Astrill’s marketing team does a great job of advertising it as one of the best VPNs out there — but are they telling the truth about how good it is?
I tested every feature and analyzed its privacy policies and security measures to see if it’s good enough to recommend. I also paid attention to its server network, speeds, and finally made up my mind about it.
Astrill VPN has unique features that could make it a good VPN, but I wouldn’t recommend it for casual users everywhere. Its China-optimized servers are secure, but outside of that, its network is small and unreliable. All of its many features make it a complicated app to navigate, and I had to troubleshoot technical issues more than once with customer support. I’d recommend checking out other VPNs if you want a simple and more reliable way to stay safe online.
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Short on Time? Here Are My Key Findings
- Slow and inconsistent speeds. My speed dropped by up to 40%, which is quite a lot. Besides, the connection wasn’t stable, so the speed fluctuations were big. You can check out my speed test results here.
- Small and unreliable server network. AstrillVPN claims to have 100 servers in 50 countries, but I counted less in its app. Take a look at my analysis here.
- Some leaks detected. Some servers were effective at hiding my personal information, while others proved not to be as secure. Check out my full security analysis.
- Concerning logs policy. Astrill VPN claims to have a no-logs policy but in reality, it stores your IP address. See my privacy analysis here.
- Too complicated for beginners. However, it has customizable desktop clients, which are great for advanced users. Take a look at my full run-down for more.
- Allows 5 device connections. You can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously to its servers, and it’s compatible with a large range of devices. Check out the complete list here.
Astrill VPN Features — Updated in January 2022
8.5| 💸 Price | 10USD/month |
| 📝 Does VPN keep logs? | No |
| 🖥 Number of servers | 100 |
| 💻 Number of devices per license | 5 |
| 🛡 Kill switch | Yes |
| 🗺 Based in country | Seychelles |
| 🛠 Support | 24/7 Live Chat Support |
Speeds — Inconsistent on Some Servers
Astrill’s speeds are generally good, but incredibly inconsistent. I ran tests on both local and international servers to see if distance made any difference. I used Ookla’s speed test tool and measured my:
- Ping – measures how fast you get a response from a website or app. A high ping usually means lag.
- Download speed – the time it takes to download files and information from the internet.
- Upload speed – the time needed to send files from your computer.
It’s normal for a VPN to slow down your connection a little, as your information needs to travel further away. It also takes time for it to be encrypted. However, there’s a huge difference between the speed tests I took (some were only a few minutes apart), which shows that Astrill is extremely unreliable.
Local Speeds
Astrill gives decent local speeds, but I encountered a lot of inconsistencies. It also has its own in-app speed testing tool, but for these tests, I used Speedtest by Ookla because of its reputation. Before I tested Astrill, I performed a speed test from my location in Romania to have something to compare it to. Without a VPN, I had 92.31 Mbps download, 68.44 Mbps upload, and 4 ms ping.
Most of the VPNs I’ve tested have a Best Location feature that automatically chooses the best server for you — but Astrill doesn’t. I had to scroll through the server list myself to find one nearby. This wasn’t hard, but it was annoying and I felt like it wasted my time. After connecting the VPN, my download speed decreased by 45% to 51.08 Mbps, and the upload speed decreased to 58.94 Mbps. The ping increased to 55 ms.
It’s normal to have a lower speed when you use a VPN, as it takes time to route your traffic through its servers, but you should only lose 10-20% of your speed with a good VPN (not 45%). This is where everything got interesting: While I was testing Astrill’s performance, I realized that I was getting inconsistent results, so I conducted more tests.
| Location | Download Speed | Upload Speed | Ping |
| Without a VPN (Bucharest, Romania) | 92.31 Mbps | 68.44 Mbps | 4 ms |
| Connected to a local Brasov server | 51.08 Mbps (45% decrease) | 58.94 Mbps (14% decrease) | 55 ms |
| Connected to a local Cluj server | 70.58 Mbps (24% decrease) | 57.92 Mbps (15% decrease) | 157 ms |
| Connected to a local Iasi server | 43.23 Mbps (54% decrease) | 60.33 Mbps (12% decrease) | 55 ms |
I tested the same server three times to see how the speed would change. Normally, the connection speed would stay relatively the same — but my results changed by up to 40% with each test. This means that when you’re using Astrill, your connection speed could be very fast one minute— and extremely slow the next. With other VPNs, I didn’t experience this issue; even if my speed went down 20%, it was consistent with every test.
