Snapshot
Compatible with
Rating
Our score:
4.5
Pricing
Price from:
$2.50
per month
Pros
- No log policy
- Impressive local & global average server speeds
- Kill switch, DNS leak protection, AES-256 encryption
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer and all other popular streaming sites
- Protect 5 devices with one account
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting permitted
- 30-day money back guarantee & 24/7 customer support
- Competitively priced
Cons
- Server network could be larger
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting only available on 3 servers
- No dedicated Amazon Firestick application at present
Introduction
Whilst it wouldn’t be fair to say SaferVPN would best be suited for the slightly more uneducated user, we do feel it offers a great entry for those looking to try out the benefits a VPN has to offer.
When it comes to streaming HD content or playing online games where speed and latency are of high importance, SaferVPN is absolutely perfect. With optimised servers catering for buffer-free streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer, it’s a great ‘plug in and play’ solution.
For privacy, SaferVPN has taken great leaps forward the past few months introducing the highly favoured kill switch on all their apps, as well as firming up their logs policy helping to build our, and hopefully our readers, trust.
They offer a 30-day money back guarantee so you’re not tied into their service should it not be playing ball the way you’d like, and it’s highly affordable… so what’s not to like!
Pricing
SaferVPN are pretty competitively priced for the service they offer and have great deals on its longer-term plans. You can choose to commit to monthly or yearly (1, 2 or 3) plans. Their 3 year plan represents the best value for money and is currently on special offer with 81% off when purchased through our website. You can also try before you buy with a free 24-hour trial on offer, and all plans come with a full 30-day money back guarantee.
For payment, SaferVPN currently accepts a wide range of options including all major credit and debit cards (including American Express), as well as PayPal. If you’re looking for additional anonymity, they also accept Bitcoin and Tron for crypto payments.
Features
SaferVPN offer all the popular features our users come to expect whilst operating their impressively fast, secure VPN service. With a fairly close to perfect strict no logs policy, the essential VPN kill switch, AES-256 encryption and DNS leak protection, they give their users exactly what they need.
When it comes to streaming content such a Netflix, BBC iPlayer, live sporting events and other popular sources, SaferVPN excel. With 1,300+ servers in 50 different countries (some equipped especially for streaming), you really can enjoy full internet freedom anytime, anywhere. Whilst they may not be the market leader in server quantity, as well as the majority falling in Europe and North America, we still feel they offer an acceptable network size for most our readers.
For those looking to torrent and P2P file share, we’re glad to report that this is allowed on 3 of their servers. Whilst that number is far from outstanding, it ticks the box and is an extra feature some other providers do not allow.
Their app is simple to use with a simple choice of the country you’d like to tunnel through, and a big green ‘Connect’ button when you’re ready to go online. You really can’t go wrong!
Platforms and devices
SaferVPN generously lets you protect up to 5 devices with just the one account ensuring you are fully protected whether at home, on the move or travelling abroad. SaferVPN works with pretty much any device that connects to the internet so you can truly protect your online profile and activity.
Their user-friendly apps can be installed on macOS, Windows and Linux operating systems as well as iOS and Android mobile devices. If using with either Chrome or Firefox browsers, they’ve got you covered too. It’s also easy enough to configure your home router and protect your entire wi-fi network with SaferVPN.
Streaming
SaferVPN is certainly a provider we can recommend when it comes to streaming due to their fantastic speeds, optimised servers for both US and UK streaming services as well as unblocking all geo-restricted content we threw at it in testing. As mentioned earlier, server quantity is not top of the ‘pros’ list here but users will have no problem streaming HD content whilst connected to a SaferVPN server.
Torrenting
For those looking to torrent and P2P file share, we’re glad to report that this is allowed. However, this is limited to only 3 of their servers which could mean server congestion and slower than average download speeds. For occasional torrenters, we really can’t see this being a problem, but if you’re big into P2P file sharing, it may be worth looking elsewhere. Stay safe online and remember, you should always use a secure VPN when torrenting!
