Ivacy VPN Review: A Detailed Look

Image Screenshot from Ivacy.com

Like anywhere else, you tend to get what you pay for in the world of VPNs.

Image from Ivacy.com

Ivacy defies this rule, if only slightly.

Ivacy is a ten-year-old VPN service that offers powerful features at budget prices. It is intuitive enough for new VPN users to find their way and offers secure features experienced users with specific needs will love.

Although it is small and remains unknown, Ivacy’s feature list and security promise pack a punch. It offers only 500 servers, but those servers receive special treatment for unblocking content, P2P file sharing, and more.

At the same time, Ivacy’s speeds leave something to be desired.

Is Ivacy worth the trade-off between features and performance? Keep reading our full Ivacy review to find out.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Multi-platform including game consoles
• Allows torrenting
• Connects to Netflix and Hulu
• 24/7 customer support with live chat
• Five devices at once
• No logging activity
• Accepts Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

Cons

• Less than 500 servers
• Need to contact customer service for trial options

Who Is Ivacy?

Ivacy is a little-known VPN provider operating out of Singapore. It began offering VPN services in 2007 as part of PMG Private Limited.

We know relatively little about Ivacy and its parent company PMG. Unlike avid marketers, like ExpressVPN, the firm doesn’t make bold claims or tout its achievements far and wide. Its low profile is strange because it piloted the idea of split unkneeling, which allows users more control over what they send to their VPN and what they allow to go to their ISP.

However, there was a recent breakthrough for both Ivacy’s profile and the way we see the company. Ivacy won the Fastest VPN Award held at the 2019 BestVPN.com awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is a stunning endorsement. It also earned features in popular tech publications including TechCrunch, TechRadar, Lifehacker, TorrentFreak, TechInAsia, and Geektime.

Compatibility

Ivacy offers compatibility with a vast range of devices that’s impressive given its lack of brand recognition. You can use Ivacy on the following operating systems:

• Windows
• Mac OS
• Android
• iOS (including iPhone and iPad)
• Routers
• Linux
• Kodi

• Roku
• BlackBerry
• Xbox One
• PS4
• Smart TV
• Raspberry Pi
• Amazon Fire TV and Firestick

With this huge range of compatibility and dedicated apps, it’s clear to see why Ivacy has a loyal fan base.

Features

Ivacy claims to be a one-size-fits-all VPN that avoids the problems other VPNs tend to rack up.

It claims to allow you to torrent anonymously, stream entertainment from any location, protect your data, and prevent third-party tracking and spying.

When you install it, you can enjoy logins on as many as five devices simultaneously so that you can run it on your phone, computer, and gaming console all at once.

You also have the option to switch between each of Ivacy’s servers as many times as you like without limits. However, you shouldn’t have to because Ivacy provides you directions to the server that best suits your browsing or downloading needs.

The helping hand provided is the Smart Purpose Selection feature. If you are new to VPNs or you aren’t sure you ever used them correctly, you can use the feature to configure your VPN according to your needs in only a few clicks.

Ivacy also offers an Internet Kill Switch, which is a critical feature missing from inexpensive VPNs. A kill switch shuts down your internet connection if your VPN connection drops. By doing so, it prevents all the privacy and security issues that come with surfing the internet unprotected. Dropped connections also give geo-blocked content notice that there’s an unauthorized viewer and gets in the way of your access.

Now, let’s talk about the three features we believe add the most value to Ivacy: split tunneling, the dedicated IP address subscription, and the NAT firewall.

Split Tunneling

Another feature we find useful is split tunneling. It allows you to route traffic as you see fit to protect what you need and leave what you don’t. For example, you can route your banking transactions through a VPN but leave your Twitter connection where it is.

We find the split tunneling particularly useful when you want to use a picky service like PayPal. PayPal picks up VPN logins and treats them suspiciously, which makes logging in painful and increases the risk of seeing your account locked for security risks. By using split tunneling, you can avoid the security trips without turning off your VPN entirely.

Dedicated IP Address

Finally, you can also sign up for a dedicated IP VPN, which provides you with a personal IP address for extra security.

