Updated: Apr 2
AreyousearchingforaVPNthato ersasecureandprivatebrowsingexperiencewithoutbreaking thebank?LooknofurtherthanAtlasVPN!ThisfreemiumVPNboastsimpressiveconnection speeds,well-developedappsforalloperatingsystems,andarangeofextrafeaturesthatmakeit thebestfreeVPNwe'vetestedthusfar
OneofthemostremarkablethingsaboutAtlasVPNisitsabilitytounblockpopularstreaming servicessuchasNet ixandBBCiPlayer Additionally,thead-blockerfeatureensuresaseamless andad-freebrowsingexperience whilethepowerfuldatabreachcheckerkeepsyourdatasafe frompryingeyes
Our AtlasVPNreviewfor2023providesanin-depthanalysisoftheVPNsstrengthsand weaknesses Fromconnectionspeedstosecurityfeaturesandappfunctionality,we'vegotitall coveredtohelpyoudeterminewhetherAtlasVPNistherightVPNforyou So,readontodiscover everythingyouneedtoknowaboutthisbeginner-friendlyVPNservice!
AtlasVPNPros&Cons
Pros Cons
Unblocksmoststreamingservices
Includesweb lters
WireGuard®protocol
Livesupport
Built-intwofactorlogin(2fa)
Freeversion
30daymoneybackguarantee
SmallServerFleet
emailsubscriptionreminders
No3rdpartyaudit
SafetyandSecurityFeaturesofAtlasVPN:Is AtlasVPNSafe?
Whenitcomestosecurityfeatures AtlasVPNticksalltherightboxes Withastrictno-logspolicy AESencryption,andareliablekillswitch,thisVPNproviderisundoubtedlyasafebet However, thereareonlytwotunnelingprotocolsavailable;IKEv2andWireGuard,bothofwhicharehighly secure
Despiteitsstrongsecurityfeatures,there'sstillsomeroomforimprovementwithAtlasVPN The providerdoesntuseRAM-onlyserversandinsteadstoresdatainfullyencrypteddrives Moreover whiletheirno-logspolicyisinplace ithasn'tbeenindependentlyaudited It'sworthnotingthatonly thesecuritytestsfortheiOSapphavebeenconductedsofar
Onapositivenote AtlasVPNhasbeenacquiredbyNordSecurity theparentcompanyofNordVPN amarket-leadingVPNservice ThisacquisitionsuggeststhatAtlasVPNislikelytofollowthesame high-securitystandardsandpracticesas NordVPN providinguserswithpeaceofmindknowingthat theironlineactivitiesaresecureandprivate
Whenyouconnectto AtlasVPNsservers youronlineactivitiesareencrypted providingyouwitha secureonlinebrowsingexperiencethatkeepsyourdatasafefrompryingeyes ThisVPNservice usestheAES-256cipher,whichisthecurrentindustrystandardfordataprotectionandistrustedby numerousgovernmentaland nancialinstitutionsworldwide Moreover AtlasVPNhasalso implementedtheChaCha20cipherwiththePoly1305authenticatortoensurenext-generation securityandprotection
Intermsoftunnelingprotocols, AtlasVPNo erstwooptions-IPSec/IKEv2andWireGuard The latteristhemarket-standardtunnelingprotocolandthenewestadditiontoAtlasVPN With WireGuard youcanenjoyfasterspeedsandlowerping makingitagreatoptionforonlinegamers andstreamersalike It'sworthnotingthatWireGuardisavailableonarangeofdevices,including Android,Windows,macOS,andiOS,ensuringseamlessandsecurebrowsingacrossallyour devices
Logging&NoLogPolicies:AtlasVPN
LikemanyotherreliableVPNservices, AtlasVPNhasastrictno-logspolicy Theirpolicystatesthat theydonotstoreanyprivateinformationabouttheirusers Whileitsnotexplicitlymentioned it appearsthatthispolicyalsoappliestothefreeversionoftheservice
Inaddition AtlasVPN'spolicyallowsuserstocontactthemtopermanentlydeletetheiraccount Californiauserscanevenrequestacopyofthedatathatthecompanyholdsonthem givingusers morecontrolovertheirpersonalinformation
SafetyFeaturesofAtlasVPN
Killswitch
AtlasVPNhasintroducedavaluablesafetyfeaturecalleda"killswitch"tohelppreventdataleaks Thekillswitchisspeci callydesignedtoterminateyourInternettra cincasetheconnectiontothe VPNserverislost Totestthee ectivenessofthisfeature weconductedtwotests-onebyblocking theconnectionfromarouterandtheotherbydisablingbackgroundVPNprocesses
Inthe rsttest weobservedthatthekillswitchfunctionedwellandterminatedtheconnectionwhen accesstotheserverwasblocked However,theonlydownsideisthattheuserisnotnoti edwhen thekillswitchistriggered Nevertheless wefounditconvenientthattheInternetconnectioncanbe restoredbydisablingandenablingthekillswitch
