SurfShark VPN Review 2023

In this article, I will show you everything that you need to know about SurfShark VPN before deciding if this is the perfect VPN provider for you.

I will give you a quick demo of the software and point out the main unique features of SurfShark.

I will also conduct a speed test to find out how fast this VPN really is.

Then I will tell you which streaming services SurfShark can unlock and connect to successfully.

Next, I will then conduct privacy tests to see how safe and secure SurfShark is. I will also share with you my experience working with their customer support.

Finally, I will break down the pricing structure and help you decide which plan is best suited for you. So make sure to check out my special discount link in the description below where you will receive the best deal currently available.

1. Setup & Features (9/10)

SurfShark emerged quickly as a successful and popular VPN provider despite being one of the newest in the pack considering its establishment in 2018. In just a span of three years, it already gained the trust of 2.4 million users around the world and many independent organizations by winning awards year after year. As of today, it has more than 3,200 servers in 65 countries.

SurfShark is very user-friendly. It is also easy to install. In less than five minutes, you can have its app available for use on the device that you want.

It is available for desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, smart TVs, consoles and even on browser, Chrome Extension in Google for example.

And the best thing about it is that you can use unlimited devices logged in to a single account all at the same time. This is quite remarkable as most of its competitors only have a specific number of devices you can use simultaneously. CyberGhost, for instance, can only handle a maximum of seven devices.

If you want to test SurfShark’s performance first, you can avail its seven-day free trial. You can get the free trial only by downloading the app on your mobile device from Google Play for Android users or App Store for iOS users. Once you have the trial subscription on your phone, you can then open your account on other devices like your desktop. In short, you need a phone first before you can start with the free trial.

I consider this a downside of subscribing for the free trial, since it’s a bit tougher for extra private people who only use their desktop or browser to check out VPN providers, but installing SurfShark on your mobile device can be a good start too. It is very easy to download and you can test all its features and connect to their servers using your mobile device during your free trial.

Using the desktop app is equally easy. It has a simple design which only shows a few important tabs such as the locations of its servers, features, and settings. Once you log in, you have the choice to either connect to the fastest server or nearest country depending on your location. You can also click the star button on the server you like to include on to your Favorites for easier access in the future.

Once you have installed the app on your chosen device, you have the power to decide which apps and websites will use the VPN and which ones will continue using your Internet directly through the Whitelister. This unique feature is a notch above its competitors’ split-tunnel features since it also covers management over websites, not just applications. So, if you’re very detail-oriented in choosing which websites will use or bypass SurfShark VPN, then this feature is something you will really love.

SurfShark also has a feature called CleanWeb that blocks ads and malware before they can even load. This means you can surf in a clear, cyber ocean a lot faster without trackers nor phishing attempts.

For its setup and features, I have given SurfShark a rating of 9 out of 10. What makes this VPN exceptional when it comes to features are the unlimited number of devices that you can use simultaneously and the Whitelister which also controls VPN access on websites. However, you can only get the free trial by installing the app on your mobile device and though it already has a wide selection of servers, other VPN providers have the lead if we’re going to talk about the number of servers alone.

2. Speed (5/10)

Sharks do swim fast, that’s the reality, but will SurfShark be able to stand up to their brand when it comes to speed? Let’s find out.

I used Ookla to test the speed of four VPN servers from different countries but before that, I recorded my original Internet speed first which was 14 mbps. Next,  I ran the speed test three times for each server to get the average mbps and here are the results. 

First, I tested one server in Australia and got an average speed of 4.1 mbps. This isn’t the best speed for gaming but it is already a good speed for web surfing experience and for streaming HD videos. You can also download videos well with this speed. I got the same speed when I connected to a server in the United Kingdom. One server in Canada has a slightly higher speed which is 4.3 mbps. Out of the four servers, the US server has the fastest speed which is at 5.4 mbps. 

We can all agree that none of these speeds is at the level of excellence but my original speed which is relatively low could also contribute to the results and we wanna consider that. Compared to my original speed of 11.94 mbps, the percentage reduction of speed for Australia and the UK is at 65.7 percent, 64 percent in Canada, and 54.8 percent in the United States.

Overall, I can say that SurfShark needs to perform faster in the ocean of competitors that offer better speed. I have given a rating of 5 out of 10 since it doesn’t have the best speed with an average percentage reduction of 61.5 percent.

