Are you looking for a reliable VPN service that won't break the bank? Then you might want to check out Ivacy VPN. I've been testing this VPN for the past couple of weeks, and I'm here to share my honest thoughts with you.
In this Ivacy VPN review, you'll learn:
- How fast and secure Ivacy VPN really is
- If it can unblock streaming services like Netflix
- How easy it is to use on different devices
- Whether it's good for torrenting and gaming
- If Ivacy VPN is worth your money in 2024
Let's examine and see what Ivacy VPN has to offer!
In a Hurry? Here's a Quick Summary
Ivacy VPN is a solid choice for those seeking a balance between performance and affordability. After thorough testing, here's what stood out to me during this Ivacy VPN review:
What You'll Like:
- Affordable pricing: Ivacy offers some of the cheapest long-term plans in the industry
- Good server coverage: With over 5700 servers in 100+ locations, you'll likely find a fast server nearby
- Streaming support: Dedicated servers for unblocking Netflix and other popular platforms
- P2P friendly: Allows torrenting on all servers with no bandwidth limits
- Strong security: Uses industry-standard encryption and offers a kill switch feature
What You May Not Like:
- Average speeds: While not slow, it's not the fastest VPN I've tested
- Basic apps: The interface is simple but lacks advanced customization options
- Limited audits: No recent third-party security audits to verify their no-logs policy
- Inconsistent streaming: Some servers struggle to unblock certain streaming services
What Makes This Ivacy VPN Review Different?
I'm not a fan of those generic VPN reviews that just repeat information from the provider's website. For this Ivacy VPN review, I purchased a subscription with my own money and spent two weeks rigorously testing the service on multiple devices.
I used Ivacy VPN on my Dell XPS laptop running Windows 11, as well as on my Android smartphone. I tested speeds, streaming capabilities, torrenting performance, and more. Throughout this review, you'll find numerous screenshots I've taken to give you a real look at the Ivacy VPN experience.
My goal is to give you an honest, hands-on perspective of what it's like to use Ivacy VPN in 2024. Let's get started!
Buying Ivacy VPN
When it comes to purchasing Ivacy VPN, you've got a few options to choose from. There's just one version of the service, but it comes with three different subscription plans: monthly, 24 months, and 5 years.
Now, I know what you're thinking - "Is there a free trial?" Unfortunately, Ivacy doesn't offer a free trial. But don't worry, they do have a 31-day money-back guarantee, which gives you plenty of time to test the service risk-free.
Let's talk about those juicy discounts. Ivacy offers a whopping 81% discount on their 2-year plan, and an even more impressive 89% off the 5-year subscription. It's not often you see a VPN service offering such a long-term plan with this much of a discount. If you're looking to save some serious cash, the 5-year plan is definitely worth considering.
Here's how I went about buying Ivacy VPN:
- First, I entered my email address to create an account.
- Then, I selected my payment method. Ivacy offers a wide range of options including credit/debit cards, PayPal, and various cryptocurrency platforms.
- After paying, I was prompted to create a password (minimum 16 characters required) and select a purpose for using the VPN (like streaming or general browsing).
- Finally, I was able to download the app for my device.
One thing I really appreciated was the variety of anonymous payment options. If privacy is a top concern for you, you'll be happy to know that Ivacy accepts payments via multiple cryptocurrency platforms like Bitpay and Coingate.
After purchasing, I received two emails: one with my invoice and another prompting me to create a password for my account (if I hadn't already done so during the checkout process). As a nice bonus, I also got a free key for Sticky Password, a password manager from Lamantine Software. It's always nice to get a little extra value with your purchase!
Installation
Getting Ivacy VPN up and running on my computer was a breeze. After setting my account password and selecting my reason for using the VPN, I was taken to a download page. Here's what I found:
Ivacy VPN offers a variety of download options for different platformsAs you can see, there were download links for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. They also provided setup instructions for Linux, Xbox, PlayStation, routers, Android TV, and other devices or platforms. I chose the Windows installer since that's my primary device.
The installation process was quick and uncomplicated, taking less than a minute to complete. During installation, I only had to agree to the Terms of Service and choose an installation folder - that's it. No extra software or dependencies were needed.
Overall, I found the installation process to be very easy and user-friendly. Whether you're tech-savvy or not, you shouldn't have any trouble getting Ivacy VPN installed on your device.
Interface
Once installed, I launched Ivacy VPN and was greeted with a clean, simple interface. Here's what it looks like:
The main interface of Ivacy VPN is simple and easy to navigateThe main screen, which Ivacy calls the "Smart Connect" tab, is your home base. It's dominated by a large connect button that makes it easy to quickly secure your connection. To its left, you'll see your selected server location.
