Surfshark review: audited no-logs, no device cap and the trade-offs behind them

5.30

out of 10#8 of 377 in the main ranking
Consumer VPN median 2.6

  • Consumer VPN
  • Jurisdiction:Netherlands, 9 Eyes
  • Data completeness100%
  • Checked2026-10-15
  • Independent no-logs audit: ✓ Yes
  • RAM-only servers

In 10 seconds

Strongest against its segment

  • Platforms and support9.0 vs 4.3
  • Network and streaming7.2 vs 3.1
  • Security and protocols6.1 vs 2.1

Weakest against its segment

  • Censorship bypass1.9 vs 0.5
  • Privacy and jurisdiction4.4 vs 2.7
  • Price and fair terms5.7 vs 3.5
  • Jurisdiction in the 9 Eyes alliance
  • Trial needs a card
  • Auto-renewal on by default

Compare Surfshark side by side with other VPNs

How the score adds up

Six sub-scores, each against the median of Consumer VPN services in the main ranking (233 services). Open a line to see which published facts earned points and which were missing or not disclosed.

Surfsharksegment median

  • Privacy and jurisdiction30% of the score · segment median 2.74.4
    What earned points
    • No-logs policy +2
    • Independent no-logs audit +3
    • No-logs confirmed in court +1
    • Warrant canary +1
    • Transparency report +1
    • Sign-up without email +1.5
    • Account number sign-up +0.5
    • Stores connection IP (penalty) −3
    • Public incident (penalty) −2
  • Security and protocols20% of the score · segment median 2.16.1
    What earned points
    • Kill switch +2
    • DNS leak protection +1.5
    • RAM-only servers +1
    • Post-quantum encryption +1
    • Perfect forward secrecy +0.5
    • Security audit +2
    • Open-source clients +1.5
    • 2FA +1
    • Multi-hop +1
    • Bug bounty +1
    • Only PPTP / L2TP (penalty) −2
  • Price and fair terms15% of the score · segment median 3.55.7
    What earned points
    • Free plan +1.5
    • Free trial +1
    • Trial without a card +1
    • Crypto payments +1
    • Cash payments +0.5
  • Censorship bypass15% of the score · segment median 0.51.9
    What earned points
    • Stealth / obfuscation +2
    • VLESS / Reality +1.5
    • Trojan +1
    • Hysteria2 +1
    • Shadowsocks +1
    • AmneziaWG +1
    • obfs4 +0.5
    • TUIC +0.5
    • NaiveProxy +0.5
    • Mirrors or Telegram channel +0.5
    • VoIP in the UAE (claimed) +0.5
    • Manual configs +0.5
  • Network and streaming10% of the score · segment median 3.17.2
    What earned points
    • 10 Gbps servers +1
    • Dedicated IP +0.5
    • Port forwarding +0.5
    • MENA locations +0.5
    • Torrenting allowed +1
  • Platforms and support10% of the score · segment median 4.39.0
    What earned points
    • Routers +1
    • Browser extensions +0.5
    • Split tunneling +1
    • Ad / tracker blocker +1
    • 24/7 live chat +2
    • live chat +0.5
    • Support on Telegram +0.5
    • Status page +0.5

Surfshark pricing

From €2.14 a month

  • 3 plans published · market median €3.13 a month
Full pricing breakdown

Everything Surfshark publishes

Every fact we collected about Surfshark, as the provider and reviewers state it. Empty fields are left out; key fields we could not find say “Not stated”. “Partial”: only on some platforms, servers or plans.

