Most VPN review bloggers are tied to VPN companies through profits and relationships, fill their reviews with overly long and complicated content, making it hard to trust their evaluations. They often rate many VPN companies highly because those companies provide them with significant commissions. Based on my own experience, I’ll explain why Surfshark is not only the most affordable but also the best VPN.
Summary
For over a decade, ExpressVPN and NordVPN have been the go-to names in the VPN industry. But a few years back, Surfshark burst onto the scene and quickly proved it wasn’t just another player.. it was a game-changer. This fierce newcomer didn’t just challenge the competition; it forced the entire market to step up or get out of the water.
Honestly, I’m still surprised Surfshark can offer such a high-quality VPN service at such an affordable price. Every year, I find myself wondering, How do they keep this up? And every year, they prove me wrong by not just holding steady but actually growing stronger.
What’s blown me away the most in the past three years is the speed. Surfshark delivers performance on par with premium VPNs that cost more than double. It’s like they’ve put the whole VPN ecosystem on notice. Companies charging top dollar for mediocre service have either had to evolve or fade into the background.
I’ve been with Surfshark since the beginning, and let me tell you—it’s hit its stride. From pricing to speed, features, and its forward-thinking approach to development, it’s operating at an elite level right now.
Take ExpressVPN, for example. It’s about 2.5~2.7 times more expensive than Surfshark, but somehow Surfshark offers better security. A big reason is its MultiHop servers. These aren’t your basic “connect to two servers” setups; Surfshark lets you customize your routes. If you’re in Europe, you can stick with European servers. If you’re in Asia, you can pick two nearby servers for maximum speed. That level of flexibility is a game-changer.
Then there’s their antivirus, which scored top marks from AV-Test. They’ve turned it into a complete security package, with features like Alternative ID, Alternative Number (for phones), spyware protection, and ad and malware blocking. In my book, Surfshark One is hands down the best value VPN product available right now.
After using Surfshark for years, I’d put it up there with NordVPN as one of the best services in the business. If I had to invest my own money into a VPN company, those two would be my top picks.
Features
- Unlimited Devices!
- Top-tier speed
- Customisable multi-hop
- Wireguard
- Unlock OTT streaming (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, DAZN etc)
- Easy to use
- Works on almost all operating systems and devices – Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Web browser Extensions, TVOS, Routers and more
- Great Antivirus engine
- Alternative ID
- Alternative Number
Time is much more valuable than money. If you’ve read my words, you’ve already saved yourself a lot of time. In 2025, skip the other options and go with Surfshark.
Surfshark Review
Surfshark: The Unmatched Value VPN Service
Surfshark has consistently proven itself as a top-tier value VPN over the years. First and foremost, it offers unlimited device connections, allowing an entire family or team to use the service with just one subscription. This feature, paired with its affordable pricing, makes it stand out as a unique offering, especially for today’s multi-device users.
Surfshark strictly adheres to its No-Log Policy, ensuring complete privacy and anonymity for its users. Its global server network delivers fast and reliable connections, excelling in bypassing streaming restrictions and accessing geo-blocked content. Whether it’s Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, or other major OTT platforms, Surfshark makes accessing your favorite entertainment seamless and hassle-free.
On the security side, Surfshark delivers military-grade AES-256 encryption, MultiHop (Customizable!) functionality, and its CleanWeb feature, which blocks ads and malicious websites, providing robust protection. Its intuitive interface and support across multiple platforms further enhance the overall user experience.
What’s most impressive about Surfshark is its commitment to innovation and meeting customer needs. While maintaining affordable pricing and exceptional service quality, the company continues to roll out updates and enhance its security features, solidifying trust with its users. Surfshark isn’t just a “budget-friendly VPN”.. It’s the perfect choice for anyone seeking a safe and unrestricted internet experience.
🌐 Server
Why the Number of VPN Servers Isn’t Everything
Many VPN companies market themselves by boasting “thousands or even tens of thousands of servers,” but this number has little to do with actual user experience or performance. People often assume that more servers mean faster speeds, but this is a simplistic way to judge a VPN’s quality.