3. Streaming & Torrenting (8/10)

SurfShark, like most of its competitors, can also unlock Netflix and access more than 15 Netflix libraries around the world. It doesn’t have streaming-optimized servers dedicated only for Netflix but you can easily connect to a VPN server of a certain country to unblock the shows in it. 

Aside from Netflix, you can also unblock other streaming platforms such as Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO Now, Hulu, DAZN, Hotstar, Sky Go, YLE Areena, and AbemaTV.

Not all VPN providers allow peer-to-peer or P2P file sharing and torrenting but SurfShark absolutely does. If you’re planning to get a VPN that supports torrenting and P2P file sharing, SurfShark is a great choice. It supports many torrenting software such as uTorrent, BitTorrent, Torrentz3, qBittorrent, Transmission, and Deluge.

Since it’s in line to what most VPN providers do for streaming and torrenting, SurfShark passed this category. I have given it a score of 8 out of 10. It basically allows you to unlock many significant streaming platforms and use torrenting software but like what I usually say on my review videos, a VPN’s speed performance can affect your streaming and torrenting experience and we’ve already found out that SurfShark doesn’t have a really good speed. Additionally, it would be better if SurfShark can make optimized servers for streaming and torrenting like what other VPN providers do so it can keep up with the competition.

4. Jurisdiction, Security, and Privacy (8/10)

SurfShark still has a long way to go to improve its features but just in case you’re wondering if it has ever been breached before, the answer is no. It ensures your protection through its security measures and it even offers unique services that you can avail by paying an extra dollar monthly. Don’t worry, we’ll find that out later as we go along!

Do you like the level of detail I am providing you in my review so far? If so, make sure to like my video and hit that subscribe button for more high quality content about tech which I release every single week.

SurfShark is based in the British Virgin Islands which has no data retention laws unlike the Five Eyes alliance. This means that they cannot force businesses like SurfShark to collect customer data. 

You can then use SurfShark and be confident that none of your data is being logged. In short, SurfShark is a no-log VPN and it doesn’t keep track of any of your online whereabouts and activities.

SurfShark also protects your traffic with a 256-bit encryption, the standard and currently the longest encryption for website security.

It also has a selection of protocols that helps VPN safely send your data through the Internet. It offers IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, and Shadowsocks. Each protocol varies in speed and you can also let SurfShark automatically choose the best protocol for you depending on your location, though Shadowsocks is the top choice in restrictive countries like China to bypass the Great Firewall.

Accidents are inevitable and in cases where your VPN connection drops unexpectedly, the kill switch will pause all Internet activities and protect you from all possible leaks until the VPN connection is reestablished. It’s important to take note that you need to turn on the kill switch feature first with SurfShark since it’s not automatic unlike other VPN providers like CyberGhost.

SurfShark also uses a 100% diskless server network which means that any information that would usually be on the hard drive is wiped off automatically whenever a server is turned off, even by the kill switch. 

There is a saying that “two is better than one” and even in the VPN world, that could be true. SurfShark is one of the few providers that offer Double VPN. Through its feature called Multihop, you can connect at two servers at the same time to add an extra layer of security to your Internet activities.

If you still want to add more layers of security to your VPN, SurfShark has an add-on feature called HackLock and BlindSearch that you can purchase in a bundle for 99 cents per month. HackLock sends you email alerts if it appears that your email address becomes included in stolen identities after possible website breaching while BlindSearch is a private search engine that you can use to make sure that the results of your searches are not skewed by your previous searches.

Speaking of privacy, I guess you’re wondering if SurfShark offers a private, dedicated IP. Sadly, it doesn’t allow that possibility as of the moment. Other VPN providers already offer a dedicated IP for extra bucks and we’re still hoping that SurfShark will do the same to up the competition. 

Now, I will do some testing to check if SurfShark is really secure. Let’s start off with the IP Leak Test. Here, I used an IP leak test tool from ip leak dot org and as you can see, it will show your IP address first and the result of the IP leak test. We got a positive result here as it shows no leak detected.

Next, the DNS Leak Test. I will use a simple DNS leak tester in Google. Now, I’m connected to Los Angeles VPN server. You will see that the DNS leak tester already identified our VPN location. I clicked on the standard test and it showed my IP address. Only our LA VPN showed up here, that means that we don’t have a DNS leak. If there are other servers not provided by SurfShark, then we’re in trouble. SurfShark cleared this test then with no DNS leaks.

