IPVanish does everything a VPN provider should, and it does almost everything better than other VPNs we’ve tested. A BVP favorite and highly recommended VPN.
IPVanish Review Summary
- Disconnects are nearly non-existent
- An anti-logging policy
- 10 simultaneous connections on multiple devices
- 24/7 customer support
- Unlimited server switching, bandwidth, and P2P traffic
- A 7-day money-back guarantee
Features
IPVanish has a VPN client which is not one of the best on the market, but also one of the easiest to use. It’s lightweight, looks great, and is simple to use. It’s packed with all the features you could want and doesn’t crash or have compatibility issues as far as we have tested. That’s the gist of it, but keep reading for a more detailed look at IPVanish’s VPN software.
IPVanish VPN Software / App
User experience
IPVanish gives you perhaps the most easy to use software out of all the VPN providers that we have tested. Simply select the city you would like to connect to, and the software will choose the quickest server for you. The ‘By Map’ tab works great for this:
For many users, this is enough. They want a connection that’s securely encrypted, their IP address hidden, and to be able to help unlock geoblocked content. If that’s all you want, this is all you need to know. The software makes sure you have the fastest connection, and you can go about your business once you see the green checkmark in the upper-right hand corner.
For users who want the best protection and privacy possible, IPVanish has an easy way to experience that as well. Under the Settings tab you will find their IP Address switching, and Kill Switch. IP address switching explains itself, your IP address is changed every 1 – 24 hours. The kill switch tool is explained in this pop down warning:
Simply clicking on these turns them to a checkmark. Having the best protection available through a VPN is that easy with IPVanish. You can’t ask for a simpler experience.
Incorporating their Support tab into the software experience was another great idea from IPVanish. Why waste your time going to their website and looking for support when it has a dedicated tab waiting for you:
User-Interface
IPVanish have designed their software to put the most important information right in front of your face. The Dashboard is the tab you see when you open their software.
It gives you what you need to know immediately, and the tabs along the side let you easily scroll through your different choices. The narrow window can sit on your desktop without getting in the way if you choose to not minimize it.
Previous versions of the software were a bit uninteresting to look at. The current version has a world map which gives you that little touch that makes it as fun to use, while making the interface more engaging.
Features
IPVanish VPN’s software is feature rich. They have two types of features. The first type are designed to make connecting easier and faster. You can choose:
- To start on login, or start when IPVanish launches. This controls when it automatically connects for your convenience.
- Which city you want to automatically connect to.
- To automatically check and download updates. This makes it easier to stay securely connected when patches come out.
Each of these makes connecting easier. You can set it so that the VPN software does everything for you, and you never have to think about it again. You’ll find these under the Settings > General tab:
Their extra security features are also ‘set it and forget it’ ready. Look under the ‘Settings,’ ‘Connection’ tab for:
- Connection protocol selection: Choose from OpenVPN, L2TP, and PPTP encryption settings. Once you set it to the one you want it will automatically stay that way.
- Kill switch: This automatically ‘kills’ your entire Internet connection if the software senses a connection drop. For those who torrent, or do secure file transfers, this will save you from your real IP address, and data, being leaked during the very rare occasions when their service disconnects.
- IP Address Changing: Make it harder for hackers, Ad networks, and corporations to track your activity across the Internet by automatically changing your IP address at one, two, six, twelve, or twenty four hour intervals.
An included feature that’s automatically on is their NAT Firewall. It offers a further layer of protection from intrusion attempts while you use the service. It automatically turns on when you connect so that you don’t have to do anything.
Note: For those who are not currently using Mac OS X 10.10 or higher. The IP address and VPN kill switch features are not available on software for those using older versions of Mac OS X. Windows users will have no worries on this.
Reliability
IPVanish has the most reliable VPN client we have tested. After months of testing, and a little bit of effort put into getting it to crash, there was never one instance of it crashing. IPVanish have simply created the most reliable tool possible for their incredibly reliable connections.
No problems were had with load speed of the software. Some days it takes longer than others for the software to ping all of the servers. This is a difference of 10 – 20 seconds at most.
Platforms and compatibility
IPVanish currently have dedicated software built for:
- Windows
- Mac
- iOS
- Android
- Windows Phone
- Ubuntu
- Chromebook
- Routers
If there’s a system worth installing it on, IPVanish has your VPN needs covered.
CPU load
IPVanish’s software is very lightweight to run. Using a miniscule 58.1MB of active memory, your computer will keep on running as if it isn’t even there.
This test was run on a 2009 MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, an older model for sure. Even it shrugged off IPVanish’s CPU load needs. A new iMac, MacBook, or even a Windows PC will barely register its presence.
