GUAC VS SAILY
Saily Is Good.
The Price Isn't.
Saily is a solid eSIM from the team behind NordVPN. But you're paying for the brand name, the affiliate army, and security features you don't need in a travel eSIM. Guac gives you the same travel data that works, for up to 65% less.
How much can you save?
Typical 7-day trip, 5 GB of data. That's enough for maps, messaging, social media, and some streaming. Most travelers don't use more.
Based on Saily's 5 GB / 30 day plan vs Guac's 5 GB / 30 day plan. Saily prices from saily.com, verified March 2026.
Not sure how much data you need? Try our data calculatorThe real cost per gigabyte.
Both Guac and Saily sell the same thing: prepaid travel data for your phone. Here's what each charges per GB at the most popular plan sizes.
| Plan | Saily | Guac | You Save |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB / 7 days | $3.99 | $1.80 | 55% |
| 3 GB / 30 days | $8.99 | $4.60 | 49% |
| 5 GB / 30 days | $13.99 | $6.46 | 54% |
| 10 GB / 30 days | $22.99 | $11.35 | 51% |
| 20 GB / 30 days | $36.99 | $21.42 | 42% |
1 GB / 7 days
3 GB / 30 days
5 GB / 30 days
10 GB / 30 days
20 GB / 30 days
Even with Saily's best affiliate discount (15% off), Guac at full price is still 42% cheaper for a USA 10 GB plan. Saily discounted: $19.54. Guac: $11.35.
Saily prices from saily.com and support.saily.com help center, verified March 2026. Guac prices from guac.online. All prices USD.
Unlimited plans: transparency vs fine print.
Both Guac and Saily offer unlimited data plans. The difference is what happens when you hit the speed limit, and how clearly it's disclosed before purchase.
Daily High-Speed Quota
"Unlimited" with a 5 GB/day high-speed cap. After 5 GB, speeds drop to 1 Mbps until midnight local time. The cap is not prominently disclosed at purchase. Their global "UNLIMITED" plans contain a finite 30 GB high-speed allowance. After that, speeds throttle to 1024 kbps (30-day plans) or 1 kbps (90-day plans). The word "unlimited" applies to connection duration, not speed.
You choose your own daily high-speed quota: 500 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB, or 10 GB/day. After the quota, you stay online at reduced speeds. Resets every 24 hours. The quota is displayed clearly before purchase.
Guac tells you upfront. Saily buries it in the fine print.
Hotspot / Tethering
Hotspot supported, but usage details are vague. No published daily hotspot cap (unlike Holafly's 1 GB/day), but no clear guarantee of full-speed tethering either.
Full data shareable via hotspot. No daily cap. Your entire purchased data or your full daily unlimited quota can be tethered to laptops, tablets, whatever you need.
Guac: share everything. No asterisks.
Throttling data from eSIMDB, Cloudwards, and andreondigital.com Saily review. Saily unlimited fine print from saily.com/esim-global and Saily help center.
Buy now. Travel whenever.
Sometimes you find a deal months before your trip. Or your plans change. Here's where Guac gives you 6x more breathing room.
Saily
30 days. If you don't travel within 30 days, the plan auto-activates and the clock starts ticking on your data, even if you're still at home.
Guac
180 days. Buy your plan up to 6 months before your trip. It only activates when you connect at your destination. Zero waste.
Planning a trip for next summer? Buy your Guac eSIM now and it'll be waiting for you. With Saily, you'd need to buy within a month of departure or risk your plan activating at home.
More plans, more flexibility.
Saily offers a clean, simple set of plans. Guac gives you more options at both ends of the spectrum.
| Feature | Saily | Guac |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest standard plan | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Largest standard plan | 20 GB | 50 GB |
| Plan durations | 7 or 30 days | 7, 15, 30, 90, or 180 days |
| Unlimited durations | 10-30 days | Flexible |
| Top-ups | Yes | Up to 10 per eSIM |
| One eSIM for all destinations | Yes | Yes |
Smallest standard plan
Largest standard plan
Plan durations
Unlimited durations
Top-ups
One eSIM for all destinations
Going for 2 weeks? Saily forces you into a 30-day plan and you pay for days you won't use. Guac has 15-day plans so you only pay for what you need. Staying 3 months? Guac has 90-day plans. Saily doesn't.
Cashback on every single plan.
Saily reserves cashback for their premium Ultra subscribers. Guac gives it to everyone.
Saily
8%, but only on Saily Ultra (monthly subscription). Standard prepaid plans get nothing.
