Good / IvacyVPN implements robust security protocols that protect your data, allows five different connections at the same time, lets you pay with a wide array of methods including several cryptocurrencies, can connect you to 50 countries, and has exciting features, such as a killswitch, split tunneling and the ability to stream Netflix.
Bad / IvacyVPN is a bit lacking when it comes to settings and configurations, it doesn’t include free bonuses like BitTorrent proxy, and there is not a Chrome extension as of yet. While it offers satisfactory speeds, they are probably not top-tier.
Verdict / While not quite as efficient as the very best VPNs on the market, Ivacy is firmly established as one of the top alternatives if you don’t have the budget to acquire the cream of the crop. It lets users watch Netflix, access sites in 50 nations, and enjoy the essential features of a VPN without overwhelming anyone with their available services or its connection speeds.
Pricing: 8/10
As of the moment of this writing, IvacyVPN has a handsome Christmas discount in the 2-year plan. You get one year free (84% off), but the sale deal will end in a few days. Also, you could get five years of IvacyVPN by paying the equivalent of $1 per month. Otherwise, IvacyVPN has what we can call as standard pricing in the market, with $11.95 per month.
In addition to the two years plus one free deal (the one with the 84% discount), users can save 72% in the year-long plan by paying $39.95, approximately $3.33 per every 30 days.
Ivacy earns positive marks because of the various payment methods it has available for clients. It supports a lot of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (via BitPay and CoinPayments). They Paymentwall allows you to pay with Cashu, Alipay, and Yandex, among many others. You can also use PayPal and all the major credit cards.
Money-back guarantee is a little confusing, though. They claim they have a week-long refund policy, but they should do a better job clarifying that it is only applicable if you stay below the 1 GB of consumed bandwidth in that timeframe.
App: 7/10
While the IvacyVPN app is pretty straightforward to set up and use, its layout shows several tabs, one for each end, which is odd, inconvenient, and unnecessary. Customers could use some additional information about each tab. Explaining to the user precisely what each one does, or what kind of protocol is going to be used for browsing, streaming, etc., should be a priority.
All in all, the Ivacy app has the essential elements of almost any efficient VPN service provider but could use some more settings. However, there is no denying that the client is considerably user-friendly in Windows 8.1.
You will find the existing features and will be able to choose and configure what you need according to your desires, as well as see the entire server list, with 275 options for connection, in 100 locations. The client also has a built-in split tunneling service, letting you pick what goes through the tunnel and what stays unprotected.
Mobile App: 7/10
Ivacy has excellent mobile compatibility. It has apps for operating systems and devices such as Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Roku, and many more. It also has a dedicated VPN add-on for Kodi, the world’s most widely used open source software for streaming and storing music, movies, series and other productions.
IvacyVPN is perfect for a small network in your house, or in your workplace because it lets you protect up to five devices at the same time under the VPN tunnel, including smartphones, iPads, iPhones, tablets, and laptops.
Extra Features: 8/10
Ivacy, while lacking some of the advanced features associated with top VPN brands, such as Stealth VPN, script support, or proxy support (chrome extension or BitTorrent), I can say that it has all the essential services and offerings that every trustworthy VPN provider should deliver.
It has a kill switch, to protect your assets in the event of a connection loss, and it has a wide array of protocols to use and implement (although the amount of OpenVPN locations is rather low in comparison with PPTP, L2TP, and SSTP, among others.)
In general, Ivacy has good encryption, and it allows users to connect five different connections simultaneously, which has become the standard for all the most prominent VPN clients in the ever-changing and growing market.
Ivacy can also claim that it has Torrent compatibility and that it allows the P2P activity. As a bonus, the client supports Netflix, and at no additional cost. The customer support section shows you tutorials and instructive material to set up your Netflix experience with Ivacy.
Also available in Ivacy (in fact it was one of the first providers that implemented it) is the split tunneling feature: you can decide what goes through the VPN tunneling protections and what stays under your standard arrangement, available for all internet users and your ISP.
Website: 8/10
The website’s design is very similar to what we get in the vast majority of the VPN clients available in the market. A very convenient feature is that almost in the same instant in that, the page is fully loaded, a chat message appears. It is the customer support service ready to take on any issues, doubts or inquiries you may have before acquiring a paid plan.
Right now, the background of the page is very Christmas-y, with a dark blue color and little flakes of snow falling from above. It shows the pricing plans, and current deals, some of the most exciting features like IPSec and IKEV Protocols, payment methods, servers and locations around the world, common questions, reviews from prominent people, and their seven-day money back guarantee.
All the elements of the page are neat, organized and succinct. You can efficiently manage all the details of your subscription once you provide a payment method.