Company
Legal entity
Surfshark B.V. (KvK 81967985)
Registered in
Netherlands
Address
Kabelweg 57, 1014BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Related brands
  • Incogni
  • Surfshark Antivirus
  • Surfshark Alert
  • Alternative ID
Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
9
Website languages
  • EN
  • DE
  • ES
  • FR
  • IT
  • NL
  • PL
  • PT
  • FI
  • TR
  • RU
  • UK
  • KO
  • ZH-CN
  • ZH-HK
  • ZH-TW
  • JA
Right-to-left languages
No no RTL language
Currencies on the site
USD
Prices depend on country
Yes pricing may vary by currency, VAT

Plans, prices and add-ons
Plans
  • Starter
  • One
  • One+
Billing terms
  • 1 month
  • 12 months
  • 24 months (+3)
Cheapest price a month
$2.49
Monthly plan
15.45 (review)
1-year plan, a month
3.19 (review)
2-year plan, total
67.23 (27 months)
2-year plan, a month
$2.49
Lifetime plan
No
Renewal
  • Renews at renewal price
  • 2-year plan billed once then annually
  • prices may change with notice
VAT included
No VAT may apply
Family plan
No unlimited devices
Prices seen from other countries
  • EUR (ru locale): 1m Starter €18.95 / One €19.95 / One+ €22.85
  • 12m(+3) Starter/One €2.99/mo (€44.85 for 15 mo), One+ €6.99/mo (€104.85)
  • 24m(+3) Starter/One €2.49/mo (€67.23 for 27 mo), One+ €3.99/mo (€107.73)
  • VAT may apply
Dedicated IP add-on
Yes
Double VPN add-on
Yes included (Dynamic MultiHop)
Antivirus
Yes included in One/One+
Password manager
No
eSIM
No
Identity protection
  • Alternative ID
  • Alert
  • Incogni (One+)
  • identity theft coverage US
Cloud storage
No
Other add-ons
Alternative Number (virtual phone); scam protection

Discounts and programmes
Discount shown
85% / 87% / 79% (2y)
Discount compared with
vs crossed-out monthly over 27 months ($444.15 etc.)
Promo codes
coupons referenced
Student discount
Yes student & graduate discount pages
Discount for crypto payment
No
Bonus months
3 (2y)
Affiliate programme
Yes /affiliate

Limits and restrictions
Devices at once
unlimited (fair usage); trial 3
Data limit
unlimited
Speed limit
No
Torrenting / P2P policy
Yes P2P column on servers page; ToS bans distributing copyrighted material
Country restrictions
sanctioned/embargoed countries excluded
Features locked to higher plans
Antivirus, Alert (One); Incogni (One+)
Prohibited by the terms
  • illegal use
  • scraping
  • spam
  • malware
  • reselling
  • copyright distribution
  • excessive load
  • refund abuse

Free plan
Free plan
No
Free data
Not stated
Ads in the free plan
Not stated

Payment and subscription
Payment methods
  • cards
  • prepaid/gift cards
  • crypto
  • Google Play
  • Paddle
  • Cleverbridge
Bank card
Yes
PayPal
Yes
Apple Pay / Google Pay
Yes Apple Pay (trial page)
Cryptocurrency
Yes Coingate
Cash
No
Gift cards
Yes
Auto-renewal by default
Yes
How to cancel
turn off auto-renewal in account or email support
Email needed to sign up
Yes
Phone needed to sign up
No
Account-number login
No
Identity check (KYC)
No
Money-back guarantee, days
30
Refund conditions
30 days from initial purchase, one per service; not for recurring payments, gift/prepaid cards, Alternative ID, anonymous dedicated IP, some resellers

Free trial terms
Trial length
7 days
Where the trial is offered
all (site signup; PC, mobile, smart TV)
Trial limits
  • 3 devices
  • only with 12- and 24-month plans
  • auto-charged after 7 days
Instead of a trial
30-day money-back
Card needed for the trial
Yes card, PayPal or Apple Pay

Server locations
Countries
100
Servers
4500+
Cities
54 city entries

100 countries listed. A link opens our ranking of VPNs with servers there.

