Surfshark VPN evaluation: A quick VPN for informal customers

Surfshark is likely one of the youngest main VPNs, but it surely’s grown quickly over the past seven years. Since 2018, it is expanded its community to 100 international locations, added a collection of apps to its Surfshark One bundle and experimented with superior touches like servers that consistently rotate your IP tackle.

Previously a funds VPN, Surfshark remains to be fairly reasonably priced however the price of a one-month subscription is method too excessive. Nowadays, it is extra excited by innovation than affordability. Its options could not at all times be cutting-edge — Nexus is mainly Tor and Everlink is a barely higher kill change — but it surely’s uncommon to search out both carried out so nicely in a business VPN. Plus, obtain and add speeds are incredible.

All of it provides as much as among the best VPNs for informal customers, even when in comparison with others in its weight class. However these already deeply aware of VPNs may journey over some points. For this evaluation, I studied 11 completely different angles on Surfshark’s service, some by means of hands-on checks and others with old style journalism. Try the sections most essential to you, then head to the top for my closing verdict.

Editors’ word: We’re within the means of rebooting all of our VPN opinions from scratch. As soon as we do a recent move on the highest providers, we’ll be updating every evaluation with a score and extra comparative data.

Desk of contents

Findings at a look

This desk summarizes all the pieces I found about Surfshark. For particulars on any bullet level, see its part within the full evaluation.

Putting in, configuring and utilizing Surfshark

For this part, I will be going over the way it feels to make use of Surfshark. I will take a look at how straightforward or troublesome it’s to put in, what it’s important to do to set it up and whether or not the person interface (UI) helps out or will get in the best way on every platform.

Home windows

Surfshark is straightforward to obtain and set up on Home windows. You may get it by means of the Microsoft retailer, however going instantly by means of the Surfshark web site makes certain you may have the most recent and most full model. The downloader asks you to click on “Sure,” however largely handles itself, and finally ends up in a short while.

The primary level which may divide informal customers and VPN veterans comes when you open the app for the primary time. Surfshark insists on taking you thru a guided setup course of for all its options. That is extraordinarily useful in case you’ve by no means used a VPN earlier than. In case you have, its repeated insistence on sending you thru the tour can get aggravating.

This sample repeated itself as I went by means of the app. The entrance web page is sensibly organized and organized so I might see all of the details and settings — but it surely stays method too reliant on unskippable pop-ups to supply data. Messages appeared after I tried to cancel a caught connection, after I turned settings on and off and even after I tried to shut the app. It is normally essential data, however displaying a message that freezes each different button is a nasty transfer.

It is a disgrace, as a result of all the pieces else works wonderful. The settings tabs do an admirable job of packing a number of, semi-related apps right into a single UI. Simply take word that lots of stuff is enabled by default, together with auto-connect and NoBorders, which can make the VPN behave in methods you do not want.

Mac

Surfshark’s app for macOS is generally the identical as its Home windows app, for higher or worse. It is acquired the identical split-second obtain and set up and the identical clear group of tabs with well-explained options. It is also acquired the identical relentless popups, settings on by default and infrequently sticky connections. If it will get hung up at 95 %, simply wait — it is nonetheless working.

Android

The Surfshark Android app, obtainable by means of the Google Play Retailer, is prepared after you merely obtain and login. It does not reinvent the wheel, however Surfshark’s design language seems to be very straightforward to compress into cell — besides that it is dark-mode by default, whereas all the opposite three are mild. I discovered all the pieces I wanted inside moments. Android even removes virtually all of the full-screen stop-everything notifications.

One factor to concentrate on: once you begin up the Android app, the VPN is seen, however the touchdown web page contains all of the options of Surfshark One. To get the VPN-only entrance web page, click on the arrow throughout from “VPN” on the prime of the display screen. That mentioned, you are able to do virtually all the pieces it’s essential do irrespective of which web page you are on.

iOS

It is uncommon to see a giant distinction between a VPN’s apps on the 2 cell platforms, however Surfshark switches up its design from Android to iOS. Every thing now lives in 4 tabs on the underside of the window. The settings tab is nice, largely as a result of it appears to be like like how preferences do on Mac and Home windows.

The primary VPN window is a bit jankier. It really works wonderful, however so as to make the server record consistently seen (pointless IMO), it relegates the precise VPN connection to a floating field that appears like an afterthought. It even features a button to open the server record that is already open. I freely admit that is only a private criticism, but it surely nonetheless baffles me.

