In the digital world, not everything is free as one might think. You have to earn the freedom to get what you want, and in most cases, you end up paying a large sum of money for the services. That’s how the world operates. Other times, free content comes with unwanted gifts such as advertisements, trackers and other internet related vulnerabilities. To avoid that and get the services for free, all you need is a VPN. And in this case the SurfEasy VPN. You might have probably heard it if you know the Opera browser but SurfEasy VPN is not the same as Opera VPN. People usually confuse this, but SurfEasy is located in Canada and owned by US-based Opera.
- PROS
- Easy-to-use
- Allows torrents
- Supports most platforms
- Seven-day money-back guarantee
- Excellent speeds
- No IPv6 and DNS leaks
- CONS
- Doesn’t unblock other countries
- Owned by a US company
- Data retention laws apply
- No kill switch
Features
A good VPN is equipped with features that deliver its said services, and that’s what SurfEasy VPN is strong at. Here are its features;
Functional features include a strict no logging policy, this means that SurfEasy does not collect or store your browsing activities such as downloading, sites visited and other related activities. SurfEasy says they won’t even know what you’re up to. But since its located in Canada and owned by a US company, it can be subpoenaed to reveal your details, laws in these countries are privacy-invading. In fact, it’s clearly outlined in their privacy policy, “SurfEasy is required to comply with law enforcement where subpoenas, warrants or other legal documents have been provided. We may collect and disclose personal information, including your usage data, to governmental authorities or agencies, including law enforcement agencies, at their request or pursuant to a court order, subpoena or other legal process, if there is a good faith belief that such collection or disclosure is required by law.” If you are privacy cautious, this might not be a VPN for you.
In terms of security, SurfEasy offers a bank-grade encryption system; the golden standard for VPNs. That’s the OpenVPN protocols coupled with the AES-256 encryption. With this standard, its impossible for someone to hack into your tunnel and get your encrypted info. They also have a one-click IP masking, with this feature, you can switch your location with just a tap.
One of their best features is secure torrenting. This feature comes with an auto enable protection but there’s a catch. In order for you to enjoy the world of torrents, you need to be on their Ultra VPN plan. Among its features is also an enhanced tracker blocker; no more bother from advertisers using cookies to determine what you might want even though you don’t want it. To avoid VPN usage limits, its recommended to subscribe to one of the paid plans for an unlimited data plan.
SurfEasy has no serious compatibility issues as it supports major computers services namely; Mac, Windows, Android, iOS and Amazon clients. It also offers browser extensions for Opera and Google Chrome. They also have a friendly Canadian support team available 7 days a week to help you out. Moreover, the VPN service is 99.9% up almost all the time.
Pricing
Like most VPNs SurfEasy has three pricing plans; Starter, Total and Ultra plans divided into two categories, monthly and annually. The monthly plans are expensive while the annual plans are cheap due to high discounts. In both plans, the Starter plan is freemium but comes with bandwidth limitations, 500MB at most. The other two plans have no bandwidth limitations, but the Ultra is better as it offers most functionalities such as torrenting and more server locations. The annual plan is most popular with the Total plan going for $3.99 per month, and the Ultra goes for $6.49 per month. They also have a 7-day money-back guarantee.
How to install
For easy installation, all you need is to register an account, and by that, you get a free trial and access to what SurfEasy has to offer. The user dashboard has access to downloadable clients for different platforms, stats, upgrade page and an FAQ. After a download. Follow basic installation instructions, and you will get the following. Their desktop client is simple, straightforward and swift. It has minimum settings, and other miscellaneous such as how to earn more bandwidth, usage stats, and a list of countries to connect to. The main window has a map with other four functionalities. The mobile clients are also sleek and simple to use. If you are new to VPNs, SurfEasy makes the process easy as it needs minimal user input.
- Supported Platforms>
- Android
- Apple
- MAC
- Windows
Speed and overall performance
SurfEasy has stellar speeds for quick web browsing and torrenting. With the speeds, you can stream easily but not geo-blocked content such as Netflix and BBC iplayer; it doesn’t work well at times. But it’s perfect for US and Canadian Netflix. Despite this letdown, it doesn’t allow DNS leak and IPv6 leaks.
Server location
SurfEasy has over 1000 servers located in 28 different countries. Total plan members only get access to servers in 16 countries.
Summary
If you are looking for speed, torrents and you are not tight about your privacy, SurfEasy is your VPN. It’s easy to use, and it’s not that costly. If you don’t have a lot to do on the net, their freemium version is an ideal choice; you will also like their interface.
