I tested how it performs for streaming, gaming, public Wi-Fi, and work travel, and I dug into its newest tech like post-quantum encryption and Threat Protection Pro.

You see, a VPN shouldn’t just claim privacy; it should demonstrate it with independent verification and resilient infrastructure. So when you add consistent unblocking, easy apps, and clear setup flows, NordVPN starts to look like a practical default for most people.

Quick take: Who is NordVPN best for?

If you want a VPN for everyday use that still scales to tougher tasks, NordVPN hits a rare balance. It’s fast on nearby and long-haul routes, handles streaming reliably, and now supports Apple TV with a native app.

Privacy-focused users also get concrete assurances, including repeated no-logs assessments and memory-only servers that avoid disk persistence. And if you mostly need casual protection and occasional geo-unblocking, the Plus plan usually makes the most sense. 

Pricing, Plans, and the Black Friday NordVPN deals

NordVPN’s headline discounts are aggressive on longer terms, and renewal prices are higher afterward, so plan accordingly. During the current Black Friday window, two-year plans start around $2.99/month and include three extra months, with similar extras on annual tiers.

Nord offers several bundles. The “Basic” tier is VPN-only; “Plus” adds tracker/ad blocking and a password manager; “Complete” folds in encrypted cloud storage; “Prime” adds identity-protection benefits in supported regions. All plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee, which functions like a risk-free trial if you cancel in time.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the different tiers offered by NordVPN, including their current pricing (as publicly listed) and what features they unlock. 

Privacy and No-logs: Verified Repeatedly

NordVPN is headquartered in Panama and operates a strict no-logs stance that has undergone multiple third-party assurance engagements. The most recent assessment, conducted by Deloitte Audit Lithuania with ISAE 3000 methodology, again verified the accuracy of the no-logs statement at the end of 2024.

Nord also runs RAM-only servers, so operational memory is wiped on reboot, and it publishes guidance on enabling post-quantum protection with NordLynx. That future-proofing is now available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and tvOS, and you can toggle it in settings when using NordLynx. Post-quantum encryption isn’t visible day-to-day, but it hardens long-term confidentiality.

Speed, Protocols, and Real-World Performance

NordVPN’s in-house NordLynx (WireGuard-based) protocol is the best pick for most people, combining low latency with high throughput. Independent and hands-on tests this year found excellent retention on both nearby and transatlantic links, which aligns with my experience streaming and downloading large files. OpenVPN remains available for compatibility, and NordWhisper is aimed at restrictive networks.

The current network spans roughly 8,300+ servers across 126–127 countries, which helps with congestion avoidance and IP freshness for streaming. If one location slows, switching servers in the same country often restores full speed.

Streaming: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Smart TV Support

For unblocking, NordVPN remains dependable across popular platforms. BBC iPlayer and Netflix access typically works from UK servers; if you hit an error, clear cookies, reconnect, or try a nearby UK city. Nord also provides step-by-step BBC guidance. Apple TV users can install the native tvOS app directly from the App Store – no router gymnastics required.

SmartPlay (built-in smart DNS logic) runs automatically inside the apps. For devices without VPN apps, set up Smart DNS on the device or consider a router install. If a service blocks one IP range, switch servers or momentarily rotate protocols to refresh the route.

Security Extras: Threat Protection Pro, Kill Switch, and Encryption

Threat Protection Pro blocks malicious sites, trackers, and intrusive ads, and scans downloads before they reach your system. It works even if the VPN tunnel is off, so you keep a baseline of defense between sessions. A system-wide kill switch, plus an app-level variant on desktop, prevents accidental exposure if your connection drops.

Encryption defaults are modern: AES-256/ChaCha20, Perfect Forward Secrecy, and the new post-quantum layer when using NordLynx. Together, these controls raise the cost of interception and keep routine browsing, streaming, and public Wi-Fi use private.

Apps, Setup, and NordVPN Login on Every Device

Installation is straightforward on Windows, macOS, Linux (now with GUI), Android, iOS, and Apple TV. After you install, open the app, complete NordVPN login, and use Quick Connect for the nearest fast server; or pick a specialty server (P2P, obfuscated, Double VPN) from the list. Ten simultaneous devices are supported per account, and browser extensions exist for Chrome-family and Firefox.

For home-wide coverage, you can configure supported routers. While NordVPN lacks a native router app, reputable guides note it as a strong router VPN given speed and security, just expect a more manual setup than services with dedicated router firmware.

New in 2025: Post-quantum Rollout, tvOS Maturity, and Server Expansion

Early 2025 saw post-quantum encryption broaden beyond Linux to mainstream desktop, mobile, and TV platforms, controllable via a simple settings toggle when using NordLynx. Meanwhile, the Apple TV app that debuted in late 2023 has matured and is widely available in the App Store. Server coverage continues to expand incrementally.

“NordVPN not Connecting” or “Is NordVPN Down”? – Fixes That Work

Connection issues are usually local and solvable in minutes. Start by switching servers in the same country, then change protocol to NordLynx or OpenVPN, and clear cookies if streaming sites throw errors. If you suspect a wider outage, check a status checker or social channels for real-time signals.

• Restart the app, then try Quick Connect; if that fails, manually pick another city in the same country.
• Toggle protocols: NordLynx → OpenVPN UDP → OpenVPN TCP; test each for stability.
• Disable Threat Protection temporarily to isolate conflicts with filtering.
• On mobile, turn Airplane Mode on/off to refresh the network stack.
• Flush DNS (desktop) and clear browser cookies, then reconnect and reload.
• If BBC iPlayer refuses to load, switch UK servers and clear app/browser cache.
• Still stuck? Reinstall the app, or try the browser extension as a short-term workaround.

If nothing helps, contact support via live chat inside the app – having your OS version, protocol choice, and timestamps ready speeds up triage.

Server Network, Specialty Tools, and a Note on Meshnet

Nord’s large footprint aids speed and access diversity. Specialty modes include Double VPN, Onion-over-VPN, obfuscated servers, and optional dedicated IPs. Historically, Meshnet allowed private device-to-device links for file-sharing and gaming; reports indicate it’s being sunset in December 2025, with resources shifting to Threat Protection. Plan alternatives if you rely on that workflow.

Deals, Trials, and Referral/Affiliate Ecosystem

Seasonal promos offer the best entry pricing; renewals are higher, so consider extending during sales to lock value. There’s also a 30-day refund window you can treat like a test drive. Beyond that, Nord regularly runs refer-a-friend perks that grant extra months, and long-running creator partnerships keep discounts easy to find during big retail events.

iOS and Everyday Use

On iPhone and iPad, NordVPN feels light and fast with NordLynx, auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi, and a one-tap server list. Streaming apps work smoothly once you clear old location data. If you need a “set and forget” mobile VPN that stays out of the way, this one fits.

What I’d Change

Split tunneling isn’t available on iOS and macOS, which power users will notice. Some renewal prices jump more than expected, so it pays to set calendar reminders. Finally, a native router app would simplify whole-home setups for non-technical buyers, though guides make manual installs feasible.

Verdict

NordVPN remains one of the fastest, most privacy-proven VPNs you can run daily. Between verified no-logs audits, post-quantum encryption, and polished apps – including Apple TV – it’s a strong choice for streaming, travel, and public Wi-Fi. The best value typically lands during Black Friday NordVPN promos, but even at standard sale pricing, the Plus bundle is easy to recommend.

Setting up and Interface

An important thing to note about getting started with Webroot WiFi Security is that you only get a 7-day free trial option if you sign up through your Android or iOS smartphone. If you sign up from a desktop, you won’t get the free trial. You could, however, test the desktop client using the free trial after you’ve created an account through your mobile device and then signed in from your PC or Mac computer. This is quite odd and we have no idea why the creators of the VPN have chosen this approach but it is an important thing to bear in mind because the 7-day free trial is your only way of testing the VPN. There is no refund option so once you spend your money on the VPN, even if the service doesn’t work as expected for you, you’d be stuck with it.

Once you create an account, download and install the desktop clients or the mobile apps, and start them, the first thing you will notice the minimalistic interface of Webroot WiFi Security.

The Windows client’s starting screen offers little more than a list of countries/locations to pick from as well as a list of “Recommended” servers that should give you the best performance. There is also a simple system for favourite locations that will show you the ones you connect to the most often and that’s about it. The client doesn’t give you any details about the different servers’ ping values and it doesn’t show you the individual servers in a country. There are also no location filtering options and no mapped interface for those who prefer to have the locations visualized to them in that way.

This simplicity of the client will likely appeal to people who are not particularly familiar with the VPN-type of service, but for those with more experience and higher demands, this might seem a bit underwhelming.

The mobile apps and the macOS client offer pretty much the same functionality and clean interface so if you get used to using the any of the VPN variations, you should have no issue handling the other ones as well.

Privacy Policy

Webroot is an established and well-known North-American company that deals with Internet security for regular users and businesses alike and so this should give the customers of its VPN service some reassurance that their online traffic is in good hands. However, we still need to take a closer look at the specifics of how Webroot WiFi Security handles the data of its users. VPNs are all about keeping one’s browsing private from snooping third-parties but it is also important to remember that your data should also stay hidden from the VPN provider or else the whole purpose of using such a service would largely be defeated.

According to the privacy policy section on the site of Webroot WiFi Security, the VPN doesn’t keep tabs on your IP address, browsing activity, the data you download, share, or view, and it also doesn’t track your DNS requests. All of this is pretty standard and is to be expected from a respected VPN service. However, some logging would still be happening if you use Webroot WiFi Security. As stated in the privacy policy, the date and time of the start and end of a session does get recorded, as well as the bandwidth that is used, the country from which you’ve connected to the VPN (not your IP!), and the number of devices from which you have been using the VPN.

One other thing that caught our attention is what happens if the VPN experiences a crash. According to the privacy policy, information about what happened on the device just prior to the crash might get logged for “troubleshooting purposes only”. The information that may get logged may include DNS requests and some of the downloaded data. This is a bit unusual to say the least but, at the same time, we can see the logic behind it and how it might help prevent future crashes and improve the service as a whole.

When we compare the amount of logging done by Webroot WiFi Security in comparison to most other VPNs we’ve reviewed thus far, it’s fair to say that the logging is significantly more. However, it is still not something we’d consider a deal breaker but it still needs to be kept in mind when thinking about getting this VPN.

