Becoming a digital nomad is a goal for many remote workers, but the hoops you have to jump through to achieve it vary from place to place.
Bureaucracy can be a beast in any country, but certain destinations are making it easier for those who want to set up shop abroad.
Now, we know exactly which places are doing so thanks to Holafly’s Digital Nomad Friction Index 2026.
The eSIM company analysed 17 popular digital nomad destinations, looking at factors such as visa complexity, banking access, healthcare, connectivity, cost of living and disruption risk, in order to create an overall friction score.
“Arriving to a country is usually the easy part. The real burnout happens when remote professionals hit a wall of post-landing bureaucracy, lost work hours, and unstable internet,” Metin Kastro, COO at Holafly, said.
“We ran this study to shed light on these hidden friction points because long-term mobility only works when everyday logistics stop eating into people’s livelihoods and peace of mind.”
The easiest countries to set up in as a digital nomad
After all the number crunching, one destination came out on top with the lowest friction score: Georgia.
The Caucasus nation has no mandatory residence registration, no tax ID requirement, and you can open a bank account with just a passport within hours, making it a bureaucratic breeze.
Next up is Peru, which came in second place to its Rentista residency category which allows for indefinite permanent residency with a low income threshold. It was beaten out for the top spot because of its earthquake and El Niño exposure.
Third place went to South Africa, which has no mandatory address registration or tax ID for non-residents, but was let down by its below-average healthcare score.
Thailand and Malaysia are in fourth and fifth place respectively, with purpose-built digital nomad visa programmes and moderate banking friction as pluses, but natural disaster exposure among the negatives.
The only European nations to make the top 10 were Croatia, Hungary and Poland, in seventh, eighth and ninth place respectively. All three have nomad visa programmes, but mandatory registration and tax ID requirements held them back from securing a higher spot.
The top 10 countries for pain-free digital nomad set-up
- Georgia
- Peru
- South Africa
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Vietnam
- Croatia
- Hungary
- Portugal
- UAE
