UltraVPN review 2024

UltraVPN is one of the most popular VPN providers on the market. It is also very affordable, which attracts a lot of potential customers. Great speed retention in most countries is another bonus, but results show that UltraVPN is not without faults.

Our test reveals that UltraVPN has a flawed Mac interface with several bugs. Feeble security features are another reason why UltraVPN ranks quite low in our VPN tests.

So, we took a closer look at all that this VPN has to offer in order to answer the main question – is UltraVPN a good option in 2024?

Read this review to find out if UltraVPN is safe, how much its subscriptions cost, how it performs with streaming services, what its speed retention is, and most importantly, if it’s worth your attention and money.

	NordVPN	Ultra VPN
⭐ Rating:	4.9 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	3.1 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
🥇 Overall rank:	#1 out of #41	#39 out of #41
🖥️ Servers:	6,900 + servers in 111 countries	830 + servers in 125 countries
📖 No logs policy:	No logs	Logs information
💵 Price:	From $2.99/month	From $2.99/month
🔥 Coupons:	NordVPN coupon 74% OFF	UltraVPN coupon 76% OFF
🔒 VPN protocols:	OpenVPN, WireGuard (NordLynx), IKEv2/IPsec	Catapult Hydra, IKEv2
🍿 Streaming services:	Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more	Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Youtube TV
🖥️ Platforms:	Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
📥 Simultaneous connections:	10	10
💁🏻 Support:	Knowledge base, FAQs, email, 24/7 live chat	Knowledge base, FAQs

UltraVPN pros and cons

UltraVPN review: key takeaways

UltraVPN has several great features, but also notable downsides. Below you’ll find key points of where this VPN succeeds, and where it needs to improve:

• Security. Like all the best VPNs, UltraVPN uses AES-256 encryption. It ensures that your data is protected from external threats and leaks. However, it does not protect you from the VPN itself sharing your data with third parties.
• Performance. UltraVPN has great speed retention in certain countries, though its ping could be lower. Its server number could also be improved upon, especially when compared to NordVPN, Surfshark, and other higher-ranking VPNs.
• Privacy. VPNs have the word ‘private’ in their names, but UltraVPN is not great for user privacy. It keeps logs of user information and activity data, even sharing it with third-party affiliates. So, while its data encryption is faultless, it’s not great if you want to keep your activity private.
• Features. UltraVPN has some great features to offer. IP leak prevention and a kill switch are industry standards, but a password manager is a unique feature that very few VPNs include. This allows UltraVPN to stand out in a competitive market.
• Pricing. One of the main reasons why UltraVPN is so appealing is its price. This VPN is one of the most affordable in the market, with a 2-year plan costing $2.99/month. There is no free version or trial, but UltraVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Is UltraVPN safe?

Yes, UltraVPN is safe if you only care about personal data encryption protocols. But it’s not safe if you’re looking for a truly private service, as it shares relevant information with third parties and keeps logs of your activity. So, in countries with strict government regulations, UltraVPN is not the best option. The only security that UltraVPN does offer is that it encrypts your information online. So while outside threats can’t hack you, your information is not secure.

UltraVPN is owned by Aura Group and in their user agreements, they inform you that they keep the right to share your information with this company's other businesses. Additionally, they share your data with third-party providers that work with them, like Zendesk for chat support, Sendgrid for emailing services, and others.

Below you’ll find information on all UltraVPN security features:

Encryption	AES-256
Tunneling protocols	IKEv2/IPsec, Catapult Hydra, OpenVPN, WireGuard
Kill switch	✅Yes
RAM servers	❌No
Privacy policy	Officially claims no logs, but privacy policy states certain data collection
Security audits	No independent audits

Encryption and tunneling protocols

UltraVPN states that they use unbreakable and reliable encryption – AES-256 encryption. So your data can’t be hacked and decrypted by cyber criminals.

Also, there’s a recent upgrade in tunneling protocol choice:

Protocol	Best for
Catapult Hydra	Faster speed results while torrenting and streaming
IKEv2/IPsec	Mobile devices connection
OpenVPN	Bypassing firewalls and fast speeds
WireGuard	Fast and reliable way to transfer data through a VPN

When it comes to Catapult Hydra tunneling protocol, there’s very little known about its security. Luckily, it’s complemented by more advanced tunneling protocols. For example, UltraVPN also recently introduced OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols, making it faster and even more secure.