Another thing worth noting here is that Webroot WiFi Security has not yet been reviewed by an outsider auditor. Currently, this is the best reassurance you can get that the claims made in the privacy policy of a given VPN are indeed truthful. At the moment, very few VPNs have gone that route and seeing as how Webroot WiFi Security is still a rather new service, we won’t be surprised if it undergoes an outsider audit sometime in the future. However, until then, there is simply no way to confirm anything stated in the privacy policy section on the site of Webroot WiFi Security.

Network and Performance

The size of the network of Webroot WiFi Security is not something to get particularly excited about. It covers only 34 locations at the time of writing and, as mentioned at the start, none of the servers support P2P. On the plus side, however, the distribution of these locations across the globe is good, with the servers not being limited to only in North America and Europe, which is a rather common trait of most smaller VPNs. In addition to North America and Europe, Webroot WiFi Security also has servers in some Asian countries (India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan) as well as in some South American ones (Brazil, Argentina, Portugal), which is a nice thing to see – many VPNs don’t have servers even in a single South American country and have very few servers in Asia. Webroot WiFi Security even has South Africa as a server location – another thing we don’t see too often with the majority of VPNs.

Overall, even though the number of servers and locations for the network of Webroot WiFi Security is modest, the positioning of the servers mostly makes up for it as it ensures that the majority of users will always have a server that’s relatively near their location so that the connection speed would be adequate.

Speaking of connection speeds, Webroot WiFi Security is definitely not the fastest VPN out there. On a standard 75Mbps Internet, the average connection speed when the VPN is active and the connection goes through a server located in the same country as the user is about 60Mbps. This is nothing to be amazed by but it is still an adequate, albeit a bit below average, speed. When a more distant server is used (for instance, a user from Europe connects to an US server), the speed drops to about 40Mbps, which, considering the longer distance, is to be expected and is not something to complain about. One thing to be pointed out here, however, is that, during tests where a more distant server was used, the average speed of 40-50Mbps would occasionally drop to half of that. There could be many reasons for that so this shouldn’t be seen as a huge issue but it is important to make full use of the 7-days free trial to extensively test the VPN to see if you face any similar issues that may be a dealbreaker for you.

Features

If you are looking for a big number of advanced tools, you will likely not be impressed by Webroot WiFi Security, but as we mentioned in the start of this post, this is not a VPN service that is being sold on its huge variety of features anyway. Still, there are some options that you can play around with, other than the ability to connect and disconnect from the VPN.

For starters, Webroot WiFi Security allows you to switch between different protocols. Currently, there are four different options: L2TP, PPTP, IKEv2, and OpenVPN. For newcomers, this option may not mean much, but more experienced customers should appreciate the protocol variety.

There is a potential issue when using the OpenVPN protocol – if the connection fails, you get the “connection failure” alert in the client but there is no desktop notification, meaning that, if the client is minimized, you’d have no way of knowing that the VPN is currently keeping your traffic hidden until you open the client again. This issue, however, is negated if you toggle on the next feature we will cover.

Like most other VPNs, Webroot WiFi Security, too, has a kill-switch function, the purpose of which is to end your connection to the Internet if the VPN service suddenly stops. The idea is to prevent your traffic from getting exposed to snoopers once the VPN is no longer protecting it. However, again, when the OpenVPN protocol is used, you won’t get a desktop notification and you may not initially realize why your Internet has stopped until you open the client to see that the VPN connection has failed.

The Autostart option here is a bit more limited than that of other VPN products, as it will launch Webroot WiFi Security with the start of your computer but will not automatically initiate a connection – you will have to do that yourself, which, to some extend, defeats the purpose of having an Autostart function to begin with.

Webroot’s VPN also provides you with a powerful web-filtering feature called BrightCloud to keep you from opening potentially harmful and dangerous web addresses. This feature is definitely one of the highlights of this VPN, as it uses the same technology that is employed in Webroot’s security suites. Most other VPNs’ web-filtering tools get the job done but BrightCloud takes it a step further, making it a nice addition to this VPN package.

Content-unblocking is, to some, the most important aspect of a VPN and if a given VPN product cannot provide access to a particular geo-restricted site or service, then its usefulness goes down by quite a bit. This, however, is one of the areas that many VPNs, even well-known and popular ones, seem to struggle. Some won’t be able to unblock Amazon Prime Video, others will fail with Disney+, and most of them will not provide access to US Netflix. In the case of Webroot WiFi Security, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that this VPN has excellent unblocking functionality. It manages to bypass the geo-restrictions for the aforementioned US Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, and it also unblocks a number of other popular geo-restricted services and sites. Overall, if you want to use a VPN for unblocking, Webroot WiFi Security is a great option.

Pricing

There are only two pricing variants – the first one covers 3 devices for one year and the second one – 5 devices for a year. There are no 1-month or 6-month options and there’s also no option to extend your license to 2 or 3 years and get a discount for each consecutive year. The 1-year plan that covers 3 devices would cost you $39.99 ($3.33 effective per-month price) and the one that covers 5 devices is priced at $59.99 ($5 per effective per-month price) for the first year (note that those are discounted prices at the moment of writing and might change over time). If, after year one, you decide to go for a renewal, the prices for both of the plans go up – $39.99 becomes $59.99 for the 3-device license and $59.99 becomes $79.99 for the license that covers 5 devices. If we look at some competing brands, it might seem a bit costly, mainly due to the small number of covered devices and the lack of extending the initial license period in order to get a discount. Still, Webroot WiFi Security is definitely not the most expensive VPN available. If we compare it to Goose VPN, for example, we see that its one-year license is about 20 dollars cheaper, with Goose VPN costing $59,88 for a one-year license. However, it’s worth noting that Goose will give you an unlimited number of devices that you can cover with its VPN, so, if you have more than five devices that need a VPN, it might be better to go for that one.

Final notes

It is obvious that Webroot WiFi Security is still a relatively new VPN, as it lacks many of the more advanced functions that more established products of the same type can offer. Still, there are quite things to like about this VPN – from its well-positioned server locations and its excellent unblocking of geo-restricted content to its powerful URL-filtering feature and overall simplicity and ease-of-use. Of course, for more demanding users, this will likely not be enough and they would require more features and customization freedom from a VPN. If you are one such user, you can always go take a look at our other VPN reviews, where you surely find a product that better suits your needs.

Goose VPN is a VPN service from the Netherlands that offers good connection speeds, decent pricing, and some unblocking functionality. Goose VPN is compatible with all of the most popular platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android and it also comes with a Chrome extension.

It also places no limits on the number of devices you can use it with across all pricing plans, which is a rarity among the other VPNs. However, despite its positive traits, there are also some problems with Goose VPN and, in order to offer you an objective review of this product, we would need to cover both its strengths and weaknesses in more detail, which is what we are going to do through the rest of this write-up.

The importance of ensuring that you can browse the Internet in privacy has never been more important. Seeing as how nowadays everybody – advertisers, hackers, scammers, governments, and other third-parties – wants to learn more about your private virtual life, it can be quite difficult to retain at least some of your privacy while you are browsing the world wide web. This, in turn, has led to the exponentially increasing popularity of the type of service known as VPN. A VPN can help you prevent unnecessary exposure of your online activities to third parties and thus preserve your virtual privacy. There are also some other useful functions of VPNs (such as site-unblocking) that can also be appealing to a big number of users. However, as with any product, not all VPNs are of equal quality and offer the same value-to-price ratio. This is where our reviews can help you by giving you a more in-depth look into the good and bad sides of each VPN service that we cover. That said, if you are not too sure about the purpose of a VPN or the most important characteristics you should be looking at, we advise you to first visit this article to get a better overall understanding of this type of service as a whole. If, on the other hand, you are already familiar with VPN services, let’s get right into reviewing Goose VPN.

Overview

Goose VPN is not at the top of the list of the most popular VPNs. It is certainly overshadowed by other, bigger names, such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN, TunnelBear VPN, and so on. One of the things that are immediately noticeable is that it doesn’t offer quite the same array of customization settings and bonus features when compared to its more well-rounded competitors. However, this might actually make this VPN a rather good fit for people who have never used a VPN before and would rather stick to a more simple option that doesn’t bother you with a bunch of advanced tools that you will probably not need for the moment. With these things in mind, right off the bat, we’d say that, if this is the first time you are getting a VPN, Goose VPN could be a good option for you. Still, don’t go right ahead and purchase it before you’ve gone through the whole review.

Setting up, Interface, and ease-of-use

Very few VPNs have any specifics during their setup and Goose VPN is not an exception here. Whether you want to install either of its desktop clients or mobile apps, Goose VPN is easy to set up and you should face no difficulties. A nice thing worth noting here is that you won’t get charged during the first month of use despite having provided your banking details, which gives you the option to cancel your subscription without paying anything during this 30-day period. This is a nice form of a free trial and it allows you to freely test the service before deciding you want to commit to it.

Once you install the desktop client and start the VPN, you will notice that its interface doesn’t overwhelm you with any intimidating settings and options. You are just given a list of locations and a map to visualize them. You can pick a location using either of those tools. However, there isn’t a Favorites system, meaning that you’d have to manually find your preferred location each time. A plus here is that the locations which support P2P are shown as such.

Once you go to the settings’ section, you will see that there isn’t too much going on there. You have the option to choose between four different protocol types (IKEv2, L2TP/IPSec, PPtP, and OpenVPN) or set Goose VPN to automatically choose the best one for the occasion. The other options in the Settings section are for enabling/disabling the extra features of the VPN, but there are not that many such features to begin with so there aren’t too many settings to play around with.

The mobile apps are even more stripped down – they do have the same dashboard with the map and the servers list but most of the settings you get with the desktop client aren’t there. In fact, the only thing you can configure here is whether to allow the app to automatically connect to the best server for you or to manually choose the server you want to connect to.

All in all, users who are newcomers to the VPN-type of service should be relieved that there aren’t any overly-complex options in the desktop clients or mobile apps of Goose VPN. However, more experienced and demanding users will probably be a bit underwhelmed by the lack of variety and customization freedom and might lean more towards more advanced VPN products.

Privacy and Security

Since VPNs are all about keeping your browsing private and boosting your online security, these aspects of each individual VPN service are essential to the overall reliability of the product. This is why you must never overlook the details regarding the privacy policy and security levels of a given VPN you may consider purchasing. It’s also important to remember that, even if a certain VPN does a good job at preventing third parties from monitoring your browsing, this doesn’t mean that the owners of the VPN themselves do not keep tabs on what you are doing online and use the acquired info for their benefit.

