With 25 years of software engineering and networking experience, JP oversees all technical aspects of our VPN testing process to ensure we review VPN software to the highest standard. JP developed our global, automated VPN speed testing framework and designing our advanced IP and DNS leak testing methodology. 

Callum leads the Top10VPN editorial team, overseeing all VPN reviews and advice. He’s an experienced VPN expert, technology journalist and former product testing professional at Which?. Callum is a passionate digital privacy advocate, and is a member of the IAPP and the EC Council’s Knowledge Review Committee. 

NordVPN

Private Internet Access

A premium high-performance VPN whose consistency outshines the competition.

full

210119-ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN’s helpful 24/7 live chat is the best in class. If you ever have a problem, you’ll be back up and running as quickly as possible.
This is one of the most customer-focused VPN services we’ve reviewed. Its support team makes sure to keep you happy both before and after you’ve become a customer.
You can also email customer support, with equally responsive, helpful and enthusiastic responses.
If you experience a specific technical issue, it makes a big difference to receive a response tailored to your message. Too many VPN companies use support centers with agents who don’t know the product. That’s not the case with ExpressVPN.
There’s also a huge range of support guides, FAQs, video tutorials, and troubleshooting options <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">available on the support website</a>. The online help center is available in over 16 languages.

ExpressVPN is so easy to use that it’s hard to go wrong. Its apps are among the best in the industry – they’re easy to set up, intuitive and well-designed.
It took us less than five minutes to install each VPN application for our tests. Chose your subscription plan, create an account, and enter your payment details.
After you&#8217;ve subscribed, you’ll receive a confirmation email with an activation code and a link to the installation guide for your device.
Once you’ve installed the application, the ExpressVPN home screen is simply a big on/off button and a list of VPN servers.
You can also customize your experience by adjusting the advanced settings in each app. These are labeled and explained in plain language, so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing.
Here&#8217;s a summary of the differences between ExpressVPN&#8217;s applications:
<div style="display: none;" data-table="1Oo8pai7Gj_8IEJ-kHVbLDFj_xJ7OtDeSw5lKpK7b-go|26892187"></div>
Let&#8217;s take a closer look at each application and the key differences between them:
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s Windows 10 Client</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126901" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Windows.png" alt="ExpressVPN homescreen on Windows" width="400" height="654" />
The Windows app is the most complete out of ExpressVPN&#8217;s applications. It&#8217;s very easy to use despite having has all the tools and features an advanced VPN user could need.
Click on the server you have selected, and a second window with a server list will open next to it. Don&#8217;t miss the two tabs at the top: ‘Recommended’ is selected by default, but it doesn’t reveal the whole server list. Click ‘All Locations’ to see the full list, or use the search bar to find a specific location.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126907" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Windows-2.png" alt="ExpressVPN settings screen on Windows" width="400" height="520" />
Other important features are the kill switch (called ‘Network Lock’ under the &#8216;General settings&#8217; tab) and the protocol selection tab. From here you can select your preferred VPN protocol, or leave it set to &#8216;Automatic.&#8217;
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s Mac Client</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126898" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/MacOS-700x1043.png" alt="ExpressVPN homescreen on MacOS" width="400" height="596" />
ExpressVPN’s MacOS app is practically identical to the Windows version. Many VPN providers put out a sub-par Mac apps compared to their flagship Windows app, but that’s not the case here.
The only issue for Mac users is that there’s no extension for Safari yet.
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s iOS App</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126892" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/iOS-700x1381.png" alt="ExpressVPN homescreen on iOS" width="400" height="789" />
ExpressVPN for iPhone and iPad is even more simplified than the desktop version.
It looks largely the same, however once you dive into the settings menu you’ll notice there’s not much there.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126895" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/iOS-2-700x1383.png" alt="ExpressVPN settings screen on iOS" width="400" height="791" />
You have the option to choose between OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, and a toggle for whether or not the VPN automatically reconnects if it loses connection. There&#8217;s also a button to reset the VPN configuration, if the app stops working.
It’s obvious ExpressVPN decided to make its iOS app more streamlined and lightweight for mobile. But, it would be good to see some of desktop features on the iOS app, too. The kill switch is the most notable absence of all.
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s Android App</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126880" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Android-700x1199.png" alt="ExpressVPN homescreen on Android" width="400" height="685" />
The Android app has the exact same home screen as the iOS app, but there are a few differences between the two applications.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-126889" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Android-2-700x1200.png" alt="ExpressVPN settings screen on Android" width="400" height="686" />
The main difference is the inclusion of a kill switch. With this feature enabled, you can use your smartphone safely with the confidence that your IP address will remain hidden if your VPN connection ever drops.
You’ll find the kill switch under Settings &gt; Network Protection &gt; Block internet when unable to connect or reconnect to VPN.
The other useful feature on Android, that’s missing on iOS, is split-tunneling. Because the Android platform is more flexible, ExpressVPN was able to introduce this feature, which lets you choose which apps (if any) should not use the VPN connection.
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s Linux Client</h3>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-127135" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Linux-Connection-700x481.png" alt="ExpressVPN running on Linux" width="700" height="481" />
Despite having great apps for every other platform, ExpressVPN’s Linux app is disappointing.
In fact, ExpressVPN doesn’t even have a true app for Linux. There’s no GUI (graphical user interface), meaning that it runs straight from the console.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-127138" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Linux-Server-Select-700x477.png" alt="How it looks choosing a server with ExpressVPN on Linux" width="700" height="477" />
Linux users are likely used to this, and a little more tech-savvy than many ExpressVPN users, but it’s still an oversight.
Once you’ve installed ExpressVPN using standard Linux console commands, you can connect to the recommended server, or see a full list of servers along with the console commands required to connect to them.
You can also toggle the Network Lock (the kill switch), change protocol, and instruct the client to auto-connect on startup.

How to Connect to a Server with ExpressVPN

How to Change Settings in ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is one of the only <a href="/best-vpn/china/">VPNs that still works in China</a>. 
We test ExpressVPN&#8217;s access in China weekly, and its undoubtedly one of the most consistent VPNs to work there.
This is thanks to investing significant resources into outsmarting the Great Firewall of China.
<div id="attachment_126850" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126850" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-126850" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/ExpressVPN-Greatfire-700x609.png" alt="A screenshot of ExpressVPN's performance in China according to Greatfire.org" width="700" height="609" />ExpressVPN&#8217;s average speeds and stability in China (source: Greatfire.org)</div>
Its obfuscation technology activates by default when protocol selection in the app is switched to Automatic.
ExpressVPN recommends specific servers for users in China. Contact their <a href="/reviews/expressvpn/#review-support">customer support</a> (available 24/7) for updated server tips.
These servers tend to be in nearby locations, like Hong Kong (which still enjoys a free internet). The Hong Kong servers also let you access Chinese TV and websites from outside China.
The official ExpressVPN website is blocked in China, so remember to download the latest version of the app(s) before you arrive.
ExpressVPN&#8217;s built-in obfuscation tool is so effective that the VPN also works in the UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other restrictive nations.

ExpressVPN is an extremely safe VPN service that uses the highest standard of security protocols and encryption.
The VPN&#8217;s security has been <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/trust" target="_blank" rel="noopener">verified through audits</a> by trusted firms like PWC and Cure53. 
Not to mention many of the VPN applications are open-source and open for external scrutiny by security researchers.
<h3>High Degree of Encryption</h3>
All apps use AES-256 bit encryption, in combination with the OpenVPN protocol, a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication. This is the level of encryption that governments and banks recommend.
What’s more, ExpressVPN runs its own private, zero-knowledge DNS servers. In other words, ExpressVPN handles and encrypts your DNS requests (the websites you visit), not a third party. Only the finest VPN services offer this.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-30305" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2018/12/ExpressVPN-advanced-settings-OPT.png" alt="" width="499" height="389" />
By default, the VPN service uses Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). This adds another layer of protection by creating a new encryption key for every session, and replacing it every 60 minutes. 
PFS means that even if someone intercepted and decrypted your data transfer, the most they could get is 60 minutes of data.
<h3>Secure VPN Protocols</h3>
The VPN apps automatically choose the best VPN protocol for you, but you can choose one manually if you prefer. 
We recommend using OpenVPN, or ExpressVPN&#8217;s proprietary protocol named Lightway.
Lightway has been performing very well in our speed and security tests. It also uses less battery than other VPN protocols, since it has fewer lines of code.
<h3>Effective Kill Switch</h3>
ExpressVPN doesn’t have a tonne of advanced security features, but those it does have are extremely effective.
Its reliable VPN kill switch is called Network Lock. This feature stops your internet connection entirely in the unlikely event your VPN connection drops. In doing so, your true IP address is never exposed.
Network Lock is available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android (on which it’s called Network Protection). It&#8217;s not on the iOS app yet, which ExpressVPN needs to fix.
<h3>TrustedServer</h3>
The VPN also comes with TrustedServer. This proprietary technology ensures your web data is never written to a server’s hard drive.
TrustedServer has the following security benefits:
<ul>
<li>Wipes all data with every reboot, as VPN servers run on RAM only</li>
<li>Servers never write to the hard drive, further minimizing data risk</li>
<li>The entire software stack is reinstalled on every server at startup</li>
<li>Allows ExpressVPN to know what’s running on every server, with no inconsistencies</li>
</ul>
<h3>Split tunneling</h3>
Split tunneling is a useful setting that you won’t find in many VPNs. It lets you decide which apps should use the VPN connection, and which ones shouldn&#8217;t.
Split tunneling can have practical uses (for example with your wireless printer). You can keep certain devices connected to your standard internet line, rather than the VPN, preventing connection issues between devices.
<h3>IP and DNS Leak Test Results</h3>
We ran the VPN apps through IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests and it passed all tests with no leaks whatsoever. 
As you can see below, ExpressVPN masked our real UK IP address, replacing it with a Swedish one.
<div id="attachment_126829" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126829" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-126829" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Leak-Test-700x572.png" alt="A screenshot of ExpressVPN passing a leak test" width="700" height="572" />Browserleaks.com also confirmed ExpressVPN is very secure</div>
We also tested the VPN extensions for <a href="/do-i-leak/">HTML5 browser leaks</a>, which also passed with flying colors.
<h3>Is ExpressVPN Safe?</h3>
For this updated review, we also uploaded ExpressVPN.exe to <a href="https://www.virustotal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VirusTotal.com</a>, a website that scans applications for known malware. ExpressVPN’s results came back clean, with no viruses detected.
<div id="attachment_126838" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126838" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-126838" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Antivirus-700x337.png" alt="A screenshot of VirusTotal.com proving that ExpressVPN.exe is not a virus" width="700" height="337" />ExpressVPN passed the virus scan, and it is 100% safe to use</div>
<h3>Android App Permission Analysis</h3>
We also scanned the Android app for dangerous device permissions using the <a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.expressvpn.vpn/latest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">εxodus tool</a>.
The trackers and permissions in ExpressVPN&#8217;s Android app are all normal, non-intrusive and above board.
We only found two trackers: Google CrashLytics and Google Firebase Analytics. Both are event-based data collection trackers, which help ExpressVPN respond to crashes and bugs.
The following table shows all of ExpressVPN’s device permissions and what they mean:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 192px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<th style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Permission</th>
<th style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Definition</th>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to view your device’s network connections</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">ACCESS_WIFI_STATE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to view your device’s WiFi connections</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">FOREGROUND_SERVICE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to run as a foreground service</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">INTERNET</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Grants ExpressVPN full network access (necessary for any VPN)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to run at startup (if you decide to enable that option)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">VIBRATE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to control vibration (the app will sometimes vibrate for notifications)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">WAKE_LOCK</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Prevents the device from sleeping</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">BILLING</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Permits in-app purchases</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">RECEIVE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Allows ExpressVPN to receive messages from the Cloud</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE</td>
<td style="width: 50%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Tells ExpressVPN where and when the app was downloaded from if you discovered it via an advertising link</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

ExpressVPN has apps for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Fire OS and Linux. All the apps are <a href="#review-ease">very easy to set up and use</a>.
You can use one ExpressVPN subscription on five devices at the same time, which is the industry average. 
<h3>Router Compatibility</h3>
For unlimited connections, you’ll need to install the VPN on your home router.
ExpressVPN is compatible with the following routers:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Asus RT-AC56(U/R/S)</li>
<li>Asus RT-AC68U</li>
<li>Asus RT-AC87U</li>
<li>Linksys EA6200</li>
<li>Linksys WRT1200AC</li>
<li>Linksys WRT1900AC(S)</li>
<li>Linksys WRT3200ACM</li>
<li>Netgear R6300v2</li>
<li>Netgear R6700v3</li>
<li>Netgear Nighthawk R7000</li>
<li>Netgear Nighthawk R7000P</li>
</ul>
You can also manually set up the VPN on these router manufacturers:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Other Asus models</li>
<li>D-Link</li>
<li>DD-WRT</li>
<li>Netduma</li>
<li>Sabai</li>
<li>Tomato</li>
<li>TP-Link</li>
<li>Xiaomi</li>
</ul>

ExpressVPN provides full VPN browser extensions for <a href="/best-vpn/chrome/">Chrome</a>, <a href="/best-vpn/firefox/">Firefox</a> and Edge.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-30314" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2018/12/ExpressVPN-browser-extensions-OPT.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="305" />
Most of the VPN browser add-ons we review are proxies and not full VPNs, but ExpressVPN’s extensions are the real deal. Almost a million Chrome users and over 77,000 Firefox users now use them.
The browser add-ons let you easily switch server locations and fully mask your web activity. But, they need the desktop application to run at the same time. In reality, the browser add-ons act more like a remote control for the full application.
<h3>Private and Secure Browser Add-ons</h3>
The security and privacy of these extensions is reinforced by the use of HTTPS Everywhere &#8211; a security tool made by <a href="https://www.torproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Tor Project</a> and the <a href="https://www.eff.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>. The tool encrypts your browser’s communication with insecure websites still not using SSL certificates.
What&#8217;s more, the ExpressVPN extensions are the only browser add-ons that prevent HTML5 IP location leaks.

ExpressVPN is a great VPN to use on games consoles and streaming devices that don&#8217;t support native VPN applications.
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s MediaStreamer (Smart DNS Tool)</h3>
For devices which don’t support dedicated VPN apps you can use MediaStreamer, ExpressVPN&#8217;s Smart DNS service.
MediaStreamer lets you connect to VPN servers on devices like Apple TV, Roku, Xbox and PlayStation. 
It works by changing your device’s default DNS servers to ones run by ExpressVPN. It&#8217;s not as secure as a full VPN connection, but it&#8217;s the easiest way to spoof your location on these devices.
Using MediaStreamer is simple, and there are <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/support/vpn-setup/#streaming-media-consoles-setup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">setup guides for dozens of devices</a>.
<h3>ExpressVPN&#8217;s Fire TV Stick App</h3>
A very popular streaming device right now is Amazon&#8217;s Fire TV Stick. ExpressVPN has a good Firestick app that unblocks streaming apps, and streams Kodi add-ons and IPTV apps anonymously.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-126853" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Fire-TV-Stick-App-700x394.png" alt="A screenshot of ExpressVPN running on an Amazon Fire TV Stick" width="700" height="394" />
It works fine, but it&#8217;s now rather dated and lacks some of the features newer Firestick VPN apps have. Read our <a href="/reviews/ipvanish/#review-platform">IPVanish review</a> to see why its Fire TV app is better.

ExpressVPN operates 3,000+ VPN servers across 160 cities in 94 countries.
It&#8217;s one of the largest VPN server networks available. No matter where you’re located you shouldn&#8217;t have trouble finding a server close by. 
The more servers there are, the less likely they&#8217;ll suffer from traffic congestion and slower speeds.
<h3>Wide Range of City-level Servers</h3>
You can access 51 specific city-level servers in the following locations:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Australia (4 cities)</li>
<li>Brazil (2)</li>
<li>Canada (3)</li>
<li>France (2)</li>
<li>Germany (2)</li>
<li>Hong Kong (3)</li>
<li>India (2)</li>
<li>Italy (2)</li>
<li>Japan (3)</li>
<li>Netherlands (3)</li>
<li>Singapore (3)</li>
<li>Spain (2)</li>
<li>Switzerland (2)</li>
<li>UK (4)</li>
<li>US (14)</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-30296" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2018/12/ExpressVPN-server-list-OPT.png" alt="" width="350" height="522" />
The VPN has servers in 14 city-level locations in the US, and four in Australia. Servers on both sides of these big countries equals fast VPN speeds across the land.
There are plenty of servers in Asia, and in countries that aren’t typically available with other VPN services.
<h3>Does ExpressVPN Use Virtual Servers?</h3>
ExpressVPN is one of the few VPN services that is open and transparent about using virtual server locations.
40 of its 160 server locations are virtual server locations. You can <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/support/troubleshooting/virtual-server-locations/#virtual-locations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see the full list here</a>.
A physical VPN server is physically located in the country or city you wish to connect to. The server and the IP address it assigns are located in the same country. Most ExpressVPN servers are physical.
Virtual server locations work differently. They are physically in one country, but they give you an IP address of another country. They help you connect to countries where it&#8217;s difficult to install a physical server.
Virtual server locations are just as effective at bypassing web geo-restrictions. Your IP address is still registered in the country you’ve chosen to connect to. However, if the server is physically located further from you than expected, it can have an impact on connection speeds.

ExpressVPN is our <a href="/best-vpn/netflix/">best-rated Netflix VPN</a>. It&#8217;s also a great choice to unblock other streaming services.
The VPN easily unblocks platforms like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video with minimal buffering.
<h3>Optimized for Netflix</h3>
In our latest tests, we streamed the US Netflix library through almost all of its US VPN servers. New York was the only server that didn’t work.
The Isle of Man and Jersey servers worked well to unblock UK Netflix.
Overall, we unlocked 19 different Netflix regions in a variety of different languages. Some of the most popular libraries ExpressVPN unblocks are:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Argentina</li>
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Brazil</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>Chile</li>
<li>Colombia</li>
<li>Egypt</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Malaysia</li>
<li>Netherlands</li>
<li>Pakistan</li>
<li>Panama</li>
<li>Romania</li>
<li>Sweden</li>
<li>UK</li>
<li>US</li>
</ul>
Just connect to a server located in the same country as the Netflix library you want to watch, and you’re good to go.
<h3>Does ExpressVPN Still Work with BBC iPlayer?</h3>
ExpressVPN still works with BBC iPlayer, but recently it&#8217;s having some issues. Beating BBC iPlayer&#8217;s VPN ban isn&#8217;t easy, and it can take a few tries for ExpressVPN to work.
We recommend using ExpressVPN&#8217;s browser extensions, and connecting to the London server, or the Wembley one. This method works well, as long as you’re located outside the UK.
Here are more tips to get the VPN working:
<ol class="coloured">
<li>Try connecting to a different UK server &#8211; getting a new IP address can be enough to stream iPlayer.</li>
<li>Change protocol &#8211; sadly, less secure protocols can sometimes work with BBC iPlayer. If you&#8217;re ok with this, try PPTP (do NOT use PPTP in other instances).</li>
<li>Use MediaStreamer DNS &#8211; ExpressVPN&#8217;s smart DNS service isn&#8217;t a full VPN, but it works well with iPlayer.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Acces to Many Other Streaming Platforms</h3>
While ExpressVPN doesn’t have <a href="/reviews/cyberghost/">specific streaming servers like CyberGhost</a>, this isn’t a problem. 
The vast majority of servers work with <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=expressvpn&amp;ref=5f11be8647b2b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many streaming platforms</a>, including:
<ul class="styled columns-2">
<li>Amazon Prime Video</li>
<li>DAZN</li>
<li>Disney+</li>
<li>ESPN</li>
<li>HBO Max</li>
<li>Hulu</li>
<li>Now TV</li>
<li>Peacock</li>
<li>Sky</li>
<li>Sling TV</li>
</ul>
The VPN&#8217;s <a href="#review-speed">fast download speeds</a> mean that whatever video you stream, it will be buffer-free.
<h3>Torrenting with ExpressVPN</h3>
Simply put, <a href="/guides/expressvpn-torrenting/">ExpressVPN is great for torrenting</a>. You can torrent files across the entire server network without restrictions. None of your file-sharing activity will be stored.
We tested ExpressVPN with torrent clients like qBittorrent, uTorrent, and Deluge. The VPN didn&#8217;t leak our torrent IP address once.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-127213" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/ExpressVPN-Torrenting.png" alt="A screenshot of ExpressVPN running at the same time as qBittorrent" width="700" height="515" />
And if the VPN connection had dropped, the VPN kill switch would have prevented our real IP address from being exposed.
Also, the VPN&#8217;s <a href="#review-encryption">advanced security features</a> let you <a href="/best-vpn/kodi/">stream P2P-based Kodi add-ons</a> and IPTV apps anonymously.
The only issue with torrenting with this VPN is that it doesn’t allow port forwarding. While you can still technically upload or ‘seed’ torrent files, your speeds will be very slow.

