Surfshark VPN Review 2023 | Is Surfshark the Best VPN?

In this Surfshark review, we explore the depths of this virtual private network provider’s offerings — its security, pricing, speed, and performance — all the nitty-gritty details you need to make an informed decision on whether this VPN is the best for your needs.

From affordable pricing plans to intuitive apps and phenomenal security and performance — Surfshark certainly stands among the best VPN solutions. But what users love most about this VPN is its unique offering that allows you to install and use Surfshark on an unlimited number of devices (all with one subscription).

However, as with everything, nothing is without its flaws — weaker iOS functionality and unclear long-term pricing plans are among the leading complaints users have about Surfshark. So, with this in mind, is Surfshark the best VPN in 2023? Let’s dive right in.

Surfshark VPN Features

Surfshark is undoubtedly one of the most feature-rich VPNs on the market, offering a myriad of advanced security features to ensure the protection of your online data — from advertisers, trackers, hackers, and other types of cyber threats.

Here’s a quick overview of Surfshark’s key features and their practical uses.

Surfshark CleanWeb

What’s impressive about Surfshark is that it’s more than just a simple VPN. This feature provides you with built-in support to block all annoying ads, malware, and trackers, so you can enjoy a secure, ad-free, uninterrupted online browsing experience. 

VPN Bypasser

With Surfshark, you can whitelist certain websites and apps (such as your banking app) to allow them to connect to the internet without going through the VPN. This allows you to access websites you trust without a speed drop-off. Simultaneously, Surfshark will work seamlessly in the background and protect your device against cyber threats from other sources.

Internet Kill Switch

If your connection to the VPN server suddenly drops, your data will be unprotected until the connection to the VPN server is re-established. To prevent this from happening, Surfshark will block all apps and browsers from accessing the internet until you’re reconnected to a secure VPN server. 

Private DNS & Leak Protection

Every Surfshark server has a private DNS and built-in IPv4 leak protection, so you can rest easy knowing that Surfshark takes its security to the next level.

Camouflage Mode

If you want complete online anonymity, even from your internet service provider (ISP) and the government, you can take advantage of Surfshark’s Camouflage Mode to keep your online activity completely hidden.

IP Rotator

To further improve your security and ensure your online activity can’t be tracked, Surfshark will periodically connect you to a different IP address without breaking your VPN connection. 

Surfshark One Antivirus Review

In addition to a secure, lightning-fast VPN and innate ad-blocking capabilities, Surfshark also offers Surfshark Alerts and the Surfshark Antivirus. If you opt for the Surfshark One Plan, you’ll get all 4 functionalities for just $3.98/month on a yearly plan, which is less than what some leading VPNs like ExpressVPN and NordVPN charge for the VPN service alone.

The low price doesn’t mean poor quality either. The Surfshark Antivirus is state-of-the-art antivirus software that offers 360-degree protection from viruses and same-day threats. It also protects you against malware, tracker, keyloggers, spyware, and other ever-evolving cyber threats.

Despite being extremely powerful, the Surfshark Antivirus is lightweight and easy to set up and use. It’ll work seamlessly in the background and provide 24/7 protection for your device, but you can also use it to schedule quick and full scans to ensure your device is free from harmful programs.

Surfshark VPN’s Ease of Use

As a leading VPN app, Surfshark is incredibly easy to use and navigate — even for the least-tech savvy among us.

Plus, Surfshark is available for virtually any device, including your iOS and Android phone, Windows PC or laptop, macOS devices, Linux computers, and smart TVs. 

With this powerful VPN, you can even add the Surfshark browser extension to Chrome and Firefox or configure the VPN directly on your router to protect every device in your household.

The best part about Surfshark is the fact that you can use it on an unlimited number of devices with a single subscription. 

What Devices Can I Use Surfshark VPN on? 

We explored some of the many devices above, but here’s a quick list of all devices you can protect with Surfshark VPN:

• PS4 and PS5
• All modern routers
• Xbox consoles that use Wi-Fi
• Chrome and Firefox browser extensions
• Ubuntu (doesn’t support other Linux distros)
• PC and laptops running Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11
• Android devices running Android 5.0 or newer (phones, tablets, and smart TVs)
• iOS devices running iOS 13.0.0 and higher
• MacBook models and devices running macOS Sierra 10.12 and newer (High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey)
• FireTV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, Roku, Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, and other smart TVs

How to Install Surfshark VPN

The installation process will vary slightly depending on the device you want to use Surfshark on. That said, we mentioned already that there’s a dedicated Surfshark VPN app for virtually any device, so there’s no need to download separate files, spend ages configuring settings, or follow confusing tutorials.

All you have to do is download the Surfshark VPN from the official source, whether it’s Surfshark’s website, Google PlayStore, or AppStore. 

If you’re on your PC, open the Surfshark VPN setup and follow the simple prompts on your screen. If you’re on your mobile device, all you need to do is install the app and provide it with the necessary permissions. 

After successfully installing the app, you can log in using your Surfshark VPN credentials. If you don’t have an account yet, visit Surfshark’s website, choose the subscription plan that’s best for you, and create one.

Once you log in, you’ll be able to connect to over 3,200 VPN servers in over 100 locations. The app will automatically connect you to the nearest servers, but you can also browse all available VPN servers using the ‘Locations’ menu in Surfshark VPN’s sidebar. 