Ivacy also has a blog, which is an advantageous trait because it provides you guides, tutorials, instructive materials and everything you may need to facilitate your experience, as well as news about the VPN and tech environment.
Servers: 7/10
Ivacy has a decent amount of servers available for users who are eager to gain protection and privacy while they browse, stream, download or unblock content. Overall, this client has 275 servers, which is not quite as much as the best VPNs, but enough to provide Ivacy the opportunity to compete, and satisfy its customers.
The 275 servers are spread over 100 total locations. Regarding countries that Ivacy provides an opportunity to connect, the final number is a very solid 50. That means that Ivacy users will be able to unblock content, streaming services, and websites, as well as access to online games, in remote locations, such as Brunei, China, Bulgaria, Latvia, Venezuela, Seychelles, Kenya, and more.
With IvacyVPN, you can connect to the United States of America and the United Kingdom, two of the countries with the most interesting and sought-after television and online streaming content on the planet.
Also, Ivacy will allow you to connect to servers of countries with oppressive internet restrictions, such as China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Turkey.
Privacy and Privacy Policy: 9/10
IvacyVPN implements sound encryption measures and protocols with the intention of keeping all your data, transfer and online assets safeguarded from hackers, governmental surveillance, annoying advertising and internet companies following your every step, and other threats of the web world.
Ivacy provides users like you with the chance to select the right protocol for your system or for the internet activity that you want to perform. You have OpenVPN TCP and UDP, Peer to Peer Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), Layer to Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), and many more.
You also have a kill switch at your disposal, to stop making yourself vulnerable online if you lose your connection. This provider implements the military-like AES-256-CBC cipher, with a standard RSA-2048 key for OpenVPN. That should be enough to protect what you value.
Ivacy has a good-looking privacy policy, with a zero log policy. The connection logs of this client will die after two days. All the recent evidence suggests that Ivacy fulfills what it claims about their privacy policy.
The client calls Singapore its home, which is exceptionally convenient for various reasons. It has servers close to countries such as Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand. Also, Singapore is a paradise for the free Internet: there is no censorship, harassment, or data retention laws whatsoever in this Asian country that will force Ivacy to store logs of any of its clients.
Speeds: 6/10
While, in theory, you can use IvacyVPN for streaming and downloading content from the Internet, speed tests in certain places show that this brand can use some improvement in that particular area. It will depend on external factors, as well, for example, your Internet service provider and the server that you choose to connect, but some nations, including the UK (a trendy location for users), showed not-so-great results.
In comparison with free VPNs and other cheaper alternatives, Ivacy can offer satisfactory speeds and performance, but they don’t quite reach the standards of the best VPNs in this regard. Also, you need to make sure to manually select the server you want to connect, because the automatic server selection can be a little random and inefficient.
Although some Ivacy servers and locations can present a high ping, you can achieve more than acceptable download rates with this provider, which makes it very suitable for Torrenting. It can reach speeds of 25-27 Mbps in some tests.
Customer Support: 9/10
While the speed tests can show a wide array of results from excellent to mediocre, a department in which Ivacy never fails is at customer service and support. It has a very active live chat feature, which appears on your screen as soon as you open the website. It is a beneficial service, as well, and the average time of response is very speedy.
While most VPN clients out there in the market only have one, maybe two ways for customers to get in touch with support staff (even some of the top alternatives,) Ivacy can get your email, live chat and also phone aid.
The page also shows the most frequently asked questions about many related topics of the VPN use, so you can answer your inquiries even before you need to contact the customer support service. Also, Ivacy has a Twitter account, a Facebook profile as well as a Google Plus one, and they are available for solving your issues quickly.
Verdict
In conclusion, we can say that Ivacy is a pretty reliable VPN. While it doesn’t have the advanced features of the top VPNs in the market or consistent speeds along its servers and locations, it gets the job done in a general point of view.
It has a useful killswitch, and it implements AES 256-bit encryption and has several protocols, including OpenVPN, PPTP, SSTP, and L2TP. It allows P2P activity and supports Netflix with ease.
One of the best offerings of IvacyVPN is its customer service. You can reach the support department via phone, email or live chat, whereas most VPN providers have only one way to contact them. Additionally, the average response time and helpfulness are quick and high, respectively.
Ivacy lets you connect to 50 countries, which is a significant number and comparable with the best clients in the market. It is in Singapore, a country with virtually no Internet censorship and surveillance, which is very convenient because it will keep no logs of your activity and there will be no law enforcement threats.
If you can take advantage of the exciting offers and promotions that Ivacy has currently available, it could make a nice deal and a worthwhile gamble to acquire its services. At the current monthly rate, which is $11.95, you can consider other alternatives, but Ivacy is a perfectly usable VPN provider when you weigh all the pros and cons.