The speed and stability of a VPN don’t depend solely on the number of servers. What truly matters are the geographic distribution, hardware quality, and network infrastructure. Even if a VPN has a large number of servers, users might still face slow speeds and unstable connections if those servers are overcrowded in specific regions or built with low-quality hardware. Conversely, a VPN with fewer servers but a well-distributed network of high-performance servers can deliver superior performance.
Additionally, a large server count often includes virtual servers. Some VPN providers inflate their server numbers by using virtual servers instead of physical ones, which can negatively impact data security and connection quality. This makes it more critical to focus on metrics like node density, bandwidth management, and user-to-server ratios instead of sheer server count.
In conclusion, relying solely on server numbers when choosing a VPN is a mistake. Users should evaluate actual speed, stability, and security instead. While server count may sound impressive as a marketing point, real quality lies in the underlying technical infrastructure and the company’s approach to delivering performance and privacy.
In conclusion, Surfshark is one of the fastest VPNs out there, and for the most part, it’s highly reliable.
👀 Privacy
The Most Critical Factors in the VPN Industry: User Privacy and Transparency
Since its inception, Surfshark has flawlessly protected user privacy and implemented a strict No-Log policy. By not storing user data or collecting connection or activity logs, Surfshark has earned the trust of users worldwide with its unwavering commitment to privacy.
Surfshark doesn’t just use “No-Log” as a marketing term but takes the following measures to ensure it’s genuinely enforced:
Data-Collection-Free Design
Surfshark’s service architecture is designed to avoid storing any user data. It does not log the servers users connect to, IP addresses, traffic amounts, or session durations. The company prioritizes transparency, clearly communicating all data-related policies to ensure users feel confident and informed, leaving no room for doubts or uncertainties.
Independent Security Audits
Surfshark undergoes regular audits by reputable third-party security firms to verify compliance with its No-Log policy, and the results are made publicly available to maintain transparency.
RAM-Based Server Operations
All Surfshark servers operate on RAM, meaning no data can be stored permanently. When a server is rebooted, all data is wiped entirely. This RAM-based infrastructure is optimized to protect user data, even in the event of an unexpected law enforcement raid or seizure.
WireGuard Protocol
Surfshark uses WireGuard as its default protocol. Known for its lightweight, next-generation design, WireGuard delivers exceptional speed and robust security.
MultiHop Functionality
Surfshark allows users to route their traffic through two or more servers, enhancing anonymity. Users can also customize their server combinations, offering greater flexibility than other VPN providers.
Surfshark’s proactive approach to privacy and its advanced technological features make it a leader in the VPN industry, ensuring users’ security and trust remain at the forefront.
jurisdiction
The Netherlands: A Favorable and Suitable Country for Operating a VPN Company
The Netherlands is widely regarded as an advantageous location for running a VPN business. This is due to its strong privacy protection policies, a culture that values internet freedom, and its unique position as an EU member that complies with GDPR while offering more flexible regulations compared to other EU countries. These factors make the Netherlands an appealing environment for VPN providers. However, this same environment has also been exploited, with servers hosting copyright-infringing websites operating from within the country. This reflects the Netherlands’ suitability for companies focused on privacy-friendly operations.
Data Protection Laws in the Netherlands
GDPR Compliance
As part of the European Union, the Netherlands adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR imposes strict requirements for user data protection and transparency, ensuring a high level of trust among users. Violating GDPR can result in substantial fines, making it a strong framework for privacy-focused businesses. While it doesn’t offer the same unique advantages as countries like Panama (NordVPN) or the British Virgin Islands (ExpressVPN), GDPR’s credibility is relatively high among major countries.
Emphasis on Privacy
The Netherlands has a strong tradition of valuing personal privacy. If you’ve ever visited the country, you might have noticed that many things restricted in the U.S. or other European countries are more freely allowed in the Netherlands. Both the government and corporations are required to meet high standards when handling user data, and anonymity is strongly respected.
The Netherlands’ regulatory environment and cultural emphasis on privacy make it a competitive choice for VPN providers aiming to establish trust and deliver robust privacy-focused services.
Audit
“Without external validation, true internet freedom cannot exist.”
