IPVanish Review 2024: You Could Have Been a Contender!

Our team of industry experts at VPNCheck just couldn’t do without a 2024 review of IPVanish. Undeniably enough, it has always been mentioned as one of the most popular VPNs. The VPN service is known for owning and operating its entire server network, something that is supposed to cement its place as one of the best VPN services on the market. It has also gained lots of popularity over time due to its advanced security features that include obfuscation, a kill switch, and IP & DNS Leak Protection. 

However, IPVanish has faced some logging controversies in the past. Since then, it has changed owners twice, and it now promises a reliable and transparent experience. So, are other VPN review websites just creating baseless hype around IPVanish as a top-performing VPN service? Or, is IPVanish actually as good as others claim it is? 

Fortunately, this IPVanish review takes an in-depth look at its security, transparency, performance, pricing plans, device compatibility, and more. But, before we get to our experts’ opinions…

• Proper Server Network: IPVanish owns and controls its entire server network. Only one other VPN can make that claim.  
• Unblocks Most Streaming Services: You can use the VPN service with Netflix, Disney+, and several other US-based streaming services.
• Solid Security: IPVanish uses AES-256 bit and other top-of-of-the-class encryption standards.
• Advanced Functionalities: The VPN offers features such as Scramble, kill switch, and leak protection.
• Cloud Storage: You can connect to SugarSync’s 500 GB cloud service at just $2 extra a month.

Just like every other VPN, IPVanish claims to be “the fastest, most reliable VPN.” However, we didn’t want to take their word for it, so we reached out to our network performance expert, Raeesa Essop, to hear what she has to say about the VPN. Here’s her detailed evaluation of IPVanish’s speeds and overall performance.

Our experts base their opinions on extensive evaluation. You can read more about our methods and how the experts arrive at their conclusions by clicking here: VPN Review Process.

Streaming is a key consideration when choosing a VPN as it determines the streaming services you can access and the extra titles you can unlock. However, streaming capabilities vary from one VPN to another as these services block VPN access to comply with licensing deals. So, how good is IPVanish in accessing streaming services?

Netflix is quite tough when it comes to blocking VPN services, but IPVanish manages to unblock the service through several of its American servers. The VPN recommends that you use Ashburn, Dallas, and Chicago servers, although you’ll also find other servers that work.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to access other Netflix libraries as the VPN only supports Netflix US. Note that you will need a Netflix account to access the streams.

Hulu is one of the most popular streaming services, and it has over 41 million subscribers. However, the streaming service is only available in the US, which means that you’ll need a VPN if you are outside the region.

During our tests, we were disappointed to find that IPVanish doesn’t work with Hulu. We tested the VPN using different US-based servers, but the service blocked our access every time.

BBC iPlayer provides lots of content from various BBC channels, and the service is available for free (well, they ask if you have a UK TV license, but who doesn’t when it’s a Yes/ No question). However, it is restricted to only users in the UK. If you are not in the region, you’ll need to connect your VPN to a UK server.

Unfortunately, IPVanish couldn’t unblock BBC iPlayer during our tests.

Amazon Prime Video is among the top streaming services thanks to its high-quality original shows and movies and its impressive library of movies. The streaming service is available worldwide, but Amazon themselves tell you that most videos are only available in the US during the subscription process. Unfortunately, IPVanish can’t help you bypass those restrictions as Prime Video has blocked the VPN.

Disney+ offers some of the biggest brands in the entertainment world, including Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic. The only problem is that the streaming service is only available in a few countries, making VPNs important for people outside the region.

Thankfully, IPVanish manages to bypass the Disney+ VPN police. You can connect the VPN to several US servers and enjoy your favorite titles.

DAZN is known for being a game-changer for boxing fans around the world. However, the service is more than that in some countries as you can even stream the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The only issue is that, unlike Netflix and the others, DAZN ties a user’s account to a specific country. This means that you will need a VPN to access the service if you have moved abroad. Unfortunately, IPVanish is not the best VPN to use with DAZN as virtually all its IP addresses are blocked by DAZN.

VPNs generally reduce your speed as they introduce encryption and a new server. That said, the speeds you get vary from one VPN to another, depending on several factors. One of these is the VPN’s infrastructure, right from the app to the server. So how does IPVanish perform?

