Surfshark VPN Review
Our Verdict
With seriously tempting introductory prices, excellent streaming performance and a polished interface that puts more expensive providers to shame, Surfshark is one of the best-value VPNs on the market today. And with an unlimited device policy, y'all'll be able to install information technology on whatsoever and all your devices.
For
- Well-priced introductory offer
- Fresh security audit requite peace of listen
- Great for streaming
- Splendid support
Against
- Rare instances of impale switch failing
- Speeds aren't grade-leading (but close)
Tom'southward Guide Verdict
With seriously tempting introductory prices, excellent streaming performance and a polished interface that puts more than expensive providers to shame, Surfshark is one of the all-time-value VPNs on the marketplace today. And with an unlimited device policy, y'all'll be able to install it on any and all your devices.
Pros
- +
Well-priced introductory offering
- +
Fresh security audit give peace of heed
- +
Smashing for streaming
- +
Excellent support
Cons
- -
Rare instances of kill switch failing
- -
Speeds aren't grade-leading (simply close)
- -
If you're looking to get one of the all-time VPN services on a upkeep, Surfshark may well exist on your radar. Combining genuinely depression prices with premium apps and plenty of functionality, it looks similar the best of both worlds.
With a recently upgraded network of over 3,200 servers in 65 countries, unlimited simultaneous connections on a single programme and manufacture-standard AES-256-GCM encryption plus a good choice of protocols, on newspaper information technology looks similar it should satisfy but about any user – only can information technology live upward to that in use?
In our in-depth Surfshark review, we run down the key features that make this a real contender, and so popular among both new and experienced users. You lot'll learn whether any sacrifices were made to keep the price and then low, or if y'all really are getting a pinnacle-of-the-range VPN for just a few dollars a month.
To head to a particular part of the review, just click the navigation bar at the acme of the folio. Otherwise, just go along scrolling for everything you demand to know about Surfshark.
Surfshark 1-infinitesimal review
While shorter plans are comparatively expensive, sign up for two years and you'll get one of the best monthly rates bachelor: simply $2.49 a month. And, with regular deals and discounts, you lot might fifty-fifty get it for even less. For example, for Black Fri and beyond, Surfshark offered 3 free months, dropping the toll to $2.21 a month.
Be aware the price will ascension after your initial term, though, so make a reminder to check the minor print before yous renew.
Surfshark hits all the basics like AES-256 encryption and over 3,200 servers, just you'll also get tons of additional features similar MultiHop, which allows you to road through more than i server at a time.
You lot'll as well get a split tunneling characteristic, which is excellent for torrenting and separating out your connections, and a impale switch on PC and Mac. In our rigorous stress testing, the kill switch did neglect a couple of times, but in real-globe employ, this is unlikely to happen.
Beyond those basics, though, Surfshark has actually pushed the boat out in terms of features. GPS spoofing, URL and advertising blocking, multi-hop (routing through 2 sequent servers for added privacy), wide P2P back up, additional password tech which volition alarm you of leaks, and 'invisible to devices' mode, which tin can hide your device from others on the aforementioned network. Hardly slim pickings, so.
In terms of logs Surfshark'south published policies impress, and its base in the British Virgin Islands is a positive. And, a large improvement is its recent server inspect conducted in 2021.
Speeds are good when WireGuard is used, topping out at around 475Mbps. While that's non quite class-leading, information technology'southward certainly no slouch. Yet, we were disappointed with OpenVPN speeds of effectually 100-110Mbps. But, while that's hardly perfect, and well-nigh users volition employ WireGuard anyway.
Surfshark really shines when it comes to streaming, and you lot'll be able to unblock Netflix, iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime number Video, Disney+ and more. In this area, at that place'due south not a lot to exist improved at all.
Customer support is good, with articles and alive conversation bachelor. The manufactures aren't the gilded standard, simply suffice for nearly issues. The alive chat is comprehensive, if mostly script-led, but in more than in-depth circumstances operators practice suspension from the script and offering useful communication.
Overall, Surfshark is a powerful VPN, and its appeal is only enhanced past its strikingly cheap cost tag.
- Click to head directly through to Surfshark's website
Latest updates
Surfshark has recently updated its iOS and Android apps, including widget support.
The Mac apps are at present fully compatible with the new M1 chip, meaning seamless performance on whatsoever device y'all're using.
Surfshark's already skillful browser extensions now support split tunneling, which is a nifty added feature that offers a 18-carat benefit.
Finally, while the full report was not published, Surfshark has gone through a full security audit of its servers. As always, this is dandy to see, and but increases our stance of the service.
