Maya Mobile vs Saily (2026): Which Travel eSIM Is Better?

Saily is generally the better choice for budget-conscious travelers who want cheap country bundles, a polished app and built-in security extras, while Maya Mobile is superior for anyone who wants one genuinely unlimited global eSIM with daily high-speed allowances, cruise coverage and 24/7 support that includes a real phone line.

These two providers are rarely compared, which is odd, because they represent the two opposite philosophies of the 2026 travel eSIM market. Saily, launched by Nord Security — the company behind NordVPN — sells small, cheap, country-specific data bundles and wraps them in the privacy tooling you would expect from that parent. Maya Mobile (maya.net) does almost the reverse: one global eSIM, unlimited data as the default, priced by duration rather than by gigabyte, covering 165+ destinations and more than 20 cruise lines.

The right answer depends almost entirely on how much data you actually use and whether your trip crosses borders. Below we break down pricing, the fine print on "unlimited", coverage quality, and the support experience that matters when something fails at 11pm in a foreign airport.

Maya Mobile Overview

Maya Mobile sells a single global eSIM priced by duration. Published 2026 rates are USD 9.99 for 3 days (about USD 3.33/day), USD 19.99 for 7 days (about USD 2.86/day), USD 27.99 for 14 days (about USD 2.00/day) and USD 49.99 for 30 days (about USD 1.67/day). All of these are unlimited-data plans covering 165+ destinations, with 5G available in 125+ of them and aggregation across 400+ partner networks.

Reasons to choose Maya Mobile:

• One eSIM covers 165+ destinations and 20+ cruise lines — genuinely useful for multi-country or cruise itineraries where rivals need multiple purchases
• Unlimited data is the default product, not an upsell tier, with a published fair-use structure (roughly 3 GB/day at full speed on Standard and around 5 GB/day on Max, then ~1 Mbps until the 24-hour window resets)
• The per-day rate falls hard on longer plans, reaching about USD 1.67/day on 30 days
• 24/7 support across WhatsApp, email, a contact form and an actual phone line — rare in this industry
• Money-back guarantee with a long window of up to 180 days for eSIMs that do not work
• 5G in 125+ countries, which is far wider than most travel eSIM providers can claim

Reasons to avoid Maya Mobile:

• Premium pricing: for a short trip with light usage, USD 9.99 for three days is expensive next to Saily's roughly USD 1.79–2.99 for 1 GB
• The daily reset means a heavy streaming day can leave you at ~1 Mbps for the rest of that day
• Data-only, with no local voice or SMS number
• Coverage reports note gaps on remote islands and genuinely rural areas
• Some users report activation or connectivity problems on first install
• Public review data is thinner than Saily's, which makes the brand harder to verify independently

Maya Mobile's structure is a sensible answer to a real problem. Most travel eSIMs make you decide in advance how many gigabytes a trip will consume, which almost nobody can estimate accurately. Maya removes that decision entirely: pick a number of days, get unlimited data with a daily high-speed allowance, done. The trade is that you pay for that simplicity, and on a light trip you pay a lot for it.

Saily Overview

Saily is Nord Security's travel eSIM, covering 200+ countries and territories. Entry pricing starts around USD 1.79–2.99 for 1 GB with 7-day validity depending on destination. Regional bundles start from roughly USD 3.89 for North America (3 countries), USD 4.49 for Europe (35 countries) or Asia and Oceania (22 countries), USD 7.19 for Latin America (12 countries), USD 8.09 for the Caribbean (29 countries) or Global (121 countries), USD 8.99 for the Middle East and North Africa (18 countries) and USD 13.49 for Africa (35 countries). A monthly Saily Ultra subscription covering 121 destinations runs USD 26.99 for Standard, USD 40.49 for Plus and USD 53.99 for Premium.

Reasons to choose Saily:

• Genuinely cheap entry point — around USD 1.79 for 1 GB is among the lowest in the market
• Excellent app ratings: about 4.7 on iOS and 4.6 on Android across nearly 100,000 combined reviews
• Trustpilot around 4.7 from more than 25,000 reviews, one of the strongest records in the category
• Built-in security tooling: virtual location in 115+ places, a DNS-based ad blocker and web protection that blocks known malicious sites
• Ultra tiers bundle NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker and Incogni, which is real value if you already pay for any of them
• Family Plan lets you share eligible unactivated plans with up to four other people
• 200+ countries, with granular regional bundles that fit specific itineraries well

Reasons to avoid Saily:

• Unlimited tiers exist but carry high-speed allowances that slow afterwards, and availability varies by destination
• Hotspot is supported but draws from your plan's data, so a laptop will burn a 1 GB bundle in an afternoon
• 5G availability is limited and inconsistent across the catalogue
• Standard plans do not work at sea, which rules Saily out for cruises
• Stays of 30 days or more are not cleanly covered by the standard bundles
• No voice or SMS in core plans; a US number is a separate add-on at about USD 0.99/month
• No phone support — 24/7 live chat and email only

Saily is the better-engineered consumer product of the two. The app is the best in the category by review score, the pricing is transparent, and the security extras are not marketing filler — the ad blocker and web protection are genuinely useful on hotel and airport Wi-Fi. The limitation is structural: small bundles mean you are managing a data counter, and the moment you tether a laptop the economics stop working.

