AirVPN is a service that offers strong security features that rival the top VPNs in the market.
This Italian-VPN provider’s story is that it was set up by “activists and hackers” to maintain users’ privacy. It also employs excellent encryption and safety measures and offers privacy-enhancing features (such as VPN over SSL and VPN over TOR).
Cursory research shows a drastic division in reviews. Some claim its speeds are unimpressive; others praise the VPN for its server options for relatively low prices. Let’s not waste time; let’s review and find out for ourselves what AirVPN has to offer.
AirVPN Specs & Offers
| VPN Name | AirVPN |
|---|---|
| Leak Test | No Leaks |
| Logging Policy | No Logs |
| Speed | Average |
| Torrenting | Torrenting & P2P Allowed |
| Netflix | Unblocks Netflix |
| Jurisdiction | Inside Fourteen Eyes |
| Servers / Countries | 209 / 19 |
| Max Connections | 5 |
| Kill Switch | Does Not Have Kill Switch |
| Anonymous Payment Methods | Crypto |
| Free Trial | Not Available |
| Refunds | 30 Days (Conditional) |
| Customer Support | Email, Forums |
| Price Starting From | $5.16 |
AirVPN Pros
Netflix Test: Works on every server we tested
For Netflix users looking for a VPN that lets them access geo-restricted content, this VPN might just be for you.
There are some who claim they couldn’t get by the Netflix proxy restrictions. With low expectations, we tested it out ourselves and surprisingly found ourselves streaming Netflix.
With the three servers we tested (Hong Kong, USA, and Germany), that bright red logo found its way onto our screen without a hitch.
But for some reason if it doesn’t work for you, here are some best VPNs that work with Netflix.
Torrenting Policy: No restrictions to torrents
Netflix access and torrenting? Could it really be true? Torrent addicts rejoice; AirVPN doesn’t have a single restriction when it comes to P2P connections.
Many VPN companies have started retracting open policies when it comes to torrenting as it can put them at risk of serious copyright lawsuits if their users are found to be doing less-than-legal downloading.
AirVPN doesn’t seem to care about any of that. AirVPN made sure that P2P and other protocols are allowed, claiming that they “do not discriminate against any protocol.”
In fact, they allow unlimited torrenting on all their servers! Sweet!
Avid torrenter? You might want to take a look at the top 10 VPNs that support torrenting.
Payment Methods: Plenty of ways to pay
If you’ve got money in your account, payment methods will be the least of your worries; you can pay in just about anything, with AirVPN.
They’ve got the usual Credit Card, PayPal, Visa, and Master Card options. But they don’t stop there; they also accept bitcoins and gift vouchers. Their cryptocurrency options are extensive, and one of the lengthiest options we’ve ever seen. It even updates daily.
Kudos, AirVPN, for such a strong offering! This kind of availability rivals that of NordVPN and Trust.Zone.
Device Compatibility: Everything you could want a VPN on
If you’d like to get your money’s worth by connecting all your devices to your chosen VPN, then this one could help you get the job done.
AirVPN covers all major platforms such as Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, even Chrome.
But that’s not all they have, as they’ve expanded their platform to support DD-WRT, Tomato, TOR, SSH Tunnel, and SSL Tunnel.
You can connect to 5 devices simultaneously, but bear in mind connecting a router will expand that to as many as your network can handle.
Sign Up Process: 3 easy steps to VPN usage
To sign up to their service, first, you create an account. All you need to do is to provide an email, username, and password.
That’s it. It’s fast and simple.
Next up, pick the plan you want to subscribe to. Choose which method you prefer to use from the wide range of payment methods offered. When the transaction is done, you’ll receive an email to your account welcoming you to their service. Lastly, choose your setup. Download the application, log in, and voila! You’re good to go. It’s easy and fast – exactly the way we like to see sign-ups.
Product Documentation: A community forum
Now if you’ve got questions regarding their service but don’t want to go through the hassle of emailing their representatives, you can browse the community forum.
It has all the most basic and common concerns that users might encounter when using the service. It helps you to troubleshoot and set up. It even teaches you to use their service itself. Their page also answers questions regarding billing, account upgrades, and questions before purchasing their service.
On top of this, they also have blogs, news, announcement, FAQs, how-to articles, and databases open for their users. As you can see, plenty of information to be had on all manner of VPN-related topics.
IP and DNS Leak Test: No leaks!
Other users have claimed that their IP and DNS address has leaked a few times while using this VPN.
We tested it ourselves and here are the results:
Great news; no leaks!
It’s always good to get second opinions of course, so maybe ask around, see if other’s experiences match ours.
Encryption: Super strong security
AirVPN utilizes the AES-256-CC encryption; they’re using the sort of encryption that is certified by the National Security Agency.
It takes a stupid amount of power and an equally ridiculous amount of time to break this encryption; hackers who plan to get through might as well wait for the sun to stop burning – they’re going to be waiting a while.
HMAC-SHA1 further strengthens data integrity and the authenticity of a message’s transactions for even more protection.
AirVPN Neutral Points
Servers and Locations: A few hundred servers or so
AirVPN started out with only two servers and has since grown to 209 servers across 19 countries. Compared to some providers, this is not a lot but does cover the most popular locations.