Browser extensions

Surfshark’s browser extensions for Firefox and Chromium are virtually clones of its desktop apps, with a number of variations. The Alert tab tells you if the positioning you are on has suffered a safety breach just lately. CleanWeb 2.0 is the principle purpose so as to add Surfshark to your browser; it is a a lot stronger blocker that even works on some video insert adverts.

Surfshark pace check: Tremendous quick with some latency

All VPNs add to your net browser’s workload, so it is regular to see speeds drop. One of the best VPNs handle to maintain the drops as small as attainable. I used speedtest.internet to see how shortly my obtain speeds declined at six of Surfshark’s server areas — that is a measure of how briskly a browser can load net pages, buffer movies and obtain massive information.

I additionally seemed for latency, which impacts real-time communication with one other server (essential for avid gamers) and add pace, which impacts how shortly your system can ship knowledge (essential for torrenting). My outcomes are within the desk.

When it comes to obtain and add speeds, Surfshark is the quickest VPN I’ve examined thus far, beating out ExpressVPN, Proton VPN and NordVPN — and none of these are precisely sluggish. In the event you take a look at the Indonesia row, you may see I truly acquired the next add pace than I did with out the VPN lively. That in all probability has extra to do with pure fluctuations from my ISP than something Surfshark did, but it surely nonetheless signifies how little this VPN weighs down your shopping.

Latency is extra of a blended bag. Jumps in ping time are anticipated throughout lengthy distances, however I additionally noticed a pretty big leap on a server in the identical state as me. Surfshark is probably not very best for fast-paced on-line video games, however its speeds are nearly good for some other process.

Surfshark safety check: Easy however efficient protocols

To find out whether or not Surfshark can preserve you secure, I will be taking a look at three components: whether or not it makes use of safe and up-to-date VPN protocols, whether or not any of these protocols leak your IP tackle and whether or not encryption is being utilized to all knowledge packets. The primary is a matter of researching the expertise, however I’ve run sensible checks for the opposite two.

VPN protocols

Surfshark makes use of the VPN protocols WireGuard, OpenVPN (over TCP or UDP) and IKEv2. All of those are field-tested protocols that depend on uncracked encryption and confirmed authentication strategies. There is no proprietary protocol with shady supply code, nor any outdated legacy choices which may pose a danger in case you decide them. My solely criticism is that OpenVPN is not obtainable on Mac.

Every of those protocols does the identical factor: set up communication between your system, VPN servers and the web. They deal with the steps in another way, however the common person is barely more likely to see small variations. If one protocol is not working, you may change to a different — or simply decide the automated protocol choice choice, which labored wonderful throughout my checks. If you wish to decide for your self, use the desk under for reference.

Leak check

Subsequent, I picked 5 of the servers I did not use for the pace check and checked all of them for 3 completely different sorts of leaks utilizing ipleak.internet. Surfshark has its personal DNS servers, so DNS leaks are unlikely — these normally come from a VPN utilizing public servers to resolve DNS requests. As anticipated, DNS requests did not reveal my IP tackle in any of the checks.

There’s extra potential for IPv6 leaks, as Surfshark does not help IPv6. It recommends turning it off as a substitute, and has guides on doing that. To completely put Surfshark by means of its paces, although, I ran my checks with IPv6 nonetheless lively on my pc. On all 5 servers, the IPv6 check couldn’t run. This means that Surfshark actively blocks IPv6, which (till extra of the web begins working on the brand new protocol) is a wonderful option to forestall IPv6 leaks.

The leak testing software additionally checks for WebRTC leaks, so I ran every check with a Google Meet name lively, however that did not leak both. Briefly, Surfshark did not spring a leak irrespective of what number of instances I poked it. I am ready to name it watertight.

Encryption check

To be completely certain I used to be recommending a secure VPN, I used WireShark (no relation) and HTTP Endlessly to see whether or not its encryption works. From inspecting the info stream earlier than and after connecting to a Surfshark server, it is clear that encryption is actually being utilized. Have a look for your self — the truth that you may’t get any data from the screenshot means the VPN protocol is working.

How a lot does Surfshark price?

