Astrill VPN Review: Is the High Price Justified?

When people complain about VPN prices, we usually have a good laugh. VPNs are pretty cheap and their subscription plans cost merely a few bucks a month. Astrill VPN, on the other hand, takes a different approach. It’s not cheap. It’s extremely expensive! That said, it’s no wonder many people interested in this service look for an in-depth Astrill VPN review. At first sight, the service is pretty decent. It offers a big array of protocols and is seemingly one of the only reliable options for China in 2024.

In addition, the company is based in Seychelles, which promises undeniable privacy and no logging. Our Astrill VPN review will, of course, test all these claims. This is quite a big and important service especially because of its inflated prices, so it’s important to see if it’s worth a shot.

Keep in mind that the provider offers neither a free trial nor a money-back guarantee, which makes things even worse. Before spending your hard-earned money on this provider, make sure you read our Astrill VPN review first.

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The 3 best alternatives to Astrill VPN:

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Astrill VPN User Experience & Device Support

Our Astrill VPN review will start with a discussion related to device support and the user experience. Right off the bat, we’ll say that the user experience isn’t the greatest, with the app’s interface on Windows being one of the worst.

However, its device support tells a different story. Astrill VPN isn’t going to skimp on any features and apps, and for the price, you’ll get tons of possibilities. Yes, there are apps for Windows, iOS, macOS, Linux, Android, and others.

These are all native clients and the provider even includes support for platforms like routers, gaming consoles, Apple TV, and even Fire TV Stick. Keep in mind that its Firestick support isn’t native, though, so you’ll have to perform a little workaround to get it running.

For this price, you’d expect Astrill VPN to give you unlimited simultaneous connections. Well, you’d be right! Much like Surfshark which gives you unlimited connections, Astrill VPN does the same, so there aren’t any limits to how many devices you can protect at the same time.

Desktop and Mobile Apps

Moving on with the Astrill VPN review for 2024, let’s talk about desktop and mobile apps. Our team tested Astrill VPN mainly on Windows and Android. Some of our members used it on iOS and macOS but the apps are similar-looking with a few differences in features here and there.

Of course, the most feature-rich app is the one on Windows. And if you take a look at the screenshot above, you’ll see that it’s one ugly piece of software. It has this small app window crammed with options, features, and servers – definitely not intuitive.

The big connection button is in the middle, and below, you can see the selected server. If you open the server list, it slides below, outside of the app’s window. A single click on the country you want and you can quickly establish a connection – pretty simple.

Clicking on the three horizontal lines opens up Settings. Here, we expected a new, big Settings window but we didn’t get it. Instead, it’s the same small box where you can barely see what you’re doing. Not to mention that the protocol can be changed from a drop-down menu.

This opens up new Settings options, where additional settings can be tweaked. We won’t delve too much into the app, as you can clearly see what we’re aiming at.

Astrill VPN’s user experience is poor and it needs a significant overhaul. ExpressVPN has a good Windows app, so it could be an inspiration.

As for mobile apps, they’re realized well. The interface is much more intuitive and Astrill VPN made many things easier. Although, in terms of overall aesthetics and appeal, it’s a far cry from ExpressVPN and NordVPN, both of which have polished and smooth interfaces.

TV Apps

One of the best things about Astrill VPN in this review is its TV support. Astrill VPN has an Android app – a native one – so it’ll work on Android Smart TV. It looks identical to the mobile app, so you don’t have to spend time learning to get around it.

We like that it also supports Nvidia Shield TV, which also uses Android. As said earlier in the review, the Amazon Fire TV Stick app is absent, which is a bummer. For this price, we expect a native Fire TV app akin to ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, or NordVPN.

But all we got is a workaround online that allows you to sideload the app or go for any other more complex solution. At least Astrill VPN supports routers, so you can always go that way. Or perhaps, you can take advantage of VPN Sharing, which we’ll talk about later in the review.

Gaming Apps

Astrill VPN is going to be a reliable gaming VPN. Given its native apps for Windows, Android, Linux, and iOS, you can use it without problems for gaming on these platforms. However, it also supports gaming consoles like Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo.

These consoles don’t support VPN apps but they can connect to the VPN through the router. Or, once again, a feature called VPN Sharing can be used. This is a unique feature that Astrill VPN has, allowing you to share your VPN connection with any device.

Router Support

If you’re an experienced user, installing a VPN on a router should be a stroll through the park. Astrill VPN fully supports them if we’re talking about DD-WRT and Asus Merlin routers. If you don’t have the required firmware, flashing is always an option.