AirVPN claims the small list is because of its strict server placement requirements. It says simply adding servers would be “…in disrespect of service quality and customers’ security.”
True as that may be, there are other VPN services that provide more servers and still deliver quality and security.
Pricing & Plans: About what you’d expect
AirVPN gives you five subscription options. Their five plans basically give you the same features, and only differs in terms of price depending on the length of the subscription.
Located in Italy, AirVPN bases its pricing in euros. Rather so, the rates are not bad. It’s affordable.
Since they don’t offer a free trial, the least amount of time you can get is three days which would cost you €1. A handy cheap way to test whether AirVPN offers what you need. More VPN services should practice this kind of method if they don’t offer a free trial account.
Now if you’re looking for a plan that would save you a bit more money, you can get their one-year subscription costing €54 (around $60), or around $5.10 per month on average.
Refund policy: 30 days to make a decision, with a 3-day catch
AirVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all their plans, so long as you haven’t used the service for more than 3 days after purchasing.
That is why AirVPN strongly encourages its users to test the free service first before buying a plan.
An important thing to take note of is that you should not have used more than 5GB of data, or else you won’t be eligible for a refund.
Product Interface: Basic, but gets the job done
We’ve got to say AirVPN has a basic but user-friendly interface.
After installing the app on your device, this is how it looks:
It’s nothing flashy; there’s no sexy UI to welcome you; that said, it’s simple enough for anyone to get started using its services.
Simply log in using the VPN credentials given to you. Remember, in order to log in you should have purchased a subscription first. You can buy their 3-day premium for just 1 euro.
After logging in, you’ll then be directed to this page where you can select which server you want to connect to. Once you’ve connected to a server, you’ll see this screen:
If ever you want to configure the application just click on the settings icon in the lower-left corner of the app, and it will take you to the preferences page where you can change all the behind-the-scenes options.
Customer Support: No live support, but a strong service nonetheless
If you need some assistance, AirVPN community is one of the strong points in the service. We reached out for free trial request and they promptly replied in less than 24 hours.
Support can mainly be experienced via AirVPN’s extensive forums. The threads vary from easy to technical; however, kudos to AirVPN team for their willingness to explain trivial and complex details.
In addition to participating in the forum, you can email AirVPN directly for assistance and support.
Alas, no live support, but still a great couple of ways to get what help you need to use AirVPN well.
Logging Policy: Data collected but not sent (hmm…)
AirVPN claims to have a “No Logging” policy, but we know this isn’t always true.
They say they only acquire personal data which is strictly necessary for the technical functioning of the service i.e. IP addresses. They say that that data acquired is not transmitted to third parties. Sketchy as it may sound, AirVPN’s Privacy Policy states that “Data is deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary.”
Sounds questionable; we’d prefer they collect nothing at all, but some VPNs do check your IP address or use a token system to ensure the right user is logging in, and account-sharing, etc isn’t taking place. Because it’s a vague claim to logging, we’re sticking this in the Neutral pile. Make of their policy what you will.
AirVPN Cons
VPN Speed and Performance: Extremely disappointing
This VPN really disappointed us when it came to server speeds, as the results we got were far from impressive.
AirVPN will not be making it onto any Fastest VPN lists anytime soon.
On the homepage, they state that they will allocate a minimum of 4 Mbit up/down which isn’t much to begin with. Our test resulted in 1.98 Mbps down and 0.42 Mbps up.
So while they told the truth about the allocated resources, it’s still difficult to get fast speeds it seems.
Kill Switch: Alas, no kill switch
Kill switches are a safety mechanism that secures your real IP address by giving you an option to sever the connection immediately in an event of a disconnection from the VPN. This is a handy emergency tool that we believe every VPN should have – especially those VPNs with hefty price tags.
There is no known built-in kill switch for AirVPN. While the VPN may be secure, it is still an unnecessary concern that can be resolved by adding this feature.
We hope AirVPN adds this feature soon.
AirVPN as a Business
Created by hacktivists, AirVPN’s creators claim they know exactly what you need to be protected from and give you just that.
Jurisdiction
AirVPN is based in Italy, land of fine wine, cheese, and a member of the 14 Eyes Alliance.
Unfortunately, no matter how tight the security of AirVPN is, since it is based in a county part of this mass surveillance agreement, your information, if collected, may still be demanded by the government.
The government may then use it and share it with other countries who are participating in this alliance:
- The United States
- The UK
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Denmark
- France
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Germany
- Spain
- Belgium
- Sweden
AirVPN Conclusion: Acceptable, but you can find better
There’s no arguing that AirVPN is not sitting at the top of our VPN list and that you could find better. But with its strong security policy and user-friendly service, it can compete. It’s a decent VPN service with a great protection system and some nice features.
It has a few issues, yes. The interface is extremely dated, the speeds are sluggish, and server count is a little low for our tastes.
All things considered, there’s a lot to like about AirVPN, providing you can look past their shortcomings.
You can, however, find a better service, for less, with more to offer. Feel free to give it a go – for 1 euro, it’s not a risky investment – but you can definitely find more for less elsewhere.
Leave a Reply