← All VPNs
78/100Overall score
- Jurisdiction
- Netherlands (nine eyes)
- Founded
- 2018
- Owner
- Surfshark B.V.
- Best price
- $1.99/mo
- Devices
- unlimited
- Free tier
- No
Privacy65
Security100
Transparency63
Value100
Ethics100
Best for
- · Households (unlimited devices)
- · Budget buyers
- · Streaming and travel
Not ideal for
- · Open-source advocates (closed apps)
- · Anonymous signup
- · Avoiding 9-Eyes jurisdictions
Strengths
- ✓Unlimited simultaneous connections
- ✓Cheap multi-year pricing (~$2/mo)
- ✓RAM-only servers; Deloitte no-logs audit
- ✓Obfuscation and multi-hop included
Weaknesses
- ✗Netherlands sits within the 9 Eyes alliance
- ✗Apps are not open source
- ✗Email required; no cash payment
- ✗Now under the same parent as NordVPN (less brand diversity)
Full data sheet
Every attribute we track, coloured by whether it helps or hurts your privacy.
Company & jurisdiction
| Based in | Netherlands |
| Eyes alliance | 9 Eyes |
| Enemy of the Internet | No |
| Owner | Surfshark B.V. |
| Conglomerate | Nord Security |
| Founded | 2018 |
Logging
| Traffic / activity | None kept |
| DNS requests | None kept |
| Timestamps | None kept |
| Bandwidth | None kept |
| Source IP address | None kept |
No-logs policy audited by Deloitte (ISAE 3000) in 2025; the entire fleet is RAM-only.
Payment & anonymity
| Anonymous signup | No |
| Accepts cash | No |
| Accepts crypto | Yes |
| PGP key | Unknown |
Protocols & features
| OpenVPN | Yes |
| WireGuard | Yes |
| Proprietary protocol | n/a |
| Multi-hop | Yes |
| Obfuscation | Yes |
| Kill switch | Yes |
| First-party DNS | Yes |
| RAM-only servers | Yes |
| Port forwarding | Unknown |
| P2P / torrenting | Unknown |
| IPv6 | Unknown |
Encryption
| Data cipher | ChaCha20 / AES-256 |
| Handshake | Curve25519 |
Transparency
| Open-source clients | No |
| Independent audits | 2 |
| Transparency report | Yes |
| Court / seizure-tested | Unknown |
Infrastructure
| Simultaneous devices | Unlimited |
| Countries | 100 |
| Servers | n/a |
| Linux support | GUI app |
Pricing
| Month-to-month | $15.45 |
| Best $/mo | $1.99 |
| On plan | 2-year (Starter) |
| Free trial | n/a |
| Refund window | 30 days |
| Free tier | No |
Ethics
| Logging policy | Consistent |
| Marketing honesty | No overclaiming |
Independent audits
- Deloitte· 2025 · no-logs (ISAE 3000)
- Cure53· 2021 · apps + infrastructure
Merged under Nord Security's parent company in Feb 2022 but runs separate infrastructure and audit cycles.
Sources
- Security.org, Surfshark review ↗
- Surfshark vs NordVPN (official, merger + 2025 audit) ↗
- Surfshark (official) ↗
Last verified 2026-06-17. Point-in-time data, so always confirm on the provider's own site.