Final thoughts on the software
Overall, the IPVanish VPN software is top notch and hands down one of the best in the industry. It looks great, works even better and has all the features you could want in a VPN. Another reason IPVanish is at the top of our list.
SERVERS & COUNTRIES
IPVanish’s VPN network spans 40,000+ IPs on 1,300+ servers in over 60 countries, providing you with the ability to access every restricted corner of the globe anonymously. Let’s look into these numbers a bit closer and see why they’re important for a VPN provider:
- Geographic diversity: In terms of geographical diversity, there are only a handful of VPN providers that can match this kind of geographic coverage and boast this large o a number of server locations. When it comes to VPN providers, the bigger the geographic diversity, the better. This way, users have more options to tweak their location and have reliable connections when they travel abroad.
- The number of servers: As more servers mean servers will be less crowded, a sizeable server count can be a very important factor for VPN users. If a VPN server is full, you’re forced to share limited bandwidth with other users. The fact that IPVanish has over 1,100 servers means that users can enjoy high speeds and a high level of security.
- Tier 1 provider: Another important benefit with IPVanish is that it owns and manages its entire service network. This eliminates the need for third parties meddling in the service, which is one of the main elements that distinguish IPVanish from the rest of the VPN providers.
The way IPVanish works is that it hides your real IP address behind an anonymous IP address. Search engines, online marketers, websites, your ISP, and practically anyone on the web will have no way to trace your online activity back to you. This means that you will be able to avoid location identification, ads, or other marketing campaigns. You can also have access to geo-restricted websites just by using IPVanish’s services.
Reliability & Speed Tests
IPVanish absolutely shocked us with their speed. Here is the government throttled connection used by the tester without IPVanish’s VPN at the time of testing:
Our Speeds Without IPVanish
Here it is connected to a server in the USA:
Our Speeds On an IPVanish Server Located In the USA
Here it is connected to a server in the UK:
Our Speeds On an IPVanish Server Located In the UK
The speeds that you can achieve by unlocking government controlled throttling are unparalleled. Every attempt was made to try and slow this connection down, but it remained strong throughout testing.
IPVanish is our best VPN provider for many reasons. One of which is that after a solid month of testing their service, not once did it drop a connection. This is truly remarkable as all VPN providers experience the inevitable drop, but this isn’t the case with IPVanish’s top-notch Tier-1 network.
Server speed did not once noticeably slow down. A number of servers from all across the world were used, and all performed equally well, with some being slower than others due to the countries themselves having slower networks. Your results may vary, but it is a very good bet that what you get out of IPVanish is the best you can expect from any VPN provider.
Pricing and Payments
For a top-quality VPN that only operates its own servers, IPVanish offers competitive prices compared with other VPN providers in the industry. The standard prices of its packages are the following:
- One month: $10.00 per month
- Three months: $8.99 per month
- One year: $6.49 per month
When it comes to the payment methods, IPVanish accepts most major credit cards and PayPal.
Support
Everyone who has had experience with a VPN service provider knows how important it is for the VPN provider to have a reliable, friendly, and—most of all—responsive customer service team. Customer support is actually an area where too many VPN providers fail the test, but then IPVanish is not like most providers. IPVanish has three customer support methods:
- Email: If you plan to contact customer support within working hours, we recommend this method as the response is prompt. If you send an email outside of business hours in EST time, the company will respond to you on the next day.
- Live Chat: During 9 AM to 5 PM EST, you can reach IPVanish through live chat, which is just as responsive as email support. We recommend the live chat for basic questions alone, as we received more thorough and useful answers through email support. You can find the live chat support at the bottom right of IPVanish’s website.
- Support Categories: The IPVanish FAQ is about as long as the novel War & Peace. The company has really done a good job on their FAQ section, with useful content that will turn every VPN beginner into a knowledgeable user. Furthermore, the support categories also include setup guides, billing questions, troubleshooting, and announcements. Customers always appreciate this kind of knowledge base.
- Phone support: IPVanish also offers phone support, and users can make contact by dialing +1-800-591-5242 within business hours. Operating hours are 9 AM to 5 PM CT, from Monday to Friday.
To test IPVanish’s customer support service, we disguised ourselves by creating a fake email account and a fake problem to test just how good their customer support really was. We wanted to see how the company would treat regular users; to our surprise, the company responded with a high quality follow up.
