to 20 August 2026. We re-check every price in this article monthly.

Written by Lachlan, who runs The SIM Shop from Brisbane and answers the support email himself.