When it comes to Goose VPN, after going through what’s written on its official site with regard to these aspects, we can say that, on paper, the service can be deemed reliable. According to the privacy policy of Goose VPN, the user’s Internet activity doesn’t get tracked or recorded. This includes data such as visited sites, DNS requests, incoming and outgoing emails, usernames and passwords, IP addresses, and any other personally-identifiable data. The VPN also doesn’t log data about which servers of its network you use. The only information that gets recorded is how much bandwidth you’ve used, which is perfectly understandable.

In terms of security, a good thing about Goose VPN is that the people behind it own and themselves manage the servers from the VPN network. This is great news as it tightens the control that the creators of the VPN have over their network which, in turn, boosts security.

One theoretical security-related issue with Goose VPN, however, is its OpenVPN configuration. The issue here is that server certificate authentication isn’t used with this protocol, which might potentially allow attackers to disguise themselves as Goose VPN servers and intercept your traffic. Again, this is a theoretical problem that is unlikely to transfer into real life but it is still there and it is still worth mentioning and keeping in mind, especially since most other VPNs out there don’t have this issue.

Another note we must make here is that Goose VPN is yet to be audited by an impartial outsider. To be fair, very few VPNs have gone through an outsider audit but this is an important step to confirm the privacy and security claims made by the VPNs owners. Until this is done, there’s no way for regular users to be sure that anything said by the VPN company about the data collection or security measures of their product is a hundred percent true. Of course, these audits are costly which is also a possible reason why a lot of VPNs have not gone through them, but the fact that Goose VPN hasn’t been audited is still something you must bear in mind.

Network and Performance

The network of Goose VPN is rather modest, with only 25 countries where its servers can be found. Most of those countries are located in Europe and there are also some servers in Asia, North America, and Australia but no South America or Africa. Overall, the size of the network isn’t particularly impressive and users from out of Europe, Australia, or North America are very likely to have no server near them.

On the plus side, if there is a nearby server you can connect to, you can expect good connection speeds of around 66-67Mbps if you are on a standard 75Mbps Internet. Connections from Europe that use USA servers also yield satisfying speeds between 40 and 60Mbps so even if you are using a more distant server, you can still get some decent performance.

One interesting thing is that, if a single user ends up consuming more than 1% of the entire bandwidth of the VPN network, they will be approached by the company and asked to decrease their bandwidth usage or to make bigger payments. This is disclosed on the official site of the VPN and we like the addition of this measure as it ensures that no one will be able to abuse the network at the expense of other users’ connection speeds.

Features

We already established that Goose VPN is not a particularly feature-rich service as it really doesn’t offer any impressive or advanced tools to its customers. Still, most of the basics are here, so let’s take a look at them.

The kill-switch – this is a very important tool for every VPN as its purpose is to cut your Internet connection if the VPN server you are using goes down or if the whole service itself malfunctions. Stopping the Internet connection whenever this happens helps keep your traffic private by not allowing it to continue after it is no longer being hidden by the VPN. For the most part, Goose VPN’s kill-switch works well but you might sometimes experience a problem where the client crashes and won’t start to connect again until you restart the computer. This isn’t a huge deal and the fix to it is easy but could still be irritating at times.

DNS leak prevention – this feature keeps your DNS from getting leaked while you are using the VPN. DNS leaks could lead to third-parties snooping on your traffic even while you have your VPN service enabled, so it’s a good idea to keep this feature enabled at all times.

Smart server list – when enabled, this feature will automatically connect you to the best server available in the location you’ve chosen. If it is disabled, you will be able to pick from a list of all the servers in said location.

Unblocking – in terms of unblocking capabilities, Goose VPN is something of a mixed bag. While it does unblock US Netflix – one of the most challenging services for a VPN to unblock – it fails at providing access to Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, or BBC iPlayer. If you are looking for a VPN that unblocks everything, you may need to look elsewhere. If, however, you want to gain access to US Netflix from another country, Goose has got you covered, and its high connection speeds will allow you to stream video content from Netflix without any interruptions.

P2P – P2P is supported by this VPN but, as noted above, the servers in only two of the available locations (the USA and the Netherlands) offer this and so if you live far away from those countries, connection speeds may be too low for you to use it effectively.

There are pretty much no other additional features that come with Goose VPN – there’s no VPN-hiding feature or a split-tunneling one, so more demanding users will likely not be amazed by what Goose VPN has to offer them.

Pricing

Considering the lack of any advanced bonus features and some other complaints we had with this product, the $12,99 per-month price seems to be a bit high. For comparison, VyprVPN, which offers a very wide array of extra features and tools, has a similar monthly price of $12,95. Of course, if you pay for a one-year or two-year subscription with Goose VPN, the monthly price would drop significantly. For instance, the one-year plan costs $59,88, which equals $4,99 a month, and the two-year plan further discounts the default price to $2,99 a month or $71,76 for the whole two-year period. Again, however, the aforementioned Vypr VPN has a better offering for its one- and two-year plans, which are priced at $45 and $60 respectively. Similarly, other competing VPNs also seem to have better pricing plans that are less expensive and offer more features. A final pricing plan from Goose VPN is its “Lifetime” offering, which gives you a permanent license for the service and costs $139 (at the moment of writing). Depending on how long you may end up using Goose VPN, the Lifetime plan might give you the most value. However, considering that this VPN isn’t the most feature-rich one and you may eventually end up transitioning to another, more advanced VPN, we are not sure whether we’d recommend going for it. If, on the other hand you’d like to explore more VPN options, you can find more VPN reviews we’ve written right here.

Final Notes

For newcomers to VPN in general, Goose VPN might be a good option due to its simple interface, ease of use, and its reliable connection speed. Also, if you are a user who needs to use a VPN on a big number of devices, this could also be a particularly good choice as there’s no limit on the number of devices you can cover with this VPN. This fact alone could potentially make this service a rather good choice for business owners who need a VPN that extends to all of their workstations.

Despite these strengths of the service, however, we cannot overlook the negatives we found when reviewing it. The small network, the absence of a third-party audit, the inability to unblock popular services and sites, as well as the unexpectedly high pricing all contribute to this VPN being a mixed bag. Not that it isn’t worth trying out, especially since there is a 30-day free trial, but you must keep in mind the downsides of the service before you decide to commit to it. If you are fine with the mentioned cons and don’t need a particularly feature-filled VPN service, it won’t do any harm trying Goose VPN out and seeing if it does the job for you.

If you are the owner of a small or medium business, you probably want to be able to provide reliable protection to all computers and other digital devices that are used in your business and that form your private business network. One option to do that is by separately installing antiviruses on each device, but this can take lots of time, cost you an unnecessarily big amount of money and it also won’t give you the ability to closely monitor and control the security status of your endpoints (the devices that form your business network). This is why there is a special category of software known as endpoint security solutions that many security vendors offer. Here, we will review one such solution, called Panda Adaptive Defense 360, which is developed by the established antivirus company known as Panda Security.

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 Overview

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 is the highest-tier product offered by Panda Security and it is designed to provide network endpoint protection and management features to its customers. Panda Adaptive Defense 360 will secure not only Windows and macOS workstations, but it also offers protection for Android devices and is one of the few endpoint security solutions that cover Linux machines. Like its competitors, this suite focuses on tries to do most of the security and management work for you, so that you don’t waste any time on manually setting up the protection policies for your endpoints. Of course, you are still given the option to do that with a number of settings that will allow you to fine-tune the way each device is being protected. Overall, Panda Adaptive Defense 360 will greatly boost the security of your network and will give you the opportunity to remotely manage each endpoint device, but the same can be said about pretty much every other decent endpoint security software so it is important to take a closer look at the specifics of Panda Adaptive Defense 360 in order to see what distinguishes it from other similar products.

Interface and usability

Like the majority of endpoint protection packages, Panda Adaptive Defense 360 offers an easy-to-use cloud interface to its customers. This means that you can access the dashboard of the endpoint solution directly from your main browsing app on any of the devices you use. The need for such an interface is obvious, as business owners who care about the security of their network’s endpoints must be able to quickly access the control hub of the endpoint security service if the need to deal with a particular issue on any of the devices arises.

The specific layout of the interface is quite intuitive and gives you just the right amount of information and options without overwhelming you right off the bat with the more advanced settings of the service, which should be appreciated by customers who are first-time users of an endpoint protection and management service.

On the Security dashboard, you will see a couple of helpful widgets that provide helpful and important information about the status of your network. The information presented in them is technically not in real-time but it is very close to that with a delay of just several seconds, so you can rest assured that you are going to be almost instantly notified if a given situation arises.

The first time you log into your Panda Adaptive Defense 360 account and open the cloud service, you should make sure to deploy endpoint clients to all devices in your network so that you can put them under the security “umbrella” of Panda Adaptive Defense 360. Deploying endpoints is not difficult and can happen in a couple of different ways. Firstly, you can manually install clients on each endpoint device. This, however, won’t be very efficient if the number of devices is big and/ or if they are in different places. This is why Panda Adaptive Defense 360 also gives you the option to send out emails with instructions and download links to each endpoint Administrator. From then on, it will be your employees’ job to follow the instructions and download and install the endpoint client on their workstations. Something worth noting here is that, as soon as the first endpoint is deployed, the client will automatically find other workstations connected to the same network, which will allow you to remotely install the clients on the other detected computers directly from the cloud administration interface.

A nice thing about the endpoint clients is that they are super lightweight and are very unlikely to have any noticeable footprint on the performance of the computers they are installed on, so don’t worry even if the workstations your employees use aren’t new or particularly powerful.

The next step, after the endpoints have been deployed is to set security policies for them. This step is optional because Panda Adaptive Defense 360 sets a default policy for each endpoint and, in most cases, this policy will be the best one to use as it balances between providing strong security and avoiding unnecessary disruptions of the workflow. Still, for users who prefer to fine-tune things themselves, there’s always the option to set a different policy for each individual endpoint as well as to change that policy at any time.

The main component of the endpoints’ security policy is its operation mode. This refers to the antivirus component of Panda Adaptive Defense 360 and it controls how aggressive the service’s malware detection and prevention would be. There are three options here: Audit, Hardening, and Lock. Audit is the least aggressive mode and it is generally not recommended as it might potentially allow some forms of well-disguised malware to pass by it. Hardening is the medium setting – it is the recommended one and the one that Panda Adaptive Defense 360 sets by default. In most cases, this operation mode will not lead to workflow disruptions due to false positives but will still stop pretty much all malware that might try to enter an endpoint device. Lastly, the Lock mode is the most aggressive and restrictive of the three and, though it provides the highest amount of protection, if it is enabled, the chances of false positives and blocked content and files that are needed in the employee’s work are increased as well.