POLICIES & LOGGING
IPVanish offers a solid refund policy to protect your money, and an anti-logging policy which protects your data:
- Refund policy: According to the company’s website, if you aren’t 100% satisfied with IPVanish and its VPN services, the company will gladly refund your payment as long as the refund is requested within a week from the date of the purchase. Requests made after seven days have passed from the purchase date will not be admitted.
- How long it takes to receive the refund: Once the refund is requested and canceled from your Control Panel on the website, the refund will be automatically processed. According to the website, every eligible refund request shall be processed within 10 business days. However, customers who sign up using a non-refundable payment method will not qualify for a refund. Instead, you are offered another service.
- No logging policy: IPVanish has a very strict no logging policy. The company claims not to monitor your account use. It only knows you through the account you set up when you purchased its service. According to the website, IPVanish doesn’t record any of your activity while connected to its apps in order to preserve your civil right to privacy.
- No traffic limitations: IPVanish doesn’t limit any traffic. Everything is allowed, including P2P file sharing and torrenting.
Privacy: IPVanish protects its users with rock-solid AES-256 bit encryption and support for highly secure protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2.
With IPVanish’s completely anonymous service, plus its solid refund and no-logging policies on all traffic types, every user is protected and can enjoy a high-performance VPN with good speeds.
They do not offer their services to those in countries where it is prohibited to use a VPN. This includes Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, and Syria. Those outside the country who then go in report no issues so far.
Expert Recommendation
Apart from the obvious reasons like high-speed performance and impressive customer protection, there are several other elements that have made IPVanish a one-of-a-kind VPN provider:
- Reliability of connections
- Speed of connections
- Dedication to privacy and anonymity
- Commendable customer support
- Exceptional Tier 1 network
- Thorough support categories
- Competitive prices
Put together, all these factors make IPVanish one hell of a VPN provider. To summarize IPVanish in one sentence: It does everything a VPN provider should, and it does many things better than anyone else. Once you’ve tried out its services, you will understand why we rank IPVanish as the number 1 VPN service provider in our overall review, and in several sub-categories.
IPVanish User Reviews
I really like the apps for specific…
I really like the apps for specific operating systems
Wretched
Horrible, non-existent customer service. Impossibly complicated and annoying service to employ and utilize. The company took my money and provided me nothing of any value; month after month after month after month. Then, finally this fool gets the ending indignity of paying an additional $33 to kick these swindlers out of my checking account. They absolutely disregarded all phone and email requests for assistance, discontinuance, or even, compromise.
Amazing for traveling
As a professional traveler, I’ve always been concerned about security. It’s amazing to me how much information is now available on the internet and how easy it can be for hackers to steal your personal data if you’re not careful! That’s why IPVanish has provided such peace of mind while traveling abroad; they have VPN servers in over 60 countries around the world so that no matter where I am, my connection will feel like home
IPVanish was created with one goal: To make sure people are safe when they connect online. As someone who travels internationally often – this really helps keep me from worrying too much about potential threats because there isn’t any region without an IPVanish server nearby
Great Experience!!
Great Experience!!! Working fine
Excellent service
Excellent service. I have shown my old timer friends what services I receive from IPVanish for my fixed income. Some have already cut the cord.
Been with ipvanish for a month and…
Been with ipvanish for a month and can’t complain, everything is working good ?
Easy to use and seems to work as ad…
Easy to use and seems to work as ad advertised.
Easy to use very dependable don’t waste…
Easy to use very dependable don’t waste time on other vpn’s
Downloading and use is relatively…
Downloading and use is relatively seamless as is the advising of upgrades. Good Value Overall so far.
DO NOT USE IPVANISH.
DO NOT USE IPVANISH.They don’t refund the money they sneakly take out and have poor customer service! I have been trying to get my money back (over $100 AUD) and they won’t refund it. I will have to lodge many complaints and get my voice heard so they do the RIGHT thing!They CANNOT BE TRUSTED, SCAMMERS!!
I am an older disabled woman
I am an older disabled woman. I was using IPVanish first when my son, who lives with me, switched from cable to Firestick. I learned a bit of how to download several apps on my Firestick and my son signed me into his VPN. When he moved out and cancelled IPVanish I kept it for myself. It seems to work very well plus I was able to put it on my computer for better security. Thank you!
I have intermittent drops while in use...
I have intermittent drops while in use but overall I love the product!
I wish I could rate 5 but I just signed...
I wish I could rate 5 but I just signed up and it amazingly reliable. Love it
Continual Server Refresh
Continual server refreshes moving you to USA servers. Despite reporting this several times it has been happening now for months and all you get told by customer services is that it will get fixed on the next update. But it never happens. Will not be renewing this year. I want to be on the server of my choice and not keep having to change back to it.
