Astrill VPN Review

VPNs have made our online lives smoother. Although they are somewhat costly, when you consider the rhetoric of wellbeing and privacy at stake, the tech starts to make sense. Internet is no longer as it used to be. Unassuming dangers are lurking around in just every corner of the net. While you may not consider yourselves a valuable target, remember, data itself is a commodity worth mining. However, you can say goodbye to most online scrutiny with a satisfied grin with a VPN in place.

But the consumer VPN market is fraught with numerous options. Although most of these so-called VPNs are not up to the task, there are still quite a few left. This can leave you confused as to which service you should subscribe. Amongst those providers, an old name stands out: Astrill. This service has been around for ages, and today we will present you our unabashed Astrill VPN review.

Astrill VPN: An Overview

Astrill VPN is a feature-rich service that caters to high-end usage. However, it is one of the costliest VPNs out there. Yes, it has tons of advanced features and works wonders in censorship states. But for a beginner and casual user, it has low value for money. Furthermore, it has a complicated app that further deters users. Despite that, many users want and use Astrill VPN. That’s because it is among the most developed VPNs available on the market.

Yes, you can get another service that is simple to use and faster, say ExpressVPN. However, Astrill offers a high degree of customization. Also, with the latest security protocols, it is at the forefront of technological advancement.

Veloxee Corp owns and runs Astrill VPN. Though the company may not be transparent, it has serious protection with no server breaches, security leaks, or scandals surrounding its name. Thus, Astrill is a very safe VPN that hails from the privacy heaven of Seychelles, registered in the capital of Victoria on Mahé Island. Furthermore, the provider practices a VPN no-logging policy to ensure users’ safety.

Astrill has exclusive protocols and can bypass censorship. It also works in China, making it one of the best VPNs for China. Further, it comes with a SOCKS5 proxy and port forwarding. Thus, it is a wonder for torrent lovers. However, the sole fact that aggravated us was the price tag atop this bundle of joy. Astrill is, perhaps, the most expensive service in the VPN industry. Though it can offer enough to justify its price to the right user, a few others can do the job at a lower cost with greater efficiency.

Pivotal Specifications of Astrill VPN

Let’s take a quick look at over a dozen key specs Astrill VPN has to offer:

Features	Astrill VPN
Bandwidth Limit	Unlimited
Connection Speed	Up to 80 Mbps
Logging Policy	Some User Logs
Data Leaks	No
Jurisdiction	Seychelles
Number of Servers	107
Amount of IP Addresses	110+
Locations	57
Streaming Content	No
Torrenting	Supported
Simultaneous Connections	5
Customer Support	24/7 Live Chat
Cheapest Price	$10.00/month over 12 Months
Official Website	Astrill.com

Astrill VPN Features

The following are several attributes we studied for our Astrill VPN review:

Servers and Performance

Astrill has obfuscated servers and a custom VPN protocol that circumvents DPI (Deep Packet Inspection), making it one of the best VPNs for bypassing censorship. Furthermore, it employs an all-physical network of servers that focuses heavily on unblocking restricted locations. Although their network isn’t the largest, unlimited bandwidth solves that problem to a degree. Astrill VPN employs almost 107 servers spread in 57 countries, placed strategically for uninterrupted global coverage.

While the VPN is good at sidestepping censors, it fails to deliver on the streaming front. There are no SmartDNS or optimized servers for streaming. Although, it does ensure to offer P2P exclusive servers for torrent software fans.

Privacy and Security

The VPN is best when it comes to security. Astrill VPN offers a plethora of security protocols such as:

• Cisco IPsec
• IKEv2/IPsec
• L2TP/IPsec
• PPTP
• SSTP
• OpenVPN (UDP, TCP)
• WireGuard
• OpenConnect
• StealthVPN
• OpenWeb

Astrill also offers intricate security features like:

• DNS, WebRTC, and IPv6 leak blocking
• First-party DNS
• TCP port 443 support
• VPN kill switch
• Split tunneling

On the privacy frontier, the VPN seems to falter a bit. The provider maintains temporary logs which record the following:

• Bandwidth used
• Device type
• IP address
• Connection time
• Application version

However, the company hails from Seychelles, a pro-privacy country. Hence, there are no critical issues.

Advanced Features of Astrill VPN

First, VPN provider offers a lot of advanced, purpose-built servers, such as China optimized, SuperCharged, P2P exclusive, Multi-Hop, and even those with Dedicated IP. Furthermore, it has myriad extra security features, some we mentioned under “Privacy and Security”. Two more include App Guard, an enhanced version of a kill switch, and Tor (The Onion Router) over VPN. Finally, Astrill VPN offers 5 concurrent connections per subscription.

Platform Support for Astrill

Astrill works with all crucial platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and even routers. Moreover, the apps they offer are consistent across operating systems and devices. Though a beginner may feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of customizations present, advanced users love them.

Astrill VPN Subscriptions and Customer Support

The VPN is by far the priciest one we have reviewed. Astrill VPN offers three different plans:

• Monthly: $20 per month
• Half-yearly: $15 monthly
• Yearly: $10 monthly

Sadly, the provides practices a zero-tolerance, no refund policy. Meaning, it doesn’t offer refunds under any circumstances. There is no choice of a free trial, either. However, the provider proffers cryptocurrencies to make the service more anonymous. Nonetheless, Astrill has decent customer service. There are materials available on the website and a 24/7 live chat option other than email and phone.

Final Thoughts about Astrill VPN

While the provider offers top-tier VPN protocols, market standard encryption, and a network of physical servers, we are still uncomfortable with its price tag. We are not saying there is no need for this service—we wrote this review of Astrill VPN, after all. It’s one of few VPNs that can bypass the Great Firewall of China and has lots to offer regarding censorship and geo-unblocking.

However, this highly customizable and complex VPN is not suitable for beginners. The user experience is also somewhat harrowing because the provider incorporates technical jargon in its clients. Does Astrill work? Yes, above and beyond. But there are still decent alternates available at far better prices. Therefore, we can’t recommend this VPN unless the price isn’t an issue.