🚀 Bottom Line Upfront:
When looking for a VPN service, Surfshark stands out among the top options. For torrenting, downloading, streaming media, and general web surfing, it is hard to beat for dependability, safety, and speed.
Ever felt lost in the sea of online security options? I was right there with you, trying to find the best way to keep my internet surfing safe and sound.
That’s when I stumbled upon Surfshark. You might be wondering, ‘Is Surfshark really the lifesaver it claims to be?’ Well, I’ve dived deep into its features, tested its waters, and now I’m here to share my honest Surfshark review with you.
Whether you’re looking to protect your online privacy or just want to stream your favorite shows without borders, I’ve got the scoop on how Surfshark stands up to the challenge.
Let’s dive in and see if it’s the right fit for your digital life.
🚀 My 1-Minute Surfshark Review
When looking for a VPN service, Surfshark stands out among the top options.
For torrenting, downloading, streaming media, and general web surfing, it is hard to beat for dependability, safety, and speed. In addition to its superior functionality, Surfshark allows for an infinite number of device connections.
Surfshark’s ability to access several Netflix libraries, as well as its kill switch, ad blocking, and GPS spoofing, are just a few of its many impressive features that make the internet more pleasant to use and give you peace of mind.
It’s low price makes it a preferable choice over free VPNs, which frequently have more restrictive features and less reliable security.
Although there are risks associated with using a free VPN service, Surfshark assures complete anonymity and access to any and all information online.
Surfshark is quickly becoming a major factor among industry leaders with both its VPN and other services. It now offers antiviral software and a new kind of data-erasing service called Incognito.
Surfshark’s Incognito feature protects your privacy by automatically contacting data brokers to get your data deleted.
Thanks to this fantastic feature, protecting your privacy is a breeze.
It is an excellent VPN service that meets the requirements of a wide range of customers.
It’s the best option for anyone concerned about their privacy while using the internet because of its dedication to protecting their data and its cutting-edge performance and features.
SurfShark Camouflage and No-Borders Mode:
Surfshark’s Camouflage Mode and NoBorders Mode are designed to enhance privacy and accessibility online.
Camouflage Mode
It ensures that even your internet provider cannot tell you’re using a VPN, making your online activities completely invisible.
This feature is particularly useful in countries or networks that scrutinize VPN usage, ensuring your internet traffic looks like regular traffic.
NoBorders Mode
It is specifically designed to bypass internet censorship and access the internet without restrictions, particularly in regions with heavy internet restrictions like China and Russia.
When Surfshark detects restrictions on your network, it automatically activates NoBorders Mode, providing a list of servers optimized to perform best under such conditions.
This feature is crucial for users in countries that implement geoblocking or government censorship, ensuring unrestricted internet access worldwide.
Both features are integral to Surfshark’s offering, aimed at ensuring privacy, security, and unrestricted access to the internet for its users.
Surfshark Privacy and Logging
Secure protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN UDP, and TCP), AES-256 encryption, and a kill switch that prevents identity leaks and blocks internet access in the case the VPN connection drops are the foundation of Surfshark’s privacy features.
Each Surfshark server has its own private DNS, making it less likely that your online actions may be spied upon.
You can make it much harder for anyone to track you by connecting to Paris before leaving the Surfshark network in New York, for example, and then making a second connection to your final destination.
Surfshark’s great privacy policy makes it quite clear that no logs are kept. It also includes detailed information on the data it does (and does not) collect, as well as succinct summaries for people who don’t want to read the entire text.
The most important fact to remember is that when you’re using Surfshark, the servers only store your user ID and the time you connected. Even these are deleted when you have not used the service for 15 minutes.
The service does not log any of your personally identifiable information that could be used to track your online activities, such as your IP address, browser type, visited websites, current session, or network traffic.
SurfShark Torrenting and Streaming
Torrenting
For torrenting, Surfshark offers several advantages. It supports P2P activity on all its servers, providing users with a vast network to choose from for optimal speeds and privacy.
The service includes top-notch security features like AES 256-bit encryption, a kill switch to safeguard your connection if the VPN drops, and a strict no-logs policy ensuring that your torrenting activity isn’t recorded or shared.
Streaming
For streaming, Surfshark’s ability to unlock geo-restricted content on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+ stands out.
This feature, combined with its unlimited bandwidth and fast speeds, ensures a smooth and unrestricted viewing experience, making it a budget-friendly option for users looking to access a wide range of content from anywhere in the world.
Surfshark Kill Switch
A kill switch cuts network access if the VPN connection breaks. The setup has been simplified, only Surfshark allowed online access during the kill switch. It’s hard but safe.
