IPVanish Review

Company: IPVanish VPN

Background: Originally founded by Mudhook Media in 2012, IPVanish VPN has since changed hands. Its last acquisition was in 2019, and today it belongs to a US-based Internet services company called J2 Global. The IP Vanish brand remains focused only on the VPN space, building on a long history in the industry.

Starting Price: $3.99/mo

Currency: USD

Visit Online: https://www.ipvanish.com/

Review Summary & Ratings

4

IPVanish often occupies the highlight as a top-grade VPN. I've revisited this review several times over the past few years, and things change occasionally. The one thing I'm sure of is that it's a decent product with good potential. The problem is that it doesn't seem to be able to move forward coherently, so buyers face a “hit or miss” risk.

Pros

• Potential for Decent Speed
• Audited Privacy Features & Strong Security
• Streamlined App Experience
• Good Customer Support & Knowledgebase
• Stable Media Streaming Experience
• Free 250GB on SugarSync Stable
• Torrents / PP2 on IPVanish

Cons

• It Has a Reputation to Make up for

IPVanish Speed Test Results

IPVanish speed test results offer an array of ups and downs. Overall, it has the potential to get you some good speeds.

Get more details in the review below.

IPVanish Price Comparisons

Pros: What's Good About IPVanish?

1. IPVanish Offers the Potential for Decent Speed

Running speed tests to check the performance of IPVanish is like going on a roller coaster rise. It provides an array of ups and downs, even during a single connection session. You can test its speed five times sequentially and encounter very different results.

The important takeaway is that using IPVanish may get you some good speeds – or not. The results are simply inconsistent. Because of this, I've provided two sets of speed test results (one using a 500Mbps Internet connection and the other 300Mbps) to showcase what you might experience.

Tested on 500Mbps Line

US (Seattle)

US (New York)

UK (London)

Germany (Frankfurt)

Asia (Singapore)

Australia (Perth)

Japan (Tokyo)

Tested on 300Mbps Line

US (Seattle)

US (New York)

UK (London)

Germany (Frankfurt)

Asia (Singapore)

Australia (Perth)

Japan (Tokyo)

You need to remember that VPN speeds are affected by many factors. As a rule of thumb, the key influencers are the physical distance from your location and the quality of your Internet line. 

However, other elements also factor in. Things like server quality, server load at connection time, and more will affect your VPN performance. Because of this, you should take VPN speed test results with a pinch of salt. 

2. Audited Privacy Features & Strong Security

IPVanish comes with the full suite of privacy and security features you'd expect. Standard features like a kill switch and comprehensive connection protocol range site alongside third-party service audits.

100% No-logging Service

Logging is perhaps the most pivotal point for most VPN service providers. The main purposes of a service like this are privacy, anonymity, and security. Logging can lead to information that identifies users and their activities.

As you might guess, most VPN users frown on service providers that log their data. Thankfully, IPVanish today is very clear on the matter in their privacy policy: they are a zero-logs VPN.

IPVanish Policies Are Independently Audited

IPVanish has joined many VPN services seeking to reassure customers via independent service audits. Leviathan Security Group is the one responsible for the IPVanish Audit.

The IPVanish audit included;

• Technical staff interviews.
• System configuration inspections.
• Server deployment feature inspections.
• Test traffic exercise data monitoring.
• Privacy policy compliance.

Good Range of VPN Connection Protocols

As with most VPNs, IPVanish has a potent mix of standard protocols and top-notch encryption. It supports SSTP, IKEv2, OpenVPN, L2TP, and, most importantly, WireGuard. Regardless of what device you run, I highly recommend WireGuard for its superior performance.

The other protocols are also stable and secure, with IKEv2 more suited to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Regardless of speed, at times, you may face problems. If you have issues, try temporarily swapping between the various protocols. 

This isn’t a problem with IPVanish, but more of how each of the apps accesses the Internet.

For OpenVPN, IPVanish lets you select the port number as well, so that’s added flexibility for you. IPVanish also tested fine in my DNS leak and WebRTC tests.

