IPVanish is a VPN service established in 2012 and owned by Ziff Davis, a large digital media company that also owns Vipre Security Group, Strong VPN, and a large portfolio of other online publications and tech companies. It has servers in over 100 countries, allows for unlimited simultaneous connections, and supports a variety of different platforms.
Our Verdict
IPVanish is okay for torrenting. It doesn't have any data limits, and it lets you download torrents. That said, it has bad security as it leaks DNS queries, so it's not a good choice if you care about being protected at all times. Additionally, the kill switch doesn't work correctly, as it allows you to reconnect to the internet outside the VPN tunnel after a system reboot, software crash, and after a loss of internet. It has no registration options that preserve your anonymity, as you must provide an email address and password to create an account and use a personally identifiable payment method.
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Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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No registration or payment options that preserve anonymity.
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Leaks DNS queries.
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Kill switch doesn't work properly.
IPVanish has poor security. It leaks some system traffic and DNS queries, so your ISP, DNS provider, or another third party could log your traffic and see which sites you connect to. Additionally, the kill switch doesn't function properly, as it allows you to reconnect to the internet outside the VPN tunnel after a system reboot, software crash and after reconnecting to the internet. Thankfully, it doesn't leave you exposed to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Leaks DNS queries.
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Kill switch doesn't work properly.
IPVanish has fast download and upload speeds, so you can download files quickly with enough bandwidth for watching 4k video. While its latency performance is decent, it's not the most consistent with occasional spikes that can interrupt online games and video calls.
Changelog
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
IPVanish has two tiers: Essential and Advanced. They both offer the same VPN functionality, but the Advanced tier includes 1TB of cloud storage, phone support, and access to IPVanish's 'Secure Browser' extension for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. We bought and tested the 'Essential' tier.
Compared To Other VPNs
IPVanish has poor security compared to other VPNs on the market, as it sometimes leaks your system's DNS queries and doesn't have a functional kill switch. This is problematic if you're concerned with keeping your traffic encrypted at all times. Most other VPNs that we've tested didn't leak DNS queries, like Windscribe and Perfect Privacy, and had a functional kill switch.
While it has some benefits, like support for unlimited devices and servers in over 100 countries, it doesn't have a good reputation for privacy and corporate governance, as there have been past incidents of cooperation with authorities.
To see which services we recommend, check out our article on the best VPNs.
Test Results
You can pay for this VPN using a credit card, Google Pay, or PayPal.
This VPN sometimes sends system DNS queries to the default DNS provider instead of going through the VPN tunnel, exposing those queries. This matters if you want to keep which websites and services you connect to hidden from your ISP or your third-party DNS provider.
The kill switch doesn't work properly, as network traffic leaks outside the VPN tunnel after a reboot, software crash, or loss of internet. This is problematic if you're concerned with keeping your traffic encrypted when reconnecting to the internet after a reboot or crash.
Like most VPN services, this VPN doesn't implement BGP properly.
IPVanish has fairly consistent download speeds that are fast enough for relatively fast downloads, 4k video streaming, and general browsing.
This VPN delivers fast and consistent upload speeds that are suitable for tasks like video calls or quickly uploading files.
This VPN has fairly low and consistent latency, so it's snappy while browsing the web or playing games. That said, there are occasional latency spikes that could disrupt video calls or online games.
This VPN supports Ubuntu, Fedora, Kali Linux, Linux Mint, Lubuntu, Pop! OS, and manual configurations on Linux.
It's also available on Android, iOS, Chrome OS, and smart TVs. You can also set it up on your router so all of your network traffic gets routed through the VPN.