Surfshark is a part of a collection of safety merchandise — rather a lot like its sister model NordVPN, however with the choices per tier a bit of extra coherent. It is available in three subscription sorts, every of which is offered at three durations. The desk under exhibits the entire vary of prices.

Notice that the 24-month plans are introductory solely. You’ll be able to solely renew for one month or 12 months. The costs under additionally think about additional months you may get once you join the primary time, which are not obtainable in renewals.

Surfshark’s value drops steeply from its shortest to its longest subscriptions. $15.45 is method overpriced (even for a service we fairly like), however $1.99 per thirty days is concerning the least you may pay for any VPN price recommending. The leap from Starter (which solely contains the VPN service) to One (which incorporates all the pieces else besides Incogni) can also be tiny on the 12-month plan — solely an additional $0.20.

Surfshark is sort of definitely doing this to juice lively person numbers — however that does not imply you may’t reap the benefits of it. To our thoughts, the 12-month subscription to Surfshark One is extraordinarily good worth, supplied you already know you need Surfshark VPN.

Each plan comes with a 30-day money-back assure. At any level earlier than 30 days have elapsed, you can begin a dwell chat dialog to get your a refund. That is solely allowed as soon as each six months.

You may as well get a free trial for seven days by putting in the Surfshark app from the Apple or Android app retailer, creating an account, then selecting the plan that features the 7-day free trial. Nevertheless, since it’s important to enter a fee technique for this — and it isn’t accessible on Home windows — the 30-day interval is mostly extra handy.

Surfshark aspect apps and bundles

This is what you will get from Surfshark except for its VPN service. With the intention to preserve our give attention to the VPN, we did not have time to scrupulously check all these, however we have included the essential data that will help you make your determination.

Different ID

Different ID is included together with VPN service in a Surfshark Starter plan. It consists of two options: masked e-mail generator and private element generator.

Masked e-mail generator provides you a random e-mail tackle that sends all messages alongside to your actual inbox. Because it auto-forwards all the pieces, an e-mail masks is not for decreasing spam. As a substitute, it enables you to preserve your actual e-mail tackle secret when signing up for on-line providers — since offering your precise tackle runs the danger of leaking it. For an additional $2.89 per thirty days, you can even get an alternate cellphone quantity that works equally.

Private element generator creates pretend names, addresses and birthdays you should use to enroll in any web sites you are unsure about. Make sure you use it together with the VPN, or your IP tackle will reveal the precise particulars. It additionally is perhaps useful for randomly producing your subsequent RPG character.

Surfshark Antivirus

Surfshark Antivirus is included in Surfshark One and One+ subscriptions. It may scan information as you obtain them and can even scan your complete system for malware, checking towards an inventory of undesirable applications it claims to replace each three hours.

AV-Check gave it a good rating in safety. A prime rating (6 out of 6) means Surfshark Antivirus caught 100% of malware thrown at it, each identified threats and zero-day assaults. It additionally acquired an ideal usability rating for completely avoiding false positives, and a 5.5 out of 6 on efficiency — it had almost no impression on downloading apps or copying information, however slowed down standard web sites by round 30 % on common.

Surfshark Alert

Surfshark Alert, which can also be a part of Surfshark One and One+, scans the knowledge launched in knowledge breaches to see if any of your essential knowledge has been compromised. It may test for e-mail addresses, usernames, passwords, bank card numbers and authorities IDs. It may additionally warn you when malware in your pc is able to stealing your knowledge.

Surfshark Search

You may get entry to Surfshark Search, a search engine akin to Google, with a One or One+ subscription. It gives an a variety of benefits over Google, together with being completely ad-free (a perk of being backed by subscription). You may as well change the area from which you get outcomes. Surfshark claims that every one outcomes are completely natural, with no trackers or studying from logged searches.

Incogni

Incogni, an automatic knowledge removing service, is the one function restricted to Surfshark One+ plans. It searches knowledge brokerages to see if they’ve any of your data, then contacts them so that you can request they purge the info. Brokers do not need to honor all deletion requests, but it surely by no means hurts to strive. Incogni retains looking so long as your subscription is lively, so it will probably routinely ship a number of requests to the identical dealer if mandatory.

Saily eSIM

A number of VPNs now present their customers with Saily eSIM reductions, which can be utilized to get common cellphone service in overseas international locations. Surfshark grants numerous reductions by means of the coupon code surfshark5, which seems to be usable even with out a Surfshark account.

