The short answer
Airalo and Saily are a few cents apart almost everywhere in Malaysia. Airalo is cheaper at 15 days, at 30 days and on both buckets, by $0.49, $0.99, $1.99 on 10 GB and $3.99 on 20 GB. Saily is cheaper at 7 days by $0.01, and only Airalo sells a 3-day plan. If you want unlimited for two weeks or a month, Ringo Light, the third option, is unlimited data at full speed at $23.99 or $35.99.
Unlimited data at full speed, 2 weeks at $23.99 or 30 days at $35.99. Nothing renews and there is no app. It has no 3-day or 7-day plan and no buckets.
Unlimited at $11.50 for 3 days, $27 for 7, $48.50 for 15 and $71 for 30, with 10 GB at $20 and 20 GB at $32. Its unlimited gives 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, on Maxis. The Sambungkan plan has buckets from $4 for 1 GB.
Unlimited at $26.99 for 7 days, $48.99 for 15 and $71.99 for 30, with 10 GB at $21.99 and 20 GB at $35.99. Its unlimited gives 5 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps. Since 28 September its 5-day plan fell from $23.99 to $18.99 and a 7-day plan arrived at $26.99.
Prices read on 25 October 2026: Airalo, Saily on their own sites or listings, Ringo Light from its catalogue. All in US dollars unless stated. Treat every number as a snapshot.
See the full price index for every country.
Travelling further? Compare the best eSIM for Asia and the eSIM for Asia-Pacific.
The prices, charted
US dollars, 25 October 2026. Ringo Light sells 2 weeks, Airalo and Saily 15 days. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
The 30-day plan at each brand. Ringo Light is unlimited data at full speed.
Ringo Light sells no bucket either: its 2 weeks is unlimited, and lasts 2 weeks, not 30 days.
Side by side
Swipe to compare →
Get Ringo Light for Malaysia, from $23.99.
Installed once, next to your own SIM. Your eSIM arrives by email in seconds.
- 2 weeks $23.99
- 30 days $35.99
We sell data eSIMs for now to fund the full Ringo service. Ringo is self funded. Every plan bought here pays for the build of one plan that works everywhere.
Want to keep your own number abroad?
That is the full Ringo service: one plan that works everywhere, with your own number included.
It is a separate product from Ringo Light and it is still being built, so it is not on sale yet. Join the waitlist to hear when it opens.
Airalo vs Saily in one paragraph
Airalo is cheaper than Saily for Malaysia at 15 days, 30 days and on both buckets, and never by more than $3.99. Saily takes the 7-day plan by a cent, and only Airalo sells 3 days of unlimited, at $11.50. Saily's daily cap is 5 GB at full speed against Airalo's 3 GB, and both need their app. For two weeks or a month of unlimited, neither is the cheapest: Ringo Light is $23.99 for 2 weeks and $35.99 for 30 days, unlimited data at full speed.
Price: the same trip at each
Prices are in US dollars from 25 October 2026. Three days of unlimited is $11.50 at Airalo, and Saily has no plan that short. At 7 days Saily asks $26.99 and Airalo $27. For 15 days it is $48.50 against $48.99, and for 30 days $71 against $71.99.
Ringo Light sells two trips for Malaysia, 2 weeks at $23.99 and 30 days at $35.99. Two weeks costs $24.51 less than Airalo's 15 days and $25 less than Saily's, and it is under both brands' 7-day price as well, with a week to spare. A month is $35.01 less than Airalo and $36 less than Saily. Ringo Light has no 3-day or 7-day plan, so for a short trip use the rival rows.
Buckets: 10 GB for 30 days is $20 at Airalo and $21.99 at Saily, both under Ringo Light's $23.99 for 2 weeks. For 20 GB, Airalo's $32 is under Ringo Light's $35.99 for 30 days, and Saily's $35.99 matches it to the cent. If a bucket is all you need, buy the bucket. We would rather you read that here than at checkout.
