Heymondo vs SafetyWing: Which Insurance is Better?
Heymondo and SafetyWing are two popular travel insurance options for digital nomads, but choosing between them can be tricky. Both offer unique benefits tailored to life on the road, but which one is the better fit for your needs?
Having used both ourselves, we’ll break it all down—coverage, costs, customer service, and how they actually perform in real-life situations like medical emergencies, lost luggage, or trip delays. By the end, you’ll know exactly which one’s the right pick for your travel.
What is Heymondo?
Heymondo is a travel insurance company that has been serving the travel community since 2017. They’ve simplified travel insurance by offering three products created for three very different trips:
- Single Trip: For a stand-alone international trip
- Annual Multi-Trip: A one-year policy that covers all your trips so long as they’re under 60 days (or 36 for US residents)
- Long Stays: For a minimum travel duration of 90 days outside of your home country (not available for US residents)
Heymondo’s calling card is simplified insurance to make travelers’s lives easy. They also have their own app to access 24/7 customer service.
What is SafetyWing?
If you’ve spent any amount of time considering digital nomad travel insurance, you certainly know about SafetyWing. They’re easily one of the most popular digital nomad insurance options. That's because SafetyWing’s products are aimed directly at digital nomads and remote workers who live their lives constantly on the go.
SafetyWing offers Nomad Insurance in two tiers: Nomad Essential, starting at $59.28/month and working on a monthly subscription, and Nomad Complete, which requires a 12-month commitment for $150.50/year.
Both tiers offer travel insurance coverage in 170+ countries that can be purchased after your trip has started and (best of all for us digital nomads) doesn’t require an end date for when you’re returning home.
Heymondo vs SafetyWing: What’s the Difference?
On the surface, Heymondo and SafetyWing seem pretty similar. After all, they’re both travel insurance providers aimed at digital nomads, right?
Well…kind of.
Their insurance products are actually pretty different. They don’t necessarily serve the same purpose, and while both are great options, one might be a better fit for you, depending on your situation. To simplify, we have created the below table, which highlights the main differences:
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Area | Global (US excluded) | Global |
| Cost/mo | $20.28+ Multi-Trip; $54+ Long Stay |
$59+ Essential; $150+ Complete |
| Coverage | $10M Multi-Trip; $2.5M Long Stay |
$250K Essential; 1.5M Complete |
| Age Limit | Up to 49 | Up to 69 Essential; Up to 64 Complete |
| Trip Length | 60 days max; 36 days max for US residents |
No limit |
| Cancel | Within 14-15 days | Anytime |
| Deductible | $250 | $0 |
| Belongings | Up to $2.5K Multi-trip; Up to $1.2k Long-stay |
$500/item; $3K max |
| Delay | To $1.5K | $100/d, up to 2 days |
| Support | ✅ | ✅ |
| Telehealth | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cancel | ✅ | Complete ✅ |
| Add-ons | Sports/Items | Sports/Items |
| Check-ups | ❌ | Complete ✅ |
| Pre-exist | ❌ | ❌ |
| Buy Away | ✅ | ✅ |
| Long-term | Long Stay ✅ | ✅ |
*Rates and coverage limits vary depending on residency and policy
Now, let's give it a bit of a deeper look and see how both stack with the most important aspects of travel insurance.
Medical Coverage
Heymondo has you covered when it comes to medical bills and even includes extended lodging due to illness and outpatient physiotherapy in their policies. On the other hand, although Safetywing's Nomad Essential might have lower coverage limits, the Nomad Complete tier impressively covers additional treatments like routine checkups, wellness therapies, and visits with psychologists.
Evacuation and Repatriation
Safetywing's Nomad Essential will cover you with a one-way ticket home for medical evacuation. There’s also a lifetime max of up to $10,000 if you need evacuation due to local unrest. At the same time, Heymondo not only covers the cost of emergency medical evacuation and repatriation of remains should the worst happen, but they also offer natural disaster evacuation on top of that, which is a great plus.
Travel Disruption
If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that travel disruptions are basically part of the experience sometimes. Heymondo's Annual Multi-Trip covers up to $1,500 for trip delays and $7,000 for cancellation, but Long Stay is less comprehensive. Both Nomad Essential and Complete, on the other hand, cover trip delays and the cost of a flight home due to a family member’s death.
