IPVanish VPN review

IPVanish is a feature-rich and user-friendly VPN. In fact, it’s a great tool to increase your online security and privacy, or simply enjoy Netflix or YouTube. Moreover, all of this comes at a wallet-friendly price.

Based in the United States, this VPN unblocks Netflix, works with various torrenting clients, and offers rather high speeds with the WireGuard tunneling protocol.

And to tease you a little bit more – IPVanish is able to offer you a wide range of features and some of them aren’t found in any other VPN. For example, you can set your VPN connection to work on your preferred wifi network or application with the On Demand feature. Plus, the SOCKS5 proxy is included which will come in handy if you're a torrenting fan.

But don’t rush into putting your pink glasses on. Just like any other VPN provider, this one also has its own shortcomings. For instance, apps might get quite awkward to use.

However, there are lots to discover if you’re ready to vanish a few dollars for the service. So, continue reading this IPVanish review and find out what you may expect from it or just grab the limited Cybernews offer we managed to get for you!

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IPVanish pros and cons

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Is IPVanish good for streaming?

While it is able to unblock some of the major streaming platforms, for example, Netflix or YouTube, it can struggle with the rest including Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.

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IPVanish doesn't have specialized servers for streaming. You will be using the same ones as for everything else. Therefore, it might get quite irritating as you are unable to bypass pretty important streaming sites.

For streaming, we recommend trying other market-leading providers like NordVPN or Surfshark that have streaming-optimized servers. These providers have specialty servers that ensure a smooth streaming experience – the speeds are optimized and thanks to advanced features, you can securely access a wide range of content.

All in all, if you are a TV series binge watcher, then IPVanish wouldn’t be the best option to go for. You might find the best solution for this on our list of the best VPNs for streaming.

Unblocking Netflix with IPVanish

IPVanish is a reasonable option for bypassing Netflix geo-restrictions. With this VPN, I managed to unblock Netflix US, UK, and India. There were no freezing or buffering interruptions. So, I can announce that IPVanish works with Netflix and is capable of bringing you some streaming pleasure.

However, if you also fancy watching some European titles, I have sad news for you. IPVanish couldn't unblock most of the European Netflix libraries, with very few exceptions. So if you want a VPN that unblocks the European Netflix, I suggest taking a look at our best VPN for Netflix list.

Unblocking BBC iPlayer with IPVanish

Unblocking BBC iPlayer was pretty complex. To be exact, I did manage to unblock the site and watch content. Yet, the quality of them was poor, and I have come across buffering. Consequently, looking for other BBC iPlayer VPNs would be the best solution.

What other streaming platforms does IPVanish unblock?

I have picked several large sites to test IPVanish’s capabilities, but the result wasn’t as exciting as you would want it to be. Only 3 streaming sites got unblocked with IPVanish – Netflix (US, UK, Indian libraries, HBO Max, YouTube, and BBC iPlayer).

Besides Netflix US getting unblocked, YouTube TV also wasn't a hard nut to crack. When connected to IPVanish servers, you can unblock geographically restricted sports highlights or trailers without problems.

The following disappointment was met while trying to access Hulu. The VPN was caught in their filters, returning an error and blocking access to the site. The same happened with other following streaming platforms.

Does IPVanish work with streaming boxes?

Alternatively, if you want to, you can set up IPVanish with streaming boxes, such as Kodi box, Amazon Fire TV Stick, or Roku.

With Kodi box, you can download the .apk file from their website and install it on the device. With IPVanish, unblocking particular content libraries is a straightforward process. Regarding Amazon Fire TV Stick, you will need Amazon Fire TV, Amazon 2nd Generation, or later Fire Stick to install the VPN service and access content. Roku will also work, but additional hardware is required, as the streaming platform is not capable of connecting to IPVanish by itself. You can connect your Roku through a DD-WRT or Tomato router.