Dedicated IP addresses give you more control when you surf. When you connect to any old server, you receive a random IP address that you share with other users. Although its standard practice and secure, it’s also an excellent way to get banned or kicked out of a website if someone else using the same IP address violates the terms.

Essentially, your dedicated IP address is yours and yours alone. It offers the benefits of a VPN, but it also sets you apart from any IP addresses associated with fraud. It also gets you past the robot traps that VPN IP addresses tend to trigger, which makes surfing simpler.

A shared IP is also less susceptible to detection by on-demand streaming. If you previously tried a VPN that only unlocked Hulu or Netflix sometimes, it might be the result of excessive connections thanks to a shared IP address. Using your own IP fixes that problem.

One of the most poignant reasons to choose a dedicated IP is the home security camera privacy risk. Home security cameras come with security flaws, but if you run it on your dedicated IP, you restrict the live feed to a single IP address, which also happens to require two-factor authentication. It adds a whole new level of security.

Network Address Translation (NAT) Firewall

Like the private IP address, the NAT firewall is an added feature that will cost you an extra $1 a month on a two-year Ivacy plan.

The firewall adds an extra level of security without any new software because Ivacy deploys it from its own servers. The firewall blocks inbound traffic and bad data packets to protect your devices from all kinds of attacks.

You’ll typically want a firewall like this if you find yourself the subject of hack attacks or frequent attempts at planting malware. However, you may also find your router runs a firewall on your behalf, but the firewall is an excellent idea if you run the VPN on your mobile devices.

Ivacy isn’t the only VPN to offer this protection. You can also get it from high-end VPNs like NordVPN. At the same time, Ivacy is small and requires low subscription fees, so adding the feature speaks to the company’s commitment to security.

Performance

Ivacy offers 450+ servers in 100 locations, and it never limits your speed connection. It also claims to be one of the fastest VPNs currently available.

The server figure is strikingly small compared to competitors both large and small, which operate thousands of servers each.

At the same time, the number of servers offered shouldn’t put you off entirely, mainly if you engage in P2P file sharing. Whereas other VPNs block torrenting entirely or offer only poor performance, Ivacy optimized its servers for P2P servers.

To connect to those servers, you’ll need to choose P2P servers located in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, the UK, Brunei, the UAE, Saudi Araba, Pakistan, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Seychelles, the USA and Canada.

Optimized North American servers is a huge benefit for the price you pay, which is only a fraction of VPNs like NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

Where else are the servers? You can connect to:

• Canada
• United States
• Australia
• New Zealand
• United Kingdom

• Sweden
• France
• Panama
• Turkey
• Romania

• Germany
• China
• Switzerland
• Poland
• Russia

• Hong Kong
• United Arab Emirates

You can see the full list of countries here.

What are the speeds like? It takes a while to connect—much longer than its competitors. Windows, in particular, spends up to a minute allocating an IP address. Expect to keep up to 38 percent of your base speed overall, which isn’t the worst speed but also doesn’t deserve a gold medal.

The VPN can drop, especially if your base speeds are slow or you try to connect to a distance server. You need to turn the killswitch on manually or it will expose you, so you should be sure to take care of that before connecting.

Speeds tend to be inconsistent and typically follow the guidance that closer servers are faster and connecting in Asia or the South Pacific will result in speeds so slow that you’ll think you never connected at all.

However, Asian servers are almost entirely unusable, so if you want a VPN to access geo-restricted content in Asia, then you’ll want to steer clear of Ivacy.

Security

Ivacy offers all the major protocols including:

• OpenVPN
• SSTP
• PPTP
• L2TP
• IKEv2

Before you get too excited, know that not servers support all security protocols, so you’ll need to choose wisely if it’s important to you.

In addition to covering the above protocols, Ivacy also provides the DNS feature as an add-on. However, the most clever security feature is the IPv6 Leak protection. While not everyone is on IPv6 yet, the lack of updates leads to IPv6 leaks, which constitute a security risk. Ivacy pins down all IPv6 traffic and forces it through the VPN, which prevents any leaks.

Privacy

Ivacy’s privacy policy is clear and transparent.

