Ariel Hochstadt
Ex-Google, International tech speaker
Pitted against each other, Betternet, Surfeasy and Turbo VPN offer considerably different experiences to users looking for online anonymity. With free VPN services, you get what you pay for–– Betternet and Turbo do not offer much in terms of encryption and speed. Both free services are useful for bypassing minor firewalls and that’s just about it.Turbo specifically offers online protection on Android devices, while the other two work seamlessly across all OPs. An attractive proposition offered by Surfeasy and Betternet is P2P downloading with secure torrent protection. None of these three clients mess around with PPTP and instead use OpenVPN for added security. All three come with the standard 128-bit encryption, but Surfeasy offers superior protection with regard to bypassing firewalls in China. While you can use Surfeasy on five devices, compared to just one with Betternet and Turbo, don’t depend on any of these clients for on-demand entertainment, including Netflix.
Features
4.4
Pricing
10.0
Ease of Use
7.8
Reliability & Support
6.5
Features
8.4
Pricing
6.5
Ease of Use
8.6
Reliability & Support
8.6
Features
6.4
Pricing
10.0
Ease of Use
7.0
Reliability & Support
4.6
Rating
Features
4.4
8.4
6.4
Pricing
10.0
6.5
10.0
Ease of Use
7.8
8.6
7.0
Reliability & Support
6.5
8.6
4.6
Reviews
Review by our expert
Katie Kasunic
Technology Researcher
5.8
Betternet VPN has received a lot of criticism in the past few years after an academic study came out in 2016 that listed Betternet as one of the top five Android VPN apps with the most third-party tracking software.
Since then, Betternet has made a few changes to the service, including the release of a paid premium plan in addition to their popular free tier. One continuing downside (okay, two)
Good AppAbsolutely free VPN. BTW just click the exit button to close the free-trial box. It will continue to run without it. I don't experience any ads that I am aware of but I have an ad-blocker and a no-script installed on my browser which may account for that. I get a better connection on public WiFi generally. Their Terms and Conditions state they do not keep log files of your actual IP address or sites accessed; and they do not sell your information for money. They are supposed to be paid by premium accounts and the ads generated which, like I previously stated I haven't really seen much of. Lastly, they allow p2p and torrenting, though they will collect your data if they get subpoenaed to for illegal downloads. Overall, excellent VPN app in my opinion.
Latest negative user review
Dror
2.0
Very bad, do not useTried the service for 1 month, surprisingly they kept charging me automatically another month, when I tried to unsubscribe it was impossible! Almost feel like they do this in purpose so you never unsubscribe.... Regardless, the app never worked well, lots of issues to login, disconnected many times.. Bottom line - Do not use!
SurfEasy is a VPN only provider from Opera, a Canadian software company with many years of experience. Like our top VPNs (NordVPN and ExpressVPN, which we suggest you take a look at), SurfEasy offers the general package of what you would expect with a VPN.
The service offers protocols and encryption. They have over a thousand servers in thirteen different countries, including Brazil, Australia
Been using for over a year with no issuesIt works well on my Android phones. I've had no issues with speed, dropped connections, etc. What I did find interesting with this pages review is that they recommend NordVPN over SE because "it's more trustworthy", yet Nord was hacked recently. So in the end, no VPN could be safe.
Latest negative user review
Dror
2.0
Very bad, do not useTried the service for 1 month, surprisingly they kept charging me automatically another month, when I tried to unsubscribe it was impossible! Almost feel like they do this in purpose so you never unsubscribe.... Regardless, the app never worked well, lots of issues to login, disconnected many times.. Bottom line - Do not use!
Turbo VPN is a China-based, mobile-only service that enjoys a lot of popularity on Android and iOS. Considering the domicile of this particular service (and the fact that it only runs on mobile devices) that may stop a lot of you in your tracks right now. If so: we recommend an alternative provider based in a country less hostile towards privacy like NordVPN.
