SafetyWing vs. Genki (2025): Full Comparison of Nomad Health Insurance

Genki and SafetyWing are two of the most popular travel health insurance plans for digital nomads. But which one is the best fit for your own personal travel needs?

In this article, we break down the key differences between SafetyWing and Genki for 2025. Our analysis covers factors like price, coverage, customer service, and add-ons, so you can make an informed decision on travel health insurance. 

📋Summary: SafetyWing vs. Genki

💰Price

Both SafetyWing and Genki offer several different tiers of travel health insurance, with varying levels of coverage. This section breaks down and compares monthly premiums based on age. 

Budget plan

SafetyWing and Genki are known for affordable monthly premiums on their budget policies. Unlike some competitors, both Genki and SafetyWing offer the same price for all countries. Payment terms are flexible, and you cancel these plans anytime. However, prices for both providers differ by age range. 

• The Essential plan is SafetyWing’s budget travel health insurance offering. There is no cost for children under 10, with up to two children per insured adult. The Essential plan is available up to age 69. There is no deductible.
• The Traveler plan is Genki’s entry-level travel health insurance policy. Applicants are eligible up to age 69. A $55 deductible applies to all claims.

Age range	Genki price	SafetyWing price
0 – 9	$60	$0
10 – 39	$71	$56
40 – 49	$91	$92
50 – 59	$125	$145
60 – 69	$191	$197

Premium plan

SafetyWing and Genki both offer an additional, more comprehensive tier of travel health insurance. Travelers must commit to these policies for a full year. Like the budget plans, prices only vary based on your age:

• The Complete plan is SafetyWing’s global health insurance policy. Although it costs more than basic travel health insurance, you’re covered for a much broader range of scenarios. There is no deductible.
• The Native Basic plan is Genki’s second-tier plan. Although it costs more than basic travel health insurance, your coverage is much greater. Adding a deductible is optional if you want to lower your monthly premiums.

Age range	Genki price	SafetyWing price
0 – 17	$182	$107
18 – 19	$182	$162
20 – 34	$204	$162
35 – 39	$227	$162
40 – 44	$261	$233
45 – 49	$329	$233
50 – 54	$420	$352
55	$545	$352
56 – 59	N/A	$352
60 – 69	N/A	$633

🏆Winner: SafetyWing 

When it comes to price alone, SafetyWing is the winner in most scenarios. The budget Essential plan is significantly cheaper than Genki’s Traveler plan up to age 39, plus 2-4 children are insured for free up to age 9. The premium Complete plan is also less expensive than Genki’s Native policy for all ages. 

Note that in some age groups, Genki comes out ahead on price for the budget plan. For ages 50-59, Genki is a full $20 a month cheaper. The two companies are virtually tied for the 40-49 category, and Genki is $6 a month below SafetyWing for the 60-69 age bracket. 

⚕️Coverage

SafetyWing and Genki’s budget travel insurance plans look pretty similar in terms of coverage. Both policies are designed primarily to cover unexpected accidents and emergencies. The two premium plans also offer expanded coverage for things like preventative care, chronic conditions, and mental health treatment. 

That said, there are some big differences in several key categories: 

• Sports & activities: When it comes to coverage for injuries related to sports (e.g. soccer, football, swimming) or adventure activities (motorcycling, climbing), Genki’s entry-level Traveler plan is remarkably generous in terms of coverage. The company will cover almost everything. SafetyWing, on the other hand, only covers a limited number of activities on its Essential plan. Full sports/activities coverage is only available as an add-on, or as part of the Complete plan. 
• Coverage limit: SafetyWing’s budget plan will pay out a maximum of $250,000, which is low compared with Genki’s $1.1 million ceiling. 
• Vision/Dental: SafetyWing’s Complete plan doesn’t cover routine expenses for dental and vision care. Genki’s Native Premium plan, however, will cover a limited amount of vision and dental expenses per year. 
• Travel disruption: SafetyWing’s plans include some benefits for disruptive events like flight delays and lost luggage. Genki, on the other hand, only covers medical-related expenses.  

🏆Winner: Genki

When it comes to medical expenses, Genki offers greater coverage overall for both plans. Its entry-level Traveler plan offers total peace of mind for common nomad activities like surfing, hiking, and scooter-riding for no additional fee. SafetyWing offers sports coverage for an additional $10 a month, although this fee largely erases the company’s price advantage. 

Moreover, the Genki Native Premium plan covers some expenses for dental care, vision care, and pre-existing conditions, which are not covered by any of SafetyWing’s offerings. 

SafetyWing, however, does hold an advantage in travel disruption coverage. The Essential plan offers reimbursement for trip interruption (up to $5,000), travel delay ($100/day for two days), and lost luggage (up to $500). Additionally, the Complete plan offers a $150 benefit for delayed luggage, and $500 per item for stolen belongings. 

📝Support/Claims

With any luck, you won’t ever need to file a travel health insurance claim. But if you do, then your insurer’s customer service and ease of filing suddenly becomes extremely important. Consider how Genki and SafetyWing handle the claims process before you commit. 

Filing a claim with SafetyWing

SafetyWing maintains highly specific procedures for filing a claim. During our research, we found that many customers complained of excessive paperwork requirements and claims denied on small paperwork technicalities. On a more positive note, many customers like that SafetyWing’s website and app smooth the process for filing a claim. 