Simon conducts our research and investigations into VPN safety and digital privacy. His work examining dangerous free VPNs, identity theft, and ISP overblocking have been featured in over 700 publications worldwide including the BBC, CNet, Wired, and The Financial Times. 

ExpressVPN is a very popular VPN with millions of users, but it&#8217;s also one of the more expensive services on the market.
For this ExpressVPN review, we tested all its applications to see if they are just as fast and secure as before. 
Ultimately, we needed to know: is the VPN service still worth the higher price?
Thankfully, it is. While ExpressVPN isn’t perfect, it comes close, and it remains our <a href="/best-vpn/">top-rated VPN</a>. It delivers fast global speeds, strong security and great usability.
The highlight is the VPN&#8217;s ability to bypass strict geo-blocks. Aside from unblocking streaming platforms like Netflix (19 regions), BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video, it&#8217;s one of few VPNs to work in China.
Also, <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=pr&amp;name=expressvpn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ExpressVPN</a> allows P2P traffic on all its no-log 3,000+ servers. Traffic flows through secure VPN protocols and AES 256-bit encryption.
It also features DNS and IP leak protection, and a VPN kill switch to mask your real IP address at all times.
Before diving into the full review, below is a summary of the VPN&#8217;s pros and cons.

ExpressVPN offers <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=expressvpn&amp;ref=5f11be863f4e8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three main subscription plans</a>, all of which include the same features. The longer you subscribe for, the cheaper the monthly cost – although you will have to pay the full subscription fee up front.
The monthly plan costs $12.95 per month, while a six-month plan is priced at $9.99 per month. A 15-month subscription plan gives you a 49% saving, bringing the monthly price down to $6.67.
<a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/vpn-cost/">These prices are above average for a VPN service</a>, and more expensive than competitors like NordVPN and CyberGhost. However, it&#8217;s still great value for the best all-round VPN service you can get.

ExpressVPN offers a seven-day free trial to new mobile customers. Also, all subscriptions come with a 30-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. Effectively, you can <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/get-expressvpn-for-free/">try ExpressVPN free for a month</a>.
To get a full refund, simply contact <a href="#review-support">customer support</a> within 30 days of signing up. You&#8217;ll get your money back within 5 to 10 business days.
There’s also have a ‘Refer a Friend’ program, which earns you a 30-day free ExpressVPN subscription for you and the friend you refer. There’s no limit to the number of new customers you can refer.
As for payment methods, ExpressVPN accepts the following credit/debit cards:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Visa</li>
<li>Visa Electron</li>
<li>Mastercard</li>
<li>American Express</li>
<li>Discover</li>
<li>JCB</li>
<li>Diners Club</li>
</ul>
Plus, more modern payment methods, such as:
<ul>
<li>PayPal</li>
<li>Bitcoin</li>
</ul>
And international payment methods (via Paymentwall), like:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Alipay</li>
<li>UnionPay</li>
<li>iDeal</li>
<li>Klarna</li>
<li>WebMoney</li>
<li>Giropay</li>
<li>Yandex.money</li>
<li>Interac</li>
<li>Mint</li>
<li>OneCard</li>
<li>SOFORT</li>
</ul>
The only option missing is cash payments. This is great for extra anonymity, although only IVPN and Mullvad currently offer this payment method.

ExpressVPN is a virtually zero-logs VPN service. It&#8217;s a trustworthy company that goes to great lengths to protect user privacy.
The VPN doesn’t collect any personal activity logs. It only keeps some connection data, including the date of the connection and your choice of server, but it doesn&#8217;t store your full IP address or web activity.
Here’s all the <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/privacy-policy#aggregate-statistics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">information ExpressVPN collects</a>:
<ul>
<li>Dates when connected to the VPN service</li>
<li>Choice of VPN server location</li>
<li>Total amount of data transferred per day</li>
</ul>
That’s it. ExpressVPN maintains this is the minimum amount of data needed to keep server performance as strong as possible. All this data reveals is that you used the VPN at some point.
<div id="attachment_126814" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-126814" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-126814" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/Logging-Policy-700x350.png" alt="An excerpt from ExpressVPN's logging policy" width="700" height="350" />An excerpt from ExpressVPN&#8217;s logging policy</div>
We also spoke to Harold Li, VP of ExpressVPN, about the VPN’s data retention policy. This is what he told us:
“. . .duration of retention varies based on the type of data . . . we never collect nor retain any data that could link an individual customer with specific activity on the VPN network. EU customers can also request for their data to be deleted at any time, in line with their rights under the GDPR.”
While it’s disappointing not to know how long this data is retained, the crucial aspect is that it cannot be used to identify you or what you do online.
ExpressVPN’s logging policy was stress tested in December 2017. One of its servers was seized and inspected by Turkish authorities investigating the assassination of the Russian ambassador, Andrei Karlov. 
However, the Turkish investigators <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/expressvpn-statement-andrey-karlov-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">couldn’t find any user connection logs</a>.
<h3>Who Owns ExpressVPN?</h3>
Little is known about who owns ExpressVPN. The VPN company has made the decision to stay discreet and private in order to help keep itself and its users safe.
While we always want VPN companies to be transparent about their ownership, we also appreciate its private nature helps it maintain a safe and reliable service <a href="#review-censorship">in countries like China</a>.
<h3>Where is ExpressVPN Based?</h3>
The VPN service was founded in 2009, and is operated by Express VPN International Ltd. 
The company is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and outside the 14 Eyes surveillance alliance.
The BVI is an excellent choice of jurisdiction for a privacy-minded company. The country has full sovereignty over its data regulations, and outside governments or agencies cannot force ExpressVPN to surrender information.

Pros & Cons

Streaming & Torrenting

Speed Analysis

Logging Policy & Audits

Security Tests

Access in China

Server Network

Device Compatibility

Pricing & Refund Policy

How to Use

User Support

Do We Recommend ExpressVPN?

ExpressVPN

IPVanish VPN

To measure the impact of ExpressVPN on internet speed, we compared our download speeds before and after manually connecting to a nearby VPN server (using the &#8216;Smart Location&#8217; feature).
<div class="block-highlighted">
Here are our full speed test results:
Download speed without ExpressVPN: 95.46Mbps
Download speed with ExpressVPN: 87.46Mbps
Our download speed loss when ExpressVPN is running: 8%
</div>
Only 8% speed loss while using a VPN is very impressive. Testing the OpenVPN and Lightway protocols, ExpressVPN had barely any impact on our download and upload speeds. Wherever you are in the world, expect a similar speed performance connecting to a server near you.
An 8ms ping time is also excellent, especially if you’re gaming online. Lag can ruin an online video game, so the lower the latency (ping time) the less lag you’ll experience.
<h3>International Speed Test Results</h3>
We also measured ExpressVPN’s average speeds connecting to servers around the world. We wanted to see how well the service performs over long-distance connections (even if these places may not be far from you).
<div class="block-highlighted">
Here are our latest long-distance speed test results:
USA (New Jersey):
<ul>
<li>Download: 78.92Mbps (17% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 45.36Mbps (55% slower)</li>
</ul>
Germany:
<ul>
<li>Download: 88Mbps (8% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 74.98Mbps (25% slower)</li>
</ul>
Singapore:
<ul>
<li>Download: 73.12Mbps (24% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 22.35Mbps (78% slower)</li>
</ul>
Australia:
<ul>
<li>Download: 69.44Mbps (27% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 23.44Mbps (77% slower)</li>
</ul>
</div>
ExpressVPN is by far the fastest VPN on long-distance connections, something many VPN services struggle with. We only had a a 30% speed loss connecting from the UK to East Asia and Australia, which is remarkable.
<h3>How Fast Is ExpressVPN Compared to Other VPNs?</h3>
We carried out the speed tests above manually. The speed results below are from our automated VPN speed test tool, instead. Our tool tests 18 VPNs across 13 different cities around the world.
The graph below shows VPN speed loss on a New York to New York test connection, compared to no VPN running. Tests run automatically, four times per day, with speeds capped at 100Mbps (a typical home internet connection).
 <picture data-id=joyce-0> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/296,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=296&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 374px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/351,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=351&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 767px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 989px)" /> <img data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" alt="VPN Speed Performance Comparison Chart" /> </picture>
<a class="button green-cta" href="https://www.top10vpn.com/vpn-speed-test/?to=nyc&amp;from=nyc&amp;period=8w&amp;providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,hotspot-shield,nordvpn&amp;int=7&amp;chart=dl_speed_avg"> Compare ExpressVPN&#8217;s speeds across the world</a>
ExpressVPN has been extremely fast over the years, and continues to be in 2021. However, in our <a href="/reviews/hotspot-shield/">review of Hotspot Shield&#8217;s speeds</a> and latest <a href="/reviews/private-internet-access/">Private Internet Access tests</a>, we saw both narrowing the gap.
Overall, ExpressVPN&#8217;s superb local and international speeds are perfect to torrent large files and stream HD/4K video.

Surfshark

NordVPN is simply one of the very best VPN services. Private, secure and extremely fast.

NordVPN Logo

NordVPN can be directly contacted through an automated chatbot, 24/7 live chat, or via email. 
Live chat support can be initiated from the bottom-right corner of the website. You&#8217;ll be initially greeted by the ‘NordVPN chatbot’, an automated chat agent that will attempt to answer your query.
We typically find chatbots, like <a href="/reviews/windscribe/#review-support">Windscribe’s Garry</a>, to be unhelpful and a waste of time. However, NordVPN&#8217;s automated agent is helpful and very good at interpreting questions.
The automated agent has a distinct advantage over human support, too. All replies were instantaneous, so we weren&#8217;t left waiting too long for an answer.
<div>
<dl id="attachment_134873">
<dt>
<div style="width: 371px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/07/nordvpn-customer-service.png" alt="NordVPN customer service" width="361" height="449" />NordVPN&#8217;s automated chatbot is fast and helpful.</div></dt>
</dl>
</div>
<h3>Well-informed Support Agents</h3>
For those times when you do need human support, just type “get me a human” and you&#8217;ll be passed on to a member of NordVPN’s customer service team.
Like most other top VPNs, NordVPN offers 24/7 live chat. Its support agents are very helpful and resolved our issues promptly.
<div>
<dl id="attachment_134870">
<dt>
<div style="width: 374px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/07/nordvpn-customer-support.png" alt="NordVPN live chat" width="364" height="559" />NordVPN&#8217;s customer support agents are knowledgable and courteous.</div></dt>
</dl>
</div>
In addition, NordVPN offers a <a href="https://support.nordvpn.com/Getting-started/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">large knowledge base</a> with guides covering FAQs, device setup, and connectivity troubleshooting.

To install NordVPN, just download its apps <a href="/goto/?type=prc&#038;name=nordvpn&#038;ref=602b7a5b20866" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directly from the website</a> or relevant app store. 
You&#8217;ll also find <a href="https://support.nordvpn.com/FAQ/Setup-tutorials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comprehensive VPN setup guides</a> for whatever platform you’re using, as well as 24/7 live chat support if you need assistance.

How to Connect to a Server with NordVPN

How to Change Settings in NordVPN

NordVPN is a reliable VPN for bypassing China’s strict censorship.
While connected to NordVPN, we were able to stream YouTube videos, browse Instagram, and send messages using WhatsApp.
Unlike other VPN review websites, we manually test VPNs in China to guarantee that they actually work.
To do this, we&#8217;ve developed a bespoke tool to test VPNs in China. We have remote PCs physically located in Shanghai, which allows us to make a real connection within China, anytime and anywhere.
<div id="attachment_149889" style="width: 700px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149889" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-149889 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/10/nordvpn-china-youtube.png" alt="Screenshot showing NordVPN unblocking YouTube in China" width="690" height="529" />NordVPN unblocks websites in China.</div>
<h3>Dedicated App for China</h3>
NordVPN even provides a custom-built app for bypassing Chinese censorship, but there is a drawback. This app is only available for Windows and Android.
Once you’ve installed <a href="https://support.nordvpn.com/Restricted-countries/1391702632/Connecting-from-countries-with-internet-restrictions-on-Windows.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this version of the app</a>, make sure that NordLynx is enabled and CyberSec is disabled, then connect to a server using ‘Quick Connect’.
If you’re a Mac, iOS, or Linux user, you’ll have to manually configure the VPN on your device. NordVPN does provide some <a href="https://support.nordvpn.com/General-info/1047408742/Connecting-from-a-country-with-internet-restrictions.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">handy tutorials</a> that aren’t difficult to follow, but it’s not ideal.
Sensibly, NordVPN does not have any servers in China but there are nearby servers located in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand. We recommend connecting to these servers for improved speeds.
<div class="block-highlighted">
EXPERT TIP
The NordVPN website is blocked in China and cannot be accessed without a VPN. Make sure to download the NordVPN app before entering China.
</div>

<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
Security Summary
Despite a well-publicized server breach in 2018, NordVPN has since introduced very strong security and encryption measures. NordVPN uses the most secure VPN protocols, it operates RAM-only servers, and it&#8217;s taken steps to own the entire network. You can trust NordVPN to keep your data private and secure.
</div>
One of the reasons we rate NordVPN so highly is due to its robust security offering. 
The service offers top-of-the-range VPN protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2, and robust encryption through the AES-256 cipher with perfect forward secrecy. It also has a wealth of security features including:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>VPN kill switch</li>
<li>Split tunneling</li>
<li>Double VPN</li>
<li>Onion over VPN</li>
<li>Ad-blocker</li>
<li>DNS leak protection</li>
<li>Obfuscation tools</li>
<li>WireGuard</li>
</ul>
<h3>Protocols &amp; Encryption</h3>
NordVPN uses the best protocols and encryption ciphers available to protect your personal data from snoopers and hackers.
All apps use NordLynx by default, which is NordVPN&#8217;s own VPN protocol built on top of WireGuard.
The main benefit of NordLynx is that it is incredibly fast. In fact, the results from our speed tests have been impressive.
From our base in London, UK, we connected to various locations around the world using both a OpenVPN (UDP) and NordLynx connection.
You can view the full results in the table below:
<div style="display: none;" data-table="1WBc0OuJMThcaRlp1Ze3EYmCccQudRGqiixXvHLyv28o|1644775226"></div>
NordLynx is consistently faster than OpenVPN, particularly on long-distance connections. This is useful when streaming geo-restricted content from abroad in HD and 4K.
WireGuard does have a security flaw, which is why NordLynx implements double NAT (Network Address Translation), sidestepping this potential risk. Ultimately, NordLynx is more private than a pure WireGuard connection, but retains the same phenomenal speed performance.
The only disappointment is that NordVPN hasn&#8217;t added these improvements to the open-sourced code. Instead, it has packaged it as a branded product, stifling WireGuard’s overall development. 
Alternatively, you can use OpenVPN if you&#8217;re after a more trusted protocol. This is our preferred option, as it provides the perfect blend of speed and security.
All of the VPN&#8217;s apps let you toggle between UDP and TCP, which are types of communication protocols used by OpenVPN. UDP is faster than TCP, but if the connection is unstable, try switching to TCP. 
NordVPN encrypts traffic using the ‘unbreakable’ AES-256-GCM cipher with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie%E2%80%93Hellman_key_exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2048-bit DH key</a>.
Here’s a quick summary of the VPN protocols available and how secure they are:
<picture><source media="(max-width: 768px)" data-lazy-srcset="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/VPN-protocols-security-m.png"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-128626 size-large" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/05/VPN-protocols-security-700x539.png" alt="Table of VPN encryption protocols and their security risks." width="700" height="539" data-mobileimg="true" /></picture>
<h3>IP and DNS Leak Test Results</h3>
When you use a VPN, all your internet traffic should flow through a secure, encrypted VPN tunnel. 
Sometimes bits of personal data like your IP address can leak out, though. That’s why we run regular tests checking for <a href="/do-i-leak/">IP and DNS leaks</a> that can expose your private information.
When we tested NordVPN, we found no leaks whatsoever. It comes as no surprise because NordVPN runs its own DNS servers, and goes to great lengths to protect your online data.
<div id="attachment_74490" style="width: 771px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74490" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-74490 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/07/NordVPNBrowserLeaks-min.png" alt="Screenshot of browserleaks.com test results for NordVPN" width="761" height="552" />NordVPN passed all of our leak tests.</div>
This screenshot above shows the results of our leak test when connected to NordVPN’s Windows app. We can confirm the MacOS, Android, and iOS apps are also leak-proof.
<h3>Additional Security Features</h3>
Kill Switch: 
One of the most important features of the NordVPN apps, the kill switch shields your true IP address in the event of a connection drop.
NordVPN actually provides two types of kill switch: an internet kill switch and an app kill switch.
The internet kill switch works by blocking your device’s connection to the internet if the VPN connection drops suddenly. The app kill switch &#8211; available on Windows and MacOS &#8211; lets you apply kill switch protection to selected apps only.
We recommend using the system-wide internet kill switch for added security, especially if you&#8217;re torrenting files.
Double VPN: 
Also known as multi-hop, this routes your internet traffic through two different servers, and encrypts it twice to provide extra privacy. It slows down connections considerably, so only use it if you need the highest levels of privacy.
Onion over VPN: 
This allows you to route traffic securely through the Tor network to mask VPN traffic in high-censorship countries. Like Double VPN, Onion over VPN can be slow due to the multiple layers of encryption.
Split Tunneling: 
With this feature, you can can choose which apps to route inside and outside of the VPN tunnel. This is useful for apps that require your true IP address, like online banking or smart home devices.
Invisibility on LAN: 
Another useful feature, this option makes you invisible on your local network. Disable this if you need to access devices on your local network, like a wireless printer.
CyberSec: 
CyberSec is a comprehensive security tool that blocks ads, protects against malware, and prevents DDoS attacks.
After testing it, we found that CyberSec effectively blocks annoying ads. It also removes ads on YouTube.
However, NordVPN’s malware blocker isn&#8217;t as good as standalone anti-malware software. It only blocks malicious sites that are already on the database, but in reality, new threats are popping up all the time.
According to <a href="https://www.av-test.org/fileadmin/pdf/reports/AV-TEST_VPN_Comparative_Test_Report_June_2018_EN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AV-Test’s 2018 report</a>, NordVPN’s app didn’t detect any of the 49 phishing or malware websites visited during its tests. On the other hand, <a href="/reviews/hotspot-shield/">Hotspot Shield&#8217;s malware blocker</a>, detected 15, while <a href="/reviews/f-secure-freedome/">F-Secure Freedome&#8217;s tool</a> picked up on 31.
<h3 id="server-hack">NordVPN Server Hack</h3>
In October 2019 it emerged that one of <a href="https://nordvpn.com/blog/official-response-datacenter-breach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NordVPN&#8217;s Finland servers had been breached</a>.
Poorly-configured security on the server’s remote management system allowed the hacker to breach it, view the file system and, theoretically, retrieve any data stored on it.
NordVPN informed us it wasn&#8217;t aware of the incident until 13 April 2019, when it was shown a dark web post of the hackers responsible bragging about it, dated March 2018.
At this point, the company took the server out of service and ‘shredded’ (securely wiped all data) it. It also terminated its contract with the third-party server provider, Creanova.
NordVPN stresses three important facts about the hack:
<ul>
<li>No user credentials were affected. In other words, no one’s privacy or anonymity was compromised.</li>
<li>There are no signs that user traffic was monitored. No user-sensitive data could be read from the server itself, either, as NordVPN is a no-logs service. This means the server contained no information regarding user data or browsing activity.</li>
<li>The VPN tunnel was not compromised. This means that the service as a whole still worked as intended.</li>
</ul>
NordVPN claims that the hack was the fault of Creanova, and Creanova blames NordVPN for being careless with its security.
Ultimately, it&#8217;s NordVPN’s responsibility to regularly check the security of its servers. What matters even more is how the company responded to the hack – and it responded badly.
The long delay informing the public about the incident was a big disappointment at the time.
<h3 id="server-hack">Stronger Security Initiatives</h3>
The VPN service has since made concrete strides towards preventing another hack from taking place. 
Here’s what NordVPN has implemented since the server breach:
<ul>
<li>Partnership with cybersecurity consulting firm VerSprite to carry out penetration tests and make NordVPN safer than ever before.</li>
<li>Bug bounty program to reward those that successfully identify vulnerabilities in Nord’s code.</li>
<li>Infrastructure security audit and vendor security assessment to prevent a similar breach occurring again.</li>
<li> A network of colocated servers exclusively owned by NordVPN to avoid any vulnerabilities caused by third-party providers.</li>
<li>Diskless RAM servers. This means that if someone seizes a server they are effectively seizing an empty piece of hardware with no user data or configuration files on it.</li>
</ul>
Ironically, NordVPN is now more secure than ever. It will take some time for it to fully rebuild its reputation, though.