What’s the most important factor when choosing a VPN? You shouldn’t blindly trust a simple claim like, “We follow a No-Log policy.” Words are easy, but actions are what earn trust. That’s why audits conducted by credible third-party firms should be a necessity, not an option, in the VPN industry.
A high-level audit is the only way to truly verify a VPN provider’s integrity. Think about it: while VPNs encrypt all our internet traffic, they’re the ones handling our data. Can you really be sure that every VPN claiming “We don’t store your data” is telling the truth? We’ve already seen cases where this wasn’t true. External audits are the strongest evidence to bridge the gap between a provider’s promises and their actual practices.
Surfshark has been thoroughly audited by industry-renowned firms like Cure53 and Deloitte, covering its VPN infrastructure, apps, and No-Log policy. These audits validate its commitment to transparency and user privacy.
🔐 Security
Encryption
As mentioned in other reviews, discussing ‘encryption technology’ is a waste of time.
The reason is simple: most VPN providers use the same encryption protocols. Popular protocols like OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2/IPsec are widely adopted to ensure standardized security and reliability across the board.
These well-known technologies, such as OpenVPN and WireGuard, are trusted because they’ve been rigorously tested over time by experts worldwide. Compared to newer, less-proven protocols, these established options provide users with a greater sense of stability and security.
For the best experience, your go-to choice should simply be WireGuard. If you’re a NordVPN user, opt for NordLynx (an enhanced version of WireGuard). ExpressVPN users should choose Lightway, a lightweight and secure protocol comparable to WireGuard. WireGuard stands out for its strong performance in security, speed, and low CPU usage, making it a top-tier option.
If all this technical jargon feels overwhelming, just use the Auto mode
Multi-Hop
One of the main reasons I recommend Surfshark is its ability to offer extreme security through MultiHop servers that you can customize as you wish. Whether you’re in the U.S., Europe, Asia, or the Middle East, if you want faster MultiHop connections, you can set them up using neighboring countries.
On the other hand, if you want to make tracking even more difficult by using servers across different continents, you can easily configure that too. This level of flexibility is not only technically impressive but also provides users with a sense of freedom and psychological reassurance.
Antivirus
Surfshark Antivirus is an additional feature offered alongside Surfshark’s VPN service and has received top ratings from AV-Test.org. Among antivirus engines provided by VPN companies, it’s considered one of the best. It protects your system from malware, viruses, and other cyber threats.
Its strengths lie in real-time protection, scanning capabilities, and a lightweight yet powerful engine. While companies that have focused solely on antivirus software for 10 or 20 years may offer more advanced features, their bloated software has started to decline in relevance.
In the past, there were specialized products for viruses, spyware, and adware, but these have largely disappeared. Modern antivirus solutions now focus on comprehensive threat detection. For Windows users, the built-in Windows Defender is often sufficient, as antivirus performance has become more standardized.
Prevention has become more critical than post-infection treatment. VPN companies have added network protection features, enabling users to proactively defend against threats on the network while effectively safeguarding privacy and protecting against malware and viruses.
Summary of the antivirus part
1. Protection
- Effectively defends against 0-day malware attacks, including web and email threats, using 225 test samples.
- Detects widespread and recent malware from the last 4 weeks, based on 14,498 samples.
- Protection Score: 6.0/6.0 (Perfect).
2. Performance
- Evaluates the software’s impact on computer speed during daily use.
- Tested areas include:
- Visiting popular websites (60 tested).
- Downloading frequently-used applications (25 files).
- Launching standard software (70 test cases).
- Installing applications (24 tested).
- Copying files locally and over networks (9,648 files).
- Performance Score: 5.5/6.0 (Minimal impact).
3. Usability
- Assesses the software’s interference with normal computer use.
- No false warnings or blocks when visiting websites (500 samples tested).
- Minimal false detections during system scans (0–2 out of 991,546 samples).
- No false blocks or warnings during software installation or use (20–30 samples tested).
- Usability Score: 6.0/6.0 (Perfect).
Overall Evaluation
- Protection: 6.0/6.0 (Exceptional malware defense).
- Performance: 5.5/6.0 (Slight performance impact).