Thesecondtestwasmorechallengingastheservicedoesn'tsupportOpenVPN andtheVPN processesarelinkedtotheclient So wehadtodisabletheclientwhilethekillswitchwason Despite this,thekillswitchprovedtobee ectiveevenundersuchconditions
SafeBrowse
TheSafeBrowsefeaturecanbefoundinthe"assistant"menutoggleandservesasanoptional safetymeasuretoblockpotentiallyharmfulwebsites Withthefeatureenabled,accesstowebsites thatareincludedintheblacklistwillbedeniedwhilebrowsingwiththeVPNon
SimilarfeaturescanbefoundinotherVPNssuchasCyberghostor NordVPN,buttheyareoften consideredpremiumfeaturesthatrequireasubscriptiontoaccess
SafeSwap
AtlasVPNrecentlyintroducedtheSafeSwapfeaturewhichcanbefoundunderthePrivacyProtab ThisfeatureallowsyourIPaddresstorotatewhileconnectedtotheserver providinganadditional layerofsecurity UnlikeotherVPNproviderswhereyouwouldhavetodisconnectandconnecttoa di erentservertoachieveasimilare ect,SafeSwapswitchesyourIPaddresswhileyoubrowse, approximatelyevery10minutes
EachSafeSwapserverhasmultipleIPaddressesassignedtoit,whicharesharedbetweenusers ThismakestheIProtationsunpredictableanddoesntresultinspeeddrops Currently thereare threeSafeSwaplocationsavailable:TheNetherlands Singapore andtheUnitedStates Itspossible thatAtlasVPNwillincreasethenumberofserversinthefuture,althoughthenumbermaynotbe exponentialduetothecostofbuyingupIPaddressestosetupSafeSwapservers
Asmuchasitmaysoundlikeanadvancedtechnology AtlasVPN'sDatahackdetectionfeature simplycheckswhetheryourdatahasbeenexposedinanydatabreaches However thisfeatureis onlyavailabletopremiumusers,andthoseusingthefreeversionwon'thaveaccesstoit
Ifyourdataappearsinadatabreach thefeatureprovidesyouwithaquicksummaryofwhatkind ofinformationwascompromised Thisallowsyoutodetermineifonlyyouremailaddresswas exposedorifmoresensitivedata suchaspasswords werea ected Thisfeatureisavaluable referencetoolforimprovingyoursecuritymeasures
PlansandPricing
Asoneofthemosta ordableVPNservicesinthemarket, AtlasVPNo ersunbeatablevaluewithits unlimitedsimultaneousconnections
Whilethemonthlyplanisthemostexpensiveat$1099/month,weadviseagainstoptingforshorttermplans Instead,theannualsubscriptiono ersasigni cantdiscount,bringingthemonthlycost downtojust$408/month
Fortheultimatesavings,the3-yearplano ersthebestdealatabudget-friendlypriceofonly $183/month
Allsubscriptionplanscomewitha30-daymoney-backguarantee,givingyouampletimetotryout thepaidoptionsanddetermineifitsworththeinvestment
AtlasVPNo ersavarietyofpaymentmethods,includingcreditcards,GooglePay,andPayPal For addedconvenienceandanonymity userscanalsopaywithcryptocurrencysuchasBTC LTC ETH andQIWI
FreemiumVersion
AsoneofthefewVPNservicesthato erafreeversion, AtlasVPNshouldnotbeunderestimated Itsimportanttokeepinmindthatthereisa5GBdatalimitonthisplan soitmaynotbeidealfor downloadingorstreaminglargemedia les Nevertheless,AtlasVPNstillprovidesexcellentvalue fortheprice
Asafreeuser,you'llhaveaccesstothreelocations:Netherlands-Amsterdam,USA-LosAngeles, andUSA-NewYork However,pleasenotethatthefreeversiondoesnotincludeaccessto streaming-optimizedservers unlimitedbandwidth 24/7support unlimitedsimultaneous connections,andtheSafeBrowsefeature
HowDoesAtlasVPNWork?
AswithotherVPNservices, AtlasVPNprovidesonlineencryptionandchangesyourIPaddress, makingitimpossibleforthirdparties,ISPs,orgovernmententitiestotrackandlogyouronline activity Beyondprotectingyourprivacy VPNsarealsousefulforaccessinggeo-blockedcontent andtorrentingsafely
TouseAtlasVPN simplyconnecttoaserver whichcreatesasecureconnectiontunnel Alldata sentfromyourcomputerisencryptedandroutedthroughthissecuretunnel OnceitreachesAtlas
VPNsservers thedataisdecryptedandsenttothewebsiteyouwanttovisit Thismakesitappear asthoughtherequestoriginatedfromAtlasVPN'sservers,e ectivelysecuringandhidingyourdata
HowToDownloadAtlasVPN?