And if you don’t know how to even begin, you can always buy a pre-configured router from Astrill VPN’s website. This way, you will spend some money – or a lot of it – get a quality router with a VPN, and not waste time on a setup that you might not complete.

Honestly, its router setup isn’t top-notch, as ExpressVPN is better. But at least it’s there, which we can’t say for many other premium services.

Is Astrill VPN Safe & Secure? All Security Features Examined

When you’re paying top dollar for a VPN, you expect it to have a full arsenal of features. Not only that but you also expect it to be safe and secure without IP leaks and potential privacy-infringing practices. This will be the most in-depth part of our Astrill VPN review.

We have a lot of features to go through and it took us quite a while to test all of them. Let’s see what Astrill VPN has to offer.

Bank-Grade Encryption

Many times in our reviews, we’ll mention that a VPN has bank-grade encryption. This is usually 256-bit encryption, a staple of many VPNs that call themselves “premium” or “secure.” Astrill VPN has this encryption, but there’s a small change.

If you select the OpenVPN protocol and you go to Settings, you’ll find several choices of encryption. There’s 256-bit, 192-bit, and 128-bit CBC encryption, but even the option to be unencrypted. We obviously don’t recommend the latter, as it leaves you exposed to your ISP.

This can result in ISP throttling or certain website restrictions. You can, however, go for 128-bit CBC encryption as well, and since it’s also secure, you won’t notice a big difference in security. Yet, since it’s a lower level of encryption compared to 256-bit CBC, you’ll get a small speed boost.

Kill Switch

Another notable feature is the kill switch. As a premium service, Astrill VPN’s kill switch works wonderfully and it’ll disable all traffic if you lose the VPN connection. You’ll find it in the Privacy settings in the app under the name of “Internet Kill Switch.”

While we’re there, it’s worth mentioning that this feature is accompanied by IPv6 and DNS leak prevention, as well as the ability to fix WebRTC IP leaks typical for Chrome. Also, you can clear cookies and flash cookies if you want to make sure you’re 100% anonymous online.

Multiple VPN Protocols

In our Astrill VPN review and test, we were pleasantly surprised with the selection of VPN protocols. In total, there are 4 of them, including:

• OpenWeb
• OpenVPN
• StealthVPN
• WireGuard

OpenVPN and WireGuard are already well known. While OpenVPN is a good balance of security and speeds, WireGuard raises the bar even further, boosting connection speeds and security even more. No doubt, WireGuard is better for the most part, except for getting over censorship.

Now, what about OpenWeb? Well, OpenWeb is a proprietary protocol made by Astrill. It’s based on TCP, lightweight, and made for bypassing DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) in censored countries. Our tests indicated that it’s fast as well, and it works properly in China.

StealthVPN is yet another in-house protocol. As Astrill claims, it’s inspired by OpenVPN but with additional obfuscation, which allows it to get over various firewall restrictions. StealthVPN uses AES-256 encryption and can work in both UDP and TCP modes, making it quite versatile.

We like that you can tweak each protocol additionally. For example, when using OpenVPN, you can change the port and level of encryption. You can also change internet MTU for all protocols, which is useful for more advanced users who want to control the packet size.

The best of all is that all of these protocols will work on almost every platform supported by Astrill VPN. As a result, you can use WireGuard on iOS or macOS and StealthVPN on routers, for example. Just keep in mind that OpenWeb and WireGuard won’t work on routers.

Ad Blocker

Blocking ads with a VPN is entirely possible if it has an ad blocker. During our review, we found that Astrill VPN does, and it can be enabled with a click of a mouse. Its ad blocker isn’t that simple and it allows for some tweaks as well. If you open it in Settings, you’ll find the option to enable it – good.

But then, you can make a custom list of the sites you want it to affect. For example, if you want to block YouTube ads, you can add YouTube to the list and it’ll work well. Another great feature is the ability to block tracking sites, which adds to your privacy.

This option can be enabled in Settings and it’ll take effect as soon as you connect to a server.

Proxies

If all the VPN features aren’t enough, you get several proxies to pick from. In this Astrill VPN review for 2024, our team was surprised at how well these proxies worked. You can pick from HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS4a, and SOCKS5 proxies, depending on your needs.

From there, you can configure the proxy address, port, and your username/password. In doing so, you can unblock restricted sites or get over firewall restrictions. Granted, proxies aren’t as good as VPNs but it’s nice to have them in an opulent VPN like this.