“Soft” death switches are available. If the VPN connection is lost unexpectedly, this will work. Though risky, this lets you link or not.
Surfshark lets users choose a death switch, which is rare. (Even if you believe you know which choice you like, you may change your mind.)
Our main kill switch tests went smoothly. The program alerted us that our internet was banned and our traffic was never viewed when I tried to shut the VPN connection normally.
More extreme methods of testing are also used. In the worst situation, I found that the VPN stopped working when the Surfshark Windows service stopped, but the app had no idea this was happening.
The word “Protected” kept flashing on the screen. After hours of use, your device may give you a false sense of security that everything is fine, but in reality, the VPN connection has dropped and you are exposed.
The big picture must always be kept in mind. To verify a kill switch’s reliability, I employ stricter tests, but in practice, you’ll likely never face such extremes. You can use Surfshark for years and never have a problem with the service.
This is a bug that shouldn’t be present in the app and might be partially fixed with enhanced programming. In the event of a crash, ExpressVPN’s Windows services, for instance, are instructed to restart automatically.
This gives it a fighting chance, even in the worst-case scenario. The fact that Surfshark does not make use of this standard restart capability is a major flaw.
The kill switch in Surfshark is reliable and will prevent any problems from occurring. It might be an improvement, but there are probably better options out there.
Surfshark Servers
Surfshark boasts a vast network of over 3200 servers across more than 100 countries, ensuring a wide range of server locations for users worldwide.
This extensive coverage allows users to connect to a server close to their location for optimal speed and reliability or choose servers in specific countries or cities for accessing geo-restricted content.
All Surfshark servers support key VPN protocols such as WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN, ensuring secure and versatile connections for various needs, including streaming, browsing, and torrenting.
The servers are RAM-only, which means they do not store any data and are wiped occasionally to enhance privacy and security.
This setup is in line with Surfshark’s no-logs policy, ensuring that users’ activities are not recorded or stored on the servers.
SurfShark Pricing
Their most basic plan, Surfshark Starter, starts at $2.29 per month if you opt for the 2-year subscription.
For users looking for more comprehensive online security solutions, Surfshark provides the Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ plans.
The Surfshark One plan is priced at $2.89 per month for a 2-year term.
This plan includes additional features such as antivirus, alert, and search functionalities.
The more advanced Surfshark One+ plan costs $4.27 per month for a 2-year subscription.
This option extends the offerings to include data deletion from people search sites, adding an extra layer of privacy protection
Surfshark gives Android, iOS, and Mac customers a free 7-day trial. Windows users would appreciate something, but many organizations don’t offer free trials.
With get a 30-day money-back guarantee, Surfshark accepts Amazon Pay, cryptocurrency, PayPal, and all types of credit cards.
Surfshark Speed Test
| VPN | Average Upload Speed | Average Download Speed | Average Torrenting Speed |
| ExpressVPN | 179.73 | 421.17 | 49 |
| NordVPN | 238.73 | 319.33 | 63.25 |
| Private Internet Access | 151.3 | 266.6 | 117.25 |
| Surfshark | 138.83 | 289.08 | 100.75 |
| Mullvad | 206.78 | 400.43 | 180.25 |
| ProtonVPN | 153 | 314.28 | 110.5 |
| IPVanish | 191.7 | 423.5 | 202.25 |
| Windscribe | 192.1 | 384.88 | 160.5 |
| CyberGhostVPN | 215.33 | 334.23 | 176.75 |
| TunnelBear | 169.2 | 301.85 | 97.5 |
| PureVPN | 90.2 | 85.1 | 199.25 |
| VyprVPN | 132.83 | 314.83 | 195 |
| Hotspot Shield | 183.53 | 183.78 | 179 |
| PrivateVPN | 126.65 | 329.6 | 181 |
| HMA VPN | 51.95 | 142.85 | 669 |
You can see how Surfshark stacks up against the other VPNs I tested in the table above. How I arrived at these speeds can be viewed in detail in our VPN testing methodology.
Time is required to download a 115 MB file on average from a legitimate BitTorrent service.
SurfShark Windows app
While the Surfshark Windows client’s tabs, icons, and groups give it a more polished appearance than most VPN apps, its functionality is otherwise standard fare.
If you click the “Connect” button, you’ll be connected to the nearest server. Additional servers can be seen in the “Location” drop-down menu, and the “Settings” tab provides access to several customization options.
WireGuard connections are lightning fast, taking only a few seconds to establish as opposed to OpenVPN’s 8-10 seconds. But the app will always keep you updated. When you are in danger, you will receive an alert on your screen.
The well-designed location selector simplifies the process of locating a server by showing both countries and locations in the same list.