Besides this, you can also mark the servers you like as favorites for easy access in the future by clicking the star icon next to a particular server.

If you want to personalize your Surfshark VPN experience, you can tweak the settings and choose which features you’d like to leave on and which you’d like to turn off.

Surfshark VPN Performance | How Fast is Surfshark VPN?

Surfshark is among the fastest VPN service providers on the market. It relies on state-of-the-art hardware to provide secure, lightning-fast VPN servers. Each server is connected to a 1Gbps port, with new 10 Gbps ports being added daily. Plus, there’s a handful of servers with 2x10Gbps ports, which are ideal for even faster speeds and unparalleled performance when streaming online content.

What’s most impressive about Surfshark is that it doesn’t impose any speed, bandwidth, or data limitations. The speed drop-off when using Surfshark is along the lines of the industry standard for leading VPNs, with an average speed decrease between 20% and 30%. 

If you have a reasonably fast internet speed, the speed drop-off shouldn’t be noticeable, and you’ll be able to watch your favorite TV shows and movies, play video games, watch YouTube, and torrent large files without any buffering, delay, or interruption.

In addition to being fast, Surfshark also has the ability to unblock geo-restricted content on all major streaming platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, Dazn, and Amazon Prime Video.

Besides Hulu, we experienced no issues when playing videos on any of these platforms with Surfshark on, so we can confidently say that Surfshark is a phenomenal choice if you’re looking for a streaming VPN.

How Secure is Surfshark VPN? | Is Surfshark VPN Safe?

Safety, security, and privacy should be your top concerns when choosing a VPN service provider. 

Surfshark relies on industry-standard AES-256 encryption, which is widely regarded as the safest encryption protocol to date, with no known way to crack it. To give you an idea of just how impregnable an AES-256 cipher is, it would take a supercomputer more than 2 billion years to run all the different combinations to crack the encryption. 

Surfshark VPN’s Encryption Protocols

Surfshark allows you to choose between 3 secure and powerful VPN Protocols:

WireGuard is the latest VPN protocol, and it’s widely considered the fastest and the most secure. This is mainly because of its lightweight nature — WireGuard only has about 4,000 lines of code. It’s easier to scale, manage, and update to ensure it protects users from ever-evolving cyber threats.

IKEv2 Internet Key Exchange version 2 is an older protocol, but it’s been improved dozens of times in the past. It’s a great option for mobile users thanks to its speed and the ability to switch networks with a single click.

As the name suggests, OpenVPN is an open-source VPN protocol, meaning anyone can inspect and review its source code. Its security has been confirmed by cybersecurity specialists all over the globe. While it’s a bit bulkier than WireGuard, the main advantage of OpenVPN is the fact that it’s natively supported by most modern routers.

Surfshark’s Transparency Reputation

Another key thing to consider when choosing a VPN service provider is its transparency regarding user privacy. Every VPN will tell you it adheres to a no-logs policy, but you shouldn’t blindly believe everyone’s statements.

The world’s most secure VPNs that respect users’ privacy will go out of their way to prove it, and Surfshark is no exception. Surfshark has passed an independent audit, conducted by Cure53 — a German cybersecurity firm, with flying colors.

The audit revealed no major security issues and has proven that Surfshark doesn’t keep any logs of its users’ activity. You can read Cure53’s Surfshark audit summary here.

If you’re wondering where Surfshark is located, the company’s headquarters are in the British Virgin Isles. This means it doesn’t fall under the Five Eyes Alliance jurisdiction, so it’s not required to provide any user information to government agencies. 

This enables Surfshark to stay true to its no-logs policy and allows it to offer users RAM-only servers, which wipe all activity logs and data as soon as you complete your session, making it virtually impossible to track what you do online.

Surfshark VPN’s Server List

This Surfshark review wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t mention Surfshark’s VPN servers. As your connection speed is greatly impacted by the distance to the VPN server, it’s important to choose a provider with a good number of servers and a great server spread.

Surfshark offers over 3,200 servers spread across more than 100 countries, so you’ll have no trouble connecting to a fast, secure VPN server anywhere in the world. 

For quick reference, here are the lists of all Surfshark servers by region/continent:

Surfshark VPN Price | How Much Does Surfshark Cost?

Surfshark’s price depends on whether you opt for a monthly, yearly, or two-year plan, as well as whether you purchase just the VPN or the VPN plus all add-ons. 

The VPN alone will run you $2.49/month on a two-year plan, while the full Surfshark One package (Surfshark VPN, Antivirus, CleanWeb, and Alerts) starts from $3.98/month. 

This is an excellent steal considering that other leading VPN service providers, such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN, start from $3.69 and $8.32, respectively — and you get just the VPN for that price.

If you’re wondering how much Surfshark costs per month, you’d have to set aside $12.95. While not the cheapest VPN on the market, Surfshark offers excellent value for money, especially if you take advantage of the discounts it offers for the yearly and two-year plans.

If you get Surfshark’s two-year plan now, you’ll save a whopping 81%, and you’ll have a 30-day money-back guarantee to fall on if you find that Surfshark isn’t the right VPN for you. 

Surfshark VPN FAQs