However, there’s no obfuscation feature present in this VPN’s package. So this isn’t a VPN that you should trust to work in China, or trust to mask your VPN connection.

Logging

UltraVPN collects data about user activity. This VPN privacy policy clearly states what information it gathers about you and your activity, including one provided to them by third parties.

UltraVPN logs this information about you:

• What VPN location user connects to
• From what country the user connects to the VPN
• What version of the app do the users have
• IP addresses
• Device information when you’re browsing their websites

Also, the information that UltraVPN logs can be shared with law enforcement as well. The base country for this VPN is the US, a country that is one of the founders of the 5-Eyes Alliance agreement. The countries in the alliance can request the VPN providers to give them the user information.

Most reliable VPNs have a no-logs policy in place, which confirms that they don’t log any of their users' information, therefore there’s nothing to provide.

However, UltraVPN states that they don’t log your information while you’re connected to the VPN connection. That could be proven with an audited no-logs policy, yet there isn’t one here.

RAM-only servers

The VPNs that work on RAM-only servers are the most secure ones. This means that there are no physical servers where any of your information can be logged and kept for future use. RAM-only servers don’t store your information and they are wiped clean with every reset.

Also, RAM-only servers provide higher security to users, since then their data cannot be hacked or stolen, since there’s no log of that information or a physical server to hack.

The UltraVPN doesn’t work with RAM-only servers. Not even partially – all of their servers are physical, so whatever information about you that is logged is kept in a physical server.

Security and privacy audits

Independent audits are a way for reputable and secure VPNs to prove their security and privacy policies. That’s why all of the top VPNs have gone through independent audits, sometimes even a couple to solidify their security measures and prove that they really don’t collect user data for any purposes.

However, UltraVPN is not one of those top VPNs. This provider has never been audited. There’s no proof of how secure their encryption is, what information is or isn’t logged in their physical servers, and overall how secure it is to use this VPN.

So, overall, it seems that if you’re seeking a secure VPN that will certainly encrypt your data and won’t log it for future use, then UltraVPN isn’t the one.

How much does UltraVPN cost?

UltraVPN has three available subscription duration options: a 2-year, a 1-year, and a monthly subscription. There is little difference between 2-year and 1-year plans in terms of price per month, but like it is with all VPNs, the monthly subscription is the priciest option. While you do pay upfront, here is a table of how much UltraVPN costs per month:

Plan	Average price per month
2-year plan	$2.99/month
1-year plan	$2.99/month
Monthly	$7.99/month

No matter which term plan you’ll pick, you’ll get exactly the same features. Additionally, there are 10 simultaneous device connections, which is pretty good for a VPN provider.

Each plan option also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Also, you get the PassWatch password manager and dark web scan feature without any additional costs.

The best value for UltraVPN comes with its longest plan. The two-year plan will cost you $2.99/month, but you’ll be billed for it at once for the full two-year price.

If you prefer to pay monthly, you can choose the most expensive pricing option. The monthly bill will cost you $7.99. While this is a rather low monthly billing price, it isn’t worth the features that you get with it.

There is also an option to upgrade to UltraVPN+, which costs around $3.99/month and includes antivirus and malware removal. Other than that, all features remain the same as with regular UltraVPN.

Additionally, UltraVPN supports very limited payment options – it’s either credit card or PayPal. So, if you wish to have more anonymous payment options, like cryptocurrencies, this provider isn’t for you.

Can you get UltraVPN for free?

No, UltraVPN does not have a free trial or a free plan option for you to try out. So the only way to see what this VPN has to offer is by buying a premium subscription plan.

However, you can try UltraVPN premium features risk-free for a month, thanks to the 30-day money-back guarantee.

If you want to see what VPN providers do have a free trial or a free app option, check out our article on the best free VPN services.

Speed performance: is UltraVPN fast?

We have conducted the research on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen2 device (AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U processor, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) with Windows 11 Pro operating system installed. We also tried to test UltraVPN on Mac, but due to bugs, the results cannot be considered accurate. So, the results presented are from Lenovo with Windows 11 Pro test.

We examined multiple countries across the world to present you with clear indications of where UltraVPN works great and where it’s slower. We checked ping (as high ping causes lag), upload, and download speed retention. Keep in mind that internet speeds can change depending on location, ISP, software, or even time of the day.

