Saily vs The SIM Shop: what a US dollar eSIM actually costs an Australian

The price comparison

Ten gigabytes over thirty days, in the currency each of us bills.

The 35-area plan does not include France. If Paris or anywhere else in France is on your itinerary, take Europe 30+ Areas instead: it covers 34 destinations including France and Turkey, and 10GB over 30 days is A$29.95. The 35-area list also leaves out Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands.

We are not going to convert that right-hand column and print the result as a price. The rate moves daily and your card’s fee is your card’s business, and publishing a converted figure would make this table wrong within a week. Do the sum yourself with the rate on the day.

What we will say is the shape of it. On Thailand, Japan and Vietnam, Saily’s headline is low enough that it will likely stay ahead after conversion. On the UK, Indonesia, the USA, New Zealand and our seven-country Southeast Asia plan, ours is already the lower figure before any conversion is applied, and conversion only widens the gap. Europe cannot be reduced to one result: Saily’s US$35.99 headline is below our 41-destination A$49.95 plan, but above our A$24.95 and A$29.95 figures before conversion.

Saily’s unlimited plan is a flat US$48.99 for any trip between five and thirty days, which is very good value at thirty days and poor value at five.

Our full ladder is in travel eSIM prices in Australia. The SIM Shop is not registered for GST, so GST is not charged. The checkout total is the amount we charge you.

What the currency actually costs you

This is the part most comparisons skip, so here is the mechanic in plain terms.

When you buy in US dollars with an Australian card, two things happen. Your card issuer converts at their rate, which is usually close to but not identical to the mid-market rate you see on Google. Then, depending on the card, they may add a foreign transaction fee, typically around two to three per cent.

Some Australian cards charge nothing. Several travel-oriented debit and credit cards have dropped the fee entirely. If you hold one of those, Saily’s headline is close to your real cost and this whole section matters much less to you.

Most everyday cards still charge it. If yours does, add it to every figure in the Saily column above.

There is also a smaller point worth knowing: a US dollar transaction sometimes shows up on your statement a day or two later at a slightly different figure than you expected, because the conversion happens at settlement rather than at purchase. That is normal and it is not Saily doing anything wrong. It just makes the price harder to know in advance.

Our prices are in Australian dollars end to end, because we are an Australian company banking in Australia. The number on the product page is the number on your statement.

When Saily is the better fit

Four things, and the first one undercuts our own argument.

1. They contract with an Australian company, and we did not expect that. Saily’s terms name a different contracting entity 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.”

That is more than any other international provider in this category offers. Airalo contracts through Singapore under English law with a US$100 liability cap. Ubigi points at the courts of Paris. Holafly at Ireland. Nomad has no Australian entity at all.

We spend a lot of this corpus arguing that buying from an Australian company matters. On that specific measure, Saily is closer to us than to its international peers, and pretending otherwise because it is inconvenient would be exactly the kind of thing this programme is supposed to avoid.

2. They publish their fair use terms in full and we do not.

“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… data speed will be reduced to 1 Mbps for the remainder of that period.”

Allowance, throttled speed and reset basis, all three. Their reset design is the best in the category: it rolls at local midnight and follows you across borders. Our exact plans publish the daily allowance and supplier-backed reduced-speed wording, but only some carry a numeric speed. Saily is more consistent on this specification. Full category comparison in what “unlimited” actually means.

3. Security extras included at no extra cost. An ad blocker and web protection come with their plans, from their parent’s security business. They also sell a phone number add-on, which is genuinely useful if you need to receive verification codes on something other than your Australian number. We bundle neither.
4. A published refund decision time. “Saily’s decision regarding refund will be made within 5 working days.” Very few providers commit to a number for the decision rather than just the payout.

“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 have opened a map. If you think a Saily plan might be the wrong one, do not activate it to find out.

Their unactivated window is a reasonable 30 days, which is comparable to ours. It is the post-activation position that is hard. Full process in how a Saily refund works.

3. One trap that is worth its own line. From their terms:

“If you delete your account after purchasing a Data Plan or a Phone Number Functionality product and subsequently request a refund, no refund will be granted.”