- Usability: 6.0/6.0 (Highly user-friendly, no false positives).
This software offers excellent protection, user-friendliness, and minor performance impacts, making it a highly reliable choice for security solutions.
Additional security features
- RAM-only servers
- Kill Switch
- Custom DNS
- Smart DNS
- Split Tunneling
Protocol
WireGuard is currently Best VPN protocol and is considered almost a standard for VPNs. When you look at protocol options like OpenVPN, IKEv2, and others, you might wonder why you should choose WireGuard. Let me explain simply.
WireGuard uses modern algorithms like ChaCha20 and Curve25519, which are both efficient and secure. In comparison, OpenVPN has a bloated codebase of 400,000 to 600,000 lines, whereas WireGuard is just 4,000 lines. This makes WireGuard much lighter, faster, and easier to audit for security. As a result, it has far fewer vulnerabilities.
Additionally, WireGuard supports Perfect Forward Secrecy, which ensures that even if an encryption key from a session is compromised, all subsequent data remains secure. This feature significantly enhances long-term data protection.
🚀 Speed
From Dark Horse to Champion
In the VPN industry, the three most critical factors are verified anonymity, affordability, and fast performance. Surfshark, despite entering the market much later than its competitors, achieved an impressive feat by climbing to third place in just three years. However, instead of settling, the company held on to its core value of affordability while making speed improvements that propelled it to the top of the industry, setting a brand-new standard. Between 2023 and 2024, Surfshark not only caught up with its competitors but also established itself as a force to be reckoned with, boasting exceptional strengths like unlimited simultaneous connections, top-tier speed, and the most affordable pricing—making it nearly impossible for competitors to keep up.
For years, Surfshark consistently ranked in the top three of speed tests, earning respect for its reliability and robust infrastructure. Yet, it couldn’t quite shake the image of being “good but not the best.”
Bold Vision: Investment and Focus
Everything began to change around 2023. The company decided to go all-in on growth, investing heavily in upgrading its global server network and adopting cutting-edge technology. Recognizing that speed and reliability were the ultimate differentiators in the VPN market, Surfshark streamlined operations and focused entirely on improving connection quality and reducing latency.
Customers started noticing the difference, and reviews shifted from “good” to “industry-leading.” By early 2024, Surfshark not only caught up with its competitors but surpassed them, claiming the top spot in independent speed rankings.
Today, Surfshark is no longer just “an affordable and good VPN” but has become synonymous with “the best VPN company that stripped the industry of its hype.”
SpeedTest
With over 3,200 ultra-fast servers in 100 countries, Surfshark provides a clear overview on its VPN Server List of supported countries and features. You can easily see which locations support dynamic MultiHop, P2P, obfuscation, static IP, and dedicated IP options.
I’m using Google Fiber 1 Gig
| Country | Download Speed |
|---|---|
| United States | – |
| Canada | 597.31Mbps |
| Germany | 401.38Mbps |
| UK | 422.19Mbps |
| France | 399.53Mbps |
| Japan | 460.59Mbps |
| S. Korea | 427.75Mbps |
🆘 Customer support
Despite high subscription fees, many VPN companies don’t offer live chat support. Considering Surfshark’s pricing, you might assume they wouldn’t provide live chat either.. but that’s not the case. You can get quick feedback through both email and live chat. Surfshark didn’t get to where it is today by luck; it’s a result of deliberate and exceptional service.
😦 Plan and Package
| Starter | One | One+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| VPN | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alternative ID | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Antivirus | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alert | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Search | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Incogni | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
The choice is simple.
- Just need a VPN?: Starter
- Want to protect your devices and personal information? : One
- Want to remove your information from corporate databases and search sites? : One+
🤑 Money
Surfshark is the leader in this field. I can confidently say that as of 2025, no other VPN company in the world offers as much value at such an affordable price as Surfshark. Honestly, when I look at their subscription fees, it’s almost concerning. I find myself wondering, “How long can they sustain the company at this price?” Surfshark is running aggressive promotions to maintain its hard-earned position as the best VPN. Sign up now!
No need to think twice. Grab Surfshark Deal before the special promotion ends.