Best Insurance for Digital Nomads: SafetyWing vs. Genki (Updated 2025)12 min read

Are you a digital nomad, remote worker, or long-term traveler looking for insurance? We feel your pain.

In our experience, figuring out which insurance to get to protect us in case of unforeseen accidents or illness on the road is never easy.

That’s especially true for Americans because there aren’t many insurance companies that will also cover us when we visit home.

We’ve done A LOT of research about insurance companies recently, so we wanted to put together information about what we’ve learned to (hopefully) simplify the process for you in figuring out which insurance to get.

In this article, we’re sharing about two insurance companies that are geared toward digital nomads and travelers: Genki and SafetyWing.

Both companies offer time-limited coverage for US citizens traveling to the US, which we’ll also tell you more about toward the end of the article.

You can get a quote from SafetyWing and Genki with and without US coverage.
Get a SafetyWing Quote
Get a Genki Quote

Note: We have received several questions about getting travel insurance if you are over 69 years old. Our subscribers on YouTube mentioned the company Insure My Trip to find options for older travelers, so we wanted to share that with you.

If you’re more of a visual or auditory learner, we also made a video comparing SafetyWing and Genki.

Click the picture below to watch 👇 

*As a side note, if you like doing sports and adventure activities during your travels, then you might also want to check out World Nomads insurance options.

Please note that we are just sharing information about SafetyWing and Genki, we are not endorsing one over the other. We have used both.

And this is the first but certainly not the last time we’ll say this: Always make sure you read the fine print of your insurance policy. 

In this article, we’ll be comparing SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Essential and Genki Traveler insurance.

Let’s get into it!

About SafetyWing

SafetyWing was started in 2017 and is a travel medical insurance that was created by nomads for nomads. They offer subscription-based travel and medical insurance for nomads, freelancers, and remote workers who are working abroad.

You can purchase a policy even if your trip has already started, and pause and resume coverage with flexibility. You’re covered in 185 countries and you don’t need to let them know about your itinerary in advance.

SafetyWing is perfect for people like us who don’t always know where they’ll be next month!

Check out their website at SafetyWing.com.

About Genki

The word Genki means healthy, energetic, and full of spirit in Japanese. 

Genki was started in 2021 and offers travel health insurance designed specifically for nomads.

Their Genki Traveler plan is a flexible monthly subscription that covers every country in the world. It’s available to all citizens worldwide, even if they’re already traveling. You can sign up and cancel your policy online.

We like that Genki offers a longer coverage period for American citizens traveling to the US, which we’ll get into later in the article.

Check out their website at Genki.com.

Who is Covered?

SafetyWing

SafetyWing covers anyone from the age of 14 days old to 69 years old. SafteyWing currently has five age brackets and coverage, as you’d expect, gets more expensive the older you are.

Genki

Genki covers anyone from 0 to 69 years old. 

Length of Coverage

SafetyWing Coverage Length

SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Essential coverage auto-renews every 28 days up to 364 days, unless you manually cancel your coverage. After 364 days, your plan will no longer auto-renew and you will have to tell SafetyWing that you wish to continue your coverage.

We’ve got SafetyWing in 2021, and just before our first year of coverage ended, we contacted SafetyWing, and it was a very simple process to renew our coverage.

If you know how long your trip is going to be, SafetyWing also provides the option of purchasing coverage for a specific period of time.

Genki Coverage Length

Genki Traveler coverage is also a monthly subscription paid monthly and can be canceled at any time through the Genki website. If you choose to cancel, you will be covered until the end of the monthly cycle, so until your next payment would have been due. Genki Traveler coverage can last up to one year.

It’s important to note that if you cancel your subscription and then start a new one that any medical conditions that arose before your new subscription would be considered pre-existing conditions. 

Deductibles

SafetyWing Deductibles

SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Essential no longer has deductibles.

Genki Deductibles

Genki Traveler has a €50 deductible per insurance case. You pay the first €50 and the insurer pays the remainder.

For example, treatment for a dislocated shoulder in Bali costs €1,700. You pay €50 and your insurance reimburses the remaining €1,650.

There is no deductible for inpatient stays.

There is also an extra deductible of €250 for emergency room treatment in the USA. However, if the visit is medically necessary or results in an inpatient stay, then you do not need to pay the €250. 

Make sure you read the fine print to make sure you know exactly what is covered in case of emergency and what medical events count as emergencies.

Where is covered?

SafetyWing

SafetyWing covers travelers in every country in the world except for Iran, Syria, North Korea, Russia, Belarus, select regions of Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Crimea, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia), the US, and Cuba. You can choose to add on coverage for the US.

Genki

Genki covers travelers in every country around the world. You can choose to add coverage for the US.

There are exceptions for coverage in your home country for both companies, which we’ll explain more about later.

Adding on United States Coverage

SafetyWing US Coverage

If you are planning to visit the US during your trip, and the US is not your home country, then both Genki and SafetyWing allow you to pay extra to add on coverage for travel in the US. That’s right, visiting the land of the free makes your policy MORE expensive. 

I’m pretty sure that’s ironic, but I can’t be certain, I have an American education. 

Adding coverage in the US increases your monthly premium with both companies. 

With SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance, if you want to include US insurance, then you will have to add it on for the entire length of your policy. You cannot add it later. Another option is to cancel your current policy and start a new one in order to add US coverage. 

Genki US Coverage

With Genki Traveler insurance coverage in the US (for non-US citizens) is limited to the first 7 days and 6 weeks (if the US is your home country) of each stay. Coverage is only for medical emergencies.

