AVG Safe VPN vs Surfshark (2024): Which VPN Is Higher? – Uplaza

Surfshark is broadly thought to be top-of-the-line and most inexpensive digital personal networks available on the market immediately, however that doesn’t imply it’s the correct match for everybody’s wants. In the event you’ve been testing competitor AVG Safe VPN and are questioning the way it stacks up towards Surfshark, I’ve acquired you coated on this evaluation. I signed up for each VPNs and in contrast AVG and Surfshark head-to-head that will help you determine which one is the only option for you. Spoiler alert: It’s nearly definitely Surfshark, because of its higher privateness coverage, higher variety of servers and international locations and limitless gadgets.

AVG vs Surfshark: Comparability desk

Whereas AVG and Surfshark each supply a VPN, when you evaluate them head-to-head, the variations change into obvious. I’ve summarized them within the chart under:

	AVG Safe VPN	Surfshark
Variety of servers	59	100
Variety of international locations	37	3,200+
Variety of gadgets	10	Limitless
No logs coverage	No	Sure
Multi-factor authentication	No	Sure
Beginning worth for one-year plan	$4.58 per thirty days	$2.79 per thirty days
Beginning worth for two-year plan	$4.17 per thirty days	$2.19 per thirty days
Free trial	60 days	7 days

AVG vs Surfshark pricing

AVG Safe VPN pricing

AVG presents three VPN-only plans, all of that are dearer than Surfshark’s two least expensive plans. One yr is the shortest subscription time for the AVG VPN, with three years being the longest (there isn’t a six-month or month-to-month plan obtainable). The pricing for these three standalone VPN plans is as follows:

• 3 years: $3.75 per thirty days.
• 2 years: $4.17 per thirty days.
• 1 yr: $4.58 per thirty days.

AVG additionally presents a bundle plan, AVG Final, that features antivirus safety, system lock, cost safety and different safety features, along with the VPN. This plan prices $4.99 a month for a one-year plan and is roughly equal to the Surfshark One plan (extra on that under).

SEE: 10 Myths About Cybersecurity You Shouldn’t Consider (TechRepublic Premium)

AVG does supply a beneficiant 60-day free trial for the VPN, but it surely does require a bank card (Determine A). You’ll be signed up for a two-year VPN plan, which might be charged to your card on the finish of the 60 days if you happen to don’t cancel your subscription upfront. AVG additionally presents a 30-day money-back assure in case you modify your thoughts after you subscribe.

Surfshark pricing

Surfshark presents three ranges of plans for people, and the yearly subscriptions for all of them are fairly inexpensive, particularly in comparison with AVG. Surfshark Starter, the entry-level plan, consists of the VPN plus advert and cookie pop-up blockers. Surfshark One provides real-time breach alerts and antivirus safety, whereas Surfshark One+ consists of information removing. The pricing for every particular person subscription is as follows:

• 24 months:
  • Surfshark Starter: $2.19 per thirty days + 3 further months.
  • Surfshark One: $2.69 per thirty days + 3 further months.
  • Surfshark One+: $4.29 per thirty days + 3 further months.
• 12 months:
  • Surfshark Starter: $2.79 per thirty days + 3 further months.
  • Surfshark One: $3.19 per thirty days + 3 further months.
  • Surfshark One+: $5.09 per thirty days + 3 further months.
• Month-to-month:
  • Surfshark Starter: $15.45 per thirty days.
  • Surfshark One: $15.95 per thirty days.
  • Surfshark One+: $17.95 per thirty days.

Surfshark does supply bulk pricing and reductions for big groups and companies, however you could contact the gross sales staff for a customized pricing quote.

SEE: Surfshark vs. NordVPN: Which VPN Is Higher in 2024? (TechRepublic)

Surfshark presents each a seven-day free trial and a 30-day money-back assure, however there’s some fantastic print connected to every. With a view to get the free trial from Surfshark, you could first obtain the app to your system by both the App Retailer or the Google Play Retailer. After making an account, you could choose the yearly subscription, which gives you entry to the seven-day free trial (Determine B). Neither the six-month plan nor the month-to-month plan qualify for the free trial. You should have seven days to make use of the app totally free earlier than being charged for the yearly subscription.

If seven days don’t sound like sufficient time to you, Surfshark does supply a 30-day money-back assure, so you’ll be able to nonetheless get your cash returned so long as you ask for it inside that 30-day window. Nevertheless, the fantastic print of the phrases of service states that subscriptions made by way of iTunes/App Retailer/Amazon with a pay as you go card/present card or an nameless Devoted IP choice aren’t eligible for the 30-day money-back assure. Which means fellow Mac customers like myself should decide in the course of the seven-day free trial.

For extra data, take a look at our full Surfshark evaluation.

AVG vs Surfshark: Function comparability

Pace

To check the pace of AVG and Surfshark, I first used Ookla’s Pace Take a look at with none VPN operating and acquired baseline outcomes of 737.88 obtain Mbps and 605.14 add Mbps. Then, I linked every VPN to the closest server in Atlanta and ran the very same take a look at once more. Surfshark did considerably higher on obtain pace, clocking in at 503.19 Mbps in comparison with AVG’s 372.39 Mbps. Nevertheless, Surfshark fared a bit behind relating to add speeds, measuring 330.90 Mbps in comparison with AVG’s 385.99 Mbps.

SEE: Methods to Use Surfshark VPN (A Step-by-Step Information) (TechRepublic)

In my private expertise, Surfshark (Determine C) edged out AVG when it got here to speeds. Nevertheless, it’s price noting that connection pace can differ rather a lot relying on what system and community you’re utilizing, what server location you’re connecting to, what number of different individuals are connecting on the identical time and what kind of file you’re making an attempt to obtain or add. Simply because Surfshark was quicker for me doesn’t essentially imply that it is going to be quicker for you, so it’s at all times price operating your personal assessments.