Head-to-head: Maya Mobile vs Saily

Feature	Maya Mobile	Saily
Entry price	USD 9.99 (3 days, unlimited)	~USD 1.79–2.99 (1 GB, 7 days)
Destinations	165+ countries, 20+ cruise lines	200+ countries and territories
Unlimited data	Yes, default product (~3 GB/day Standard, ~5 GB/day Max at full speed)	Available on some destinations, with high-speed allowances
Throttling	~1 Mbps after the daily allowance, resets every 24h	Slows after the high-speed allowance on unlimited tiers
Plan validity	3, 7, 14 or 30 days	Mostly 7, 15 or 30 days by bundle
Hotspot	Reasonable use allowed on most plans	Supported, but consumes plan data
5G	125+ countries	Limited and inconsistent
Cruise coverage	Yes, 20+ cruise lines	No — standard plans do not work at sea
Support	24/7 WhatsApp, email, form and phone line	24/7 live chat and email, no phone
Languages	English-first	Multilingual app
App	iOS and Android, plus web dashboard	iOS ~4.7, Android ~4.6
Top-ups	Yes, buy a new duration	Yes, in-app
Extras	180-day money-back guarantee	Ad blocker, web protection, virtual location, Family Plan
Trustpilot	Thin public record	~4.7 from 25,000+ reviews

Coverage

Saily wins on raw country count with 200+ destinations against Maya's 165+, and its regional bundles are unusually well segmented — a 35-country Europe plan from around USD 4.49 or a 29-country Caribbean plan from about USD 8.09 map neatly onto real itineraries. If your trip is a single region, Saily's catalogue is easier to buy against.

Maya wins on network depth and on the two places Saily cannot follow. Aggregating 400+ partner networks with 5G in 125+ countries is a stronger technical position than Saily's limited and inconsistent 5G, and Maya covers 20+ cruise lines while Saily's standard plans explicitly do not work at sea. For a Mediterranean or Caribbean cruise, that single line settles the comparison.

Both providers show the same weakness: remote islands and genuinely rural areas. No travel eSIM solves this, because they are all reselling roaming agreements with local carriers that themselves have coverage holes. If you are heading somewhere deep in the Andes or the Scottish Highlands, check the specific partner network rather than the headline country count.

Pricing and value

Fix a trip profile and the answer becomes obvious.

Short trip, light use. A four-day city break where you need maps, messaging and the occasional ride-hail app: Saily at roughly USD 1.79–2.99 for 1 GB is dramatically cheaper than Maya's USD 9.99 three-day minimum. Even buying 3 GB on Saily you would stay well under Maya's floor.

Two weeks, moderate to heavy use. Maya's USD 27.99 for 14 days of unlimited data works out to about USD 2.00/day with no counter to watch. To match that on Saily you would be buying repeated bundles or an unlimited tier, and the total climbs fast once you pass about 10 GB.

A month abroad. Maya's USD 49.99 for 30 days at around USD 1.67/day is the strongest value in this comparison, and Saily's own documentation suggests stays of 30 days or more are not cleanly covered by its standard bundles. Saily Ultra at USD 26.99 to USD 53.99 per month is a different proposition — you are partly buying NordVPN, NordPass, NordLocker and Incogni, so it only makes sense if you want those.

Multi-country or cruise. Maya, without argument. One eSIM, 165+ destinations, cruise lines included.

It is worth noting that neither provider is the cheapest entry point in the wider market. HOLASIM, for instance, starts from around USD 1.70 across 200+ destinations with an eSIM profile that never expires — you install once and top up per trip rather than buying a new profile each time — and runs 24/7 human support in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Its own honest trade-off is that its unlimited tiers cost more than its fixed-data plans. Worth checking if the per-trip reinstall cycle is what annoys you about both providers here.

Unlimited data

This is where the two differ most, and both are more honest than the industry average.

Maya's unlimited is daily-allowance based: roughly 3 GB per day at full speed on the Standard tier and around 5 GB per day on Max, after which speeds drop to about 1 Mbps until the 24-hour window resets. That structure is forgiving. One heavy day costs you that day, not the rest of the trip, and 3 GB covers a lot of maps, messaging and social video before you notice. Hotspot use for a laptop or tablet is allowed within reason; running it as permanent home internet will trigger speed management.

