IPVanish Review (2026): Unlimited Devices, and the 2016 DHS Request

Privacy and logging

IPVanish holds an independent no-logs audit from Leviathan Security. Its current policy is a genuine no-logs one, and it owns and operates its entire server network rather than renting from third parties, which is unusual and is a real security advantage — fewer parties with physical access. We have not run leak tests on it, and have not tried killing the tunnel to see whether the kill switch holds — run our own DNS leak test and WebRTC leak test once you're connected.

It still scores 3.5 on privacy, the lowest of any VPN in this batch, because three things compound.

The audit is from 2022. Every other VPN in our top nine has been audited in 2024 or 2025, and PureVPN has a standing arrangement where auditors can inspect without notice. Four years is long enough that the audit describes a system that may no longer be the system. This is the most fixable of the three, and re-auditing would move the score.

It is based in the United States. No US law compels a VPN to retain data, and PIA — also US-based — has produced nothing in response to subpoenas more than once. But the US is a Five Eyes member with an active history of legal process against service providers, and it is a worse starting position than Switzerland or Panama.

And there is 2016. Under earlier ownership, IPVanish supplied connection records to the Department of Homeland Security in a criminal investigation, while publicly marketing itself as keeping none. The company has been sold twice since, is now owned by Ziff Davis, and commissioned the 2022 audit in part to address exactly this.

We weigh the audited present above a decade-old incident under different management, which is why IPVanish is in our ranking at all rather than excluded. But a VPN's entire product is a promise about data, and a company that broke that promise carries it until enough verifiable evidence accumulates on the other side. A 2022 audit is not yet enough of it.

Servers are also not RAM-only, so a seized machine could in principle hold more than one running from memory.

Speed

We have not speed-tested IPVanish, so there are no figures here. IPVanish advertises WireGuard on every platform, which is the protocol that matters most for throughput, and it runs its own network rather than renting — both reasons to expect it to perform respectably. Neither is a measurement. The speed test on this site will tell you what it does on your line, which is the only number that decides anything for you specifically.

Streaming

We have not tested IPVanish against Netflix, BBC iPlayer or anything else. There are no streaming-labelled servers to help you find one that works, so if you buy it for streaming, expect to try a few servers by hand. Blocks move week to week regardless of provider, so the way to find out whether it currently unblocks what you watch is to try it inside the 30-day refund window.

Torrenting

P2P is allowed on every server with no labelled subset to find, speeds are good, and unlimited devices means you can run a client on a NAS without spending a connection slot.

There is no port forwarding, so seeding is limited and private trackers that enforce ratios will notice. PIA offers it at a lower price with the same unlimited devices, which makes it the better torrenting buy of the two.

Apps and ease of use

The native Fire TV app is worth calling out — it is a purpose-built TV app rather than a sideloaded phone build, which is the difference that shows on the older memory-constrained Sticks where several rivals stutter. If a Fire TV is central to why you want a VPN, this is a genuine reason to look at IPVanish.

On paper the feature list is complete — kill switch, split tunnelling, protocol choice including WireGuard, obfuscation, a scrambling option for restrictive networks. We have not used the desktop apps ourselves, so we cannot tell you how approachable the interface actually is; there is no multi-hop and no dedicated IP option, which is the one clear gap against the feature lists of the top providers.

Native apps on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV and routers. Unlimited simultaneous connections on every plan, which for a household is the headline.

Customer support

24/7 live chat, email, a help centre — and phone support, which no other VPN we rate offers. We have not contacted support, so we cannot tell you how quickly chat answers. The phone line is a genuine differentiator for anyone who would rather talk to someone than type.

Pricing: check year two

About $3.33 a month on the annual plan and $2.19 on the two-year — cheap on the way in.

The renewal is the catch, and it is the sharpest we track. At the end of the first term the price rises steeply, and because the introductory discount is large, the jump is correspondingly large. This is not hidden, but it is not on the banner either.

Run the three-year number before you decide. Our price calculator prices the intro term at the deal rate and every subsequent month at the renewal rate, across every provider — and it reorders the "cheapest VPN" answer substantially once renewals are included.

30-day money-back guarantee, as published. We have not claimed one ourselves, so we cannot tell you how the process goes.

Is IPVanish safe?

Its current published position is sound: an audited no-logs policy, a kill switch, a wholly owned network. We have not run leak tests ourselves. The reservations are about age and history rather than anything we found failing today — a 2022 audit in a field where two years is the norm, US jurisdiction, servers that are not RAM-only, and a 2016 incident under previous ownership.

For protecting yourself on public Wi-Fi or stopping your ISP profiling your browsing, it is entirely adequate. For a threat model where the provider itself is part of the risk, the top five are better answers.

Is IPVanish worth it?

For a household that needs unlimited devices and leans on Fire TV: it makes a reasonable case, particularly in year one. Beyond that the comparison is unkind — Surfshark offers unlimited devices at a similar introductory price with a more recent audit, and PIA offers unlimited devices with port forwarding for less.

Who should buy IPVanish — and who shouldn't

Buy it if you specifically want phone support, if the Fire TV app matters more than anything else on the list, or if you need a large number of devices covered and have priced the renewal and accepted it.

Don't if you want British streaming, if you seed torrents, if you play competitive games, or if the 2016 incident and a four-year-old audit sit badly with you. At the same money, Surfshark does more of this better, and we would point most people there.