Shut-reading Surfshark’s privateness coverage

Surfshark’s privateness coverage exhibits us its outward perspective towards person privateness. Whereas it is attainable for a VPN supplier to lie outright in its posted coverage, they like to not for legal responsibility causes. An unreliable service will as a substitute use loopholes, vagueries and incomplete statements to make privateness guarantees it does not plan on maintaining.

In contrast, a VPN service price your cash will probably be as particular as attainable about any exceptions to its no-logs coverage. I learn Surfshark’s whole privateness coverage to see which sort of VPN it’s — no small feat, because it’s nicely over 5,000 phrases lengthy. The web page contains summaries, however they’re pared down a bit of too far to be helpful, so it is into the total textual content I am going.

Surfshark is predicated within the Netherlands, which makes it topic to the European Union’s Basic Knowledge Safety Regulation (GDPR). That is excellent news, since GDPR doesn’t allow any firm to retain knowledge with out justifying it. The Netherlands is probably going a part of the 9 Eyes intelligence-sharing settlement, however companies cannot spy on a VPN’s customers except that VPN is already saving exercise logs — and whether it is, it is acquired a lot greater issues than the place it is primarily based.

Surfshark’s whole server community runs on RAM-only infrastructure, so any saved exercise is erased at common intervals. Even higher, the coverage is evident that your exercise on any server is deleted inside quarter-hour. If we take Surfshark at its phrase, there’s little or no purpose to fret about servers being seized or searched.

Which means the one danger is that Surfshark itself may reap the benefits of its entry to your data. It does, sadly, declare the precise to view data gathered by third-party trackers, such because the cookies utilized by social media websites to trace advert efficiency. However none of these trackers are watching what you do once you use the VPN, nor digging into your precise shopping exercise — which, as we have seen, does not exist after quarter-hour.

Impartial privateness audits

Though we won’t conclusively confirm any VPN’s privateness coverage, since that includes the logically not possible feat of proving a unfavourable, we will get very shut by checking impartial audits. Third-party auditors can confirm a VPN’s public statements by means of a mix of interviews, doc evaluation and instantly tinkering with the infrastructure.

Surfshark handed its most up-to-date audit in June 2025, which — at time of writing — leaves little or no room for interference. Deloitte, the audit agency, concluded that “the configuration of IT techniques and administration of the supporting IT operations is correctly ready, in all materials respects in accordance with the Surfshark’s description set out within the Appendix I.”

I checked that description and located that it matches as much as Surfshark’s public privateness coverage. So, as a lot as we will say that any VPN is personal, Surfshark is personal. It could not cease all customized adverts, however it can no less than preserve your private data secret.

Can Surfshark change your digital location?

In the event you primarily want a VPN for streaming, that is the part for you. Right here, I check whether or not Surfshark can change your location convincingly sufficient so that you can see content material from different international locations, with out getting caught and blocked by streaming platforms.

The process is easy: I decide 5 check areas, join to 3 completely different servers in every and cargo Netflix. If I get in cleanly with out error messages, and really see completely different exhibits than I’d with out a VPN, I will know Surfshark convincingly modified my location. (As a reminder, when unblocking with any VPN, at all times be sure you’re logged into your streaming account first.)

Surfshark carried out extraordinarily nicely on this check, not solely unblocking each location no less than twice but additionally sustaining quick sufficient speeds to maintain the movies from stuttering. The one failure was that one server in Japan acquired spied out as a VPN and blocked. Nevertheless, merely disconnecting and reconnecting was sufficient to get me over the hurdle.

Any failure to vary digital location counts towards a VPN, however even the very best providers cannot preserve their servers off 100% of blocklists. NordVPN, one other top-five VPN, scored the identical 14/15. So far as I am involved, that is a passing grade for streaming — but when it is a dealbreaker for you, keep in mind ExpressVPN and Proton VPN each have good scores.

Investigating Surfshark’s server community

Surfshark has a complete of 100 server areas in 141 international locations. Of these areas, 47 are digital and 92 are bodily. A digital VPN server provides you an obvious digital location completely different from the place it is actually situated. There’s little safety tradeoff, however speeds could range relying on how far you might be from the server’s precise place. The one depend towards Surfshark right here is that it does not make clear the place its digital servers are actually situated, so utilizing them is a pace crapshoot.