Overall, IPVanish seems a decent option for streaming. If you're only interested in Netflix and YouTube TV, IPVanish will do just fine. However, if you need more niche streaming websites unblocked, you may run into some problems. This is a shame since they have apps for Fire TV, Fire Stick, even Fire Cube, which makes streaming all the more convenient.

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Is IPVanish good and safe for torrenting?

Yes, IPVanish is quite good and safe for torrenting. However, calling it excellent for torrenting wouldn’t be right. Truth be told, IPVanish isn't making a huge selling point out of its P2P capabilities. The service doesn't offer specialized torrenting servers, so you'll have to use the same pool.

I've found out this isn't such a massive problem because torrenting with IPVanish works without problems. During the tests, the download speed was 7-8MB/s (56-64mbps) once it connected to all of the peers. So, the speeds were a little bit higher than I'm accustomed to seeing on average.

There's also a free SOCKS5 proxy. To be exact, this server is great for those who seek to maintain great speeds but at the same time, they want to be secure and have online privacy. So those who want to take advantage of even higher speeds also have options.

But keep in mind that we all have different needs, it’s always useful to have extra options. In this case, checking our top VPNs for torrenting might help.

Plans and pricing

The main dilemma that you'll have when choosing an IPVanish pricing plan is whether you need SugarSync. You can either get only the VPN or a bundle that includes their encrypted storage.

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No matter how you distribute the amount, you will be charged instantly for the whole sum in advance. Although, when put in perspective, their monthly prices aren't that high. Considering the number of features that you get, it's a pretty good deal.

The option for SugarSync bundle is well worth it if you want to have encrypted storage. However, after the first month or first-year when the discount is no longer valid, the pricing isn't that low. This pretty much makes IPVanish the cheapest VPN to use for a year. You can reach out IPVanish directly to get more information regarding the bundle.

Their 30-day money-back guarantee only applies to their annual plans. If you want to get an IPVanish free trial, don't pick a monthly option, as you won't get a refund. All plans support unlimited simultaneous connections, so you'll have total freedom over the number of devices you can use with the VPN.

Available payment options include credit cards and PayPal. So, if you're planning to pay with cryptocurrencies, you won't be able to do it.

• If IPVanish prices look a little bit steep – we might have a solution. Check out our page for IPVanish coupons to see if there's a deal waiting for you.

Can you get IPVanish VPN for free?

Yes, you can get IPVanish for free on your mobile device. When you subscribe to an annual plan, you’ll get a 7-day free trial, which will give you access to all of the premium features that IPVanish offers.

To activate the free trial, you need to download the IPVanish mobile app from the App Store or Google Play store. Once you’ve downloaded the app, sign up to create your account. It has to be a new account to get the free trial option.

Then you’ll get to pick the plan you want with the free trial. To confirm your account you’ll have to authorize your subscription through the mobile app store.

After setting up your free trial account, you can download the IPVanish app on your computer as well and just login to your free trial account.

In addition, after the trial period, IPVanish also has a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, you can merge those two deals and enjoy 37 days of free premium IPVanish VPN.

The free app version is exactly the same as the paid IPVanish subscription. You’ll get the same security features, protocols, features, and server choices.

IPVanish servers and locations

The server count isn't the most important attribute of a VPN service, but it has its benefits. A huge fleet allows avoiding traffic congestion on their servers. It means that your speeds will suffer less if the user base is evenly spread across the globe.

In this regard, IPVanish has around 2,200 servers in 52 locations. So, although the fleet isn't the biggest, the country amount is above the average. In addition, all these servers are owned by the company, which has security benefits.

Out of 6 contents, these 4 (North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania) are the richest in servers:

Moreover, it’s quite easy and convenient to pick a server and location on IPVanish’s application. Here is how you can do it:

1. Find your preferred location on a map.
2. Click on a green bubble that identifies the number of servers.
3. Connect to the suggested fastest server or one of your choice.

If you're planning to use IPVanish for Asian servers, it might be a bit crowded if more users decided to connect at the same time. However, those choosing Europe will have a much better user experience.

Keep in mind that distance from the VPN server and your location will also affect your speed.