• Baseline: 2ms ping; 500Mbps download speed; 500Mbps upload speed

	Ping, ms	Download speed, Mbps (retention, %)	Upload speed, Mbps (retention, %)
Australia	302	402 (80%)	75 (15%)
Canada	114	475 (95%)	320 (64%)
Germany	31	454 (91%)	415 (83%)
France	36	448 (89%)	349 (70%)
Japan	265	464 (93%)	95 (19%)
Netherlands	35	475 (95%)	250 (50%)
Sweden	25	471 (94%)	479 (96%)
Singapore	254	9 (2%)	34 (7%)
UK	39	462 (92%)	388 (77%)
US	105	477 (95%)	325 (65%)

We were able to use the WireGuard tunneling protocol, which offers the best speeds, so the results were significantly better than with regular IKEv2 protocols.

What becomes immediately clear when examining speed retention is that certain countries show much better results than others. Mainly, North American and European servers showed great download and upload speeds, while servers in Japan and Singapore performed extremely slowly.

Also, with the exception of European servers, the ping was extremely high. So, while speed retention is great, high ping in North American, Asian, or Australian servers is likely to cause lag, particularly when streaming. In this case, faster VPNs like NordVPN or Surfshark would be a better option.

UltraVPN servers and locations

There’s no point in comparing UltraVPN with other VPN providers when it comes to the number of servers they offer. There are only about 830 servers in 125 locations (though the app shows 85). Meanwhile, VPNs like NordVPN, CyberGhost, or Surfshark have several thousand servers. Recently, UltraVPN included location count with their countries, as you can see in the image below:

It is not clear how many servers are in each location, but some countries have more than one location for users to pick. The leader is the United States, with 25 available locations. There are also 6 locations in Australia, 4 in Canada, and 2 in the UK. Most countries only have one location available.

The limited number of server options can cause issues with speed and connection. It might lead to some overcrowded servers, which means that you will experience lag. Also, this will make it easier, especially for streaming sites, to identify your connection through a VPN and, therefore, block that server IP from accessing their content.

Because a large number of servers are located in the US, especially when added to UltraVPN’s questionable privacy policy, additional security and anonymity issues are more of a risk.

UltraVPN features

If you’re seeking a VPN with lots of features, then UltraVPN is not the one for you. This provider covers the most basic security points but overall, this is a rather feature-poor VPN option. However, the features that it does have are reliable and will secure your data from third parties.

We reviewed multiple noteworthy UltraVPN features, such as:

• IP leak prevention
• Kill switch
• Password manager
• UltraAV antivirus
• And others

IP leak prevention

In order to prevent possible IP or DNS leaks, UltraVPN has a feature called IP leak prevention. This feature is turned on by default, so you don’t have to go and turn it on when you download this VPN provider.

We’ve tested the ability of this feature and the results were successful. This feature prevented any leaks of my location, browser history, or any cache data. So you don’t need to worry about losing your security and anonymity.

Kill switch

All reliable VPN providers need to have a kill switch. This feature works in a way that when your connection with a VPN is compromised, it drops your internet connection, so your real IP and personal information can’t leak.

UltraVPN offers this feature, but we can’t really deem it a reliable one. During our tests, the kill switch took a couple of seconds to actually kill our internet connection. Unfortunately, during those fleeting moments, our real IP was completely visible to whoever wanted to see it. So, that’s why we can’t claim that this feature works as it’s intended to.

Password manager

The one really solid additional feature to UltraVPN that you don’t need to pay any extra is the PassWatch password manager. There’s no dedicated app for Windows or macOS, only the browser extension. However, there’s a mobile app for Android and iOS, but these apps look exactly identical to the browser extension.

With this password manager, it’s easy to add accounts, import passwords, and for users, it’s really easy to navigate.

Here are the features of this password manager:

• Password generator – generate a password with up to 32 characters, including upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. It did work during our tests.
• Identities – you can create a form with all your information, like full name, address, number, and email. It should work in a way that later when you need to provide this information in a form, you could fill it out automatically with one click. But we couldn’t make this feature work.
• Secure me – this allows you to clear the browsing history, cookies, etc. after closing the windows. However, we wouldn’t trust this feature too much, when there are other ways to clear your browsing history.
• Notes – create and store secure notes.
• Credit cards – you can store payment card information. However, you should be careful with trusting this password manager to keep this data safe.
• Security report – provides information about your password security.