Subscriptions
Saily Ultra auto-renews monthly.
Guac
5% on every single plan. No subscription required. Credited as Guac Credit for your next trip.
Subscriptions
Never. One-time purchases only. No auto-renew. Ever.
With Guac, your 5th trip basically pays for itself. Every purchase earns credit toward the next one. No premium subscription needed.
Share eSIMs with your travel group.
Traveling with friends or family? Guac lets you buy eSIMs and share them via a link. Gift data to travel companions without handing over your phone or account. Saily doesn't offer this.
Most travelers use less than they think.
Industry data shows the average traveler uses 3-5 GB per week. That means most people overpay for data they never touch.
Light Traveler (under 1 GB/day)
Maps, messaging, email, occasional social media. 2-3 GB per week.
Best Guac plan: 3 GB standard ($2.84 - $4.60)
Moderate Traveler (1-2 GB/day)
Social media, music streaming, photo sharing, video calls. 5-10 GB per week.
Best Guac plan: 5 GB standard ($4.37 - $6.46)
Heavy Traveler (2-3+ GB/day)
HD streaming, video calls, content creation, heavy hotspot usage.
Best Guac plan: 20 GB standard ($12.60 - $21.42) or unlimited with 2-3 GB/day quota.
You don't need a VPN in your eSIM.
Saily's biggest differentiator is the security features bundled into their eSIM: a virtual location tool, an ad blocker, and web protection. These come from their NordVPN heritage. Here's the thing: you're buying travel data, not a cybersecurity suite.
Saily's ad blocker claims to save up to 28% on data usage. That sounds impressive until you realize that even with a 28% data savings, Saily's effective price per GB is still significantly higher than Guac's actual price per GB. You'd save more money just buying a cheaper plan.
If you actually need a VPN for security on public Wi-Fi, get a proper VPN subscription. NordVPN itself costs about $3-4/month. The money you save switching from Saily to Guac would more than cover it, and you'd have a full-featured VPN instead of a lightweight proxy baked into your eSIM.
Saily's security features are nice to have. They're not worth paying double for your travel data.
Full comparison
| Feature | Guac | Saily |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (fixed GB) plans | 1 - 50 GB, full speed, no throttling | 1 - 20 GB |
| Plan durations | 7, 15, 30, 90, 180 days | 7 or 30 days |
| Unlimited plans | User chooses daily high-speed quota | 5 GB/day hidden cap |
| Throttling on standard | None | None |
| Throttling on unlimited | Transparent, user-selected quota | 5 GB/day cap, 1 Mbps after (not shown on purchase page) |
| Hotspot | Full data, no cap | Supported, details vague |
| Price (5 GB, USA) | $6.46 | $13.99 |
| Price (10 GB, USA) | $11.35 | $22.99 |
| Countries | 200+ | 200+ |
| Network operators | 800+ | 600+ (1Global) |
| Pre-purchase validity | 180 days | 30 days (auto-activates) |
| Cashback | 5% on every plan | Ultra subscribers only (8%) |
| eSIM sharing | Shareable links | No |
| Subscriptions | Never | Saily Ultra auto-renews |
| Top-ups per eSIM | Up to 10 | Yes (limit not published) |
| Plan activation | At destination | At destination or 30 days (whichever first) |
| Refund (unactivated) | Full refund | Full refund (if eSIM fails to install) |
| China Great Firewall bypass | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 Support | Live chat | In-app live chat |
| VPN / ad blocker / web protection | No (see section above) | Yes (included) |
Standard (fixed GB) plans
Plan durations
Unlimited plans
Throttling on standard
Throttling on unlimited
Hotspot
Price (5 GB, USA)
Price (10 GB, USA)
Countries
Network operators
Pre-purchase validity
Cashback
eSIM sharing
Subscriptions
Top-ups per eSIM
Plan activation
Refund (unactivated)
China Great Firewall bypass
24/7 Support
VPN / ad blocker / web protection
Honest recommendation.
We're not going to pretend Guac is better for everyone. Here's when each makes sense.
Choose Guac if you:
Consider Saily if you:
A note about eSIM "reviews" online.
We have an affiliate program. So does Saily. So does almost every eSIM brand. Bloggers and reviewers earn commissions on every sale they drive, which is why almost every Saily review you'll find online includes a unique discount code. Some of those reviews are honest. But when every result on the first page ends with a discount code, it's worth considering the incentive structure. We'd rather let the price comparison tables above make our case. Compare the numbers and decide for yourself.
Ready to save?
Same destinations. Same data speeds. You choose the price.