IPVanish VPN Review | PCMag

Using a virtual private network (or VPN) can help improve your privacy by making it harder to track what you do online and keeping your ISP from monitoring your activities. IPVanish VPN provides good value, allowing subscribers to use as many devices as they want at the same time. It also offers a widespread array of servers across the globe, covering some regions ignored by competitors. While its interface gives you fine-grained control of your VPN connection, it's neither modern nor particularly pleasant to use. More concerning is that the service does not offer the depth of privacy features found in Editors' Choice Winners such as ProtonVPN or Mullvad VPN and the fact that it has yet to release a third-party audit to validate its privacy practices.

(Editors' Note: IPVanish VPN is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

How Much Does IPVanish VPN Cost?

IPVanish VPN costs $10.99 per month, which is slightly above the average monthly price of $10.14 among the field of VPNs we've tested. Many services charge more than the average, but if they back up that price with valuable features, it's still a good value. Mullvad, an Editors' Choice winner, notably offers more privacy tools than IPVanish—multi-hop connections in particular—and it sticks to its single pricing tier of €5 per month ($5.64, as of this writing).

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As with most VPNs, IPVanish offers discounted annual subscriptions. Here, too, IPVanish has tweaked its pricing, and not for the better. An annual subscription costs $53.99—significantly less than the average of $70.44 we see across the VPNs we've tested. However, that price jumps to $89.99 for the second year and all years after. IPVanish VPN is up-front about this change, and it's a practice common in other types of subscription services. Still, we're not fans and wonder if some consumers will see the price jump as a nasty surprise. Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN offers the most affordable annual plan we've seen, at just $30.

If price is a major concern, consider a free VPN, instead. TunnelBear offers a free subscription, but limits users to just 500MB per month. ProtonVPN has the best free option, placing no data limits on free subscribers. It also offers flexible pricing, making it very accessible.

You can pay for the service with any major credit card or PayPal. If you're looking to use Bitcoin, prepaid gift cards, or some other anonymous method of payment, you're out of luck with IPVanish. Editors' Choice winners Mullvad VPN and IVPN both let you pay for subscriptions anonymously with cash sent directly to their respective HQs.

What Do You Get for Your Money?

IPVanish places no limit on the number of devices you can connect simultaneously, as opposed to most other VPN companies that limit users to just five devices. This makes IPVanish a good value (you can literally protect more devices for your money). In addition, the resources needed to police device limits often come at the cost of customer privacy. Along with IPVanish VPN, only Avira Phantom VPN, Ghostery Midnight, Editors' Choice winner Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN place no limits on simultaneous connections.

Nearly all VPNs allow the use of BitTorrent and P2P file sharing on their networks, although some do restrict the activity to specific servers. If you're a heavy downloader, you're sure to appreciate the freedom and flexibility of IPVanish, which doesn't restrict BitTorrent at all. 

Some VPNs say they block ads at the network level, but IPVanish makes no such claim. That's no great loss, as we recommend readers use a stand-alone ad- and tracker-blocker such as the EFF's Privacy Badger.

The best VPNs include additional privacy features to make it even harder to track you online, and to ensure your VPN won't get in the way of your day-to-day life. With multi-hop connections, a VPN can bounce your connection through a second server to make it even harder to track and intercept, but IPVanish does not offer multi-hop connections, nor does it provide access to the Tor anonymization network via VPN. Split tunneling lets you designate which apps and websites need to send data through the VPN and which can travel in the clear. IPVanish VPN does offer split tunneling, but only on Android devices. 

Notably, NordVPN and ProtonVPN are the only two products we've yet tested that offer multi-hop, access to Tor, and split tunneling. It's no surprise they're also Editors' Choice winners.

Some VPN companies offer subscription add-ons. These typically come with an additional fee and often include static IP addresses or access to high-performance server hardware. IPVanish does not offer additional services. TorGuard, on the other hand, has a remarkable slate of add-ons for significantly less than the average VPN company charges.

Some VPNs have greatly expanded their offerings to include password managers, like Remembear, and encrypted file lockers, like NordLocker. Hotspot Shield comes with a Pango account that grants access to other privacy-protecting services for free. IPVanish does offer backup space and syncing through SugarSync and LiveDrive. IPVanish also offers anti-virus protection and anti-tracking tools through Vipre antivirus subscription add-ons.

(Editors' Note: SugarSync and Vipre are owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

While VPNs go a long way toward improving your privacy on the web, they won't protect you from every ill. We strongly recommend installing antivirus on all your devices, enabling multi-factor authentication on all your accounts, and using a password manager to create a unique and complex password for every site and service.

What VPN Protocols Does IPVanish VPN Offer?