To give you a clear picture, we connected the VPN to several locations around the world and started streaming. In all cases, we were able to stream in HD without any hitches. However, the overall speeds varied from one region to another.

We conducted several speed tests using a stable fiber connection capped at 20 Mbps. Below is the speed test without a VPN connection.

When connected to a server in the same country, our download speeds averaged 17 Mbps.

However, the speeds were not so impressive when connected to distant servers. Servers in different continents averaged anywhere between 8 Mbps and 13 Mbps, with most countries recording an average of 12 Mbps.

Overall, IPVanish is not consistent from country to country, but the speeds will still be sufficient for most users depending on their connection speeds.

IPVanish is one of the few VPNs that allow torrenting on all their servers. The VPN states:

“We do not impose a ban on any of the content accessed through our VPN, and we do not prevent P2P access on our servers.”

This means that, unlike some other VPNs, you won’t have to worry about what you access.

On top of that, IPVanish goes ahead and provides SOCKS5 proxy servers for torrenting fans. Socket Secure (SOCKS) is an internet protocol that can be used to secure torrent traffic without needing to use the VPN.

Although the protocol doesn’t provide the encryption of a VPN, it is useful in ensuring anonymity without affecting download speeds. IPVanish SOCKS5 servers are available in 14 countries, and they support web (HTTP) traffic and P2P BitTorrent clients such as uTorrent, Vuze, and Deluge. The VPN provides IPVanish proxy setup guides on all popular torrent clients.

You can set up IPVanish on the following devices:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• Android
• iOS
• FireOS
• ChromeOS
• Routers

All of these, except routers, have proprietary apps that you can install.

IPVanish provides a decent network that consists of 1,900+ servers spread across 75+ locations at the time of this review. These servers are distributed across the world, and they share a total of 40,000+ IP addresses.

Here’s how the servers are distributed:

• Asia – 79
• North America – 1,169
•  Europe – 53
•  Oceania – 53
•  Africa – 11
• South America – 31

From the distribution, you can see that you can access every major region of the world on every continent – well, apart from Antarctica.

A VPN’s interface is a crucial consideration as it determines how easy a VPN is to use and the overall experience the user has. The best VPNs are designed to be both suitable to novice users while at the same time providing advanced capabilities to power users. So how does IPVanish balance this?

To get a professional opinion, we turned to our UI/UX Design expert, Oksana Ivanova.

IPVanish is one of the most generous VPNs as it allows users to connect as many devices as they want simultaneously. This means that you can use the VPN on all your devices and help protect your entire family (and a few friends too?)

Below are the devices you can secure with IPVanish.

IPVanish provides a Windows app that can be installed:

• Windows 7
• Windows 8.1
•  Windows 10

If for whatever reason, you are still using the good-old Windows XP and Vista, you can also set up the VPN manually as IPVanish provides manual configuration profiles.

IPVanish provides two Mac clients that can be installed on:

• OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12 (Sierra)
•  macOS 10.13 (High Sierra), macOS 10.14 (Mojave), macOS 10.15 (Catalina), or macOS 11 (Big Sur).

Apart from the apps, the VPN also allows users to set up the service manually. The IPVanish website provides several guides on how to do this.

• macOS L2TP IPVanish Setup Guide
• macOS IKEv2 IPVanish Setup Guide
•  macOS OpenVPN IPVanish Setup Guide
• macOS IPSec IPVanish Setup Guide

The setup process should only take you a few minutes.

IPVanish comes up short here as it doesn’t have an app for Linux. However, you can still secure your Linux devices as the VPN supports manual configurations and provides setup guides. You can set up IPVanish on:

• Ubuntu 18.04 – OpenVPN Setup via GUI in Ubuntu 18
• Ubuntu 19.10 – OpenVPN Setup in Ubuntu 19.10
• Fedora – How to Configure OpenVPN in Fedora
• Kali Linux – How to Configure OpenVPN in Kali Linux
• Linux Mint – How to Configure OpenVPN in Linux Mint
• Lubuntu – OpenVPN Setup in Lubuntu
• Pop! OS – Pop! OS OpenVPN Setup

All Linux connections are made through OpenVPN.