That’s mostly because of the free
It's the ideal free vpn.Many people complains that the speed is slow but I would like to say that VPNs are slow generally and this is much much better than others. Simple, few or non ads and good servers! I'm satisfied in it's normal speed even though I am not a premium user. The speed is quite reasonable for free VPN.
Latest negative user review
Dror
2.0
Very bad, do not useTried the service for 1 month, surprisingly they kept charging me automatically another month, when I tried to unsubscribe it was impossible! Almost feel like they do this in purpose so you never unsubscribe.... Regardless, the app never worked well, lots of issues to login, disconnected many times.. Bottom line - Do not use!
Betternet VPN has received a lot of criticism in the past few years after an academic study came out in 2016 that listed Betternet as one of the top five Android VPN apps with the most third-party tracking software.
Since then, Betternet has made a few changes to the service, including the release of a paid premium plan in addition to their popular free tier. One continuing downside (okay, two)
SurfEasy is a VPN only provider from Opera, a Canadian software company with many years of experience. Like our top VPNs (NordVPN and ExpressVPN, which we suggest you take a look at), SurfEasy offers the general package of what you would expect with a VPN.
The service offers protocols and encryption. They have over a thousand servers in thirteen different countries, including Brazil, Australia
Turbo VPN is a China-based, mobile-only service that enjoys a lot of popularity on Android and iOS. Considering the domicile of this particular service (and the fact that it only runs on mobile devices) that may stop a lot of you in your tracks right now. If so: we recommend an alternative provider based in a country less hostile towards privacy like NordVPN.
That’s mostly because of the free
Good AppAbsolutely free VPN. BTW just click the exit button to close the free-trial box. It will continue to run without it. I don't experience any ads that I am aware of but I have an ad-blocker and a no-script installed on my browser which may account for that. I get a better connection on public WiFi generally. Their Terms and Conditions state they do not keep log files of your actual IP address or sites accessed; and they do not sell your information for money. They are supposed to be paid by premium accounts and the ads generated which, like I previously stated I haven't really seen much of. Lastly, they allow p2p and torrenting, though they will collect your data if they get subpoenaed to for illegal downloads. Overall, excellent VPN app in my opinion.
Skippy
10.0
Been using for over a year with no issuesIt works well on my Android phones. I've had no issues with speed, dropped connections, etc. What I did find interesting with this pages review is that they recommend NordVPN over SE because "it's more trustworthy", yet Nord was hacked recently. So in the end, no VPN could be safe.
Emily
10.0
It's the ideal free vpn.Many people complains that the speed is slow but I would like to say that VPNs are slow generally and this is much much better than others. Simple, few or non ads and good servers! I'm satisfied in it's normal speed even though I am not a premium user. The speed is quite reasonable for free VPN.
Latest negative user review
Dror
2.0
Very bad, do not useTried the service for 1 month, surprisingly they kept charging me automatically another month, when I tried to unsubscribe it was impossible! Almost feel like they do this in purpose so you never unsubscribe.... Regardless, the app never worked well, lots of issues to login, disconnected many times.. Bottom line - Do not use!
John Stek
2.0
8 trackers come with this app.It would be nice if the review would give a judgement on the trackers that are downloaded with this app. There is no need for them in my opinion, certainly when you pay for the app.
Julius Jones-Carter
2.0
Where did this come from?I recently noticed a subscription fee being yanked out of my bank account. I had no clue what it was so I referred to my Google Play Store in search of this new unknown subscription, there were no active subscriptions. I checked my other google account, same thing. I checked my phone for any new apps and as before nothing.
Now my question is, if I have no downloaded the trial version nor deliberately paid for a subscription for this product. Where do they get the nerve to take my money?
On top of that their poor customer service will require me to get an entirely new card to avoid future charges, contact the Canadian anti-fraud authority and other relevant authorities including my bank.
I hope their team responds to my refund request as I do not use VPN services and have never downloaded any of this company's apps.
Out of the three VPNs, SurfEasy offers the most serious and well-balanced service with good encryption, dedicated servers for torrenting, apps for popular platforms, and 5 simultaneous connections. Betternet isn’t all bad, but it’s very limited in comparison. As for Turbo VPN, it’s only available for mobile devices and delivers slow speeds.
