At a Glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Fast speeds
- Works with U.S. Netflix
Cons
- No straightforward solution to pay anonymously
- The privateness coverage could give some customers pause
- Poor desktop app
- Non-promotional pricing shouldn’t be aggressive
Our Verdict
SurfEasy is a really fundamental VPN with quick speeds that may get previous Netflix’s VPN restrictions. The firm’s Windows app is in dangerous want of an improve, it’s overpriced after the primary yr, and there’s no straightforward solution to pay anonymously for individuals who want it.
Best Prices Today
SurfEasy in short:
- P2P allowed: Yes
- Business location: Tempe, AZ
- Number of servers: 2,000+
- Number of nation places: 31
- Cost: $29.88 for the primary yr, $47.88 or $77.88 after that
What a wierd few years it’s been for SurfEasy. Most folks had by no means heard of the service till it was snapped up in early 2015 by browser maker Opera, and for a time it powered Opera’s free VPN. Then in 2017 NortonLifeLock, when it was nonetheless known as Symantec, snapped it up from Opera.
In all that point and with totally different homeowners, SurfEasy has barely modified. That’s not essentially a very good factor because the interface is sort of antiquated now, and at occasions the app is usually a little infuriating with dropped connections. Still, it’s speedy sufficient to stay one of many 10 quickest VPNs in our assessments.
Note: This evaluate is a part of our best VPNs roundup. Go there for particulars about competing merchandise and the way we examined them.
When disconnected, SurfEasy exhibits your location based mostly in your IP deal with; when related it exhibits your obvious location based mostly in your VPN IP.
To change your VPN location click on the flag icon within the upper-right nook. This reveals a listing of all the varied nation places you’ll be able to select from.
There isn’t rather a lot when it comes to additional options. No double-hop VPNs or cut up tunneling. SurfEasy does, nonetheless, work with U.S. Netflix. That was a giant deal 4 years in the past, however now it’s changing into a extra frequent function on VPN providers.
SurfEasy additionally blocks advertisements, and it provides a function to routinely hook up with the VPN when on Wi-Fi.
SurfEasy permits torrenting however this function is barely accessible on the SurfEasy VPN plan (previously the Ultra VPN plan). To hook up with a type of servers, you click on the nation record after which choose the “Torrent Optimized” possibility. The solely different crucial setting that SurfEasy’s app provides is whether or not to activate the VPN app on startup.
SurfEasy permits you to use as much as 5 gadgets concurrently, and there are apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. The web site nonetheless claims it helps proxy extensions for Chrome and Opera, however in case you dig a little bit deeper you rapidly discover out that these extensions are now not supported.
SurfEasy prices $29.88 for the primary yr, protecting as much as 5 simultaneous connections, and there’s a 14-day money-back assure. After that first yr there are two choices for renewal pricing on Windows. You will pay $77.88 for the SurfEasy VPN plan that features 5 simultaneous connections and no area limits. Alternatively, there’s the Total VPN plan, which prices $47.88, covers the identical variety of gadgets, however has a extra restricted area possibility. There are additionally month-to-month plans in case you solely want a VPN for a short while.
Performance
SurfEasy at one time was one of many quickest VPNs we examined. It nonetheless stays in our high 10 (albeit the decrease half), however its speeds aren’t as spectacular as they as soon as had been. In our assessments, SurfEasy retained 38.1 % of the bottom velocity in comparison with 55.28 % 4 years in the past.
Your expertise with SurfEasy—or some other VPN—could fluctuate relying in your ISP, router, machine, and connection kind.
As we noticed 4 years in the past, SurfEasy has connection points. Last time we reported how the connection would stall for a couple of seconds after preliminary connection. This continues to be occurring, and actually there’s no excuse for these persevering with points.
Another necessary factor to notice is that each SurfEasy server we used was operating in Amazon’s cloud.
Privacy, anonymity, and belief
To join SurfEasy the corporate requires an e mail deal with, and those that want to might use a pseudonymous e mail deal with. That received’t get you very far when it comes to anonymity, nonetheless, as SurfEasy doesn’t provide any vital solution to pay anonymously or semi-anonymously. All funds are dealt with by way of a bank card or PayPal. There are not any choices for paying in money or with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
SurfEasy is a part of NortonLifeLock, the latter relies in Tempe Arizona and the CEO is Vincent Pilette.
As for SurfEasy’s privacy policy, it’s okay however not nice. The coverage says the service doesn’t log your looking and web exercise, however it does log your IP deal with “for the purposes of delivering the content in accordance with your device(s) and determining the appropriate language settings for communicating with you.” NortonLifeLock says it additionally logs your machine identify and kind, OS model (cell gadgets solely), and combination bandwidth utilization. It additionally collects some diagnostic knowledge which you can examine within the privateness coverage.
Conclusion
To sum up, SurfEasy has not modified in any substantial approach in 4 years. A charitable rationalization could be to say it’s in upkeep mode, however it certain feels extra like benign neglect. If you want an inexpensive VPN for a single yr, and also you don’t thoughts the privateness coverage, it’s fairly a very good deal. For almost $50 or $80 after that, although? No approach. This VPN is solely not aggressive at these costs in comparison with what you may get elsewhere. It has no vital options to talk of, continues to have connection points, the web site has some inaccurate data, and the app shouldn’t be nice. The VPN efficiency continues to be superb, although not so good as it as soon as was.
If all you’re searching for is an efficient connection to observe Netflix, otherwise you want one thing low cost for that first yr then SurfEasy might be just right for you. After that, we can’t suggest it on the costs the corporate is charging.
Editor’s be aware: Because on-line providers are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this evaluate is topic to vary as a way to precisely mirror the present state of the service. Any modifications to textual content or our closing evaluate verdict will probably be famous on the high of this text.
Ian is an impartial author based mostly in Israel who has by no means met a tech topic he did not like. He primarily covers Windows, PC and gaming {hardware}, video and music streaming providers, social networks, and browsers. When he isn’t protecting the information he is engaged on how-to ideas for PC customers, or tuning his eGPU setup.