Long-Distance Speeds
Astrill VPN’s long-distance speeds provided me with a good connection, but it couldn’t keep it constant. I first connected to one of its servers in Los Angeles to see the difference, and I was not impressed. My download speed decreased by 43%, but it’s understandable since I connected to the other side of the world. Knowing that Astrill’s servers weren’t very stable on local servers, though, I ran more tests using the same LA server.
On my second test, my speed decreased by 59%. Since I had a very fast speed to start with, I didn’t notice any difference to my online activity. However, if your network is not very fast, you may not be able to do much from an international server.
Continuing my tests, I moved to Astrill’s UK servers. My speed went down about 57%, which is a lot. But again, once I changed some settings and switched protocols, my speeds changed too. I switched from StealthVPN to OpenVPN and my upload speed was actually 37% faster than my original one (which is pretty impressive!)
It’s possible to get good speeds using Astrill VPN’s servers, but the inconsistencies and need to change and test out different settings makes it a hassle to actually get them.
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Server Network — Very Few Servers, but Some Useful Feature
Astrill has 100 servers in 50 countries. This global spread allows it to provide fast speeds to most parts of the world.
Most of Astrill’s servers are located in the US and I counted about 50 in its client – which is a low number. This means that if one server isn’t working, you have very few options to choose from. After I went through 35 servers and none of them worked, I started questioning Astrill’s capabilities.
Multi-Hop VPN
Multi-hop VPN routes your traffic through multiple servers, making you harder to spot — but it’s only accessible to Astrill’s VIP users. It’s a paid feature that starts at $8.69 USD for 100GB of traffic. Instead of routing your connection through only one server, the multi-hop feature will add an extra server on the way in order to make it impossible for anyone to track your connection. For most people this is overkill. Your VPN should already hide your location. Plus, during my tests, multi-hop reduced my connection speeds even more — making it almost impossible to do even basic online tasks.
In general, the multi-hop feature is great to make your connection hard to track, but the slow speeds that come with it defeats the purpose, so it’s not worth the money. You can only use the multi-hop feature with the OpenWeb protocol.
IP Address
Astrill offers two types of IP addresses:
- Shared IP addresses — in general, when you connect to a server, you share an IP address with all the other people connected to it. The shared IPs are great for anonymity because hundreds of people are using the same one, and you can’t tell who did what. However, shared IP addresses often get blacklisted by websites and platforms.
- Private IP addresses — if you want a dedicated IP address, you need to pay an extra $5 USD per month on top of your subscription. You are the only person using it and it’s always connected to the same location, which helps maintain a stable connection. Besides, the chances of being flagged by platforms are lower because they can’t know if it’s your real IP address or provided by a VPN. However, dedicated IPs are easier to track and provide less security because they let you open specific ports and forward traffic to your device.
I was disappointed to see that you can’t buy a dedicated IP address if you’re paying for a monthly subscription, which means you can only use them on longer plans.
It’s possible to get dedicated IP addresses in the US, UK, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, Turkey, Australia, and Brazil.
Smart Mode
Astrill’s Smart Mode(or Split Tunneling) is a feature that allows you to use a local IP address for local traffic, and an international one for accessing specific platforms. Its purpose is to hide the fact that you’re using the VPN, by keeping traffic on your original IP too.
Instead of routing all the traffic through Astrill’s servers, you can choose which apps or websites use it. When I tested it, I directed my browser traffic through the VPN but left other apps such as Skype and Telegram running on my network.
