IPVanish VPN Review 2024: Features, Pricing And More

Currently owned by digital media giant Ziff Davis, IPVanish was founded in 2012 and released its namesake VPN service that same year. Its VPN offering includes many of the features users have come to expect from a VPN provider, such as a kill switch. The company also boasts a no-logs policy like many providers, but we’ll talk more about that claim later.

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1

NordVPN

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$3.49 per month

# of Devices

6

Encryption

AES-256

1

NordVPN

Learn More

On NordVPN's Website

2

Surfshark

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$2.29

# of Devices

Unlimited

Encryption

AES-256

2

Surfshark

Learn More

On Surfshark's Website

3

Private Internet Access

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$2.03

# of Devices

Unlimited

Encryption

AES-256

3

Private Internet Access

Learn More

On Private Internet Access' Website

The only thing that really sets IPVanish apart from its competitors is its unlimited connections policy. Most VPN providers will cap the number of devices you can connect to your plan at once. For example, NordVPN allows six simultaneous connections, while Mullvad VPN offers five. However, even the unlimited simultaneous connections isn’t entirely unique to IPVanish. Among the providers we actively cover, Surfshark, Windscribe, TunnelBear and Private Internet Access all offer unlimited simultaneous connections.

Pros

• Unlimited Simultaneous Connections: This is easily IPVanish’s best feature and makes it a cost-effective option for businesses, even if its price tag is higher than other providers. Unlimited connections are only really useful if the rest of the service is solid, of course, but it’s a promising start.
• Solid Upload and Download Speeds: As we discuss further down in our speed test section, IPVanish offers some of the better speeds we’ve seen from a VPN. When on, the service offers a minimal impact on overall device performance, which we always like to see.
• Wide Range of Servers and Server Locations: IPVanish currently has over 2,200 servers in over 50 countries. While most of these servers are in the U.S., that’s still a sizable amount of servers for users to choose from.

Cons

• No Dedicated IP: IPVanish does not currently offer a Dedicated IP add-on like some other providers. While private users have no use for Dedicated IP, it’s considered a must-have feature for business users. No Dedicated IP really hurts IPVanish’s standing as a good business VPN.
• No Multifactor Authentication: IPVanish does not have any way to set up multifactor authentication (MFA). Unlike other MFA-less providers such as Mullvad VPN, IPVanish does not make up for this with a login system that doesn’t require MFA to be secure. It’s a simple username/password login that makes IPVanish less secure than other providers and more difficult to trust as a viable solution for both businesses and private users.
• Transparency Issues: We’ll cover this in more detail later, but IPVanish has had several issues in the past regarding the veracity of its no-logs policy as well as its transparency with users. With trust being such a key part of choosing the right VPN, this is a severe mark against the service.

IPVanish provides many of the core features we’ve come to expect from a top VPN provider. From compatibility with a wide range of platforms including Windows, iOS and Linux to in-app functions, such as a kill switch or anonymous browsing, the company has many of the necessary features to be a solid VPN product.

Quick Specs
Supported Platforms	Windows 10 or higher, MacOS 10.13 or higher, iOS 13 or higher, Android 5.1 or higher, ChromeOS 11, FireOS 5 or higher, and Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian and Red Hat)
Browser Extensions	Chrome
Number of Servers	Over 2,200
Number of Countries With Servers	54
Company Location	USA
Protocols Supported	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN (UDP) and OpenVPN (TCP)
Number of Simultaneous Connections	Unlimited
Kill Switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes, on certain platforms
Dedicated IP	No

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IPVanish Device Compatibility

IPVanish can support an unlimited number of devices at once, but this isn’t very helpful if the service isn’t compatible with a wide range of systems. Thankfully, IPVanish is compatible with most operating systems from the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon, as well as Linux. It does not currently offer any browser extensions aside from Chrome, but most VPN browser extensions aren’t as useful as just activating the VPN from its own app.

Key Features

• Anonymous Browsing: IPVanish claims to never log your internet traffic, which theoretically allows you to safely browse without worrying about prying eyes.
• DNS Protection Measures: IPVanish uses its private DNS servers to resolve web addresses to their respective IP addresses. The DNS servers are only accessible when connected to its VPN, ensuring that its DNS is private and secure.
• Kill Switch: A kill switch will disconnect your internet if your IPVanish connection stops working for any reason. This feature allows you to maintain your anonymity and privacy by ensuring your internet activity is channeled only through the VPN.

Currently, only IPVanish’s Android Mobile 8-plus, macOS and Windows client apps support the kill switch feature. And you’ll need to turn it on manually, as it’s not done automatically.