Site/App Filter

In Settings, you’ll find a feature called Site Filter. Don’t get it wrong – it’s split tunneling. Astrill VPN offers app and site filters, both of which are available regardless of the protocol in place. Split tunneling lets you choose which apps/sites will be routed/excluded from the VPN tunnel.

You can tunnel all apps/sites, exclude particular ones, or tunnel ONLY these particular apps or sites. It works by adding the apps or sites to the list and confirming your choices – nothing too fancy. The thing is that the feature really works and we had no issue with it during the reviewing process.

VPN Sharing

VPN Sharing is a feature we mentioned earlier in the Astrill VPN review. This feature allows you to share your VPN connection with any device without additional hardware or annoying setup. It works similarly to Smart DNS, though, but you get all the benefits of a VPN.

First, you need to enable VPN Sharing in Settings and you’ll get an IP address. Now, on your other device, you need to set Gateway and DNS to that address. This will make the device use your PC as a gateway and DNS, making it take advantage of Astrill VPN’s security right away.

Port Forwarding

Port forwarding is another option you can find in Astrill VPN. It’s great for torrenting if you want to get faster speeds but not as great for privacy. Still, it’s one of the rare VPNs with port forwarding, except for a few providers like PIA VPN and Windscribe.

Many DNS Options

Depending on the protocol in place, Astrill VPN also offers some DNS options. If you’re using OpenWeb, they won’t be available but if you switch to OpenVPN, you can find the option to switch to another DNS. Of course, Astrill DNS is a default option and it’s a no-log DNS, so it’s already great.

However, on the list, you’ll also find Google DNS, OpenDNS, CloudFlare DNS, and the option to add DNS addresses manually. We like this option, as you can fully customize the DNS that you’re going to use, allowing you to take advantage of Smart DNS, for example.

IP and DNS Leak Test

In this Astrill VPN review, we were pretty confident this provider is safe and secure. But to make sure we prove that to you, we decided it’s a good time to do a few IP/DNS leak tests. First, we connected to a server in the United States like we always do.

Then, we went to the site called ipleak.com where we checked for potential leaks. The screenshot below shows you that Astrill VPN shows no signs of leaks, as it fully conceals our IP/DNS and replaces it with the one from the United States.

Another site we use for testing is browserleaks.com.

The screenshot above clearly shows the same great result. No IP or DNS leaks, meaning that the service secures your traffic without issues and keeps you anonymous online. Great job, Astrill!

Does It Have a No-Logging Policy?

Astrill VPN spent quite a lot of time on the market, perfecting its formula on the way. Since its inception, the provider was known for promising a no-logging policy, which wasn’t so hard to believe. Besides, we’re talking about its Seychelles jurisdiction, which is one of the best in the world.

Seychelles is an off-shore country far from the reach of the 5/9/14 Eyes. This means it possesses no data-retention laws that would force the company into storing and handing out any logs. Not long ago, we tested Hide.me VPN, a provider from Malaysia, yet another off-shore location.

This goes to say that locations like these are perfect if privacy is your main concern. Of course, Astrill VPN has a no-logging policy and it’s one of the best we’ve seen. Not only is it short and concise but it also tells you exactly what it stores and doesn’t store.

Which Information Is (and Isn’t) Stored?

At first, people will seem concerned because Astrill VPN stores the connection time, your IP, device type, and Astrill VPN’s app version. But if you read further, you’ll see that this information is stored only DURING the connection. After that, it’s permanently deleted from the server.

Another thing to mention is that the provider collects info about used traffic for potential network expansion. Keep in mind that the company keeps only this information and nothing else, so your identity can’t be exposed by hackers and snoopers, or the company itself.

Interestingly, Astrill stores data about the last 20 connections, including time, duration, country, device type, and the app version number. As the provider states, this info is used by customer support for problem fixing, with no ability to track your browsing activities.

Speaking of which, Astrill VPN stores no logs of your DNS requests and browsing history, so you’re still anonymous online. One downside we’d like to point out is that no third-party audits have yet been conducted on Astrill VPN and that leaves room for mistrust.

NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and even Surfshark have at least one audit. This provider, on the other hand, despite obvious qualities, still hasn’t received any. We hope to see that in the future, as it would make it much more trustworthy.

Before you ask, Astrill VPN hasn’t had any scandals in the past, so the situation isn’t very alarming. You can still use it safely without worries of data leaks that would ruin your privacy.

