IPVanish VPN Review 2022 – Fast, Reliable, Secure And Affordable

If you are looking for a fast and reliable VPN, IPVanish may be the right choice for you. It’s one of the best providers on the market, offering high speeds and secure connections at a reasonable price. 

The company is a veteran in the business. It allows unlimited simultaneous connections per account and boasts some impressive security features.

In our IPVanish review, we’ll look into everything you need to know about this service—from speed to compatibility.

Let’s dive in!

Speed    

High speed is among the top priorities for VPN users. The truth is, when you’re connected to a VPN, your network speed will always decrease at least a bit. With this in mind, we ran an IPVanish download and upload speed test.

Before connecting to the VPN, our download and upload rate was 195Mbps and 187Mbps, respectively, with a ping of 23 ms.

Using a server in London caused a speed loss of just 10%. But when we connected to remote locations, speeds dropped significantly. Using a US IPVanish server, we experienced a 60% decrease in speed. And in Australia, we lost nearly 70% of our download rate.

Overall, the average speed loss when connected locally was hardly perceptible, but it was more significant when connected to a remote server. Still, IPVanish performed well across the board, holding its own against heavyweights like NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

Security and Privacy

Can IPVanish be hacked? This is one of the most technically secure VPNs available. Let’s take a look at the privacy and security measures it relies on.

Encryption

IPVanish uses AES 256-bit VPN encryption. This military-grade encryption type is the benchmark for VPNs and is considered unbreakable.  

Security Protocols

IPVanish supports both IKEv2 and OpenVPN, two of the safest and most widely used protocols. You also have the option to choose between L2TP/IPSec and PPTP, but we don’t recommend using these, as they are older and not as safe (or fast). 

IPVanish lets you customise your OpenVPN connection by selecting a port manually, which is unusual for VPNs. What’s more, If you want to hide your VPN usage in a country with restrictions, such as China, you can “scramble” your OpenVPN traffic.

DNS Leak Test

IPVanish has its DNS leak protection activated by default. In our tests, we did not find any DNS leaks whatsoever.

Kill Switch

With the IPVanish kill switch, even if your VPN connection is lost, your privacy will still be protected, as this feature will automatically disconnect you from the internet.

But the kill switch is currently only available for macOS, Windows, and Android, which is a bit of a let-down for iPhone users.

Jurisdiction

IPVanish is a US-based provider and so is subject to the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. That means that the provider is required to hand over information about its users to authorities if requested.

Past Privacy Lapses

In 2018 court documents surfaced showing that in 2016 there was an incident in which IPVanish shared data about a user with the US Department of Homeland Security. This was a violation of the company’s privacy policy which caused many users to be sceptical of the company’s no-logs claims.

But in 2017, IPVanish was purchased by StackPath, which claimed that no logs existed at the time of the acquisition. So presumably, the company amended its practices after the incident.

Independent Audits

IPVanish has never had an independent audit of its zero-logging claims, unlike peers such as TunnelBear and NordVPN. So, for anyone looking for iron-clad privacy protection, IPVanish may not be the best choice.

Split Tunnelling

IPVanish offers split tunnelling, but only on Android and FireOS devices. Although split tunneling is not a must for VPNs, it would be nice if IPVanish would up its game and provide this feature on all systems and devices. 

That said, the newest versions of iOS and macOS don’t yet support this feature, but if you need split tunnelling for Windows, check out other VPNs such as ExpressVPN.

IPVanish Servers and Server Locations

IPVanish has 1,600+ servers in over 75 cities worldwide. The US, the UK, Australia, France, and Canada are the countries with the most locations. 104 of the servers are in IPVanish UK locations, namely in London (68), Manchester (18), Birmingham (14), and Maidenhead (4).

What’s more, IPVanish has more than 40,000 unique IP addresses available for its users.

The number of IP Vanish VPN servers falls short compared to some of its biggest competitors. NordVPN, for instance, has more than 5,000 servers, while Private Internet Access has over 20,000.

VPN’s Primary Uses

Now that we’ve established how fast and secure this VPN is, it’s time to take a look at what it can do. 

Streaming 

Is IPVanish good for streaming? Can IPvanish unblock Netflix?

IPVanish can unblock Netflix US on most servers but not on all of them. Plus, you have to go through the hassle of contacting the company and finding the best server to connect to. What’s more, you can’t unblock Netflix libraries from other counties. 