NordVPN has a range of user-friendly native VPN apps for all major operating systems, including desktop, mobile, and TV devices. 
They’re all <a href="/reviews/nordvpn/#review-ease">easy to set up and simple to use</a>, with clean, intuitive interfaces.
You can buy a multi-device subscription directly from NordVPN’s website, where you’ll find download files for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and Linux. You’ll also find links to the Google Play, App Store, and Amazon stores for Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV respectively.
Just be aware that you won’t benefit from NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee if you buy a plan through the App Store.
In addition to the main platforms, you can manually install NordVPN on a NAS (Synology, Western Digital MyCloud, QNAP, and AsusTor).
You can use NordVPN on up to six devices at the same time with one subscription. This is a generous allowance, which you can maximize by installing NordVPN on your home router. This will protect everything connected to it while only counting as one device.

NordVPN provides good <a href="/best-vpn/chrome/">Chrome VPN extensions</a> and <a href="/best-vpn/firefox/">Firefox VPN add-ons</a>, very popular among NordVPN users. 
To date, the Chrome extension counts over 800,000 installs, and the Firefox add-on over 80,000.
These browser add-ons are similar to the desktop and mobile apps, but there’s one crucial difference: the browser extensions are proxies rather than true VPNs.
Proxy extensions only encrypt your browser traffic, leaving email apps or torrent clients unprotected.
While you can access the same countries available on the main VPN apps, you can’t drill down to city level, or make use of the specialty servers.
<h3>How to Use NordVPN&#8217;s Browser Extensions</h3>
It couldn’t be easier to set up NordVPN’s browser extensions. Just go to the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox store and install the add-on on your browser.
Once you’ve logged on you can choose a server and connect.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-60158" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/04/NordVPNChromeExtensionShadow-min-1.png" alt="Screenshot of NordVPN Chrome Extension" width="600" height="650" />
Both extensions include an ad-blocker and a in-built WebRTC leak blocker, to prevent IP location leaks. Both features are in the settings menu, in the top right corner.

Many popular streaming devices, like Apple TV and PS4, don’t support VPN apps. Because of this, NordVPN includes Smart DNS functionality with all subscriptions. 
Simply put, Smart DNS allows you to geo-spoof your location without the need for third-party apps.
<h3>NordVPN&#8217;s Smart DNS Tool</h3>
NordVPN’s Smart DNS feature easily unblocks US Netflix. We also streamed Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+ on our Apple TV without issues.
<div id="attachment_129478" style="width: 556px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-129478" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129478 " data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/watch-us-netflix-on-apple-tv.jpg" alt="An instructional image showing how to manually configure Smart DNS on an Apple TV, allowing you to stream US Netflix directly on the device." width="546" height="308" />NordVPN’s Smart DNS feature unblocks content on Apple TV.</div>
For gamers, Smart DNS is a great solution to connect your games console to a VPN server. You can find out <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/nordvpn-ps4/">how to use NordVPN on PS4 here</a>.
Smart DNS is rare, even among top VPN services. We’re pleased to see that NordVPN has added it. That said, Smart DNS it’s not perfect.
The biggest drawback is that Smart DNS doesn’t encrypt traffic, leaving your activity on that device exposed. Only use this feature to unblock video content, where encryption is not as necessary as highly-sensitive tasks.
<h3>VPN Router Setup</h3>
If you want to secure all the devices in your home, you can install NordVPN on your home router.
Not many routers are compatible, so we recommend <a href="https://www.flashrouters.com/vpn-types/nordvpn#a_aid=123456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buying a pre-flashed one</a>. It&#8217;s a little expensive, but worth it if you want all (most) devices to use an encrypted VPN connection.
<h3 id="fire-tv">Amazon Fire TV Stick &amp; Fire TV</h3>
NordVPN provides a fully-featured app for Amazon Fire TV Stick and Android TV, letting you unblock Netflix and Hulu directly on your TV.
The app is one of the most functional we’ve seen for Fire TV and Smart TVs. It includes split tunneling, protocol choice, a design tailored for TVs, and the kill switch is enabled by default.
You can also connect to NordVPN’s P2P-optimized servers from within the app, making it compatible with many Kodi add-ons.
<div id="attachment_149883" style="width: 530px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-149883" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-149883 " data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/10/nordvpn-firestick.png" alt="NordVPN Firestick app" width="520" height="293" />NordVPN’s Fire TV app is optimized for larger screens.</div>
But, the app unblocks fewer Netflix libraries than the mobile and desktop software. It only streams 10 Netflix libraries compared to the usual 15. It still works with popular libraries like Netflix US, UK, Canada, Japan, and France, though.

NordVPN provides 5,533 VPN servers with each server assigning a static IP address. After Private Internet Access and CyberGhost, this is the highest number of servers offered by a VPN.
The choice of 59 countries isn’t the widest range we’ve seen, but it&#8217;s still enough to satisfy most users. 
The VPN&#8217;s server network covers popular countries like the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. It also serves less common countries such as Argentina and Vietnam.
There&#8217;s also plenty of choice in Europe, North and South America, and Asia-Pacific. Africa and the Middle East are the least served by NordVPN.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-59912" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/04/NordVPNServerListShadow-min.png" alt="Screenshot of NordVPN Server List in App" width="800" height="600" />
<h3>Many City-level Servers</h3>
NordVPN gives its users excellent city-level server choices in five countries:
<ul>
<li>Australia (five locations, 200+ servers)</li>
<li>Canada (three locations, 300+ servers)</li>
<li>Germany (two locations, 200+ servers)</li>
<li>India (two locations, 20+ servers)</li>
<li>The US (15 locations, 1,600+ servers)</li>
</ul>
Users in these countries can connect to a server close to their physical location, for faster speeds and access to city or state-specific content. In the United States, this is useful to bypass sports blackouts.
NordVPN also provides a dedicated IP address service for customers who want to stick with one VPN IP address for long periods of time. This feature costs extra and it’s not as private as using VPN IP addresses, which are shared by many users at any one time.
<h3>Server Security</h3>
NordVPN’s network consists of physical, bare-metal servers, none of which are virtual. 
All its VPN servers are in fact physically located where you expect them to be. This is rare, as many VPN services have at least a small percentage of virtual servers, which are not physically located in the country where their IP address is registered.
NordVPN is also working on building a network of self-owned servers. Owning servers is ideal for security and gives a VPN company full control over its physical infrastructure.
The 2018 security incident proved that relying on a third-parties to provide VPN servers can lead to security vulnerabilities. 
Not many VPNs own their entire server infrastructure. Of the top VPNs, only <a href="/reviews/vyprvpn/#review-server_locations">VyprVPN (read our review)</a> and <a href="/reviews/ipvanish/#review-server_locations">IPVanish operate first-party servers</a>.
For the time being, NordVPN still rents some servers, but it says it&#8217;s keeping data center providers to even higher standards than before to prevent more security issues.
Also, the VPN service recently started rolling out 10Gbps servers. This is an upgrade from the 1Gbps servers most VPNs operate. This will help make NordVPN even faster for people on 500Mbps (or faster) connections.

<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
Streaming Summary
NordVPN is excellent at unblocking Netflix and other streaming sites. It has fast speeds for HD/4K streaming and it always works with video libraries around the world. It also has a Fire TV Stick app, and Smart DNS support for PS4 and PS5.
</div>
NordVPN is a <a href="/best-vpn/netflix/">top VPN for streaming Netflix</a>. It always works, it&#8217;s fast, and you can stream Netflix on Fire TV devices and Smart TVs.
We tested over 100 US NordVPN servers, and all worked with American Netflix. We repeat these tests daily to ensure the VPN is always capable of beating the website’s VPN blocks.
There are no dedicated streaming servers in the app because <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=nordvpn&amp;ref=5f341906cbd44" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NordVPN’s SmartPlay</a> does the hard work for you.
Choose any US server and it will unlock US Netflix content. This removes any complexity and means you can connect to a single server to unblock a range of streaming platforms.
<div id="attachment_130714" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130714" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-130714 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/nordvpn-us-netflix.png" alt="NordVPN American Netflix" width="700" height="312" />NordVPN works well with US Netflix.</div>
NordVPN currently unblocks 15 different Netflix regions. The most popular being the UK, Japan, Brazil, India, and South Korea. They all have different shows and movies, and we were able to watch each one in HD.
To unblock more than 15 international Netflix libraries, read our <a href="/reviews/expressvpn/">latest ExpressVPN review</a>.
<h3>NordVPN Unblocks Many Streaming Services</h3>
<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--light">
Some of the streaming services NordVPN works with:
<ul>
<li>Netflix</li>
<li>Disney+</li>
<li>BBC iPlayer</li>
<li>Amazon Prime Video</li>
<li>HBO Max</li>
<li>Hulu*</li>
</ul>
</div>
*Sadly, the VPN applications don&#8217;t unblock Hulu, but you can stream Hulu using NordVPN&#8217;s Smart DNS feature.
One of the VPN&#8217;s highlights is how easily it works with BBC iPlayer. Only a <a href="/best-vpn/bbc-iplayer/">few VPNs can unblock the BBC&#8217;s video service</a>, and NordVPN does it with ease.
<h3>Is NordVPN Good for Torrenting?</h3>
<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
Torrenting &amp; P2P Summary
NordVPN allows torrenting on over 85% of its 5,533 servers. These servers are labeled as P2P-optimized in the app, and they recorded a fast bitrate of 9.8 MiB/s in our tests. That said, torrenting is blocked on servers in fourteen countries, so there are more suitable P2P VPNs available.
</div>
NordVPN is a <a href="/best-vpn/torrenting/">good VPN for torrenting</a>, with thousands of fast servers optimized for P2P traffic.
There are also plenty of advanced security settings, such as the VPN kill switch to keep your IP address concealed. NordVPN’s no-logs policy is also ideal for anonymous file-sharing.
Not all the servers allow P2P traffic, but there are still more than enough to keep torrenters and Kodi streamers happy.
You can torrent while connected to almost every country on the server list. These optimized servers are easy to find &#8211; they are listed under ‘Specialty Servers’ in the app settings.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-108892 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/01/NordVPNSpecialityServers.png" alt="Screenshot of NordVPN specialty servers, including P2P" width="384" height="488" />
However, NordVPN doesn&#8217;t allow P2P traffic in the following countries:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Argentina</li>
<li>Costa Rica</li>
<li>Cyprus</li>
<li>Egypt</li>
<li>Georgia</li>
<li>Indonesia</li>
<li>Israel</li>
<li>Malaysia</li>
<li>South Korea</li>
<li>Taiwan</li>
<li>Thailand</li>
<li>Vietnam</li>
<li>Ukraine</li>
<li>United Arab Emirates</li>
</ul>
If you try to torrent on a VPN server that doesn’t support P2P, the VPN app will re-route your traffic through a dedicated server in Canada or the Netherlands.
The apps detect P2P traffic using a “special algorithm” that NordVPN assured us doesn&#8217;t contravene its no-logs policy. This is likely a real-time analysis tool that detects traffic but doesn’t go on to store that data.
<h3>Torrenting with NordVPN&#8217;s SOCKS5 Proxy</h3>
NordVPN also provides a SOCKS5 proxy, which can be used with torrent clients like BitTorrent.
It’s faster than a VPN, but it&#8217;s not as secure. A SOCKS5 proxy spoofs your IP address, but it won’t encrypt your traffic, which puts your online privacy and security at risk.

In this NordVPN review we&#8217;ll show you why this popular VPN is <a href="/best-vpn/">one of the best VPNs around</a>.
It&#8217;s a safe and secure VPN service with a verified no-logs policy, and it uses encryption of the highest standard.
Its user-friendly VPN apps deliver fast worldwide speeds, and include advanced features like split tunneling, double VPN, and IP leak protection.
<a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=pr&amp;name=nordvpn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NordVPN</a> unblocks US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and it lets you torrent files anonymously on most servers.
One of NordVPN&#8217;s main advantages is its affordability. It costs considerably less <a href="/guides/nordvpn-vs-expressvpn/#nordvpn-vs-expressvpn-price">than its main rival ExpressVPN</a>, on a two-year subscription.
Despite a <a href="#server-hack">small security incident</a> in 2018, NordVPN has since proved that it&#8217;s a safe and trustworthy VPN.
Keep reading our updated NordVPN review to see how the VPN performed in our speed, security and streaming tests.

NordVPN offers three different subscription plans, but they all include the same features.
The monthly plan costs $11.95, which is quite expensive. However, NordVPN&#8217;s two-year deal lowers the monthly price dramatically to just $3.71 using our <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?&amp;type=prp&amp;name=nordvpn&amp;pagetype=Review&amp;linktype=text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">February coupon</a>.
This deal represents superb value, especially since you can use NordVPN on up to six devices at once. The only drawback is that you have to pay the full subscription of $89.00 upfront.

NordVPN accepts several different payment options including:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Credit and debit cards</li>
<li>Direct debit</li>
<li>Adyen</li>
<li>Amazon Pay</li>
<li>Bitcoin</li>
<li>Ethereum</li>
<li>Ripple</li>
<li>Alipay</li>
<li>UnionPay</li>
</ul>
In 2019, NordVPN stopped accepting PayPal and replaced it with Adyen, which supposedly offers greater privacy for customers, due to its self-contained nature.
<h3>Is There a Free Version of NordVPN?</h3>
Unlike TunnelBear, ProtonVPN, and other ‘freemium’ VPNs, NordVPN has never offered a <a href="/best-vpn/free/">completely free VPN service</a>.
However, you can get a seven-day 100% free trial on mobile (iOS and Android) devices.
Theoretically, you can use NordVPN for longer at zero cost by taking advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee. 
It&#8217;s a risk-free refund promise, so cancel your subscription within 30 days and your refund will be processed within 10 business days. To know more, read our guide on <a href="/guides/get-nordvpn-for-free/">how to get a NordVPN free trial</a>.

<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
Logging Policy Summary
NordVPN is a safe VPN with a verified no-logs policy and it operates within a privacy-first jurisdiction. This means that it is not possible to link any of your activity back to you, making NordVPN a great option if privacy is your number one concern.
</div>
We examined <a href="https://my.nordaccount.com/legal/privacy-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NordVPN’s privacy policy</a> in detail, which states the service doesn’t log your traffic or store any VPN connection logs. This ensures that your personal data is kept safe, secure, and private.
In fact, NordVPN is one of only a few VPNs to have had its no-logs policy audited by a third-party company. It has been audited twice by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), once in 2018 and again in 2020.
Both <a href="https://nordvpn.com/blog/nordvpn-audit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">audits</a> officially confirmed NordVPN’s no-log claims. They also verified the VPN doesn&#8217;t store the user’s IP addresses, connection logs, or browsing activity.
<div>
<dl id="attachment_84172">
<dt>
<div style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/09/NordVPNLoggingPolicy-min.png" alt="Screenshot of NordVPN's logging policy" width="840" height="350" />NordVPN is an audited no-logs VPN service.</div></dt>
</dl>
</div>
This makes NordVPN one of the most private and trusted VPNs available.
Some pieces of information are collected when you sign up for an account, though. Mainly your email address and payment data, which is common practice among VPN services.
For maximum privacy, you can sign up with a brand new email address and pay using cryptocurrency.
<h3>No logs of User Web Activity</h3>
Regardless, NordVPN can’t link any of your online activities to you as an individual. Nor can it disclose that information to any third parties.
The service only knows that you have an account, but not what you’ve done online while using the VPN.
NordVPN does monitor server loads in order to maintain optimal performance, and to recommend the fastest (often nearest) servers. 
This information is aggregated across all users and can&#8217;t be used to personally identify you. Many private VPNs do this.
The VPN service&#8217;s <a href="https://my.nordaccount.com/legal/terms-of-service/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terms of Service</a> state that: “To limit the number of simultaneous sessions of an active user, an algorithm keeps their username and the timestamp of the last session status while the session is active.”
We wanted to find out how that would affect user privacy, so we got in touch with NordVPN and a representative demonstrated how the algorithm works using the following diagram:
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/09/Simultaneous-Connections-Algorithm-NordVPN-min.png" alt="Screenshot of NordVPN's customer support reply about logging" width="840" height="200" />
The data is hashed using different dynamic components and temporarily held in separate and standalone databases around the world. It&#8217;s then deleted 15 minutes after the end of the session. Basically, this information can&#8217;t be traced back to an individual user.
<h3>Where Is NordVPN Based?</h3>
NordVPN is owned by NordVPN S.A. and it operates under the legal jurisdiction of Panama, which is excellent for privacy.
Panama doesn&#8217;t require VPN companies to log or report any of their data. Nor is it part of any agreements that compel it to share information with other countries. This makes Panama a &#8216;privacy haven&#8217; and a great VPN jurisdiction.
Being based in Panama gives NordVPN the power to deny any data requests from foreign governments and law enforcement agencies.
The company publishes a <a href="https://nordvpn.com/blog/nordvpn-introduces-a-warrant-canary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">daily warrant canary</a> to let users know that it hasn’t received any National Security Letters, gag orders, or warrants from any government organization.
Again, all of this goes to show that your personal data is in safe hands with this VPN service.

Speed Test Results

Logging & Jurisdiction

Pricing & Coupon

Security & IP Leak Tests

Server Locations

Bypassing Censorship

Devices & Operating Systems

Customer Service

How to Install

Do We Recommend NordVPN?

<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
Speed Tests Summary
NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs across the globe. We recorded fast speeds on both nearby and far-away servers. Speed performance is even more impressive when using the NordLynx protocol, too.
</div>
We tested our internet speeds first without a VPN and then when connected to a NordVPN server in the UK. We used the results to calculate our average speed loss percentage.
<ul>
<li>Download speed without NordVPN: 94Mbps</li>
<li>Download speed with NordVPN: 92Mbps</li>
<li>Our download speed loss when NordVPN is running: 2%</li>
</ul>
As you can see, NordVPN&#8217;s short-distance speed test results were very impressive: just a 2% decrease in our download speeds and 5% in uploads. This is perfect for buffer-free Netflix streaming and fast torrent downloads.
Ping times are also fairly low, for playing online games with minimal lag, as long as you connect to a server close by.
<h3>Worldwide Speed Test Results</h3>
Once we tested local speeds, we looked into how well NordVPN performed over longer distances. These results were just as impressive, particularly connecting to a US-based server.
Here are the average download and upload speeds connecting out from the UK to NordVPN’s servers:
USA (New York):
<ul>
<li>Download: 74Mbps (21% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 43Mbps (57% slower)</li>
</ul>
Germany (Berlin):
<ul>
<li>Download: 83Mbps (12% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 94Mbps (5% slower)</li>
</ul>
Singapore:
<ul>
<li>Download: 63Mbps (33% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 21Mbps (79% slower)</li>
</ul>
Australia (Sydney):
<ul>
<li>Download: 56Mbps (40% slower)</li>
<li>Upload: 29Mbps (71% slower)</li>
</ul>
Even in locations as far as Australia, NordVPN maintains incredibly fast speeds – well above what we typically see from other VPNs.
To test the VPN&#8217;s speeds across its server network, we compared the speeds to different cities within the US &#8211; East Coast, West Coast, and Southern US. Here’s what we saw:
<ul>
<li>New York (East): 74Mbps (download) &amp; 43Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Los Angeles (West): 62Mbps (download) &amp; 36Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Dallas (South): 76Mbps (download) &amp; 28Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Seattle (North-West): 67Mbps (download) &amp; 47Mbps (upload)</li>
</ul>
NordVPN performed rather consistently across all cities, which is great news for those who need city-specific VPN access.
<h3>How Fast is NordVPN Compared to Other Top VPNs?</h3>
The graph below compares NordVPN’s internet speed loss to other popular VPNs. This speed data is taken from our custom-built automated VPN speed test tool.
The tests run every six hours, and the connection is capped at 100Mbps to recreate a typical home internet environment.
 <picture data-id=joyce-0> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/296,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,ipvanish,privatevpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=296&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 374px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/351,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,ipvanish,privatevpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=351&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 767px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,ipvanish,privatevpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 989px)" /> <img data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,ipvanish,privatevpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" alt="VPN Speed Performance Comparison Chart" /> </picture>
<a class="button green-cta" href="https://www.top10vpn.com/vpn-speed-test/?to=nyc&amp;from=nyc&amp;period=8w&amp;providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&amp;int=7&amp;chart=dl_speed_avg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Compare NordVPN&#8217;s speeds across the world using our tool</a>
As the graph above shows, NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs available right now.
In our latest short-distance tests, the VPN reached a peak top speed of 93Mbps.
What’s most impressive is how fast and reliable NordVPN’s speeds have been over the last eight weeks.
However, what’s important for unblocking video content from abroad is how a VPN performs on international connections. NordVPN is currently the fastest VPN connecting to far-away locations, too.
Connecting from New York to London, NordVPN’s speed peaked at 86Mbps and fell to 73Mbps at its lowest point. Again, this beats <a href="/reviews/private-internet-access/">competitors like PIA VPN</a>, whose speeds ranged between 39Mbps and 69Mbps.