On the left side of the window, you'll find tabs for different features:
- Smart Connect (the home screen)
- Streaming
- Unblocking
- Secure Download (for P2P activities)
One thing to note is that the interface is only available in English. There's also no option to resize the window or choose different themes - you're stuck with the dark interface you see in the screenshot.
While some users might prefer more customization options, I found the simplicity refreshing. It's easy to find what you need without getting overwhelmed by too many options.
VPN Servers
Ivacy boasts an impressive network of over 5700 servers spread across more than 100 locations worldwide. This extensive coverage is definitely one of Ivacy's strong points. Providers like Private Internet Access and NordVPN also have great coverage. Here's how you can access the server list:
Ivacy VPN offers a wide selection of servers optimized for different purposesAs you can see, you can easily browse the list of countries in the drop-down menu from the center of the main window. What I particularly liked was how Ivacy organizes its servers based on purpose:
- P2P servers for file sharing (found under the "Secure Download" tab)
- Streaming servers for accessing geo-restricted content
- Servers optimized for unblocking specific websites or services
It's worth noting that some of Ivacy's servers are virtual, marked with a "V" in the server list. While virtual servers can sometimes offer better performance, they may not physically be in the country they claim to be.
One potential concern for privacy-conscious users is that Ivacy is headquartered in Singapore. While Singapore isn't part of the Five Eyes alliance, it's suspected to collaborate with it. This might be something to keep in mind if you're particularly concerned about government surveillance.
Overall, I found Ivacy's server network to be robust and well-organized. The ability to quickly find servers optimized for specific tasks like streaming or torrenting is a nice touch that not all VPNs offer.
Gaming
If you're a gamer looking for a VPN, Ivacy might be worth considering. While it doesn't offer gaming-specific servers, it does provide some features that could enhance your gaming experience:
- IP masking with multiple server locations around the world
- Military-grade, 256-bit AES encryption
- Internet locking (kill switch) to prevent any data leaks
- No activity or connection-based logs
During my Ivacy VPN review testing, I played World of Warcraft and PUBG while connected to Ivacy VPN. The experience was... okay. My ping averaged around 50ms, which is about average for a VPN connection. It's playable, but not ideal if you're into competitive gaming where every millisecond counts.
To be fair, extremely low ping times aren't really what VPNs are known for. If you're mainly looking to access geo-restricted games or protect yourself from DDoS attacks while gaming, Ivacy should do the job. Just don't expect it to magically improve your connection speed.
Torrenting
For those interested in P2P file sharing, Ivacy VPN does offer support for torrenting. They even have dedicated servers optimized for P2P activities, which you can find under the "Secure Download" tab in the app.
One feature that sets Ivacy apart is their "Secure Downloading" technology. When enabled (and when using TCP, UDP, or IKEv2 protocols), Ivacy claims to scan and remove suspicious malware or viruses from the data being downloaded. This could potentially add an extra layer of security to your torrenting activities. For additional peace of mind, I recommend using a dedicated antivirus solution like Norton and Bitdefender.
In my tests for this Ivacy VPN review, I used Ivacy to download some Linux distribution torrents. The speeds were decent, though not mind-blowing. The connection remained stable throughout the downloads, which is crucial for larger files.
It's important to note that while Ivacy supports torrenting, they (like most VPN providers) discourage using their service for downloading copyrighted material. Always make sure you're using torrents legally and responsibly.
Streaming
One of Ivacy's selling points is its ability to unblock streaming services. They offer dedicated streaming servers, which you can easily access from the main interface:
Ivacy VPN offers servers optimized for various streaming servicesAs you can see, you can browse servers by desired streaming service or country. You can also favorite selected servers for quick access later.
In my tests, the results were a bit mixed:
- Netflix US: Worked
- Netflix UK: Worked
- Netflix Germany: Didn't work
- Netflix France: Didn't work
- Netflix Spain: Didn't work
While it's great that Ivacy could unblock US and UK Netflix, the inconsistency with other regions was a bit disappointing. Your experience may vary depending on which streaming services and regions you're trying to access.
On the plus side, when streaming did work, the quality was good. I didn't experience any noticeable buffering or quality drops while watching content on the working servers.
Unblocking
Beyond streaming, Ivacy VPN also offers features for unblocking websites and bypassing censorship. You can find these options under the "Unblocking" tab in the app.
