What Is VPN Split Tunneling?

VPN split tunneling is an advanced feature offered by some VPN services. It allows you to use two different network connections simultaneously, so you can dictate which applications and services use the encrypted VPN tunnel, and which ones use your standard internet connection.

When you connect a VPN normally, all of your internet traffic is routed through the VPN server. When you turn on split tunneling, you specify which apps and websites are included and excluded from your VPN connection.

For example, you might want to watch another country’s Netflix library, but you also want Google Maps to show your real location. You can turn on VPN split tunneling, so Netflix is included in your VPN connection and Google Maps is excluded.

Another way to look at it is that VPN split tunneling lets you specify which apps and services must use the public IP address assigned by your internet service provider.

This prevents some of your web traffic being slowed down unnecessarily, and sometimes prevents programs from not working properly.

It can also be useful if you want to conserve battery power or decrease data usage. Alternatively, you might torrent often or simply use apps that don’t work well with VPN connections, like banking apps.

Different Types of VPN Split Tunneling

Bear in mind that VPNs name their split tunneling features differently. You might come across per-app split tunneling, whitelisting, or bypassing VPN features depending on your chosen VPN.

There are three different ways that a VPN service can split your web traffic:

1. Per App Split Tunneling: Choose applications you want to run through a VPN connection or bypass a VPN connection. You can configure per-app split tunneling in VPN settings.
2. Per Site Split Tunneling: Choose domains or websites you want to access through a VPN connection or bypass a VPN connection. This is less common and typically found in VPN browser extensions.
3. IP Address Split Tunneling: Specify which IP addresses you want to bypass a VPN connection.

With split tunneling enabled, you can choose an app or website to either:

1. Use a VPN: Access your chosen apps or websites through the VPN connection — often called inverse split tunneling.
2. Bypass a VPN: Access everything apart from your chosen apps or websites through a VPN.

Is Split Tunneling Available on All Devices?

No, iOS has strict rules about which apps can separate internet traffic, making it difficult for VPNs to implement split tunneling.

Most VPN apps, including ExpressVPN and NordVPN don’t offer a split tunneling feature on iOS due to these restrictions or privacy reasons. However, some VPNs offer a split tunneling feature on routers, which can split tunnel all the devices connected to the router — including an iPhone.

Is VPN Split Tunneling Completely Safe?

Split tunneling technology itself is completely safe, but you should use it with care. When you route traffic outside the encrypted VPN tunnel, your IP address and the nature of that traffic are exposed.

The greatest risk of split tunneling at home is user error. If you disable the VPN for selected apps, you won’t have the protection you need. For this reason, we don’t recommend using it if you’re handling highly sensitive information, or you’re using a VPN to bypass government censorship.

Likewise, if you’re using split tunneling to route your traffic outside a corporate network, you’re potentially bypassing certain firewalls and safeguards that company has put in place.

The company servers might inspect traffic to block dangerous web addresses and stop sensitive information being leaked. If you connect to the web directly, you bypass this protection and put your device at greater risk of malware.

If an employee’s computer is compromised, it could be a potential entry point into the corporate network, at which point an attacker might be able to access company resources.

If you do choose to take advantage of VPN split tunneling, configure your client carefully.

If you’re concerned about securing your sensitive data or protecting your browsing from ISP surveillance, we recommend using a VPN for all forms of device traffic. However, split tunneling can be useful when:

• You want to spoof your IP address for one activity (e.g. torrenting or gaming) without slowing down other non-sensitive online activities.
• You use apps or activities that don’t work well (or at all) through a VPN, such as Wikipedia editing, online banking, and Spotify streaming.
• You need to access content from two regions, such as geo-restricted video content from abroad and home country search engine results.

Check out the video below to see 10 practical use cases where we use split tunneling:

In the following section, we’ll detail the main benefits of using a VPN’s split tunneling feature:

1. You Can Keep Your VPN Switched On

Some applications and services simply won’t work with your VPN switched on. They might require your home IP address for authentication, or they might block traffic from known VPN servers altogether.

Spotify, Ticketmaster, and Steam block all forms of known VPN traffic. Wikipedia blocks VPN users from editing pages, and online banking systems may require you to carry out additional authentication measures if you use a VPN.

If you keep your VPN switched on permanently for full protection, you might find yourself turning it off from time to time when you need to use one of these apps or services. It’s a nuisance, and it risks you leaking data if you forget the VPN is off.

Split tunneling stops you from having to do that by enabling you to specify which apps go through the VPN tunnel.

2. Speed Up Your Connection

Using a VPN is slower than connecting directly to the web. The extra hop to the VPN server takes some time, and the encryption that the VPN performs also causes a delay.

Among the fastest VPNs, you’ll typically see a connection slowdown of between 1% and 10% when connecting from the US (New York) to the UK (London), or an equivalent distance.

By using split tunneling, you can speed up the performance of apps and websites that do not need to be routed through the VPN.

3. Avoid Data Limits & Reduce Mobile Bandwidth Consumption

While most premium VPNs offer unlimited data usage, free VPNs often apply a monthly limit to the amount of data you can route through their network.

Some free VPNs with data limits such as Windscribe Free and Hide.me support split tunneling, which means you can stretch your VPN data allowance as far as possible.

If you have a cellular plan with a fixed data cap, you’ll also reach your limit faster with a VPN. In fact, you’ll consume between 4% and 20% more data with a VPN compared to browsing the web without one.

Using split tunneling, you can choose which applications go through the VPN tunnel, so you can avoid using more cellular data than you need to.

4. Protect Your Torrenting Traffic

The use of VPN services is becoming more common in the online gaming community. Many gamers are concerned about exposing their real location, while others are looking to avoid distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on their network.

Using a VPN service hides your IP address, so you can’t be identified or targeted. However, gaming is incredibly data-intensive. In this case, split tunneling allows you to protect your gaming activity while routing the rest of your traffic elsewhere.

5. Access Local Network Resources

You may have heard that directing your device traffic through a VPN can cause difficulties when connecting to devices on the local area network (LAN), such as a wireless printer. Some websites recommend using split tunneling as a solution to this problem.

We’ve tested this issue with a few popular VPN services including ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, and PrivateVPN, and we recorded mixed results:

• Proton VPN and PrivateVPN both worked to print wirelessly without activating split tunneling.
• ExpressVPN worked to print without split tunneling when the setting labelled “allow access to devices on the local network” was enabled. However, printing did not work when this option was disabled. On mobile, it worked by default, no special settings needed.

These results suggest that VPNs can have an impact on your ability to access LAN resources, but it’s not as much of an issue as some websites make out. If you’re using a top-tier VPN, it’s likely the VPN will provide an option to access LAN devices, or it might do so by default.

If you’re using a VPN that doesn’t work with devices on your local network, split tunneling is a viable solution.

6. Access Geo-Restricted Content

It’s common to use a VPN to bypass geographic content restrictions on streaming services like Netflix. However, it’s possible you’ll still need to access local search results or content that is restricted to your home region.

Split tunneling allows you to choose which applications use your home IP address and which use the IP address of a VPN server.

If your split tunneling feature isn’t working correctly, there’s usually an issue with the VPN service or your device.