IPVanish VPN review 2023: a reliable and affordable VPN for you

Using a virtual private network, or VPN, can help protect your privacy by making it harder to keep track of what you do online and preventing your Internet service provider (ISP) from watching what you do. IPVanish VPN is a good deal because users can connect as many devices as they want at once. It also has a wide range of servers around the world, including some areas that rivals don’t cover. Its design gives you a lot of control over your VPN connection, but it’s not very modern or easy to use.

IPVanish is a VPN that has a lot of features and is easy to use. In fact, it’s a great way to protect your privacy and protection online or just watch Netflix or YouTube. All of this also comes at a price that is easy on the pocket. This VPN is based in the United States. It can unblock Netflix, it works with different torrenting clients, and the WireGuard tunneling protocol gives it pretty fast speeds.

And just to keep you guessing, IPVanish can give you a lot of features, some of which you won’t find in any other VPN. With the On Demand tool, you can set up your VPN connection to work with your favourite Wi-Fi network or app, for example. Also, the SOCKS5 proxy is included, which is helpful if you like to use torrents.

IPVanish VPN: Pricing

Prices for IPVanish’s VPN service start at $11.99 per month. At $4.50 per month, the yearly plan seems like a good deal. But be careful, because this is an opening offer. When you repeat, the price goes up to $7.50. At $3.33 a month for the first term, the two-year plan is a good deal. But it costs $7.50 a month to renew, which is the same as the annual deal (there is no saving for the longer term).

For what you’re getting, these prices are fair. They’re a little cheaper than NordVPN and ExpressVPN, but they’re still more expensive than other choices. After the first year, IPVanish costs $89.99, but the Private Internet Access 3-year plan gives you 39 months of safety for $79. Also, there is no automatic price increase when the contract is renewed.

If you decide to join, you can pay with a credit card or PayPal. Google Pay, Amazon Pay, S€PA, and Apple Pay can all be used to pay, but Bitcoin still can’t be used. IPVanish has a 30-day money-back promise, but you need to read the fine print because it only applies to yearly plans. Plans that bill you every month are not qualified.

IPVanish VPN Key Features Table

IPVanish VPN is a good choice for anyone who wants to browse the web in a safe and private way. It works well, is fast, and has a lot of tools.

IPVanish VPN: Features

IPVanish has a good mix of powerful tools and an interface that is easy to understand and use. There are features like a kill switch, split tunneling, and specialized server locations for streaming. All of these things let you browse the internet safely and secretly.

Anonymous Browsing: Since IPVanish doesn’t keep track of your internet data or VPN connections, you can use the internet without being tracked. This makes sure that no IP address or date will be linked to you. Also, if you share an IP address, it can’t be used to find you.

DNS Protection Measures: IPVanish’s private DNS servers translate website addresses into their IP addresses. The DNS servers can only be accessed when the VPN is turned on. This makes sure that the DNS is secret and safe.

Dedicated IP: IPVanish does not provide a fixed IP address.

Kill Switch: If your IPVanish link stops working for any reason, a kill switch will cut off your internet. This function lets you keep your anonymity and privacy by making sure that all of your internet traffic goes through the VPN. At the moment, the kill switch tool is only available on the Android Mobile 8+, macOS, and Windows client apps from IPVanish. And you’ll have to turn it on yourself—it doesn’t do it by itself.

Split Tunneling: Splitting an IP TunnelWith Vanish’s split tunneling feature, you can choose which apps or programs connect through the VPN and which connect straight to the internet. This feature gives you more control over which internet traffic is protected by the VPN. It may also speed up your connection because you can send low-risk traffic through your regular internet connection. According to IPVanish’s website, split tunneling only works on Android and Fire OS devices.

IPVanish VPN: Protocols

We like the OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols when it comes to setting up a VPN link. Both are open-source, which means that anyone can look at them to see if they have any problems. OpenVPN has become the standard in the VPN business, but WireGuard is a very new technology that VPN companies are still getting used to. We are glad to see that IPVanish works with both.