HerearethestepstogetstartedwithAtlasVPN:
Goto AtlasVPNwebsite andpressthe‘Grabthedeal’button
1 Chooseyoursubscriptionplan Eachoptionincludesa30-daymoney-backguarantee
2 Proceedtocheckoutbyclickingthebuttonatthebottom-rightcorner
4
3 Createanaccount Forthat you’llbeaskedtoenteryouremailaddressandpayment
Performance:IsAtlasVPNFast?
AlthoughallVPNstendtoslowdowninternetconnectionspeedstosomedegree someVPNsare betterthanothersatminimizingthise ect AfterimplementingtheWireGuardtunnelingprotocol, AtlasVPNshowedasigni cantimprovementinconnectionspeedsacrossall velocationswe tested Weobservednonoticeabledropsineitherdownloadoruploadspeeds meaningthatusers areunlikelytoexperienceanybu eringorlagswhileusingtheVPN
ConsideringthatWireGuardisoneofthefastestprotocolsonthemarket thisoutcomeisprecisely whatweexpected
Overall AtlasVPNo ersimpressiveconnectionspeeds whichisamarkedimprovementfrom before
AtlasVPNServersandLocations
AtlasVPNsserver eetplaysacrucialroleinprovidingglobalcoverageandfasterserverselection However,theprovider'scurrentservercountof750+across38countriesisrelativelylowerthanthat ofitsmarketcompetitors,suchas NordVPNandSurfshark
Theservicewasoriginallydesignedformobiledevices,anditsserver eetre ectsthelimitedvariety typicallyfoundinfreemobileapps Althoughtheintroductionofdesktopclientshasexpandedthe servicesdevicecompatibility AtlasVPNsserver eetstillhasroomtogrow particularlyinareas outsideEurope
Thankfully AtlasVPNsrecentlaunchof10Gbpsservershassigni cantlyoptimizedconnection speedsfordata-intensiveactivitieslikestreaming Theservicealsoo ersaPrivacyProfeature, whichincludesSafeSwapandMultiHop+tofurtherprotectyourprivacybyroutingtra cthrough multipleIPaddresses
andOtherStreamingSites
AtlasVPNprovedtobeahighlye ectivetoolforunblockingmultiplestreamingservices,including Net ix BBCiPlayer Hulu andHBOMax Duringourtests wewereabletoaccess11di erentNet ix librarieswithoutanyinterruptions includingthosefromJapan theUK andtheUS
Inadditiontoitsimpressiveunblockingcapabilities AtlasVPNalsodemonstratedexceptional streamingqualitywithnobu eringorstutteringissues Thismadeitanidealoptionforwatching popularshowsandsportingeventsfromaroundtheworld,suchasNBAhighlightsonYouTubethat wereonlyavailabletoUSviewers
WhileAtlasVPN'sserver eetisrelativelysmall,itstillprovidessolidglobalcoverageandtheoption tochooseserverswithuniquefeatureslikeSafeSwapandMultiHop+foraddedprivacy Overall AtlasVPNisanexcellentchoiceforanyonelookingtoaccessgeo-restrictedcontentandenjoyhighqualitystreamingexperiences
TorrentCapabilitiesofAtlasVPN
Whenitcomestotorrenting, AtlasVPNmaynothavethesameimpressivecapabilitiesassome otherVPNproviders,butitstillgetsthejobdone Althoughtheydon'thavededicatedP2Pservers likeNordVPN wecancon rmthattorrentingworksjust ne However itsworthnotingthatthe downloadspeedmayvarydependingonarangeoffactors,includingthenumberof seeders/leechersandothervariablesthata ectVPNspeeds
Inourtests,wewereabletodownloada27GB leinabout7minutes,withdownloadspeeds averagingaround4-6MB/s(32-48Mbps) Interestingly,torrentingisalsoavailableontheAtlasVPN freeversion althoughthespeedsmaynotbeasfastaswiththepremiumsubscription
Ultimately,thebestwaytogaugehowAtlasVPNperformsfortorrentingistotestityourself
Interfaceandeaseofuse
Theuser-friendlyinterfaceofAtlasVPNapplicationsmakesiteasyforevennoviceuserstonavigate theme ortlessly TheVPNprovidero ersapplicationsforWindows Mac Android iOS andLinux Theauto-connectandquick-connectfeaturesareavailableonallappsexcepttheLinuxversion, providingyouwithaddedconvenience Furthermore,theappcanbetranslatedintomultiple languagesforyoureaseofuse
Recently, AtlasVPNaddedsupportforAndroidTVandAmazonFireStick,makingitmore accessibleacrossvariousdevices Withthisnewaddition AtlasVPNcancompetewithothermajor VPNprovidersinthemarket
Android
AtlasVPNhasaninterestinghistorywithitsAndroidapp,whichhasbeenavailableformuchlonger thanthedesktopversion Theuserexperiencere ectsthis,asthemobileappboastsacleaner interfacethatfeelsneitherclutterednorbasic
Intermsoffeatures theAndroidappo ersaTrackerBlockerandsystem-widekillswitchtoggles YoucanalsocheckwhetheryouremailshaveappearedinanydatabreacheswithDatahack detection
Overall,asfarasVPNsforAndroidgo,theAtlasVPNappisasolidchoicefordailyuse
iOS
Asfarasuserinterfaceisconcerned AtlasVPN'siOSappisvirtuallyindistinguishablefromits Androidcounterpart Thisuniformityindesignisawelcomefeaturethatothercompaniescould bene tfromadopting
LiketheAndroidapp AtlasVPN'siOSversiono ersthesamefeatures includingaTrackerBlocker DataHackChecker,andKillSwitch Theonlynotabledi erenceisthatthebuttonforsharingusage statisticsislocatedinaslightlydi erentlocation Nevertheless thissmallvariationhasnosigni cant impactontheuserexperience
Allthingsconsidered AtlasVPN'siOSappisadependableVPNapplication
Windows
ThedesignoftheWindowsVPNapphasbeenmodeledafterthemobileapps featuringalotof roundedcornerstomakeitvisuallyappealing Navigatingthroughtheappiseasy withallthe necessaryfeatureswithinreach
Giventhelimitednumberofcountries aserversearchfunctionisnotyetnecessary Userscaneasily scrollthroughthelistwithoutmuchtrouble
Theloginprocessincludesabuilt-in2FA whichrequiresuserstocon rmacodesenttotheiremail eachtimetheyloginfromanewdevice Althoughthismayseemlikeaninconvenience,itaddsan extralayerofsecuritytotheloginprocess
MacOS
AsforthemacOSapp,wefoundittobeasmoothandseamlessexperience Theonlyminorcritique wehaveisthatimageandtextscalingcouldbeimproved,butthetextwasstillreadableandclear
Onethingtokeepinmindisthatyouwon'tbeabletochoosethespeci cservertoconnectto; instead,theappwillconnectyoutotheclosestoneautomatically Whiletheserverlocationwon'tbe displayedatthetopofthelist youcaneasily nditbyscrollingthroughandlookingforthegreen iconnexttothelocation
Linux
AtlasVPNmaynothaveadedicatedappforLinux buttheservicenowincludesaspecializedVPN protocol-WireGuard-fortheLinuxoperatingsystem Linuxuserscantakeadvantageofspecialty serversdesignedforstreaming aswellasSafeSwapandMultiHop+serversforenhancedonline privacy
Despitethelackofagraphicaluserinterface AtlasVPNsLinuxserviceisuser-friendlyforthose familiarwithLinux Theinstallationprocessisstraightforward andyoucanconnecttoserversusing theterminal
CustomerSupport
AtlasVPNprovidesaseamlesscustomersupportexperienceaccessiblefromtheappitself By clickingontheFAQsection,usersareredirectedtothewebsite,wheretheycan ndhelpful explanationsandtroubleshootingadvicefortechnicalissues
Alluserscanreachouttothesupportteamviaemailatsupport@atlasvpncom However,Premium usershaveaccessto24/7livechatsupportformoreimmediateassistance
WrapUp:IsItWorthGettingAtlasVPN?
DecidingifAtlasVPNisagoodchoiceforyoudependsonyourindividualneedsandexpectations Whileitmaynotreachthesamelevelastop-tierVPNserviceslikeNordVPNorSurfshark AtlasVPN hasalotofadvantagesandisquicklyexpandingitscapabilities
OurreviewofAtlasVPNindicatesthatitsagreatstartingpointforthosewhowanttoexperiment withVPNs Thefreeversionprovidesrobustencryption andthepremiumversiono erstheadded bene tofunblockingmostpopularstreamingplatforms,includingNet ix TheWireGuardprotocol ensureslightning-fastspeeds andfeatureslikeSafeBrowsercansigni cantlyenhanceyouronline security
At Digital D alogue were able to prov de our services for free because some vendors may pay us for web tra c or other sales opportunities Our miss on is to help technology buyers make informed purchasing decisions which s why we o er information for all vendors - even those who do not pay us