IVPN Review (2020)

IVPN Highlights

Country: Gibraltar
Logging: No (Traffic), No (Connection), No (IP address)
Bypass VPN Block (DPI): WireGuard, Obsfproxy
Pricing: 8.33$ (per month, in yearly subscription)
Allows P2P/ Torrent: Yes
Simultaneous connections: 5
Live Chat Support: Yes
Custom clients/apps: Yes
Alternative website: N/A
Trustpilot rating: 7,4/10 (2 reviews)

My First Impressions

IVPN is offered by a Gibraltar-based company Privatus Ltd. and was founded in 2009. The motto of the company is “Enabling humans with the power to control and secure their private information online.” They support projects like Electronic Frontier Foundation, Open Rights Group, and Torservers.net.

I had a very good first impression when I opened their website. The design is top-notch, everything is simple and beautifully designed at the same time. On the top of that, they have a live-chat support, and very clear and easy-to- understand Privacy Policy, which I liked most of all. As many VPN websites, IVPN lacks a multi-language website. Another noteworthy thing to mention is that, at first IVPN logo reminded me the logo of ExpressVPN.

Does IVPN keep logs?

IVPN is another example how VPN providers should write their Privacy Policy. It is very clear, and easy to understand, just WOW! Just have a look!

It is so easy to understand, that there was no need to underline important aspects.

To sum up, ibVPN does not store:

traffic logs (i.e user activity)
IP address
connection logs (i.e bandwidth, timestamps)

If you want complete anonymity when using IVPN, you can use disposable email address for registration and use cryptocurrency as the payment method.

Does IVPN bypass Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) or similar VPN blocking firewalls?

Countries like China, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Russia implement firewalls that block access to VPN services. As an example, China uses the Great Wall of China (GFW) system to block most VPNs and proxies. Some VPN services use extra protocols so that users in those countries can bypass VPN block.

An update regarding WireGuard:

As of 2019, WireGuard protocol works only on WiFi connections in my country. The protocol itself was not designed to evade deep packet inspection, making it not the best option for the future.

IVPN offers OpenVPN+obfsproxy and WireGuard protocols, which at the moment of writing article are capable of evading DPI. However, the protocols are not offered in all platforms OpenVPN+obfsproxy being available on Windows and Mac, and WireGuard being available on Android, iOS, macOS and Linux (Windows coming soon). I have contacted IVPN support, to ask whether they are planning to implement obfsproxy, customer support informed me that they are planning it, though there is no specific timeline on when it will be available.

Here is how IVPN explains protocols used by WireGuard:

WireGuard utilizes the following protocols and primitives:
ChaCha20 for symmetric encryption, authenticated with Poly1305, using RFC7539’s AEAD construction
Curve25519 for ECDH
BLAKE2s for hashing and keyed hashing, as described in RFC7693
SipHash24 for hashtable keys
HKDF for key derivation, as described in RFC5869
Noise_IK handshake from Noise, building on the work of CurveCP, NaCL, KEA+, SIGMA, FHMQV, and HOMQV
All packets are sent over UDP

Thanks to the free trial for 3 days offered by IVPN, I tested it with zero cost.

Testing IVPN

As usual, I test IVPN on Windows 7 PC, and an Android phone running Android 6.0.1. I am testing on an ADSL internet provided by the local telecom company, and cellular internet provided by our local mobile operator.

Windows Test

I started testing with Windows version of IVPN. The software is nice and has features like enabling obfsproxy, connecting HTTP or SOCKS proxy, firewall (kill switch) and multi-hop (DoubleVPN). The obfsproxy works like a charm and bypasses the DPI. As mentioned earlier, WireGuard is not yet available on Windows, as a result I could not test it.

Android Test

I ran similar tests on my Android phone. The app includes features like Split tunneling, Kill switch, Multi-hop VPN and Auto resume. OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols are available on the app. At first, both OpenVPN and WireGuard failed to connect. WireGuard could not get keys from IVPN, the reason for that was that my ISP has blocked direct access to IVPN, so I tried to activate WireGuard while using another working VPN. As a result, I could activate WireGuard, which connected without problems. As mentioned above, even though WireGuard works on wireless connections, it is not the best option against DPI.

To sum up, in the tests IVPN managed to bypass the deep packet inspection in my country on Windows (obsfproxy) and Android platforms (WireGuard).

If you want to try IVPN for yourself, you can try the 3-day free trial to check how IVPN performs in your country.

Is IVPN VPN affordable? (IVPN’s pricing)

The pricing is kept simple on IVPN, with one plan that has a monthly, quarterly, and annual subscription options. If you buy an annual subscription, then you will pay $8.33 per month or $1.19 per device/month (using/sharing 7 devices). When compared to alternatives, the pricing is high, as I consider equal or less than $1 per device/month optimal.

IVPN accepts major credit/debit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin and cash.

If you want to test IVPN, you can try the 3-day free trial.

IVPN offers a 7-day money-back-guarantee, if you are not happy with their service.

What features are offered by IVPN?

– Supported Platforms

IVPN supports Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, also IVPN has native apps for the platforms. Additionally, IVPN can be configured on some routers. IVPN offers features like kill switch, port forwarding, multi-hop, split tunneling, own DNS servers, etc.

– Supported Protocols

IVPN offers IPSec IKEv2, OpenVPN, OpenVPN+obfsproxy, and WireGuard protocols.

Not all protocols available on all platforms. OpenVPN+obfsproxy is available only on Windows, whereas WireGuard is available on Android, iOS, and macOS.

– Number of Servers

IVPN has more than 45 servers in about 32 countries.

Lastly, IVPN got an above average rating on the Simple VPN Comparison Table. Scores are good on most of the categories except for Servers.

Wanna check other VPNs? Head over to the VPN Comparison Table, and find the best VPN that fits you.

Conclusion

What I liked:

What I didn’t like: