IPVanish Review – [July, 2022]
Jurisdiction | United States |
Price | $2.62/mo on a 1-Year Plan |
Servers | 1,600+ Servers in 75+ Countries |
Encryption | AES-256-CBC Ciphers |
Stores Logs | Audited No-Logs Policy (StackPath) |
Unblocks Netflix | 5+ Different Netflix Libraries |
Torrenting | Supports P2p/File Sharing |
Compatibility | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Routers |
Website | https://www.ipvanish.com/ |
Headquartered in the United States and launched in 2012, IPVanish offers a great balance of price and value in the industry. While the location is not perfect and IPVanish has cooperated with Homeland Security, the VPN is a good option for streaming.
Starting at a minimal $2.62/month on a 1-year plan, IPVanish users have access to 1,500+ servers in 75+ countries. It has even undergone a security audit by StackPath, after its inquisition, which clears all misconceptions of the provider storing logs.
For unblocking American Netflix in Canada, the provider offers an optimized list of servers (available from the support team). You can additionally access 5 different Netflix regions while receiving good incentives for downloading torrents.
Pricing: How Much Does IPVanish Cost?
In terms of pricing, there is a premium plan divided into three varying durations; monthly (starting at $10.00), 3-months ($8.99/mo), and 1-year (as low as $2.62/mo). Similar to most providers, the monthly subscription is the most costly!
If you opt for plans with longer durations, you can leverage better discounts. For instance, if you go for the 3-months plan, you receive an amazing 25% discount. This reduces the per month costs to $8.99/month, which totals to $26.99 for 3-months.
For receiving the best value, I suggest subscribing to the 1-year plan. It gives you an amazing 46% off, which reduces costs to a minimal $6.49/month. As a result, you only pay $77.99 annually, which is slightly expensive than most VPNs, but still quite reasonable!
Free Trial/Refund Guarantee
Unlike other providers in the marketplace, IPVanish does not offer a free trial to its prospects for testing. However, they do make available a risk-free, no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee on all premium plans.
If for any reason, you do not find the service to your liking, simply reach out to the support team. Inform that you want to cancel your account and avail of the refund. Follow the instructions of the support executive. Just make sure you do this before 30-days!
Payment Methods
IPVanish supports various payment methods to help users buy a subscription. These include Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, payment via PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Play, and credit cards like Discover, American Express, MasterCard, and Visa.
Jurisdiction: Where is IPVanish Located?
IPVanish has its headquarters in the United States of America (USA), which is a founding member of the Five Eyes Alliance. This means, the provider is based in an “internet enemy” jurisdiction, which has no care for user privacy or freedom of speech.
Mandatory mass surveillance and data retention laws from the US Government can urge VPNs to store logs. In fact, cases that require providing data may have VPNs cooperate if they were to receive a subpoena, accompanied by a gag order request.
If it is privacy you are looking for with IPVanish, it may not be the best decision in your interest. The only advantage of using their service is that their headquarters in the US, allows them to offer physical servers in different cities, which works in favor of streamers!
Security: Is IPVanish Safe and Reliable?
There are no doubts about the reliability and dependability of IPVanish, but your privacy may not be that protected with them, due to the obvious “internet enemy” jurisdiction. However, IPVanish is working to improve its security, after its acquisition by StackPath.
Logging Information
Initially, IPVanish did store session/connection logs. This came to light after the provider cooperated with the Department of Homeland Security. After receiving huge backlash from the VPN community, the service vowed to eliminate all logs.
Therefore, when the Highwinds Network Group was acquired by StackPath, which included IPVanish as part of the acquisition, the service conducted a thorough audit. Now, the VPN joins the hands of VPN services with a no-logs policy!
Protocols and Encryption
IPVanish offers support for PPTP, L2TP, IKEv2, and OpenVPN protocols. By default, the Windows application uses the OpenVPN (UDP) protocol, whereas Mac/iOS apps utilize the IKEv2 protocol. The connection is protected via military-grade, AES-256-bit encryption.
Servers: How Many Servers Does IPVanish Have?
IPVanish may not have the largest network of servers, but it manages to do quite well. You can connect to 40,000+ IP addresses, 1,500+ servers in 75+ countries worldwide, which offer good performance and speeds for unblocking, gaming, torrenting, and streaming. For a complete analysis, here is a breakdown of their servers by region:
- North America: 850 Servers
- Europe: 480 Servers
- Asia: 37 Servers
- South America: 36 Servers
- Africa: 11 Servers
- Oceania: 83 Servers
- Total Servers: 1,500
P2p/File Sharing (Torrenting)
When it comes to downloading torrent files, IPVanish tends to be one of the best options available. In fact, they even advertise themselves as being the “fastest VPN” for torrenting. They support features like Split Tunneling and SOCKS5 proxies for torrenters!
Streaming: Does IPVanish Unblock American Netflix and other VoDs?
IPVanish faces no hassles in unblocking American Netflix in Canada and 5+ different Netflix regions. It does this through an optimized list of servers, which you can obtain from the live chat support of the provider in an instant.
Although IPVanish does not utilize obfuscation technology, it still successfully manages to bypass all VPN blocking algorithms of Netflix and other VoDs. Thanks to their 1.500+ servers, you can also easily access BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and more.
How to Get American Netflix via IPVanish?
IPVanish’s US servers work amazingly for unblocking American Netflix in Canada and that too in ultra HD quality. Recommended choices: New York, Chicago, and Seattle. Follow the steps below to learn how to unblock US Netflix via IPVanish.
- Visit the official IPVanish website to see all plans.
- Subscribe for a suitable plan based on your needs.
- Download and install the relevant application.
- Launch the IPVanish app and enter credentials.
- Connect to a recommended US Netflix server.
- Enjoy watching your favorite TV shows/movies!
IPVanish unblocks “Mighty Express” on American Netflix via their “Denver, United States” servers and delivers amazing speeds in 4k quality!
Speed: How Fast is IPVanish Really?
To get a better idea about the performance offered by IPVanish, I performed a speed test analysis on 5 different servers. On average, IPVanish delivers 84.05 Mbps in downloads and 82.86 Mbps in uploads on a 100 Mbps connection:
Server | Download | Upload | Ping |
---|---|---|---|
US | 87.12Mbps | 86.93Mbps | 102ms |
UK | 84.99Mbps | 83.72Mbps | 103ms |
Australia | 84.28Mbps | 82.18Mbps | 111ms |
Germany | 83.79Mbps | 82.10Mbps | 120ms |
France | 80.11Mbps | 79.39Mbps | 100ms |
Average | 84.05Mbps | 82.86Mbps | 107ms |
Compatibility: Can I Use IPVanish on All Devices?
IPVanish offers applications for all popular platforms/devices. You have native clients for Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and even Firestick. For Apple TVs, Xbox, and PlayStation, IPVanish even offers a preconfigured router for easy VPN connectivity!
Trustworthiness: What Do Users Say About IPVanish?
If you want to get an impartial opinion on IPVanish and its offerings, it is always a good idea to analyze what users are saying regarding the product. One of the best places to get user perspectives is to check out Trustpilot and Reddit.
Trustpilot Score
From a total of 6,120 user reviews, IPVanish gets an amazing 4.7-star rating on Trustpilot. Over 82% of users have given IPVanish an “excellent” rating, whereas only 3% of users have rated the service as “bad”, which indicates most experiences are positive!
Reddit Raves and Rants
Reddit is a treasure trove of unbiased reviews and luckily for IPVanish prospects, most experiences shared on the platform were positive. A lot of Redditors recommend IPVanish for those who wish to download torrents, thanks to their speed, reliability, and selection of servers!
IPVanish Customer Support
IPVanish offers its prospects a highly proactive support system. You have an easy-to-use and responsive 24/7 live chat for instant assistance for any questions regarding the product. For detailed answers, you can even email them at support@ipvanish.com.
For other non-techy and amateur users, IPVanish even offers a dedicated help section, which contains tickets for common problems. In the end, you have several sections like announcement, billing, and setup support, along with a FAQ and troubleshooting page!
IPVanish Alternatives
IPVanish does offer users quite the amazing experience for unblocking American Netflix, downloading torrents securely, and browsing the internet smoothly. However, if you are looking for alternatives in the marketplace, here are some credible options:
- PureVPN
- Surfshark
- NordVPN
- ExpressVPN
Is IPVanish Recommended?
Yes, I recommend IPVanish to prospects who need the perfect balance between price and value. Although the jurisdiction is a little suspicious, IPVanish offers good incentives for unblocking streaming platforms and downloading torrent files.
With over 1,600+ servers in 75+ countries worldwide, users can also feel relieved to receive good speeds and avoid the bad neighbor effect of shared IPs. All this for a minimal $6.49/month on a 1-year plan, which is backed by a 30-day refund!