This feature comes in handy for people living in countries with high censorship, as it won’t trigger any flags while also allowing them to access any international websites without much of a hassle.
Security — Leaked My IP Address
Astrill VPN comes packed with a lot of security features – at least on paper. Depending on the type of protocol you choose and your luck, these settings may not be available. Besides, Astrill VPN lacks the well-advertised DNS and IP leak protection, so you need to be very careful when you use it.
Encryption and Protocols
Astrill VPN has 4 main protocols, each with its own purpose and encryption systems. Whenever you turn the VPN on, you can choose between these protocols and the level of encryption you use (AES 256, 193, or 128 bit). Each comes with slightly different settings, making the VPN a little complicated.
- OpenWeb – is a great solution for dealing with limited networks – for example, if your workplace doesn’t want you accessing Facebook, you can still access it using OpenWeb. It’s the only protocol allowing you to change the server without turning it off. Since it looks like regular HTTP and HTTPS traffic, internet providers and government institutions won’t be able to detect the VPN. However, keep in mind that OpenWeb can only tunnel traffic from popular web browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Opera.
- StealthVPN – This protocol scrambles your VPN connection, making it seem like a regular internet connection. That means that your online activity and the fact that you’re using a VPN is hidden. It works with both TCP and UDP protocols, meaning you can choose from thousands of ports to access any website or app. What I didn’t like about the StealthVPN protocol is that I couldn’t change the server without turning the VPN off.
- WireGuard – used for shorter connection times and high performance. It uses 6 encryption protocols, and it was initially designed for roaming. This means that if your device switches from mobile data to WiFi and vice-versa, your VPN will stay connected.
- OpenVPN – unlike StealthVPN and WireGuard, it can be used by anyone without requiring a client. Its purpose is not to hide traffic, but to create stable, secure, and fast connections between parties.
In addition to these 4, you can manually set up some other protocols. These include IKEv2/IPsec, L2TP/IPSec, Cisco IPSec, SSTP, PPTP.
Leak Tests and Protection
I experienced leaks on some servers while using Astrill VPN, however the VPN doesn’t allow you to use most popular leak testing tools. When I began my tests, I couldn’t access ipleak.net, one of the most popular platforms to test leaks. I sent a message to the live chat team asking what was happening, and they said that these tools are purposely blacklisted because “most of them sell the IP data”.
They also recommended I use Astrill’s own DNS leak test. For me, this was a red flag. Other top VPNs I’ve tested allow the use of leak testing tools, which reassures me that they have nothing to hide. Besides, when I tried Astrill’s DNS leak test on different (yet very secure) VPNs, I was informed that my connection was not secure – which was definitely not the case.
After looking for a DNS tester that was allowed by Astrill, I found ipleak.com. The first server I tested was Los Angeles B, which completely failed to cover all my information. My IP address, ISP, location, city, country, and coordinates were all visible.
This means that every website I visited, along with my ISP, could see all of my online activity and my actual location. This defeats the purpose of using a VPN completely.
The second server I tested was a Canadian one that managed to hide all my data, except for the local time – if someone were to check it, they’d figure out something is happening on my network.
Astrill’s IP and DNS leak protection is lacking, and I don’t recommend using it. Even if you do, you are not allowed to use the appropriate tools to ensure your connection is secure. There are many other options out there that will keep you safe (and give you the option to make sure that’s the case).
Kill Switch
Astrill VPN’s automatic kill switch worked well when I tested it. The kill switch shuts down your internet connection in case the VPN fails. Even when you’re using a reliable VPN, your connection can fail from time to time. Without a kill switch, your personal information would be immediately exposed.
I tested its kill switch on my MacBook and it did the job. However, the moment I closed the VPN, it also shut down my internet access. This was inconvenient because I had to restart my WiFi connection whenever I disconnected the VPN.
To activate the kill switch, you need to go into Astrill’s privacy settings and check the “Internet Kill Switch” box.