IPVanish has an app for Android that can be installed on Android 5.1+ or higher. If you’d like to set it up on an older model, you can also do so through the VPN’s manual connections.

You can install IPVanish on iPhone and iPads running iOS 11.0 or later. You also have the option of setting up the VPN manually on iOS 9.0 or later.

Unfortunately, IPVanish doesn’t offer any apps for routers. Nevertheless, the VPN ensures that you can still secure your entire home network if you have a VPN-capable router.

IPVanish provides guides for setting up the VPN on DD-WRT v2 and v3, Tomato, Asus-WRT, Merlin – Asus, Belkin, Buffalo, Linksys, D-Link, Logilink, Microsoft, Motorola, Netgear, Nokia, Siemens, Toshiba, TP-Link, Sparklan, and Fuji routers.

However, this is a highly technical process that also risks bricking your router. To avoid such, you can order an IPVanish VPN router from FlashRouters through the IPVanish website. From there, you’ll only need your IPVanish account to secure your entire network from the source!

For those of us who like streaming, IPVanish has not forgotten us. The VPN was among the first to publish an app for Fire Stick and Fire TV Cube on the Amazon App Store. The app is lightweight and enhanced with streaming capabilities such as split-tunneling, and it can be installed Fire OS 2 (based on Android 4.0.3) and higher. This means that you can set it up on Fire Stick Gen 2, Fire Stick Gen 3 & Lite, Fire Stick 4K, and all Fire TV Cubes.

Getting started with IPVanish is quite straightforward, and the process should only take you a few minutes.

1.  To create an account, head over to the main IPVanish website and click “Subscribe Now.”
   
2. You will then be required to choose a subscription plan between the monthly plan and the yearly plan. The yearly one offers a huge discount, but you can also start out with the shorter one
3. In the next step, provide your email address and a password. These will be used to log in both on the website and the apps.
4.  Now, choose your preferred payment method and fill in the appropriate details.
5. Lastly, agree to the automatic renewal terms and click “Subscribe Now.”

Once you complete the payment, you only need to verify your email address, and you’ll be set. You can go ahead and install the VPN apps for your device.

To give you a proper look at the VPN apps, we installed and tested each of them. Below is a walkthrough of all of them.

To download IPVanish for Windows, click “Apps” on the main website and then select the Windows logo. This should give you a download button, and after pressing it, the app should download within a few seconds. From there, double-click the downloaded file to launch the installation wizard.

After installing IPVanish on Windows, you will be required to provide your login details. You can then click “Sign In.”

Once you do, here’s what the main screen looks like.

You can explore the various functionalities of the buttons by simply placing a cursor on top, and the app will give you a description. You can also connect with a single button by clicking the “Connect” button on the top right side of the app. This will let the app choose the best country, city, and server, depending on your location.

To change either of the three, use the selection panel on the bottom right side of the server selection options on the Server List tab.

Once you connect, the VPN will show you the time connected, the protocol used, the server you are connected to, and the uplink and downlink data. The app will also display your new IP address and virtual location on the top left side.

If you’d like to customize your connection, you can do so using the settings button on the left side menu.

This will allow you to:

• change the protocol
• change the port
• activate Scramble (only for OpenVPN)
• turn on the kill switch
• prevent DNS leaks
• prevent IPv6 traffic from leaking.

The protocols available on the Windows app are:

• OpenVPN (UDP & TCP)
• IKEv2
• L2TP
• SSTP
• PPTP

IPVanish is also testing the new WireGuard protocol, but it’s only available in the app’s Beta version. The protocol will be a welcome addition as it is super-fast and has been proven to be secure.

IPVanish also provides an app for Mac users, and you can install it from the VPN’s website. After that, the app will then require you to provide your email address and password to log in.

From there, it will display several details about your connection, such as your IP address, location, and protocol selected. The same page also allows you to choose your country, city, and server. Note that the app won’t let you choose an automatic option for the country selection.

On the left-side menu, you can select the server option and then choose a server from their detailed list. You can then use the interactive map to choose a server or use a filter with options such as searching, latency, and region.