Saily's unlimited tiers exist for stays of roughly 10 to 30 days, but they also carry a high-speed allowance and slow down afterwards, and availability depends on the destination offer. More importantly, Saily's hotspot draws from your plan's data rather than sitting outside it, so tethering compounds the problem rather than being a separate allowance.

If unlimited data is the core reason you are shopping, Maya is the more complete product. If you mainly want cheap data and will manage your own consumption, the unlimited question barely matters and Saily's bundles win on price.

Support and user experience

Saily has the better everyday experience and Maya has the better emergency path.

Saily's app is excellent — roughly 4.7 on iOS and 4.6 on Android across close to 100,000 reviews, with in-app installation, usage tracking and top-ups that just work. Trustpilot sits around 4.7 from more than 25,000 reviews. Support is 24/7 live chat plus email, which handles most problems quickly. There is no phone line.

Maya offers 24/7 support across WhatsApp, email, a contact form and an actual phone number, which is unusual in this category and genuinely valuable when an eSIM fails to activate on arrival. Independent testing has reported detailed replies in around twenty minutes. Against that, Maya's public review record is much thinner than Saily's, and some users report activation or connectivity problems on first install — which is exactly the scenario where that phone line earns its keep.

Installation is comparable for both: scan a QR code, enable data roaming on the new line, done in a few minutes. Both are data-only, so neither gives you a local number by default; Saily sells a US number as an add-on at roughly USD 0.99/month.

Which should you choose?

• Backpackers: Saily. Cheap country bundles suit an itinerary that changes shape, and the Family Plan lets you split unactivated plans with travel companions.
• Business travelers: Maya Mobile if you tether a laptop or cross borders; Saily if your trips are single-country and short and you value the security extras on hotel Wi-Fi.
• Families: Saily's Family Plan is a real feature — sharing eligible unactivated plans with up to four other people is cheaper than buying four Maya plans. Maya wins if the family is on a cruise.
• Digital nomads: Maya Mobile. The 30-day plan at about USD 1.67/day with daily unlimited allowances and permitted hotspot use is the strongest fit, and Saily's standard bundles do not cleanly cover 30+ day stays.
• Cruise passengers: Maya Mobile, and it is not close. Saily's standard plans do not work at sea.
• Privacy-focused travelers: Saily. The virtual location, ad blocker and web protection are built in, and the Ultra tiers bundle the rest of the Nord suite.

FAQ

Is Maya Mobile's unlimited data really unlimited?

It is unlimited in duration but managed daily. Standard gives roughly 3 GB per day at full speed and Max about 5 GB per day, after which speeds drop to around 1 Mbps until the 24-hour window resets. You are never cut off, but a heavy streaming day will be slow by evening.

Why is Saily so much cheaper than Maya Mobile?

Because it sells a different product. Saily's entry price of roughly USD 1.79 buys 1 GB over 7 days; Maya's USD 9.99 buys three days of unlimited data across 165+ countries. Once your consumption passes about 5 to 8 GB, the gap narrows sharply and then reverses.

Can I use either one on a cruise?

Maya Mobile covers 20+ cruise lines. Saily's standard plans do not work at sea, so if a cruise is part of your itinerary, Maya is the only one of the two that fits without a separate purchase.

Which has better hotspot and tethering?

Maya Mobile. It allows reasonable hotspot use for laptops and tablets on most plans within its daily allowance. Saily supports hotspot but the data comes out of your bundle, so a 1 GB plan disappears quickly once a laptop is attached.

Do either of them give me a phone number?

Not by default. Both are data-only products. Saily sells a US number as an add-on at around USD 0.99 per month; Maya does not offer local voice or SMS. Keep your home SIM active in the second slot for bank SMS codes.

Which is better for a month-long stay?

Maya Mobile, on current pricing. Its 30-day unlimited plan at USD 49.99 works out to about USD 1.67 per day, and Saily's standard bundles are not cleanly structured for stays of 30 days or more.

Verdict

Saily is the better buy for most short, single-region trips. The entry price is among the lowest in the market, the app is the best-reviewed in the category, Trustpilot sits around 4.7 across more than 25,000 reviews, and the ad blocker, web protection and virtual location are real additions rather than marketing. Just be honest with yourself about hotspot: the moment a laptop is involved, the small bundles stop making sense.

Maya Mobile is the better buy for long trips, multi-country itineraries, cruises and anyone who hates watching a data counter. Unlimited as the default product, around USD 1.67 per day on a 30-day plan, 5G in 125+ countries and a support line you can actually call are a coherent package. You are paying a premium for simplicity, and for the right traveler that premium is money well spent.

Neither is the cheapest option in the wider market, and if the thing that irritates you about both is reinstalling a new eSIM profile before every trip, it is worth comparing them against a never-expiring eSIM like HOLASIM before you buy.