Surfshark Review

Download speed without Surfshark: 97Mbps

Download speed with Surfshark: 23Mbps

Our download speed loss when Surfshark is running 76%

Surfshark’s 64-location server network is far from the most we’ve seen, but is slightly higher than the average amount and certainly enough to deliver the speeds you need.

800 IP addresses is a small number when compared to top-tier VPN services, but it will work to protect your anonymity and provide a reliable connection. This is especially the case in the more popular server locations. 

20 city-level servers in the US is a fair distribution and three in the UK should do the job. Three city-level servers in Canada – Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver – may seem few for such a large region, but it covers both coasts and so helps to spread coverage more evenly. Five city-level servers in Australia is good, covering the south and east coast of the nation well, but it could do with some northern distribution to equalize coverage. 

But Surfshark only provides one single location in Africa, which is far from extensive for such a huge area.

Surfshark consistently unblocks Netflix both in the US and the UK. 

Surfshark also works with BBC iPlayer, which is often difficult to access. The catch is that Surfshark only unblocks this streaming service via its browser extension. The London server does the trick, but be aware that the browser extension does not offer the same full encryption as the VPN app itself. 

There’s also something called Surfshark Smart DNS – but what is it?

Surfshark Smart DNS helps to unlock content more reliably, although it also doesn’t offer as much protection as the full VPN service, so think carefully before using it.

Surfshark is also known to work with:

• Amazon Prime Video
• Hulu
• Sky
• HBO
• Kodi

While you can torrent on any Surfshark server that you like, traffic is automatically channeled to servers that are optimized for it. 

If you’re in Europe or Asia and outside of the UK, it will be routed through the Surfshark Netherlands server. If you’re in the Americas but outside of the US or Canada, it will route through Canadian servers.

Surfshark’s no logs privacy policy and the inclusion of a kill switch makes torrenting extra safe for users. 

Those who use their connection for a lot of P2P traffic should take a look at our list of the best VPNs for torrenting. 

Surfshark isn’t the simplest solution for getting around blocks in high censorship countries – but it works in censored countries, including China.

If you’re in China you’ll need to download a specially configured (free) file from the Surfshark website called ‘NoBorders Mode’. This only goes for MacOS, iOS or Android users, as Microsoft Windows version comes with it built-in. 

While Surfshark’s VPN service won’t automatically bypass censorship without NoBorders Mode, it still offers a reliable solution that extends to other high censorship countries like Russia, UAE, and Turkey. 

It’s unfortunate that Surfshark’s ability to bypass censorship is not complemented by a range of servers in neighboring free-speech countries. While it may bypass Turkish or UAE censorship, there are no servers in the Middle East with the sole exception of Israel. Still, with China and Russia, there are enough neighboring nations to allow decent speeds when connected.

For pure simplicity when getting around censorship, we recommend VyprVPN.

All of the major desktop and mobile operating systems work with Surfshark, including:

• MacOS
• iOS
• Windows
• Android
• Linux

Coverage is also available via router and there are setup guides for all of them on the Surfshark website.

Surfshark VPN has no device limit either, so you can protect everything you own all at once.

Surfshark is a good VPN for your entertainment needs, available to use with game consoles and streaming devices.

Surfshark can be used with popular consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, plus streaming devices like AppleTV, by connecting them to a configured router. Surfshark has also just released a native app for Amazon Fire TV Stick.

With Surfshark, you can set up the VPN on almost any smart TV via SmartDNS which will bypass geo-restrictions and provide enough speed to stream content from around the globe.

For more simple, one-click solutions for gaming and streaming devices, you should look into a provider like ExpressVPN, as it offers a MediaStreamer DNS service that’s designed to make this process as easy as possible.

Surfshark offers browser extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, so you can spoof your IP location and encrypt your web traffic.

We’d recommend using them with the full Surfshark program too, though, as they only cover what goes on in your web browser.

Surfshark’s Windows app offers the choice of OpenVPN, our personal favorite protocol for making you safe. But if you’re using Surfshark on a different platform then you’ll need to navigate a bit of manual configuration to get OpenVPN. 

Its AES-256 encryption is widely regarded as near-uncrackable and our testing confirmed that Surfshark has no DNS or IP leaks – plus there’s an ad-blocker and kill switch.

Special mention should also go to the MultiHop feature, which routes your traffic through two different VPN servers for extra security (albeit slower speeds) and Surfshark’s split tunneling, which keeps you connected while letting certain apps operate outside of the VPN.

Surfshark’s browser extensions, however, don’t come with WebRTC leak protection to prevent DNS leaks. This isn’t great when considering the extension is the only way to stream BBC iPlayer on the service.

We dug deep into Surfshark’s privacy policy and found that Surfshark doesn’t collect any user logs whatsoever. A truly no logs VPN service is fantastic news for privacy advocates.

The only identifying information it knows about you is your email address (for registering your account) and billing (in case you want a refund). These are in no way connected to what you do while using the service.

Surfshark is a relatively new company on the VPN market, but where is it based?

Founded in 2018, Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands – one of the most sensible jurisdictions in the world to base your VPN service. There are no obligatory data retention laws in the British Virgin Islands, and it has no connection to any global data sharing schemes between governments. Your data and information are well and truly safe.

There’s also the nice feature of a warrant canary on the Surfshark website that provides a daily update on the company’s interactions with law enforcement: to this day it has never received a gagging order, warrant or National Security letter.

Surfshark’s app looks great and it’s responsive, too.

The Surfshark app is so minimal, in fact, that you’d be forgiven for thinking it was oversimplified. However, all the setting to control the more advanced features of the VPN are hidden away behind a single settings menu – they’re smartly grouped and clearly labeled so there is never any doubt about what you’re doing. 

You won’t find around-the-clock live chat support as snappy and well-informed anywhere else at this price – in fact, most VPNs as cheap as Surfshark won’t have it at all. Agents were always standing by to answer our questions quickly and pleasantly.

Surfshark’s online help sections don’t have the same level of depth as we’ve seen from some higher-scoring rivals, but they cover off the basics well. You can always send off an email for anything that’s not covered.

VPNs as good and as cheap as Surfshark are few and far between. A two-year subscription to Surfshark costs the equivalent of $1.99 per month – an 83% saving over the month-by-month cost and a real deal.

Surfshark’s 30-day money-back guarantee period is one of the more generous offerings we’ve seen, and it truly is no-questions-asked – just hop on to the 24/7 live chat and let the support agent know that you want to cancel.

There’s also a seven-day free trial if you’d rather see what you’re in for before investing.

Surfshark offers the usual range of payment options including:

• Debit Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover)
• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ripple
• PayPal
• GooglePay
• AliPay

Privacy-conscious users will be pleased to see so many cryptocurrencies, although the most privacy-conscious individuals may have liked to have seen cash payments, which are not available.