The desk under exhibits the proportions of server areas in every area, so you may determine whether or not Surfshark is more likely to be helpful for the place you might be. Yow will discover a full record on Surfshark’s web site, although solely the apps present which servers are literally digital.

These numbers are fascinating in a number of methods. First, Surfshark’s server community is barely about one-third digital, the bottom proportion of any main VPN I’ve reviewed thus far. There’s additionally no continent with out a single bodily server. This makes Surfshark an excellent alternative to ensure usable web speeds whereas globetrotting.

As typical, servers are largely in Europe and North America, though there is a honest quantity of Asia represented by the digital areas. Surfshark is newer than most of its rivals, so it is spectacular that it is constructed such an in depth community in half the time. The desk reveals a VPN service that is excited by increasing, however will not accomplish that on the expense of building high quality areas that truly work.

Surfshark units itself aside from the VPN pack with a number of options, some seen to the person and a few working behind the scenes. Principally, its options are acquainted ideas carried out nicely, quite than outright improvements like NordVPN’s Meshnet — however there’s lots of chance for thrilling new instructions.

Underlying expertise: Surfshark Nexus and Everlink

Surfshark has two technological improvements beneath the hood that make its VPN comparatively distinctive. The primary is Nexus, which has been lively since 2022. Nexus connects all Surfshark’s servers collectively right into a tighter community than most VPNs use. All its servers are nodes in an online of interconnected paths, rather a lot just like the Tor community, besides proprietary to 1 firm.

If you select a server location, you are solely deciding on the final node in a sequence. Surfshark software program selects the entry level and the trail to your chosen exit. This provides each person extra choices for a working connection path, and permits Surfshark to usually rotate your obvious IP tackle so exercise on one masked id cannot hint again to you. It is also what makes it attainable to select the 2 steps in a double-hop connection (see “Dynamic MultiHop” under).

Everlink is a more recent expertise that Surfshark calls a “self-healing VPN infrastructure.” Any time you are linked to Surfshark by means of the WireGuard protocol, you are additionally linked to Everlink — a parallel infrastructure that watches your VPN connection. If it ever drops, Everlink immediately reconnects you to a different server close by, theoretically so quick you will not discover the outage.

That is mainly one step up from a kill change. As a substitute of chopping off your connection, Everlink switches it to the following server as a substitute. This makes it troublesome to check — the best way to test a kill change is to simulate a server drop by chopping off your personal web connection, which makes Everlink’s operate not possible. Nevertheless, I can no less than say I am cautiously enthusiastic about Everlink’s potential energy to negate server drops.

Limitless simultaneous connections

One factor you may usually hear about Surfshark is that it places no limits on what number of units can join by means of your account. In idea, one subscription is sufficient for you, your family and any pals that need to borrow it.

In follow, although, “limitless” is a stretch. A help article acknowledges that some individuals could abuse the privilege by reselling entry, or by masking unlawful botnet exercise behind a whole bunch of Surfshark connections.

The article does not explicitly say Surfshark will restrict or ban abusers, however inquiries to the help group revealed that an account could possibly be locked if an automatic system detects fraud. In the event you use a excessive variety of simultaneous connections, even legitimately, you can be flagged — although you could possibly unlock your account by telling customer support what occurred.

Bypasser break up tunneling

Bypasser enables you to break up your web connection so sure apps or web sites undergo the VPN whereas others stay outdoors. This will get you higher speeds on websites and apps that do not contain any delicate data. Additionally, each time a service requires your actual IP tackle, you may preserve utilizing the VPN for all the pieces else. Torrenting is a traditional use case — you may preserve BitTorrent protected within the background whilst you do one thing innocuous with out VPN safety, bettering speeds for each processes.

Bypasser break up tunneling is offered on all of Surfshark’s desktop and cell purchasers, although iOS customers can solely break up by web site, not by app. Home windows and Android customers can even select between two types of break up: “Bypass VPN,” which retains all listed websites and apps outdoors the VPN tunnel, and “Route through VPN,” by which solely the listed websites and apps keep throughout the VPN tunnel.

Dynamic MultiHop

Many VPNs have a double-hop choice, which routes connections by means of two VPN servers to maintain you protected in case one breaks. Nevertheless, most of them prohibit you to set paths of two servers. Surfshark is the one VPN that permits you to select each steps, due to Nexus pre-establishing paths between all of the servers.