Mullvad

Super fast VPN with fantastic privacy options. Easy access to streaming sites.

private-internet-access-square

Private Internet Access is simple to install and easy to use on all platforms, but you may still require assistance.
Thanks to recent improvements, PIA’s customer support is now just as impressive as other top VPN providers. This is because PIA&#8217;s customer service team is now available through 24/7 live chat.
Live chat can be initiated from the bottom-right corner of the Private Internet Access website homepage. You are then asked to input your account details, like your email and account ID, before connecting to a support agent.
<div id="attachment_129319" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-129319" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129319" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/pia-verification-screen.png" alt="Screenshot of the verification stage of Private Internet Access' customer service." width="300" height="511" />PIA&#8217;s verification check allows you to save time and swiftly resolve your query.</div>
We’re glad PIA asks for those details, as by removing the need for a lengthy authentication procedure with the support agent, you get the answer to your query as soon as possible.
<div id="attachment_129322" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-129322" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-129322" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/pia-customer-service.png" alt="Screenshot of us receiving assistance from PIA's live chat support team." width="300" height="510" />PIA&#8217;s knowledgable customer support team was able to answer all of our questions.</div>
Once you connect to a PIA support agent, you should have your issue resolved within minutes. We found all PIA’s support agents to be knowledgeable, courteous, and prompt to respond. 
In terms of online resources, there is a large, <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/kb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searchable knowledgebase</a> with articles covering troubleshooting, account problems, technical complications, and more.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-129325" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/pia-customer-support-options.png" alt="Image of the different customer support options offered by Private Internet Access, including guides and email support." width="600" height="129" />
The <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/guides/windows/installation/windows-installing-the-pia-app">guides section</a> has articles covering setup and tutorials for all supported platforms, which should cover most general issues you might have with the app. It also has a <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news section</a> which informs users about app updates, service issues, and more.
You can also contact a member of the support staff on the website’s ticket request system. While this system does work and users tend to report positive experiences, you won’t always get a fast reply. In addition, this customer support is only available from 11 am to 7 pm (EST) and is shut entirely on the weekends.
PIA does have a separate <a href="https://twitter.com/piacsm?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter account </a>dedicated solely to customer service, but response times are poor. Looking through the account’s interactions, some queries were not responded to for over a week. We also contacted this account via direct message, and we did not receive a reply for four days.
This is all backed by PIA’s very loyal committed community of users, who are enthusiastic to aid anyone who has run into difficulty via the <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company forum</a> and even on the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Private Internet Access subreddit</a>.
Private Internet Access’ customer service is among the very best. If you require a VPN provider that’s going to be able to assist you whenever you need it, then PIA is a great option.

Private Internet Access comes with a brand new design that modernizes the look and feel of the VPN. The updated VPN apps are easy to navigate, user-friendly, and still offer enough configurability for advanced VPN users.
Setup is instant and connecting to your nearest server is just one click away. The location menu lists countries and city-based locations that can be sorted by name or ping time, while a search box and Favorites system can help you find the server you need quickly.
Expanding the window reveals a range of other options for connecting to servers in particular countries, viewing real-time performance graphs, usage statistics, key settings, and your current subscription status. You can bookmark each of these options to add it to your default view, allowing you to customize your experience. This is an excellent approach to user experience that helps beginners easily interact with more complex features.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-120481" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-Advanced-Features.png" alt="Screenshot of PIA's app, showing the expanded app window." width="261" height="484" />
In terms of usability, the new PIA VPN client also offers:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Light and dark mode</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Settings to launch or connect the VPN on system startup</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Different language settings</li>
</ul>
PIA’s dark mode is even better on mobile, as the app detects whether your iPhone or Android device is in light or dark mode and sets the PIA theme accordingly.<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-121021" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-Dark-Mode.png" alt="Image showing the light and dark mode available in the Private Internet Access applications." width="700" height="577" />
PIA has long been a technically proficient VPN that falls down when it comes to user experience. These newly updated apps are a huge improvement that changes this altogether. The new PIA applications are simple to use, intuitive, and visually appealing.

Yes, Private Internet Access works in China. It also works in other heavily-censored regions such as Russia, Turkey, and the UAE. To bypass the Great Firewall with PIA, use the OpenVPN protocol and enable the Shadowsocks proxy within the app&#8217;s settings.
The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Firewall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Firewall of China</a> is the name given to the combination of tools utilized by the Chinese government to enforce mass censorship. This firewall and those like it are so effective that only the <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">very best VPN services</a> can bypass them.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-157526 size-large" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/12/the-great-firewall-of-china-engagement-image-700x427.png" alt="Illustration of the great firewall of China" width="700" height="427" />
PIA uses <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowsocks">Shadowsocks</a>, which is a a third-party proxy developed specifically for use in China. Although Shadowsocks is not as safe or effective as proprietary VPN obfuscation tools, it will allow you to access popular apps and websites like Instagram, Facebook, Gmail, and WhatsApp.
We test PIA&#8217;s access in China weekly, using our test server located in Shanghai. This allows us to make a remote connection from within the country, verifying that all the information above is accurate and always up-to-date.

Private Internet Access provides custom applications for every major platform including Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. You can also use PIA on up to ten devices simultaneously, which is double the allowance given by most VPN services. 
There are browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, as well as custom apps for streaming devices like the Amazon Fire TV Stick. Manual setup guides are also available <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/client-support/">on the PIA website</a> to help walk you through older OS versions.
Unfortunately, PIA’s Firestick app is not particularly effective. We were only able to unblock US Netflix on 25% of PIA’s US servers when using Fire OS despite seeing a 100% success rate with the mobile and desktop apps.
There are no other streaming devices covered, which means that if you’re an Apple TV or Roku user you’ll have to install the VPN on your router to get Private Internet Access on your TV.
There are a few notable differences between each Private Internet Access app that we’ll explain in detail in the following section. For an overview of the features available on each platform, you can use the table below:
<div style="display: none;" data-table="1wbiqJSkLEIqNETiXS1zmngkD7bS4f9LQ6wrRzWfkNNY|985700882"></div>
<h3>PIA for Windows</h3>
The Private Internet Access Windows app offers the best balance of performance and features. It is easy to install and immediately opens with a simple interface from which you can connect to your desired server location, access the settings menu, and view your real and virtual IP address.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-120457" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Private-Internet-Access-Windows-Client.png" alt="Screenshot of the Private Internet Access app on Windows." width="276" height="450" />
More experienced VPN users can click the downward facing arrow to access a wider array of settings. In this expanded view you can see the amount of data transmitted during your VPN session, activate the VPN snooze feature, and measure your VPN’s performance.
The PIA Windows app comes with a ‘Proxy’ tab in the apps settings, which allows you to redirect your VPN connection through one extra location. You can choose between the Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxy options, with multiple locations available.
<div id="attachment_120460" style="width: 386px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120460" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120460" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Shadowsocks-Proxy.png" alt="Image showing the customizable proxy preferences available in the PIA app, including Shadowsocks and SOCKS5." width="376" height="207" />PIA&#8217;s Windows app allows you to route your traffic through one additional location.</div>
The app runs in the system tray by default, which means that the client is pinned to the bottom right of your device’s screen. The option to detach the app from the tray is buried in the ‘General’ section of the app’s settings, which is hard to find for most people. 
The Windows app does not support any VPN protocol other than OpenVPN and WireGuard, though it does allow you to choose between UDP and TCP. While OpenVPN is the industry-leading protocol in terms of speed and security, we’d like to see Windows users given the ability to choose from other protocols.
<h3>PIA for Mac</h3>
There are a few minor differences that make the Mac app more frustrating to use than the Windows client.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-120463" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Private-Internet-Access-Mac-App.png" alt="Image of the Private Internet Access VPN app on Mac." width="700" height="335" />
Firstly, the PIA Mac app launches as a menu bar app by default. This means that the app cannot be conveniently placed in the dock or launched from <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204014">Spotlight</a>. Even when detached from the menu bar, traditional keyboard shortcuts do not work with the app.
PIA’s MacOS application is also very slow to load and operate. When running as a windowed app, the Private Internet Access Mac app takes 3 seconds to load — making using it feel like a chore. 
These issues aside, the Private Internet Access client for Mac looks great and is easy to use. The app was very stable in our testing and experienced no interruptions or crashes.
<h3>PIA for Android</h3>
PIA’s Android app is by far the best of its mobile apps, offering advanced VPN features without compromising on simplicity. The app offers a range of configuration options, with more settings than some competing desktop clients.
Most of the screen on the Android interface is simply white space, with a large connection button in the center of the screen.<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-120466" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-Android-App.png" alt="Image of the PIA mobile app on Android." width="464" height="445" />
Tapping your current server location will display a list of other options. Here, a favorites system means your most commonly-used servers will always be at the top of the list.
Android users can choose between TCP or UDP connections, request port forwarding, customise DNS servers, and adjust encryption settings.
The application can be configured to automatically protect you when accessing unknown wireless networks, or turn itself off when you&#8217;re using mobile data. There is a built-in kill switch, a split tunneling option called Per App Settings, and even an option to set your device to vibrate when you connect to a PIA server.
Due to restrictions enforced by Google, the Private Internet Access app downloaded through the Google Play Store does not come with MACE, which is PIA’s proprietary ad blocker.
To get PIA MACE on your Android device you have to download the APK file directly from the PIA website. This is more difficult than a typical app download, but thankfully PIA provides a very accessible <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/guides/android/android-installing-the-pia-apk-file">step-by-step installation guide</a>.
Overall, the PIA Android app is a strong mixture of technical power and ease of use, with plenty of advanced configuration options.
<h3>PIA for iOS</h3>
The Private Internet Access iOS app is almost identical to the Android version. There&#8217;s the same streamlined interface, location list, and large Connect button.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-120469" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-iOS-App.png" alt="Image of the Private Internet Access mobile app on iPhone." width="600" height="383" />
The iOS app has the best choice of VPN protocols of all PIA apps, allowing you to switch between OpenVPN, WireGuard, IPsec, or IKEv2. There is also a large selection of configuration options, especially for an iOS app. You can set a custom port, change your DNS server, alter your encryption settings and enable a VPN kill switch. 
The home screen allows you to quickly connect to recently used server locations and toggle network management settings, including the ability to automatically permit trusted networks. There is also the option to use InBrowser, <a href="https://www.inbrowserapp.com/">PIA’s private browser</a> for iOS and Android. 
<div id="attachment_120472" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120472" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120472 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Safari-Content-Blocker.png" alt="Screenshot of PIA's adblocker on iOS." width="400" height="233" />PIA’s iOS app allows you to block ads and trackers through its Safari Content Blocker.</div>
Despite retaining the simple and user-friendly design of PIA’s other VPN apps, the iOS app misses out on a couple of key features. Most notably, the iOS app does not offer MACE, PIA’s built-in ad blocker. It does come with a Safari Content Blocker, which can be found in your device’s settings menu.

Private Internet Access has browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. These extensions enable you to connect to a PIA VPN server directly from your browser’s interface, hiding your IP address and securing your traffic with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squid_(software)">Squid HTTPS</a>. These extensions are only available to users with an existing Private Internet Access subscription. 
It’s worth remembering that VPN browser extensions will only affect the traffic from your browser window, and will not secure the rest of your computer’s activity. If you want to encrypt and secure the entirety of your device’s traffic, use a full VPN.
PIA’s browser extensions come with lots of settings to explore, and on balance they work very well. Bonus privacy features include the ability to prevent websites accessing your location, camera, or microphone, block Flash, and bypass particular websites. You can also block third-party cookies, website referrers, and trackers. If you&#8217;re looking to keep it simple, you can also just choose a location and click Connect.
We strongly recommend enabling “Block WebRTC IP Detection” in the PIA Firefox extension. Otherwise, your IP address will leak through WebRTC due to a privacy vulnerability in the Firefox browser.
<div id="attachment_120478" style="width: 533px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120478" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120478" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Chrome-Browser-Extension.png" alt="Image of PIA's Google Chrome extension successfully unblocking US Netflix." width="523" height="461" />PIA&#8217;s browser extensions allow you to stream US Netflix with ease.</div>
PIA’s Chrome, Firefox, and Opera extensions are some of the best we’ve seen. They come packed with more features and functionality than most of the competition, but can’t compete with the full VPN application when it comes to privacy and security.

Private Internet Access is a great VPN for gamers. It has fast connection speeds, very little impact on ping, and no DNS or IP leaks. All these components are essential for gaming as they minimize any potential lag and keep your identity hidden.
Games consoles do not allow native VPN apps. To get PIA working on your PS4, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch, you have to <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/what-is-a-vpn-router/">install the VPN on your home router </a>instead. This is not as simple as having a native VPN app, but it does allow you to protect all devices on your network without reaching the device limit.<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-120475" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-Streaming-Devices.png" alt="Image showing that Private Internet Access can be installed on routers." width="278" height="248" />
PIA has an attractive and easy to use VPN app for Amazon Fire TV Stick, but no other streaming devices are covered. If you’re an Apple TV or Roku user you’ll also have to install the VPN on your router to get Private Internet Access on your TV.
We found that PIA’s Fire TV Stick app was only able to unblock Netflix on 25% of PIA’s US servers, which is considerably less reliable than the desktop and mobile clients. There are <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/firestick/">plenty of Fire TV Stick VPN apps</a> capable of performing much better than this, so we’re disappointed to see PIA’s offering fall short.
Much like its mobile and desktop counterparts, though, PIA’s Firestick app does unblock Hulu and Disney+.
PIA client software can be installed manually on DD-WRT, Tomato, LEDE and AsusWRT routers, or you can buy a <a href="https://www.flashrouters.com/vpn-types/privateinternetaccess">router pre-installed with Private Internet Access</a> so you don’t have to set it up yourself. These pre-configured routers are a great option for those who don’t want to deal with technical details, but they are a little expensive at around $160 for the cheapest model.

Private Internet Access has a large network of servers in 94 locations across 74 countries. This is among the highest number of countries on offer from any top VPN service. You can find the full list of server locations <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/network/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the PIA website</a>.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-143454 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/09/pia-vpn-server-locations.png" alt="Private Internet Access server locations" width="700" height="418" />
PIA only uses <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare-metal_server" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bare-metal servers</a> for its VPN network. These are physical machines that run locally and do not rely on virtualisation. This has some privacy and security benefits, so we’re glad to see this remains true even as the VPN expands its infrastructure.
Every PIA server is labeled by location, with only one dedicated streaming server. This is a very simplistic approach to server locations that can present some problems. We’d like the app to display server load so users can see which locations are congested at any given time. As it stands, most users will have to cycle through their closest servers to find a location that works for them.
PIA’s VPN servers are spread out as follows:
<ul>
<li>Europe: 41 countries</li>
<li>Asia: 17 countries</li>
<li>North America: 6 countries</li>
<li>Africa: 5 countries</li>
<li>South America: 3 countries</li>
<li>Oceania: 2 countries</li>
</ul>
Its servers are mostly located in Europe and North America, but the spread elsewhere is very impressive. In practice, this means that wherever you’re located, you’ll be able to connect to a nearby PIA server.
The VPN also introduced an option to get a <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/private-internet-access-launches-dedicated-ip-address-option/">dedicated IP address</a>, which is unique to you and remains the same every time you connect. Australia, Canada, Germany, UK, and the US are the only available locations, and cost an extra $5 per month.
However, when connected to one of PIA&#8217;s dedicated IP servers, we failed to unblock any streaming service. This is one of the main benefits of purchasing a static IP address, so we recommend avoiding this until the VPN provider issues a fix.
More positively, the biggest advantage to Private Internet Access’ server network is that it operates the largest number of total servers we’ve seen from any VPN provider.
PIA has 12,204 VPN servers concentrated in 74 countries. This means that local traffic is spread out across many servers, decreasing congestion and improving performance.
You can see how Private Internet Access’ server network compares to other VPN providers in the table below:
<div style="display: none;" data-table="1wbiqJSkLEIqNETiXS1zmngkD7bS4f9LQ6wrRzWfkNNY|1785662158"></div>
The benefit of PIA’s huge server network is that it minimizes server load and increases the likelihood you’ll connect to a reliable and close-by server. In turn, this makes Private Internet Access the very fastest VPN available — with an average speed loss of around 3% on local connections. You can read more about its unmatched speed performance in the <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/private-internet-access/#review-speed">dedicated section of this review</a>.
<h3>Does PIA Use Virtual Server Locations?</h3>
A virtual server location assigns you an IP address in your chosen location even if the physical server is located elsewhere.
Virtual server locations allow some VPN providers to offer IP addresses in countries where it would be impossible to place a physical server. We explain <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/hidemyass/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in our HideMyAss review</a> how the VPN is able to offer a North Korean VPN server, for example.
They can also improve performance if the physical server is closer to your real location than the IP address you’re assigned. However, if the physical server is much further from your physical location than advertised, you may also see a significant drop in performance.
Private Internet Access covers so many countries because a massive 41% are virtual server locations. These servers are clearly labeled in the app with a globe icon and can be disabled by toggling off ‘Include Geo-Located Regions’ in the app’s settings.
<div id="attachment_143478" style="width: 253px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-143478" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-143478 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/09/pia-virtual-server-locations.png" alt="A list showing the virtual server locations in the Private Internet Access app." width="243" height="600" />PIA clearly labels its virtual server locations with a globe icon.</div>
Using virtual server locations isn’t a problem if it’s done properly, so PIA’s clear labeling of these servers, along with offering the ability for users to disable them entirely, provides a level of transparency that should be commended.
<h3>Does PIA Rent Its VPN Servers?</h3>
We contacted a PIA representative who confirmed that Private Internet Access rents almost all of its VPN servers. We were told:
“The majority of our servers, if not all of them, are rented from third parties.” 
The representative also informed us that PIA uses a “stringent vetting process” for these third parties. 
Most VPN companies rent some of their servers from data centers around the world.  This helps provide users with access to a global network, but means you are forced to trust an additional party with the responsibility for your data.
Generally speaking, rented servers are not an issue if the VPN provider takes the time to audit all installed hardware along with the network environment it is operating in. 
We asked PIA to explain their vetting process and how they can guarantee compliance from third parties. Sadly, PIA chose not to respond.
Though it is not unusual for a VPN provider to rent its hardware, we wish PIA was more transparent about their server ownership. We would like to see an explanation of exactly how their vetting process can guarantee security.

