Turbo VPN Review 2024: Can a Free VPN Keep You Safe?

Turbo VPN is one of the most popular free VPNs available, but it’s had its fair share of controversies. It has tried to clean up its image over the years, so I tested all its features to see if it can keep you safe online.

Overall, I do not recommend using the free or paid versions of Turbo VPN. It’s definitely not safe since it leaked my real IP address on several servers. The free Chrome extension would also disconnect without warning. Plus, it doesn’t work in China. You can get a trustworthy VPN that hides your real location in this list of the best VPNs available today. They all come with money-back guarantees, so getting a refund is easy if they’re not for you.

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Turbo VPN could only access 1 major streaming service. With that platform, the picture quality was great, and I didn’t have any buffering. However, when I performed a leak test, I found out several Turbo VPN servers weren’t actually hiding my real IP address — a major red flag.

Unblocked: Netflix

I could access Netflix with several servers, but TurboVPN only unblocked Originals. Netflix Originals is a version of the platform that only lets you watch the content that’s available everywhere. So, you’ll miss out on all the region specific movies and shows.

I could load videos instantly and stream in HD without buffering

I could also unblock Netflix originals and stream just as well with the free Chrome extension. There’s no data limit, so you might think it’s a decent free option to stream Netflix. However, its security issues make it a bad choice (more on that later).

Unfortunately, the other optimized Netflix servers didn’t work. Tests with the Netflix Korea, Netflix Russia, and Netflix France servers were all blocked.

Blocked By: Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer

One big problem is that I couldn’t connect to many of the streaming optimized servers. For example, the VPN failed to connect to the special Hulu server. So, I had to test it out with US servers since it’s not available anywhere else.

I couldn’t find any US servers that let me sign in and watch Hulu

I had the same problem with HBO Max. The optimized server wouldn’t connect, and I was blocked by every server I tested with HBO Max.

There are no optimized servers for Amazon Prime Video, and Turbo VPN’s regular servers couldn't bypass its geo blocks. Disney+ doesn’t have special servers either, and the US and Italy servers I tested just loaded indefinitely.

With BBC iPlayer, the issue was twice as bad. There’s no optimized server, and the normal UK London server wouldn’t connect. I even tried using the free UK server on the Chrome extension for BBC iPlayer, but it was blocked.

I’ve never tested another VPN with optimized servers that couldn’t connect. Several premium VPNs can unblock all the top platforms easily. To access all your favorite platforms safely, check out this list of the best VPNs for streaming.

Turbo VPN lowered my speeds significantly, even on nearby servers. Closer locations are usually much faster since your data has to travel less distance. On a positive note, the free Chrome servers are actually about the same speed as the full VPN app.

But before I share my findings, let me explain how we get accurate results. We test every server at least 10 times and create averages for our chart. These tests were all done with the V2ray protocol because it’s the only option that works with every server.

I lost 52% of my download speed on nearby servers and 61% on distant ones

As you can see, the free desktop servers dropped my speeds about 5 times more than the premium locations. Strangely, this wasn’t the case with the free servers on the Chrome extension, but it has its own serious problems.

I was also surprised that the fastest server I could find was in Japan, 10,537 km away from me. This is most likely because Turbo VPN uses virtual servers. It doesn’t disclose where they’re located, so I have no idea where the servers actually are.

Normally, a VPN will only drop my speeds by 10-25% at such a close distance

These results might not seem like a big deal, but I have a very fast base speed. If you have a download rate around 50 Mbps, drops like this could ruin your streaming experience. It’s also a little annoying that you can’t see the load percentage until the VPN is connected. That tells you how crowded they are, but many VPNs display this next to the servers before you connect.

There are several VPNs you can get for a similar price that are way faster. The top picks lower your speeds so little you’ll hardly notice it. You can read this list of the fastest VPNs to find one that’s quick at any distance.

It was practically impossible to play games with Turbo VPN. For gaming, the most important speed result is your ping. This tells you how fast your data can travel. You’ll want it below 85 ms to play fast-paced games. When it gets higher, it takes too long for the network to register your inputs. This means you can’t play competitively because your character takes too long to respond.

Even the Steam menu was super laggy while connected to Turbo VPN

I was surprised the lag was so bad because I had a ping of 48 ms. But even though the ping rate was great, the game was a nightmare to play. It took at least a second for my gun to fire after I clicked the mouse. I kept getting killed immediately because it took forever to even turn around. This could have been because the server was far away, but as I mentioned above, Turbo doesn’t tell you where the servers really are.

There are many VPNs that work great for gaming. You can play online without lag and stay safe with one of the best VPNs for gaming in this list.

Turbo VPN has a small network full of connection issues and missing locations. Its website claims there are 21,000 servers in 50 countries. However, I could only find 32. For example, the server list on its website shows Venezuela. But in the app, it’s nowhere to be found.

The connection issues make the VPN very unsafe. On top of leaking issues, many of the optimized servers consistently failed to connect. With the free Chrome extension, the servers constantly disconnect without warning.

That’s too bad because these servers have several nice security features. Turbo VPN owns all of its infrastructure. Many VPNs rent their servers, so there’s a middleman you have to worry about. It also runs its own Private DNS network, which should make you more safe. However, the connection issues make these features irrelevant.