​​Does IPVanish work in China?

After running through the test, we have reached a conclusion that IPVanish doesn't work in China. But there might be a solution that could help.

Yet, don’t keep your hopes high. As IPVanish says on its website “...please note that China, in particular, has started blacklisting our IP addresses too... so even this measure may not help.”

What you could try is connecting via a manual configuration by connecting to IPVanish’s servers' IP addresses instead of its server names. In this way, China might overlook that you are using a VPN.

And if the latter method didn’t help you out, you should take a look at our listed best VPNs for China.

Speed and performance: is IPVanish fast?

IPVanish speeds are excellent since it supports one of the fastest tunneling protocols currently available on the market – WireGuard which is also set to be as default tunnel for all the apps. Our tests have shown fast download speeds, retaining around 80-90% of the original performance in key locations. And depending on your location and server, upload speeds can be very close to that as well.

Alternatively, IPVanish has an option to select the OpenVPN tunneling protocol which also offers solid speeds. Of course, it will depend on your physical location as well. You can see the results from the past 14 days in the table below. It includes the top 5 locations that are most commonly selected by users.

Data period: 09.18 - 10.02

	Download retention	Upload retention
US (NY)	15% (150 Mbit/s)	19 % (187 Mbit/s)
United Kingdom	13% (127 Mbit/s)	28 % (273 Mbit/s)
France	29% (283 Mbit/s)	44 % (427 Mbit/s)
Singapore	26% (253 Mbit/s)	38 % (363 Mbit/s)
Australia	26% (248 Mbit/s)	35 % (341 Mbit/s)

Download/Upload baseline speed - 1000 Mbit/s

See live VPN provider data on our VPN speed test tool

It's clear that the speeds are much better with the WireGuard protocol than the OpenVPN protocol. So the best thing you can do is connect to the WireGuard protocol and choose a location that is not too far from you. Hence, you would have light-fast speeds and excellent security!

IPVanish performance with other protocols

Apart from WireGuard and OpenVPN, IPVanish also supports other tunneling protocols, including IKEv2, L2TP, and PPTP.

Here are the results for all available protocols:

• Baseline: 300 Mbps download/300 Mbps upload

• IKEv2: 238/32
• OpenVPN UDP: 137/55
• OpenVPN TCP: 163/135
• L2TP: 90/24
• PPTP: 42/22
• WireGuard: 240/130

The time to connect with IKEv2 was significantly lower than with OpenVPN. The download speeds were more consistent and overall higher but the upload speeds dropped substantially in many cases. On average, the download speeds dropped by 21%, while upload speed drops were around 89%. As with OpenVPN, ping times were also higher than usual.

Although most other VPN service providers are dropping support for L2TP, it's still here in IPVanish's case. The download speed drops (on average) were 70%, while the upload speeds dropped by 23%. Coupled with the fact that ping times also weren't impressive, it looks like the only case where L2TP could be useful is compatibility. It should work on most devices without problems. However, that's hardly a selling point on its own, considering the speed reductions.

It seems that universally PPTP is the worst option that IPVanish has. Not only because of security vulnerabilities associated with it. Average download and upload speed drops were 86% and 93%, respectively. Ping times were also pretty huge, so it seems that PPTP is poorly optimized.

All in all, here is how top IPVanish’s protocols stand against each other:

However, you can get an even better understanding of IPVanish speeds if you know how other VPNs perform. So let's compare IPVanish's results with the WireGuard protocol to the other top VPN providers:

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Overall, IPVanish can actually go punch-for-punch with even the fastest VPN providers in the world when it comes to speeds with the WireGuard tunneling protocol. If you're looking for solid performance, IPVanish is an option we can recommend.

How to download IPVanish?

1. Step 1: Go to the IPVanish website, and click the button Apps.
2. Step 2: Click Download Now button. You will be able to choose the operating system you want to install it on.
3. Step 3: Open the downloaded file. Follow the instructions, install the app.
4. Step 4: Login to your account with your credentials.
   