Adventure Activities and Sports
Both Heymondo and SafetyWing offer add-ons to cover adventure activities like snowboarding and mountain climbing, which is great to see. Interestingly, though, it is covered by Heymondo’s Annual Multi-Trip Insurance for US residents only. This also comes at a higher cost, but at least extreme sports are included.
Personal Belongings
Safetywing's Nomad Essential covers lost checked luggage but you’ll have to update to Complete for stolen belongings insurance. Heymondo’s base plans do, however, include payouts for personal belongings that are lost or damaged due to theft.
Electronics coverage
When it comes to covering lost items like electronics, only Heymondo’s Annual Multi-Trip Insurance for US residents includes up to $1,000 for specialist items like cameras and other electronics that are lost, stolen, or damaged. Otherwise, you’ll need to add on electronics with the other plans. Safetywing's Nomad Essential also offers this as an add-on, and you are covered up to $3,000 per active insurance period, up to $1,000 per specific electronic items like laptops, cameras, lenses, smartphones, e-readers, music players, tablets, earphones, earplugs, iPads, AirPods and drones.
Pricing
This is where things get really interesting. Heymondo comes out cheaper at first glance, but remember there’s no monthly payment option. You’ll have to commit to a yearly or quarterly payment upfront. Additionally, Heymondo’s Long Stay insurance isn’t available for US residents and gets much more expensive if you want to include travel to the US in your policy. Safetywing's Nomad Essential is instead more flexible as it's billed monthly and can be cancelled anytime.
Flexibility
This is where SafetyWing really shines. Heymondo’s Annual Multi-Trip plan is only valid for nomads based in their home country and while you can technically go on as many trips as you want, they must be less than 60 days each (36 for US residents) and you have to return home between each one. Even the Long Stay option comes with stipulations like a minimum trip of 90 days and no coverage for US residents.
SafetyWing doesn’t have any of these limitations: you can purchase the plan mid-trip and travel to basically wherever, whenever you like, without ever needing to go home. They’re a true one-way ticket-only travel insurance provider.
Our Experience using Heymondo vs SafetyWing
Regardless of whether you’re a frequent traveler or a digital nomad like us, unexpected travel disasters could happen at any time, and no one really wants to deal with a surprise hospital bill or the cost of replacing lost luggage.
We’ve used both Heymondo and SafetyWing’s travel insurance in the past and here’s the thing: they’re both pretty good.
We love how straightforward SafetyWing is. They know the exact needs of a digital nomad and the Essential plan has you covered for the most common travel incidents. We have even written in real time about the experience our co-founder had after a nasty bike crash in Turkey. They also upgraded the experience with Nomad Insurance Complete, which now brings to the table an even better health insurance offering than just travel insurance.
Heymondo, on the other hand, has always been a relatively smooth experience from start to finish. We really like the app, especially with the 24/7 chat function and free emergency assistance calls. You also don’t need to pay upfront in a lot of scenarios, as Heymondo will make arrangements with medical centers and hospitals for you. This is something we really love.
What we didn’t love was the 72-hour grace period. Essentially, the policy doesn’t kick into action until three days after purchase, so although you can buy it mid-trip, you won’t actually be covered for another 72 hours. It felt like like we were walking on eggshells for those first few days!
Which is Best for You: Heymondo or SafetyWing?
This is obviously going to depend on you and your exact situation. If you’re looking for better coverage and don’t mind a slightly steeper price tag, we would recommend SafetyWing. They’re super clear from the get-go about what’s covered and, at the end of the day, we’re always going to love a digital nomad-first kind of company. They understand our unique lifestyle and don’t just accommodate it…they cater to it.
Heymondo is a little more affordable and a great option if top-tier customer service is your priority. The Long Stay policy is perfect for digital nomads traveling for over 90 days but not quite full-time (plus staying out of the US), and the Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance is particularly amazing for home-based remote workers who travel a lot.
Our Verdict
Here’s the TLDR: Heymondo is the cheaper option but lacks flexibility, whereas SafetyWing is more flexible and designed specifically for digital nomads.
Only you, at the end of the day, can know which travel insurance is right for your situation. That's why we recommend you get a quote from both Heymondo and SafetyWing before making any decisions. Just keep in mind what we shared in this guide.
Still not sure? We've compared the most popular travel insurance providers, so you can learn more about the differences and decide which one suits you best:
Ready to Pick The Most Suitable Travel Insurance To Get Extra Piece of Mind?
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