When it comes to creating a VPN connection, we prefer the OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols. Both are open-source, meaning they can be picked over for any potential vulnerabilities. While OpenVPN has become the industry standard, WireGuard is very new technology that's still being adopted by VPN companies. We're happy to see IPVanish supports both options.

IPVanish VPN supports WireGuard and IKEv2 (another good option) on all platforms. OpenVPN is supported on all platforms except for iOS. IPSec is available only on iOS and macOS. IPVanish VPN also supports older, less secure options as well. Its Windows app supports L2TP, SSTP, and PPTP, and its macOS app supports L2TP.

IPVanish VPN's Servers and Server Locations

IPVanish boasts servers spread across 52 countries, which is slightly fewer than last year. Importantly, IPVanish has excellent geographic diversity. The company offers servers in Africa and South America—two continents often completely ignored by VPN companies. IPVanish does not, however, offer servers in regions with more oppressive internet restrictions, such as China, Turkey, or Russia.

The total number of servers a VPN company provides is usually linked to how many subscribers it serves—more subscribers, more servers. It's not necessarily a marker of quality service. Still, IPVanish offers a respectable 1,900 servers. CyberGhost VPN, NordVPN, and PureVPN claim more than 5,000 servers apiece.

A virtual location is a VPN server configured to appear somewhere other than where it is physically located. This isn't necessarily a problem, and in some cases can be used to provide coverage to dangerous regions by housing the servers in safer countries. It's a moot point with IPVanish, as the company says none of its servers are virtual locations. ExpressVPN provides servers in 94 countries with few virtual locations.

Similarly, a virtual server runs on physical server hardware, but it is software-defined, meaning several virtual servers can exist on a single physical server. IPVanish says it does use virtual servers, but only when the company controls the underlying hardware. That's a good policy.

Some VPNs, such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN, have started using diskless or RAM-only servers, which are resistant to physical tampering. Other VPNs have started to purchase more servers outright, in order to own their physical infrastructure. IPVanish VPN says it owns and manages 80% of its infrastructure, and it does not use diskless servers. The company says its servers are fully encrypted to protect their integrity.

Your Privacy With IPVanish VPN

When you use a VPN, it has as much insight into your internet activity as your ISP. That's why it's important to understand the information any VPN service may collect and how they use it. In general, the best VPN services collect as little as possible, and share even less.

IPVanish VPN's privacy policy starts strong with clear language outlining key assurances: It won't monitor or log user activity, it strives to collect as little data as possible, and it does not sell or rent personal information. A company representative told us the same. 

After that, the policy is a little harder to read. While in plain language, it is extremely detailed. Editors' Choice winner TunnelBear VPN does a better job balancing clarity and readability, but IPVanish VPN's level of detail is refreshing.

Like most VPNs, IPVanish VPN says it processes “aggregated anonymous data” to optimize its service. That's not unusual for a VPN. However, we noticed that while IPVanish says it doesn't log connection times, total session duration is part of the aggregate data collected. We'd like to see this clarified in the policy. It's also important to acknowledge anonymized data isn't always as anonymous as we might like, and we believe companies should gather and retain as little information as possible.

Notably, the company acknowledges that its apps create local logs, but that it cannot access this information. That seems like a good way to balance troubleshooting needs with privacy.

We were impressed at the exhaustive list of cookies and third-party analytics tools IPVanish uses, and why IPVanish uses them. It even includes information on how to disable the cookies IPVanish uses on its site. That's a level of transparency we appreciate.

IPVanish operates under the name Mudhook Marketing, LLC, and is part of a Ziff Davis subsidiary called NetProtect. As previously noted, Ziff Davis is PCMag's publisher. IPVanish is based in the US. A footnote in the privacy policy clarifies that “Mudhook Marketing” is a legacy name, unrelated to its ownership.

A company representative tells us that while it does respond to valid requests from law enforcement, it has no user data to supply. Some VPN companies use a foreign base of operations to add another layer between them and law enforcement requests. In general, we don't feel qualified to make a judgment about the security implications of a VPN being based in a particular country. Instead, we encourage readers to educate themselves on the issues and choose a product with which they feel comfortable.

The company tells us it owns 80% of its server hardware, though it does lease servers in some locations. IPVanish has also made efforts to prevent unauthorized access to its infrastructure, such as full disk encryption, deploying two-factor authentication internally, and requiring approval from multiple individuals for code changes. That's good, but it's worth noting that other companies have taken greater efforts to secure their infrastructure and harden their services against potential attacks. This is an increasingly important issue in the VPN industry and has led several companies like ExpressVPN and NordVPN to transition to RAM-only servers, which are resistant to tampering.

