IPVanish vs Surfshark

Side-by-side comparison based on Reddit & Twitter discussions

Community Pick

Surfshark

Based on community sentiment and discussions

Approval Rate
65%
31 recommend · 17 warn
Data Quality
Medium
Reviews
89
Reviewers
62
Promotional Content
33% may be promotional
Best for:
Firestick users who want a simple VPN for streaming People who want to hide browsing from their ISP on home or hotel Wi‑Fi Gamers who want a VPN that usually doesn’t bog things down
IPVanish comes up a lot as a solid, everyday VPN that feels fast and straightforward, especially for streaming and Firestick setups. People like it for basic privacy (keeping your ISP from seeing what...
Approval Rate
52%
127 recommend · 116 warn
Data Quality
High
Reviews
413
Reviewers
344
Best for:
People who want a cheaper VPN that still works for streaming Households with lots of devices Everyday users who want something simple on Windows, Android, and iOS
Surfshark comes up a lot as a good-value VPN that’s easy to live with day to day. People like that it’s usually cheaper than the big-name alternatives, works well for streaming (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube...

Performance by Use Case

Use Case IPVanish Winner Surfshark
Streaming 75% (9) 68% (52)
Torrenting - 33% (7)
Privacy 47% (20) 42% (86)
Censorship 33% (5) 47% (21)
Gaming 33% (3) - 33% (6)
Travel 100% (1) 50% (2)
Work - 50% (4)
Router - - -- (1)
Mobile 100% (1) 50% (2)
Price 100% (4) 67% (37)

IPVanish

Strengths

  • Fast speeds
  • Works well on Firestick
  • Good for everyday privacy
  • Feels like a fair price on longer plans
  • No-logs and audit info is reassuring to some

Weaknesses

  • Can be blocked in restrictive countries
  • Occasional routing/location weirdness
  • Some DNS/connection timeout issues
  • Customer support can feel unresponsive
  • Refund disputes when it doesn’t work for travel

Surfshark

Strengths

  • Unlimited devices
  • Good value for the price
  • Works well with popular streaming services
  • Generally fast speeds
  • Useful safety features like a kill switch

Weaknesses

  • Billing and renewal issues
  • Support can be slow or unhelpful
  • Some streaming apps still detect/block it
  • Trust concerns about company ownership/jurisdiction
  • Occasional location/IP accuracy complaints