Speed
SaferVPN’s cutting-edge technology ensures the fastest VPN experience, without compromising your online privacy and security. No matter which device you’re using, it takes, on average, less than 10 seconds to connect to SaferVPN’s servers. Their apps use the latest fastest VPN protocols to ensure that you connect as fast as possible without any hassle and they have no bandwidth or download caps so you’re never to worry about streaming too much!
When testing, we achieved superb numbers of 155Mbps locally and worldwide averages of 40Mbps proving SaferVPN is impressively quick. Of course, far reaching connections will suffer significant speed reductions, but even linking the UK to the USA, it delivered some very promising results more than capable of streaming HD content.
Security
‘Browse like a ghost anytime, anywhere. We do not collect, log or store any browsing activity, data or IP addresses.’ That’s what SaferVPN claim when it comes to logging of data.
And whilst that is true, they do collect some minimal data from its users. They collect a time stamp of when a user connects and disconnects, as well as the amount of data transmitted (upload and download) during a session. They state that they collect this data simply to ‘monitor the use of our network for technical purposes and to manage our service’ and we are 100% confident that this is the case. As far as we are concerned, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to data logging with SaferVPN.
Applications
When it comes to easy to use applications, SaferVPN certainly offer that. Once logged in, you’re greeting with ‘Connect to automatic’ (server) and a big green ‘connect’ button. For a large percentage of users, this will be as hard as it needs to get. For others feeling a little more wild, you simply press the location button in the top left of the app and you’re face with all the countries/servers you can connect too.
The SaferVPN app can be downloaded on a whole host of popular devices such as iOS, Windows and Android, and all come with the auto wi-fi protection built in which is great for when you’re out and about on public wi-fi.
Customer service
Our experience was nothing but positive when testing out SaferVPN’s live chat. We were connected quickly to an agent and response times were fantastic. Answers were punctual and we were on our way in moments. Available 24/7, we can’t say they put a foot wrong.
There’s always the occasion when they will mess up, like anything in life, so should you fail to get the answer you require from a live human being, do not fret! They have an extensive online knowledge bank full of FAQ’s to help troubleshoot and find your answer. Failing that, the support team are on hand via email, and once again, when tested, responded in a timely manner.
Log policy
“We don’t track, collect, or share your private data. It’s none of our business.” Nord adopt a strict no log policy and offer major reassurance that this has been independently verified by 4 external auditors. NordVPN are transparent with users about the minimal data they collect which is only the ‘timestamp of the last session status’ and ‘deletes the data automatically within 15 after you disconnect’.
We are happy to agree with NordVPN that they are a no log VPN and if any authority requested a user’s online activity history, we’re 100% confident that NordVPN have no data to hand over. You can also pay for NordVPN using cryptocurrencies (one of the few who allow this) if you want to withhold your payment information.
Jurisdiction
Located in Israel, it initially sets some alarm bells ringing, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that from May 2018 when Israel’s new Privacy Protection Regulations came into effect, it’s actually not a bad country to be based. Israeli law protects information security under the Protection of Privacy Law (PPL), and their Supreme Court limits authorities’ power to invade privacy. In summary, it’s all good and you’re in as good a set of hands as any!
Take the location away and they still offer a strong no logs policy so even if for any reason the government or an international data sharing scheme did come knocking, they’d have nothing to hand over other than time stamps and amounts of data transmitted.
The verdict
SaferVPN would be a smart choice for a whole host of users, but we stick to our opinion that this VPN offers a great entry for those looking to try out the benefits a VPN has to offer.
Using their app is as simple as it gets, and users are fully protected at all times with impressive features like auto wi-fi protection when joining public wi-fi, as well as through their built-in kill switch which as our readers will know, is a vital addition to any VPN these days.
Whether you’re a gamer looking for low latency, or a casual user looking to unblock great geo-restricted content such as the US Netflix store or BBC iPlayer, you won’t be disappointed. Impressive speeds and no bandwidth or download caps.
Yes, when torrenting you’re limited to only 3 servers at present, and server locations are small but adequate, but this VPN offers great overall performance and ticks a great selection of what’s needed to make an excellent VPN.
Melvyn and the team at comparemyvpn.com had a pretty successful experience all round when testing SaferVPN and would have no hesitation recommending to our users!