On all platforms, IPVanish VPN works with both WireGuard and IKEv2, which is another good choice. The only platform that doesn’t support OpenVPN is iOS. Only iOS and macOS have IPSec built in. IPVanish VPN also works with older, less safe methods. It has apps for Windows that work with L2TP, SSTP, and PPTP, and an app for macOS that works with L2TP.

IPVanish: Server and Locations

The number of servers is not the most important thing about a VPN service, but it does have some advantages. Their computers don’t get clogged up with traffic because they have a big fleet. It means that your speeds will be less affected if the number of users is spread out evenly around the world. IPVanish has about 2,200 computers in 52 places to do this. Even though the fleet isn’t the biggest, the number of boats in the country is above average. Also, all of these computers belong to the company, which is good for security.

These four (North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania) have the most servers out of the six:

The IPVanish app also makes it easy and handy to choose a server and location. Here’s how it can be done:

• Find the place you want to go on a map.
• Click on a green bubble that shows how many computers there are.
• Connect to the fastest server recommended or any other server you want.

If you want to use IPVanish’s Asian servers, it could get a little crowded if a lot of people join at once. But users will have a much better time if they choose Europe. Keep in mind that your speed will also be affected by how far you are from the VPN site and where you are.

IPVanish: Speed and Performance

We test VPN speed by running several benchmarking services, such as SpeedTest’s website and command line app, Cloudflare, and Measurement Lab. We run the tests both from a data center in the UK and from a home in the US. Both places have lines of 1Gbps. We run each test five times with OpenVPN, five times with WireGuard, and then do it all over again a few hours later. We then look at the data to see what’s going on.

Most OpenVPN companies get between 100 and 200 Mbps, and IPVanish got an average of 180 to 190 Mbps. That’s much slower than the 280–480 Mbps OpenVPN speeds we saw from Mullvad, but it’s still above average and good enough for browsing and even the highest quality streams.

We were able to change the settings and get results that were even better. WireGuard is already built into IPVanish apps. After we changed protocols, speeds went up to more than 950Mbps. Your experience might be very different, since you probably don’t have the same amount of connectivity as a data center, but it does show that IPVanish’s servers aren’t too busy.

IPVanish: Streaming and Torrenting

IPVanish is a good VPN for watching, and we had no trouble getting US Netflix to work from any of the three places we tried. The VPN could also get into Netflix UK and Netflix Japan. Australia and Canada, on the other hand, were harder to get past. I also had trouble getting into other US material. IPVanish had trouble with Disney+, but it worked perfectly with Amazon Prime. My tests at the country level showed the same mixed results. In Australia, IPVanish couldn’t get to 10Play, but in the UK, it was able to get to BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, and ITV.

IPVanish can get to a pretty wide range of services in the end. There are, however, other VPNs that can help if some of your favorite shows are on services that IPVanish has trouble with. ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark all let you get around almost any block.

IPVanish’s P2P support is very safe because it uses the best level of encryption to make sure that your information can’t be read if it is intercepted. On top of that, this VPN has a kill switch that has been tried and is easy to set up as a proxy. With IPVanish, you don’t have to worry about picking a server that works. All of its more than 2,000 options are already P2P-friendly, and because it doesn’t keep logs, no one can find out what you’ve transferred or talked about online.

IPVanish isn’t one of the best VPN services for torrenting because it can’t split tunnel as well as other services. This feature lets you send some files through the VPN while keeping others alone. It also makes your transfers more secure and speeds up your connection and file transfers. But only Android and Fire TV users can use it, and I’d love to see it on PC.

IPVanish: Securtiy and Privacy

In terms of security and privacy, IPVanish is a mixed bag. It will keep you safe from hackers and people who want your browsing data, but it won’t keep you safe from people who will bust you for using a VPN. IPVanish’s AES 256-bit encryption is the same as the standard in the business.

I tested the killswitch on Windows, and it worked as intended. But if you’re on a Mac, you can only turn on the killswitch if you join through OpenVPN. IPVanish’s tool for hiding your IP address, called “Scramble,” only works with OpenVPN connections.