Features

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 comes with a plethora of useful features that, for the most part, work automatically to keep your endpoints safe from all kinds of virtual threats.

Panda Adaptive Defense 360’s Endpoint Detection and Response function constantly monitors all endpoints for suspicious events and gathers data from them for further investigation, detection, analysis, and, in case of a detected threat, it alerts the network owner.

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 also offers its customers a Patch Management tool that will look for outdated software across all endpoint devices, notify you about any missing patches, and help allow you to automatically and remotely install said patches to ensure that there are no known security vulnerabilities inside your network. Note, however, that this feature is optional and if you choose to add it to the package, it would make the end price higher.

A highlight of the package is the 100% attestation service, which evaluates apps, programs, and other executables based on 10, 000 different characteristics and concludes whether the specific software is safe to run. If the app/program doesn’t meet the requirements for the 100% attestation certificate, the feature doesn’t allow it to be run on the computer.

Threat Hunting is another security feature focused on stopping attacks that don’t have signatures typical for most malware. According to Panda Security, this feature could even intercept malicious actions that are being performed by insiders.

Of course, the base antivirus engine of this endpoint security solution needs to be mentioned too. It offers protection against a wide variety of cyber threats, including Trojans, Spyware, and Ransomware. The behavior monitoring of the engine also has the potential to spot incoming Zero-Day attacks that are otherwise unknown to the antivirus’ database. Panda Adaptive Defense 360 can also thwart attacks from fileless malware, phishing viruses, PUPs, and in-memory exploits. Though it is usually best to allow the antivirus to do its job without user interference, if you want, you can whitelist different items that are considered as threats if you are certain that they are not hazardous to the computer that is exposed to them. That said, the idea of the antivirus is to work automatically, without any need for you to micro-manage it. In most cases, the only time you’d have to do something related to the security status of any of your endpoints would be when a threat is detected and the antivirus requires you to take a certain action to neutralize it instead of doing this automatically.

Unfortunately, as filled with features the Panda Adaptive Defense 360 suite might be, it still falls behind some of its competitors in terms offered extra perks. For instance, there is no VPN that comes with Panda Adaptive Defense 360, which we would have liked to see considering the relatively high price of the product. For comparison, Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus, which is a bit less expensive, does come with its own VPN service.

Pricing

As we mentioned above, the price of Panda Adaptive Defense 360 seems to be a bit higher than that of its competitors. There is only one pricing option, which would cost you €68 (around $80) a year per device. For comparison, the per-device price for Trend Micro Worry-Free Services, another popular endpoint security solution, is $59.87, and the price for the aforementioned Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus is only $56.99 per device. Of course, getting a license for a bigger number of devices or for more years will get you a discount. Note, however, that, to get the discount for a higher number of devices, you’d need to get a license for more than 50 devices. With most of Panda Adaptive Defense 360’s competitors, the discount starts to apply when the license is for more than 10 or 20 devices, so this is yet another downside of the pricing of Panda Adaptive Defense 360. The discount for getting the license for more years is also quite mediocre compared to other endpoint security options on the market.

Final Notes

Panda Adaptive Defense 360 is a great service for keeping all endpoints in your business network away from harm with very little need to do things manually. Still, if you prefer a more hands-on approach, you’d have plenty of opportunity to micro-manage every aspect of the security policy of each device that makes up your network. The user-friendly interface, the robust protection offered by the powerful antivirus engine, and the satisfying number of added extra security and management features seem to make this product worth recommending. However, it must be mentioned that it is not a perfect solution as it does lack some advanced tools such as a VPN that other similar products offer. Also, potentially, the biggest problem with Panda Adaptive Defense 360 is that its pricing is unexpectedly high and the discounts offered for a higher number of protected devices or for additional years are not particularly impressive if we compare them to other options on the market. 

To sum up, if it weren’t for the pricing of Panda Adaptive Defense 360, we’d say it is one of the top endpoint security solutions, but due to its higher cost )that doesn’t reflect a significantly greater number of features), we consider it to be a little bit behind the very best endpoint security products that are available at the moment.

Nowadays, users tend to have tenths of online accounts, each secured by a different password, and it can become very easy and likely to lose track of some of your passwords and, in turn, get locked out of your account. In addition, the need to type in your password every time you are about to log in can be annoying. Of course, using the autofill feature of the browser can help here but the problem with it is that it is not as secure as you might think and there’s a certain chance that someone might exploit it and learn your login details. This is why password managers have become so popular in recent years. They are tools that allow you to securely manage your passwords and remove the need to remember each and every one of them. They also allow you to log into your accounts with an autofill feature of their own – one that is much less likely to be exploited by hackers and snoopers. All in all, if you constantly need to access different accounts and want to make the process easier without compromising with security, using a password manager is the way to go. However, there are many such services out there and it could oftentimes be difficult to pick the right one for you. This is why we always try to give you all the relevant information you might need to make an informed choice about which specific service and/or product to pick.

As you can already tell, Intuitive Password will be the password manager that we will be talking about in today’s review. Intuitive Password is one of the more complex and well-rounded password managers on the market but there are a few things that customers may not like about it so, in order to give you a better idea of how good this service really is and to answer the question whether we’d recommend Intuitive Password, we need to take a deeper dive into its different characteristics, which is what we are about to do next.

Getting started

Once you buy a license for Intuitive Password, download and install the client on your PC, and start it, you will probably want to import all your accounts’ passwords. The process here is a bit different and somewhat clunkier compared to most other password-managing services. For starters, you cannot import passwords using CSV (comma-separated value), meaning that you’d have to individually type in all of the passwords, one by one. For people who have been using another password manager, this wouldn’t have been a serious problem, however, weren’t it for the second oddity related to importing passwords, namely, the fact that you cannot import passwords from another password manager. The combination of these two factors can make it unusually time-consuming to import your passwords to Intuitive Password, especially if there’s a lot of them. A small plus here is that you have the option to clone password data entries so if you use one email for all your accounts, this could speed up the process of setting up Intuitive Password.

Interface

The interface of Intuitive Password offers a lot of options and it might be a bit too much to take at first, especially if you are a newcomer to this type of virtual service. For starters, there are three menu panels, which could be quite overwhelming even for someone who has used a password manager in the past. On the plus side, once you get to know the client, you will probably appreciate the wide selection of different options that are easily accessible right there on the starting screen of the app. However, it might take awhile before you can get comfortable with this layout. We definitely wouldn’t say that the client is particularly user-friendly, especially towards less experienced customers. In terms of ease-of-use, Intuitive Password doesn’t seem to live up to its name but if you are a power-user or an expert, we believe it won’t be long until you start to like the wide variety easily-accessible settings presented to you.

On the plus side, there is a lot of organizational and fine-tuning freedom here. Intuitive Password gives you many organizational options for your data entries. You can add them to seven different categories (seen in the left panel) and also allows you to add new ones. You can even add subcategories to each of the main ones – users with lots of data entries can greatly benefit from the extensive organizational features included here.

There’s quite a lot of customization freedom regarding the data entries themselves – the Item Editor section to the right allows you to configure many different aspects of each data entry. There isn’t only a password and a username field, but there are also fields for the related website, a tag and a note field, and even fields for a security question and the corresponding answer. As we said, power-users will find that there’s a lot to be liked here.

Security

Obviously, one of the main aspects of every password manager is its security levels and privacy policy. Considering the importance of the object this type of service is dealing with – our passwords – it is crucial that the tool has the ability to keep them as secure as possible. For the most part, we were satisfied with what Intuitive Password has to offer in that regard. Firstly, there is a security dashboard in the client that will let you know whenever there are any weak passwords or password duplicates. Next, you are given the option to set password expiration dates and be reminded to change your password when the specified date arrives. A great feature here is the option for a second master password to further solidify the protection of highly important data entries. This two-factor authentication will prevent unauthorized third parties from gaining access to your accounts even if they have somehow gotten their hands on your account’s password. Note, however, that this isn’t available with all pricing plans.

There, however, is one serious issue with the way Intuitive Password handles your data. Whereas most password managers assure you that all data you enter into the tool is kept on your computer and the company behind the password manager has no access to it, Intuitive Password keeps all your data on its servers. There are a number of reasons we do not like this approach. One of them is that this could give hackers a bigger opportunity to get their hands on your data. Intuitive Password assures its customers that all the precautionary measures to prevent this have been taken but it is still a data-handling approach that is significantly less secure. Of course, there’s also the question about privacy – many users may not want to entrust their most sensitive data and passwords to third parties, even if the third party is their password manager provider. In practice, this way of handling your data shouldn’t make much of a difference in almost all cases. However, this approach still requires a certain leap of faith on the user’s end, which some people may not be comfortable with. Then again, there’s the other side of the argument that keeping the data stored on your computer (as it is with other password-managing services) is also not a guarantee that a hacker won’t get their hands on it. Nevertheless, we would have preferred if Intuitive Password had stuck to this more conventional approach.

Features

A big selling point of Intuitive Password is its wide variety of features and functions. In addition to more basic tools such as a secure password generator and a browser extension for easier logging-in, you also get the password expiration date function we already mentioned to help you keep your passwords strong and your accounts – as secure as possible.

Additionally, the service comes with password sharing (unlimited) that applies to all pricing plans, including Intuitive Password Free (more on that in a moment). The way this feature works is, when you choose a password you wish to share, you are given a sharing ID and a code that other users of Intuitive Password can use to gain access to the shared password. To make things easier, passwords you’ve shared and/or that have been shared with you are shown in a different tab on the Intuitive Password interface to keep things organized.

An interesting feature that Intuitive Password has is its Secure Messenger. This might seem a bit odd for most customers, but it is actually a rather useful tool for teams, the members of which all have Intuitive Password on their workstations and need a secure environment for data sharing without the need to use a third-party app, that might not provide the same levels of security and privacy.

The last perk we want to talk about is single-use login codes that are best used when you want to log into any of your accounts on a potentially insecure device. In such cases, using your master password might be dangerous as it might fall into the wrong hands, so the single-use codes are a good alternative. Once you use such a code, it cannot be used again so even if a third-party gets hold of it, it will be of no use for them and your accounts won’t get compromised.

Pricing options

Intuitive Password comes with quite a few different pricing variants to suit the needs of as many different types of users as possible. For starters, there is a free version – Intuitive Password Basic – that allows you to store no more than 20 passwords and lacks the option to use two-factor authentication.

The next plan is called Intuitive Password Express and its price is A$2 (Australian dollar) per month, which is approximately equal to US$1.43. Here, the limit of stored passwords is ramped up to 2,000 and you also get the two-factor authentication as well as the option to add up to three tags to each data entry for better organization.