In order to make a claim, the company requires the following information:

• Completed claim form
• Itemized bills from the medical provider
• A recent medical history 
• Copy of medical prescription for pharmacy expenses
• All information related to accidents, including police reports
• Primary or secondary insurance information

Claims for the Essential plan must be submitted within 60 days, while claims for the Essential plan can be submitted within 180 days. 

Filing a claim with Genki

Genki also maintains a certain filing procedure, but its process is a bit looser. The terms and conditions only specify the following process:

• For inpatient stays, Genki handles payments directly with the hospital. All other treatments require pre-approval at least five days in advance, and you must pay the covered costs yourself before seeking reimbursement. 
• Use the Member Center to begin the process of filing a claim. Submit complete, accurate, and truthful information. Attach detailed invoices (date, provider, services, amounts) and provide additional documents if requested.
• In some cases, the company may require access to records and exams by an insurer-appointed doctor (at insurer’s cost).

Genki doesn’t state an explicit filing deadline, only that you should submit reimbursement requests “as soon as possible.” 

🏆Winner: Genki

A comparison of the two insurers’ claims procedures shows that Genki boasts an easier process. The company requires fewer documents than SafetyWing and maintains a more flexible timeline. Moreover, we found that many customers complain of SafetyWing’s excessive paperwork requirements; we found few such complaints about Genki. 

💡Tip: Check out our full SafetyWing review and Genki insurance review for unbiased overviews of both providers.

🗣️Customer reviews

Before committing to a digital nomad health insurance policy, it’s critical to read customer testimonials. We reviewed a wide range of customer feedback posted across sites like Trustpilot and Reddit. 

SafetyWing reviews

SafetyWing currently maintains a 4 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot. 73% of customers award the company 5 stars, while 18% of reviewers leave a 1-star review. Although the company has become a magnet for negative feedback on forums such as Reddit, this score is actually in line with most other nomad health insurance providers. 

✅Positives – Customers generally report fast response and payout times. Many users praise the easy signup process and user-friendly mobile app. The low monthly premiums are also a major selling point. 

❌Negatives – One common complaint about SafetyWing is excessive documentation requirements for claims. SafetyWing also receives more complaints about denied claims than other insurers. One common refrain involves classifying many medical claims as pre-existing conditions, which aren’t covered under any of SafetyWing’s plans. 

Genki reviews

Genki currently maintains a 4.1 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot. 79% of customers award the company 5 stars, while 13% of reviewers leave a 1-star review. 

✅Positives – Many users praise Genki’s customer support and fast processing times for claims. Customers also like the easy signup process and easy-to-understand terms and conditions. 

❌Negatives – Genki requires all applicants to fill out a medical history questionnaire during the application process. The company is known to reject applicants for minor pre-existing conditions. Many reviewers also note that Genki charges higher premiums than other travel insurance providers. 

🏆Winner: Genki

Genki boasts a better Trustpilot score than SafetyWing, although not by a large margin. The company also attracts less criticism than SafetyWing on forums like Reddit, although that may be due to the latter’s greater brand recognition. 

➕Add-ons

Many digital nomad health insurance companies offer optional add-ons to their core services. Be sure to account for the cost/benefit of any additional insurance needs before you commit to a policy. 

SafetyWing add-ons

SafetyWing offers a number of add-on insurance policies for an additional monthly fee. 

Adventure sports ($10/mo.)

This supplemental policy for the Essential plan covers high-risk activities such as motorbiking, kite-surfing, parachuting, paragliding, skydiving, scuba diving, American football, mountaineering, and others. (Note that all of these adventure sports are fully covered in the Complete plan.)

U.S. coverage ($48/mo.)

SafetyWing normally offers just 30 days a year of medical coverage while traveling in the U.S. and its territories, but this supplemental policy expands coverage for the full year. Unfortunately, the U.S. coverage add-on is not available to U.S. citizens and residents.

Theft ($10/mo.)

The theft add-on covers personal electronics like laptops, tablets and cameras for up to $1,000 per stolen item, with an annual limit of $3,000 per policy. You must present proof of ownership, such as a sales receipt, for the items you wish you cover.

Genki add-ons

Genki Traveler subscribers are limited to 7 days of coverage in the U.S. and Canada, and that coverage only includes emergencies. A “full coverage” add-on eliminates that 7-day limit for an additional monthly fee. The cost of the add-on  varies by age, and would come out to $68 for a 35 year-old traveler. 

🏆Winner: SafetyWing

SafetyWing offers an inexpensive sports/activities add-on that, if purchased, helps close the coverage gap with Genki. The electronics coverage add-on could also come in handy for countries where petty theft remains an issue. 

Although Genki’s U.S. coverage add-on is more expensive than SafetyWing, note that it doesn’t exclude U.S. citizens and residents. 

🏆Final verdict on SafetyWing vs. Genki

As we can see, no single digital nomad health insurance company is the ‘best’ for every use case. There are pros and cons to both SafetyWing and Genki. That said, we can make a few generalized recommendations based on your needs. 

You should use SafetyWing if…

• Low price is your priority. (Maybe you just want a basic policy to satisfy digital nomad visa requirements.) 
• You want coverage for things like travel disruption, theft, and lost luggage, in addition to travel health insurance. 

You should use Genki if…

• You want maximum coverage, even if it means you pay a little more. 
• Customer service and successful claims are a priority for you.