For the very best efficiency, I like to recommend choosing an entry node close to your actual location, then selecting your exit node primarily based on what it’s essential unblock. In the event you aren’t unblocking something particularly, your greatest guess is to easily select two nodes in your personal nation.

Camouflage Mode obfuscation

VPN obfuscation refers to VPNs hiding the truth that they’re VPNs in any respect — so not solely is your IP tackle not your actual one, but it surely does not seem to have been modified. Surfshark’s obfuscation is known as Camouflage Mode. So long as you are linked through OpenVPN, it is lively routinely. So, in case you suspect an outdoor firewall is stopping you from getting on-line whereas working Surfshark, switching to OpenVPN may remedy the issue.

NoBorders mode

NoBorders is an alternative choice for getting on-line with Surfshark beneath exterior restrictions, particularly these imposed by whole governments (just like the Nice Firewall of China). If Surfshark detects restrictions on web utilization, NoBorders prompts and switches you to a server well-placed to get round these restrictions — for instance, an IP tackle from the following nation over.

The issue with NoBorders is that it is lively by default, which can prohibit you to sure servers when you do not want the assistance. I like to recommend switching NoBorders off within the settings for higher efficiency. It could activate once more if it detects attainable restrictions, so test the setting once more in case you discover your speeds slower than typical.

CleanWeb

CleanWeb, Surfshark’s advert blocker, is offered in two types. The essential model of CleanWeb, which blocks banner adverts and trackers, comes with all Surfshark apps.

CleanWeb 2.0 comes as a browser extension, which suggests it solely works in-browser. Nevertheless, it is a a lot stronger blocker, able to cancelling video adverts on streaming and YouTube. It additionally routinely rejects non-vital cookies on each website so you do not have to click on the button — which I appreciated, as my ADHD mind is definitely distracted by pop-ups.

Static and devoted IPs

Surfshark provides you an inventory of static IP addresses at no additional cost, one other rarity amongst main VPNs. A static IP means you may have the identical tackle each time you hook up with the VPN, so you will not look suspicious for usually opening the identical service with a special IP. With out this, you may end up hitting CAPTCHAs extra typically. You may as well preserve your private home system linked to a static IP server and use that to entry your private home community remotely.

For an additional price, Surfshark additionally gives devoted IPs, that are the identical as static IPs besides you are the one particular person utilizing them. Typically, a static IP can get blocked due to one dangerous person’s conduct; a personal devoted IP removes that danger.

Different options

A number of different options are price noting. Surfshark has a kill change that cuts off your web connection in case your VPN server ever drops — that is largely out of date with Everlink, however stays within the background as an additional precaution. You’ll be able to set the VPN to attach routinely besides on trusted networks, and might select the placement to which it auto-connects.

If it’s essential briefly work with out the VPN, you may pause Surfshark for 5 minutes, half-hour or two hours. Lastly, Android customers can have their VPN server override their GPS location, shifting it to wherever their IP tackle is presently. You clearly do not need to use this whereas your cellphone is navigating you someplace, however in any other case it is helpful for privateness.

Surfshark buyer help choices

Surfshark features a few hyperlinks to troubleshooting pages instantly within the app, a tantalizingly unfinished function. In the event you go to the settings tab and click on Get Assist after which Browse Guides, you may see a number of hyperlinks to FAQ articles concerning the model of the VPN consumer you are utilizing. Clicking any hyperlink opens the web page in your default browser. Leaping instantly from the app to the related information is de facto handy, but when your drawback is not one of many 5 most typical, you are out of luck — simply click on Extra Guides to go to the principle help web page.

When you’re right here, you may discover a useful set of articles that make good design selections to place the typical person relaxed. “Getting began” contains setup guides for each Surfshark app, with plentiful screenshots. Assist articles are successfully written from the person’s perspective. As a substitute of technical descriptions of issues, they begin with matters like “I am unable to hook up with Surfshark” or “I am getting an error,” then present a sequence of DIY options.

The one class with out a clear route is “Surfschool,” which gathers a disparate bunch of function explanations, superior ideas and primary VPN data beneath one heading. If you cannot discover what you want within the different sections, it might be simpler to make use of the search bar as a substitute of digging round in Surfschool.