Following the Express plan, there is Intuitive Password Advanced and it comes with an unlimited number of passwords you can store on it, as well as up to 10 tags per data entry. Also, you get the secure messenger tool we mentioned earlier. The price here is A$5 or about US$3.57.

Next, and finally, we have Intuitive Password Pro, which is priced at A$7 (= US$5). Here, you’d also get premium customer support, up to 20 tags per password/data entry and 100 codes for single-use logins to help you keep your master password secure when you need to log into your accounts from other devices. Overall, we’d say that the prices here are quite affordable but it must be said that there are even better deals out there on the market that offer similar functionality and security options.

Final Notes

Intuitive Password definitely has a lot of value to offer for its inexpensive price. From its password sharing and password generator to its secure messenger and extensive customization and organization options, this service is sure to meet the needs of even the most demanding of users. 

On the other hand, its somewhat overwhelming and not particularly user-friendly interface could seem intimidating to newer users. Also, another potential flaw of Intuitive Password is the fact all user data entries are stored on the company’s servers and not on the user’s computer. 

If, however, you can ignore this or simply don’t mind it and give yourself some time to get used to the interface, we believe that you can get quite a lot of use from Intuitive Password and quickly get to appreciate its undeniable strengths.

When you are the owner of a business, simply having an antivirus installed on all of your workstations isn’t optimal when it comes to keeping those workstations safe and protected. This is why solutions such as Avast Business Antivirus Pro get created. The idea of this suite is to give business owners the ability to remotely set security policies, enable different protections, resolve security issues encountered on the endpoint devices of their business network from their own computer, without the need to have direct physical access to the problematic endpoint device.

Avast Business Antivirus comes in two variants: Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus. The former is primarily focused on providing protection for the endpoints, whereas the latter adds some advanced management features that expand the variety of actions that you can remotely execute on the devices in your network. Generally, Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus is recommended for business owners who wish to have greater control over what happens on each of their endpoints and who are not only seeking to keep the devices secure but to also add an extra layer of privacy to them. Something important we must highlight here before we go any further is that this endpoint security suite lacks support for Android, iOS, and Linux. It only covers Windows, Windows server, and macOS workstations, with the macOS client being less advanced than its Windows and Windows Server counterparts. Below, we will take a look at the two endpoint security suites and we will help you determine if either of them would be a good fit for your business.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Pro Plus Interface and usability

Like other similar products, Avast Business Antivirus is a SaaS – a Software as a Service. This means that its interface is browser-based and you can access the dashboard of the suite directly from within your browser. The starting screen of Avast Business Antivirus gives you information about any existing endpoint alerts so that you can quickly get down to resolving potential issues that might have arisen. Normally, the first thing you’d want to do if you are signing in for the first time is to deploy endpoint clients to the devices in your network. Avast Business Antivirus gives you several options to do that. The first one is to manually download and install the endpoint client on each device, but this could take you quite a lot of time if there are a lot of devices and/or you don’t have immediate physical access to them at all times. Therefore, there is also the much easier option to task Avast Business Antivirus to send out emails to each endpoint admin with instructions on how to set up the endpoint client on the device. This is the option we recommend as it saves both time and effort on your end. There is a third variant if your network has an Active Directory Server. In this case, you can remotely install the endpoint clients through the Cloud Console after you provide the directory server credentials.

After all endpoints have been deployed, it’s time to configure their security and privacy policies. Here, you get to choose which antivirus protection features will be enabled on a given endpoint device and you also have the freedom to fine-tune each protection feature. For instance, you can set the antivirus to not scan certain directories on the endpoint device for malware or you can whitelist certain URLs that the antivirus’ Web Shield won’t block even if it considers them potentially unsafe. It’s nice to have the freedom to set policies for different devices individually and not be forced to have groups of devices that use the same policy – something you don’t always get with some of Avast’s competitors.

The endpoint clients are also quite easy to use and provide some nice functionality. Their different functions get automatically integrated into the right-click menu so that one can have quick access to the relevant function without needing to open the client itself. For example, right-clicking on an executable will automatically give you the option to run it in Avast’s sandbox environment to test the file and see if it’s safe.

Security

Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Pro Plus both benefit from the robust Avast antivirus engine, which we have explored more closely in our Avast Premium Security Review. Overall, it is a strong security engine that doesn’t solely rely on its database to spot threats but also uses behavior monitoring to intercept potentially unsafe apps that are not yet categorized as malware.

As soon as the endpoints get deployed to the devices in your network, an automatic scan on them will yield results regarding their security status on your dashboard. If a threat gets detected, Avast will either take care of it automatically or will require you to carry out a certain action to fix the detected problem. Clicking on the problematic endpoints will reveal more detailed info about the specific threat they are dealing with, the security feature responsible for detecting them, and the action that is required to resolve the problem.

Avast Business Antivirus also gives you the option to remotely start and schedule security scans on your endpoints, update the virus definitions of the client, and install new security patches.

Whenever there is an issue with any of your endpoints, Avast Business Antivirus also makes sure to provide you with a detailed report where it shows you information about the specifics of the issue. If you want, you can even export the data from the report to a PDF file.

Features

All of the features you’d expect from a premium antivirus suite are here and they are available for all endpoints protected by the suite: 

You have your base antivirus that is separated into several “shield” features. File Shield will scan files and software for malicious code and only allow them to be opened/run if it determines that they are safe. The Web Shield will look out for insecure URLs and block your access to them if it detects anything wrong with the URL. Behavior Shield is similar to File Shield but, instead of relying on the database of the antivirus, it looks for behavioral patterns typical for malware in the activity of different apps and programs on the computer. This Shield is especially important because it has the potential to prevent Zero-Day attacks (attacks from unknown malware) and stop Ransomware from encrypting your data. The Email Shield feature guards your online mail by scanning both incoming and outgoing email messages for malicious components and blocking them if something suspicious gets detected inside the message.

In addition to the base antivirus functionality, there’s a plethora of other security features such the Wi-Fi Inspector, that scans your wireless network for vulnerabilities, the Smart Scan feature, that detects vulnerabilities and performance issues in the computer, Real Site, which helps you stay away from fake, data-stealing sites, the Sandbox tool, that allows you to execute suspicious software in a controlled environment that’s separate from your OS, and a couple more features we won’t mention here for the sae of conciseness. 

All in all, there’s a lot to like here, especially since all of the features we’ve mentioned so far are available for both Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus. Of course, there are several quite important perks that are only available with the Plus version:

The first of those perks is a Webcam Shield. This is a tool that will block access to the webcam of the endpoint devices from unauthorized apps and notify you about any such attempts.

Secondly, Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus gives its customers a Password Manager, with an included Firefox extension, that helps keep all passwords across the network secure and streamlines the accounts they are used for.

Next, there is a VPN service that comes with the Pro Plus package that can be used on all connected endpoint devices. Most competing endpoint security services lack an added VPN so this is definitely one of the highlights of this package. Of course, getting a high-quality standalone VPN would typically give you better VPN functionality but it’s still nice to have Avast’s built-in one. If, on the other hand, you prefer to get a VPN separately, you can go here to see our reviews on some of the best VPNs out there.

Additionally, the Pro Plus version of Avast Business Antivirus provides its customers with a Browser Cleanup tool to help you delete unneeded data from your browser that might be slowing it down and also assist you with removing browser add-ons that might be compromising the system’s security.

The last feature we’d like to talk about is a Patch Management tool and its goal is to help you detect outdated software across all connected endpoints and remotely install the latest updates. However, this feature isn’t included by default in either of the two packages. Instead, if you want to use it, you’d need to pay for it separately. However, this is only possible if you get the Pro Plus package – you don’t have the option to buy the Patch Management tool with the lower-tier package. The feature itself can be quite useful if you want to make sure that there are as few software vulnerabilities as possible on all of your endpoint devices. However, it can add quite a lot to the end price of the product so you need to be sure that this is a tool you’d actually need. If, for example, you can trust your employees to make sure that everything on their workstations is up to date, you may not need the Patch Management feature, which could save you quite a lot of money.

Pricing

Buying a one-year license for Avast Business Antivirus Pro for one device costs $46.99. For the Pro Plus package, without the Patch Management feature, the price is $56.99. To add Patch management to the package, it would cost you an additional $23.99, forming a subtotal of $80.98. Of course, if you are interested in getting and endpoint security service such as this one, you’d likely want to get a license for a much bigger number of devices and, as you would expect, adding more devices gives you a discount on the price per device. For example, if you get a license that covers 5 to 19 devices, you would get a 10% discount for the per-device price. In other words, if you get a license for 10 devices, for one year, the end price for the Pro Plus package would be $512.90, meaning that each protected endpoint costs $51,29 instead of the original price of $56.99. Additionally, if you extend the licensing period for 2 or 3, the effective price for the two extra years is about 50% of the price for the one-year license, which is quite a bargain and so we recommend getting the 2- or 3-year license if you think there’s a chance you’d want to keep using Avast Business Antivirus after the first year. One very important thing we need to mention here is that all of the prices we mentioned here are without tax charges. In other words, you’d have to pay an extra 20% of the prices we’ve shown here when getting either of these two products.

Final Notes

Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Pro Plus are both great options for providing your business network with a powerful and reliable layer of protection from all kinds of threats including conventional malware categories, malicious websites, unsafe apps that aren’t categorized as malware, phishing pages, and so on. If you go for the Plus package, the added VPN, Browser Cleanup Tool, Password Manager, and Patch Management feature further expand the functionality of the endpoint security suite but you must keep in mind that those bonus perks do not come cheap and the final price of the product could quickly become quite substantial. If you are not sure whether this is the best value-price ratio you could get from an endpoint security suite, you can go here to check our other reviews of similar products.

Another thing worth mentioning again is the somewhat limited compatibility of this product as, unlike some of its competitors, it doesn’t offer cover for mobile endpoints and the features of its macOS client are significantly fewer and less impressive than those of its Windows and Windows server counterparts. Still, if your business network is mostly made up of Windows machines and you don’t necessarily need cover for your mobile devices, we strongly recommend Avast Business Antivirus Pro and Pro Plus for their excellent protective capabilities and endpoint management features.

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services is a software suite focused on endpoint protection for small and middle businesses. If you are a business owner who has a big number of computers and other digital devices in their business network, it would be in your best interest to keep those devices safe and protected while, at the same time, being able to closely monitor what’s happening on them and whether said devices are being used for their intended purpose. The goal of endpoint security suites such as Trend Micro Worry-Free Services (WFS) is exactly that, to offer their customers a tool that allows them to protect, monitor, and manage all endpoints (devices) connected to their business network. There are a number of such suites available on the market and it is important to be closely acquainted with their specifics so that you can make an informed choice when choosing a specific service to keep your workstations protected.