App Guard
App Guard allows you to manually select the apps you don’t want to run without a VPN. This protects your online identity and keeps your IP address hidden. Keep in mind that App Guard is slightly different from the classic kill switch. It allows you to choose which apps to tunnel, while the kill switch will stop all your apps from accessing the internet in case of a failure.
This feature is only available on Windows. The classic kill switch works just fine with the macOS and Linux clients, so your identity will be safe even if the VPN disconnects.
Site Filter
Astrill VPN lets you choose which websites are routed through the VPN and which ones stay on your regular IP address. Since it’s only available for websites, all apps are automatically routed through the VPN.
To see if this feature really works I added ipleak.com to the list. At first, I instructed the VPN to only tunnel that website — but it failed from the start. Ipleak.com could see my IP, city, and all the other information I was trying to hide. The only explanation I had was that the functions were inverted, so I also instructed Astrill to exclude that website from filtering — and I had the same result. Not only did Astrill not tunnel the website I instructed it to, it didn’t mask any of my information either.
It’s also inconvenient that (unless you’re using the OpenVPN protocol) you need to include or exclude websites based on their IP address, not URL. This is a complicated process, and you need to have some coding skills to get it.
This feature is available on all of Astrill’s clients, with OpenVPN, StealthVPN, and WireGuard protocols.
Port Forwarding
Port forwarding allows remote devices to access your computer through a private local area network. It’s useful if you want to create a direct connection between a device in your home and another remote device – for example, you can use this if you need to monitor your security cameras when you’re away from home.
With a shared IP address, you can choose one pre-selected port to forward to. However, with a dedicated IP address, you can choose to forward any port, while also using the NAT Firewall. The Network Address Translation (NAT firewall) is your router’s security system. It makes sure that the devices you register on that network can and will access the internet. Astrill’s port forwarding option can forward up to 3 ports on the same network.
Privacy — Strong No-Logs Policy, but With a Catch
Astrill VPN claims to have a very strict no-logs policy, but it does save some information and sensitive data for a limited time.
I went over Astrill’s privacy policies and found out that it keeps data about your connection time, country, type of device, amount of bandwidth used, and Astrill’s version number – this helps them limit the number of devices connected on an account. All this data is kept for the last 20 logins, and it’s deleted if you don’t use the VPN for 30 days.
On top of that, when your VPN is on, Astrill keeps logs of your connection time, IP address, device type, and Astrill’s client version — but this data is deleted once you close the connection. Most concerning is that it logs your IP address, but since this information is deleted immediately after you disconnect, your anonymity should be pretty well protected.
When I checked my logs, I had a big surprise. I tried downloading the .zip document containing my logs, but they all got deleted. After connecting and disconnecting multiple times from the VPN to create more logs, the same thing happened. I couldn’t download my logs no matter what I did. When I messaged the support team to find out more about this issue, they couldn’t tell me anything except that they’d contact me when the issue was fixed.
Considering I already experienced leaks on some servers and kept experiencing more problems, I’m convinced that you should look for a different VPN. I don’t find it too surprising that it hasn’t performed third-party audits on its apps or policies, either.
Outside of the Intelligence-Sharing Community
Astrill VPN is based in The Republic of Seychelles, which is outside of the 14 Eyes Alliance. It has no obligation to share your data with other countries or intelligence agencies, and it doesn’t store a lot of information about you. After going through Seychelles’ data protection law, I noticed that no data collecting entity needs to send any information to the government. And if an international entity requires that data, Seychelles’ Data Protection Commissioner can stop the transfer.
Simultaneous Device Connections — Connect Up to 5 Devices
You can have up to 5 simultaneous connections under one Astrill subscription. I downloaded and used the VPN on my MacBook, Android phone, and Windows laptop. I was expecting my connection to be slow with so many devices connected but my speeds remained the same.
You can get unlimited simultaneous connections at home if you install the VPN on your router. It’s a small trick that allows you to route all your WiFi devices through the VPN using only one connection. You just need to make sure that your router is compatible with the OpenVPN protocol.
