Ho Chi Minh City vs Kuala Lumpur for remote workers
How Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur 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
Ho Chi Minh City Pick it for more comfortable months.
Kuala Lumpur Doesn't win on any measure here. See who it suits, below.
Everyday costsEven
What we have checked of rent, a coworking desk, weekday lunches and getting around comes to $629 to $1,620 (£472 to £1,220) a month in Ho Chi Minh City, against $465 to $1,030 (£349 to £773) in Kuala Lumpur. We can't call it: Kuala Lumpur has no checked figure for lunch and transport, so that total leaves it out.
The visaEven
Vietnam has no remote work visa, so the choice is about more than income. Ho Chi Minh City: no remote work visa. Kuala Lumpur: DE Rantau Nomad Pass, about $2,000 to $5,000 a month (USD 24,000 a year, depending on the job).
A London 9 to 5Even
A late finish in both: 15:00 to 23:00 in Ho Chi Minh City, 16:00 to 00:00 in Kuala Lumpur.
A New York 9 to 5Even
A night shift in both: 20:00 to 04:00 in Ho Chi Minh City, 21:00 to 05:00 in Kuala Lumpur.
WeatherHo Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City has more comfortable months. Comfortable months on our best-time rule: 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, none in Kuala Lumpur. No month is comfortable in both.
SafetyEven
The US State Department puts both countries at level 1. Watch for motorbike bag-snatching and tidal floods in Ho Chi Minh City; bag snatching and card fraud in Kuala Lumpur.
Side by side
Measure
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Country
Vietnam
Malaysia
Language
Vietnamese
Malay
Currency
Vietnamese dong (VND)
Malaysian ringgit (MYR, written RM)
Plugs
Type A, B and C, 230V
Type G, 230V
Time zone
UTC+7 today
UTC+8 today
A month's basics
$629 to $1,620 (£472 to £1,220)
$465 to $1,030 (£349 to £773), with lunch and transport missing
Remote work visa
None
DE Rantau Nomad Pass
Income needed
No remote work visa
About $2,000 to $5,000 a month (USD 24,000 a year, depending on the job)
Without a visa
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
British and American passports: 90 days
Tax residency
183 days or more in a calendar year or in the 12 months from arrival, or a rented home on a fixed-term lease
182 days or more in a calendar year. Work done there is taxable after 60 days
Download speed
307 Mbps
—
Comfortable months
January, November and December
None on our rule
US travel advice
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 1: normal precautions
Meetups
1 regular group still running
4 regular groups still running
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.
Ho Chi Minh City
$629 to $1,620£472 to £1,220 a month
Rent
$503 to $1,310One-bed, District 3, Binh Thanh and District 1, from one blog. Thao Dien runs to VND 47 million. VND 13,000,000 to 34,000,000
A desk
$58 to $155Coworking monthly membership. VND 1,500,000 to 4,000,000
Weekday lunches
$43 to $85Com tam, the broken-rice lunch, VND 50,000 to 100,000 each, 22 working days
Getting around
$26 to $68Grab motorbike at VND 15,000 to 40,000 a ride in the centre, two rides each working day: our estimate over 22 working days. A metro monthly pass is VND 300,000, but Line 1 is a single route. VND 660,000 to 1,760,000
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.
Kuala Lumpur
DE Rantau Nomad Pass
Income needed
About $2,000 to $5,000 a month (USD 24,000 a year, depending on the job); in pounds, about £1,500 to £3,760 a month
How long
Three to twelve months, renewable once: two years at most
What it leads to
Nowhere that MDEC states
Without a visa
British and American passports: 90 days
The catch. It does not cover Sabah or Sarawak, and MDEC's own FAQ says remote work is taxable after 60 days in the country.
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
The UK gives no warnings specific to Ho Chi Minh City; it names the city only as the home of the British Consulate General. Its Vietnam-wide advice says bag-snatching by thieves on motorbikes is common.
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.
Ho Chi Minh City
It suits
Remote workers who want a big, fast city that is cheap to eat in, with plenty of desks: Toong, The Hive, UpGen and others charge from about VND 1.5 million a month. It suits someone who can live in District 3 or Binh Thanh for about VND 13 to 23 million a month, who is happy on a 90-day e-visa and will leave the country every three months. British passports also get 45 days visa-free for a trial. December to April 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. You leave every 90 days and apply again. Stay 183 days, or sign a fixed-term lease, and you can be taxed as a resident on worldwide income. It has highs of about 32 to 35 degrees all year. From May to October it rains 200 to 490mm a month, and the most expat-friendly district, Thao Dien, floods. Traffic means Grab rides, not walks, and a one-bed in Thao Dien can run to VND 47 million. If you want quiet, walkable streets, cool evenings or a visa you can renew from your sofa, go somewhere else.
Tech freelancers and remote employees earning USD 24,000 a year or more who want a legal, cheap, one-to-two-year base in a big city. The pass costs RM 1,080, plus RM 360 a year. You can live in a furnished one-bed in Bangsar or Bukit Bintang for about RM 2,100 to 2,400 a month, rent a hot desk for RM 400 to 700, and live by the rail line without a car.
It doesn't suit
Non-tech workers earning under USD 60,000 or outside MDEC's listed roles, anyone who wants the time to count towards permanent residence, and anyone hoping the pass keeps them out of tax: MDEC's own FAQ treats remote work as taxable from day 61. People with asthma in a haze year, between June and October. LGBT+ couples who want to live openly, because same-sex acts are illegal under federal law. And anyone choosing Mont Kiara without a car, who will spend every day in a Grab in traffic. And budget for moving in: about RM 8,800 up front on a RM 2,000 flat.
