Astrill VPN: Is It Worth Your While?

After thoroughly studying Astrill VPN and inspecting its features and capabilities, we bring you this analysis of all we have learned. 

Astrill VPN Speed 

In this section, we put Astrill VPN to the test against its rivals in terms of speed, the number of servers, geographic distribution, and their fastest available protocol.

1. Speed Tests

Astrill VPN's speed performs very well across its servers. In addition, it promises 1 Gbit or 10 Gbit connections to its servers using dedicated bandwidth, so your Netflix streaming won't be disturbed. 

2. Number of servers and geographic distribution

Astrill VPN has 107 servers in 57 countries. These are low numbers compared to other VPNs that have over 3000 servers to choose from. New servers are constantly added, though, at no additional cost. 

3. Fastest available protocol

Wireguard VPN protocol aims to be Astrill VPN's fastest protocol. Wireguard uses very strong cryptography and is designed for general use, making it suitable for different circumstances. 

Astrill VPN Security & Privacy

Security and privacy while surfing the internet are perhaps the main reasons for VPN use. So here we will review the most important security features: 

1. Encryption and protocols

Astrill VPN operates AES 256-bit military-grade encryption, which ensures complete anonymity and data security. This is the same encryption technique banks, governments, and militaries use to protect all their data. 

If you are having a hard time deciding which VPN protocol to choose, the summary below will hopefully ease that. 

2. Astrill's log policy

Astrill VPN utilizes a true no-log policy, which means your data is not harvested or stored anywhere. This data can include your online activity, connection logs, website history, online traffic, data content, and DNS queries.

3. Kill Switch 

The Kill Switch feature is vital for any VPN user; it is designed to break your internet connection if your VPN connection drops. It does that to ensure the anonymity of your IP address. 

Their App Guard also accompanies Astrill's Kill Switch, an upgraded feature to the Kill Switch that allows you to select the apps you want to block your internet connection to in case of a VPN connection failure. 

Astrill's Kill Switch and App Guard are only compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. 

4. Based Country 

Astrill VPN is based in Seychelles in East Africa, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. In doing so, your data is safe and will not be shared with any government, and you won't be spied on.

5. Warrant Canary 

A Warrant Canary is an indirect way for VPN companies to warn their users if their local government has requested. 

As previously explained, Astrill VPN is based outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance; thus, it does not need a warrant canary to warn its users whether the government has previously requested user information. 

Astrill VPN in Practice

1. Streaming 

Astrill VPN unblocks geo-restrictions for most streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer.

Astrill's Openweb protocol is most suitable for streaming services, as you can switch between servers without having a connection loss. In addition, Astrill's fast speed is promising for a satisfying streaming experience. 

2. Torrent and P2P

Astrill VPN allows torrenting and supports port forwarding for high torrenting speeds. A VPN's main use is to mask your IP address while surfing the internet, in addition to torrenting illegal content. 

Astrill's StealthVPN protocol offers the fastest speeds for torrenting with high security to avoid leaking your IP address. 

3. Gaming

Astrill's VIP plan offers exclusive servers specialized with even faster speeds and low latency for gamers to enjoy. 

4. Geo-censorship bypass (obfuscation)

Astrill VPN bypasses geo-censorship and works smoothly in China. 

Geo-censorship is the phenomenon where a VPN is banned in a country, and the country proactively takes measures to prevent its use by filtering all outgoing traffic recognized as from a VPN origin. OpenVPN is the protocol of choice when you want to "obfuscate" your data.

5. Split tunneling 

Astrill offers its own trimmed-down version of Split tunneling, named Safe Mode. Safe mode operates similarly, providing anonymity while connecting to certain websites of your choice without leaving a trail behind for your government to follow. 

6. Tor over VPN

Astrill supports Tor, which is short for The Onion Router; it is software designed to give you several extra layers of protection for accessing the dark web. 

7. Dedicated IP Address 

Astrill braces the dedicated IP address feature. This is a server entirely assigned for your use and whether you want to share it with other devices on your network is completely up to you. 

A dedicated IP is not undoubtedly better; its usage depends on your needs. 

A dedicated server is recommended in the following scenarios:

• Business Security

This comes into play when one needs to secure their business server access for security. Typically, in a business service setting, you want encryption of data, as well as a select group of people, to be able to log in to your system. This is done by allowing particular IP addresses to log in. If your IP is shared and is not static, then this won't be possible. On the other hand, a dedicated IP means it's static and can be set as a log-in condition.

• Secure online payment

You might wonder why I shouldn't pay with the standard shared IP VPN service. Now I want you to imagine this picture from the bank's viewpoint. Someone with the card number xxx has processed payments from 10 different countries worldwide in the past week. For banks, that sounds like a sane reason to block the card marking it as suspicious activity. However, this issue is avoided when having a static IP, as you are paying from the exact IP/location every time.

• Avoid getting blacklisted

The Blacklist effect, also known as the bad neighbor effect, revolves around how other people with the same IP address could do things that might end up banning the owner of that specific IP address. While you might have done nothing wrong. However, since you share the same IP as the person who got banned, you could get banned/blacklisted as well. Since a dedicated IP means it's yours and yours only, this wouldn't happen.

• Avoid CAPTCHAs 

Do you know these pesky bots with the audacity to question whether you're a bot? This CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) system is a security measure to protect you from getting your password hacked, protect you from spam, and many other uses. With a dedicated IP, you are less likely to encounter a CAPTCHA.

Device Compatibility

Astrill VPN is compatible with all major operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and routers. 

Astrill does not offer any browser extensions.

User Experience

1. Languages Supported

In terms of user experience, Astrill is available in the following languages: 

• English
• French
• Dutch 
• Spanish
• Portuguese (Portugal)
• Turkish
• Turkmen
• Arabic 
• Polish
• Russian 
• Thai
• Korean 
• Japanese 

2. Customer support

Astrill's team is at your service 24/7 through live messaging or messages through a contact form. 

Aside from the live support, Astrill has setup manuals accompanied by short and thorough tutorial videos to show you the ropes on all their supported platforms.

Their FAQ questions section is also there to save you time while looking for answers. 

Pricing & Payment

Astrill has three subscription plans to choose from:

• 1-month plan: $20.00 per month, billed every month.
• 6-month plan: $15.00 per month, billed $90.00 every six months.
• 1-year plan: $10.00 per month, billed $120.00 every year. 

Astrill also offers an option to add: 

• Private IPs for $5.00/month each
• VIP add-on from $10.00/month

Astrill accepts several payment methods, such as: 

• Credit cards
• Debit cards
• Cryptocurrency
• Paypal
• Bank Wire Transfer
• Perfect Money
• AliPay
• WeChat Pay

Final Thoughts

It's no wonder that Astrill is a leader in VPN services. Their highly secure privacy protocols, stability, and fast speeds make them a great choice for VPN users to try out their services.

You can experience all their features and security for free in their 7-day trial and then decide whether Astrill is for you; they sure believe they are.