Astrill VPN for Streaming: Popular Platforms TESTED

With a VPN known for bypassing censorship, you would expect streaming to be top-notch. Well, in our Astrill VPN review for 2024, we had a few issues with the provider, although it’s not bad. However, you’ll see that ExpressVPN is a much better choice.

When testing Astrill, we used a variety of protocols but we found that OpenWeb works really well. Using it, we managed to watch US Netflix without problems, which was a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, when trying to watch BBC iPlayer, we failed every time for some reason.

The good thing is that the provider is capable of unblocking TV channels. That said, we could watch US TV live in Europe or enjoy foreign TV channels from other countries. Astrill VPN also worked with a few other popular US-based streaming services, albeit, with a few tweaks here and there.

A good thing to mention is that the streaming quality is great. The provider is relatively fast, depending on the protocol, so streaming in 4K is possible in many cases. Keep in mind that connecting to very distant servers will slash your speeds, so it won’t be that great.

While Astrill VPN is decent for streaming overall, we can’t say it’s the absolute best. Therefore, we think ExpressVPN or even CyberGhost will deliver more in this field, even though they’re multiple times cheaper.

Speed Tests: Here’s How Fast Astrill VPN Really Is

And since we mentioned speeds in this Astrill VPN review, let’s talk about them. Doing a speed test of Astrill VPN was, to be honest, a chore. The provider doesn’t offer the option to pick the protocol automatically, so we had to test each protocol manually.

However, the results below are for the default OpenWeb protocol, which we found to be on par with WireGuard. OpenVPN and StealthVPN are slower, though. OpenVPN because it’s older and StealthVPN because of the additional obfuscation and encryption.

As for testing locations, we used four of them – the UK, the US, Australia, and Japan. At the time of writing this Astrill VPN test, we were located in Europe with native internet speeds looking like this:

We tested Astrill 3 times a day, 3 times in a row, to make sure we get the best, most realistic results.

And now, with all parameters explained, here’s how fast Astrill VPN is:

UK:

US:

Australia:

Japan:

As you can see, the speed reduction on the UK and US servers isn’t alarming. The UK server showed exceptional results, while the US server increased the latency a bit. Moving on, we have the server in Australia which slashed our speeds a bit more with even higher latency.

Interestingly, the Japanese server was relatively fast, with the ping lower than the Australian server. It’s worth noting that, in practice, the speed reduction isn’t particularly noticeable and you can use the VPN properly for streaming, torrenting, browsing, or gaming.

Is Astrill VPN Good for Gaming?

For gaming, we think OpenWeb is actually a decent protocol. We tested all of them and once again, this protocol, along with WireGuard, represents the best option. Of course, you can play games with Astrill VPN on Windows, iOS, and other platforms.

When using servers in Europe, the service shows impressive performance with no annoying lag. We played COD Warzone with a VPN only to be surprised with how smooth it was. Connecting to long-distance servers will ruin this experience a bit.

This is even more prevalent in cloud gaming. Although, when testing Xbox Cloud Gaming, we noticed that it works smoothly, with a few glitches and input lag situations here and there. We prefer NordVPN over Astrill VPN here, as it delivers better speeds with NordLynx.

Still, if you need to play games online and you’re subscribed to Astrill VPN, expect great results – not the best. For that, you need NordVPN, CyberGhost, or ExpressVPN.

Can I Use Astrill VPN for P2P and Torrenting?

When talking about torrenting, using a VPN is a must in pretty much every country. It will allow you to hide your IP address and encrypt your traffic so that no one can trace your downloads. Thankfully, Astrill VPN is torrent-friendly, so you can stop worrying.

All of its servers are optimized for this purpose, meaning your task is only to connect to one and enjoy. We recommend using the server as close as possible to you to minimize speed losses. This, combined with solid speeds, results in a great torrenting experience.

Astrill VPN even allows for port forwarding, so if you’re dissatisfied, you can boost the performance a bit with the cost of privacy. In addition, the provider doesn’t put any restrictions on bandwidth, allowing for unlimited torrenting at any time.

Is It Working in China & Other Censored Countries?

During our Astrill VPN review, we had no issues using it in China.

This is the most popular VPN provider in China, as stated by hundreds of users on Reddit and our testers. Astrill can work in China while using OpenWeb or StealthVPN protocols.

Our testers used both of them with great success and bypassed the Great Firewall effortlessly. One thing to mention is that in China, you will get speed reductions due to added encryption and obfuscation. To remedy this problem, Astrill VPN came up with a so-called VIP add-on.