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Advanced Overview

As you can probably already tell, today’s focus will be on Trend Micro’s offering for an endpoint security suite. There are four different tiers for Trend Micro Worry-Free Services that are best-suited for different types of users. We will be primarily focusing on the Advanced package of Trend Micro Worry-Free services, as it is the best package for owners of small and medium-sized businesses who have never before used an endpoint security suite and mostly need the basics. Of course, we will also mention the other variants, but it will be from the standpoint of the Advanced package.

Overall, Trend Micro Worry-Free Services is a solid choice for endpoint security that will add a powerful layer of protection for the endpoint devices in your network. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android (but no Linux) so that you can protect both your workstations as well as any mobile devices connected to your business network.

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Advanced Interface and usability

Like other similar products, all versions of WFS offer a cloud-based interface. In other words, you can access and control the service directly through your browser, without need to use a desktop client. This greatly improves usability and makes managing and monitoring your endpoints that much easier.

The default setting of the interface is set to a simplified mode that only shows you the most critical and important of tools and settings. For more advanced users, the Advanced Mode is available to allow quick access to more complex settings focused on fine-tuning WFS.

After you purchase the Worry-Free Services package you’ve chosen and login with your username and password, the first thing you’d like to do is add the different devices connected to your business network as endpoints protected by Trend Micro. There are several ways that you can do this, with the first one being by manually downloading and installing the endpoint client for WFS on each device. Alternatively, you can add the emails of the administrators of each endpoint device to the control panel of WFS and the service will automatically send instructions to those emails on how to set up the service. The third option requires you to have an Active Directory server – if this requirement is met, you can set WFS to automatically install clients to your endpoints.

Once the endpoints have been added, it’s time to set policies for them. An endpoint policy is basically the security and management profile for each device. It defines WFS protection features that are enabled for a given endpoint as well as the different types of restrictions you can set for it. You can create different policy groups and assign endpoints to them. For more complex fine-tuning settings related to endpoint policy groups, you’d need to enable the Advanced Mode for the interface.

The main categories of policy settings that you can configure are Threat Protection, which handles setting related to malware scans and real-time protection, Data Protection, which deals with data-loss prevention and external devices that get connected to the endpoint workstations, and Access Control, that is focused on controlling/restricting access from the endpoints to web addresses you don’t want your employees to be able to visit from their workstations.

Unfortunately, WFS doesn’t allow you to set specific policies for individual devices – it only allows you to do that for groups of devices. For example, with one of its competitors, Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus, you can set an individual policy for each of your endpoints and change them independent of one another at any time.

Features

Antivirus scanner – obviously, one of the most important functions of an endpoint security suite is to keep your devices safe by protecting them against malware. WFS uses the renowned Trend Micro antivirus engine to keep all connected endpoints secure by looking out for malicious code both when a given file is opened as well as during the time it is being used. The antivirus engine also employs a behavior-monitoring feature that allows it to spot threats that are not yet present in its database. In other words, WFS should, in theory, be able to provide protection for your endpoints even from new and unknown threats (also known as Zero-Day attacks). In our Trend Micro antivirus review, we took a more detailed look at the antivirus engine of Trend Micro so, if you are interested, you can go there to learn more about the antivirus component of WFS.

Vulnerability scanner – the purpose of the vulnerability scanner is to detect and notify you about weaknesses in the systems of the protected endpoints as well as help you fix them. In most cases, those vulnerabilities would be related to missing security patches on different Windows apps. If such a missing patch gets detected, WFS will let you know which is the app and will aid you with installing its latest update.

Ransomware protection – according to Trend Micro, the antivirus engine that comes with WFS should also be able to stop Ransomware attacks. Again, we have explored the ability of Trend Micro’s antivirus engine to stop Ransomware in our review of their antivirus suite. In short, the engine does indeed offer adequate Ransomware protection but you shouldn’t solely rely on it to keep your endpoints safe from newer and more advanced forms of Ransomware – backing up is always the best preventative measure when it comes down to Ransomware attacks.

Web control feature – a good way of ensuring that your endpoint devices stay safe is to reduce the chance for human error. Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Advanced allows you to do that by restricting access to potentially malicious sites on the endpoint devices. In addition to that, you can also block sites that aren’t harmful but could be bad for the work environment (for instance social media sites).

Cloud App Security – this feature provides specialized protection for Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite. The feature focuses on preventing Ransomware, Spyware, phishing, and virus attacks as well as stopping users from opening malicious spam emails by monitoring the email behavior, author, and intention.

Full Disk Encryption – WFS also gives you the option to encrypt sensitive corporate data located on endpoint devices so as to prevent unauthorized third-parties from gaining access to said data in case the device gets lost or stolen.

Security and privacy scans on mobile devices – Trend Micro will scan the apps that get installed and used on the mobile endpoints in your network in real-time and block any applications that seem to behave in a potentially harmful way.

Theft prevention – this feature will help you prevent your mobile endpoint devices from getting stolen and used by unauthorized parties. Trend Micro WFS allows you to locate, lock, and wipe the endpoint device in case someone manages to steal it or if the device gets lost.

Plans and Pricing

As we said, there are four tiers of Trend Micro Worry-Free Services. The one we explored above is Advanced and it is the second-tier package. For a one-year subscription for two workstations, the price of the Advanced package is $119.74 ($59.87 per workstation). Increasing the number of workstations or the length of the subscription period decreases the effective price per workstation. For example, if you get your subscription for two years and for 50 devices (the maximum is a hundred), the price of the package would be $4125.50, making the effective price per workstation $41.25. The discount isn’t huge but it still makes it worth it to get your subscription for two or three years instead of one if you think that you’d still be willing to use the same service after year one. If you are not sure, you can opt for a 30-day free trial of the service so that you can familiarize yourself with Trend Micro WFS and figure out whether you’d be willing to purchase the package.

As far as the other three variants are concerned, the first and cheapest one of them is the tier-one package that only provides your endpoints with protection against malware and hacker attacks. However, it includes very few (if any) management options so if you want more control over your endpoints, we do not recommend going for this one. The price here is lower – it costs $75 to secure two workstations for a year ($37.5 per device) so if you only want protection for your endpoints and don’t need any of the more advanced features, this less expensive variant may actually be a good fit for you.

We already talked about tier-two (Advanced) so let’s move on to the third offering – Worry-Free XDR. This one comes with all the features of Advanced while adding Cross-Layer Detection and Response to the mix. This is an advanced problem-solving feature that allows you to quickly find the root of a given issue across endpoints and email and resolve it. It analyses the cause of the encountered problem and suggests steps to overcome it. It also includes a more advanced threat-detection feature that employs the use of a cloud sandbox.

The highest tier package is Worry-Free with Co-Managed XDR and it is only available for Managed Service Providers (MSP) – those are outsourcing companies that remotely manage end-user systems and/or a customer’s infrastructure. What’s new here is a 24/7 alert and monitoring provided by Trend Micro security analysis as well as investigation of incidents as well as custom recommendations for resolving problems with the MSP’s customer base.

Final Notes

The strong antivirus engine behind most of Trend Micro’s products ensures that all of your endpoints stay protected from incoming threats at all times and the several more advanced control functions that come with the Advanced Package of Worry-Free Services allow you to keep tabs on what’s happening on each endpoint device in real-time as well as quickly and easily add restrictions to ensure your employees cannot access online resources that could be dangerous to the workstation or counterproductive to the work environment.

There are certain things that Trend Micro Worry-Free Services could have done better – it could have included some bonus security/privacy features such as a VPN and its interface could have been a bit more streamlined. In many cases, you may need to go through several pages of settings to find the one specific setting you need to configure. Also, the lack of support for Linux endpoints may make some users seek an alternative. Furthermore, the majority of more advanced features that come with WFS are only available for Windows workstations, so bear this in mind. However, despite all of this, Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Advanced is still a potent endpoint protection and management tool that is easy to set up and provides extensive options to keep your devices safe and control what’s happening on them at any time, from any place, as long as you have a computer or a smartphone at your disposal.

]]> https://howtoremove.guide/trend-micro-worry-free-services/feed/ 0 https://howtoremove.guide/kaspersky-endpoint-security-cloud-plus/ https://howtoremove.guide/kaspersky-endpoint-security-cloud-plus/#respond Thu, 30 Jul 2020 09:19:13 +0000 https://howtoremove.guide/?p=140786 Protecting your home computer/network from malware is one thing but securing all digital devices in your business is a wholly different challenge. Installing a separate premium antivirus solution on each and every device is not only inefficient and very costly but it also doesn’t give you the opportunity to monitor and manage those devices remotely, at any given time. 

Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus

In today’s software review, we will introduce you to Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus – a potent security service that allows owners of mid-sized businesses to both protect all endpoints (PC Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Server) from malware as well as to constantly monitor what’s happening on those endpoints and manage their security settings.

There are several such products on the cyber-security market and Kaspersky’s offering seems to be lagging behind a bit from some of its competitors in terms of features. However, this is still a solid endpoint protection service and, in the next lines, we will tell you everything you need to know about to be able to decide if this is a good option for you and whether you should give it a try. Plus premium Kaspersky Endpoint Security solution – there is a lower-tier one called simply Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud. This one offers fewer features, including some essential ones, so we will mainly be focusing on the Plus version. We will tell you which of the Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus features are exclusive for this package so that you know what you won’t get if you decide to go for the lower-tier variant.

Interface and usability

One of the points that Kaspersky sells its Endpoint Security product on is its cloud-based interface. Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus is what is known as a SaaS – software as a service. The idea here is that you can access all of the functions, features, and settings of the tool from within your browser, without the need to download, install, and update the tool on your computer.

Once you purchase the service, you will need to create an account and sign in with your username and password. After that, you will be taken through the process of setting up the security tool for your company. Most of the configuration steps can be skipped and you can address those settings at a later time. Something we liked here is that the configuration steps you are shown on the landing page of the service are shown in order of their priority so that you always start with the most important things you ought to configure, making the whole process easier and more streamlined.

Endpoint deployment is also easy, even for less-experienced users. There are several ways you can add an endpoint to the protective “umbrella”. The main/recommended method is by adding the administrator users of the endpoints you want to protect by providing their email addresses. After you do that, Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus will automatically send email messages to those users with instructions on how to set up the endpoint client on their devices.