To establish their trustworthiness, some VPN companies have begun releasing the results of commissioned audits. NordVPN had its no-log policy audited, and TunnelBear has committed to releasing annual audits of its service. IPVanish has not undergone a third-party audit. The company also does not issue a transparency report, outlining its interactions with law enforcement, nor does it have a warrant canary. Audits and reports are not a guarantee of quality, however, and are admittedly imperfect tools, but undertaking them in a meaningful way is still valuable. 

Hands On With IPVanish VPN for Windows

You can configure almost any device to use IPVanish's services, but the company also offers native apps for Android, Chromebooks, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. IPVanish does not offer browser plugins, as many competitors do. It does, however, support an app for Amazon Fire TV. Alternatively, you can configure your router to use IPVanish VPN, or purchase preconfigured routers directly from IPVanish.

The IPVanish application installed quickly and easily on our Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH test PC running the latest version of Windows 10. The app has kept its hacker-chic black-and-green color scheme from older versions. It's a very utilitarian tool that is badly in need of a visual refresh. Private Internet Access had a notoriously bad interface, but it has since redeemed itself with a UI overhaul. IPVanish VPN should really do the same.

IPVanish is centered around a chart showing your online traffic, which isn't particularly useful. A green Connect button in the upper right corner will get you online immediately. We appreciate the simplicity, but the button is easy to miss, and we wonder if first-time users will understand that the app is ready to work immediately. 

Pull-down menus at the bottom let you select the country, city, and specific server of your choosing. All these are set to the Best Available option by default. We do like that you can drill down to country, city, and even individual servers right from the main screen. The flexibility of the app's design is easily its best feature, although we think many people will find its numerous pulldowns and menus intimidating. TunnelBear offers an excellent, whimsical app in bright yellow that makes the task of getting online quickly a breeze.

Tabs down the side of IPVanish's Windows app let you access account information, advanced settings, and a full server list. We especially like that the server list is searchable, and that it can be filtered by available protocol, country, and latency time. At the right, it shows the number of servers in a given country and a five-dot symbol that approximates latency—you can hover your mouse to see the precise ms measurement. With a click, each section expands to show the specific servers, ping time, and load percentage. 

There's also a map view, but it's not on by default. Other services with more emphasis on user interface design put maps at the forefront. It's easy to dismiss this as mere window dressing, but if you're having trouble connecting to a specific country, a map makes it far easier to identify nearby alternatives.

Beyond selecting a VPN protocol, the app offers little in terms of network customization. There is a Kill Switch that blocks access to the web unless the VPN is connected. You can also configure IPVanish VPN to connect automatically when your machine boots up. By default, the app allows for local network traffic, but you can toggle this off as well.

Some VPNs may leak your personal information, like your real IP address or DNS information. In our testing, we confirmed our IP address was changed. Using the aptly named DNS Leak Test tool, we confirmed IPVanish doesn't leak DNS information. Note: We tested only one server. Other servers may not be correctly configured.

The location-spoofing abilities of a VPN make it a popular choice for accessing streaming content in other countries. To enforce geographically sensitive content deals, Netflix and other streaming services tend to block VPN users. While using IPVanish VPN, we were only able to access a limited subset of Netflix content, most of it Netflix Originals. That could change at any time, since the VPNs for watching Netflix are in a cat-and-mouse game with the streaming service.

Speed and Performance

VPN services usually reduce download and upload speeds and increase latency. To compare the impact of each VPN on web browsing, we take a series of speed measurements using Ookla's Speedtest tool with and without the VPN running, and then find a percent change between the two. How we test VPNs has all the nitty-gritty details.

(Editors' Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

In our tests, we found IPVanish performed well across the board, placing it among the top eight of the ten fastest VPNs. Our results showed IPVanish decreased download speed test scores by 28.6 percent, and decreased upload speed test scores by 23.5 percent. IPVanish VPN was one of only three services that did not significantly increase latency.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we've had to make some adjustments to how we test VPNs. Instead of testing all the products back-to-back, we perform groups of tests throughout the year. You can see the latest results in the table below.

Because your experience with a VPN will differ dramatically depending on when, where, and how you use it, we strongly advise against using speed as a deciding factor when making a purchase. Instead, we suggest focusing on features, cost, and the privacy protections a VPN provides.

A Balanced Offering

With no limitation on simultaneous connections, IPVanish offers a good value for money—especially for large families or device-heavy households. It charges a slightly above average price, and grants access to a robust network of servers across the globe. It's also notable for having extremely customizable server connection options.

Despite that, IPVanish comes up short compared to our Editors' Choice winners. It lacks the colorful and friendly interface of TunnelBear VPN. IPVanish also needs to complete a public third-party audit, like the one performed by NordVPN, and should begin issuing a transparency report to bolster confidence in its ability to protect customer data. The service also lacks the privacy features found in the best VPNs we've reviewed, including ProtonVPN and Mullvad VPN.