Do not tidy up your account before the money has landed.

4. Their live chat only works inside their app. Saily states “Please note that Live Chat is available only via the Saily application.” On the web, the chat button shows a QR code pointing back at your phone. If your phone has no data and no wifi, your only route is the email form from another device. Screenshot your APN and installation details before you fly.
5. Their hotspot position contradicts itself. Their 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. Meanwhile their country pages advertise unlimited sharing with no restrictions. Where marketing and contract disagree, the contract governs.

Where we are the same

Neither of us has phone support. Saily states it in writing, which is better disclosure than most. Both of us are chat and email.

Neither of us publishes a response time commitment for general support, though Saily does publish one for refund decisions.

Both of us are data only. Your Australian number stays on your existing SIM either way.

Both loyalty programmes can be checked before you buy. Saily publishes its points rules, and we publish our SIM Shop Credit terms: five per cent of eligible spend, with A$10 and A$15 order caps and a twelve-month expiry. The systems work differently. The practical question is whether you expect to buy again and which credit you are more likely to use.

The verdict

Choose Saily if you are going to Thailand, Japan or Vietnam and your card does not charge foreign transaction fees. Or if you want a consistent numeric throttle threshold across its unlimited range. Or if you want the included security extras or a phone number add-on. Or if you are doing a long trip and their flat US$48.99 unlimited suits it.

Consider us if you would rather pay in Australian dollars with no conversion at all. Or if you are going to the UK, Indonesia, the USA or New Zealand, or our seven-country Southeast Asia plan covers your route, where our figure is lower before conversion is even counted. Or if a 99% unused threshold on activated refunds worries you. Our exact daily plans publish the allowance and supplier-backed reduced-speed wording, with a number wherever our supplier states one.

Both of us have an Australian company on the contract, which is worth knowing and which Saily does not advertise nearly as loudly as it could.

We have also compared Saily against the wider field, without us in the picture, in Airalo vs Saily.

Questions people actually ask

Does Saily charge in Australian dollars?

No. Their currency configuration supports US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs only, and requesting Australian dollars falls back to US dollars. Every Australian purchase goes through a conversion, and many Australian cards add a foreign transaction fee on top.

Is Saily cheaper than The SIM Shop?

On Thailand, Japan and Vietnam their headline is lower before conversion. On the UK, Indonesia, the USA, New Zealand and the checked seven-country Southeast Asia plan ours is lower before conversion is even applied. On Europe, Saily’s headline is lower than our 41-destination plan, but not our two smaller-footprint figures before conversion.

Who am I buying from when I buy Saily as an Australian?

CyberQuay Pty Ltd, a company registered in Sydney, according to Saily’s own terms, with a clause acknowledging that local consumer law can override their governing law. That is more than most international providers in this category offer.

What is Saily’s refund policy?

Thirty days from purchase on an unactivated plan, which is reasonable. After activation, they require more than 99% of the plan to remain unused, which on a 5GB plan is about 51 megabytes. They publish a five working day decision time.

Does Saily throttle you?

Yes, and they publish exactly how. Three or five gigabytes of full speed data per day depending on the country, then 1 Mbps for the rest of that period, resetting at local midnight in whatever time zone you are in.

Can I use a hotspot on Saily?

Their country pages advertise unlimited sharing, while their terms prohibit tethering “beyond occasional personal use” without defining it. Where a company’s marketing and its contract disagree, the contract governs.

Does Saily have phone support?

No, and they state that explicitly, which is better disclosure than most. Their live chat only works inside the Saily app; the web version shows a QR code pointing back at your phone.

What extras does Saily include?

An ad blocker and web protection at no extra cost, from their parent’s security business, plus a paid phone number add-on for receiving verification codes. We bundle neither.

Sources

Our own prices came from our live product pages, with the Southeast Asia row rechecked 25 August 2026. Saily prices came from their own published US dollar rate card, and the currency finding from their own site configuration, which lists US dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs as the supported set. Saily policy quotes from their Terms of Service (last updated 15 July 2026), covering the refund policy, fair usage policy, contracting entities and governing law, and from their Support Centre on contact channels. Saily material was 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.