We were also disappointed to learn that IPVanish cannot unblock Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer. But it was successful with Disney+ and sports channels like ESPN, NBC Sports, Sky Go.

Overall, streaming access is not this VPN’s strongest suit. If you’re looking for a provider that can unblock all major providers, check out other options like Surfshark.

IPvanish is the preferred VPN for Kodi users. For those who’ve never heard of it—this is free home theater software usually installed on Android devices, most notably the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Torrenting

IPVanish supports torrenting. P2P file sharers will be pleased that there’s no limit on bandwidth or data.

Although download speeds are slowed down, the difference is barely noticeable. Another perk is that IPVanish provides 500GB of cloud storage where users can save their downloaded files. 

Gaming

IPVanish is one of the best VPNs for gaming because of its broad router compatibility, high speeds, and low latency. While it doesn’t have native VPN applications for your PlayStation and Xbox, you can unblock region-restricted content and hide your IP address when using IPVanish on your router.

Supported Platforms

IPVanish is compatible with most major operating systems and devices, including iOS, Windows, Windows Phone, macOS, Android, Fire TV, Linux, Kodi and Chromebook. Besides, you can install it on your router for whole-network protection. 

A question users often ask about IPVanish is, “How many devices can be simultaneously connected?”

IPVanish previously supported connecting up to a maximum of ten devices simultaneously, but now there are no limits on the number of connections. That’s rare, even among industry heavyweights such as NordVPN.

Desktop Apps

The IPVanish desktop apps have an impressive set of features, although the Windows version’s interface is not as user-friendly as the mobile versions. 

The IPVanish Windows app works with the following protocols: PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, IKEv2, and SSTP. The macOS app is compatible with L2TP, OpenVPN, IPSec, and IKEv2. 

Mobile Apps

IPVanish is available for both Android and iOS mobile devices. 

The IPVanish app for iOS works well but isn’t ideal. It lacks some essential features, such as the IPVanish kill switch, so we wouldn’t recommend it for privacy-reliant activities such as torrenting. 

The IPVanish Android app’s greatest asset is its simplicity and comprehensive feature set. It comes with a kill switch, split tunnelling, and a nifty feature that recommends the fastest VPN server for your connection.

The mobile apps work with a more limited number of protocols than the desktop versions. With iOS, you can use IPSEC and IKEv2, while with Android, you have only one option—OpenVPN.

Unfortunately, the mobile apps are rarely updated, and we can’t say when the IPVanish team will add more features.

Tor Compatibility

Although using the Tor service will boost your security and anonymity, it will hurt your upload and download speeds. Our tests show that Tor works with IPVanish without any issues. 

How Much Does IPVanish Cost?

The IPVanish price range is in line with other VPNs. The company offers monthly and yearly plans and users can choose between buying just a VPN or a VPN plus storage combo. The latter comes with additional perks such as cloud backup, remote data wiping, and in-app file editing.

You can often find an IPVanish discount offer or promotion, so be on the lookout for deals. The provider accepts credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, JCB, Delta) and PayPal.

Although there’s no free trial, you can take advantage of a 30-day money-back guarantee that comes with the yearly subscription. 

To make our IPVanish VPN review as helpful as possible, we compare this provider’s monthly prices to those of other providers at the time of writing:

• CyberGhost: £10.89/month
• ExpressVPN: £9.43/month
• NordVPN: £8.84/month

Customer Support

IPVanish provides live chat, phone, and email support 24/7. When we emailed IPVanish to ask about subscription rates, we got prompt and clear answers within the same day, and the customer service rep we got in touch with was polite and professional.

IPVanish also has a FAQ page on its website, which is helpful and comprehensive. 

Overall, in our experience, customer support is excellent.

IPVanish has an exceptional rating on Trustpilot—4.7 out of 5. Only one other of the most popular VPNs on the market beats that score—CyberGhost with 4.8.

Want to Consider Other Options?

IPVanish may offer exceptional performance, but there are other great options available. Let’s compare this provider to a few heavyweights.

The Bottom Line: Is IPVanish Worth It?

IPVanish is a fast, reliable, and secure VPN that comes at an affordable price. What’s more, it’s one of the few solutions that provide unlimited simultaneous connections.

There are some drawbacks, though. If the main reason you’re using a VPN is to access entertainment content, you won’t be able to unblock any major platforms besides Netflix US and Disney+. 

But if you need a VPN for any other common purpose, such as torrenting anonymously, IPVanish is one of the best and most budget-friendly options.