Surfshark on paper
Number of servers: 3,200+
Number of countries: 65+
Platforms supported: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Fire TV, Apple Tv, other TVs, PlayStation, Xbox, Chrome & Firefox (browser extensions)
Simultaneous connections: Unlimited
Split tunneling: Yeah
Kill switch: Yes
Supported protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, IKEv2
Country of registration: British Virgin Islands
Support: 24/7 alive chat, email, knowledgebase
Surfshark VPN cost: how much is it, and is there a Surfshark free trial?
When you lot look at the cost of Surfshark'due south service on a regular monthly programme, it doesn't appear that reasonable. In fact, at $12.95 per month, it's actually more expensive than some of its competitors.
If yous opt to pay six months in ane go, the price drops to $6.49 per month – still adequately pricey – only select the two-year program and y'all'll notice a huge drop in cost. The longest option on offer, 24-calendar month programme is just $2.49 a month, which undercuts just about every other premium VPN.
However, at the time of writing there's a VPN deal that offers 3 extra months on the two-year plan, bringing the toll downwardly to $two.21 a month. Great value.
Some users will undoubtedly exist put off by signing up for a lengthy programme, but it'south such a cheap VPN when compared to other services of its ilk that it'south completely worth information technology. Your first two years of admission to Surfshark volition incur a one-off payment of $59.76. In comparing, NordVPN costs $83.88 for a single yr.
There's a 'only' hither, though. While that $ii.49-a-month price is seriously tempting, practise be aware that upon renewal you'll exist paying more than than that - $four.98 a calendar month to be verbal. While that's even so cheaper than many alternatives, nosotros recommend begetting it in listen when the first two years are up.
- Sign up now on the Surfshark website
Surfshark has also recently launched Surfshark One, which offers the standard VPN features, plus Avira-powered antivirus, data alienation monitoring and privacy-friendly cyberspace search. It'southward a expert package for only $one.99 a month actress, and we can see a lot of customers going for this.
If you fancy trying earlier you buy, y'all can make the most of a 7-twenty-four hour period VPN free trial and test the service out on Mac, iOS, or Android. Although this isn't a long trial and in that location is no option for Windows, many comparable VPN providers offer no trial at all. Nonetheless, if you really want to test out the service, it could exist worth just signing up and making use of the 30-day coin-dorsum guarantee if it doesn't live up to your standards.
When it comes to payment options, y'all might be surprised by the diversity on offer. Information technology's possible to pay for Surfshark with virtually leading credit cards, diverse cryptocurrencies, PayPal, Alipay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay also.
How private is Surfshark?
Surfshark is packed with privacy features. Yous'll observe all the classic privacy measures in place – AES-256 encryption, plus the secure protocols OpenVPN UDP and TCP, IKEv2, and WireGuard.
However, in that location are besides a number of advanced privacy features. Surfshark utilizes a private DNS on every one of its server servers that enables users to add an extra layer of protection and prevent tertiary parties from intercepting browsing sessions.
The service also adopts a VPN chaining mechanism. This system enables users to road their traffic through two separate servers. Information technology tin can exist accessed using the MultiHop button and essentially enables users to connect to i location and exit from another.
This ways even if a cyber crook is able to access the exit server, they won't exist able to track down your IP accost. Surfshark offers 15 routes. Server one is your connection location, which could exist the UK, USA, Germany, Singapore, France, the Netherlands, India, or Australia.
The second is your exit location and where it appears to anyone looking into where you are located. Options for this are Federal republic of germany, France, holland, Hong Kong, Portugal, Sweden, Singapore, the UK, or the Us.
Finally, Surfshark'south servers have recently been audited by Cure53, as mentioned above. It'south an essential step for proving any claims made in marketing material, and Surfshark's results were adept. Cure53 establish just iv bug, none worse than 'medium', and these have been rectified.
How secure is Surfshark?
Surfshark has an in-built Whitelister panel that enables you to create whitelists of apps, IP addresses, and websites that yous can redirect around the VPN. This process is similar to split up-tunneling, and if you do find that the VPN disrupts an app or site, whitelisting it should gear up the issue.
You tin besides set upward the Whitelister so only your chosen apps and sites are routed through Surfshark. Nosotros tried it out and it worked perfectly. We were pleased to meet this feature in a desktop app – many VPN providers only offer information technology for mobile users.
Ads, malicious content, and spider web trackers are blocked using Surfshark'south CleanWeb feature. However, nosotros tried it out and weren't overly impressed by the result. Using a dedicated tool like uBlock Origin enables yous to block more content and take greater command over the activeness.
There is an option that enables you to activate the VPN automatically when you lot first Windows, and it's as well possible to toggle between different protocols depending on your security needs.
One of the near of import security features on Surfshark is the kill switch. This enables you to disconnect from the net automatically if your VPN connexion is severed. And we did have a few issues with it.
