Airalo vs. Maya Mobile (2026 review)

Fair, consistent metered pricing, with nothing extra bundled.

Airalo’s 1GB, seven-day plan lands around $4.50, and its prices are steady across destinations. There are no surprises, but there’s also nothing bundled: no number, no cashback of note. Its Airmoney credit is thin, so the value is the data itself, priced fairly.

Flexible metered and unlimited options, nothing bundled to sweeten it.

Maya’s metered plans start around $5 and its 5-day unlimited runs about $19, with the flexibility to pick either. What’s missing is bundled value, no number, no cashback, no calling credit, so you pay purely for data, priced fairly but without extras.

The biggest network in the category, and the deepest track record.

Airalo’s reach and maturity are its strongest cards: 200+ destinations, years of operational history, and local plans in places newer providers skip. It doesn’t disclose the carrier before purchase and has no European sub-zones, but on raw breadth and reliability at scale it leads.

Roughly 200 destinations on land, plus the rare trick of working at sea.

Maya’s land coverage is competitive, and its cruise-line support across 20+ lines is a genuine differentiator no mainstream rival matches. It doesn’t disclose the carrier before purchase and lacks European sub-zones, but the maritime niche is its own outright.

Ten million-plus installs and one of the deepest review bases.

Airalo carries 4.6 on the App Store from 33,793 ratings and 4.35 on Google Play across 182,713 reviews, on more than 10 million installs, with 4.1 on Trustpilot. The volume alone signals trust; criticism centres on data-only plans and peak-season support waits.

A decent average, but a footprint that’s hard to pin down.

Maya sits around 4.5 on Trustpilot, but the review count varies widely by source, from roughly 2,600 to 12,700, and being app-free means no App Store or Google Play base to cross-check. The signal is softer and harder to verify than the field’s.

A mature app, but strictly data-only, with no number or calculator.

What Airalo does, it does cleanly, but the feature set stops at data. There’s no phone number, no calling credit, no data calculator, and no security tools. The appeal is reliability and choice at scale rather than bundled extras, which simply aren’t part of the product.

Cruise coverage and an app-free install, but a data-only core.

Maya’s distinctive features, working at sea and installing with no app, are real and useful for the right traveller. But the core is data-only: no phone number, no data calculator, no security tools, so outside its niche the feature set is standard.

Available on most plans, with no separate add-on.

Airalo permits tethering on most of its plans without an add-on, which covers the majority of trips. The gap is consistency: it isn’t guaranteed across the entire catalogue, so a specific plan is worth checking, but for most travellers hotspot works as expected.

Supported where available, with an unlimited throttle.

Maya allows tethering where its plans support it, which covers many trips but isn’t a blanket promise, and unlimited plans throttle after a daily threshold that tethered devices feel first. It’s serviceable rather than a standout, and worth checking per plan.

Airmoney credit and referrals, but a thin everyday return.

Airalo’s Airmoney and refer-a-friend credits exist, but the everyday return is modest next to a flat percentage. For an occasional traveller little accrues; the rewards are a small bonus on top of the core product rather than a reason to choose it.

No consumer rewards program, only an affiliate scheme.

Maya runs no consumer loyalty or referral program; its incentives sit in an affiliate arrangement that doesn’t benefit the traveller directly. Nothing accrues on what you spend, which is a clear gap against rivals that return credit on every purchase.

24/7 chat and WhatsApp at real scale, with peak-season waits.

Airalo staffs support around the clock across chat and WhatsApp, and at its scale the help centre is thorough. Reviewers do report slower responses in peak season, and live help sits inside the app, but the operation is broad and generally reliable.

24/7 across WhatsApp, email and phone, plus a money-back guarantee.

Maya staffs support around the clock across multiple channels, including a phone line few rivals offer, and backs plans with a 100% money-back guarantee. For a nervous first-timer or a high-stakes trip, that reassurance is real, and one of the strongest here.

A polished, well-worn app that does what a scaled product should.

Years of iteration show: Airalo’s app is fast, familiar and reliable, with smooth install and top-up flows and a compatibility check. It’s one of the most refined experiences in the category, and a big part of why the brand is the default choice for many.

App-free is clever, but it means fewer tools to manage a plan.

Installing from a QR code with nothing to download is genuinely low-friction, and some travellers love it. The flip side is no app for usage tracking, top-ups or plan management, so mid-trip changes are clunkier than on a full-featured competitor app.