A live support agent confirmed that every Turbo VPN server is virtual. This means they give you an IP in one country, but the physical server is actually somewhere else. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’ve described the issues it can cause in the speeds, streaming, and gaming sections.

You’re also only able to choose between different cities in the US, Singapore, Germany, and India. Another strange issue is that some protocols only work with a limited number of servers (8 with OpenVPN for example).

In conclusion, Turbo VPN can’t reliably connect you to its servers. I recommend you look into this list of VPNs that all have huge server networks that truly keep you safe.

Turbo VPN is one of the worst VPNs I’ve reviewed when it comes to security. On the surface, it seems pretty safe. It comes with several necessary security features. Unfortunately, it consistently leaks your real IP. Sure, it uses the industry standard AES-256 bit encryption level. But that means nothing when the servers can’t be relied on to actually connect.

Even though I was “connected” to the London server, every website could see my US IP

That’s not to mention my worries that the app may not even be safe to install. Tests on VirusTotal showed me that 20 different security vendors flagged it as dangerous. This included well-respected cybersecurity companies like AVG, Avast, Avira, Malwarebytes, and more.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the apps come with malware or viruses, and a live support agent told me these are all false positives. Plus, it’s true some high quality VPNs do get flagged by one or 2 antivirus programs. However, 20 just seems like too much to ignore. This list will help you pick a VPN that will never leak your real location.

Kill Switch

You have to enable the kill switch manually, and it isn’t included with the free Chrome extension. A kill switch is supposed to block your internet connection if the VPN ever disconnects. However, Turbo VPN’s kill switch never worked in my tests.

Even though the kill switch was activated, I could still access websites while the VPN was “connecting.” I was still able to use websites while switching servers too. So, I wouldn’t rely on this kill switch.

Split Tunneling

I had similar issues with the split tunneling feature. This is supposed to let you exempt certain websites from the VPN tunnel. It’s useful if you want to access local sites, like your bank, while everything else on your device is encrypted. However, there were a few times when I tried to add websites to the exemption list, and they wouldn’t bypass the VPN’s server.

Protocols

The VPN gives you the choice of 3 protocols, but I wish OpenVPN worked with more servers. As I mentioned above, it only works with less than a third of Turbo VPN’s network. It’s considered the safest protocol since it’s open-source. That means it’s constantly being checked for vulnerabilities and improved by people around the world.

V2Ray is the protocol that works with every server. It’s designed to get around internet restrictions, and it’s generally considered safe. The SSR protocol is also available, but it works with fewer servers than OpenVPN does.

While its policy says all the right things, Turbo VPN has its share of privacy issues. For example, many customers who had Turbo VPN installed on their phones reported receiving a strange notification in 2022 which was written in Chinese. Some suspect this is because the VPN was hacked. Others even believe the company is secretly owned by a Chinese company. And unfortunately, the logging policy has never been proven in any way.

Does Turbo VPN Keep Logs? No

Turbo VPN claims to keep the bare minimum logs it needs to keep the VPN working properly. Most importantly, it states it will not store your IP address or any of your browsing activities.

Many VPNs store timestamps and session duration, so I’m glad Turbo VPN does not

What it does store is the information you give them to sign up (email address). It also records the version of Turbo VPN you’ve used, how much data you’ve used, and some other minor anonymized information.

On the surface, this all looks great. However, I’ve mentioned several red flags that just make it hard for me to trust Turbo VPN. You can find a VPN with a strict no-logs policy that's been verified in this list.

Was Turbo VPN Audited? No

It's unfortunate that Turbo VPN, which has a contentious reputation, has not undergone any independent audits. These audits, particularly when conducted by credible organizations, can validate the adherence to a privacy policy. Currently, we can only rely on Turbo VPN's assurance, which is difficult to trust given its reputation.

Based in Singapore

While Singapore is outside of the 5/914 Eyes Alliances, it has been suspected of handing information over to them. The 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances is an agreement between several governments to share information about their citizens.

There are also concerning reports that Turbo VPN is owned by a Chinese company. Officially, the VPN is operated by a Singaporean company called Innovative Connecting. However, many reputable sites claim this is actually a company from China that owns many free VPNs. Since so many VPNs are banned in China, it’s a bit frightening to imagine what a VPN linked to its government might do.

While I can’t confirm or deny this report, this is just one more thing that makes Turbo VPN feel like a bad choice to protect your privacy. To be fair, support staff denied it has any links to China.

Does Turbo VPN Work in China? No

I verified through TurboVPN's 24/7 live chat support that Turbo VPN is not usable within China.

Some VPNs offer obfuscation technology that can get around restrictive networks; Turbo VPN does not

The Chinese government has banned several VPNs, but it’s rare for it to go after individuals. However, we do not condone any illegal activities. If you decide to use a VPN in the country, you can read this list of VPNs that currently work in China.

I was able to torrent with Turbo VPN, but I don’t recommend it since it’s not secure. You never know who you’re connecting to when you download P2P files. I feel much more secure using a VPN that I’m positive can really keep me safe.

The VPN also caused a significant decrease in my speeds during torrenting. Without a VPN, I can download a 1.62 GB file in under 10 minutes. In contrast, using Turbo VPN would have stretched the download time for the same file to over 2 hours.

Downloading torrents is legal in most regions, but accessing copyrighted material is not. We recommend only accessing copyright-free torrents. If you want to use P2P networks safely, choose a VPN from this of the best options for torrenting.