Moving on, we will check the exposure of my browser to WebRTC leaks while using SurfShark. You will see this red box that says WebRTC is not protected and my IP address is exposed to sites that I visit. I can conclude from here that the SurfShark app alone doesn’t make the cut to secure me from WebRTC leaks. Instead, what they suggest is installing plugins or extensions to prevent WebRTC leaks depending on your browser.

For instance, you can install a free plugin called WebRTC Network Limiter when using Google Chrome, it will prevent any WebRTC or Chrome Extension leaks.

For this category, I have given SurfShark a rating of 8 out of 10 due to its innovation of becoming one of the first providers in the VPN industry to upgrade the security of its infrastructure with a 100% diskless server network and its Double VPN feature which is not offered by all VPN providers. I also appreciate that they have unique alerts and private search engine features that you can get at a budget-friendly price. SurfShark lost two marks here because they lack the Dedicated IP feature and the kill switch isn’t automatic which could be extra hassle as you need to turn it on first.

5. Support & Reliability (9/10)

Having a support system is important and right now, we’ll talk about how reliable SurfShark is. Sadly, for users who prefer speaking with a person over the phone, they don’t have phone support. However, they compensate for having a good live chat support and 24 7 email support. I, myself, tried to chat with their representatives and the average response time before someone says “hi” to me is two minutes. For instance, I had this chat with Jimmy and he was able to answer my questions and provide references in just four minutes. Good job here, SurfShark.

SurfShark also takes pride in their reliability by having a great rating of 4.3  in TrustPilot. For someone new, having this rating from more than 6,000 reviews is already a milestone. It’s still lower compared to our top choice, ExpressVPN, with a 4.7 rating but Express has been around since 2009 so it’s been operating so much longer than SurfShark.

For its support and reliability, SurfShark deserves a rating of 9 out of 10. Not a perfect score since they still don’t have phone support and their TrustPilot rating also speaks that there are opportunities they can work on. But overall, SurfShark has great customer service support and it has been proven and tested by a number of users globally.

6. Pricing (10/10)

Now, let’s talk about money. SurfShark offers a one month subscription for $12.95. The monthly price will be heavily discounted if you choose to subscribe for a longer period. If you pick up a six-month plan, you will only pay $38.94. Technically, the monthly fee has now reduced to only $6.49 per month. If you choose the two-year plan plus three months, you will have to pay $59.76. Now, this really decreased the monthly price down even further to just $2.21 per month. So if you have the budget and are happy with the performance after testing out the VPN provider, I always recommend you to buy the longest plan as this will save you so much money.

Currently, you can pay via credit or debit card, Paypal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, or bitcoin if you prefer the cryptocurrency method of payment to become even more anonymous.

But if you don’t think SurfShark is for you, you’re protected with their 30-day money-back guarantee. Now, this is really a huge help to people out there who want to take a spin for free VPN and see if it meets their needs. Regardless of your subscription, you can get a full refund within 30 days if you’re not satisfied with SurfShark. All you have to do is contact them through chat or email and request a refund.

SurfShark is my top recommendation if you want to begin with the cheapest VPN and get the most bang for your buck, thus, I have given it a perfect rating of 10 as it really is the most affordable VPN out there. Plus, its money-back guarantee allows for users to have a test drive for one month and instantly get a refund if they don’t wish to continue their subscription.

Recommendation 8/10

As a summary, SurfShark got an overall rating of 8.1 out of 10. This is actually a good score given that this VPN only started three years ago but came to prove that it can be a threat to other established providers. While it has lesser servers than NordVPN and slightly slower speed than CyberGhost from the testings I did, it’s still quite remarkable for supporting simultaneous use of unlimited devices which none of its competitors can do at the moment, and having a 100% diskless server, to ensure legitimacy of its no-log policy. So I believe SurfShark is the perfect choice if you are someone who is on a tight budget but still wants a great overall VPN. 

In general, I recommend ExpressVPN as the best overall VPN software because of its top-tier features and benefits that you can check on my other video review. You can check the description below for more information if you’re interested. If your sole purpose for getting VPN is streaming, then I believe you and NordVPN would make a perfect match with their blazing fast speeds.

If you are already confident in starting today, feel free to click the link in the description to select your SurfShark package with the best discount. However, if you would like a step-by-step guide on how to set up and use SurfShark then this next video is for you. But if after watching this review you think SurfShark is not right for you then this VPN alternative would definitely be the one I recommend you strongly consider. I’ll see you over in that next video.