Best reviewed, least transparent
Saily in Costa Rica
The NordVPN team runs the most trusted eSIM brand on this site. In Costa Rica it is also the only one that will not tell you whose towers you are renting.
The Saily Costa Rica plans
USD, checked 2026
| Plan | Price | Per GB | What beats it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB / 7 days | $7.99 | $7.99 | Yesim $5.16 for 30 days |
| 3GB / 30 days | $18.99 | $6.33 | Yesim $9.36 |
| 5GB / 30 days | $26.99 | $5.40 | GigSky $21.99, Yesim $15.60 |
| 10GB / 30 days | $36.99 | $3.70 | Airalo $34.00, Yesim $25.20 |
| 20GB / 30 days | $47.99 | $2.40 | Airalo $40.50, Yesim $37.80 |
| Unlimited / 5 days | $27.99 | — | GigSky Unlimited 3 days $14.49, 7 days $26.49 |
| Unlimited / 7 days | $34.99 | — | GigSky $26.49 (3.5GB/day) |
| Unlimited / 10 days | $37.99 | — | GigSky 15 days $36.49 |
| Unlimited / 15 days | $48.99 | — | GigSky $36.49 |
| Unlimited / 20 days | $62.99 | — | GigSky 30 days $69.49 |
| Unlimited / 25 days | $71.99 | — | GigSky 30 days $69.49 |
| Unlimited / 30 days | $88.99 | — | GigSky $69.49; Airalo $89.00 |
Saily Unlimited in Costa Rica is 3GB a day at full speed, not the 5GB Saily gives in most countries, then up to 1 Mbps for the rest of the day; the cap resets at midnight local time. Hotspot is allowed with no limit stated. Every unlimited cap compared.
There is no way to soften that fourth column. In Costa Rica, Saily is beaten on price at every single size, usually by both Airalo and Yesim. In Greece the same brand is a bargain; here the local wholesale deal clearly costs it more. Anyone who tells you Saily is the cheapest Costa Rica eSIM has copied a price list from another country.
Saily will not name its Costa Rican network
and that matters here
Airalo (Liberty), Yesim (Claro and Telefónica) and Holafly (Claro and Liberty) name their Costa Rica networks on their own pages. Saily names none: its Costa Rica page, technical details, FAQ and terms say only local partner networks, and the terms reserve Saily's right to select network operators, checked 2026.
In a country with one national network you could shrug at that. Costa Rica has three, they diverge sharply outside the Central Valley, and choosing between them is the single most consequential decision a traveler makes here. Not being able to check which one you are buying is a real disadvantage, not a pedantic one.
To be fair to Saily: it may well sit on Claro or Liberty like most of the brands that do name a network. It may not: Sim Local's Costa Rica plans name Kölbi ICE, so a travel eSIM on Kölbi is possible. We are not going to guess when the company itself will not say. Why the Kölbi gap matters is here.
Saily against the other four
what the premium buys
| Saily | Airalo | Yesim | GigSky | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10GB / 30 days | $36.99 | $34.00 | $25.20 | $39.99 |
| 20GB / 30 days | $47.99 | $40.50 | $37.80 | none |
| Trustpilot | 4.7 · 32,870 | 4.2 · 48,959 | 4.3 · 2,996 | 4.3 · 8,403 |
| Names its network | no | yes, Liberty | yes, Claro + Telefónica | Claro + Liberty |
| Unlimited for Costa Rica | 3GB/day, then 1 Mbps; $34.99 / 7 days | 3GB/day; $36.50 / 7 days | no cap published | 3.5GB/day; $26.49 / 7 days |
| Refund process | works, documented | works | reports are mixed | works |
| Latin America regional plan | yes | yes, Latamlink | yes | yes |
One column is Saily's and it is a strong one. If you have ever had a travel eSIM fail on a Sunday and discovered that support is a chatbot, the 4.7 score is not an abstraction. The question is whether it is worth $11.79 over Yesim and $2.99 over Airalo on a 10GB plan, on a trip where you also cannot look up the network. For most Costa Rica routes we think it is not, and we say so.