It is possible to upgrade to full coverage (6 weeks) in the US for a higher monthly price. You can change your coverage on a monthly basis, so you can add on US insurance just for the month(s) you will be traveling there so you don’t need to pay for the extra coverage for the months you aren’t traveling in the US.

You can get a quote to see the exact cost of adding on coverage for the US from both companies.

Get a SafetyWing Quote with US coverage

Get a Genki Quote with US coverage

What is covered?

Both Genki and SafetyWing offer coverage for medical affairs. Things like inpatient and outpatient emergency treatment, ambulance rides, medical evacuation, and repatriation. Again, make sure you read the fine print.

SafetyWing

SafetyWing’s Nomad insurance Essential cover up to $250,000 of medical expenses. 

Genki

Genki Traveler has a €1,000,000 total coverage limit. Repatriation to your home country for local healthcare coverage to take over is the intended path in the rare case of significant long-term costs.

Dental Coverage

You are covered for dental emergencies by both companies. 

SafetyWing Dental Coverage

Safetywing covers emergency dental care up to $1,000.

Genki Dental Coverage

Genki Traveler will cover you for emergency dental treatment. If needed as a result of an accident, you are covered for basic dental care up to €1,000 per insurance case.

Sports and Adventure Activities

SafetyWing

SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Essential covers most basic sports activities. If you plan to do more adventurous activities, you can check out the Adventure Sports add-on for additional coverage.

Genki

Genki Traveler covers you for most sports, however there are some that aren’t covered such as diving, motorcycle racing, and bungee jumping.

As always, check out each company’s full policy to see what is and isn’t covered.

If you’re into doing more adventurous activities during your travels, then you might want to check out World Nomads which offers more coverage for sports activities.

What is NOT Covered?

Insurance coverage only goes so far. SafetyWing and Genki both include explanations of the instances in which your insurance policy will not cover you depending on the circumstances of the injury, making it very important that you read the fine print. 

There is specific language that stipulates you are not covered for any injury or medical emergency that occurs while you’re drunk or on not-medically-prescribed medications. So make sure to party responsibly. 

Pre-existing conditions are not covered, though it is important to understand the full meaning of what constitutes a pre-existing condition which you can find in the fine print of your policy. 

SafetyWing and Pre-existing Conditions

SafetyWing’s definition of a pre-existing condition is any medical condition you may have had at any time before signing up for their coverage.

Genki and Pre-existing Conditions

Genki defines a pre-existing condition as any medical situation that occurs within the six months before your policy begins.

Waiting Period

SafetyWing

With SafetyWing’s Nomad insurance Essential there isn’t a waiting period and your policy can become effective immediately after purchase as long as you’re outside your home country and you choose the purchase date as your start date.

Genki

Genki Traveler has a waiting period of 14 days. This means that when you sign up for coverage the first 14 days of cover are restricted to accidents and life-threatening emergencies.

There’s no waiting period if you have healthcare cover elsewhere until your cover with Genki begins.

If you are still in your home country, your coverage can only begin once you leave.

Visiting your home country

SafetyWing

If you are traveling to your home country and are not American, SafetyWing will cover you for 30 days for every three months (90 days) of continuous coverage.

Genki

Genki Traveler insurance gives you 42 days of coverage in a 180 day period in your home country, regardless of your nationality, and only includes medical emergencies. When you sign up, you must state your home country. It must be a country where you are a citizen or a resident.

Note that you have to leave your home country at least once (or already be out) for this cover to start.

Both companies offer coverage for unforeseen medical emergencies. Take note that if you travel to your home country for the purpose of seeking medical treatment, you may lose your coverage.

US Citizens Visiting the US

This section is very specific to Americans, so if you’re not American, this is your chance to laugh and then recoil in horror at American hubris. 

Jen and I are from the US, and most of our immediate relatives still reside in the home of the brave. Whenever we make plans to visit our families, the most difficult part of the process, every single time, is what are we going to do about medical insurance? 

We’ve brought health insurance products for our visits to the States that, in retrospect, would not have covered us at all, even in the event of an emergency. Of course, we didn’t realize that at the time. Insurance can be very confusing!

We were extremely lucky that nothing bad happened to us while we were in the USA on those visits or we would have been SCREWED.

Luckily, both Genki and SafetyWing provide time-limited coverage to Americans visiting the USA.

SafetyWing Coverage for US Passport Holders Visiting the US

SafetyWing provides cover for up to a maximum of 15 days in a three-month period.

This part of the policy is one that we’ve had to use. In April of 2022, my grandma passed away. That meant we needed to make an unexpected trip back to the US.

We were covered by SafetyWing at that time, so we were able to fly back to the States with 24 hours’ notice, attend the funeral, and stayed in the US for 13 days to see our friends and families before flying back to Europe.

Genki Coverage for US Passport Holders Visiting the US 

Genki will cover Americans in the USA for up to six weeks in a 180-day period.

We hope this article gave you some insight into your insurance options as a digital nomad or full-time traveler and what you are looking for in your insurance policy.

You can get a quote from SafetyWing and Genki with and without US coverage.

Get a SafetyWing Quote

Get a Genki Quote

More Comprehensive Medical Care for Nomads

If you’re looking for additional medical coverage that goes beyond what we’ve covered here, great news!

Both SafetyWing and Genki now offer more comprehensive medical care options through their products SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Complete and Genki Native.

Want more info about the digital nomad lifestyle? Check out our Youtube channel.