The dwell help expertise

To achieve dwell help, scroll to the underside of the principle help web page, then click on “Chat with us.” A chat window will open within the nook of your display screen. I used the dwell chat help to ask about receiving a hyperlink to the check account I used to write down this evaluation. As is now commonplace, I needed to work my well past a chatbot first, however that did not take too lengthy. As soon as I reached an actual particular person, they resolved my drawback immediately.

The e-mail ticket system is for troublesome issues that may’t be resolved in a single change, so I made a decision to check it with one thing a bit of extra difficult. I requested concerning the standing of IKEv2, which Surfshark promised to eradicate in 2022 however has solely faraway from Home windows (that is in reality what they promised to do, however I wasn’t conscious of that but).

I heard again about 22 hours later with a speedy and relevant reply: a consultant mentioned that “presently, Surfshark doesn’t have plans to take away IKEv2 from all working techniques.” See the following part for particulars about that danger.

Surfshark background test: No actual blemishes

Surfshark was based in 2018, making it a relative newcomer to the safety scene, and the VPN was its first product. Alert and Search debuted in 2019, whereas Antivirus and Incogni joined them in 2021. For the primary two years of its existence, Surfshark was a part of the Tesonet group, a Lithuanian startup incubator that additionally helped launch NordVPN (see “Connection to NordVPN” under).

Its youth could also be why there are few critical blemishes on Surfshark’s file. Like Proton VPN, which is only a yr older, it merely hasn’t had time to place a foot improper but. Nevertheless, that does not imply it is inevitable that Surfshark will screw up sooner or later. To this point, it seems to be studying from its predecessors and avoiding their errors.

The trusted root certification authority danger

The one potential error I can level to hasn’t compromised anybody but, however could sooner or later. In 2022, Surfshark was considered one of a number of VPNs cited for counting on a trusted root certification authority — a verification technique that, if compromised, might let an attacker sneak malware onto a person’s system utilizing Surfshark’s ID badge. There is no file of the certificates truly being exploited, and Surfshark claimed it was essential to allow the IKEv2 protocol.

In response to the report, Surfshark deprecated IKEv2 from its Home windows app, which was the one one which used trusted root CAs for IKEv2. It is nonetheless obtainable on all OSes besides Home windows, however a Surfshark rep instructed me in an e-mail that they do not use trusted root CAs on these platforms, so there is no danger.

Connection to NordVPN

In 2022, Surfshark introduced a merger with NordVPN, although each corporations repeatedly careworn that nothing about both service would change. Based on Surfshark’s announcement on the time, “The thought behind the deal is to align on a tactical degree in reaching mutual targets whereas maintaining the autonomy of our operations.”

As of 2025, nothing appears particularly merged about NordVPN and Surfshark. Publicly, they’re nonetheless utterly completely different manufacturers with few mentions of the opposite on their respective web sites. In an e-mail, a Surfshark consultant instructed me that “Surfshark and Nord Safety function as autonomous corporations counting on separate infrastructures, completely different product growth plans and separate buyer bases.”

That mentioned, it is price noting that Surfshark and Nord have a shared lineage in Tesonet, the Lithuania-based tech incubator that, with Nord, shares Tom Okman and Eimantas Sabaliauskas as co-founders, and nurtured Surfshark for the primary two years of its life. Ultimately, a Surfshark consultant instructed Engadget that Surfshark presently “operates independently” of Tesonet. Be that as it might, the mix of Surfshark and NordVPN is yet one more instance an more and more consolidated VPN trade, the place rivals like Kape Applied sciences and Ziff Davis function a number of digital service manufacturers beneath one company roof.

Closing verdict

In lots of methods, Surfshark works arduous to earn your belief. Its reliance on brick-and-mortar servers testifies to that, as do its speeds, common privateness audits and refusal to relaxation on its laurels. Nexus and Everlink is probably not completely implicated, however they do have tangible outcomes that point out they’re much more than simply advertising gimmicks. Each are constructive indicators of a VPN supplier genuinely attempting to face out in a crowded discipline.

It is also an incredible signal that Surfshark responded to the trusted root CA danger with a focused intervention. I want they’d discovered a option to run IKEv2 on Home windows with out as a lot danger (different VPNs handle it), however I am unable to deny they appear critical about addressing potential points earlier than they grow to be crises. It is good that I can enthusiastically suggest Surfshark for its consideration to safety in addition to its speeds and easy options.