Device Compatibility — Works With All Major Platforms and Devices
Astrill works with Windows, macOS, Android, Linux – such as Ubuntu, Debian, or Linux Mint – iOS, and ASUS Merlin and DD-WRT routers. When you install it on your router, you can use it with any WiFi-enabled device in your home — from appliances to consoles.
It doesn’t have a browser extension, so you can’t use it directly on Chrome or Firefox. On Astrill’s wiki page, you can also find tutorials on how to configure Astrill on Windows phones, Blackberry phones, and Chromium.
Desktop Apps
Astrill’s desktop apps are easy to use, but finding the right protocol and server combination takes some time. After you install the software, it starts using the OpenWeb protocol, and you can connect to any server and go. I thoroughly tested the app on a Mac computer, and it took me about 15 minutes to find all the features.
When you first open the app, it’s set to tunnel browsers only. This means that all the apps you use are still routed through your network and perfectly visible.
You don’t get recommended servers, which is a little inconvenient. Most VPNs give you a list of recommended servers or have an automatic connection feature, which allows you to set up an optimized connection easily – Astrill doesn’t. And once you change the protocol, the whole app seems to change and you get different options.
On desktop, Astrill offers:
- Site Filtering — this feature allows you to select which websites go through the VPN. It can be useful if you want to use your normal IP address for browsing locally and access international websites through a foreign IP address.
- Port Forwarding — allows you to forward a network port on a different node, which can protect your network from unwanted access.
- VPN Sharing — this feature allows you to share the VPN on your router. After you activate it, you need to set up the router too.
- Kill Switch — it will automatically stop your network’s communication with the tunneled websites and apps when the connection fails.
- Split Tunneling — works a little like the site filter, but you can also choose which apps to tunnel.
- Smart Mode — Windows-only feature that assigns you a local IP address to access websites in your country, and a foreign one for accessing international websites.
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iOS and Android Apps
Astrill’s Android and iOS apps are quite limited and don’t offer all the desktop features. Namely, the kill switch is missing. This means that your traffic won’t be protected in case the VPN fails. After you log in, you can choose the server and protocol you want to connect to and you get a message informing you when your subscription expires.
When I started my Android client, I encountered an error – I had battery optimization turned on, and Astrill couldn’t work properly. After I fixed it, I connected my VPN to a US server and everything seemed to work fine. Both apps and websites loaded very fast.
On iOS, I found that Astrill has a very big problem. Sometimes, the VPN can’t be turned off, and the phone needs to be restarted. Upon contacting its support team, I received a guide and had to close all my apps, clear my RAM, and then try again. However, that didn’t fix the problem.
The mobile clients have a standard set of features:
- UDP and TCP modes — these are the standard protocols to send files over the internet. TCP is slower, but more reliable, as it checks the connection for errors and fully delivers your information. UDP is a lot faster, but it skips some steps along the way and it won’t check your files for full delivery – it’s like ordering multiple packages from a store. TCP will double-check the order and make sure you receive everything, while UDP will get your order as fast as possible, but you may not receive everything.
- Connection Port — this is the way computers communicate with each other and the port you choose determines how the data is transmitted over the network.
- Logs — in Astrill’s mobile client you get a list of all the logs it saves.
- App Filter — this one is pretty straightforward. You can choose if you want to tunnel all the apps or only browsers.
On mobile, you don’t get any HTTPS Redirects (meaning your connection is not 100% secure) or DNS/IPv6 leak protection (meaning your original IP may still be seen by the websites and apps you use). Also, all your apps are set to go through the VPN unless you specify otherwise from the app filter.
Router App
Astrill is compatible with ASUS Merlin and DD-WRT routers through the OpenVPN or RouterPro protocols. You can use the guides on its website to manually set it up. I followed the step-by-step instructions and set Astrill up on my router in a few minutes. The tutorials are easy to follow, and an intermediate user will have no problem working with them.
You can also buy one of Astrill’s VPN routers that are already configured. If you’re not familiar with router configuration but you need a VPN on your router, it’s an option you can consider.