IPVanish’s Windows app is the only one that lets you turn on DNS leak protection. On its website, IPVanish says that its software protects against DNS leaks by resolving web names with the help of private DNS servers. IPVanish says that it does not keep any data logs or records of what you do online. In April, IPVanish released a report and certification from Leviathan Security Group, a security consulting and risk management company based in Seattle.

IPVanish VPN: Platforms Supported

IPVanish works with Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome, Android, iOS, and FireTV. You can also run the IPVanish VPN app directly on your router, which will protect all of the devices that connect to your Wi-Fi network.

• Windows
• Mac
• Android
• iOS
• Linux
• Router

You can also buy a router with the IPVanish VPN software already installed on it if your router doesn’t support VPN software or if you’d rather have an easy option. When you use a VPN with your router, you can also use it with your Smart TV (if you don’t have a FireTV). This will help keep your ISP from slowing down your speeds if you stream a lot.

Many VPNs don’t seem to have all features for all operating systems, but IPVanish has kept the same feature set for most of its apps. The only exception is the iOS app, which doesn’t have split tunneling or a kill switch.

Windows Apps

The new home screen for IPVanish’s Windows app is full of features. There’s the current location, a button to connect or disconnect, a panel with information about your connection (IP, protocol, data uploaded and downloaded, and more), a zoomable world map with pins for all IPVanish locations, and a sidebar with buttons that take you to other parts of the app. You’d be right if you thought that sounded like a lot, but there is a way to fix some of it.

Either the Connection Details panel or the map can be hidden, and that does make a difference. We chose to keep the map, which made the screen simpler and made the app look a lot like the last one. To connect to the closest location, all you have to do is press the big green “Connect” button. You can also move around the map like you would any other (left-click, hold, and drag to move, or use the mouse wheel to zoom), and double-clicking a location pin will start a connection.

The app has a great list of places. It’s full of all the features and details you can think of. You can choose a location by country, city, or even by server. Each location shows its ping time and server load, which helps you decide which one is best. Start typing the name of a city or country into the search box, and the list will update as you type. You can also use the Favorites system to group servers you use often so that you can quickly connect to them in the future.

IPVanish VPN: Settings

IPVanish has a settings box that is packed with features. Here, you can switch between the WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN TCP and UDP protocols, and you can also choose whether OpenVPN will use port 1194 or port 443. This should make it easier to get around small VPN restrictions, like those in local Wi-Fi hotspots but not in China. Through the settings menu, you can also choose which server IPVanish connects to by default when you start the client and set up leak protection for DNS and IPv6.

You can also look at the OpenVPN logs and do some troubleshooting if something goes wrong. Then there are the auto-connect settings, which let you tell IPVanish to connect automatically when it starts up or when you connect to a network you don’t trust. IPVanish automatically trusts cellular and Ethernet networks, but you can tell it not to. I found that the kill switch isn’t turned on by default, so I had to click through the settings until I found the one that turned it on by hand.

This setting is also not saved between connection sessions, so you’ll have to remember to turn on the kill switch every time you start the VPN. I tried out the kill switch, and the results were great. IPVanish warned me right away with a desktop alert whenever I broke the connection, no matter what protocol I was using. When I turned on the feature, it even helped me reconnect without letting my real IP address show. It’s important to remember that the IPVanish kill switch can’t be turned off.

This means that if it’s turned on, you won’t be able to use the internet unless you’re connected to the VPN. Even though this is safe, it can be annoying, and in an ideal world, I’d rather have a kill switch that doesn’t cut off the internet when I disconnect. IPVanish has tried to fix this problem with a button on the home screen called “kill switch.” With one click, you can turn off the feature and temporarily use your normal connection. With another click, you can turn on the kill switch again.

Mac Apps

The IPVanish app for Mac will soon have a dual-pane home screen with a map and connection details, just like the Windows version. When we reviewed it, it wasn’t finished, but we did get to try out the beta version. The problems with the Windows App were also present in the beta. It’s a little too crowded, but you can hide one of the panes to make it a little better.