Europe 43

Americas 19

Asia and Oceania 29

Middle East and Africa 9

Middle East and North Africa
  • AE
  • SA
  • EG
  • IL
  • TR
  • MA
  • DZ
  • no QA/KW/BH/OM/JO
Virtual locations
Not stated
Port speed
10 Gbps
P2P servers
Yes P2P column
Obfuscated servers
Not stated

Network features
RAM-only servers
Yes
IPv6
Not stated
Dedicated IP
Yes paid add-on
Static IP
Yes static IP servers
Residential IP
Not stated
Double VPN / multi-hop
Yes Dynamic MultiHop
Tor over VPN
Not stated
SOCKS5 proxy
Not stated
Smart DNS
Not stated

Protocols and encryption
  • WireGuard✓ Yes
  • OpenVPN✓ Yes
  • IKEv2✓ Yes
  • L2TP/IPsecNot stated
  • SSTPNot stated
  • SoftEther✕ No
  • Own protocol✕ No
  • VLESS / Reality✕ No
  • VMess✕ No
  • Trojan✕ No
  • Shadowsocks✕ No
  • Hysteria2✕ No
  • TUIC✕ No
  • NaiveProxy✕ No
  • obfs4✕ No
  • AmneziaWG✕ No
Perfect forward secrecy
Not stated
Post-quantum encryption
Not stated
Manual configuration files
Not stated
Open-source apps
Not stated

Censorship and blocking
Obfuscation (stealth mode)
Yes NoBorders; Android, iOS, macOS, Windows
Countries it claims to work in
Not stated
Mirror sites or Telegram channel
Not stated
Calls in the UAE
Not stated

Security
Kill switch
Yes Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux
DNS leak protection
Not stated
Split tunnelling
Yes Bypasser; iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, browser ext
Ad and malware blocker
Yes ad/pop-up/tracker blocking; antivirus in One
Two-factor sign-in
Yes 2FA mentioned in ToS
Security audits
Yes Deloitte (no-logs/infrastructure); Cure53 (infrastructure)
Bug bounty
Not stated
Certifications
AV-Test (antivirus)

Privacy
No-logs policy
Yes
Independent no-logs audit
Yes
Data retention
  • connection 15 min
  • account +2y after last login
  • support 6y
  • payments 10y
Shared with third parties
Stripe, Adyen, Checkout, Coingate, Zendesk, Cloudflare, BigQuery, AppsFlyer, Firebase, Iterable, Tune, Telnyx; group companies
Trackers on the website
Yes cookies, pixels, beacons with consent
Transparency report
Yes
Warrant canary
No
Law enforcement requests
discloses only when legally obligated
Copyright (DMCA) notices
notice process via dsa@/support@surfshark.com
Anonymous sign-up
No email required; crypto accepted
GDPR / data protection officer
no DPO named (support@surfshark.com)
Privacy policy updated
2026-10-12

What the privacy policy says is collected

Yes: collected. No: not collected. Partial: kept briefly or only in part. Not stated: the policy does not say.

  • Email✕ Yes
  • IP at sign-uppayment partners may collect IP✓ No
  • Connection IPtemporarily (user ID/IP + timestamps, deleted within 15 min after session)◐ Partial
  • Session timestemporarily, 15 min after session◐ Partial
  • Bandwidth✓ No
  • Device infodevice name, OS, app version, last login✕ Yes
  • App analyticsAppsFlyer, Firebase, Iterable, Purchasely✕ Yes
  • Crash reportswith consent (7 days)✕ Yes

Apps and devices
  • Windows✓ Yes
  • macOS✓ Yes
  • Linux✓ Yes
  • iOS✓ Yes
  • Android✓ Yes
  • Android TVsmart TVs✓ Yes
  • Fire TV✓ Yes
  • Apple TV✓ Yes
  • ChromebookNot stated
  • Smart TV✓ Yes
  • Routers✓ Yes
  • NASNot stated
  • Raspberry PiNot stated
  • Game consoles✓ Yes
Browser extensions
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Edge

Speed, streaming and gaming
Claimed speed
10 Gbps ports
10 Gbps servers
Yes
Netflix
No
BBC iPlayer
No
Disney+
No
Prime Video
No
DAZN
No
beIN Sports
No
Shahid
No
OSN+
No
Gaming features
Not stated
Torrenting
Not stated