Firstly, in that location is no middle ground. The kill switch totally disables the internet unless you are connected to the VPN. In other words, you cannot use the internet at all unless Surfshark is running. A amend option would be to sever the connectedness merely if it is lost during a VPN browsing session. This is the standard method employed by VPN providers, enabling a user to continue browsing without having the VPN activated.
Secondly, at that place was no notification signalling that the kill switch had been activated and our connection forcibly closed.
1 of our tests included simulating a failure of the Windows Surfshark Service, and then closing an IKEv2 connection. In this admittedly unlikely state of affairs, the connection was terminated and the kill switch didn't activate. Plus, the app continued to brandish 'Connected' .
Overall, though, in every day usage the kill switch is effective, and only had issues when nosotros imitation a situation that's unlikely e'er to arise in existent terms.
Does Surfshark keep logs?
Because of Surfshark'due south declared location, the British Virgin Islands, local laws don't require the provider to log many VPN-related activities – and it doesn't. This policy is comparable to that of ExpressVPN, which is located in the aforementioned jurisdiction.
You'll find the total rundown of Surfshark's logging policy on its FAQ page, but in brief, the service doesn't collect IP addresses, internet activity history, VPN server location history, bandwidth usage, data regarding sessions, or timestamps.
All that is recorded is an e-mail accost and data for billing forth with some anonymous statistical data. For instance, this tin include crash reports, statistical and operation data, and other similar stats.
In terms of security auditing, Surfshark has been audited twice by the leading security company Cure53 – once in 2018, dealing with browser extensions, and once in 2021, which was a more thorough audit of its servers. Thankfully the results of both were positive, and the few risks that were identified have been addressed.
How fast is Surfshark?
Surfshark is a reasonably fast VPN. In our tests, we didn't experience whatever connection problems whatsoever, and the connexion speeds were good.
When nosotros tested the software on a U.k. data center capable of 1Gbps, we were slightly disappointed past the OpenVPN results – the boilerplate was a mediocre 100-110Mbps. However, switching to WireGuard made a huge divergence, delivering speeds of up to 475Mbps – more than plenty for just about whatsoever user. Nevertheless, this is a piddling slower than we saw in our last round of testing.
Carrying out the aforementioned examination from a location in the US, we saw slightly better OpenVPN speeds of 170Mbps. WireGuard speeds weren't quite as blazing as in the UK at around 300Mbps, but again, very few people have access to connections in a higher place 100Mbps, so this is unlikely to exist an issue.
On the whole, Surfshark can evangelize splendid connections, and if yous're working with a regular domestic line it won't have a drastic touch on speeds. If y'all desire to make the about of a gigabit connection, though, providers like NordVPN and IPVanish almost double Surfshark's WireGuard speeds.
How practiced is Surfshark for streaming?
Making up for the somewhat lacklustre operation figures, though, is Surfshark's splendid streaming capabilities. Many other VPN providers make this claim, but don't live upwards to their promises; Surfshark is different.
As a Netflix VPN, Surfshark has historically been very capable. However, in recent months Netflix has changed its VPN blocking tech, and subsequently almost every VPN on the market has seen reduced power.
In our tests, we had no issue accessing US Netflix from five separate locations, but UK, Canada, Australia and Japan were unavailable. That's non surprising though, since out of all the VPNs nosotros tested, just ExpressVPN and ProtonVPN could admission Netflix beyond the U.s.a..
Elsewhere, though, Surfshark is one of the very all-time.
We were able to watch content from US YouTube with ease, although this is probably the simplest block to navigate. We too had no problem accessing BBC iPlayer – in our tests from three locations in the United kingdom, each one was successful. We also had success with Disney+ and US Amazon Prime number – a total house, then.
Overall, Surfshark is a seriously competent streaming VPN, and nosotros highly recommend it for getting the most out of your subscriptions.
How good is Surfshark for torrenting?
Surfshark tin be used as a torrenting VPN, although this isn't one of its primary functions. To this stop, the platform enables P2P support for most of its servers, and for additional anonymity, users tin can opt to pay for the service using cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.
Another office that could assist users keen to utilise Surfshark for torrenting is its whitelisting capabilities. Y'all could single out your torrent customer, enabling information technology to drive traffic through the VPN while your other internet traffic is channeled through a standard connexion.
How easy is it to install Surfshark?
Installing and connecting to Surfshark for the first time is a very straightforward procedure. For the purpose of this review, nosotros downloaded the Windows app from the Surfshark website and were surprised to learn that we could sign upward and pay for the service during the installation procedure.
To start the VPN, all we needed to do was tap the connect push. After this, a desktop notification appeared to tell the states we were connected. Once selected, the interface displayed our IP location.
How good are Surfshark's desktop apps?