• Split Tunneling: IPVanish’s split tunneling feature allows you to choose which apps or programs will connect through the VPN and which will connect directly through the internet.

This feature grants you more control over what internet traffic is getting the protection of the VPN—and ostensibly it boosts your speeds because you can channel low-risk traffic through your normal internet connection.

With IPVanish, split tunneling only works on Android and Fire OS devices, though it released a beta version of split tunneling for Windows users on October 9, 2023. The beta version of the feature doesn’t quite work as well as we’d like. While the tunneling part does work, actually connecting to the internet through the tunneled app (i.e., the one whose traffic is not going through a VPN) or domain was more difficult in our experience.

• Unmetered Connections: IPVanish offers an unlimited number of simultaneous connections on a single account. This allows you to link as many devices as you want to IPVanish without much trouble.

IPVanish has three payment plans based on the length of the subscription: monthly, yearly and two-year plans. These are not tiered pricing plans, and users will have access to all of IPVanish’s features regardless of the plan they choose. Below is a table explaining the different costs you can expect:

Length of Contract	Monthly	Yearly	Two-Year
Monthly Rate	$12.99	$4.33	$3.25
Total Amount Billed	$12.99	$51.95	$77.95
30-Day Guarantee	No	Yes	Yes

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Verdict: IPVanish’s pricing, particularly for its monthly plan, is a bit steeper than we’d like to see from VPN providers. However, the yearly and two-year discounts are significant, and the simultaneous connections make it a more economical option than it would appear to be at first glance. Unfortunately, the lack of key features, such as Dedicated IP, make it difficult to say that IPVanish is totally worth your time and money.

IPVanish setup is easy to perform. After purchasing a subscription through its website, all you really need to do is download the installer and run it. The app is compatible on most operating systems including Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS. Once you’ve installed IPVanish, you’ll be able to connect with a VPN with no problem. If you’re having trouble setting it up, IPVanish has step-by-step installation guides and videos on its website for every operating system it is compatible with.

During our own testing of IPVanish, setup was initially fine, but actually getting access to all of the VPN’s features (namely split tunneling) required speaking with customer support and eventually completely reinstalling the app. Once split tunneling leaves beta on the Windows app, however, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Verdict: IPVanish’s setup is no more difficult than any other VPN provider we’ve covered. Simply download the installer, run the installer, log in to the app and you’re ready to start using it. It is neither the easiest nor the most difficult VPN to properly set up and use, falling firmly in the middle.

Many users find that a VPN can slow down their internet speed. However, the actual speeds you experience when using a VPN will depend on a variety of factors including your location, internet service provider (ISP), where the servers are located and the distance between the server and your devices and the specific device and VPN protocol you are using.

Protocol	Average Upload Speed	Average Download Speed	Average Upload Ping	Average Download Ping
No VPN	356.8 Mbps	318.2 Mbps	8.4 ms	11.1 ms
WireGuard	322.4 Mbps	302.8 Mbps	8.4 ms	13.9 ms
OpenVPN (UDP)	290.2 Mbps	293.4 Mbps	11.5 ms	12.9 ms
OpenVPN (TCP)	255.2 Mbps	275.2 Mbps	12.6 ms	12 ms
IKEv2	155.8 Mbps	320.8 Mbps	5.4 ms	11.6 ms

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Methodology: Our VPN speed comparison is tested on a Windows 11 machine using Cloudflare’s public speed test. Each protocol was connected to the nearest possible server and tested multiple times before we came up with these averages.

Verdict: Overall, IPVanish’s speeds were some of the fastest we encountered from a VPN, putting it easily on par with the likes of NordVPN or Surfshark. As usual, WireGuard far and away outpaced the other supported protocols, and there really is no reason to use IKEv2 or OpenVPN over WireGuard in most instances.

IPVanish is known for its reliable and fast internet connection; however, it is difficult to say definitely how fast it is when it comes to streaming. This is because internet speed when using a VPN is based on a number of factors, including the location of the server, your VPN protocol, your original internet speed, your device and how far the server is from your device.

The number of servers and locations of servers can both increase the speed of your internet connection. IPVanish offers an average number of servers (2,200) in a higher number of locations (75). A dedicated IP is recommended to ensure a reliable and fast encrypted internet connection; however, IPVanish does not offer this service.

Streaming is one of the most common uses for a VPN, and many VPNs will proudly tout their ability to allow users to access content otherwise unavailable in their region.

