Surfshark review: a fast-streaming VPN for all your devices

Surfshark may sound dangerous, but this is actually a VPN protects your privacy, quarantines malware, and hides your location and online activity from intrusive trackers.

as one leading streaming VPNsSurfshark is known to maintain fast speeds, but I wanted to find out how fast it is and if there are any gaps in performance.

In my review, I also tested the antivirus protection included with the Surfshark One subscription, checked prices, and tested customer support.

Tiers and pricing (free, trial, subscription)

Surfshark is one of just a few VPNs that support an unlimited number of devicesYou add extra value if you share the account with your family members and close friends.

You can try Surfshark for free for seven days before paying, and the 30-day money-back guarantee gives you even more time to decide whether the subscription is worth the cost.

If you’re looking for a completely free solution, check out Our guide to the best free VPNs Protecting your privacy with few restrictions.

Surfshark Starter costs $15.45 per month, but savings start when you subscribe for a year or two. The annual plan costs $45 and includes three free months. It renews for $60 per year, which is about average for a good VPN.

The $59 two-year plan is a great deal, plus you get three months free. After 27 months, renewal reverts to the $60 annual plan. Still, this beats the price of some leading rivals. For example, NordVPN is an excellent VPNbut when you renew, the subscription cost more than doubles.

Surfshark also offers cybersecurity packages. Surfshark One includes malware protection for less than a dollar each month. Surfshark One+ costs between $2 and $3 per month and protects your privacy with ongoing requests to remove your personal information from data brokers.

If Looking for a better VPN dealThere are often discounts and promotions that can help you save more. Be sure to pay attention to renewal dates so you don’t get caught off guard when prices go up.

Design

I tested Surfshark One, which I thought seemed like the sweet spot. Setup was quick, with helpful tips for installing apps and browser extensions.

The Windows application is well designed; on the right is a panel that shows at-a-glance confirmation whether VPN is enabled, what features are turned on, and which server I’m connected to.

On the left, I get a list of servers around the world with quick links to recommended, recently used, and favorites at the top of the list. I can also search for a location and filter the list to see only static IP addresses or multi-hop servers.

It’s easy to use the basics without understanding the advanced features, but tweaking is just a click away whenever you want.

The left-most toolbar lets me change VPN connection settings, access my account, get help, and explore features like antivirus protection and identity alerts.

The browser extension comes in handy because that’s where I’ll want to change VPN settings. But the app has more settings.

Features (reliability, speed, private location, cross-platform, private)

Beyond protecting privacy, I want a fast and reliable VPN. To test Surfshark, I connected to various servers located around the world. The results were impressive.

With Surfshark’s Windows app and browser extension, I enjoyed fast connections that never dropped and fast worldwide speeds. My ISP provides 900 Mbps download speeds over Ethernet. Most streaming VPNs reduce this by half even when I choose a nearby server.

I measured 728 Mbps with the nearest Surfshark VPN server. Speed ​​Test The website is one of the fastest I have ever recorded for a VPN. Upload speed was 38 Mbps and ping was around 44 ms in both directions. I’m in Nova Scotia on Canada’s East Coast, and the nearest Surfshark server was 700 miles away in Montreal.

High speed within the country is nice, but I often use a VPN to browse around the world as if I were a local, so the real challenge is maintaining good bandwidth across the border.

Surfshark continued to deliver incredible speeds with its US server, with 667 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, and 75 ms ping. Upload speeds and ping always drop abroad, and this was also true for Surfshark, but downloads were very fast at 579 Mbps for the UK, 651 Mbps for France and 630 Mbps for Germany.

The first significant drop was seen on an Australian server that managed 306 Mbps downloads. European servers’ 5 Mbps upload and 100+ ms ping values ​​dropped to 2 Mbps upload and 244 ms Down Under ping values.

Overall, Surfshark lags behind Fast VPNs like ExpressVPN And fast and cheap TorGuard. While Surfshark was consistently fast, the other two performed well on nearby servers but fell behind when connecting to more remote locations.

Surfshark One includes a virus scanner and real-time protection for up to five devices. Surfshark’s antivirus software received a perfect score in a June 2024 evaluation by independent cybersecurity laboratory AV-Test.

When I did a spot check on Surfshark One’s CleanWeb feature, it didn’t block any Wicar’s malware tests. This is because Surfshark’s blocking is based on reputation. This means it will not block or warn you about dangerous websites or downloads unless they are found in its database.

After downloading the EICAR malware test file, I ran Surfshark One’s antivirus scanner and the threat was quickly identified and quarantined. Although Wicar.org is safe, more advanced antivirus software detects browser vulnerabilities and malicious files, blocking the potential threat before it is downloaded to your computer.

Support

Support from some VPN providers is good but slow, as responses come via email. Surfshark has 24/7 live chat support so you can get help any day, any day.

I tested Surfshark One’s blocking feature by asking for CleanWeb. The AI ​​chatbot was helpful by providing various buttons to narrow down my questions and directing me to relevant support documentation.

When I encountered the bot I asked for a human and was transferred immediately. I found out that the Surfshark browser extension is for convenience, but you get the same VPN and antivirus protection from the app.

Privacy and security

Surfshark makes its privacy policy easy to understand by getting down to the most important details first: a minimal amount of data is collected, only what’s needed to provide the service you’re paying for. Surfshark requires your user ID or IP address and timestamp as you browse, but deletes this data within 15 minutes of your session ending.

I couldn’t find any records of Surfshark security breaches and the privacy policy checked. Even though Surfshark is based in a Nine Eyes country, its moderated no-logs policy means the company won’t have any data to share, even with official requests.

Surfshark does not sell or share your email to third-party advertisers.

Is Surfshark right for you?

Surfshark has a well-designed app, excellent customer service, and One of the fastest streaming VPNs with lots of servers worldwide. Unlimited device support makes it hard to go wrong with this service, especially if you have a one to two year subscription.

For less than a dollar each month, Surfshark One includes a good malware scanner and dark web monitoring feature. It’s a tempting offer, but it offers limited browser protection. You’ll want to keep your dedicated antivirus software active to block viruses. Surfshark Starter is the best choice for most people.

I’m impressed with Surfshark’s speed, reliability, and depth of features. Quick support makes it easy to get help or learn more about how to use Surfshark’s apps and extensions.

I recommend Surfshark one of the best VPNs With excellent speed, good privacy protection, easy to use and great value.