As we covered earlier in this review, setting upwards Surfshark's Windows app is very straightforward. We tested Surfshark as a Windows 10 VPN, but if yous want to install a Mac VPN, there is a client for this too.
In terms of versatility, the interface was more flexible than we expected and adapted as we played around with the sizing. Before resizing, the app displays a Connect button, data regarding current server status, and a menu containing server locations. When you aggrandize the interface, information technology reveals unlike options and selectable panels.
Although the list of locations doesn't explicitly show latency, icons are present that flag the best choices, while the Favorites tab is a handy style of storing the locations y'all employ the most.
Surfshark's Static IP listing makes information technology possible to connect to servers in Singapore, the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, Japan, the US, and Germany and so y'all can have a fixed IP address from a country of your choice every time you connect.
Interestingly, Surfshark includes a NoBorders mode. This clever technology should make it possible for you to log on to the VPN in countries and jurisdictions where they are usually prohibited – neat for a China VPN.
As we mentioned earlier in this review, the Windows client also includes the MultiHop characteristic, Whitelister, and kill switch. You lot'll discover the same features in the Mac app too.
Although some minor improvements could be made to the Windows app, we were impressed past its functionality, and it was very straightforward to operate.
How good are Surfshark's mobile apps?
As a mobile VPN, Surfshark is impressive. Some VPN providers appear to see mobile apps as an afterthought, just Surfshark'due south iPhone VPN and Android VPN are both very functional and packed with advanced features.
Aesthetically, the apps are very clean and piece of cake to apply. Small touches like nighttime way (pictured on iOS above) brand information technology seem well-rounded and a pleasure to use.
For this review, we tested the Android app and constitute it to be remarkably similar to the Windows customer. At that place is a similar interface, the list of server locations is identical, and it'due south possible to utilise the split-tunneling, MultiHop, blocking, and whitelisting features as well.
Mobile users can have reward of multiple back up protocols including OpenVPN/IVEv2, WireGuard, and Shadowsocks, plus the same kill switch you'll detect in the desktop version.
On top of this, Surfshark's Android app enables you to optimize operation on mobile networks, automatically connect to the VPN in certain scenarios, and choose from multiple encryption methods – AES-256-GGM or Chacha20Poly1305.
If y'all do encounter any bug with the app, information technology'southward possible to send bug reports, raise a ticket, or search for support queries without having to navigate to the cardinal support site.
This functionality, minus the Android-specific features like variable encryption options and split tunneling (unavailable on iOS in any course), is replicated in the iOS app besides.
How good is Surfshark's browser extension?
Surfshark has two available browser extensions, one for Chrome and some other for Firefox. This is slightly express – other providers like ExpressVPN go the extra mile and include extra versions for Border too – just the range of features included in Surfshark'due south extensions is good.
Yous can accept reward of all of Surfshark's cardinal features when using either browser extension. Yous tin connect to over 3,200 servers in 65 countries, benefit from the provider's private DNS engineering science, CleanWeb advertisement and malware blocking, and more.
What's more, Surfshark has besides added a split tunneling feature to its extensions, and its great to run into the developers putting effort into an ofttimes-neglected areas of a VPN's suite.
What customer support does Surfshark offering?
Surfshark has a defended support site where yous tin can get the answers to a number of queries. It includes FAQs, guides, and tutorials, which should encompass a decent range of issues, but information technology isn't entirely definitive.
The majority of the content is related to setup issues, although there is some focus on fundamental running queries. That said, the bulk of the articles lack the details you'd expect and could practise with being longer.
In terms of finding the information y'all need, a lot of improvements could exist made in regards to how the articles are organized. For case, if you type in "iOS" to the search bar, yous receive a list of articles related to iOS issues, such as how to install Surfshark on an iOS device.
It would be much better to have an choice, like the one provided past ExpressVPN'due south customer support, where all iOS-related bug were dealt with in 1 certificate.
If you're in a rush, or tin can't find what you're looking for, thankfully there's a capable squad of live chat staff on hand that are prompt and helpful with their replies. At this price indicate, nosotros're impressed with how goo dthe alive chat is – and then if there's anything troubling you lot when using Surfshark, this volition probably be your first port of call.
Final verdict
With Surfshark, you'll get a very capable VPN, packed with features, at a surprisingly depression initial cost. Information technology does have small issues – namely slightly slower speeds than the very best – but information technology has benefited from some serious improvements recently, such as the introduction of WireGuard integration for iOS and Android apps.
One competing provider that we recommend isExpressVPN. Although more expensive than Surfshark, it delivers better speeds, more than locations, and a level of customer service that'south unbeatable.
Merely, if you're looking to salvage money and handbag a premium-quality VPN, Surfshark should undoubtedly exist your first port of call.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/surfshark-vpn-review
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