Is Surfshark the best cheap VPN? Our in-depth Surfshark review for 2025 tests its speeds, CleanWeb ad blocker, and streaming on Netflix—all on unlimited devices.
Surfshark Review (2025): The Best-Value VPN for Unlimited Devices?
In a market dominated by established giants, Surfshark has rapidly made a name for itself by offering a compelling proposition: premium features at a budget-friendly price. But its true headline feature—unlimited simultaneous connections—raises a critical question for this Surfshark review: does it cut corners to offer such incredible value? We’ve conducted a deep dive into every aspect of the service for 2025, from its server infrastructure and speed performance to its controversial jurisdiction in the Netherlands. This review will determine if Surfshark is genuinely the best-value VPN for families, tech enthusiasts, and anyone looking to protect all their devices without breaking the bank.
Table of Contents
- Quick Verdict: Pros & Cons
- In-Depth Security & Privacy Review
- Speed & Performance Tests
- Streaming Performance Review
- Torrenting & P2P Performance
- Review of Extra Features
- User Experience & Device Compatibility
- Surfshark Pricing & Plans
- Final Verdict: Is Surfshark Worth It?
Surfshark Review: A Quick Verdict
For those in a hurry, our comprehensive Surfshark review concludes that it offers phenomenal value for money. Its standout feature of unlimited connections, combined with a low long-term price and a robust feature set, makes it an almost unbeatable deal. While its jurisdiction raises questions and speeds can dip on distant servers, these are minor trade-offs for the incredible value provided.
- Unlimited Simultaneous Connections: Protect every device in your household with a single subscription.
- Incredibly Affordable: One of the cheapest long-term plans from any top-tier VPN provider.
- Powerful CleanWeb Feature: Effectively blocks ads, trackers, and malicious websites.
- Great for Streaming: Reliably unblocks numerous Netflix libraries and other popular streaming services.
- Feature-Rich: Includes advanced tools like split tunneling, multi-hop, and GPS spoofing on Android.
- Netherlands Jurisdiction: Headquartered in a 9-Eyes country, which can be a concern for privacy purists.
- Inconsistent Long-Distance Speeds: While local speeds are fast, connections to distant servers can be slower than top competitors.
- Fewer Servers Than Rivals: Has a smaller server network compared to providers like NordVPN.
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In-Depth Security & Privacy Review
A central part of this Surfshark VPN review is a critical examination of its privacy policies and security features, especially given its controversial jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction: Netherlands (A 9-Eyes Member)
Surfshark is headquartered in the Netherlands, a country that is a member of the 9-Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. This is a legitimate concern for privacy advocates, as member countries can theoretically compel companies to share user data with other member nations. However, this risk is substantially mitigated by two crucial factors: Surfshark’s server technology and its independently audited logging policy.
RAM-Only Servers and Audited No-Logs Policy
Like other top providers, Surfshark’s entire network of 3,200+ servers is RAM-only. This means data is never written to a hard drive and is wiped with every server reboot, making it impossible to store long-term logs. More importantly, Surfshark adheres to a strict no-logs policy, which has been independently audited and verified by the major accounting firm Deloitte. The audit confirmed that Surfshark does not collect or store your IP address, browsing history, or any other personally identifiable activity. In short, even if the Dutch government were to request user data, Surfshark’s infrastructure ensures there would be no meaningful data to provide.
Encryption and Protocols
Surfshark uses industry-standard AES-256 encryption to secure your data, which is considered unbreakable. It offers the three leading protocols: WireGuard (the default for best performance), OpenVPN, and IKEv2. This combination of strong encryption and modern protocols ensures your connection is both fast and secure from any third-party snooping.
Speed & Performance Tests
Our Surfshark review involved extensive speed testing to see if its budget price comes at the cost of performance. For the most part, Surfshark delivers impressive speeds, especially on nearby servers.