What unlimited means at each
Both brands cap their unlimited. Airalo gives 3 GB a day at full speed and then 1 Mbps, and Saily gives 5 GB a day before it drops to 1 Mbps too. Ringo Light has no daily drop: it is unlimited data at full speed for the whole 2 weeks or 30 days. Fair use policy, see Terms.
Networks and coverage in Malaysia
Malaysia has two big networks, Maxis and CelcomDigi (Celcom and Digi merged in 2022), plus U Mobile, Unifi and Yes, which is YTL. All of them cover Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca and the main highways well, most with 5G in the cities. Coverage thins in the rainforest, on the mountain roads of the Cameron Highlands, on the East Coast islands and in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo. There Maxis and CelcomDigi reach furthest. For the classic city and coast route, any of them works; download offline maps before a Borneo trek or an island crossing.
Airalo rides Maxis. Saily does not name its network, and Ringo Light rides a local partner network.
Installation and app
Airalo and Saily both make you use their app. Ringo Light needs none: the eSIM arrives by email in seconds and installs in one scan. Whichever you pick, install it at home before you fly and switch it on for data when you land.
The cheaper third option: Ringo Light
Ringo Light is our own data eSIM for travellers. For Malaysia it sells two trips, both unlimited data at full speed: 2 weeks at $23.99 and 30 days at $35.99. You pay once, nothing renews, and there is no app.
It has no buckets and no 3-day or 7-day plan, and it is data only, so calls go over apps that use data.
The full comparison for Malaysia, with the other brands priced the same day, is at /blog/best-esim-for-malaysia. The card to buy Ringo Light is further up this page, just after the side-by-side table.
Which to pick
- Airalo, if you want a bucket. 10 GB for 30 days at $20 and 20 GB at $32, where Saily asks $21.99 for the 10 GB.
- Airalo, if you want 3 days. $11.50 for 3 days of unlimited. Saily and Ringo Light have no plan that short.
- ✓Ringo Light, if the trip is two weeks or a month. Unlimited data at full speed, $23.99 for 2 weeks or $35.99 for 30 days, under both brands at 15 days and at a month.
Pick by trip
Airalo, 3 days of unlimited at $11.50. Neither Saily nor Ringo Light sells one.
Ringo Light, 2 weeks at $23.99, against $48.50 at Airalo and $48.99 at Saily for 15 days.
Ringo Light, 30 days at $35.99, against $71 at Airalo and $71.99 at Saily.
Airalo's 10 GB for 30 days, $20.
Frequently asked questions
How we compared, and our sources
Airalo, Saily, Ringo Light
We priced Airalo, Saily and Ringo Light for Malaysia on 25 October 2026, all on the same day, in US dollars. Each rival's price comes from its own website where it showed dollars, otherwise from an esimdb.com listing, and every source and its date is listed below. Ringo Light's prices come from the catalogue our checkout charges.
We compare the trips people actually book: a week, two weeks and a month of unlimited data, and a 10 GB bucket. We read each brand's fair use and speed rules and quote them as the brands state them. We did not run speed tests, so this page makes no speed claims for any brand.
Ringo Light is our own product. We put it in the table on the same terms as everyone else, and where a rival is the better buy the page says so.
Left out: Holafly, Nomad and Ubigi. They sell Malaysia too and are priced on the same day in the full comparison at /blog/best-esim-for-malaysia. This page answers one question, Airalo or Saily, so it keeps to those two and the cheaper third option.
- Airalo: www.airalo.com/malaysia-esim?currency=USD, unlimited and network in dollars on the site; buckets from esimdb.com/malaysia/airalo, listing dated 4 October 2026
- Saily: saily.com/esim-malaysia/, prices in dollars on saily.com, read 25 October 2026
- Ringo Light: our own catalogue, the prices the checkout charges on 25 October 2026.
Written and priced by the Ringo team. Prices change often; if you spot one that has moved, tell us through the contact page and we will update the table.