Although Netflix’s strong geo-blocks stop many VPNs from working with the service, Private Internet Access unblocks US Netflix with ease.
On top of this, PIA has recently increased the amount of options for its users by adding compatibility with the Germany, Japan, Canada, and Netherlands Netflix libraries.
<div id="attachment_129550" style="width: 622px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-129550" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-129550" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/private-internet-access-netflix-1.jpg" alt="Private Internet Access Netflix" width="612" height="396" />Private Internet Access consistently works with US Netflix.</div>
Frustratingly, though, the VPN does not unblock Netflix in any other country. This limitation means that reliable access to Netflix libraries in the UK, Australia, or France is not possible. If you are looking to access Netflix content from around the world, competing providers like <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/windscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Windscribe</a> or <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/privatevpn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PrivateVPN</a> are better options.
More pleasingly, we tested the &#8220;UK London-Streaming&#8221; server and found that Private Internet Access unblocked BBC iPlayer every time. While this is a relatively new fix, PIA now consistently works with the UK streaming service. We wish PIA would provide dedicated streaming servers for other countries and had a separate section for them in the app, though.
Our tests also found that Private Internet Access works with many streaming sites, including Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video. On top of this, PIA’s fast speeds mean you won’t experience any lag when streaming shows in HD.
Overall, PIA offers reliable access to US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and has an easy-to-use VPN app for Amazon Firestick. However, there are only dedicated servers for streaming in the UK, and the VPN fails to unblock content from many Netflix regions. If you’re looking for a VPN for this, <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/streaming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here are the top five VPNs for streaming</a>.
<h3>PIA Is an Excellent VPN for Torrenting</h3>
Private Internet Access is a great VPN for torrenting. It offers a strict no-logs policy, unlimited bandwidth, fast upload speeds, and port-forwarding, which increases the number of torrenting peers you can communicate with. PIA also allows P2P and file-sharing activity on all of its servers, which is a much more direct approach than some competing providers. 
PIA is compatible with all popular torrent clients including BitTorrent, Deluge, uTorrent, and Transmission. MACE, PIA’s <a href="#ad-blocker">built-in ad blocker</a>, can also help block any trackers or malware you may encounter in the process. 
As you can see from the screenshot below, we were able to successfully torrent on a number of randomized servers on PIA’s network. Our torrenting experience was fast and reliable, and we were able to successfully download and play an episode of the show we were looking for.
<div id="attachment_120415" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120415" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120415 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-Torrenting-Test.png" alt="A screenshot showing that PIA allowed us to torrenting and P2P share successfully." width="700" height="486" />We were able to download a torrent file very quickly while using PIA.</div>
The app has no dedicated servers for P2P activity. Instead, you can use torrents from any location, with no bandwidth or other limits to restrict your activities. Simply connect to your nearest VPN server and start downloading.
PIA’s <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/kb/articles/how-do-i-enable-port-forwarding-on-my-vpn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">port forwarding feature</a> redirects incoming connections to bypass any <a href="http://www.internet-computer-security.com/Firewall/NAT.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NAT firewall</a>, allowing you to increase the number of torrenting peers you can communicate with and often drastically improve your P2P download speeds. The PIA settings allow you to forward to ports 443, 80, 110, 53, 8080 and 9201. 
A kill switch is also present on all platforms to protect your traffic if your internet connection suddenly drops. If you need a VPN that’s going to hide your IP address and download your torrents quickly, Private Internet Access is a great choice.

Private Internet Access (PIA) has one of the fastest local connection speeds we&#8217;ve tested. It offers attractive apps, an effective kill switch on all platforms, and support for torrenting on all 12,204 of its servers. The VPN is unique by having had its no-logs policy verified through <a href="#server-seizures">server seizures</a> and multiple real-life cases.
PIA VPN uses industry-leading encryption protocols including OpenVPN, the unbreakable AES-256 cipher, and Perfect Forward Secrecy. This makes it one of the most secure and private VPN providers on the market.
Moreover, PIA VPN is also one of the cheapest services around, with prices as low as $2.69. There’s a generous 30-day money-back guarantee, support for 10 simultaneous connections, and a wide selection of apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux.
The VPN is a great option for streaming as it consistently worked with geo-blocked services in all of our tests — including US Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+. The downside is that PIA only unblocks the Netflix library from three countries, which is <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/netflix/#unblock-most-libraries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less than most top VPNs</a>.
It was also recently acquired by <a href="#kape-technologies">Kape Technologies</a>, a company with a past in aggressive advertising, and is based in the US, which is one of the worst jurisdictions for user privacy.
Despite concerns around its jurisdiction, <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=pr&amp;name=private-internet-access" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PIA VPN</a> is a great budget option for VPN users who want a simple way to watch US Netflix, torrent safely, or encrypt their traffic on untrustworthy WiFi networks. We’ve put months of testing and analysis into this Private Internet Access review to help you decide if it’s the right VPN for you.

Given its quality, Private Internet Access is one of the best-priced VPNs on the market. There are three billing options that allow you to pay monthly, yearly, and every 26 months. Lower prices are reserved for the longer-term plans.
PIA&#8217;s monthly package costs $11.95 per month or you can lower the cost to $3.33 if you pay for a year upfront. The best value can be found with the 26-month plan, which costs just $2.69 per month. This equals a 82% saving over the monthly plan.
Private Internet Access has always been among the <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/cheap-vpns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cheapest VPN services </a>on the market, but recent price reductions and feature additions have made it terrific value for money.

While there is no free trial, PIA has extended its refund policy and <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/private-internet-access-refund-policy-extended-to-30-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now offers a 30-day money-back guarantee</a>. If you want to cancel your subscription within the first 30 days, simply <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/helpdesk/kb/articles/how-do-i-request-a-refund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open a ticket with the PIA support team</a> and ask for a full refund.
There’s also a wide choice of payment options including cryptocurrencies, PayPal, debit cards, and even gift cards, which can be purchased anonymously with cash.

Private Internet Access keeps absolutely no logs, a policy that has been independently verified by several real-life cases. You can use the service with complete confidence that your IP address and activity is not being monitored, stored, or linked back to you.
<a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/privacy-policy/#personal_information_we_collect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PIA’s privacy policy states outrigh</a> that it “does not collect or log any traffic or use of its Virtual Private Network (&#8220;VPN&#8221;).” 
This commitment to privacy makes it a rare outlier among competing services that often collect some form of connection data.
Private Internet Access does collect your email address and payment details at sign-up, which is standard practice.
<div id="attachment_120394" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120394" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-120394" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Private-Internet-Access-Privacy-Policy.png" alt="A screenshot of the verified no-logs privacy policy from Private Internet Access." width="700" height="386" />Excerpt from the no-logs PIA Privacy Policy.</div>
PIA also releases <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/transparency-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regular transparency reports</a> that detail the number of requests for data it has received from government agencies. So far in 2020, the service has received six subpoenas for data and has been unable to produce logs every single time.
This VPN is unique in that its no-logs policy has been externally verified on several occasions. In 2016, <a href="https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/03/12/2043254/vpn-providers-no-logging-claims-tested-in-fbi-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the FBI subpoenaed PIA</a> in connection with a user that was suspected of making bomb threats. Though it was faced with an official data request, the service simply had no information to provide, as described in the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/303226103/Fake-bomb-threat-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official court documents</a>.
The Russian government also <a href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/13/the_exodus_begins_vpn_provider_leaves_russia_after_servers_seized/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seized PIA servers in 2016</a> but did not find any retained connection or activity data. PIA subsequently <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/21779/we-are-removing-our-russian-presence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">removed all of its servers from Russia</a> in protest to this incident, which is a bold move that we’d like to see more VPN providers follow.
While there is no independent audit to verify PIA’s privacy and security offering, these court cases are real-world tests that provide a much more practical way of verifying the company’s logging claims.
Given PIA’s unique success in these real-world tests, we have absolutely no doubts about its exceptional privacy policy, and consider Private Internet Access a fully verified no-logs VPN provider.
<h3>PIA Is Based in the United States</h3>
<div id="attachment_120400" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120400" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120400 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/PIA-US-Jurisdiction.jpg" alt="An image showing PIA's headquarters, located within the United States, a notably poor jurisdiction for a VPN service." width="700" height="454" />PIA’s HQ in Denver, Colorado, flying the US flag.</div>
PIA is based in the United States, which is generally considered to be the worst place to base a VPN provider.
The US is a founding member of Five Eyes (FVEY) intelligence alliance, which means it has automatic systems in place to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/20/us-uk-secret-deal-surveillance-personal-data" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collect and share surveillance data</a> with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Patriot Act</a> also gives US authorities sweeping powers to collect and retain data, especially through the use of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_letter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Security Letters</a>. US state agencies have the power to coerce businesses to log and share user data, and often <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/961/gag-orders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue gag orders</a> that prevent the target company from disclosing what they’re being compelled to do.
<div id="attachment_132707" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-132707" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-132707 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/06/usa-patriot-act.png" alt="Private Internet Access VPN jurisdiction." width="700" height="605" /></a>Excerpt from the Patriot Act 2001.</div>
We typically do not recommend using a VPN based in a Five Eyes country like the US. However, a verified no-logs policy can offset most of the issues posed by an invasive government. After multiple real-world verifications, we are wholly confident that PIA’s privacy policy and logging practices can withstand its privacy-unfriendly jurisdiction, and you can trust this VPN with your data.
<h3 id="kape-technologies">Who Owns Private Internet Access?</h3>
In November 2019 <a href="https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/KAPE/14348750.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kape Technologies acquired Private Internet Access</a> from London Trust Media Inc. (LTMI), a company with <a href="http://archive.md/20180820145158/https://londontrustmedia.com/brands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an established history</a> in releasing privacy tools, including PIA VPN in 2010 and <a href="https://www.inbrowserapp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InBrowser</a> in 2013. Despite its name, London Trust Media is actually based in Denver, Colorado.
However, Kape’s acquisition of PIA has garnered a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivateInternetAccess/comments/dz184o/hey_pia_ceo_you_sold_this_company_to_kape_might/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">great deal of controversy</a>. The bulk of the backlash stems from Kape’s past activities in the advertising space, when it went by the name <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150723081831/https://crossrider.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crossrider</a>.
Essentially, Crossrider’s mobile advertising and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150727031019/http://crossrider.com/developers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">browser extension platforms</a> allowed software developers to create and monetize apps and browser add-ons through aggressive ad injection, or ‘adware’. We’ve actually detailed Crossrider’s dubious advertising activities in our <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/cyberghost/#review-jurisdiction" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CyberGhost review</a>.
Crossrider’s former CEO, <a href="https://il.linkedin.com/in/kobyme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Koby Menachemi</a>, has also <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21679682&amp;p=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">come under criticism</a> simply because of his work as a software developer for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_8200" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unit 8200</a> in the 1990s. Unit 8200 is part of the Israeli Intelligence Corps, Israel’s intelligence agency, but we found that Unit 8200 is more of a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/20/from-the-8200-to-silicon-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hub for Israeli startups</a>, spawning popular technology companies like Waze and Viber. Accusations from some publications of Menachemi being a former spy seem far-fetched.
In 2019, London Trust Media also suffered some bad press when it hired Mark Karpelès as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Karpelès is better known as the CEO of now-defunct Bitcoin trading platform Mt. Gox, and in March 2019 he was <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/mt-goxs-mark-karpeles-found-guilty-given-2-6-year-suspended-sentence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty of manipulating Bitcoin exchange data</a>.
However, given that Karpelès is an employee of London Trust Media and not Private Internet Access, he is no longer associated with the VPN provider following PIA&#8217;s acquisition by Kape. 
<div class="mceTemp"></div>
<div id="attachment_120406" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-120406" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-120406 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Private-Internet-Access-CTO.jpg" alt="Image of Mark Karpelès, now the CTO of London Trust Media, announcing that Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy." width="700" height="451" />Mark Karpelès announcing that Mt. Gox had filed for bankruptcy in February 2014.</div>
On the whole, PIA has always gone above and beyond to champion digital privacy, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t trust this established VPN. Equally, Kape is determined to move on from its Crossrider days, and is doubling down on its commitments to privacy and internet security. It now operates three trustworthy VPN services, including CyberGhost and <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/zenmate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ZenMate</a>, with a combined VPN subscriber base of over two million users.

Pricing & Deals

Encryption, Privacy & Security

Platforms & Devices

Ease of Use

Do We Recommend this VPN?

We measured our connection speeds before and after connecting to a Private Internet Access server in London, close to our physical location. We measured a percentage speed loss of just 4% — an incredibly fast result. This is the type of performance you can expect if you’re connecting to a US server from within the US.
PIA’s speed and performance really shines on local connections — providing exceptional upload and download speeds.
<h3>Long-Distance Speed Test Results</h3>
PIA’s speeds over long-distance connections are less impressive but still fast enough for streaming, torrenting, and normal browsing. We connected to servers in the US, Australia, Germany, and Singapore from our London office and measured our speeds before and after.
As expected, the servers located furthest from our office in the UK recorded the largest speed losses.
We recorded an average speed loss of 74% when connected to Japan and 34% when connected to Singapore. This level of speed loss is not unusual for long-distance connections, though, so rest assured that PIA is still very fast.
USA (New York):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Download: 66Mbps (34% slower) </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Upload: 38Mbps (57% slower)</li>
</ul>
Germany (Munich):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Download: 97Mbps (8% slower)  </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Upload: 72Mbps (19% slower)</li>
</ul>
Japan (Tokyo):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Download: 26Mbps (74% slower) </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Upload: 9Mbps (90% slower)</li>
</ul>
Australia (Melbourne):
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Download: 54Mbps (46% slower) </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Upload: 10Mbps (89% slower)</li>
</ul>
Though its international speeds aren’t the best, we did find that PIA’s speeds are consistent and reliable. We did not experience any unexpected drops in performance and found that connection times were consistently quick.
If you want the speediest option, find <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/fastest-vpn/">the fastest VPNs in 2021</a> in our dedicated guide. In short, if you are planning on using a VPN primarily for long-distance connections, it might be worth considering <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/expressvpn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ExpressVPN</a> or <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/hotspot-shield/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotspot Shield</a>. 
All of our VPN reviews go through the same scientific speed-testing process and we always use the VPN&#8217;s fastest protocol to keep it fair and consistent. If you’re curious, you can <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/about/how-we-review-vpns/#speed-anchor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read more about our speed-testing methodology here</a>. 
<h3>How Fast is Private Internet Access Compared to Other VPNs?</h3>
The graph below compares PIA&#8217;s average speed loss to 17 other popular VPNs using our custom VPN speed test tool. We developed this tool in-house, using our infrastructure and resources. This allows us to display the unbiased results as we find them.
 <picture data-id=joyce-0> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/296,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speed_avg&target_width=296&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 374px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/351,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speed_avg&target_width=351&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 767px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speed_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 989px)" /> <img data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speed_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" alt="VPN Speed Performance Comparison Chart" /> </picture>
<a class="button green-cta" href="https://www.top10vpn.com/vpn-speed-test/?to=nyc&amp;from=nyc&amp;period=8w&amp;providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn&amp;int=7&amp;chart=dl_speed_avg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Use our Speed Test Tool to compare Private Internet Access’ speeds across different cities.</a>
Private Internet Access is typically the fastest VPN on local connections. However, over the past eight weeks, PIA has often been outperformed by NordVPN on a short-distance New York connection.
Still, these are incredibly fast speeds from Private Internet Access and it comfortably beats other top performers, like ExpressVPN.
PIA&#8217;s main advantage is how consistent and reliable its fast speeds were. Over the period, PIA’s speeds fell in the range of 85Mbps to 92Mbps, while ExpressVPN&#8217;s speeds were more sporadic and ranged between 69Mbps and 91Mbps.
This means that PIA can always be relied upon to give you the fast internet speeds required for streaming and torrenting.
Sadly, Private Internet Access does fare worse over international connections. When connecting to London from New York, PIA’s speeds were less impressive and steady than some other VPNs. This can be frustrating if you’re wanting to access BBC iPlayer or Netflix UK with PIA, as you may be left with unwanted interruptions and buffering issues.

VyprVPN

Super fast no-logs VPN. Great for torrenting/P2P & popular among Firestick users.

IPVanish logo

IPVanish offers customer support via an extensive online help section, live chat and 24/7 email support.
The fastest way to get support is via Live Chat, which you can reach from the top-right of the website. Live chat agents are helpful, and always respond quickly. The round-the-clock email support is also excellent, with prompt and well-written responses.
<div id="attachment_124087" style="width: 263px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124087" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-124087" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanis-customer-support.png" alt="IPVanish customer support" width="253" height="346" />Live chat is a welcome addition</div>
Equally, there are good resources for learning about <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/resources/#learning" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VPN technology in general</a>. Not to mention many detailed tutorials on using IPVanish on various platforms. For example, there are 12 guides just for using the VPN on Windows.
The <a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/sections/115000501553-FAQ-Frequently-Asked-Questions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online FAQ section</a> is good for straightforward solutions to common issues.
There’s telephone support, too, which isn’t offered by any other big name VPN. It’s available from 9am to 5pm CST, Monday to Friday.

All IPVanish applications are simple to use and offer a good suite of accessible features. It’s easy to change servers and the interfaces are reasonably intuitive. The advanced privacy settings are also easy to navigate.
All the apps are suited to both VPN beginners and more experienced users.
Installing the software is straightforward. The Windows and Mac clients install like most software. And you can install the iOS and Android applications directly from their respective app stores.
You can also <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=6006084909ecf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the Android APK file</a>. This lets you install the VPN on Android devices with no access to the Google Play Store.
For beginners, <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/vpn-setup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detailed setup guides</a> are available for every platform. You can also take an optional tutorial when you first log in to the app.
The Fire TV Stick app is also excellent. It&#8217;s far more complete than the Fire TV apps other providers offer.
Here’s an overview of the main IPVanish applications:
<div style="display: none;" data-table="14B2sRonQ3gksKWEI12KD26aYtg-sD8stq4kxX1KBqSg|2047294638"></div>
<h3>Windows Client</h3>
The IPVanish Windows app looks complex at first, but is in fact simple to use. Once you’ve connected to a server, a status panel will display the protocol you’re using, time connected, server name, and bandwidth used. There’s also a real-time graph showing upload and download speeds over time.
<div id="attachment_124123" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124123" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124123" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-pc-700x475.png" alt="The IPVanish Windows app" width="700" height="475" />The IPVanish Windows app allows you to change server locations with just a few clicks</div>
You can pick a country, city, or server to connect to from the locations list. Or, just press “connect” to use the best server available.
In the side-menu, you can sort the server list by country, server load, or response time. The search box is also useful to filter by keyword. One click adds a server location to your &#8216;favorites list,&#8217; for quicker future access.
There&#8217;s even the option to pick a location from a map, too. Numbers represent how many servers are available in a given location.
In the settings tab you have access to the kill switch, and the scramble protocol, which helps mask OpenVPN traffic. The kill switch isn’t enabled by default, though. Make sure you turn it on before you start using the VPN. You can also decide if you want IPVanish to launch on PC startup, or not.
The Windows default protocol is OpenVPN UDP, but you can also use OpenVPN TCP, IKEv2, or L2TP. You can also switch between OpenVPN ports 1194 and 443. Don&#8217;t use SSTP or PPTP &#8211; they&#8217;re insecure protocols and IPVanish should remove them.
Last but not least, the Windows app comes with full IP and DNS leak protection.
Overall, the Windows VPN app performs very well and its advanced features will please experienced users.
<h3>MacOS Client</h3>
The MacOS client has most of the same features as the Windows one (minus LAN exemption).
The interface is less user-friendly, though. It opens as a windowed app, but you can only access the settings from the menu bar app, which isn&#8217;t intuitive.
<div id="attachment_124117" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124117" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124117" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-macos-700x480.png" alt="The IPVanish MacOS app" width="700" height="480" />Both desktop apps include a real-time graph of upload and download speed</div>
However, unlike some rival MacOS VPN clients &#8211; like NordVPN or ProtonVPN &#8211; it does have a kill switch. This is something we greatly value.
The Mac application has the option to toggle between IPVanish and third-party DNS. This is unique to the MacOS client. You can also toggle IPv6 leak protection on or off. IPv6 leak protection should always be on by default in our opinion.
<h3>Android App</h3>
The Android app is IPVanish&#8217;s most impressive client. The user interface is easy to use and there are more features than in any other app.
The home screen displays useful information like your current IP address location, and a target country. The ‘connect’ button gets you online in seconds. Settings, account details, and a full server list are available from the menu in the top left. Or, you can use the quick select fields on the home screen.
<div id="attachment_124111" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124111" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124111" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-iphone-700x460.png" alt="IPVanish Android app" width="700" height="460" />The Android app is easier to use than on desktop</div>
You can select servers by country or city in the locations menu. But, there&#8217;s no server load data to help you find less congested servers. And the &#8216;favorites&#8217; list, to add your preferred servers, is missing. You&#8217;ll have to scroll to specific servers, instead.
There’s a support tab as well, to make things easy if you ever get stuck.
The best thing about the Android app is its versatility and long features list. There&#8217;s a kill switch, split tunneling, and LAN exemption to connect to local devices without issues.
To secure your traffic you can choose between OpenVPN UDP or TCP protocols. You&#8217;ll also benefit from a wider choice of ports (1194, 443 and 8443) than on the Windows client.
There are also features designed for mobile connections. You can choose to reduce the MTU (maximum transmission unit) to use less mobile data, for instance.
There’s a setting to notify you when connected to an insecure network, and an option to “scramble” data, too. This can help bypass general content blocks, but it won’t beat aggressive web restrictions.
Overall, the IPVanish Android app is an impressive VPN client. It&#8217;s easy to use and contains a long list of advanced features.
<h3>iOS App</h3>
The IPVanish app for iPhone and iPad is visually different to the Android app. It’s still easy to use, though.
You can access advanced features via the settings button in the top right hand corner. Unlike the Android app, there’s less on offer here. There are only two extra settings: auto-connect, and a protocol toggle between IKEv2 and IPSEC.
The default protocol is IKEv2, a good choice for mobile devices switching between WiFi and cellular data. You can also switch to IPSec, but IKEv2 is more secure.
<div id="attachment_124090" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124090" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124090" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-android-700x397.png" alt="The Android IPVanish app" width="700" height="397" />The iOS app is more limited than the Android one</div>
The lack of features on the iOS app is evident. There&#8217;s no kill switch, no split tunneling, and no LAN exemption. On the plus side, you can build whitelists and blacklists of wireless networks. The app will remember the networks to trust, and the ones to block.
What&#8217;s more, the server list displays server load and ping times. The app also features a &#8216;favorites&#8217; list, where you can save your preferred server locations.
All in all, the iOS client is probably IPVanish&#8217;s weakest application. It&#8217;s functional, but it needs some work. Hopefully, the company will add features, like a kill switch, to it soon.
<h3>Fire TV Stick App</h3>
IPVanish Firestick VPN app is the best there is right now. It isn’t especially pretty, but it&#8217;s highly secure and easy to use.
<div id="attachment_124132" style="width: 516px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124132" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-124132" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-tv.png" alt="IPVanish Fire TV Stick app" width="506" height="257" />IPVanish has the best Fire TV Stick app</div>
There are plenty of features available. These include auto-startup, auto-reconnect, LAN exemption, and even split tunneling. The real-time upload/download speed graph is prominent, but it doesn’t affect functionality. If anything, it looks better on a TV than on a phone or computer screen.
You can use either OpenVPN UDP or OpenVPN TCP connections. Like the other IPVanish apps, can also “scramble” your OpenVPN traffic. Try it if your standard VPN traffic is being blocked.
There’s a support tab, too, to get instant help. We had problems with some UK servers, but support quickly pointed us to a working one.
The Firestick app does take slightly longer to connect than the other VPN apps. However, it’s not frustratingly slow and connects after a handful of seconds.
Clearly, IPVanish has put a lot of work into its Fire TV app. Many VPN services haven&#8217;t, which is why we strongly recommend IPVanish to any Fire TV user.