During my Ivacy VPN review tests, Ivacy was successful in unblocking most geo-restricted websites I tried to access, especially those from the US. This could be particularly useful if you're traveling to a country with heavy internet censorship or if you need to access region-locked content for work or personal reasons.
However, it's worth noting that the effectiveness of unblocking can vary depending on the specific website and the current state of the cat-and-mouse game between VPNs and content restrictions. While Ivacy performed well during my tests, your experience might differ based on your specific needs and the websites you're trying to access.
For my speed tests, I used a Dell XPS laptop with an Intel i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz and 16 GB of RAM running on Windows 11. My network configuration is Wi-Fi 5 protocol with a theoretical speed of 866 MBps.
Here are the results of my speed tests using Ookla's Speedtest:
- No VPN: 443 Mbps download, 176 Mbps upload, and 15 ms latency
- Ashburn, VA: 246 Mbps download, 262 Mbps upload, and 123 ms latency
- San Francisco, CA: 204 Mbps download, 239 Mbps upload, and 183 ms latency
- New York: 212 Mbps download, 246 Mbps upload, and 132 ms latency
- Germany: 319 Mbps download, 19 Mbps upload, and 53 ms latency
- France: 352 Mbps download, 314 Mbps upload, and 44 ms latency
- Spain: 346 Mbps download, 432 Mbps upload, and 61 ms latency
- Italy: 252 Mbps download, 231 Mbps upload, and 63 ms latency
- UK: 231 Mbps download, 276 Mbps upload, and 50 ms latency
- Brazil: 203 Mbps download, 31 Mbps upload, and 257 ms latency
- India: 232 Mbps download, 164 Mbps upload, and 197 ms latency
Overall, I found Ivacy's speeds to be decent, if not spectacular. The VPN consistently delivered speeds that were more than adequate for most online activities, including streaming and browsing. However, there was a noticeable drop in speed compared to my base connection, especially when connecting to more distant servers.
One positive note is that the speeds were fairly consistent across different servers and times of day. This stability is important for a reliable VPN experience.
VPN Privacy Features
Next, we’ll dive into the VPN’s privacy features, taking a close look at its encryption quality, the strength of its chosen protocols, and the legitimacy of its no-logs stance.
VPN Protocols and Encryption
Ivacy VPN offers a range of VPN protocols to balance security and speed:
Ivacy VPN supports multiple VPN protocolsAs you can see, you can choose from TCP, UDP, L2TP, IKEV, and WireGuard protocols. Here's a quick rundown:
- TCP and UDP: These are OpenVPN protocols. TCP is more reliable but slower, while UDP is faster but less stable.
- L2TP: An older protocol that's still secure when paired with IPSec encryption.
- IKEV: Fast and secure, especially good for mobile devices.
- WireGuard: A newer protocol known for its speed and efficiency.
Ivacy uses 256-bit encryption, which is the industry standard for top-tier security. This level of encryption is considered virtually unbreakable with current technology.
You can select your preferred protocol in the app under Settings > Connection. I appreciate that Ivacy provides short descriptions of each protocol, which is helpful for users who might not be familiar with the technical details.
In my testing for this Ivacy VPN review, I found the WireGuard protocol to offer the best balance of speed and security. However, it's worth experim enting with different protocols to see which works best for your specific needs.
No-Logs Policy and Transparency
Ivacy VPN claims to have a strict no-logs policy. According to their website:
"We strictly do not log or monitor, online browsing activities, connection logs, VPN IPs assigned, original IP addresses, browsing history, outgoing traffic, connection times, data you have accessed and/or DNS queries generated by your end. We have no information that could associate specific activities to specific users."
While this sounds comforting, it's worth noting that Ivacy hasn't conducted a third-party audit to verify these claims. They mention being audited, but don't provide specific details about who conducted the audit or when it was performed:
"To ensure impregnable security, Ivacy VPN goes through regular audits."
This lack of transparency is a bit concerning, especially compared to some competitors who have conducted and published the results of independent audits.
Kill-Switch
Ivacy VPN includes a kill switch feature, which they call "Internet Kill Switch". Here's how you can find it in the settings:
The kill switch feature can be enabled in Ivacy VPN's settingsThe kill switch is designed to protect your privacy by immediately stopping all internet traffic if your VPN connection drops unexpectedly. This prevents your real IP address from being exposed.
In my tests, the kill switch functioned as intended, cutting off my internet connection when I abruptly disconnected from the VPN. However, I did notice some occasional lag when reconnecting, which might be annoying in real-world use.