5. Step 5: Connect to your chosen server and safely use this highly-rated VPN to stream, game, and torrent!

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Interface and ease of use

The apps of IPVanish VPN are pretty easy to use and are well-designed. Still, they will be more appreciated by advanced users – mainly thanks to the number of features, advanced settings, and detailed stats about the connection. Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS users will get dedicated applications, while those who use Linux will need to use the Command Line Interface.

Windows

If you are a Windows user, with IPVanish you get a selection from several tabs like QuickConnect, Server List, and Account settings. By switching the tabs, you can quickly alter your settings or connect to a different server.

The server list can be switched from list view to map view, which I found very convenient. There's even a filter according to the proximity and latency of the server. Moreover, you are able to add servers to a Favorite list which will be displayed on the top of the country list.

Also, the Windows kill switch is a bit more customizable than on the macOS version, allowing even local area network blocks. So, other than SSTP and PPTP tunneling protocols, nothing is separating the Windows and macOS versions.

macOS

Feature-wise, the macOS version has a kill switch, auto-reconnect, an obfuscation toggle, and on-demand rules.

Other than that, the macOS version is less customizable than the Widows app. But the experience with IPVanish doesn’t get worse. The whole interface remains similar which is quite easy to use and still appears to be customizable enough to get the best out of it. IPVanish also offer a VPN app for Apple TV, which you can download from the App Store.

IPVanish mobile apps

Suppose you're an avid cybersecurity tools user by now. In that case, you should have noticed that iOS apps rarely have the edge over Android. IPVanish apps are no exception to the rule. Their Android version is head and shoulders above the iOS version.

iOS

The iOS version has On Demand connections, Siri shortcuts, and an alternate connection mode. Otherwise, there's nothing else. Except for quite comfortable and nice-looking interface.

The Settings section allows you to easily customize the functionality of the application. Also, you will find security tools that you may enable, for example, the On Demand feature.

While you are picking a server and location that you want to connect to, IPVanish makes sure you have the possibility of connecting to the best possible option. Meaning, it identifies what server and the city are the best available.

Android

Although the iOS app has a nicer design, functioning remains pretty much the same on Android. Meanwhile, neither app has a dedicated kill switch.

Yet, here, you're getting the obfuscation toggle and split tunneling. You can even reduce the maximum packet size that can be transmitted over your network, which can help if you're having trouble reaching websites via a mobile network.

To improve your safe browsing experience even more, IPVanish has implemented status information. There you will get to see a new IP address, the name of the server, location, time spent connected, and even more.

Speaking of visuals. There's a switch between light and dark mode, so if you're using system-wide dark mode, IPVanish UI won't stick out like a sore thumb.

IPVanish VPN features

IPVanish is a feature-rich VPN that will satisfy most of your needs. For example, it includes encrypted storage (which is pretty rare when it comes to VPNs), automatic connection features, split tunneling, traffic obfuscation, and even a SOCKS5 proxy.

SugarSync

When you're paying for your IPVanish subscription, you also can get encrypted storage for a small fee. It works similarly to Dropbox or Google Drive, with the upside that it's encrypted using the AES-256 encryption. So, your uploaded files are protected with the same standard as your VPN connection.

SugarSync lets you store up to 500 GB. The most significant selling point is that you can even enable upload by email. When you enable this option, you can forward emails with attachments to a unique email address. The attached files will be immediately stored in the cloud. This is convenient and solves some problems if you're using a secure email provider with limited inbox storage.

On Demand

IPVanish offers a method to automate your connections with the On Demand feature. When it's turned on, you auto-connect to the VPN in pre-determined cases. You can set it up to always connect automatically, disable the feature when connecting to a specific wifi, or turn it on when connecting to specified websites.

If you set it up for your mobile, you can choose to not use the VPN while at home but automatically connect in coffee shops or libraries. That way, you don't have to remember to enable it. The VPN does its good work from the background. However, this feature is only available on iOS.