The current, soon-to-be-replaced Mac app has a good set of core features, such as support for WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, IPSec, and L2TP, the ability to automatically connect or disconnect when you access untrusted Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks, and a kill switch in case everything goes horribly wrong.

There are also a lot of oddities. Compared to the Windows version, the Mac map looks and works very differently, and some things aren’t where you’d expect them to be. We hope that the design problems will be fixed in the next release. Still, this app works well right now. Some of the Mac’s competitors are faster and have a lot more features than the Mac.

Mobile Apps

The IPVanish mobile apps got a new look, just like the desktop version. When you open the IPVanish Android app, you’ll see a map of where you are and a button that says “Connect.” When you click it, a beautiful animation that says “Connecting…” plays. The navigation bar isn’t as impressive, but you can still use it to quickly get to the Settings, Locations, and Help screens. You can’t choose your location using the map, but if you click the Locations button, you’ll be taken to a list of servers that looks more like a traditional list.

You can connect to any of the cities listed with a tap, but I’d like to see some latency and ping numbers here, like they are in the desktop apps. IPVanish also lets you make a list of your “Favorites,” which makes it easy to get to later. The time it takes to connect is only a few seconds, and the Android app shows your new IP address and how long your connection will last. Other providers will show more information here, but the clean, simple look works just fine. With the update, you can now contact IPVanish Support from within the app (via the Help screen) if you need help instead of going to the website.

When you look into the settings, IPVanish has more options than other providers, and it supports OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 protocols. You can even choose between OpenVPN UDP and TCP connections and use port 8443 to connect to servers, based on whether you want speed or stability. The Android app has a feature called “split tunneling,” which lets users choose which apps use the VPN and which don’t, and a guide for setting up a “kill switch” at the system level. From a privacy point of view, the app’s lack of a “kill switch” is a bit of a letdown, and it’s something I’d like to see added in the future.

The Android app also doesn’t have an auto-connect feature that will start working when you connect to a network you don’t trust. This feature is, however, included in the iOS version, and many other mobile app providers have it as well. After the update, the IPVanish apps for Android and iOS look a lot like each other. The iOS version has a clean interface and a map screen, and it only takes one tap to connect to a nearby location. Plus, you can look through a list of servers that you can change at your own pace.

The biggest difference is in the settings menu, where the lack of OpenVPN support is obvious right away. This is not good news, but IPVanish makes up for it by offering WireGuard, IKEv2, and IPSec. Other things are also missing, like the ability to choose ports, the Scramble feature, and UDP/TCP. Still, I was most impressed by the “On Demand” feature, which automatically connects you to the VPN whenever you join a network you don’t trust.

You can even make your own “allow” and “deny” lists so the VPN knows which connections to protect and which ones are safe. IPVanish users can also tell it which domains to protect. Overall, other services offer iPhone VPNs with more tweaks and features, but IPVanish’s app still covers all the basics. It’s easy to use, has a list of customizable locations, and knows when to connect to keep you safe.

IPVanish VPN: Customer Support

Live chat, email, and a knowledge base are all ways that IPVanish customers can get help at any time. The fastest way to get help is through live chat, which takes an average of just a few minutes. The email service is also helpful, but it may take a few hours to get a reply. The information base is well-organized and has answers to many of the questions that people usually ask.

IPVanish VPN has good customer service as a whole. The live chat support is the fastest and most helpful, and the knowledge base is a great place to find solutions to typical problems.

IPVanish VPN: Pros and Cons

IPVanish VPN is a great choice for anyone who wants a VPN that is quick, safe, and reliable.

Final Words

IPVanish has great WireGuard performance, apps that can be set up in a lot of different ways, and quick live chat support to make sure everything runs smoothly. IPVanish is a middle-of-the-road VPN service that gives most of what you’d expect from a VPN. This provider has everything you need, like a working kill switch and a lot of servers you can join to. It also lets you watch Netflix, works with P2P, and costs very little for the first year. There are no leaks of IP or DNS information.