Built-in Kill Switch

Finally, there is of course an option to use a built-in Kill Switch. If enabled, this will allow IPVanish to stop your device from sending or receiving any data if it detects the connection to its server is somehow lost. It supports macOS, Windows, and Android Mobile.

3. Streamlined App Experience

While I'm not the biggest fan of the IPVanish app, one notable feature that stands out is their connection map. I will be the first to admit that this might sound like a small point. However, it's more of an indication of the little things IPVanish does to make the service more user-friendly.

I found that from start to finish, IPVanish offers a very fuss-free user experience. This usability starts at sign-up and extends easily towards installation and configuration of apps and actual usage.

4. Good Customer Support & Knowledgebase

I previously called out IPVanish for its sparse and outdated support documentation. The first line of support for anything in this world is usually a knowledge base or manual. At the time, troubleshooting problems with the knowledge base that IPVanish provides was problematic. 

Today, many of the older support topics still lay around. Thankfully they've added more content, which fills out the missing gaps neatly. I would say the self-help section is not fully in the modern century. If that fails, you still have the option to turn to their great customer support team.

5. Stable Media Streaming Experience

Because of its somewhat erratic speeds, using IPVanish for media streaming can also be annoying. That aside, however, once you get connected at a good speed, I have yet to see Netflix kick me off their US region content.

The connections are also stable. That works well toward allowing you to binge-watch dozens of TV drama episodes at a time if you're so inclined. 

Steaming of the movies is also smooth, although the high latency sometimes gives a bit of a buffering problem. Still, not enough so to hurt the experience too badly.

6. Free 250GB on SugarSync

Who doesn't love freebies?

For everyone that signs up for an IPVanish account, you'll get a free subscription to SugarSync and access to a 250GB Cloud Storage drive thereon. Not something you’d expect – but hey, it's free.

7. Stable Torrents / PP2 on IPVanish

All IPVanish servers allow you to run torrents. You can simply connect to the closest server (and hence, usually, the fastest) and torrent safely to your heart's content. I had zero problems whatsoever with the experience.

Although there's no objective evidence to the effect, torrenting on IPVanish was much smoother than on many others. When I try to torrent on a VPN, I often feel a noticeable lag before peers can reliably connect. Not so with IPVanish.

IPVanish Cons: What I Dislike

1. It Has a Reputation to Make up for

While the IPVanish of today works hard toward convincing you of its strong privacy policies, this wasn't always the case. Years ago, under different management, it made the same promise before. 

Things didn't work out well then, and the company kept logs and handed them over to homeland security on demand. This violation of trust led to a user getting convicted of a crime. Admittedly, he was scum and deserved it, but in theory, it was a real con by IPVanish owners (at the time).

Today things are supposedly different, but this type of black mark isn't likely to be forgotten soon. There is also the fact that they have headquarters in the US. If government agencies come calling – they'll have to answer somehow.

IPVanish User Reviews – Why People Choose IPVanish

IPVanish is one of the few top-rated VPN services on TrustPilot, a site that allows customers to rate brands they use. It scores a  solid 4.6 aggregate from almost 8,000 user reviews. That's enough to keep it up with top brands like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark.

Many customers commented positively about its excellent customer service, speed, and connection quality. 

As one customer said, “Would not be without it, plenty of special offers to consider.

Well worth the money.”

IPVanish Plans and Pricing

IPVanish offers three different plans from which to choose. All provide the full feature-set of the VPN, but prices are lower for more extended subscription periods. The lowest price comes with the annual (yearly) plan of $3.99/mo.

In between sits the quarterly plan, where you pay for blocks of three months. That puts your monthly cost at $5.32/mo. The most expensive option will be a monthly subscription. That costs a shocking $10.99/mo. 

The only difference, aside from price, is that an annual subscription includes ransomware and malware protection. However, I don't recommend you let this sway your mind. Simply accept the annual plan's low monthly price and move on.

Final Thoughts: Is IPVanish Worth the Money?

IPVanish is today a reputable VPN brand. It's survived controversy that would have killed a less competent service provider. While I dislike its service quality being “just decent,” it brings some notable advantages.

Compare IPVanish with other providers

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