How Penang and Da Nang compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
The short answer
Penang Doesn't win on any measure here. See who it suits, below.
Da Nang Doesn't win on any measure here. See who it suits, below.
Everyday costsEven
Close: it depends more on where you live than which city. Rent, a coworking desk, weekday lunches and getting around come to $439 to $1,290 (£330 to £968) a month in Penang, against $382 to $800 (£287 to £601) in Da Nang.
The visaEven
Vietnam has no remote work visa, so the choice is about more than income. Penang: DE Rantau Nomad Pass, about $2,000 to $5,000 a month (USD 24,000 a year, depending on the job). Da Nang: no remote work visa.
A London 9 to 5Even
A late finish in both: 16:00 to 00:00 in Penang, 15:00 to 23:00 in Da Nang.
A New York 9 to 5Even
A night shift in both: 21:00 to 05:00 in Penang, 20:00 to 04:00 in Da Nang.
SafetyEven
The US State Department puts both countries at level 1. Watch for motorbike bag snatchers in Penang; motorbike bag-snatching and floods in Da Nang.
Side by side
Measure
Penang
Da Nang
Country
Malaysia
Vietnam
Language
Malay
Vietnamese
Currency
Malaysian ringgit (MYR, written RM)
Vietnamese dong (VND)
Plugs
Type G, 230V
Type A, B and C, 230V. Most sockets take A and C
Time zone
UTC+8 today
UTC+7 today
A month's basics
$439 to $1,290 (£330 to £968)
$382 to $800 (£287 to £601)
Remote work visa
DE Rantau Nomad Pass
None
Income needed
About $2,000 to $5,000 a month (USD 24,000 a year, depending on the job)
No remote work visa
Without a visa
British and American passports: 90 days
British passports: 45 days visa-free, any purpose, until 14 March 2028. The e-visa gives up to 90 days. American: none: you need a visa or the e-visa, up to 90 days. The one exception is 30 days or less on Phu Quoc island
Tax residency
182 days or more in a calendar year. Work done there is taxable after 60 days
183 days or more in a calendar year or in the 12 months from arrival, or a rented home on a fixed-term lease
Download speed
—
307 Mbps
Comfortable months
—
January, February, March and April
US travel advice
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 1: normal precautions
Meetups
None we could confirm
None we could confirm
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
What a month costs
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
Penang
$439 to $1,290£330 to £968 a month
Rent
$318 to $1,100Asking rent for a two-bed, Tanjung Bungah up to George Town and Gurney. No one-bed figure was found, and furnishing is not stated. MYR 1,300 to 4,500
A desk
$73 to $78Coworking hot desk, @CAT and Settlements, from secondary sources. MYR 300 to 320
Weekday lunches
$32 to $65Char koay teow or nasi kandar from a hawker stall, MYR 6 to 12 each, 22 working days
Getting around
$15 to $43Rapid Penang bus at RM 1.40 to 4.00 a ride (our arithmetic: two rides each working day, 22 working days). The Pas Mutiara pass (RM 10, then free) appears to need a Malaysian ID, according to one travel blog. MYR 61.60 to 176
British passports: 45 days visa-free, any purpose, until 14 March 2028. The e-visa gives up to 90 days. American: none: you need a visa or the e-visa, up to 90 days. The one exception is 30 days or less on Phu Quoc island
The catch. There is no remote work visa. Most people use the e-visa: up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, USD 25 or USD 50, with no income test. No official text says you may work on it, and the UK government says to check which visa or work permit you need, so treat remote work on it as unauthorised. It leads to neither residence nor citizenship. The e-visa ties you to the entry and exit ports you named when applying, and you can't extend it from inside Vietnam without a Vietnamese sponsor. So every 90 days you leave and apply again.
See where your own income stands in every country. Check your income
Keeping your working hours
A 9am to 5pm day in the employer's city, shown in local time, for today's date, so it allows for the clocks changing.
The UK advises against travel to no part of Vietnam, and Da Nang isn't singled out. It warns of seasonal flooding in central Vietnam in October and November.
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
Who each one suits
From each city guide, word for word.
Penang
It suits
Tech freelancers and remote employees earning USD 24,000 a year or more who want the DE Rantau pass without the size of Kuala Lumpur. It suits someone who wants to live in or near George Town's heritage core, eat at hawker stalls most days, work from a coworking desk at about RM 300 a month, and get around by Rapid Penang bus and Grab. Someone who is happy to build their own social life will be fine.
It doesn't suit
Anyone who needs a rail network: the Mutiara Line LRT is not due until the end of 2031, and the Pas Mutiara bus pass (RM 10, then free) appears to need a Malaysian ID card, according to one travel blog. Anyone wanting the cheapest rents without a car, because Bayan Lepas, the cheapest area here, effectively needs one and its expressway jams at peak hours. Anyone who wants a nomad scene handed to them: we found no meetup with activity since February 2024, and Kuala Lumpur has several weekly ones. Anyone who minds paying more as a foreigner: Penang Hill charges RM 40 against RM 16 for locals. And anyone hoping to dodge the rain: it arrives twice a year, April to May and October to November.
Remote workers who want a beach city with real desks and fast broadband, on a modest budget: a furnished one-bed in the main areas runs about VND 6 to 14 million a month, and a coworking desk VND 2 to 3.5 million. It suits someone happy on a 90-day e-visa who will leave the country every three months. British passports also get 45 days visa-free for a trial. February to August is the window.
It doesn't suit
Anyone who needs to be legal on paper. There is no remote work visa, no route from the e-visa to residence, and no clear official blessing for working for foreign clients while you are there. Anyone who wants to stay put for a year, because the e-visa makes you leave every 90 days and apply again. Stay 183 days and you become tax resident, with no special regime to soften it. From September to November the city takes 350 to 630mm of rain a month, with typhoons and floods. Americans need a visa before they fly. And if you won't ride in Grab traffic, won't learn a few words of Vietnamese for your landlord, or need a predictable legal status, go somewhere else.