Local and International Speed Results
On our 100Mbps test connection, a local US server using the WireGuard protocol gave us an average download speed of 95Mbps. This is an excellent result, on par with premium providers and more than fast enough for any online activity. However, we did notice more of a drop-off on long-distance connections compared to NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Our connection to a server in Australia averaged around 75Mbps. While still fast enough for HD streaming, this inconsistency on distant servers is a minor drawback.
| VPN | Local Speed (US) | International Average |
|---|---|---|
| Surfshark | 95 Mbps | 83 Mbps |
| NordVPN | 96 Mbps | 86 Mbps |
| ExpressVPN | 97 Mbps | 85 Mbps |
Streaming Performance Review
Surfshark is an excellent choice for streaming. It successfully unblocked nearly every platform we tested it against, making it a reliable tool for accessing global content libraries.
Netflix and Other Major Platforms
In our tests for this Surfshark review, it reliably unblocked over **15 different Netflix libraries**, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. It also worked seamlessly with Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer. We experienced no buffering and videos loaded quickly in full HD. For a VPN at this price point, its streaming performance is exceptional.
Torrenting & P2P Performance
Surfshark is a solid choice for torrenting. It allows P2P traffic on almost all of its servers and provides good speeds for downloading large files. Its security features, including a kill switch, AES-256 encryption, and a strict no-logs policy, ensure your torrenting activity remains private and hidden from your ISP. While the kill switch has been reported to be inconsistent in some past third-party tests, we experienced no issues during our review period.
Review of Extra Features
For a budget VPN, Surfshark is packed with an impressive number of useful features that are often only found in more expensive services.
- CleanWeb: This is one of the best built-in ad blockers we’ve tested. It’s a DNS-level blocker that effectively removes ads, trackers, and malware links not just in your browser, but across all apps on your device.
- Bypasser (Split Tunneling): Surfshark’s split tunneling feature works well, allowing you to select specific apps or websites to bypass the VPN connection. This is useful for accessing local network devices or apps that are incompatible with VPNs.
- GPS Spoofing (Android Only): This is a unique and powerful feature not offered by most competitors. It automatically matches your device’s GPS location to the location of your chosen VPN server, which is essential for tricking location-aware mobile apps like Pokémon GO or sports betting apps.
- MultiHop & IP Rotator: Surfshark offers standard multi-hop servers that route your traffic through two VPN locations for extra security. It also has a Dynamic IP Rotator that periodically changes your IP address during a session without disconnecting you, making you even harder to track.
User Experience & Device Compatibility
Surfshark’s apps are clean, modern, and easy to navigate, making them suitable for beginners. But its true advantage in user experience is its industry-leading device connection policy.
Apps and Unlimited Connections
The apps are consistent across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, featuring a simple connect button and easy access to all features. But the standout feature of this entire Surfshark review is its **unlimited simultaneous connections**. You can install and use Surfshark on every phone, laptop, tablet, and smart TV in your household with a single account. This offers incredible value and makes it the default best choice for families or individuals with a large number of devices.
Surfshark Pricing & Plans
Surfshark’s primary selling point is its aggressive and highly competitive pricing on long-term plans.
Best Value: 2-Year Plan
Starts at $1.99/month
+ 3 Months Free
All plans are backed by a no-hassle 30-day money-back guarantee. Claim This Deal Now
This pricing makes it one of the most affordable top-tier VPNs on the market. When you factor in the unlimited device connections, the value proposition becomes almost impossible to beat. Payment options include credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and cryptocurrencies.
Final Verdict: Is Surfshark Worth It?
After a complete analysis for this Surfshark review, our verdict is a definitive **yes**. It is, without a doubt, the best-value VPN on the market in 2025. While the Netherlands jurisdiction is a valid theoretical concern, it is effectively mitigated by the company’s audited no-logs policy and RAM-only server infrastructure.
For a price that is often less than a cup of coffee per month, you get fast speeds, robust security, great streaming performance, a powerful ad blocker, and the ability to protect an unlimited number of devices. For large families, students, or anyone seeking a feature-rich VPN on a budget, Surfshark isn’t just a good choice—it’s the smartest choice available.