DNS and IP Leak Protection
Ivacy VPN offers built-in protection against DNS and IP leaks. You can enable IPv6 Leak Protection in the General Settings:
IPv6 Leak Protection can be enabled in the General SettingsTo verify the effectiveness of these protections, I ran several leak tests:
Based on these results, it appears that Ivacy VPN successfully prevents DNS and IP leaks, which is crucial for maintaining your privacy online.
Split Tunneling
Ivacy VPN offers a split tunneling feature, which allows you to choose which apps use the VPN connection and which use your regular internet connection:
Split tunneling allows you to choose which apps use the VPNYou can access this feature under Settings > Split Tunneling. The implementation is fairly basic - you can select which apps to include or exclude from the VPN tunnel. This is useful if you want to use the VPN for certain activities while maintaining a direct connection for others.
In my Ivacy VPN review tests, the split tunneling feature performed as advertised. Apps I selected for split tunneling used the VPN connection, while others used my regular internet connection.
Multiport
Ivacy VPN includes a feature called Multiport, which is designed to automatically choose the best port for your connection:
The Multiport feature allows automatic or manual port selectionYou can find this feature under Settings > Multiport. It's a simple feature that lets you choose between UDP and TCP protocols, and either let Ivacy automatically select the best port or manually enter a preferred port number.
While this feature might be useful in some specific scenarios (like bypassing network restrictions), most users probably won't need to adjust it.
Device Compatibility
Ivacy VPN offers good device compatibility, with apps available for:
- Windows
- Mac
- Android (phones and tablets)
- iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
- Linux
- Chromebook
- Amazon Kindle Fire
- Windows Phone
They also provide setup guides for devices like routers, gaming consoles, and smart TVs.
One of Ivacy's strong points is that they allow up to 10 simultaneous connections with a single subscription. This is more generous than many competitors and should be enough to cover all devices for most users.
Browser Extensions
Ivacy VPN offers browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox:
Ivacy VPN's browser extension provides quick access to serversThese extensions allow you to connect to VPN servers directly from your browser. This can be useful if you only need VPN protection for your web browsing and want to leave other apps unaffected.
In my tests, the browser extension connected to servers quickly and was easy to use. It offers most of the core VPN functionality, including the ability to connect to servers in different countries, WebRTC leak protection, and a bypass proxy feature.
Ivacy VPN Review: Conclusion and Recommendations
After spending two weeks testing, here are my main takeaways for this Ivacy VPN review:
- Server Network: Ivacy offers a good variety of servers across many countries, which is great for accessing geo-restricted content.
- User-Friendly: The app is simple and easy to use, making it a good choice for VPN newcomers.
- Streaming Performance: While it successfully unblocked some streaming services, results were inconsistent across different regions.
- Speed: Speeds were adequate for most online activities, but not the fastest I've seen.
- Privacy Features: Ivacy offers standard VPN privacy features like a kill switch and split tunneling, but lacks recent third-party audits to verify their no-logs policy.
- Price: Ivacy's long-term plans offer significant discounts, making it an affordable option if you're willing to commit.
Recommendations:
- If streaming is your primary concern, consider connecting to Ivacy's dedicated streaming servers for better performance.
- Take advantage of the split tunneling feature if you need to use certain apps outside the VPN tunnel.
- For the best balance of speed and security, I recommend using the WireGuard protocol when available.
- While Ivacy's built-in security features are good, consider using additional security software for thorough protection.
Overall, Ivacy VPN is a solid choice if you're looking for an affordable VPN with a wide server network. It's particularly suitable for casual users who want to unblock content and enhance their online privacy. However, if you need extremely fast speeds or have very specific privacy requirements, you might want to explore other options as well. For example, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are reliable VPN alternatives.
FAQs
- Is Ivacy VPN safe to use? Yes, Ivacy VPN uses strong encryption and offers features like a kill switch to protect your privacy. However, they haven't undergone recent third-party audits to verify their no-logs policy.
- Can Ivacy VPN unblock Netflix? Ivacy VPN can unblock some Netflix libraries, particularly the US and UK versions. However, results may vary for other regions.
- Is Ivacy VPN good for torrenting? Yes, Ivacy VPN allows P2P file sharing on all its servers and offers a "Secure Download" feature for additional protection.
- How many devices can I use with Ivacy VPN? Ivacy VPN allows up to 10 simultaneous connections with a single subscription.
- Does Ivacy VPN offer a free trial? Ivacy VPN doesn't offer a free trial, but they do have a 31-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test the service risk-free.
Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)
Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.