The company says right away that it operates a no logging policy. That means, it does not collect any of the following data:

• Connections
• VPN IPs
• Original IPs
• Browsing activity and history
• Connection times
• DNS queries
• Outgoing traffic

At the same time, Ivacy does collect some data. It says it needs to use some data to help users searching for a dedicated IP address and troubleshooting. The company says the information collected isn’t sensitive, but it does require collection.

The only information you need to provide is your name, an email address, and a payment method. However, Ivacy accepts Bitcoin payments so that you can pay anonymously, too.

If you are particularly privacy conscious and worry about government requests, you should find yourself reassured by the no logging policy.

However, Ivacy does not explicitly state that it does not provide anything to authorities upon requests. Ivacy can’t hand over anything it doesn’t collect (like browsing history), but it theoretically can and would confirm or deny that your email address is attached to a subscription.

Customer Service

Unlike other services, Ivacy doesn’t use a tier system for its customer support, so you get full access regardless of whether you sign up for a full year or just a month.

Customer support is easy to reach out to, and you can do it from every page on the site through the small chat bubble found in the bottom-right side of the page.

We love live chat because it’s far faster than waiting around for an email and a subsequent response. We have a feeling that the chat service is an outsourced service staffed by non-native English speakers, but the agents are competent, and given the price, we are glad they run a chat function at all.

Pricing

Image Screenshot from Ivacy.com

Like all VPNs, Ivacy’s VPN service is at its most competitive when you purchase a two-year subscription.

A monthly plan costs $9.95 per month and a total of $119.40 per year.

You can buy a whole year for $40 right off the bat, which costs only $3.33 per month and save 66 percent on your purchase.

The price offered for a two-year subscription is one of the best on the net. Two years of IVacy costs $54 total, or $27 per year or $2.25 per month.

When you pay, you can do so through a considerable number of options, which protects privacy enthusiasts and those who live in countries where hiding their payment is essential. You can pay with your credit or debit card, PayPal, or a range of coin payments.

You can also choose Perfect Money or Paymentwall.

Offers and Guarantees

Ivacy rarely offers a free trial, which is one of the issues we take with the service. Offering a free 30-day trial to make sure you can get the most from the service is fairly straightforward, and it isn’t a hallmark of small VPNs.

Technically, Ivacy offers a 30 guarantee for one-year subscriptions and a 7-day guarantee for a one month account.

However, you can only access the refunds if:

• Claim your refund within 30 days (or 7 days)
• Never claimed a refund from Ivacy previously
• Never breaches the terms of service
• Paid in any form other than Bitcoin or other coin related payments

To claim your refund, you need to email Ivacy and provide your username and a reason for canceling your subscription. If your refund request is valid, then Ivacy processes it within 48 hours, but credit cards may take longer to process (on the credit card company’s end).

Does Ivacy Work with Netflix?

Yes—Ivacy unblocks Netflix, Hulu, and more almost every time.

How does it do it? Ivacy built-in streaming functions to its apps with special, proprietary designs to unblock geo-restricted content.

Netflix always tends to work, as does YouTube.

We find that the real test is always BBC iPlayer, which picks up VPNs and shared IP addresses like a bloodhound. You will struggle to connect to the BBC using Ivacy as you will with all VPNs. If iPlayer is what you are after, then you are out of luck once again. However, Ivacy does allow P2P sharing, if you are willing to take that risk.

The Bottom Line on Ivacy

Ivacy makes accessing advanced features like split tunneling and dedicated IP addresses fast and easy and the help provided by agents is a serious bonus.

It is important to stress that the issues with connection speeds are serious, and there’s no point in running a VPN that doesn’t allow you access to the internet. The lost connections are a particular cause for concern because even though there’s a killswitch, forgetting to turn it on before you session could wreak havoc for a small group of people.

Ivacy remains one of the most affordable quality VPNs currently out there, and they update their pricing regularly to reflect it. Even though they don’t offer the standard free trial, you can still get your money back if you decide it’s not for you either within seven days of a monthly contract or thirty days of an annual agreement.

In summary, Ivacy offers real value for privacy-conscious browsers willing to trade in some speed for the extra features the service provides. If you have an excellent base connection and you want to connect locally, Ivacy could work well for you.