Why people pay the Saily premium anyway
and when they are right
Support that answers. Nord Security runs this the way it runs NordVPN: real refunds, real humans, a process with a paper trail. Across 32,870 reviews the 4.7 average is the highest of the brands we link by a distance, and it is earned rather than farmed.
One account for a multi-country year. If Costa Rica is one stop on a longer Latin America run, Saily's regional bundles let you keep a single app and a single billing relationship. The multi-country page compares that against buying two local plans.
Where it loses, plainly. Beaten on price at every size for Costa Rica. An unlimited plan whose duration and cap we could not confirm. No published network. If your trip is a straightforward two weeks in Costa Rica, those three lines add up to a clear no, and Airalo does the same job for less.
Buying and activating Saily
the short version
- Buy on the Saily site or app at home on wifi. Both track the same for us and the price is identical.
- Install the profile early and leave the line switched off. Validity starts on first connection in Costa Rica, not at purchase.
- On landing: Saily line on for data, home line on for calls with its data roaming off.
- If it does not attach, try manual network selection and work through the operators the phone offers. Since Saily does not publish its partners, you are testing rather than choosing. Full setup guide.
Buy it or skip it
the honest split
Buy Saily if
Support quality outranks price for you, and 4.7 from 32,870 reviews is what you want behind a plan you depend on.
Costa Rica is one leg of a longer Latin America trip and you want one app for all of it.
You have used Saily elsewhere, it worked, and familiarity is worth $3. That is a real reason.
Skip Saily if
You want to know your network: Airalo names Liberty and costs less.
You want the cheapest unlimited: GigSky Unlimited is $26.49 for 7 days against Saily's $34.99, with 3.5GB a day against 3GB.
Price matters at all: it loses every size row, sometimes by twelve dollars.
Questions
on Saily in Costa Rica
Which network does Saily use in Costa Rica?
Local partner networks, not disclosed by Saily: its Costa Rica page, FAQ and terms name no operator, checked 2026. It may be Claro or Liberty like most brands here, but Sim Local shows a travel eSIM can name Kölbi, so we will not guess.
Does Saily have an unlimited plan for Costa Rica?
Yes: $27.99 for 5 days, $34.99 for 7, $48.99 for 15 and $88.99 for 30, checked 2026. In Costa Rica the cap is 3GB a day at full speed, then up to 1 Mbps until midnight local time. GigSky Unlimited is cheaper at every length; the unlimited page compares them all.
Is Saily worth more than Airalo in Costa Rica?
For most trips, no. Airalo is $2.99 cheaper on 10GB, $7.49 cheaper on 20GB, and names its network. Saily wins on Trustpilot score and on refund track record, which matters if you are the kind of traveler who wants a company to answer the phone.
When does a Saily plan start counting?
On first connection to a network in Costa Rica, not at purchase. Install at home and land connected.
Can I hotspot on Saily?
Yes, on all its Costa Rica plans, unlimited included, with no hotspot limit stated. Tethered data counts toward the same allowance or daily cap.
Does Saily work in the Osa Peninsula and Tortuguero?
Assume not. Those regions lean on Kölbi, and Saily does not say whether it reaches Kölbi. This is exactly where the unpublished-network issue bites: with Airalo you can at least check a Liberty map beforehand. What to do instead.
Saily Costa Rica · 10GB · $36.99
The best support record of the brands we link, 4.7 from 32,870 reviews, on a network the company will not name. Both halves are the review.
See Saily's Costa Rica plansSources & freshness: Saily prices, unlimited caps, the 1 Mbps fallback and hotspot rule checked 2026 on Saily's own Costa Rica page, in USD, no discount running. Network disclosure and the midnight reset from Saily's terms and support center, 2026. Rival prices re-checked 2026. Trustpilot score from trustpilot.com, 2026. Compare all five: best eSIM for Costa Rica.