Split tunneling

Split tunneling allows IPVanish users much better control of their VPN setup. With this feature, you can choose apps, which can connect to the Internet, bypassing the VPN connection. This means that they will be connecting directly with your real IP address instead of going through an intermediary.

It makes sense to use split tunneling for local versions of applications that you're using. So, you can order food from a local retailer, rather than some chain that's located on another continent. It will work great for Netflix, as well.

This feature can also minimize the risk that your banking application will trigger security alerts. These apps are particularly sensitive to foreign IPs joining the website, as it's often a signal for scammers who got a hold of someone's data. With split tunneling, you'll be able to avoid all such problems. Sadly, it's available for Android users only.

SOCKS5 Proxy

Every IPVanish subscription comes with a free SOCKS5 proxy. It's an unencrypted intermediary server, which removes your IP address. For this reason, it's popular with torrenters who want to remain anonymous when downloading. Many torrent clients can be easily configured to use the SOCKS5 proxy, hiding your real IP address.

However, it's worth noting that the IP address being hidden is the only benefit. SOCKS doesn't encrypt your data. A snoopy ISP will be able to see what you're doing online. It just minimizes the risk that your IP address will end up on some shady list.

For more tech-savvy users, IPVanish terms of service don't restrict SOCKS5 usage for scraping. It means that if you want to scrape websites for data, you can theoretically use IPVanish without repercussions. We haven't tested this service in this sense, so don't take it as a recommendation.

Traffic obfuscation

Another useful feature about the existence of which IPVanish isn't screaming from the rooftops is traffic obfuscation. You can tick a box in the settings to enable the XOR cipher for your traffic. That way, your encrypted traffic is modified, making it difficult to determine you're using a VPN.

The first layer of encryption protects your exchanged traffic, for example, the visited websites. It leaves you with patterns that are very indicative of OpenVPN usage. However, with XOR, OpenVPN's traffic loses its VPN characteristics as they are scrambled with the XOR step.

It may seem irrelevant, but keep in mind that some governments have implemented firewalls with deep-packet inspection. Their function is to disable all VPN usage. So, with obfuscation, you're immune to their blocks to some extent.

Is IPVanish safe and secure?

IPVanish is a safe VPN that uses strong military-grade ciphers and has essential security features. You'll be protected against DNS or IP leaks. Though, it does have some black spots in its past that make this provider's privacy claims questionable.

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Encryption

Like most consumer-grade VPN service providers, IPVanish uses the 256-bit AES encryption. Originally known as Rijndael, this standard is considered one of the safest options to encrypt data. For this reason, it's widely used in government and financial institutions. It's simply too complex to be brute-forced by hackers.

Account authentication is processed with SHA-512 hash functions, scrambling your login information into hashes. Because it's SHA-512, each hash's size is 512 bits, so it's a lot to process. Replicating such a hash would take an absurd amount of time, making your data safe.

Their authentication mechanisms also support perfect forward secrecy, meaning that some portion of their encryption system is constantly changing. This means that the encryption keys they were using merely an hour ago are slightly different from the encryption keys they're using now. So, in the case of a data breach, you can have more peace of mind that your data will remain safe.

Tunneling protocols

IPVanish has a wide variety of available tunneling protocols. You can choose from:

WireGuard – a new type of protocol that's capable of bringing the best speed, strong security, and is easy to deploy. Available on all their clients and set as a default tunneling protocol.

OpenVPN (TCP/UDP) – open-source protocol, which still provides first-class security. Available on Windows, macOS, and Android.

IKEv2/IPSec – the most popular mobile device option due to low resource usage, compatibility, and near-instant reconnections on interrupts. Available on all their clients.

L2TP/IPSec – is a combination of two older protocols, which as a package is considered to be fairly secure. Available on Windows and macOS.

PPTP – although it has wide compatibility heavily it's an outdated tunneling protocol, which is still sometimes used when no other options work. Available only on Windows.

It's worth mentioning that there's also an SSTP option, which is available on Windows. However, I didn't manage to connect to any of their servers using this protocol. Otherwise, this could be a selling point, as this protocol is known to bypass China's Great Firewall.