IPVanish does not work in China and other highly-censored countries. It’s not just its web domain that&#8217;s blocked &#8211; the VPN apps don’t work either. We tested IPVanish on <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/china/#china-vpn-test-results">our Shanghai server to no avail</a>.
Its obfuscation tool, called “<a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/360015452514-What-is-the-Scramble-option-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scramble VPN traffic</a>,” simply can&#8217;t bypass strict web censors.
If you need a VPN to beat online censorship, look elsewhere. If you live in or are traveling to a high-censorship country use either ExpressVPN or Astrill VPN. Both are very reliable at bypassing aggressive web censors. You can learn more about bypassing censorship in our <a href="/reviews/astrill/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Astrill VPN review</a>.
<a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002075474-Does-your-VPN-work-in-my-country-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPVanish states</a> that it is “forbidden to do business in”:
<ul>
<li>Cuba</li>
<li>Iran</li>
<li>Myanmar</li>
<li>North Korea</li>
<li>Sudan</li>
<li>Syria</li>
</ul>
And that its domain, ipvanish.com, is blocked in:
<ul>
<li>China</li>
<li>Kazakhstan</li>
<li>Qatar</li>
<li>Saudi Arabia</li>
<li>United Arab Emirates (UAE)</li>
</ul>
The VPN may work in these countries (except China) by manually connecting to a server IP address. A full list of configuration guides is available <a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002080373-IPVanish-VPN-in-China-and-other-countries-that-block-IPVanish-com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on the IPVanish website</a>.
<h3>Using IPVanish With Tor</h3>
Tor (The Onion Router) is an online anonymity tool that provides the highest level of anonymity. It does this by routing your traffic through three random servers in a volunteer-managed network.
<div id="attachment_95758" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-95758" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-95758" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2019/11/Asset-2-min-700x345.png" alt="Diagram of data passing through the Tor network" width="700" height="345" />The Tor Network routes your traffic through three random servers to achieve anonymity.</div>
Sadly, network managers like your school, university or employer can easily identify Tor traffic. And they will often block it, or penalize users for accessing it. This is also the case in countries with heightened online censorship.
By connecting to IPVanish before Tor, you can hide your connection to the Onion Network, and bypass restrictions.
There are drawbacks to this setup, though. Tor is already slow, and it isn’t optimized for UDP traffic, which OpenVPN defaults to. It doesn’t offer any dedicated servers for Tor traffic, either.
Therefore, expect <a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002080133-TOR" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant speed issues</a> when combining IPVanish VPN with Tor.

IPVanish is a safe VPN with strong security attributes. It protects your data with AES-256 encryption and uses <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=6005ccb9529c5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secure protocols</a> like OpenVPN, IKEv2, and L2TP/IPsec.
We tested all its apps and they all hide your IP address and encrypt your traffic data. And we didn&#8217;t experience any <a href="/do-i-leak/">DNS, IPv4 and IPv6 leaks</a>.
Advanced features include traffic obfuscation, split tunneling, DNS and IPv6 leak protection. There’s also a VPN kill switch to keep your IP hidden in case of a connection drop. This isn’t turned on by default, so make sure you switch it on before connecting. Sadly, the kill switch is on available on the iOS app.
All the VPN apps offer a unique level of control over your OpenVPN configuration. There’s even a SOCKS5 proxy available for torrent users.
An advantage of using IPVanish is that it owns and manages its entire server network. This is rare among VPN services, and it reduces the risk of server security issues. We’ll go over the benefits of this in the <a href="/reviews/ipvanish/#review-server_locations">server section</a> of this review.
It has to be said that some of the apps lack key features, <a href="/reviews/ipvanish/#review-ease">in particular the iOS app</a>.
All in all, IPVanish is one of the most secure VPN services available. Its advanced suite of features is suitable for beginners and experienced VPN users alike.
<h3>IPVanish Leak Test</h3>
We tested IPVanish’s apps for leaks and can confirm that it does not leak IP or DNS data.
We ran our leak tests from our office in London, UK. We connected to several IPVanish servers including several US ones. As you can see below, our UK DNS and IP addresses were never detected.
<div id="attachment_124114" style="width: 701px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124114" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-124114" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-leak-test.png" alt="IPVanish leak test" width="691" height="457" />IPVanish&#8217;s leak test results when connected to its Chicago server</div>
IPVanish therefore effectively hides your IP address and true location.
<h3>Wireshark Packet Inspection</h3>
After testing for leaks, we inspected our traffic when connected to an IPVanish server. This allows us to verify the VPN client is truly encrypting our data.
We carried out this test using <a href="https://www.wireshark.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wireshark</a>, a free and open-source packet inspection tool.
<div id="attachment_124141" style="width: 652px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124141" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-124141" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/wireshark-ipvanish.png" alt="IPVanish Wireshark scan" width="642" height="601" />The UDP stream from IPVanish shows no plain text</div>
We didn&#8217;t capture any data being sent across our network in plain text. We found no unencrypted TCP or UDP traffic, and no HTTP or DNS traffic traveling in plain text.
In other words, IPVanish works exactly as intended. When it runs, it fully encrypts the traffic leaving the device. We trust the VPN to hide web activity from ISPs or protect data transfers on public WiFi networks.
<h3>Malware &amp; App Permissions</h3>
We also scanned the desktop client using Malwarebytes to ensure it&#8217;s free from viruses and malware.
<div id="attachment_124120" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124120" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124120" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-malwarebytes-scan-700x508.png" alt="IPVanish Malwarebytes scan" width="700" height="508" />Unsurprisingly, we didn&#8217;t find any malware in IPVanish</div>
The VPN app passed the tests without trouble. We found no viruses or malware.
As a final step, we used the <a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">εxodus tool</a> to scan the Android application. We use this tool to scan for intrusive or excessive device permissions.
<div id="attachment_124096" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124096" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124096" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-exodus-report-700x825.png" alt="IPVanish exodus permissions and trackers scan" width="700" height="825" />The εxodus result showed few trackers, but also unnecessary permissions</div>
<a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.ixolit.ipvanish/latest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The results show two trackers present</a>: Google Crashlytics and Google Firebase Analytics. These are common troubleshooting tools that collect data on how you use the app.
This isn’t too concerning ‒ many VPN apps use Firebase and Crashlytics. But, it also isn’t the perfect model for privacy. <a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.astrill.astrillvpn/latest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astrill&#8217;s Android app contains no trackers</a>, and we want more VPN services to follow suit.
The IPVanish app also asks unnecessary permissions. The most worrying of which is “READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE.” There is no justification for a VPN reading external storage, and we find its inclusion concerning.
There are many reasons developers put permissions into their apps. Sometimes, permissions are just part of default libraries. In truth, only a few are necessary to run a VPN service. We hope IPVanish soon removes the more intrusive permissions.
All our security tests demonstrate that IPVanish VPN is highly secure and safe. Thanks to AES 256-bit encryption and advanced security features, its apps will protect your privacy.

IPVanish has native apps for most platforms: Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Fire OS, and Linux. All apps are easy to set up, even on your home router.
The VPN service even comes with an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" type="prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=6006084909ecf&quot;">official APK file</a>. This lets you to side load the VPN onto any Android device.
You can also use the VPN on unlimited devices simultaneously. It&#8217;s rare to see a top-shelf VPN offer this. Most services limit concurrent connections to five devices per account.<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-124126" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-platforms-700x316.png" alt="IPVanish device compatibility" width="700" height="316" />
Advanced users can also configure IPVanish on Windows phones, Ubuntu, Chromebook, and more &#8216;difficult&#8217; devices.
Sadly, there are no VPN browser extensions available. VPN browser add-ons are increasingly popular, and we expect all major VPN services to have them. To use a VPN browser extension, take a look at our recommendations for <a href="/best-vpn/chrome/">Chrome</a> and <a href="/best-vpn/firefox/">Firefox</a>.
<h3>Installing IPVanish on Your Router</h3>
There are two choices for setting IPVanish up on your router. You can <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/flashrouters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buy a pre-flashed router</a>, or manually set up the VPN on a compatible router.
Installing a VPN on your router lets you protect your entire network with VPN encryption. This way you use the VPN on devices without native VPN applications like Apple TV and games consoles.
IPVanish is compatible with the following DD-WRT-enabled routers:
<ul>
<li>Asus</li>
<li>Belkin</li>
<li>Buffalo</li>
<li>D-Link</li>
<li>Linksys (Cisco)</li>
</ul>
Setting up a VPN on your router isn’t for beginners, though. You also need to ensure you have the right hardware first. <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/vpn-setup/routers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Consult the IPVanish website</a> to check that your router is compatible.
It&#8217;s a shame IPVanish doesn&#8217;t have a Smart DNS tool. It&#8217;s much easier to use a <a href="/best-vpn/apple-tv/">VPN on Apple TV</a> and games consoles using Smart DNS.
<h3>IPVanish for Firestick &amp; Kodi</h3>
IPVanish is one of the few VPNs to offer a <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=6006084925965" target="_blank" rel="noopener">native app for Amazon Fire TV</a>. It&#8217;s one of the most secure out there, and it&#8217;s popular with Kodi and IPTV streamers.
The service doesn’t store any internet logs, keeping your streaming history anonymous.
<h4>How to install IPVanish on your Fire TV Stick:</h4>
<ol>
<li>Select ‘apps’ and then ‘categories’ from the Fire TV Stick home screen.</li>
<li>Choose ‘utility’ and then select the IPVanish application.</li>
<li>Download IPVanish and select ‘open’ to enter your login details.</li>
<li>Click ‘connect’ to use the nearest server, or pick a server from the ‘options’ menu.</li>
</ol>
IPVanish is also highly compatible with <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=600609e827227" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kodi</a>. There&#8217;s no other VPN service that has invested as much into marketing their VPN for use with Kodi.
Kodi add-ons let you stream all sorts of video content. If you stream copyrighted material, your IP address may be exposed to copyright trolls. The <a>best Kodi VPNs</a>, like IPVanish, protect your IP address from this risk.
IPVanish can also unblock geo-restricted content on official Kodi add-ons like IceFilms and NBC sport. The VPN&#8217;s website contains setup guides for using the VPN with Kodi on the following platforms:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002080393-Setting-Up-IPVanish-with-Kodi-on-Windows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Windows</a></li>
<li><a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002080533-Setting-Up-IPVanish-with-Kodi-on-Mac" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MacOS</a></li>
<li><a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002080593-Setting-Up-IPVanish-on-Amazon-Fire-TV-Fire-Stick-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon Fire TV Stick</a></li>
<li><a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002075114-Setup-IPVanish-with-Kodi-for-Android" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/images/a/kodi-vpn/mxq-pro-min.png" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MXQ Pro</a></li>
<li><a href="https://support.ipvanish.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002074994-Set-Up-OpenVPN-on-OpenELEC-6-Kodi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenElec</a></li>
</ul>

IPVanish has a large network 1,400+ servers in 77 locations. All 1,400+ VPN servers are self-owned and managed. The company doesn&#8217;t rent any servers.
Users also have access to over 40,000 shared IP addresses. Only VyprVPN offers more, with 300,000. A large number of IP addresses helps prevent traffic congestion on very popular server locations.
The vast network includes servers in most European countries and over 500 servers in North America. The choice is more limited outside these regions, particularly in Africa.
Here’s a breakdown of the number of servers in each region:
<ul>
<li>North America: 822</li>
<li>Europe: 434</li>
<li>Asia: 66</li>
<li>Oceania: 83</li>
<li>South America: 32</li>
<li>Africa: 12</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_124129" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124129" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124129" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-server-list-700x584.png" alt="IPVanish full server list" width="700" height="584" />IPVanish has servers in six continents</div>
City-level server locations are available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Brazil. Here is the full list of city-level locations:
<ul>
<li>UK: Manchester, London, Glasgow</li>
<li>Canada: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal</li>
<li>Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth</li>
<li>Brazil: São Paulo, Rio De Janeiro</li>
<li>US Central: Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston</li>
<li>US East Coast: Ashburn, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York</li>
<li>US West Coast: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Seattle</li>
</ul>
You can connect to servers in 57 countries. The full list of server locations is on the <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?&amp;type=prs&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;clicktype=ServerLocOut.Review" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPVanish website</a>.
<h3>Server Ownership &amp; Geolocation Testing</h3>
We’ve seen some VPN providers overextend their server networks, causing security vulnerabilities. The 2018 <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2019-10-21-nordvpn-server-breach-data-center-finland.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NordVPN security incident</a> is a good example of this.
Many VPN companies rent large portions of their server network to cover as many countries as possible. Some VPN services specify how they keep control of these rented servers. Others are much less transparent.
VPN companies also use virtual server locations. These servers assign IP addresses for a country, even if they&#8217;re physically located elsewhere.
Both scenarios above can cause security issues. It&#8217;s vital that your VPN service takes server management and security very seriously.
An IPVanish rep confirmed the company owns all its servers and doesn&#8217;t use virtual servers.
<blockquote>IPVanish owns and manages its own servers rather than renting hardware from other companies. This gives it much more control over how its servers are installed, managed, and operated.</blockquote>
It’s rare for a VPN company to own its entire server network. Only <a href="https://www.vyprvpn.com/server-locations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VyprVPN</a> and <a href="https://www.azirevpn.com/docs/servers">AzireVPN</a> also do this. This is a huge security advantage and a unique selling point of IPVanish.
We ran geo-location tests on several servers to verify they&#8217;re physically located where they’re supposed to be. We did this using the <a href="https://asm.saas.broadcom.com/en/ping.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">App Synthetic Monitor Ping tool</a>. The tool pings a URL from 50 different monitoring stations worldwide.
The closer the monitoring station is to the physical VPN server, the lower the ping rate will be. For example, connecting to a VPN server in Frankfurt, Germany, the ping between server and monitoring station is far lower than the ping from other stations:
<div id="attachment_124102" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124102" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124102" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-geolocation-test-700x544.png" alt="Geolocation test of IPVanish servers" width="700" height="544" />We applied this geolocation test to 20 popular IPVanish servers</div>
We applied this test to 20 different IPVanish server locations around the world. We analyzed differences between our ping times and our supposed server location. We tested the following locations:
<ul>
<li>Albania (Tirana, tia-c02.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Australia (Sydney, syd-a50.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Brazil (São Paulo, gru-a14.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Canada (Toronto, tor-a11.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>China (Hong Kong, hkg-a08.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>France (Paris, par-a19.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Germany (Frankfurt, fra-a33.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Israel (Tel Aviv, tlv-c04.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Japan (Tokyo, nrt-a06.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Mexico (Guadalajara, gdl-a09.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>New Zealand (Auckland, akl-c13.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Nigeria (Lagos, los-c02.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>South Africa (Johannesburg, jnb-c06.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>South Korea (Seoul, sel-a04.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Spain (Madrid, mad-a04.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>Ukraine (Kiev, iev-c06.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>United Arab Emirates (Dubai, dxb-c02.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>United Kingdom (London, lon-a16.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>US East (New York City, nyc-a13.ipvanish.com)</li>
<li>US West (Los Angeles, la-a02.ipvanish.com)</li>
</ul>
Each one of these servers passed our geo-location tests. They are all physically located where IPVanish says they are.
This doesn’t absolutely guarantee that the same is true of every single IPVanish server. But, it does serve as a strong clue that IPVanish is telling the truth.
IPVanish&#8217;s large, self-owned and secure network of physical servers is a rarity. It&#8217;s an ideal setup from a security standpoint. We hope to see more VPN companies follow this approach.

IPVanish isn&#8217;t the best VPN at unblocking subscription-based streaming platforms. Despite its fast speeds and large server network, it only really works with US Netflix.
The VPN service unblocks American Netflix on most US servers, although it can be slow to load the website/app.
We also tested IPVanish to see if it unblocks other Netflix regions. Here are the results:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 192px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<th style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Country</th>
<th style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">Unlocks Netflix</th>
<th style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">Example Server</th>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">USA</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✓</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px;">chi-a02.ipvanish.com</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">UK</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✗</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">South Korea</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✗</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Germany</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✗</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Mexico</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✗</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Canada</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✗</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 24px;">
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: left;">Japan</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">✓</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%; height: 24px; text-align: center;">nrt-a02.ipvanish.com</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
As shown above, IPVanish only works with Netflix in Japan and the US. But, only some of its servers worked, and there are no dedicated Netflix servers. You&#8217;ll have to try different servers until you find one that works.
<div id="attachment_124135" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124135" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124135" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/netflix-error-message-700x349.jpg" alt="Screenshot of Netflix blocking IPVanish" width="700" height="349" />Netflix detects many non-US IPVanish servers</div>
Frankly, there are better <a href="/best-vpn/netflix/">Netflix VPNs available</a>.
Unblocking BBC iPlayer with IPVanish is even worse. All its UK IP addresses are blocked. And the company isn&#8217;t looking to fix this any time soon. To stream BBC iPlayer from abroad, you&#8217;ll have to use a <a href="/best-vpn/bbc-iplayer/">working BBC iPlayer VPN</a>. Or, read our <a href="/reviews/privatevpn/#review-streaming">PrivateVPN review</a>, a very good choice for BBC iPlayer.
We also tested IPVanish with Disney+ and had some success, but access was inconsistent. For a better experience, use one of these <a href="/best-vpn/disney-plus/">Disney+ VPNs</a>, or read our <a href="/reviews/surfshark/">Surfshark review</a>, our #1 choice.
Moreover, IPVanish didn&#8217;t work with Amazon Prime Video or Hulu, either.
On the flip side, the VPN service is a much better choice for Kodi and Amazon Fire TV users. It has a <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/firestick/#ipvanish">great Firestick application</a> that lets you stream Kodi and IPTV apps anonymously.
<h3>Is IPVanish Safe for Torrenting?</h3>
IPVanish VPN is perfect to torrent privately and safely. It&#8217;s extremely fast on nearby connections, and it operates over 40,000 anonymous IP addresses. This is ideal for high-bandwidth activities like file-sharing.
The VPN service allows P2P traffic on all its zero-logs servers. It also doesn&#8217;t leak any IP and DNS data. Moreover, the kill switch shields from IP exposures during rare VPN connection drops. This feature is not available on the iOS app, though.
A good torrent VPN must hide your true IP address, so that your ISP, or <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/copyright-trolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">copyright trolls</a> can&#8217;t view your download activity. IPVanish doesn’t talk much about torrenting on its website, but it caters to it very well. So well that it made our list of the <a href="/best-vpn/torrenting/">best VPNs for torrenting</a>.
The company does have an extensive<a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/dmca-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extensive DMCA policy</a>. It also forbids torrenting copyrighted material in its <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/tos/#12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terms of Service</a>. Don&#8217;t worry, though &#8211; this is true of many VPN services.
<div id="attachment_124093" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124093" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-124093" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-copyright-policy-700x190.png" alt="Screenshot of IPVanish copyright policy" width="700" height="190" />The IPVanish Terms of Service forbidding torrenting copyrighted material.</div>
Remember, the VPN doesn’t log usage data. Therefore, it can&#8217;t know who&#8217;s used a specific IP address at any given time. This means it won’t know which user to hand a DMCA notice to.
The VPN also offers a <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=6005dd1e2117f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SOCKS5 Proxy</a>. This is an old favorite for torrenters looking to mask their IP address. You can configure the SOCKS5 proxy directly in your torrent client, without the need of additional software.
It&#8217;s more secure to use a VPN rather than a proxy, though.
<div class="block-highlighted">
Security Tip
Connect to your VPN before launching your torrent client, and disconnect from the VPN after closing the torrent client. This avoids your IP address being exposed if your torrent client is seeding in the background.
</div>

IPVanish is an American VPN service offering a wide range of features you won&#8217;t see in many VPNs.
After reviewing its VPN apps, we can confirm that IPVanish is a <a href="#review-encryption">highly secure VPN</a>. It uses trusted security protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2, strengthened by AES-256 encryption. And most apps feature useful tools such as split tunneling, a kill switch, and IPv6 leak protection.
IPvanish owns all its 1,400+ servers in 57 countries. This gives it total control of its network. It also provides over 40,000 shared IP addresses to its users.
Speed-wise, the VPN service is one of the fastest on short-distance connections. Its quick P2P-friendly servers make it ideal for private torrenting. It also offers a SOCKS5 proxy, popular with some P2P users.
IPVanish can also unblock US Netflix, and is great for Kodi streaming. In fact, IPVanish has the best Firestick VPN app, and is easy to set up on most Android devices.
Moreover, it has been a zero-logs VPN since 2017. However, this <a href="#review-jurisdiction">wasn&#8217;t always the case</a> under Highwinds&#8217; previous ownership.
The VPN let us down in two key areas. Firstly, it needs to unblock more streaming platforms, like BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. Secondly, it won&#8217;t work at all in China and other highly-censored countries.
In short, <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=pr&amp;name=ipvanish" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPVanish</a> is a <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/">top VPN</a> aimed at Kodi, Fire TV Stick and P2P users. It’s secure, no-logs, and its fast local speeds are well-suited for file-sharing.

