I have used Surfshark since June, and here are my insights so far:
It is on the cheap side. I paid €43 for 25 months with a deal from Youtube video (Sam Chui channel). Which makes it around €1.70 per month.
I have been using the app on a Mac and iPhone, and their design is considerably user-friendly. I can’t comment on Windows, Linux, or Android versions.
The speeds are quite good. I usually get around 20% (by speed test results) speed drop in most cases while connecting to the nearest servers.
Unlimited devices are a big plus. I have been sharing it with my family members in total on nine devices. As far as I am aware other VPNs do not offer this.
I had an issue with Netflix. It stopped working one day, but their customer support was surprisingly helpful and guided me to the solution. I have been watching the USA, UK, and Japan (for anime) regions.
It lacks servers in less used countries compared to bigger VPNs.
The server choice is limited to a country and city. So you cannot be sure if you’ll get the same IP as before.
TL;DR: Surfshark has been a reliable VPN provider for me throughout the last 4 months.
I would use it, but they use CloudFlare. Meaning that data you enter and request from the website is decrypted at their edge servers and is visible to them.
I chose surfshark to use while going overseas to China. Firstly, it didn’t even work and when it did it was so slow and I had to download another VPN while still paying for Surfshark…When I came back I tried to unsubscribe by emailing them because their website does not allow you to unsubscribe on your own (first red flag). After emailing them they basically pretended like I was not requesting a refund and continued to try to upsell me in the most condescending way - basically just skirting around what I’m saying and making it VERY DIFFICULT. After the FIFTH email with 2 different employees they finally unsubscribed me BUT, of course a few weeks later I find a charge for $16.99 from Surfshark on my bank statement.
Now you would think there might be some apologies on their end regarding such a payment? Just know that I sent 10 emails back and forth with each one DENYING the money being taken out even after sending bank statement screenshots, apple receipt screenshots, and screenshots from my Surfshark account. Their excuse was that “we haven’t received the money” just blatantly denying that it happened. Then after the 10th email I said that I would call my bank to get evidence that the money had been taken out and they simply agreed and said that they need this evidence…I end up calling my bank and they told me that the reason they could still take money out of my account was because I had not manually unsubscribed via Apple from my phone.
Firstly, Surfshark did not tell me this and secondly since they as a company already know this, why didn’t they tell me via the initial emails? They also used the excuse that the receipt is not on my Surfshark account so there is no way the money had been taken out…So because they are shady and are hiding the transaction from their end, this means that it didn’t happen even though I have evidence from my bank statement and apple purchases?
My bank did not provide me with evidence I have instead filed a dispute and THEY will be contacting Surfshark directly.
Guys…I have had to resort to a dispute via my bank to get my money back from Surfshark. DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. I don’t care about $16.99, I care about the fact that they are getting away with this.
I’ve been trialling various VPN’s for a few reasons, one being my kids want access to US Netflix. On trying Surfshark we found that the picture was pretty pixelated which wasn’t the case on others I’d trialled.
I got surfshark a couple of months ago and I like it too. It lets me watch parks and rec and I can torrent without getting a letter from the isp, I’m a happy customer
Looking at getting a surfshark VPN on a windows platform. Mainly for using streaming services aside from Netflix (local free ones ala BBC Iplayer, Aussie TV, French TV, etc). Could you potentially buy foreign streaming services as well with a VPN ala Hulu for example.
Their user policy is very clear about what they collect: user email and encrypted password, billing information and order history. They also collect data on crash reports.
They don’t collect IP addresses, browsing history, bandwidth data, session data, connection data and network traffic information.