Streaming

Streaming video content material was simple with each Surfshark and AVG Safe VPN. On each platforms, I used to be capable of rapidly swap my location to Canada to entry The Workplace and to the UK with a purpose to stream Studio Ghibli movies. The reverse was true as properly: Hulu blocked me once I set the VPN to any nation that wasn’t the U.S.

SEE: 5 Finest VPNs for Android in 2024 (TechRepublic)

Technically, a handful of AVG’s servers are optimized for streaming (Determine D), however I didn’t discover any distinction in pace when utilizing the optimized UK server versus the common one, a minimum of when it got here to Netflix. Solely six of AVG’s servers are optimized, and 4 of these are within the U.S., with the opposite two being within the U.Okay. and Germany — so they’re positively extra focused to worldwide customers desirous to stream U.S. content material relatively than the reverse. If you need extra choices, take a look at our picks for the most effective VPNs for streaming.

Ease of use

AVG presents presumably probably the most uncluttered VPN interface I’ve but to check. The display screen merely incorporates a toggle that turns the VPN on and off and a field under that shows the situation AVG mechanically chooses (Determine E). If I needed to alter areas, all I needed to do was click on the “change location” button, scroll by the choices and decide a brand new server. There’s not even a search bar, although there are classes you can click on by on the left facet, together with servers optimized for streaming and torrenting. This easy interface design could be very beginner-friendly however might frustrate skilled VPN customers who need extra choices.

Surfshark’s interface has a bit extra happening, although it’s certainly not troublesome to navigate. Many of the choices on the small left sidebar immediate customers to subscribe to different Surfshark merchandise, equivalent to notifications about potential information breaches. The principle panel is taken up by a listing of obtainable servers and the standing of the server you might be at present linked to.

SEE: The 7 Finest iPhone VPNs (Really useful for 2024) (TechRepublic)

I actually favored that Surfshark makes it simple to browse servers by nation, along with utilizing the search bar to discover a specific location. You may also filter servers to see those who supply static IP or MultiHop, you probably have a choice for that. I used to be additionally capable of favourite specific servers, which then confirmed up proper on the prime of the listing, making them simple to search out once more sooner or later. Surfshark additionally presents a cool characteristic known as Rotating IP (Determine F), which mechanically switches your IP handle each jiffy for further safety.

Personally, I believe the extra options of Surfshark are definitely worth the ever-so-slightly larger studying curve. Even inexperienced persons who’ve by no means used a VPN earlier than will rapidly get the dangle of Surfshark.

Safety and privateness

Surfshark presents a number of safety protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 VPN. It makes use of strong AES-256-GCM encryption in addition to ChaCha20 encryption for the WireGuard protocol. Surfshark makes use of a 2048-bit model of the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) encryption keys. AVG additionally presents three safety protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN and its personal proprietary Mimic protocol. AVG additionally makes use of an AES 256-bit encryption key and OpenSSL and certificates authentication.

Whereas these two VPN companies are considerably shut relating to safety, privateness is the place they actually start to diverge. Surfshark has a no-logs coverage (the trade normal) and presents multifactor authentication, which I extremely suggest you allow. AVG doesn’t have an MFA or an official no-logs coverage. It does have a convoluted privateness coverage that outlines what information it does and doesn’t monitor by its VPN, however that doesn’t give me loads of confidence — particularly when each AVG and its father or mother firm, Avast, beforehand acquired busted for promoting consumer information by their free antivirus software program. With regards to privateness, I’d decide Surfshark over AVG.

AVG execs and cons

AVG execs

• 60-day free trial obtainable.
• 30-day money-back assure.
• Quite simple interface is beginner-friendly.
• Join as much as 10 gadgets concurrently.

AVG cons

• Costlier than Surfshark.
• Fewer servers and areas than Surfshark.
• Privateness coverage is unclear.
• Doesn’t supply MFA.
• Father or mother firm was caught promoting consumer information previously.

Surfshark execs and cons

Surfshark execs

• Extra inexpensive than AVG Safe VPN.
• Extra servers and areas than AVG.
• Join a vast variety of gadgets without delay.
• Clear no logs coverage.
• MFA obtainable.

Surfshark cons

• Free trial is barely seven days lengthy.
• 30-day money-back assure not obtainable for Apple or Amazon purchases.

Ought to your group use AVG or Surfshark?

Usually it’s tougher to select a winner in these comparisons, however after researching and testing each of those VPNs, I really feel very assured recommending Surfshark over AVG for each private and enterprise use. Surfshark is extra inexpensive than AVG and presents limitless gadgets along with extra areas and servers. Surfshark additionally has higher privateness and safety features, in distinction to AVG’s considerably checkered previous and unclear privateness coverage.

Most of AVG’s attraction is you can get antivirus software program and different options bundled with the VPN on the AVG Final plan and avoid wasting money that approach when in comparison with the standalone costs. Nevertheless, you can too get antivirus safety on the Surfshark One and One+ plans, that are both near and even cheaper than the worth of AVG Final.

Assessment methodology

To check out AVG Safe VPN and Surfshark, I signed up totally free trials of each VPN companies and examined them for pace, streaming and ease of use. I additionally combed over their phrases of service and privateness insurance policies, in addition to their safety protocol documentation. Lastly, I consulted consumer critiques to make sure that my opinion and expertise weren’t the one ones represented on this article.