IPVanish is not the <a href="/best-vpn/cheap-vpns/">cheapest VPN</a>, but it&#8217;s reasonably priced given its quality. The prices of its subscription plans are similar to other top-tier VPN services.
There are <a href="/goto/?type=prc&amp;name=ipvanish&amp;ref=5f79c548e5ea6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three subscription plans available</a>: a monthly, quarterly, and annual package. Each option is paid upfront and includes exactly the same features.
If you sign up to IPVanish via our links, you can get a discount of up to $58.00. The best price comes with the annual subscription plan. This costs $2.62 per month, billed as $31.49 the first year and $89.99 thereafter.

You can pay for your IPVanish subscription by credit card, debit card, or PayPal. International payment methods, like Alipay, are not supported.
Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and cash payments are also not accepted. It’s therefore impossible to subscribe to IPVanish with total anonymity. It won’t be an issue for most users, but it’s worth highlighting.
To try the service first, take advantage of a <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/guides/get-ipvanish-for-free/">seven-day 100% free trial on iOS devices</a>. There is no free trial on other platforms, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. This refund promise is no-questions-asked, and usually processed within 10 working days.
30 days gives you enough time to get to grips with the VPN. However, it does fall short of the 45 days <a href="/reviews/hotspot-shield/#review-pricing">Hotspot Shield</a> and <a href="/reviews/cyberghost/#review-pricing">CyberGhost</a> offer.
Also, if you sign up for IPVanish via the Apple App Store, you won’t qualify for the money-back guarantee at all. While this seems a little unfair, it&#8217;s sadly common practice.

IPVanish is a zero-logs VPN provider, so it won&#8217;t keep records of your connection data or browsing activity.
Its <a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/privacy-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">privacy policy</a> is clearly-written and transparent. It explicitly states that it doesn&#8217;t keep traffic or metadata logs:
<blockquote>“IPVanish does not collect, monitor, or log any traffic or use of its Virtual Private Network service on any platform.”</blockquote>
The only information the VPN service collects is an email address and payment method.<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-124105" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-in-breif-700x209.png" alt="IPVanish's logging policy in brief" width="700" height="209" />
The VPN does not:
<ul>
<li>Log user traffic or usage of the VPN service</li>
<li>Sell or rent user information to third parties</li>
</ul>
Many VPN services track at least anonymous server loads, or login instances for maintenance purposes. IPVanish, however, stands out for prioritizing user anonymity and privacy.
Unlike many VPNs, IPVanish doesn&#8217;t enforce any simultaneous connections limit. Therefore, it doesn&#8217;t need to log device connections to its network.
One thing IPVanish needs to do is request an independent audit of its logging practices. If you want a VPN that&#8217;s been externally audited, read our <a href="/reviews/nordvpn/">NordVPN review</a>, or our <a href="/reviews/vyprvpn/">VyprVPN review</a>.
<h3>FBI Co-operation</h3>
No IPVanish review is complete without discussing the data-sharing incident of 2016. This is when the company’s previous owners (Highwinds Network Group) <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ipvanish-no-logging-vpn-led-homeland-security-to-comcast-user-180505/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">handed user logs over to the FBI</a>.
The FBI identified the individual from a record of the VPN IP address and the time it was used. IPVanish had this information because it was logging web data its privacy policy explicitly stated it would not.
<div id="attachment_124108" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124108" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-124108 size-large" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-information-we-collect-700x211.png" alt="The IPVanish logging policy at the time of the FBI case" width="700" height="211" />Screenshot of the IPVanish logging policy in April 2016</div>
At the time of the case, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160410011811/https://www.ipvanish.com/privacy-policy.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPVanish’s logging policy</a> was very similar to its current one. In other words, the company couldn&#8217;t have accessed the data without breaching its own logging policy.
The screenshot below shows the information IPVanish shared with the FBI, based on a user “with IRC traffic using IP 209.197.26.72, port 6667”:
<div id="attachment_124099" style="width: 661px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124099" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-124099" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/04/ipvanish-fbi-case.png" alt="Screenshot taken from the IPVanish FBI affidavit" width="651" height="653" />Excerpt from the affidavit</div>
The severity of the crime justifies IPVanish’s decision to hand over logs to the FBI. But, it absolutely doesn&#8217;t justify the existence of these logs in the first place.
Luckily, this issue has been resolved. StackPath acquired IPVanish in 2017, who had no knowledge of the incident. It soon guaranteed that IPVanish wouldn&#8217;t store web logs going future.
We believe the IPVanish leadership when they state the service does not collect user logs. A third-party audit of the VPN&#8217;s no-log servers would help bury the issue once and for all.
<h3>Who Owns IPVanish?</h3>
IPVanish was founded in 2012 by Mudhook Media, which was part of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/3681486Z:US" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Highwinds Network Group</a>.
In 2017 <a href="https://www.stackpath.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stackpath</a> purchased IPVanish, and two years later sold it to <a href="/research/opinion/tech-giant-j2-global-acquires-stackpaths-vpn-brands/">J2 Global</a>. J2 Global also owns <a href="/reviews/strongvpn/">StrongVPN</a>, <a href="/reviews/safervpn/">SaferVPN</a>, and <a href="/reviews/encrypt-me/">Encrypt.me</a>.
Despite the ownership changes, IPVanish hasn&#8217;t lost trust with its users. The acquisitions have in fact been a positive step for privacy. The arrival of a new owner with a strong reputation has put the past controversies behind.
All the companies mentioned above are headquartered in the US, a member of the Five-Eyes data sharing agreement.
This means the company can be forced to hand over user logs to US government agencies. In reality, though, IPVanish doesn&#8217;t have logs to hand over. So long as it continues to be followed, its zero-logs policy makes its jurisdiction much less of an issue.

Speed Performance

Pricing & Coupons

Logging Policy & Ownership

Netflix & Torrenting

Privacy & Security

Beating Strict Censorship

Customer Support

Do We Recommend IPVanish?

We tested our connection speed before and after connecting to an IPVanish server near us. Here are the results:
<ul>
<li>Download speed without IPVanish: 93.76Mbps</li>
<li>Download speed with IPVanish: 84.13Mbps</li>
<li>Our download speed loss when IPVanish is running: 10%</li>
</ul>
Our average speeds and latency were amongst the best we’ve seen across many VPNs. Our ping was only 7ms on a local connection, which is ideal for gaming. Speeds were also consistent from one test to the next, month after month.
<h3>Long-Distance Speed Tests</h3>
We also tested IPVanish&#8217;s speed on long-distance connections, too. We measured our internet speeds before and after connecting to its servers around the world.
While its local speeds are very fast, IPVanish’s global speeds aren’t as good. We measured an average speed loss of 44% connecting to the US. It&#8217;s not bad, but it doesn’t measure up to faster VPNs like <a href="/reviews/expressvpn/">ExpressVPN</a> and NordVPN.
Connection speeds to Australia and Singapore were worse, with a download speed loss of 75%. These results just aren’t as strong as those of ExpressVPN.
Here are the average speeds connecting from London to IPVanish servers around the world:
<ul>
<li>USA: 53Mbps (download) &amp; 37Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Germany: 76Mbps (download) &amp; 81Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Singapore: 25Mbps (download) &amp; 2Mbps (upload)</li>
<li>Australia: 24Mbps (download) &amp; 6Mbps (upload)</li>
</ul>
<h3>How Fast is IPVanish Compared to Other VPNs?</h3>
On top of our manual tests, you can also review our automated VPN speed test results below.
Our automated speed test tool runs automatically each day of the year. It caps test connection speeds at 100Mbps to recreate a typical home internet connection.
The graph below shows IPVanish’s average speed loss on our New York test server, compared to rival VPN services. The data covers the last eight weeks, to illustrate speed as well as stability.
 <picture data-id=joyce-0> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/296,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,ipvanish,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=296&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 374px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/351,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,ipvanish,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=351&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 767px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,ipvanish,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 989px)" /> <img data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,ipvanish,expressvpn,nordvpn&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" alt="VPN Speed Performance Comparison Chart" /> </picture>
<a class="button green-cta" href="https://www.top10vpn.com/vpn-speed-test/?to=nyc&amp;from=nyc&amp;period=8w&amp;providers=direct,expressvpn,nordvpn,ipvanish&amp;int=7&amp;chart=dl_speedloss_avg" rel="noopener"> Use our speed test tool to see IPVanish&#8217;s speed across the world</a>
We keep seeing consistently high speeds from IPVanish. Until recently, it was even faster than ExpressVPN on a New York to New York connection. Upload speeds are also good and reliable, although not as good as other main VPN services.
Moreover, ping has been amazingly low and stable. It&#8217;s been hovering around 2ms on a local New York connection.
Once again, long-distance speeds are what let IPVanish down. Download speeds have stayed around 15Mbps lower than the competition, similarly to upload speeds.

Streamlined VPN for beginners looking to browse and stream securely.

surfshark-logo-vertical

Surfshark offers fast, friendly, and helpful customer support with 24/7 live chat and a ticketing system available. 
There’s also an <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online help section</a> featuring installation guides, troubleshooting, an FAQ, and a knowledgebase.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119185 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Customer-Support.png" alt="" width="2552" height="1120" />
To access Surfshark’s live chat simply head to the website and click the Chat icon in the bottom right corner of the page. 
We found the company&#8217;s customer support team to be fast and informative, and we got an answer to our query in under a minute.
However, technical questions might take a little longer. When we asked about ChaCha encryption, our support agent took a while to respond and their answer was lacking in detail. 
If you have a particularly technical question, we&#8217;d recommend using Surfshark&#8217;s email ticketing system instead.

Surfshark’s native applications are well-designed, functional, and reasonably easy to use. 
The interfaces are clear and, even if you&#8217;re new to VPNs, you should have little trouble using Surfshark’s advanced features.
There are also plenty of customization tools to personalize your VPN experience, including language change, auto-connect, status notifications, ‘Dark Mode’, and ‘Mini Mode’.
All of the native apps have an automatic kill switch, NoBorders mode, MultiHop, and CleanWeb. However, there are some differences between platforms, with some features present on certain devices and not others.
Each platform presents Surfshark’s server types in a different way, which can be confusing. We’d like to see more consistency between native applications as well as the option to view server load and streaming-optimized servers on all platforms.
<h3>Windows Client</h3>
Surfshark&#8217;s Windows software is standard-looking, with simple navigation options on the left-hand-side. 
The main dashboard features a large connection button and a list of your most recent country connections.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119233 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-1.png" alt="" width="725" height="800" />
The menu is a sidebar condensed to just a few options: main screen, locations, settings, and features. A Quick Connect button is also available to automatically connect you to the most optimal server based on your location.
There&#8217;s a clear list of server locations and a search bar to quickly find the server you want. Windows users will see options for static IP servers, virtual servers, and MultiHop. There’s also a favorites system to manage the locations you most commonly connect to. 
Unlike the Mac client, there is no easily accessible list of P2P servers on the Windows app. You have to use the Smart Search and click the P2P option. 
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119179 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-locations-search.png" alt="" width="710" height="790" />The Windows app has added customization options, including Dark Mode and Mini Mode.
You can change the basic menu to a smaller app window by right-clicking the system tray icon. From this smaller window, you can quickly connect to the fastest server or choose your most recent location without having to open the full interface.
The choice to switch between protocols (including OpenVPN) is also made simple on the Windows app, with a drop-down menu in the app Settings.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119104 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Windows-Protocols.png" alt="" width="1040" height="800" />
Overall, Surfshark’s Windows application is nicely designed and easy to navigate. In the location section, we’d like to see an indication of server load or ping times for city-level servers so users can easily find the best-performing server for their location.
<h3>MacOS Client</h3>
Surfshark’s Mac application is similar, but the locations are listed as an even simpler side menu for navigation. You’ll also see options between Physical, Virtual, P2P and MultiHop servers made much more prominent compared to Windows.
The Settings menu just above the servers is also nicely presented on Mac. The Features menu gives you one-button access to tools such as HackLock and BlindSearch, which means they’re never too far away. This type of access is exclusive to the MacOS client ‒ if you’re a Windows user you’ll have to navigate to the Surfshark website to find these tools.
<h3>Android and iOS Apps</h3>
Surfshark’s mobile apps are also attractive and easy to use. All of the features and functions work well on mobile devices for both Android and iOS.
The apps are similar to its desktop counterparts, which is rare. The interface is the same and you&#8217;ll find many of the same features, including CleanWeb, split tunneling (Whitelister), the kill switch and multihop connections.
Both mobile applications run OpenVPN, IKEv2 and Shadowsocks protocols.
As mentioned earlier, the Android app also offers GPS spoofing, as well as a &#8216;Use Small Packets&#8217; setting to improve network performance.

Surfshark has clearly put a lot of work into bypassing aggressive online censorship. 
We can confirm it&#8217;s currently one of the best VPNs to <a href="/best-vpn/">circumvent web blocks in countries like China</a>, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
<h3>Anti-Censorship Features</h3>
Its additional anonymity features allow Surfshark to work reliably in highly-censored countries.
Camouflage Mode is an obfuscation tool designed to make your VPN traffic appear as normal traffic, disguising your VPN usage from ISPs and thereby eluding web censors. 
This feature is automatically activated whenever you connect with the OpenVPN (TCP or UDP) protocol, and is the main reason why Surfshark works in high censorship nations.
NoBorders Mode is specifically built to beat internet restrictions and censorship. It detects when you’re connected to a restricted network or in a censored country, and automatically redirects your traffic elsewhere.
<img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119173 aligncenter" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-No-Borders.png" alt="" width="758" height="948" />
Surfshark also uses ShadowSocks, also called SOCKS5. This is an open-source proxy, usually used by torrenters, that can often bypass strict web censorship. However, ShadowSocks requires manual configuration on most devices. Here are helpful online guides on how to do this for: <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026023133-How-to-set-up-Surfshark-Shadowsocks-protocol-on-Android" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a>, <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026019633-How-to-set-up-Surfshark-Shadowsocks-protocol-on-MacOS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MacOS</a>, and <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025878774-How-to-set-up-Surfshark-Shadowsocks-protocol-on-Windows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Windows</a>.

Surfshark includes all of the essential security features you would expect from a top-tier service. 
You&#8217;ll benefit from robust encryption, secure protocols, IP and DNS leak protection, and an automatic kill switch on all applications. We also found no evidence of IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks.
AES-256 encryption is used on all platforms, with ChaCha encryption also available for Android users.
<h3>VPN Protocol Selection</h3>
IKEv2 is the default protocol used on all apps, though you can choose OpenVPN in the settings menu. 
The Windows, Android, iOS and Mac apps also let you choose between TCP and UDP OpenVPN connections. 
Like many other providers, Surfshark also introduced its patched WireGuard protocol recently, which has <a href="/guides/does-vpn-use-data/">much less bandwidth overhead than OpenVPN</a>.
<h3>RAM-Based Servers</h3>
Following in ExpressVPN and NordVPN&#8217;s footsteps, Surfshark has moved away from hard drive technology and now operates a completely diskless, RAM-only server network. 
This vastly improves security, as information cannot be physically extracted from the servers, and it enables central management of the whole network. Very few VPNs have this feature. 
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-138678 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/07/unnamed-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1253" />
<h3>Surfshark&#8217;s Extra Features</h3>
Surfshark is filled with advanced security features, built to enhance your experience and safeguard your data. 
Here&#8217;s a list of the VPN&#8217;s advanced security features:
<ul>
<li>BlindSearch is a private search engine designed to allow users to search the web with no ads or trackers. You can add BlindSearch, along with HackLock, to your existing subscription for an extra $0.99 per month.</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119113 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-BlindSearch.png" alt="" width="1593" height="899" />
<ul>
<li>Camouflage Mode, also known as obfuscation. This is a technology that disguises your VPN traffic to make it look like ‘normal’ browsing. This means even your ISP can’t tell you’re using a VPN.</li>
<li>CleanWeb is Surfshark’s proprietary ad, tracker, and malware blocker. It is not turned on by default.</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119071 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-CleanWeb.png" alt="" width="1316" height="394" />
<ul>
<li>MultiHop, sometimes known as Double VPN, routes your traffic via two different VPN servers instead of one. This additional step makes you harder to track, though it may reduce connection speeds.</li>
<li>Surfshark Alert is a breach detection tool that scans the web in real-time, checking that your email and login information hasn’t been leaked online. This feature comes as an <a href="https://surfshark.com/privacy-beyond-vpn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added bundle</a> with BlindSearch.</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119119 size-full aligncenter" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-HackLock.png" alt="" width="2482" height="1188" />
<ul>
<li>Whitelister is a split tunneling feature that allows you to define which applications and websites shouldn&#8217;t use the VPN connection. You can find it in the sidebar menu of the Surfshark app, under &#8216;Features.&#8217;</li>
<li>A VPN kill switch is an essential feature for any VPN, preventing your true IP address from leaking if your VPN connection drops. To enable it on Windows, toggle the setting in the app’s security menu. On Android devices, you’ll need to enable it manually in the device settings.</li>
</ul>
It’s encouraging to see Surfshark display a commitment to privacy even beyond the use of a VPN, and it’s impressive that these features all come bundled for such a low price. For the record, Hacklock and Blindsearch need to be downloaded separately, and cost an extra $0.99 per month.
Surfshark was also the first VPN to develop a GPS spoofing feature. An Android-only feature found under &#8216;Virtual Location,&#8217; it allows you to easily change your GPS location and bypass GPS geo-blocks set by various mobile apps. Hopefully, GPS spoofing will be rolled out to the iOS app soon, too.
The VPN service has also gone the extra mile to include a two-factor authentication (2FA) option for its users too.
For the more technically minded, Surfshark’s encryption uses an RSA-2048 handshake and HMAC SHA256 data authentication. Perfect Forward Secrecy is implemented through the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie%E2%80%93Hellman_key_exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange (DHE)</a>, meaning encryption keys are not reused between sessions, for an added layer of security.
<h3>IP, WebRTC and DNS Leak Test Results</h3>
Surfshark uses private DNS on every server to protect your DNS requests. 
<a href="/do-i-leak/">We tested this on our VPN leak test test tool</a> by connecting to a US server from our office in London, and recorded zero DNS, IPv4, IPv6 or WebRTC leaks using its apps. 
You can also see leak-free results when using <a href="https://browserleaks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">browserleaks.com</a>:
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119077 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-IP-Leak-Test.png" alt="" width="1100" height="730" />
<h3>No Viruses or Malware Detected</h3>
Surfshark is virus-free too. We scanned the VPN software for any malicious files and it came back completely clean:
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119086 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Virus-Scan.png" alt="" width="2799" height="2569" />
<h3>Android App Tracker Scans</h3>
We also scanned the Android app for trackers that could potentially compromise your privacy. 
We ran the app through the <a href="https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">εxodus tool</a>. This helps expose any trackers or permissions present in Android apps. Here’s what we found:
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119089 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Trackers.png" alt="" width="1784" height="1400" />
Surfshark&#8217;s Android app has four trackers for Google Analytics, GoogleCrashLytics, Google Firebase Analytics, and AppsFlyer. 
Analytics aren’t too concerning as it allows Surfshark to maintain the performance of its app and see how users interact with its service. 
Other top VPN apps have similar trackers in place. However, our <a href="/reviews/astrill/">review of Astrill</a> and our <a href="/reviews/hide-me/">evaluation of Hide.me</a> show how these two VPNs have no trackers whatsoever.
The use of <a href="https://www.appsflyer.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AppsFlyer</a> is a little more concerning. This is a marketing tracker that “uses artificial intelligence and machine learning for big data analytics.” 
<a href="https://venturebeat.com/2017/05/25/appsflyer-helps-mobile-advertisers-beat-back-ad-fraud-via-machine-learning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to VentureBeat</a>, AppsFlyer leverages metadata from 98% of the world&#8217;s mobile devices. While this doesn’t sound good for privacy at all, its privacy policy states that it doesn&#8217;t share data with any third parties.
<h3>Android App Permissions</h3>
The Android app also has 16 permissions, which dictate the level of access the software has to your device. 
Three of these permissions are considered ‘special’ or ‘dangerous’ according to <a href="https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google’s protections levels</a>, including:
<ul>
<li>Access to your camera</li>
<li>Access to the contents of your SD card</li>
<li>Permission to modify and delete the contents of your SD card</li>
</ul>
These permissions are unnecessary for a VPN application designed for privacy. We’d like to see these removed, or at the very least explained, in future app updates.