This add-on offers optimized speed and reduced latency for people in Asia. As such, people in China, Korea, Japan, and other countries can enjoy a better gaming experience with prioritized traffic on all servers. Most importantly, the VIP servers come with MultiHop, which further adds to your privacy.

Astrill VPN has a huge server base in Asia, on top of that. If you live in China, you’ll be able to enjoy several locations in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and other countries, which allows for excellent performance and connection stability.

The VIP add-on, that allows for this, costs $10 a month for 100 GB of VIP traffic and goes up to $100 a month for 1 TB of VIP traffic. As for other censored countries, you can expect Astrill VPN to work like a charm – even in the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and dozens of other locations.

Servers and Server Locations

Now that we mentioned Asian servers in this Astrill VPN review, it’s time to talk more about its server fleet. Private Internet Access is the largest VPN with 30,000 servers but Astrill VPN has around 100 times less. Its server count is around +/- 300 servers in 57 countries and 110+ cities.

This server fleet isn’t impressive compared to ExpressVPN with 105 countries and 160 cities. However, it’s more than enough even for the most demanding users. With a big portion of servers in Asia, Astrill VPN also has plenty of US servers for streaming and torrenting.

We like its European coverage as well, as the VPN offers fast-speed servers in Germany, Italy, France, and Eastern Europe. As the provider says, its servers are either 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps, depending on the server. More popular locations support 10 Gbps speeds, for instance.

And in less popular locations that people rarely use, you can expect weaker performance in general. All servers support the four protocols that the company offers, so you’re not limited in any way. On top of that, you even get the ability to purchase a private IP or dedicated IP, if you will.

Compared to the overall pricing, it’s not particularly expensive and starts at $5 a month. There are, however, plenty of countries to choose from, which we found impressive. A private IP can be located in Russia, the US, France, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Poland, Denmark, the UK, Latvia, Lithuania, etc…

You can add as many private IPs as you want at $5 each – excellent! And while we’re at that, why don’t you check our top dedicated IP VPNs? You’ll find a heap of top-grade options if that’s your interest.

Customer Support: How to Contact Astrill VPN for Help?

Contacting customer support of Astrill VPN is a piece of cake. There’s live chat support on the site, which you can take advantage of through the widget in the bottom-right part of the screen. In this case, you’ll get a response quickly and remedy the problem you might have.

If you’re not in a hurry, you can also leave a message via the contact form. In this case, Astrill VPN might take a few hours to respond, which is typical for customer support of this type. Of course, on the site, you’ll find an FAQ section coupled with plenty of video tutorials.

Setup manuals are here as well, and we like its Blog section with well-crafted articles. Surprisingly, this Blog section is kept alive and articles are still published daily. Overall, its customer support is more than decent and you’ll have no problems getting in touch with it.

We’re just not sure if it’s available 24/7. In a few instances, when clicking on the live chat widget, we saw it’s offline, rather than always being online. But in at least 90% of the cases, you’ll find it online and ready to tackle your problems.

Astrill VPN Pricing: Is It Affordable?

Okay, so by now, in this Astrill VPN review for 2024, you realized this isn’t an affordable provider.

Astrill VPN and the word “affordability” can’t be in the same sentence. It wouldn’t do justice to VPNs with a low cost like CyberGhost or Surfshark.

The price of this VPN is, best said, INSANE. As you can see, the most expensive monthly plan comes at $30 a month, which is the price you’ll pay annually for some cheap VPNs. The 2-year plan comes at $12.5 per month, which is… wait for it… $300 every 2 years!

Finally, there’s the 1-year plan in the middle at $180 each year or $15 a month. We don’t know why Astrill VPN highlighted this plan, as it’s nowhere near the cheapest and costs nearly $200 every year. You’ll agree that Astrill VPN’s pricing is a bit too “edgy.”

Sure, you get plenty of great features, the VPN works in China,… But hey, we don’t think ANY service is worth this amount of money. Take ExpressVPN, the best VPN in 2024, as an example. Its cheapest 1-year plan is discounted by 49% and costs just $6.67 a month.

Even NordVPN, a provider brimming with features with THREE external audits, costs under $4 a month for the 2-year plan. Let’s not forget CyberGhost, an affordable choice with a 2-year plan at under $2.5 a month and a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Not to mention that these VPNs are better than Astrill VPN, even though they’re not as reliable in China. For streaming, torrenting, and privacy, they’re far more trustworthy since they all have external audits. So yeah, Astrill VPN is indeed bloody expensive, and that is its most unique characteristic.

