NavoyNostos

Hoi An vs Malé

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Hoi An edges it, 56 to 55, winning 3 of the 9 factors. Hoi An is stronger on internet; Malé on getting there & around. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 7.1 of 56 points (scores 64/100)Safety: 7.5 of 56 points (scores 68/100)Healthcare: 7.4 of 56 points (scores 67/100)Internet: 6.8 of 56 points (scores 62/100)Visa ease: 3.9 of 56 points (scores 35/100)Getting there & around: 5.6 of 56 points (scores 51/100)Climate: 1.9 of 56 points (scores 17/100)Air quality: 9.0 of 56 points (scores 81/100)Quality of life: 6.5 of 56 points (scores 58/100)56
Hoi An
out of 100

Lantern-lit old town with a beach and a slower Vietnam

Full Hoi An profile →Where to stay in Hoi An →
Safety: 9.4 of 55 points (scores 75/100)Healthcare: 8.6 of 55 points (scores 69/100)Internet: 4.3 of 55 points (scores 35/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 55 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 8.1 of 55 points (scores 65/100)Climate: 2.1 of 55 points (scores 17/100)Air quality: 10.7 of 55 points (scores 85/100)Quality of life: 7.2 of 55 points (scores 58/100)55
Malé
out of 100

Densely packed island capital, a stopover rather than a beach

Full Malé profile →Hotels in the Maldives →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricHoi AnMalé
Cost of living64no data
Safety6875 ✓
Healthcare6769 ✓
Internet62 ✓35
Visa ease35 ✓34
Getting there & around5165 ✓
Climate1717
Air quality8185 ✓
Quality of life58 ✓58

Cost

MetricHoi AnMalé
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$900no data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricHoi AnMalé
Homicides per 100k1.90.62 ✓
Political stability (0–100)67.7 ✓67
UHC service coverage (0–100)7171
Life expectancy73.8 yrs75.4 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricHoi AnMalé
Download20.4 Mbps ✓4.9 Mbps
Upload20.4 Mbps ✓4.5 Mbps

Visa

MetricHoi AnMalé
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporte-visa requiredvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, EU passport45 days ✓visa on arrival
Entry, UK passport45 days ✓visa on arrival

Getting there and around

MetricHoi AnMalé
Non-stop airport destinations3656 ✓
Walkability (1–5, editorial)45 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)12 ✓

Climate and air

MetricHoi AnMalé
Comfortable months per year22
Annual mean PM2.513.4 µg/m³11.6 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Hoi An or Malé?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Hoi An or Malé safer?
Malé scores higher on safety (75 vs 68), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Hoi An or Malé?
Hoi An: a measured median of 20.4 Mbps versus 4.9 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.