Try UltraVPN password manager

UltraAV antivirus

When you subscribe to the UltraVPN+ plan, you also gain access to UltraAV, a powerful and legitimate antivirus solution. All Kaspersky US users were recently transferred to UltraAV, though it can also be purchased separately. UltraAV offers comprehensive protection against malware, providing real-time threat detection to safeguard your devices. It includes a firewall to protect against malicious hackers, along with USB drive protection.

Beyond antivirus protection, it enhances online security with features like a dark web scanner that monitors for personal data breaches, sends alerts if your information has been compromised, and offers tips on protecting your data.

Other notable features

There are a few more notable features that you can get with UltraVPN. You can pick and choose which domain to exclude from a VPN connection – this is UltraVPN’s split tunneling feature. Just like with password manager, you also get a free dark web monitoring feature. However, this is a rather limited security feature since it only checks for the email that was used to create your UltraVPN account.

Is UltraVPN good for streaming?

UltraVPN works with some Netflix locations, unblocks Max, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and YouTube TV. However, this VPN surely wouldn’t top our best VPNs for streaming list because it doesn’t offer the greatest viewing quality or non-laggy streams.

Platform	Does it work?
Netflix	✅ (doesn't work with the US, Australian, and Japanese servers)
HBO Max	✅ Yes
Disney+	✅ Yes
BBC iPlayer	✅ Yes (with issues)
YouTube TV	✅ Yes

During our tests, we really struggled to find servers that would unblock Netflix, we had no success with the US, Australian, and Japanese server locations. On the other hand, the streaming experience was quite nice with sites like Max and Disney+. However, even though the videos were of high quality on these platforms, we still had to deal with lags and video buffers. That can be due to overcrowded servers since UltraVPN cannot boast of having a large fleet of servers overall.

Also, there were several issues when trying to connect to BBC iPlayer, a platform that usually doesn’t provide issues with other VPNs.

Additionally, there’s no SmartDNS feature, so you can’t use this VPN for streaming on devices that don’t support VPN apps, like some smart TVs. Which is another downgrade for this provider.

Let’s look deeper into what exactly UltraVPN is capable of when it comes to unblocking global streaming content on different platforms.

Unblocking Netflix with UltraVPN

UltraVPN has some real struggles when trying to unblock Netflix. The US library was unreachable, and neither were the Australian or Japanese servers that we tried. So that instantly limits the possible streaming options.

Luckily, we’ve managed to access the UK and Canadian libraries. With UltraVPN the UK locations worked well. The video quality was good and there wasn't much lagging or buffering. On the other hand, the Canadian location provided average video quality with many lags and buffers.

So, can we claim UltraVPN as a good VPN for streaming Netflix? Certainly not. It has way too many issues when it comes to finding locations and the average video quality doesn’t tip the scale to the positive side. You’d be better off picking another VPN that actually works with Netflix, our top suggestions for this streaming platform are NordVPN and Surfshark.

Unblocking other streaming services with UltraVPN

There were several surprises when it came to unblocking other streaming sites with UltraVPN. Firstly, it took ages to connect to the BBC iPlayer, once connected it was practically impossible to stream anything. The video quality was about average, we experienced lags, and at one point we just got an error message while trying to play a new episode of a show.

On the other hand, Max and Disney+ streaming quality was much better. While on both platforms we’ve experienced lags, which can be due to unreliable connection speeds, the video quality was impressive and there were no issues with finding working servers.

However, at least YouTube TV proved to have great quality video streams with no lags with UltraVPN.

Is UltraVPN good for torrenting?

No, UltraVPN has no specialized servers for torrenting and it may take you a few tries to find a good server to torrent your files.

We’ve tested UltraVPN’s ability when it comes to torrenting, and the download speed was inconsistent depending on a server we’ve used. When connected to an Estonian server, we’ve reached an okay download speed of 5-6MB/s. So, a 3.56GB file downloaded in around 10 minutes.

However, we’ve gone through several other server locations where the same file took over an hour to download.

Overall, this isn’t the best VPN for torrenting. UltraVPN can be used for this purpose, it’s supported on all of their servers, but the experience torrenting will be about average. If you seek a truly solid VPN for torrenting, you should check out our best VPNs for torrenting list.

