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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.
Try Astrill VPN Risk-Free For Days!
| 💸 Price | 12.50 USD/month |
|---|---|
| 📝 Does VPN keep logs? | No |
| 🖥 Number of servers | 121+ |
| 💻 Number of devices per license | 5 |
| 🛡 Kill switch | Yes |
| 🗺 Based in country | Seychelles |
| 🛠 Support | 24/7 live chat |
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:
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.
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.
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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Astrill has 121 servers in 58 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 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.
Astrill offers two types of IP addresses:
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.
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.
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.
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.
In addition to these 4, you can manually set up some other protocols. These include IKEv2/IPsec, L2TP/IPSec, Cisco IPSec, SSTP, PPTP.
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).
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 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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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:
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.
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.
Astrill is one of the most annoying VPNs I’ve used so far, and I find it unsuitable for beginners. It’s very hard to find a server that works and you need to have some experience with VPNs to understand how to manually configure it. After you create an account, you need to download the client and log in. Once you’re logged in, the VPN starts using the OpenWeb protocol, and then you have to look for the server you need.
The problem is that you will need a different server and protocol depending on what you want to do online. These server/protocol combinations are not written anywhere, so you need to test everything yourself before engaging in any online activities.
Unless you’re using the OpenVPN protocol, you need to turn the VPN off before switching the server. This is inconvenient because you need to stop everything you’re doing, find another server, and then resume. Besides, you don’t get a list of recommended servers or an automatic selection feature that gives you the best server in one-click (most top-tier VPNs I’ve tested offer this).
You can find all the settings you need in the menu, and they change depending on the protocol you use. With OpenVPN, you can access the site filter, VPN sharing, and OpenWeb options (like browser, app tunneling and some advanced options). With this protocol, it’s best to go under “Advanced Settings” and check “Keep Connection” so your VPN doesn’t disconnect when you switch servers. When I had this option turned off, every time I changed the server, my laptop’s connection with the router was interrupted.
When I first opened Astrill’s client, only the browsers were routed through its servers, while the rest of my apps were still using my real IP address. To change this setting, you need to go under “OpenWeb options” and instruct Astrill to tunnel all the apps.
OpenVPN, StealthVPN, and WireGuard allow you to use the kill switch, port forwarding, and specific protocol options. From here, you can choose between the UDP and TCP connection types.
Despite its many technical issues, Astrill has okay speeds and a decent interface. However, if you haven’t used a VPN before, you won’t be able to easily navigate and understand all of its features. On top of that, some server/protocol combinations gave me connection issues — sometimes I couldn’t load a webpage, sometimes my IP was in another location, and sometimes it wasn’t masked at all. This means you have to spend some time testing out each server to find the right one.
To hide the Astrill client, you can go to the menu under “Interface Options” and deselect the “Always on Top” checkbox – when you first start it, it’s set to stay on top of other apps at all times.
Astrill VPN is not a service I can recommend from this point of view. Even though its apps are pretty standard, the time needed to actually find a server that works for your needs is too long. There are better and faster options you can go with.
Astrill’s apps are quick to download and set up, but finding a server that works is time-consuming. It only took me about 3 minutes to install the app. However, the first server I chose didn’t work, so it took extra time to get it up and running once installed. It took me more than 30 minutes to find a server I could use to access my favorite show.
After you install, you need to open the app, choose a protocol, select a server, and you’re technically good to go. However, it gets complicated when the protocol or server you need doesn’t work. Even when you find one that does, you still need to set up its extra features. Once Astirill is all set up on your device, it gives you access to a 36-page user guide, which can be either helpful or overwhelming.
Astrill has 2 extra features, and they do come with a price. Considering that it’s already an expensive VPN, I don’t find the extra features justified.
Astrill accepts PayPal, credit cards, and cryptocurrency payments, as well as UnionPay, Alipay, Perfect Money, WebMoney, Moreno, WeChat Pay, and bank transfers. The credit card option didn’t work for me. Every time I tried to pay with it, I’d get redirected to the first step of the process where I had to input my billing information again. However, it worked with PayPal when I tried the third time.
Once you make the purchase, you can’t ask for a refund. Astrill recommends that if you just want to try it, you should purchase the shortest plan available – which costs $10/month USD per month. In its refund policy, Astrill covers all the situations, so you can’t ask for a refund if your ISP doesn’t allow VPNs or if your system is not compatible with it.
However, it has its own Invite Friends System that lets you use a 30-day Astrill account for free. This can be done by inviting a friend, who then has to purchase a subscription. If you’re part of a business, then Astrill offers business packages as well, which provide greater value for money.
There’s also a 7-day free trial available for Astrill, but it didn’t work for me. As soon as I filled in the form, it took me to the subscriptions and payment pages. The support agents tried to explain that some countries are blacklisted and can’t use the VPN at all. However, it’s perfectly legal to use a VPN where I am, so it didn’t make a lot of sense.
Astrill’s 24/7 live chat support is prompt but not very helpful. I reached out to its support team to see how fast I would get answers. Even though I got a quick response, I felt like the live agent wasn’t very interested in talking to me. I contacted the support team multiple times with many problems and the answers were short and inconsistent every time.
I messaged them to see which server they recommend to access a specific platform. The agent initially told me that StealthVPN should be able to get the job done – it didn’t. After asking a few more questions, he sent me a long and hard-to-follow tutorial on how to fix the issue – it didn’t fix work, either.
You can also message them through email by filling out the contact form. About 40 minutes after sending my question, I received a thorough answer. The difference between the live chat and email support is huge. As much as I like fast support, I wouldn’t use Astrill’s live chat again.
Apart from email and live chat support, Astrill also has an FAQ page, Wiki guide (Astrill Wiki), manuals, and tutorials. The FAQ page is available in 14 different languages.
Astrill is an okay VPN if you already have some experience and can manually set up every setting. It has decent speeds, but it can be inconsistent at times. Its clients are optimized for the most popular operating systems, but the mobile apps are a little limited.
However, it’s still an expensive VPN, and I was expecting more reliability for the price. It took me a long time to access all the platforms I needed, and some of its servers gave me connection issues. I also experienced some leaks, which is concerning.
Andreea Juganaru is a former senior editor for vpnMentor. She used her extensive knowledge in cybersecurity to research and analyze ways our readers can protect their online privacy.