Support
Live chat
Yes
Live chat 24/7
Yes
Email / tickets
Yes
Phone
No
Telegram
Not stated
WhatsApp
Not stated
Support languages
  • help center: EN
  • DE
  • ES
  • FR
  • IT
  • JA
  • KO
  • PL
  • PT-BR
  • ZH-CN
  • ZH-TW
Help articles
Yes Help Center, setup guides
Server status page
Not stated

For teams and business
SSO / SAML
Not stated
Admin panel
Not stated
Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
Not stated

What users say

Reviews never change our score. Ratings are smoothed: a source’s average across all VPNs counts as 50 extra reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank thousands.

  • Trustpilot

    3.98 of 5, smoothed

    From 200 collected reviews (raw average 4.05; all VPNs 3.66). Last 90 days: 4.05 from 200.

    The company replied to 42 of 42 negative reviews (1–2 stars).

  • App Store

    3.06 of 5, smoothed

    From 2331 collected reviews (raw average 3.05; all VPNs 3.54). Last 90 days: 3.37 from 644.

  • Google Play

    3.50 of 5, smoothed

    From 2400 collected reviews (raw average 3.49; all VPNs 3.90). Last 90 days: 3.58 from 636.

    The company replied to 777 of 806 negative reviews (1–2 stars).

Ratings shown on the platforms themselves: Trustpilot TrustScore 4.3 (30781 reviews); App Store (US) 4.70 (132169 ratings); Google Play 4.6 (316K ratings).

Reviews per month, last 12 months

  1. Oct ’2554 reviews, average 3.46
  2. Nov ’2583 reviews, average 3.39
  3. Dec ’2569 reviews, average 3.51
  4. Jan ’2676 reviews, average 3.49
  5. Feb ’26102 reviews, average 3.2
  6. Mar ’26104 reviews, average 3.63
  7. Apr ’26187 reviews, average 3.47
  8. May ’26352 reviews, average 3.39
  9. Jun ’26284 reviews, average 3.35
  10. Jul ’26309 reviews, average 3.42
  11. Aug ’26300 reviews, average 3.45
  12. Sep ’26525 reviews, average 3.62
  13. Oct ’26526 reviews, average 3.56
Bar height: number of reviews collected that month. Full-colour bars: months with an average of 4 stars or more; pale bars: below 4.

45 Reddit and forum threads mention Surfshark (titles and search snippets only).

All Surfshark user reviews

Questions about Surfshark

Answers built from what Surfshark publishes. Open a question to read the details.

Surfshark earns a 5.3 out of 10 on VPNRadarLab, ranking 8th of 377 services and roughly double the consumer VPN median of 2.6. It is a solid buy for households with many devices, but two things hold the total down: privacy, which carries the heaviest weight in the formula, and a censorship toolkit that barely fills one page.

Where Surfshark gains and loses points

The wins come fast: every sub-score clears the consumer median, platforms and support hit 9.0, and the network reaches 100 countries. Privacy weighs 30% of the total, and the 4.4 Surfshark earns there is the main drag on the score. Censorship bypass is the other sore point at 1.9: NoBorders obfuscation earns the only points, and no modern DPI-resistant protocol is offered at all.

The short-lived connection log and the Dutch address

The company on the contract is Surfshark B.V., registered in Amsterdam, which places it under Dutch law inside the 9 Eyes alliance. Deloitte audited the no-logs claim and the infrastructure, Cure53 checked infrastructure too, and a transparency report exists. VPNRadarLab has no record of a court case or incident that tested the policy, and Surfshark does not publish a warrant canary.

Data item What the policy says
Email required to register
Connection IP and session times kept temporarily, deleted within 15 minutes
IP at sign-up not collected by Surfshark; payment partners may collect it
Bandwidth not collected
Device name, OS, app version kept
App analytics via AppsFlyer, Firebase, Iterable, Purchasely
Crash reports only with consent, kept 7 days
Account data kept 2 years after last login

Read the privacy policy itself; summaries flatten the details.