Overall, IPVanish has a decent suite of tunneling protocols, with the best options being WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2. That being said, it doesn't stay in the corner and watch the best VPNs improving – IPVanish goes along with them.

Kill switch

IPVanish does have a standard kill switch that shuts down your internet connection if a link to a VPN server is interrupted. However, there are more customization options for it.

It's also possible to block LAN access to shut the device off from the local network devices. This may be relevant if you're cautious about who could also be connected on a public wifi. In reverse, you can set it up so that you can block all other local network interfaces when you're connected to the VPN. This may help you to prevent your data from leaking when you're downloading torrent files.

Recently, IPVanish also introduced a separate kill switch app dedicated for Fire TV (or devices that don't support split tunneling and network kill switches). To use the app, you need to have an active IPVanish subscription and app.

In our tests, switching off the app didn't interrupt the connection to the VPN server with IKEv2 and interrupted it with OpenVPN. So, even if you accidentally close the app, you'll still remain connected with IKEv2, but not on OpenVPN.

Disabling the OpenVPN process engaged the kill switch. The app also tried to reconnect in the background. The only issue was that it gave no notification about what's going on.

So, the kill switch works as advertised. If you're doing something sensitive and the connection breaks, the kill switch will have your back.

Logging

When looking for a suitable business location, IPVanish picked one of the worst available options – the US. This is home to the NSA, which is tapped into all of the country's data lines. Also, the US government is one of the founding members of the Five Eyes alliance.

In their privacy policy, however, IPVanish promises to treat your data with the utmost respect. They claim not to log or sell your data or info on your online activity. The only collected information pieces are the email address and payment method.

That said, they admit that their website uses quite a lot of tracking cookies. Otherwise, this shouldn't be such a big deal. Still, considering that their primary customer is privacy-minded, this doesn't reflect positively on them.

Also, the brand is no stranger to privacy scandals, either. In the past, they have collaborated with the FBI, providing email, account status, real IP address, and connection timestamps. It did help to take a sexual predator into custody, but it added a black spot on the IPVanish privacy promises. With all that said, the brand has changed hands since then and the new owner has distanced themselves from this incident.

Consequently, IPVanish has been recently independently audited by Leviathan Security Group. The company has successfully audited the application and approved IPVanish's claims regarding not collecting activity nor traffic logs.

Customer support

If you have some questions about their service, the best place to start is their knowledge center. There you'll find heaps of FAQs, so it's likely that your problems already have a well-documented solution with images. It seems properly maintained, and I didn't manage to find outdated articles.

However, if your problem needs their input, you can contact their customer support agents via email or live chat. I contacted them, asking if there is anything that can be done to unblock iPlayer. I only got a reply three days later, asking what device I am using. So, email isn't the fastest option at their disposal. However, live chat proved to be much faster.

Overall, their customer support left a positive impression. I liked the fact that their customer support portal shows whether there are any major problems with the service. That way, you know that the problem isn't on your end.

IPVanish VPN video review

If you wish to have some more visual information about IPVanish, then it’s worth taking a look at our video IPVanish review below. You'll learn everything about its ease of use, features, value, and more.

Is IPVanish good and worth getting?

IPVanish is a middle-shelf VPN service that offers most of what you’d expect from a VPN. This provider has all the necessary features like a functional kill switch and numerous servers to connect to. It also unblocks Netflix, has P2P compatibility, and offers a very affordable price for the first year. There are no IP or DNS leaks to speak of.

That said, due to their business location, it may not be the go-to choice if absolute privacy is your goal. Even as an entertainment-only option, it has some difficulties with unblocking some streaming services. However, if you're mostly watching Netflix or YouTube, it can unblock them easily – and with the updated WireGuard speeds, you'll be streaming high-definition content in no time.

For a cheap and fast option for Netflix and torrenting, IPVanish is an excellent VPN.

Let us know your experiences and opinion on IPVanish in the comments section below!

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