Out of the three VPNs, SurfEasy offers the most serious and well-balanced service with good encryption, dedicated servers for torrenting, apps for popular platforms, and 5 simultaneous connections. Betternet isn’t all bad, but it’s very limited in comparison. As for Turbo VPN, it’s only available for mobile devices and delivers slow speeds.
Betternet, SurfEasy, and Turbo VPN permit torrenting. With Turbo VPN, it's only available on Android and iOS devices, while with SurfEasy and Betternet, it's available on all major operating systems.
Betternet, SurfEasy, and Turbo VPN permit torrenting. With Turbo VPN, it's only available on Android and iOS devices, while with SurfEasy and Betternet, it's available on all major operating systems.
Betternet and SurfEasy have simple, basic software applications for Windows, without significant features like a kill switch, switching between multiple protocols, or advanced encryption. This is still better than Turbo VPN, which doesn’t even provide a native client for Windows-based systems.
Betternet and SurfEasy have simple, basic software applications for Windows, without significant features like a kill switch, switching between multiple protocols, or advanced encryption. This is still better than Turbo VPN, which doesn’t even provide a native client for Windows-based systems.
Betternet, SurfEasy, and Turbo VPN provide simple, user-friendly apps for Android. The interfaces may look different, but they all share the same basic features - such as unlimited server switching, wi-fi protection, and anonymous browsing.
Betternet, SurfEasy, and Turbo VPN provide simple, user-friendly apps for Android. The interfaces may look different, but they all share the same basic features - such as unlimited server switching, wi-fi protection, and anonymous browsing.
Unfortunately, Turbo VPN doesn't support Mac OS. The good news is that both SurfEasy and Betternet offer attractive software clients for Mac users, but the features are basic and there are no special frills like DNS and IPv6 leak protection or a kill switch to prevent data exposure during unexpected disconnections.
Unfortunately, Turbo VPN doesn't support Mac OS. The good news is that both SurfEasy and Betternet offer attractive software clients for Mac users, but the features are basic and there are no special frills like DNS and IPv6 leak protection or a kill switch to prevent data exposure during unexpected disconnections.
SurfEasy offers a simple app with basic VPN features in addition to an adblocker for iOS users. Betternet offers a similar app for iOS with basic encryption and no annoying ads. Turbo VPN's app is even less advanced than those provided by SurfEasy and Betternet. None of the three iOS apps come with a kill switch.
SurfEasy offers a simple app with basic VPN features in addition to an adblocker for iOS users. Betternet offers a similar app for iOS with basic encryption and no annoying ads. Turbo VPN's app is even less advanced than those provided by SurfEasy and Betternet. None of the three iOS apps come with a kill switch.
All three VPNs have servers in the US and can access some restricted content in the country. Betternet is most likely to work with popular heavily-guarded streaming services such as US Netflix.
All three VPNs have servers in the US and can access some restricted content in the country. Betternet is most likely to work with popular heavily-guarded streaming services such as US Netflix.
In an industry flooded with junk, it is rare to find a VPN service that actually does what it says it will do. Surfeasy is one of those rare gems –– this client allows completely anonymous file–sharing and torrenting, as well as server–level DNS leak protection. Although lacking a kill switch option, Surfeasy makes up for it with superior encryption using OpenVPN 256 bit, an industry standard. With over a thousand servers in many countries, above average speeds, a no-logging policy and instant online support, Surfeasy comes out a clear winner.
Interestingly, if you compare SurfEasy VPN with NordVPN, which is our top ranked vpn, you'll see that SurfEasy VPN can learn a lot from NordVPN. Compare SurfEasy VPN with NordVPN
Honesty and transparency – our two core values – make the internet a friendly place. Our reviews are written by users themselves, and are not influenced by VPN companies. When you purchase a VPN, we sometimes earn affiliate commissions that support our work. Here is an explanation of exactly what we do and how to support our work.
Katie Kasunic
Guy Fawkes
Ariel Hochstadt