UltraVPN interface and ease of use

Platform	Experience
Windows	Minimalistic, very easy to navigate app.
macOS	The app is very bugged, especially compared to the bug-free Windows version.
iOS	Feature-rich app version.
Android	Limited app, but very easy to navigate.

Windows and iOS UltraVPN apps share the same style – minimalistic, clear, and easy to navigate. UltraVPN, in general, covers only the main operating systems, so they don’t have a dedicated app or even a setup guide for Linux users.

The UltraVPN Android app has the least features or customization abilities, but otherwise, it’s quite functional.

The MacOS UltraVPN app, however, was completely broken. When you launch the app, the “Allow notifications” buttons are broken; for example, the “Do not allow” text is repeated twice on the same button. If you hover over it with the mouse, it fixes itself. Bigger or smaller bugs appeared as we persisted with trying out the app. For example, a notification encouraging to redownload the app flashed repeatedly, and the data download calculator did not work at all.

Windows

The UltraVPN Windows version is very intuitive and easy to use. The design choices were minimalistic and all the features are grouped and placed in their tabs.

For features, the Windows app includes IP leak prevention, a good kill switch, connection quality feedback, split tunneling, and customizable tunneling protocols. You can also choose between the Catapult Hydra and IKEv2 protocols on the Windows app.

The one negative point throughout all of the app versions is that instead of a map interface to pick the servers, UltraVPN offers a list of countries.

macOS

Visually, macOS version of UltraVPN is very similar to the Windows one. It has the same features categorized in the same tabs, tunneling protocol customization between Catapult Hydra and IKEv2, and no map interface.

However, the differences are in functionality. The macOS app was completely broken when we tried it, with flashing errors and messages, features that didn’t work, and so on. So, while technically, UltraVPN is supposed to work fine with macOS devices, we had no luck trying it ourselves, so we cannot recommend getting it.

Mobile apps

This is a rare occurrence, where the iOS app is much better than the Android one. The iOS app is minimalistic and easy to navigate. There’s no map interface, just a list of countries to choose your servers, just like in the desktop versions.

This app version has all the features that Windows and macOS apps have. That includes a kill switch, split tunneling, and customizing which tunneling protocol to use – Catapult Hydra or IKEv2.

Additionally, there’s an option to automatically disconnect from a VPN when the phone is in sleep mode.

The Android version is the most limited app version out of all. The interface is slightly different from the Windows or iOS one.

On the main screen, you can find all the information about your connection speed and security. This can be slightly overwhelming at first, but overall the app is really easy to navigate.

Moving on to the features, there are a few that are missing, when compared to the iOS or Windows versions. The Android app doesn’t allow you to choose between protocols – the only available one is the Catapult Hydra.

Also, there’s no kill switch feature, so if your connection to a VPN drops, you’re risking revealing your real IP address.

UltraVPN customer support

	UltraVPN
24/7 live chat	✅ Yes, but only on their website
Email	✅ Yes, for requests only
Phone line	❌ No
Guides or articles	✅ Yes
FAQs	✅ Yes

There are multiple ways you can contact UltraVPN customer support agents if you encounter any issues. However, all of the communication goes through their website and not the apps.

The customer support agents will answer your request in a moderate time frame when you contact them via live chat or email. We tried it out and sent out an email, and they came back to us in less than 48 hours.

However, if you prefer figuring the issues out yourself and just need a little help, there’s a vast library of guides and articles for you to read, and a useful FAQ page.

Is UltraVPN good and worth getting?

UltraVPN can be either a great option or the most frustrating one, depending on where you live, what servers you plan on using the most, and how private you want your VPN to be. For example, if you live in one of the EU countries and intend to connect to the US or other European servers, you will get fast speeds and adequate privacy. Elsewhere, the service is not so great.

UltraVPN works smoothly on Windows and iOS, with easy-to-navigate apps. But if you’re a macOS or an Android user, then you’re likely to ask for a refund. Features, aside from a password manager, are also not so special. VPNs like NordVPN or Surfshark offer significantly more.

The best thing that UltraVPN can offer is the price. The subscription is highly affordable, even if you were to choose a more advanced UltraVPN+ version. But with so many great affordable VPNs available that work better, is it really worth investing in? Personally, I don’t think so.

FAQ