We tested IPVanish with three of the top streaming services going right now—Netflix, Hulu and Disney+—to see if it could successfully access region-locked content. While we were able to get Netflix up and running with no trouble, we were not able to get Disney+’s website to load at all. Hulu was a bit more complicated. When we connected to the U.S. without selecting a city, IPVanish placed us in the New York server, and we were hit with a notification that said Hulu was “US-only.” However, connecting to the Boston server got Hulu working just fine. So, for those trying to access Hulu outside the U.S., there might be a bit of troubleshooting involved when using IPVanish. Over all, Streaming video while running the VPN was fine, and we didn’t notice any particularly bad lag or load times.

Verdict: While IPVanish can get the job done for some streaming services, it doesn’t work on all of them. Other VPNs, such as NordVPN, would probably be more effective for streaming.

IPVanish’s security and privacy features are much the same as other VPNs in the space. Whether you’re looking for DNS leak protection, anonymous browsing or a kill switch to block internet traffic when the VPN isn’t connected, it’s all here, as well as multiple supported VPN protocols.

IPVanish uses the following protocols:

• Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2): IKEv2 is a protocol that encrypts communication between a VPN client and a VPN server and securely exchanges keys over the internet. It was the standard protocol used for years, but multiple vulnerabilities in its architecture have been found and exploited in the past, particularly when poorly or improperly implemented.
• OpenVPN: OpenVPN is a free and open-source security protocol commonly used by most VPN providers. Initially released in 2001, it is one of the oldest security protocols in the VPN space and is a solid, if unremarkable, protocol by today’s standards.
• WireGuard: The current standard-bearer of VPN protocols, WireGuard is a free and open-source security protocol known for its speeds and consistency. Many VPNs use WireGuard as their default protocol, even in cases where a proprietary protocol exists.

Our test of IPVanish’s security features performed more or less how we expected it to, though its still-in-beta split tunneling left much to be desired in terms of efficacy. While we were able to successfully partition apps from the VPN connection, actually connecting to the internet with those partitioned apps was a different story. Everything else worked as intended, however.

Verdict: IPVanish’s security features meet the industry standard for VPN security, though user reviews have reported it being identified in DNS leak testing. We did not encounter this in our own test, but it is something to be aware of.

IPVanish, along with most other VPN providers we cover, lays claim to a no-logs policy, meaning the company won’t store any user traffic or data. This claim isn’t 100% accurate for most providers, however. Unless they have an anonymized payment and account system like Mullvad VPN, most providers, IPVanish included, will need to store some sensitive user data just to function, namely payment information and an email address attached to the VPN subscription.

IPVanish’s history with user privacy gives us pause, however. In 2016, IPVanish’s then-parent company Highwinds Network Group was delivered a summons for records by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, relating to a case the DHS was investigating at the time. After a bit of back and forth, Highwinds Network Group provided the requested information to the DHS.

None of this is entirely unusual except for the fact that IPVanish claimed to have a no-logs policy at the time and had already had the policy in place for years. However, among the information given to the DHS was, in fact, a user’s activity logs. This was for a child abuse and pornography case, which is, ethically, an understandable reason to cooperate with the authorities in this matter.

That said, regardless of the nature of the case, the fact that IPVanish was able to provide logs at all is cause for concern if you’re someone who cares a lot about your privacy on the internet. Other VPN providers, such as Mullvad, have been contacted by or in some cases raided by government authorities for their data, only for those authorities to come away empty-handed. The fact that IPVanish at one point lied about its no-logs policy is worth understanding before you purchase a subscription.

Of course, this was all seven years ago. IPVanish’s no-logs policy was independently verified in April 2022 by Leviathan Security Group, which performed a similar audit for VyprVPN. This is a good step we wish all providers would take. The company makes a version of the report available to account holders, but this report leaves a lot to be desired, being very short and lacking in detail. We would have liked to have seen more transparency to its users with this report, especially given IPVanish’s history regarding user privacy.

Thankfully, members of the press could get access to a more detailed report by contacting IPVanish at the email listed in its blog post about the independent audit. However, when we tried to contact the company’s press email, we were hit with an Address Not Found error.

After a bit of fruitless searching for any press contact information on the company’s website, we were forced to once more contact customer support. This resulted in several more days of back-and-forth before we were given what we were told was the real report. However, what we received was just the same vague, two-page report available to account holders. We attempted to contact Leviathan Security Group for more information on their end but received no response. After all this, we gave up on reading a real, substantial report. We would prefer to see more transparency from IPVanish in this matter.

Verdict: Although IPVanish’s no-logs policy has been independently audited, we cannot in good conscience recommend the product as a good privacy solution. The company’s base in the U.S., coupled with its history of lying about its no-logs policy, makes it difficult for us to have much faith in the provider. In the VPN space, whether or not you trust a provider should be one of the top factors in considering which VPN to buy, and we simply cannot trust IPVanish at this time.