If you include this VIP add-on and a private IP… oh boy! In this case, you’re looking at hundreds of dollars each year or even month, which sounds crazy on paper – and in practice, when you notice your bank account dwindling and withering away rapidly.

Available Payment Methods

If you’re still hell-bent on buying Astrill VPN, you can pay for it using PayPal or credit/debit cards. In addition, there are crypto payment methods, so you can use Bitcoin and Monero, for example, to purchase a subscription.

Be careful, though, as Astrill VPN includes VAT in some countries. In our country, we had to pay 20% VAT, which bumped the price of the monthly plan from $30 to $36. Just imagine paying this amount of money for a long-term plan.

In that case, the 2-year plan would cost you a whopping $360 every 2 years.

How to Get a Refund from Astrill VPN?

One of the worst things about this provider is that it doesn’t offer a refund policy. Yup. All purchases from Astrill VPN are definitive and there’s no way to get a refund, even if you purchased an expensive 2-year or 1-year plan.

Of course, it’s possible to cancel your subscription at any time without penalties. But if you’re looking to get reimbursed… well, this provider isn’t going to give you that possibility. That’s why we prefer ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and NordVPN, due to their flexibility and refund policies.

What We Don’t Like About Astrill VPN?

To be 100% fair in this Astrill VPN review, there’s not much we dislike about the VPN. In fact, we’re talking about a pretty competitive service that can almost stand head-to-head with the top premium VPNs like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and NordVPN.

Things we dislike include the lack of a third-party audit, average streaming capabilities, and most notably, its price. A third-party audit must be here for the price and it’s a real shame that Astrill VPN is charging THIS much for a product with no official certification.

When you’re paying top dollar for a VPN, you must get everything. Imagine getting a new iPhone and you don’t get the newest Bionic chip. Would that feel great when you’ve paid $1,300+? Most likely not. That’s why we feel Astrill VPN has yet to justify its price in spite of all of its amazing features.

Other than that, we have no complaints, as the service proved to be decent during our extensive testing.

How Do Other People Rate Astrill VPN?

As we approach the end of our Astrill VPN review, it’s time to see what other people think of it on Trustpilot, Google Play, and Apple Store. Let’s start with Trustpilot:

Much to our surprise, Astrill VPN has overwhelmingly bad reviews on Trustpilot. With 1.9 stars out of 47 reviews, it looks like users aren’t very satisfied. Recent reviews indicate some connection issues, while some users complain about customer support and its unresponsiveness.

One of the users clarified that the VIP service isn’t working as advertised, and interestingly, recommends ExpressVPN and NordVPN instead.

Apple Store reviews tell another story, as Astrill has 4 out of 5 stars on average. People praise its ability to work in China, as well as its security and privacy. Other users complain about the app and poor user experience, which is also the case with its Windows app.

Google Play reviews have 3.7 stars on average, but there are more than 6,400 reviews, which implies it’s the most popular on Android. Android users usually praise its app and its ability to circumvent censorship, while some of them complain about recent connection issues.

All in all, Astrill VPN’s reviews are mixed as of recently, which sounds underwhelming for a VPN this expensive.

Conclusion: Good If You Can Afford It

After our extensive, in-depth review of Astrill VPN, we think it’s time to call it a day.

This has been a long read but our Astrill VPN review for 2024 is complete. What can we say? It’s a pretty good VPN, with excellent security, solid performance, and reliability in China.

Astrill VPN trips over some pretty mundane things, like the lack of an external audit and expensive pricing. And solely because of its price, we don’t think Astrill VPN is worth the money. Are you going to get a good VPN for this price, though? Yes, an excellent service!

Are there better VPNs at a cheaper price? YES! And that’s exactly the problem. ExpressVPN, a much better provider, will charge you around $99 for the first 15 months, and for this money, you can’t get any of Astrill VPN’s plans except for the monthly one.

We can say the same about NordVPN and CyberGhost – even cheaper choices, that’ll cost you way less, yet, provide a better experience. For $300, which is Astrill VPN’s 2-year plan, you can get around 136 months of CyberGhost, which is equal to more than 11 years.

That said, we don’t recommend spending your hard-earned money on Astrill VPN except in one case – if you live in China. For this specific scenario, this is going to be your most reliable service. If you’re abroad and you never plan on traveling to this country or living there, don’t bother with it.