To customize the app, click on the IPVanish VPN option in the menu bar at the top of your screen and then select Preferences. This will let you determine how the app behaves as well as activate options such as:

• Kill Switch
• IPv6 Leak Protection
• Scramble
• Dark mode

You can also choose a protocol between OpenVPN and IKEv2/ IPSec.

A highlight feature of the Mac app is a mini mode (IPVanish Menu Control) that can be used to select a country and a server then connect/ disconnect the VPN without opening the main app.

The IPVanish app for Android is available on the Google Play Store, and it can also be downloaded as an APK from the main website. After installing it, you will need to provide your credentials to log in.

The main page on the app provides a huge Connect button that allows you to secure your connection with just a single click.

However, unlike the desktop app, it can only choose the best city and server, not the country. You can also select those manually if you so please.

Once you connect to a server, the app will then show your connection status, IP address, location, connected time, and network performance.

The menu button on the top left side provides several options, with the main two being “Server” and “Settings.” The server option gives you a detailed list of all servers, and you can sort it by country, city, server, and ping.

The settings button lets you determine how the app behaves and customize your connection. The customization options include selecting a protocol, activating Scramble, split tunneling, and selecting a port.

The available protocols are OpenVPN (TCP), OpenVPN (UDP), and IKEV2 Beta.

The IPVanish app for iOS is similar to its Android counterpart, and it’s available on the App Store. Once you log in, you can see your public IP address, current location, and the selected country.

Just like in Android, the country is not selected by the app as the smart option only works for the cities and specific servers. After connecting, you’ll then see your new IP address, your virtual location, and a network performance graph.

Unlike the Android app, there are only a few configuration options on the iOS app.

The only advanced features are On-Demand and protocol selection, although there are also a few additional features such as dark mode and Siri shortcuts.

IPVanish has an app on the Amazon App Store that has been optimized for Fire Stick and Fire TV. The app is a bit simplified, but it still offers all the basics and more you would need in a streaming VPN.

Once you log in by providing your email address and password, it displays your visible location and selected country.

You can change the country from a list of 50+ options displayed in a somewhat unnecessarily huge format, which seems common among VPNs.

To customize your connection, click on the Settings button on the top right side. This will open a side menu that contains options such as:

• determining how the app behaves
• LAN access
• Split Tunneling
• Scramble
• protocol selection

The protocols available are OpenVPN and IKEv2 Beta.

After you are satisfied with your connection settings, you can then click the Connect button on the home page, and the VPN will change your virtual location.

Unfortunately, IPVanish doesn’t provide any browser extensions.

Security was the main reason behind the invention of VPNs. However, as years have gone by, commercial VPNs have started focusing on other functionalities. An analysis of privacy and security risks of Android VPN apps done by CSIRO in 2016 found that 18% of the Android VPNs in the study didn’t even encrypt traffic. Most of them even did more harm than good as they intercepted traffic and even contained malware.

To help dissect IPVanish VPN’s security posture, we enlisted the help of Jason Martin Alexander, a seasoned cybersecurity expert.

Nevertheless, IPVanish does well if we consider its use of the industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption with an RSA 2048-bit key authentication. The HMAC SHA1 standard is used for data authentication, and HMAC SHA 256-bit is used for control authorization. Generally, this kind of security is as good as any, and it meets the recommended security standards.

The above standards are then combined with various protocols:

• OpenVPN (UDP & TCP)
• IKEv2
• L2TP
• SSTP
• PPTP

These protocols vary depending on the device, with the Windows app offering the most. The VPN states that WireGuard is on the way, so users have a reason to smile.

However, IPVanish does not offer any advanced security features such as malware and adblocking. These are features that can be found in other VPNs and are quite useful in preventing malware and phishing attacks from websites.

Using a VPN basically means transferring your trust from your ISP to the VPN provider. And since they have the word “private” right in the name, the best VPNs need to offer high levels of privacy.

However, most VPNs state that they keep zero logs while they log crucial (or even all) information. IPVanish has a privacy policy that states:

“IPVanish does not collect, monitor, or log your browsing activity, such as what websites you went on when connected to the VPN Service.

We collect aggregated and anonymous performance data to improve functionality and product performance, diagnose crashes, identify bugs, and optimize server performance. This aggregated and anonymous data does not include IP address, connection time stamps, or DNS inquiries.”