IPVanish offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, email and phone. On top of that, the company maintains a knowledge base for users to leverage before they try support.

We tried contacting support through all three channels. Email and phone contacts were unsuccessful, but we were able to get in touch with support through live chat. Live chat, as with most providers that offer the feature, first runs you through a chatbot that functions more as a glorified knowledge base search engine than a helpful support representative. However, we were able to get in touch with the actual customer support team shortly after.

The actual human customer support team was responsive and helpful, able to talk us through our issues with the app’s split-tunneling feature, as well as our struggle finding the full independent audit report of the company’s no-logs policy.

Verdict: While we would have preferred more responsiveness through email or phone, our experience with IPVanish’s customer support team was overall helpful and positive.

	IPVanish	ExpressVPN	NordVPN	Surfshark
Rating
Starting Monthly Price	$12.99	$12.95	$12.99 (for Standard plan)	$10.99 per month (for Starter plan)
Anonymous Browsing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DNS Protection Measures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dedicated IP	No	No	Yes, as an add-on	No
Kill Switch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes, on certain platforms	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multifactor Authentication	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
No-Logs Policy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Learn More	—	On ExpressVPN’s Website	On NordVPN’s Website	On Surfshark’s Website
Read Reviews	—	Read ExpressVPN Review	Read NordVPN Review	Read Surfshark Review

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IPVanish vs. ExpressVPN

While IPVanish and ExpressVPN have several of the same features, one of the biggest differences between the two services is the number of devices customers can use simultaneously. ExpressVPN limits its customers to the use of eight devices at a time while IPVanish allows customers to use an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. ExpressVPN, however, has more servers (3,000 versus 2,200) and more server locations (93 versus 75) than IPVanish. The larger number of servers and server locations could indicate an increase in security and internet speed, but in practice, the two providers are very close in the speed category.

IPVanish vs. NordVPN

IPVanish is more affordable than NordVPN in the long term. The unlimited number of simultaneous connections alone makes it more economical. On top of that, NordVPN’s pricing plan is tier-based, meaning that if you want full access to Nord’s features, you will need to pay extra for the service.

IPVanish, on the other hand, offers single-tier pricing, meaning you get access to all of its features regardless of which pricing plan you choose. However, NordVPN does offer some options IPVanish doesn’t, such as a dedicated IP (DIP) add-on for an additional cost. Overall, both are solid choices, and the better fit will depend on your individual needs.

IPVanish vs. Surfshark

IPVanish and Surfshark are very similar in pricing, length of contracts and features, though Surfshark will ask you to pay more to get access to all of its features. They both support unlimited simultaneous devices, yet neither IPVanish nor Surfshark offers a dedicated IP add-on. Surfshark has servers in 100 locations versus IPVanish’s 75 locations, which could affect the upload and download speeds, security and the range of content you can access with a VPN, though in practice we did not encounter any noticeable differences in performance between the two.

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1

NordVPN

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$3.49 per month

# of Devices

6

Encryption

AES-256

1

NordVPN

Learn More

On NordVPN's Website

2

Surfshark

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$2.29

# of Devices

Unlimited

Encryption

AES-256

2

Surfshark

Learn More

On Surfshark's Website

3

Private Internet Access

Monthly Pricing (2 Year Plan)

$2.03

# of Devices

Unlimited

Encryption

AES-256

3

Private Internet Access

Learn More

On Private Internet Access' Website

As a product, IPVanish’s features mostly do what we expected them to. The unlimited simultaneous connections are always a plus, and it boasts impressive speeds. The lack of Dedicated IP makes it a tough sell for business users, and we distrust IPVanish in terms of protecting user privacy..

Although the 2017 log-sharing incident seems to be in the past for the company as far as we can tell, the fact remains that the company lied about its no-logs policy, and, in our opinion, no amount of independent auditing will repair the damaged trust from that lie.

IPVanish for Personal Use

We do not recommend IPVanish for personal use, but if you do not share our concerns with trusting the company with your data, it works well as a personal VPN. Its speeds are good, it’s got most of the features personal users are looking for, and the unlimited simultaneous connections can help make it more affordable for families or groups of people looking to share an account together. The lack of multifactor authentication is a red flag for personal use, however, and security-minded individuals are better off looking elsewhere for a VPN.

IPVanish for Business Use

Even disregarding our trust issues with the company, we do not recommend IPVanish for business use. The unlimited simultaneous connections are enticing, but the absence of key features, such as Dedicated IP or multifactor authentication, makes it a tough sell to companies looking for a secure, reliable VPN solution. There are other services businesses can look at that might be better suited to their needs, such as NordVPN or Proton VPN.