So, you may see certain cities without enlarging the list of nations or switching tabs. Instead, you can scroll down to view all available options at once.
Surfshark performs a decent job in general, and even though it doesn’t list the places in alphabetical order, it’s still useful.
Surfshark for MAC OS
The Mac and Windows versions of Surfshark differ slightly in terms of appearance and functionality. For instance, you can’t make the program window bigger or smaller.
Not showing the kill switch’s state in the app’s primary Connect pane is a major flaw.
However, arranging the cities in alphabetical order fixes a tiny problem I had with Windows applications.
When I put these apps to use in the real world, I didn’t notice any major differences. Quick and reliable service from the VPN connection at all times.
There are aspects of Surfshark that Mac users can’t access. There is no dedicated “Bypasser” tool that blocks VPN use by specific programs or websites.
Important functionality such as Static IP addresses, Multi-Hop VPN, WireGuard and OpenVPN compatibility, a kill switch, and ad and malware blocking from CleanWeb are still accessible.
An further, Windows-exclusive benefit is that the VPN will connect automatically whenever you connect to an untrusted network.
Surfshark’s Mac program provides a terrific blend of power and usability, and its feature set is significantly more extensive than what I usually see.
Surfshark Mobile apps
The effectiveness of Surfshark as a mobile VPN is impressive. While it seems like some VPN service providers don’t really care about their mobile apps, Surfshark’s iPhone VPN and Android VPN are both incredibly functional and loaded with a wide range of cutting-edge features.
The apps are easy to use and have a very minimalist appearance. Small changes make it seem as if it has been carefully developed and is enjoyable to use, such as the dark mode (shown on iOS above).
I tried the Windows client in order to prepare for this review, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover how similar the Android app was.
The list of server locations is the same, the UI is very similar to the one that is utilized, and the split-tunneling, MultiHop, blocking, and whitelisting features can all be used.
In addition to the kill switch that is offered in the desktop version, users of mobile devices can benefit from a number of additional support protocols, including OpenVPN/IVEv2 and WireGuard.
On the other hand, the tragic discontinuation of Shadowsocks.
Additionally, you may enhance mobile network performance, have the VPN connect automatically in certain situations, and choose between a number of encryption algorithms, like AES-256-GGM and Chacha20Poly1305 with the Surfshark Android app.
Surfshark Customer Support
Surfshark offers its own help center where you can find solutions to various problems. There are frequently asked questions, guidelines, and tutorials, and while they cover a wide range of topics, they aren’t exhaustive.
The bulk of the material is devoted to discussions of configuration, while the basics of performing queries are also covered. Most articles, however, are too short and lack the necessary detail.
However, when some design changes were made, the search feature became much more efficient. No longer will you have to waste time digging through obscure submenus to find the data you require.
Live chat agents are also available and are both quick and helpful if you’re in a pinch and can’t find the information you need.
I was pleasantly surprised by how helpful the live chat was, especially considering the low cost of Surfshark, so that should be your first point of contact if you run into any issues.
Surfshark Reviews by Users
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FAQs related to Surfshark Review
👉Is Surfshark a Safe VPN Provider?
Yes, Surfshark is a safe VPN provider. It uses military-grade encryption, which means that your internet traffic is protected with the same level of security that the military uses to protect its communications. Surfshark also has a strict no-logs policy, which means that it doesn't keep any records of your online activities.
🤷♀️Does Surfshark Work with Netflix?
Yes, Surfshark works with Netflix. In fact, it's one of the few VPNs that can unblock the Netflix libraries of multiple countries. Surfshark has dedicated servers that are optimized for streaming, ensuring that you can enjoy a buffer-free streaming experience.
✔Can Surfshark Be Used for Torrenting?
Yes, Surfshark can be used for torrenting. It has P2P-optimized servers that allow you to download and upload torrents safely and anonymously.
❓How Much Does Surfshark Cost?
Surfshark is one of the most affordable VPNs in the market. It offers three pricing plans: Monthly plan: $12.95/month 6-month plan: $6.49/month 24-month plan: $2.49/month.
👀Does Surfshark offers money-back guarantee?
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try Surfshark risk-free.
Conclusion: Surfshark Review 2024
Surfshark stands out as a powerful and budget-friendly VPN service that offers exceptional privacy and security features. It’s known for its unlimited device connections, which means you can use it on as many devices as you want with just one subscription.
It also provides strong encryption to keep your data safe, a no-logs policy to ensure your privacy, and fast speeds for streaming and downloading.
With servers in numerous countries, it’s great for accessing content from around the globe.
Easy to use and offering a range of advanced features, Surfshark is a solid choice for anyone looking to protect their online activity without breaking the bank.