However, the VPN’s reliability was put into focus after a 2016 incident where they shared user data with Homeland Security was exposed, as already pointed out by our cybersecurity expert, Jason Alexander. Since then, the VPN has changed owners twice, but what effect has this had?

Here’s an expert opinion from an international business & privacy lawyer, Monika Lewko, regarding how safe your data is with IPVanish.

While using a VPN, you are bound to face some issues, whether they be connection-related or something you need some clarification on. IPVanish VPN boosts customer success by providing multiple support systems.

The VPN has a 24/7 live chat system that should connect you to an agent within a minute. During our tests, it only took about 30 seconds, and the agent was very knowledgeable.

This one is rare among VPNs, but IPVanish provides phone support majorly for billing issues. The support is available via +1-800-591-5241 and it operates between 9 am and 5 pm CT (UTC -6).

If you have a technical query, you can reach out to the team via a ticket system. Most VPNs promise a response within 24 to 48 hours, but it should only take a few hours with IPVanish. We received a response after 55 minutes!

You don’t have to reach out to the support team every time you face a challenge as IPVanish provides a comprehensive support center. On the site, you’ll find FAQs, Setup Guides, Billing Questions, Troubleshooting Guides, Announcements, and even further information about the VPN service.

When most users evaluate VPN services, they rarely consider the VPN’s ownership and business structure beyond the jurisdiction. However, this information plays a very crucial role. According to a 2018 study by Metric Labs, 59% of the most popular free VPN apps had links to China.

IPVanish itself has changed ownership multiple times, and the VPN is operated by a company that is owned by another company that is owned by IPVanish trademark owners. Confused? Well, it will make sense in a minute as we have the analysis of our international business expert, Brendan Filipovski, who followed a thorough research procedure to evaluate IPVanish’s financial background.

IPVanish provides two types of subscriptions, each with two tiers. And as you might expect, the longer the commitment you are willing to make, the more value you’ll get.

Here’s a breakdown of the plans with their pricing: 

The VPN doesn’t provide a business plan, but they allow you to bundle the VPN with SugarSync Backup (also owned by J2 Global). Here’s a breakdown of the bundle price:

SugarSync 500 GB typically costs $18.95 a month with no yearly savings, so this is a significant discount if you need cloud space. There are also many other regular discounts that you’ll find on the pricing page and the IPVanish Coupons page.

IPVanish accepts payments through debit/ credit cards and PayPal. Unfortunately, users seeking anonymity aren’t in luck as the VPN doesn’t support Bitcoin payment.

IPVanish provides a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, this guarantee only applies to the yearly plan. You can cancel your subscription online, and the company will refund “as soon as possible.”

So how does this all sound, and how does it rate against other market leaders? Here’s an expert opinion from our pricing consultant, Tamara Milacic.

IPVanish apps make it easy for users by automatically selecting a server depending on the user’s actual location. IPVanish does better than most VPNs in this aspect as you can decide the country and let the app decide the city and the server. You can also decide the two, although the country selection option is only available on Windows.

IPVanish provides an option for scrambling OpenVPN traffic, and this can be quite helpful for people living in countries where internet access is otherwise censored. This feature helps users disguise their OpenVPN traffic as regular HTTPS traffic and avoid deep packet inspection (dpi) detection and blocking. However, IPVanish isn’t reliable when it comes to highly sophisticated censorship firewalls like the Great Firewall of China (GFW), although you can still use the VPN in Russia.

The VPN provides split tunneling on their Android and Fire Stick/Fire TV/Fire Cube app. This feature allows users to control which apps should be routed through the VPN, and it’s super useful for streaming fans. For example, you can exempt DAZN from the VPN as it blocks almost all IPVanish servers.

IPVanish is one of the few VPNs that support torrenting on all their servers. On top of that, the VPN provides SOCKS5, an internet protocol that anonymizes torrent users through a proxy server. The protocol does not encrypt user traffic, but it hides a user’s real IP address, ensuring they are not exposed and can’t be tracked.

IPVanish SOCKS5 proxy servers can be configured on P2P BitTorrent clients such as uTorrent, Vuze, and Deluge. It also supports web (HTTP) traffic.