Surfshark is compatible with every major platform including Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux and Fire OS.
The Surfshark website has <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001458953-Tutorials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helpful setup guides for all devices</a>.
<h3>Unlimited VPN Connections</h3>
There is no simultaneous device limit, so you can use Surfshark on all your devices with just one Surfshark subscription. 
This is a great benefit that very few VPN services offer, with most imposing a limit of five devices.
If Surfshark doesn&#8217;t have a native app for a device you own, you can always install the VPN on your router. 
Surfshark&#8217;s software is compatible with DD-WRT, Tomato and AsusWRT routers. Any device connected to the router will use the VPN connection, if enabled.

Surfshark has developed safe and <a href="https://cure53.de/pentest-report_surfshark.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">independently audited</a> browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
They&#8217;re not free like CyberGhost&#8217;s extensions, but they&#8217;re certainly better and more useful.
Both browser add-ons work similarly to the full Surfshark VPN app, but there are very little settings and they are proxies. They spoof your IP location but they don&#8217;t protect your privacy as well as full VPN software. 
Currently, only <a href="/reviews/expressvpn/#review-platform">ExpressVPN has a full-VPN browser extension</a>.

Surfshark can really enhance your streaming experience, especially on Amazon Fire TV Stick and Apple TV.
The VPN&#8217;s native Amazon Fire Stick TV app is very well made, and it unblocks many streaming services like HBO Go, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube. 
Because Surfshark allows P2P traffic on most servers, you can also use to access Kodi streams anonymously.
To install Surfshark on Amazon Firestick, simply subscribe to the VPN and then download the Fire OS app from the Amazon App Store.
<h3>Surfshark&#8217;s Smart DNS Tool</h3>
Surfshark also offers <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012825360-How-does-Smart-DNS-work-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Smart DNS</a> and <a href="https://surfshark.com/trust-dns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trust DNS (on Android and iOS only)</a> features. 
Both are proxy tools that allow you to unblock video content on devices such as Apple TV, games consoles and Smart TVs. The work by changing the DNS address set in your device.
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-119167 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-SmartDNS.png" alt="" width="2524" height="968" />
While Smart DNS lets you access restricted content, it doesn&#8217;t provide the same security level as normal VPN browsing, because your traffic is not encrypted.

Surfshark has a large network of over 3,200+ servers in 66 countries. 
The network isn&#8217;t as large as <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/cyberghost/#review-server_locations">CyberGhost&#8217;s server network</a>, but it&#8217;s extensive enough to keep most users happy.
The majority of servers are in Europe, as with most VPN services. And like most other VPNs, coverage in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East is rather limited.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119092 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Server-Locations.png" alt="" width="2337" height="1824" />
<h3>Wide Range of US City Locations</h3>
One of Surfshark&#8217;s server highlights is that he gives city-level choice in 12 countries:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>India</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Poland</li>
<li>Portugal</li>
<li>Russia</li>
<li>Spain</li>
<li>UK</li>
<li>US</li>
</ul>
The United States enjoys the best coverage, with 26 city-level server locations. This is excellent coverage, and will come in handy to US residents looking for a <a href="/best-vpn/usa/">VPN to bypass sports blackouts</a>.
Furthermore, the three <a href="/best-vpn/canada/">VPN server locations in Canada</a> – Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver – cover both Canadian coasts. 100 servers in five Australian cities is great coverage, too.
<h3>Static and Multihop Servers</h3>
The Surfshark’s apps list different types of servers, too. 
Windows users will see options for static IP, virtual servers, and MultiHop. 
Mac users will see labels for physical, virtual, P2P, and MultiHop.
Static IP servers give you an IP address that remains the same whenever you use that server. This allows for faster speeds and easier access to geo-restricted content. 
While on paper this poses a greater privacy risk, in reality many people will be using the same IP address. This means that any activity on that static IP address can&#8217;t be linked to you.
One very positive inclusion is MultiHop servers, sometimes called ‘Double VPN’. These add an extra layer of security, by &#8216;bouncing&#8217; your traffic from one encrypted server to another, and then onto a website or application. This may slow down speed, but it brings added privacy.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119101 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-MultiHop.png" alt="" width="2634" height="1386" />
As it stands, Surfshark’s server listings are difficult to understand for VPN beginners. We’d like to see more consistency with the labeling of servers, especially those optimized for services like Netflix.
Unfortunately, latency and server load information is not available within the app. This is useful information to help select the fastest server, which providers like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost do offer.
<h3>Virtual Server Locations</h3>
Surfshark allows users to choose between <a href="https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023512493-What-are-Virtual-servers-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">virtual locations</a> and physical locations.
Virtual locations</a> assign an IP address in a country of your choice even if the actual server is located elsewhere. These servers are marked with a small ‘v’ on the Windows app, and listed separately on the Mac app.
Virtual servers allow Surfshark to cover more locations around the world, and can often lead to better speeds. 
However, if the actual server is much further from your physical location than advertised, you may see a drop in performance.
These virtual server locations include:
<ul>
<li>Albania</li>
<li>Chile</li>
<li>Costa Rica</li>
<li>Slovenia</li>
</ul>

Surfshark stands out for how good a <a href="/best-vpn/streaming/">VPN it is at unblocking streaming platforms</a>. 
It unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Sky, and HBO Max.
<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--blue">
<h3>Surfshark Works Well with Netflix</h3>
Surfshark unblocks US Netflix and 14 other international libraries, including:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Brazil</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>India</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Netherlands</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>South Korea</li>
<li>Singapore</li>
<li>Turkey</li>
<li>United Kingdom</li>
</ul>
</div>
We experienced high video quality and lag-less streaming in our tests.
While there are no dedicated streaming servers, the vast majority of US servers will work. In our most recent tests, only the Charlotte and St.Louis servers didn’t stream US Netflix.
<h3>Unblocks BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and More</h3>
All of Surfshark&#8217;s <a href="/best-vpn/bbc-iplayer/">UK servers work with BBC iPlayer</a>, too, which is highly impressive. 
It was also the first VPN to unblock Disney+ on its release, and has been <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/disney-plus/">our best choice ever since</a>.
<h3>Great VPN for Torrenting?</h3>
Surfshark is also an excellent VPN for torrenting. 
Its privacy-focused logging policy and high encryption help hide your P2P activity from your ISP. Also, the automatic kill switch stops your IP address from showing if your VPN connection drops. This keeps your download activity safe from any accidental exposures.
All Surfshark servers allow for P2P file-sharing, though some of them are specifically optimized for P2P.
<div class="block-highlighted block-highlighted--light">
Some of the servers optimized for P2P include:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Canada</li>
<li>Denmark</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>Hong Kong</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Luxembourg</li>
<li>Netherlands</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>Poland</li>
<li>Singapore</li>
<li>Spain</li>
<li>UK</li>
<li>US</li>
</ul>
</div>
If you’re torrenting on a server location that isn’t optimized for torrenting, your traffic will be automatically routed to servers that are. If you’re in Europe or Asia or outside of the UK, P2P traffic will be routed through Surfshark’s Netherlands server. If you’re in the Americas, but outside of the US or Canada, it will be routed through Canadian servers.
These fast P2P-optimized connections will allow you to torrent anonymously using torrent clients like BitTorrent, Deluge, Transmission, uTorrent, and Vuze. You&#8217;ll also be able to stream privately P2P-based services such as Ace Player, VLC, and PopcornTime
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119068 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-P2P-Compatibility.png" alt="" width="1926" height="918" />
<h3>Surfshark Doesn&#8217;t Allow Port Forwarding</h3>
However, Surfshark does not allow seeding as there is no port forwarding option due to the &#8220;security threat.&#8221;

Surfshark is a feature-rich yet inexpensive VPN service that suits VPN beginners. It&#8217;s highly secure, and all its applications are easy to use.
Reviewing Surfshark revealed how good a VPN it is for <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/surfshark/#review-streaming">streaming and torrenting</a>. It works well with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu and Disney+. It&#8217;s also ideal for bypassing US sports blackouts, with 26 city-level servers in the US.
In this Surfshark review you&#8217;ll learn just how safe this VPN is and how it will not leak your true IP address location.
The VPN doesn&#8217;t log any user activity and is incorporated in the safe jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands. 
The apps come with many security essentials too: AES-256 encryption, the WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols. There&#8217;s also a kill switch to mask your real IP address if your VPN connection drops.
Additionally, there are many <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/surfshark/#review-encryption">extra security features</a> such as Camouflage Mode, malicious URL and ad blocking, MultiHop servers, and more. 
Keep reading to see why <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/goto/?type=pr&amp;name=surfshark" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surfshark</a> is an excellent budget VPN that will please most internet users.

One of Surfshark&#8217;s main highlights is its price point. It’s not only one of the <a href="/best-vpn/">best VPNs of 2021</a>, it&#8217;s also one of the cheapest, at just $2.21 per month on a two-year subscription.
There are also short-term plans, of course &#8211; you can see all pricing plans below.
If you want to compare how Surfshark’s pricing compares to other good budget VPNs, see <a href="/best-vpn/cheap-vpns/">our list of the best cheap VPNs</a>.

Surfshark provides a range of payment and refund options including PayPal, all major debit cards, and even cryptocurrency. The full list of payment options includes:
<ul class="columns-2">
<li>Credit/Debit Card</li>
<li>Bitcoin</li>
<li>Ethereum</li>
<li>Ripple</li>
<li>PayPal</li>
<li>GooglePay</li>
<li>AliPay</li>
<li>Amazon Pay</li>
<li>Apple Pay</li>
</ul>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119110 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Payment-Methods.png" alt="" width="1814" height="1112" />
The most privacy-conscious users will be happy with the choice of cryptocurrencies, although cash payments are not available as of yet. See our <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/mullvad/">Mullvad VPN review</a> for a service that offers this payment option.
<h3>Free Trial and Money-Back Guarantee</h3>
Surfshark offers a <a href="/best-vpn/free-trials/#surfshark">seven-day free trial on iOS and Android</a>. 
You can access the trial applications directly from the Google Play Store or Apple App store, however you&#8217;ll have to submit billing details upfront.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-119107 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Free-Trial.png" alt="" width="2389" height="1261" />
If you choose to continue using Surfshark after seven days, you will be charged.
However, the no questions asked 30-day money-back guarantee kicks in at that point, meaning you can still get your money back if you cancel within the refund period.

There is no reason to doubt Surfshark’s commitment to user privacy. It does not keep logs of user activity or connection data, and its jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands is a privacy haven.
We’ve analyzed <a href="https://surfshark.com/privacy-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the service&#8217;s logging policy</a> and can confirm it’s sensible and privacy-focused, but not completely zero-logs.
<div class="block-highlighted">
To be specific, Surfshark collects:
<ul>
<li>Aggregated performance data</li>
<li>Unsuccessful connection attempts</li>
<li>Frequency of use</li>
</ul>
</div>
While Surfshark isn’t a no-logs VPN by definition, it comes close to it. It doesn&#8217;t collect personally identifiable data, meaning it won&#8217;t store your internet activity or IP address.
<div id="attachment_119056" style="width: 1938px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119056" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119056 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Privacy-Policy-Screenshot.png" alt="Surfshark Privacy Policy Screenshot" width="1928" height="530" />Excerpt from Surfshark&#8217;s privacy policy</div>
The VPN service&#8217;s privacy policy is worded as follows:
<blockquote>“To maintain a perfect quality of our Services and provide you with efficient support we collect diagnostics information and monitor crash reports on our apps. The information we collect contains aggregated performance data, the frequency of use of our services, unsuccessful connection attempts and other similar information.”</blockquote>
There are some very minor causes for concern here. Firstly, we were alarmed by the phrase “other similar information.” A good privacy policy is as specific as possible – it is unclear exactly what “similar information” entails.
Secondly, Surfshark collects advertising identifiers – unique, resettable IDs for advertising provided by third parties. You can opt out of personalized ads by adjusting the settings in your app.
What&#8217;s more, there has still been no independent audit of its VPN applications, or its logging policy.
Without a confirmed audit, there’s always room for doubt around logging practices. Many major VPN companies, like ExpressVPN and VyprVPN, have already done so to earn even greater trust.
<div id="attachment_119062" style="width: 1552px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119062" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119062 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Conclusion-of-Cure53-Surfshark-Audit-.png" alt="Conclusion of Cure53 Surfshark Audit" width="1542" height="540" />Conclusion of Cure53 Surfshark Audit</div>
It’s worth noting that there&#8217;s a <a href="https://surfshark.com/privacy-beyond-vpn-notice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">separate privacy policy</a> for its <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/surfshark/#review-encryption">BlindSearch and HackLock features</a>. BlindSearch collects an aggregated number of performed searches and HackLock stores your email address. Both tools are separate from the main VPN applications.
<h3>Who owns Surfshark?</h3>
Surfshark is owned by Surfshark Ltd, whose CEO is Vytautas Kaziukonis.
The company was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2018. It&#8217;s a very sensible place to set up a VPN company. There are no intrusive data retention laws or practices in the BVI, and it&#8217;s widely viewed as a privacy-haven.
The nation is not part of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes surveillance agreements. Foreign governments cannot force Surfshark to collect or share user logs.
In the spirit of transparency, Surfshark publishes the number of government agency requests it receives on its <a href="https://surfshark.com/warrant-canary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warrant canary page</a>. Currently, it has received zero requests for information.
<div id="attachment_119065" style="width: 2054px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-119065" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-119065 size-full" data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/2020/03/Surfshark-Warrant-Canary-Feature-on-the-Surfshark-Website.png" alt="Surfshark Warrant Canary Feature on the Surfshark Website" width="2044" height="796" />Surfshark has a warrant canary feature on the website.</div>

Pros and Cons

Streaming & P2P

Privacy & Security Analysis

Do We Recommend Surfshark?

HideMyAss

SaferVPN

Surfshark VPN

<h3>Long-Distance Speed Tests</h3>
Surfshark’s speeds over long-distance connections were also good. We connected its servers in the US, Australia, Canada, and Germany from our London office and measured our connection speeds before and after.
As expected, the servers located furthest from our office in the UK saw the largest speed losses.
We recorded an average speed loss of 41% when connected to the US, and 40% connecting to Australia. This is not unusual for long-distance connections, though competitors like <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/reviews/hotspot-shield/#review-speed">Hotspot Shield recorded losses of just 17%</a> on US servers.
Here are Surfshark&#8217;s full long-distance speed results:
<ul>
<li>USA: 56Mbps (download) &amp; 77Mbps (upload) ‒ 41% speed loss</li>
<li>Canada: 71Mbps (download) &amp; 73Mbps (upload) ‒ 28% speed loss</li>
<li>Germany: 71Mbps (download) &amp; 93Mbps (upload) ‒ 27% speed loss</li>
<li>Australia: 59Mbps (download) &amp; 58Mbps (upload) ‒ 39% speed loss</li>
</ul>
Surfshark’s international speeds are good and stable across the board, with speed loss consistently under 50% when connecting to servers very far away. However, it&#8217;s still slower than the <a href="https://www.top10vpn.com/best-vpn/fastest-vpn/"> current fastest VPNs</a>.
We test and compare VPN speeds using the same scientific <a>speed-testing methodology</a>, currently testing speeds on the OpenVPN protocol, to keep comparisons fair and consistent. Surfshark uses the IKEv2/IPsec protocol by default, so you may experience faster speeds using this protocol.
<h3>How Do Surfshark&#8217;s Speeds Compare to Other VPNs?</h3>
In addition to testing VPN speeds manually, we&#8217;ve also developed an automated VPN speed test tool that is constantly testing VPN speeds around the world. Tests run automatically four times per day, and test connection speeds are capped at 100Mbps to recreate a typical home internet connection.
The graph below compares Surfshark VPN’s average loss of internet speed to other popular VPNs for New York to New York connections:
 <picture data-id=joyce-1> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/296,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,cyberghost,surfshark&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=296&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 374px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/351,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,cyberghost,surfshark&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=351&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 767px)" /> <source data-lazy-srcSet="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,cyberghost,surfshark&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" media="(max-width: 989px)" /> <img data-lazy-src="https://www.top10vpn.com/images/joyce/charts/584,2x,format=png/?to=nyc&from=nyc&period=8w&providers=direct,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,cyberghost,surfshark&int=7&chart=dl_speedloss_avg&target_width=584&device_scale_factor=2" alt="VPN Speed Performance Comparison Chart" /> </picture>
<a class="button green-cta" href="https://www.top10vpn.com/vpn-speed-test/?to=nyc&amp;from=nyc&amp;period=8w&amp;providers=direct,surfshark,private-internet-access,expressvpn,nordvpn,cyberghost&amp;int=7&amp;chart=dl_speed_avg"> Use our Speed Test Tool to see Surfshark&#8217;s worldwide speeds.</a>
Surfshark&#8217;s VPN speeds have been improving month by month, and the gap with faster VPNs is narrowing down. Moreover, Surfshark is now consistently beating CyberGhost in many speed tests.

VPN Comparison Tool

Compare VPN Services

Summary (5 of 5 selected)

	Cheapest Price	Speed	Logging Policy	Data Leaks
Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review
$6.67/mo over 15 Months	$3.71/mo over 24 Months	$2.69/mo over 26 months	$2.62/mo for 12 months	$2.21/mo over 27 months
88Mbps	93Mbps	89Mbps	84Mbps	85Mbps
Anonymous Server Usage Data	No Logs	No Logs	No Logs	Anonymous Server Usage Data
No	No	No	No	No
British Virgin Islands (Privacy Haven)	Panama (Privacy Haven)	US (Five-Eyes Member)	US (Five-Eyes Member)	British Virgin Islands (Privacy Haven)
3,000+	5,533	12,204	1,400+	3,200+
3,000+	5,533+	12,204	40,000+	3,200+
94	59	74	57	66
Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unlimited	Permitted	Unlimited	Unlimited	Permitted
Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
24/7 Live Chat	24/7 Live Chat	24/7 Live Chat	Live Chat	24/7 Live Chat
ExpressVPN.com	NordVPN.com	PiaVPN.com	Ipvanish.com	Surfshark.com