The other way to add protected endpoints is if you have an Active Directory server in your network. In this case, you can task the administration wizard of Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus to automatically deploy endpoint clients to the devices you wish to protect.

Once endpoints have been deployed, it’s time to set up their security profiles. There is a default profile that you can use if you want, but its recommended that you take the time to create a profile/profiles that are better fitted to your specific needs. Here, Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus shines with its ability to assign a different security profile for each separate endpoint – a feature that is not available on some of its competitors. The available profile settings are separated into two big groups: security and management, with security covering the settings related to enabling/disabling different types of protection (web, network, mail, firewall), and management focusing on settings that help you control and monitor the endpoints.

Security Features

Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud and Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus both will keep your endpoints secure against different kinds of malware (including Ransomware). They offer file, mail, web, and network protection for all devices connected to the network and will automatically scan files that are saved, run, or opened. Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud/Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus also keeps an eye out for insecure Internet traffic and network connections, blocking them if it determines they represent a threat to any of your endpoints. There’s even a feature that allows you to roll back malicious actions that have been performed by malware on the attacked device, which could be a possible mechanism for dealing with files that have been encrypted by Ransomware though it’s worth noting this may not work against all Ransomware representatives.

A highlight of Kaspersky’s Endpoint Security suite is its BSS (Behavior Stream Signatures) function that will monitor all apps on the protected endpoints and look out for behavioral patterns that are typical for malicious software. This could help with detecting harmful programs that are not yet included in Kaspersky’s malware database. Such threats are commonly known as Zero-Day malware and they are the most problematic and difficult to stop form of malicious software so it is essential that your choice for a security solution has a reliable behavior monitoring for all endpoints in the network.

Both Kaspersky packages also give you a helpful vulnerability scanner that will determine if there are any software or settings vulnerabilities across all endpoint devices and help you fix them remotely. It will notify you about outdated software, important security features that are disabled, and even provide you with a list of all available security patches that need to be installed. The Plus version also includes an automated patch installation so that patch management will happen automatically, without the need for you to manually install new security updates.

Management Features

Most of the advanced management features are only available with Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus so if you want to have greater control over your endpoints, this is the option you should probably go with. Here are the extra features that the Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus in terms of management functionality:

Cloud Discovery is the only feature from this list that is also available with the tier-one package. It allows you to monitor the activity on the endpoint devices and see the cloud services accessed by the device’s user. It also provides information about time spent on social media networks so that you know how much time is wasted there. Cloud Discovery will monitor both access to cloud services/social media via the browser as well as via dedicated desktop/mobile apps.

Cloud Blocking and Web Control are two features that build upon Cloud Discovery by enabling you to set limits to the types of cloud resources and online content that the endpoints’ users can access. With Cloud Blocking, you can block access to different forms of social media or cloud services you don’t want to be accessed from your endpoints. Web Control gives you a similar option, but this time the access-control is based on the type of content that a site has or the geographical location of its servers.

Device Control further expands the control you have over your endpoints by allowing you to manage the user access to external devices that get connected to the endpoint computers.

The Encryption management feature allows you remotely to encrypt important data on the endpoint devices so that it cannot be accessed by unauthorized third-parties should the device become lost or gets stolen.

Lastly, Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus also gives all your endpoints protection for Microsoft Office 365, making this security suite a good fit for business owners who use Microsoft Office on their workstations.

Pricing

The Plus version of Kaspersky Endpoint Security costs $513.70 ($51,37 per device), which is a discounted price at the moment of writing this article. The original price is $685.00 ($68.50 per device). This plan includes protection for 10 endpoints, which is the minimum number of endpoints that you can protect with Kaspersky (the maximum is 150). As expected, rising the number of devices decreases the effective price per device, so if you get a license for Kaspersky Endpoint Security Plus for 20 endpoints instead of 10, you will have to pay $870.00 and the effective price per a protected endpoint would be $43.00.

All of the aforementioned prices are for one-year licenses. If you go for a two-year license (which is the only other option), the price per endpoint also gets decreased. A two-year license for 10 devices will also cost you $870.

Comparing Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus to the tier-one package, the increase in price is significant (the current price for the lower-tier option is $322.50) and so if you aren’t sure you need all the added manageability features and are mostly interested in protecting your endpoint devices from external threats, then sticking with the less expensive package might be the better option. However, if you arrived at the point where you are considering getting an endpoint security solution for your business network, it is likely that advanced features are exactly the thing you are looking for, in which case it’s recommended that you go for the Plus package. A big part of the decision here depends on the human factor, namely, your employees. If you have many employees and don’t personally know them very well, increased control over your endpoints is indeed recommended. If, on the other hand, your business is still small and you know the people who are working for you, then, maybe, the Plus package isn’t all that needed.

Final notes

Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud is a solid choice for every business owner who needs to remotely protect, manage, and closely monitor what’s going on the different devices that form their working network. Unfortunately, almost all of the advanced endpoint control tools are only available with the Plus package, and the regular tier-one version, for the most part, only focuses on protection and security from outside threats without giving you many ways to control your endpoints. Some competing endpoint security solutions provide management/control options even with their lower-tier packages so that’s worth keeping in mind. 

That said, we have very little (if any) complaints from the functionality of Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus and its cloud-based interface makes protecting and monitoring the devices in your business network at any time all the easier.

A VPN provider with a vast network, outstanding support, fast speed and great unblocking abilities.

Pros:

• A vast network of servers in 160 locations in 94 countries
• Unblocks Netflix and other georestricted sites
• Good speed performance
• Clients that support all the major operating systems
• 24/7 customer support via email and live chat

Cons:

• A bit highly priced packages
• ExpressVPN app is needed for browser extensions to work
• Android app has restricted protocol choices
  

ExpressVPN is a VPN provider that clearly knows how to position itself as a trusted leader in the VPN market. The service is packed with professional features that hardly can be matched by competitors.

ExpressVPN’s high-end platform covers major operating systems such as Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. There is also custom firmware for routers and comprehensive manual guides on how to set up the service on Apple TV, Fire TV, PlayStation, Chromebooks, Kindle Fire and more. The browser extensions of ExpressVPN are available for Chrome and Firefox and include extras like WebRTC leak blocking, location spoofing, and HTTPS Everywhere support.

ExpressVPN protects your web traffic through a number of technical features. The service provider has its own DNS servers. Military-grade encryption technologies protect your online activities from advanced attackers and prying eyes. And you can precisely specify which applications should use the VPN and which should use your regular internet connection with the help of clever split-tunneling feature.

The VPN service provider offers a network of 3 000+ servers, distributed over 160 cities in 94 countries. The best coverage is for Europe and the US, however, ExpressVPN has a number of server locations in Asia and a few countries that hardly are supported by other VPN providers.

A clearly written and transparent privacy policy specifies that no personal information is stored by ExpressVPN. Unlike many competitors, the company goes into details about the data it uses. Moreover, its servers have recently undergone external audit in order to validate that the company meets its own privacy policy and no logging claims.

Customer support is also outstanding. ExpressVPN supports users through live chat 24/7. The company’s agents are professionals who can deal with any technological issue and are available within minutes. Most competitors simply can’t match that with their basic outsourced support which often takes more than a day to receive a truly helpful response and professional assistance.

Some recent innovative solutions add up to the sophisticated look of the service. If you are curious about them, we will share with you our take on all the latest ExpressVPN features, plan offerings and performance.

Setting up the VPN client

Many users struggle to get a VPN client installed and functioning properly. Luckily, the well-built ExpressVPN website has all the manuals and support that is needed to minimize that hassle. All you have to do is log in to your account dashboard and the website will automatically identify the kind of device you are using and will display a “Download” button for that particular VPN client.  In case you need a client for another platform, one click on “Set up on all your devices” will take you to a list of options where you can choose the app for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and more, accompanied by instructions for setting up.

ExpressVPN can reroute you to the corresponding app store for downloading the mobile app when you tap on it. It also lets you email yourself a setup link through an email button, gives you a QR code, and even lets you download the APK file directly. A very nice setup touch is that the VPN does not require you to find your username and password and manually enter them. Instead, you simply have to copy the special activation code from the download page and paste it into the client when prompted. The software then sets your login credentials automatically. You may also set up an OpenVPN client from a third party. ExpressVPN makes it much simpler to do so through .OVPN configuration files.

•             Windows client
  

The Windows client of ExpressVPN has a convenient and simple interface that doesn’t take long to get used to. You can activate the service with a big on/off button. You can also view your current server through a status display and choose your location from the “Choose location” button. At the top left, there is a menu button that gives you quick access to a handful of features.

The best server can be picked in a variety of ways. Your nearest server is selected through a Smart Location feature. To find the best location in a country, you can double-click it, or search through all country locations manually. A Search box helps you to quickly find locations by keyword and add them to a Favorites list.

The latest version of the client also shows the location that is currently selected, the “smart location” (ExpressVPN’s suggested server), and your last location on the main panel so you can connect to them by simply tapping, without the need to open the location list.

The system tray icon also has some smart touches – a right-click on it opens a menu which gives you quick access to your last three locations.

Initially, the location list does not provide any data on the speed of its servers, which will allow you to find the fastest location. The Speed Test feature of the client, however, gives you valuable details, including latency and a download speed estimate.

Tapping on the “Settings” dialog opens more customization options. You can select a protocol (OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, L2TP – IPSec and IKEv2) manually or you can let ExpressVPN to automatically pick the protocol that suits your network best. The later, in our view, isn’t such a good idea since it is not very clear how the automatic choice of protocol happens (the website doesn’t give any details) and the client doesn’t tell what protocol is working at the moment. So, in case you have concerns, simply pick a protocol that the client will use every time.

If the VPN connection suddenly drops, a default kill switch is there to block all Internet traffic and reduce the chance of data leaks. It works well during tests by notifying you, blocking the traffic and reconnecting in seconds after attempts to forcibly close OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols.

Some additional small technical touches include the ability to use your own DNS servers with the VPN (by default you are using ExpressVPN’s own DNS servers) and some basic IPv6 protection.

The most innovative feature of ExpressVPN Windows client is its split tunneling support. This is an intelligent technology for deciding which of the applications should use the VPN and which should use your standard Internet connection. Split tunneling allows you to redirect apps that don’t work well with your VPN to the normal Internet connection and set specific apps, such as browsers or torrent apps, to use your VPN connection only.

•             Android app
  

The Android ExpressVPN app is simple to use and well-built. It has been installed more than 10 million times and has a rating of 4.2. on Google Play. The app helps you to connect and disconnect with one click, as well as track your current location and Android VPN status in a single glance.