So far there were no issues with the...
So far there were no issues with the service.
These guys have a great team
These guys have a great team. I had two problems due to my own ineptness but their support patiently worked with me until I got it right. The product works as advertised.
I love IP Vanish
I love IP Vanish, glad I went with them on Troypoint site.
Its The Best VPN to use to keep my info...
Its The Best VPN to use to keep my info safe
Best VPN so far
Been using Nord VPN for about two years now I was having a lot of buffering issues while watching certain content. Decided to switch over to IP Vanish because I’ve heard many good things about them from folks I trust. And boy were they right! When it comes to the continent that I watch I have yet to have any buffering or sound issues with IP Vanish. Looks like you’ve got a customer for life don’t believe I’ll ever be going back to Nord VPN.
I don't know how it works but highly...
I don’t know how it works but highly recommend this product if you use Kodi.
Great service was easy to set up and...
Great service was easy to set up and the price is excellent well worth the investment
Easy to use and very pleased
Easy to use and very pleased ! Long time user!
Ip vanish
I think that is really good
Having used a competitor which wouldn't...
Having used a competitor which wouldn’t and couldn’t work efficiently on one of my devices I now wouldn’t consider any other VPN this is fast easy and safe to use.
Works with Netflix!
I live in Canada and wanted to access the US netflix to watch some shows and movies that aren’t available in my country. IPVanish worked flawlessly!!! Very easy to setup (less than 5 minutes) and I’ve been bing watching ever since.
Amazing thanks
Amazing for firestick
Excellent VPN
Quick, simple to use.
I'd give it more stars if I didn't have...
I’d give it more stars if I didn’t have issues going to reliable sites. I have to disconnect IPVanish… log into my normal Wifi network to access some site that I normally use (daily)
It works!
It works very well!
IP vanish is the best vpn I highly...
IP vanish is the best vpn I highly recommend that to my friends and family I try some other vpn but this is the best I came across so far
I havent had any problems yet....but...
I havent had any problems yet….but I’m havent developed that immaculate trust that it does everything I heard it does yet…but so far I’m very satisfied..I’m sure that it will become a 5 star rating in the near future…and I intend to use it from now on .thanks
IPVanish is a good app
i like IPVanish very much
Good product
Good product. Doesn’t seem to lose speed when active. Kill switch option is handy, as has disconnected unknowingly before. Generally really pleased.
Easy to install and use
Easy to install and use, even for an old lady of 76! Easy to understand and it’s very straightforward. Like one said, you’re either connected or you’re not. It’s nice knowing you can’t be traced easily! Thank you, Ipvanish!!I would recommend Ipvanish to everyone.
Very satisfied
Very satisfied. Easy for a novice like myself to install and the operating, as far as I can tell is super easy. It’s either disconnected or connected.Used the chat feature once for a small snag and was very impressed with that as well.
Luv it!!
Luv it!! ???
Review
Doe what it says
Great service as expected wish I had...
Great service as expected wish I had always invested in a VPN
Great except for watching movie on...
Great except for watching movie on Amazon prime. Have to shut it down to watch.
Fast and reliable
I wanted a fast, reliable VPN with multiple server locations which can be installed on the Nokia Streaming Box. IPVanish delivers on all aspects.
Not using it frequently
Not using it frequently, but it allows me a.o. te log in at french TV-channels.Not only log-in but most importantly view things “only” for people living in France.Thanks
Been on this way of life for one month...
Been on this way of life for one month I never feel hungry Now,I feel so much fitter also a big plus my weight loss is very encouraging This is the new me. This is my own testimony. I live in Gorleston Norfolk Roy.
IPVanish is my FAVORITE VPN!
I bought a 1 year subscription after reading reviews here and so far, IPVanish has not disappointed. Very fast and easy to use. I love being able to switch between countries and because of unlimited devices, I’ve been able to set it up on my TVs, all of my family’s phones and laptops and even my FireStick! Very fast too that sometimes I worry it’s not connected, but it always is. 5 Stars!
Uncertain
I’m not sure if Ip vanish is enhancing or helping my devices, seems to be working good!!
Am very happy with the quality
Am very happy with the quality, price and ease of use.
A little hard getting started and...
A little hard getting started and moving through the app
Very helpful app
Very helpful app! Love the emails showing tips
Easy to install
Easy to install, setup, and use. Great price for the first year.
Excellent product
Excellent product, connect anywhere in the world, real value for money.
When I had problems with the set up I...
When I had problems with the set up I contacted support and got help emediately and was solved in minutes. This is a great product