Starter, One or One+ and the bill after month 27

Tier Per month, 27-month term Billed up front Added on top of the VPN
Starter $2.49 $67.23 nothing
One $2.49 $67.23 Surfshark Antivirus, Surfshark Alert
One+ $4.49 $121.23 all of the above plus Incogni

Starter and One cost identically on the long term, so One is the rational choice unless antivirus elsewhere already covers you. The trap sits after the 27 months (24 plus 3 bonus): billing switches to yearly, and Surfshark does not publish what that renewal will cost. Auto-renewal is on by default, and the 7-day trial, available only with the long plans, requires a card, PayPal or Apple Pay and charges automatically once it ends. Refunds within 30 days apply once per customer, with exclusions for gift cards, repeat payments and some add-ons. VPNRadarLab's conversion puts the cheapest rate near €2.14 a month against a market median of about €3.13. The full pricing breakdown lists every term.

Households, routers and restricted networks

Unlimited simultaneous devices under a fair-usage rule mean one plan covers phones, laptops, consoles and the TV, with no data or speed cap. Surfshark has apps for Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, smart TVs and game consoles, and the router app covers devices that cannot run a VPN app at all. On hotel Wi-Fi the kill switch is what stops traffic leaking when the tunnel drops; Bypasser split tunnelling keeps a banking app outside the VPN while the rest of the device stays in.

The network side is strong: 4,500-plus servers across 100 countries, 10 Gbps ports, P2P servers marked on the list, and torrenting allowed, though the terms forbid distributing copyrighted material. Surfshark makes no streaming claim about any service, and VPNRadarLab does not test unblocking, so anyone buying it for a specific catalogue is acting on hope. Behind strict DPI, NoBorders on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows is the sole tool, with no VLESS Reality, Shadowsocks or Hysteria2 as backup.

Who should pick Surfshark and who should look elsewhere

Pick Surfshark if you want one audited subscription for an entire household at an entry price below the market median. Look elsewhere if a short-lived source-address record is a deal-breaker, if you live behind heavy filtering daily, or if an unpublished renewal price bothers you. The alternatives page ranks close rivals. User reviews sit middling, with a smoothed Trustpilot average of 3.98, and they never affect the score.

Surfshark buyer FAQ

Is Surfshark worth it?

For multi-device homes and router setups, yes. For readers who need the strictest privacy or connect from censored networks, Surfshark is a weaker fit.

Is Surfshark free?

No free plan exists, and the trial bills automatically once it ends.

Can Surfshark be trusted?

Deloitte has audited the no-logs claim, and the policy states plainly what is kept, including the brief connection record.

What are the downsides of Surfshark?

A temporary connection IP and timestamp log, mandatory email sign-up, an unpublished renewal price and no advanced DPI bypass protocols.

Surfshark in a few lines

Surfshark delivers top-tier apps, unlimited devices and an audited policy at a rate under the market midpoint. Take the 27-month term on One, switch off auto-renewal in the account if you might leave, and pick a different provider if obfuscation against strict DPI is your daily need.

In our rankings

Surfshark appears on 436 topic pages. Its place on each:

Show all 436

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Owner and jurisdiction

Tools for Surfshark

Sources and changes

Collected 2026-10-15. No changes recorded since the first import.

Website
https://surfshark.com
Pages checked
https://surfshark.com/; https://surfshark.com/pricing; https://surfshark.com/servers; https://surfshark.com/privacy; https://surfshark.com/terms-of-service
Other sources used
price_1m/price_12m_pm: https://www.vpn.com/vpn/surfshark/pricing/; trial_*/card_required_for_trial/paypal/apple_google_pay: https://surfshark.com/free-trial; stealth_mode/kill_switch/split_tunneling/multihop: https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/10448039999122-Surfshark-Features; live_chat/live_chat_247/email_tickets/phone: https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003069114-How-to-contact-Surfshark-s-customer-support; support_languages: https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us; addon_dedicated_ip: https://surfshark.com/pricing

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