The Location Picker feature makes identifying and reconnecting to different servers fast and convenient. The Privacy and Security Tools menu offers some helpful options that let you customize your connection.

However, the Android App has dropped some of the Windows client’s most sophisticated functionalities. There’s no Speed Test, and protocol choices are restricted to OpenVPN TCP or UDP only. Still, if the VPN drops, you get a built-in kill switch to secure your IP address.

The auto-connection feature is particularly welcome when you are accessing non-trusted networks. A feature called “Apps and Website Shortcuts” lets you add up to 5 icons for your favorite apps and shortcuts in a configurable toolbar.

In conclusion, ExpressVPN’s Android app isn’t the most feature-packed app that we have seen and we’d like to have more customization options. Yet, it needs to be on the list if you are interested in exploring Android VPN applications. Besides, you can test the service for seven days for free – something that is not available if you sign up on the website.

•             iOS app
  

The iOS app of ExpressVPN requires a couple more clicks to get installed than its Android counterpart because of Apple’s additional security measures. You will have to confirm its authorizations but after that, the app opens with a clean and simple interface – a big “Connect” button, a menu button and a recommended location tap.

The Location Picker feature provides several ways to select specific locations by countries and cities. The iOS app enables you to swap servers without first closing the current connection manually, much as the Android app.

There is no kill switch like in the Android version, but there is an auto-connect function that tries to reconnect if the VPN connection drops, and a Privacy and Security Tools menu that gives you access to a set of safety tools.

Unlike the Android client, the iOS client lets you select between OpenVPN UDP, TCP, L2TP and IKEv2 protocols. A risk-free, 7-day trial is available to test all the features if you wish.

•             Browser extensions
  

Aside from its polished VPN clients, ExpressVPN also offers Chrome and Firefox extensions. These extensions need to have the app installed to use them but they allow you to control and customize the service directly from your browser, which is something that you won’t find with the competition.

Unlike the extensions of other VPN providers, ExpressVPN’s browser extensions operate like fully functional browser-based interfaces rather than simple proxies. Once launched, they can communicate with the desktop client and reflect its connection status and default location. In addition, you can control the desktop client through them without the need to switch back and forth between the desktop and the browser app in case you need any changes or adjustments.

The interface of the extensions resembles the regular desktop clients and apps and has almost identical system for browsing and choosing locations. There are some limitations, though. For instance, you won’t find Favorites list or speed testing.

However, privacy tools aren’t missing. Both the Chrome and the Firefox extension have settings that let you prevent HTML5 geolocation from revealing your actual location while you’re connected to the VPN. WebRTC leaks blocking feature is also included, as well as the HTTPS Everywhere function that  automatically forces HTTPS connections of websites whenever they’re available.

Performance

When it comes to evaluating the performance of any given VPN service, speed is what most people are looking at. Therefore, we usually opt for running intensive internal tests by logging into sample servers, registering their connection times and running some ping tests to check latency. This gives us a good foundation to determine how the service performs.

When logged through UK servers, ExpressVPN’s service shows no connection issues even at peak times, and establishes connection within three to five seconds. This is a good sign having in mind that many VPNs take twice the time. Geolocation checks confirm that the servers are in the locations that are advertised and latency is within the normal range.

The performance tests through benchmarking sites such as SpeedTest and TestMy.net also show promising results. Speeds of about 70Mbps are reached for UK connections which is excellent. US connections are even more impressive with 600Mbps which is more than enough to do what you want. The typical speed that can be reached for US with other VPNs is usually about 250Mbps.

Long distance connections, however, show some mixed results in speed tests. Of course, there are tons of non-VPN-related factors that can affect the test results but, in general, the picture is very positive for ExpressVPN. Servers in Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa and a few other distant locations manage to offer speeds of about 60Mbps. The 15Mbps of Brazil is probably the most disappointing result of all tested locations in terms of speed. It is worth to note, though, that our tests are taken over a short period of time. Thus, their results should not necessarily reflect your opinion about the long-term experience of using ExpressVPN.

Streaming

It’s not easy to get around content blockers such as governments and Wi-Fi hotspot administrators. However, ExpressVPN’s service can be used to access geoblocked content in YouTube, Disney+ and some 25+ more sites. Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video all work well with Express VPN and the service can successfully unblock them. Netfilx, in particular, is unblocked in 10 out of 10 locations, which tops ExpressVPN as one of the best Netfilx unblocking VPN services. US and UK Amazon Prime Video content, however, is only available if you have a billing address in that country.

Torrenting

Express VPN doesn’t seem to mention torrents on its website. Still, the service not only supports torrenting but it also makes it much more convenient than other VPN providers. The company has no limits for data, and claims that it will never throttle your connection. Besides, there are no bandwidth or transfer-related restrictions, no activity logs, and a number of locations to choose from. All in all, you won’t be mistaken if you chose ExpressVPN for your torrenting needs.

Pricing and plans

ExpressVPN has three plan offerings. Prices start at $12.95 for a monthly billed access which is not cheap but is similar to what most leading VPN providers offer. The 6-month plan would cost you $9.99 a month, which is a reasonable discount. The annual plan offers a 35% discount on the monthly service and comes down to $8.32 which is a better offer than what competitors like Hotspot Shiled give, but is somewhat similar to what you can get from the offerings of HideMyAss! and NordVPN, for example. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee and payment options include PayPal, Bitcoin, cards and a few more payment solutions. There are no small print clauses and catches, and the service is easy to use and straightforward to sign up for.

Privacy policy and logging

ExpressVPN is a service that claims it doesn’t keep any logs of connection or user activity. Its official website has a “Policy towards logs” page which clearly explains more about the way the company uses your data. According to it, the provider does not keep records of your IP address, the time you’ve logged in, the VPN IP address or any data on the pages that you are visiting. The dates you connect to the service, your choice of server, your total amount of data transferred for the day, and the version of the client you’ve installed are logged, though.

The company is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is not a party to the intelligence-sharing agreement also known as SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR). The BVI has its own regulations and UK and US don’t have jurisdiction mechanisms to automatically force ExpressVPN to release any data.

Support

ExpressVPN’s website has a number of support tools to help its customers fix any issues with the service. There are troubleshooting guides for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux. A Search box lets you scan more than 250 articles to find what you need. You can use a number of tutorials covering the installation of ExpressVPN’s own apps, and manual setups for various client versions. All the support materials are well written and easy to follow. They go into deep details and cover all the key aspects, including some technical tweaks that are explained in a simple language.

Support team is available 24/7 via email and live chat. It can take up to 24 hours to receive a response to some questions, but what you get is generally helpful information. For quicker response times, the company recommends using the live chat.

Final words

Ease of use, great unblocking abilities, reliable protection and excellent support are the key features that make ExpressVPN a leading service on the VPN market. It’s more expensive than most competitor offerings, but what you pay for justifies with very user-friendly, powerful and professional service that won’t let you disappointed.

And in truth, this really isn’t the most powerful or capable offering on the market, but it still has a few intriguing features that you won’t see with most VPNs. The network is rather small, though, with only 150 servers (comparing to the thousands that bigger companies boast). And these are spread across 60 different locations around the globe.

We found that the client is easy to set up and use, and it has a large compatibility scope. The VPN supports all desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac and Linux. And there are even decent mobile versions of the app, available for both Android and iOS devices alike.

In addition, there are technical features that are well worth pointing out, such as the OpenVPN and support for IVEv2 and L2TP. PrivateVPN even has a feature called stealth mode, which is there to prevent VPN blocking. There are kill switches available for the whole system, as well as just for certain applications to protect you in the event of connection drops. Speaking of which, there’s even DNS and IPv6 leak protection, as well.

What we really liked here is that you can unblock a whole range of popular services, most notably Netflix, iPlayer and Amazon Prime, but this list is by no means extensive.

Another selling point that earns this provider some respect is that they don’t outsource their support. In other words, if you have a problem – you can speak straight to the developer and get some assistance.

Prices aren’t much different from the average VPN prices you get, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.

Getting started

Setting up your PrivateVPN is fairly straightforward. Head over to the provider’s website and you will be offered to select one of the three available plans. All of them offer the same perks, the only difference is the license validity and therefore the pricing. You can pay for 1 month and that will cost you $7.67, or you can opt for the 3-month subscription and get it for $4.88 per month. And the 1-year plan will give you an extra month of free usage at the price of $3.82 per month. All plans offer coverage of up to 6 devices simultaneously.

There are a bunch of payment options to choose from, too, including Bitcoin, PayPal credit cards and others. There used to be a trial version mentioned on the website, but we found it to be nonexistent. Instead, PrivateVPN has a 30-day money back guarantee, which is in line with what most other providers offer as well.

BUT! There’s a catch here. In order to be eligible for the refund you will be asked to provide a reason why you’re unhappy with the service and you will need to have used less that 100GB of traffic.

Logging & privacy

PrivateVPN is quite loud and clear about their no-logging policy, which states that Swedish law doesn’t require them to keep traffic logs. And they go further to say that even they do not know what the users are doing online. Fair enough. But that’s pretty much what most other VPN providers say, too.

Moreover, there’s no mention of session logging or collection of any related information, such as connection times and IPs, for example. And there’s not a word on that in the company’s privacy policy either.

All we were able to find in the fine print of the website was that PrivateVPN does store your email address (for obvious reasons) and the website uses cookies, as well as third-party analytics. And while there’s certainly nothing off-putting about the whole thing, it still leaves you with no proof to support any of the claims made as to the no-logging policy.

Performance

One thing that really stood out to us is that PrivateVPN doesn’t try to convince you that it will unblock every serve imaginable. Instead, it provides a precise list of locations in each of its apps to help you unblock services such as HBO, Hulu, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime and others.

And during our testing, PrivateVPN turned out to be true to its word. It seamlessly unblocked all of the services we tried out. Speed tests were quite encouraging, as well, although we have certainly reviewed faster VPN’s here before.

We found that when connected to the closest server locations to us, the speed dropped around 10%, which is quite acceptable. Of course, the father the locations we chose, the more the speed dropped. And with locations in Asia, for example, the speed completely dropped to a crawl making it unusable, so that was a bit disappointing. But most other locations performed rather well.

What’s no less important is that PrivateVPN withstood our privacy tests, as well. There were no DNS leaks, the visible IP always matched the advertised server locations and we had no issues relating to WebRTC either.

To sum it up

PrivateVPN didn’t do much to impress us in terms of exceptionally high speeds or show-stopping prices. But it gives you a decent service at a fair price with a variety of extra features that give you plenty of room to configure and use according to your own preferences.