Astrill VPN vs IPVanish (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Astrill VPN if

• Fits if you need a VPN with a stealth protocol for restrictive networks
• Works for people who want port forwarding and a kill switch

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you buy monthly: $30 against $12.50 a month on two years
• Not for you if you want to try it first: no free plan or trial, and all sales are final
• Watch out: the pricing page says unlimited devices in a household while the homepage says up to 5 at once
• Watch out: the terms bar use from a list of restricted jurisdictions
• Not for you if you want everything in the price: some features are paid add-ons

Pick IPVanish if

• Fits if your household has more devices than a capped VPN allows
• Works for putting the VPN on an Apple TV or Fire TV

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you stay past the first term, as Essential renews at $99.99 a year after $52.56 for two years
• Watch out: the homepage says Complete renews at $109.99, but the renewal page lists $57.48 or $66.96
• Skip it if you want a browser extension, as IPVanish doesn't make one
• Not for you if you want to try it on a computer, as the free trial is in the phone apps only, length not stated
• Tight if you pay monthly, at $14.99, as cancelling a monthly plan gets no refund

Astrill VPN

• The refund policy says all sales are final; the shortest plan is suggested as the way to try the service.
• The pricing page says unlimited devices in a household, while the homepage says up to 5 devices at once.
• The monthly plan is $30, and the yearly and two-year plans work out to $15 and $12.50 a month.
• Astrill's terms bar use from a list of restricted jurisdictions, and a separate Business VPN plan is sold per account.

IPVanish

• Advertised prices cover the first term only; per the homepage, plans renew yearly at $99.99, $109.99 or $129.99.
• IPVanish's renewal price page lists Complete at $57.48 or $66.96 a year, matching its first-term prices and not the homepage's $109.99.
• The 30-day money-back guarantee covers yearly and 2-year plans; cancelling a monthly plan does not start a refund.
• There is no browser extension; the free trial is offered only in the mobile apps.

Astrill VPN

StealthVPN and OpenWeb

Astrill's own protocols, built for networks that try to identify VPN traffic, alongside OpenVPN and WireGuard.

Smart mode

Routes chosen sites with a regional IP address and the rest through the VPN, which Astrill says keeps speeds up.

App filter and kill switch

Choose to tunnel all apps, only selected apps, or all except some; the desktop app also has a kill switch and App Guard.

Network

The homepage lists 142 cities in 56 countries, unlimited bandwidth and no logs, and says Bitcoin is accepted.

Port forwarding and VPN sharing

Port forwarding on selected servers, and sharing the VPN from a PC to other devices on a network.

Paid add-ons

A private IP on a chosen server is $5 a month each; a VIP add-on with prioritized traffic and multi-hop starts at $10 a month for 100 GB.

IPVanish

Unmetered devices

IPVanish does not count simultaneous connections or installs, so one account can cover every device in a household.

Threat Protection

Blocks ads, trackers and malicious websites while the VPN is connected. Included on every plan.

Double Hop, split tunneling and Dedicated IP

Double Hop passes traffic through two VPN servers, and split tunneling lets chosen sites and apps skip the VPN. A Dedicated IP add-on gives a fixed address in New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt or Tokyo.

WireGuard and OpenVPN

The apps connect over WireGuard or OpenVPN, under a no-traffic-logs policy that IPVanish says is independently verified.

Antivirus on Complete and Advanced

Real-time scanning for malware and phishing sites with background checks for suspicious activity, sold as IPVanish Antivirus.

Cloud backup and Secure Browser

Advanced adds 1TB of encrypted cloud backup with automatic syncing, and a sandboxed browser that deletes session data when closed.

Astrill VPN

• 2 Years$300

  for 2 years, billed every 2 years

  Shown as $12.50 a month with 58% off a crossed-out $720; the page gives no end date for the reduction.

• 1 Year$180

  per year, billed every year

  Shown as $15 a month with 50% off a crossed-out $360; the page gives no end date for the reduction.

• 1 Month$30

  per month, billed monthly

  Billed $30 every month with no saving.

IPVanish

• Essential, 2 years$99.99

  per year at renewal, after a first term of 2 years

  VPN, Threat Protection and 3GB of eSIM data on unlimited devices. The first 2 years cost $52.56 ($2.19 a month), then it renews each year at $99.99.

• Essential, 1 year$99.99

  per year at renewal, after a first year for $46.68

  The same Essential plan. The first year costs $46.68 ($3.89 a month), then it renews each year at $99.99.

• Essential, 1 month$14.99

  per month

  The same Essential plan, renewing monthly at $14.99.

• Complete, 2 years$109.99

  per year at renewal, after a first term of 2 years

  Adds antivirus and phone support. First 2 years $66.96 ($2.79 a month). Also $57.48 for a first year, or $15.99 a month.

• Advanced, 2 years$129.99

  per year at renewal, after a first term of 2 years

  Adds 1TB of cloud backup, the Secure Browser and 2GB more eSIM data. First 2 years $78.96. Also $64.68 for a first year, or $17.99 a month.

Astrill VPN

• Annual discount

  Save 50% on the 1 Year plan, 58% on 2 Years

  The pricing page shows the 1 Year plan at $180 against a crossed-out $360, and the 2 Years plan at $300 against $720.

IPVanish

• Other savings

  First 2 years of a 2-year plan from $52.56

  Essential costs $52.56, Complete $66.96 and Advanced $78.96 for the first 2 years. The plans then renew every 12 months at $99.99, $109.99 and $129.99.

• Other savings

  First year of a 1-year plan from $46.68

  Essential costs $46.68, Complete $57.48 and Advanced $64.68 for the first year, before renewing yearly at the regular price.