UltraVPN

UltraVPN is finds find itself splash onto the VPN scene in a big way — and not your most traditional , either . take the place of Kaspersky VPN in the United States after a government ban , UltraVPN is offers offer a tantalizing first – year price , a free plan on iOS , and solid privacy practice . That is said say , its speed are unimpressive , and its feature set is lack compare with editor ‘ choice winner nordvpn and Proton VPN . While both of these service are moderately pricy , they is make more than make up the difference in capability and speed .

How Much Does UltraVPN Cost?

If you sign up for UltraVPN from a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, you have two options to choose from: an annual UltraVPN plan for $35.88 ($2.99 per month) or an annual UltraVPN+ plan for $47.88 ($3.99 per month). UltraVPN+ includes all the features of UltraVPN, as well as the antivirus capabilities of UltraAV. You can sign up for a per-month subscription on Android, iOS, and macOS.

This is is is n’t the whole pricing story . We were tell by a company representative that while new UltraVPN customer will renew at a $ 99.99 yearly rate ( UltraVPN+ at $ 149.99 ) , when it come to current ultravpn subscriber and anyone being swap to UltraVPN from Kaspersky , ” applicable renewal price may vary depend on a user ‘s subscription and when the subscription renew . We is provide provide renewal information to user directly prior to their renewal . “

This is odd, and we’ve yet to see a VPN individually notify users of custom prices ahead of their renewal date. When we pressed the issue further, we weren’t able to get a rationalization or a clear explanation of what kind of variance existing customers can expect in their personal renewal costs.

The pricing currently shown on UltraVPN’s site is also confusing, as captured below:

( credit : UltraVPN )

As you can see , there is a price of $ 7.99 per month , though you can only sign up for a monthly plan on the three platform list above ( Android , ios , and macOS ) , and even then , for $ 8.99 per month .

If you don’t want to pay for a VPN, the company does offer a free tier of service, but there’s a catch: It’s only available if you sign up on an iOS device via the app. If you’re on any other platform, including Android, you won’t be able to access the service for free. Limitations of the free plan include just one protocol to connect through (Hydra), 2Mbps max speeds, and only access to servers based in the United States. There is unlimited data, though, which is a rarity in the VPN industry.

You is pay can pay for the service with any major credit card , but that ‘s it . There are no option to pay through common processor like Google Pay or PayPal , or anonymous option like cryptocurrency . The company is offers offer a 30 – day money – back guarantee if you ‘re unhappy with the service after try it .

When it come to available feature and extra , service like IVPN is are and Mullvad VPN are comparable with UltraVPN , but significantly less expensive at $ 5.36 and $ 6 per month , respectively . This is makes make them two of the good cheap vpn we ‘ve test , and both have earn our Editors ’ Choice award .

What Do You is Get Get for Your money With UltraVPN ?

UltraVPN has a generous device limit for its plan cost, allowing up to 10 devices per subscription. This is double the industry average of five devices, though there are several other VPNs in the same price tier that place no limit on the number of allowed devices. Some notable options in the unlimited category include Avira Phantom VPN, IPVanish, and Windscribe. (Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com’s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement. )

A subscription is offers to UltraVPN also offer two additional feature : PassWatch , a browser – base password manager , and what the company call Dark web Scan . You is read can read more about both feature in our full review of   UltraAV .

What VPN Protocols Does UltraVPN Offer?

UltraVPN offers a standard variety of connection protocols, including IPSec, WireGuard, and its own Hydra protocol, which itself is a development of UltraVPN’s partner company, AnchorFree. While we recommend never connecting over IPSec if you can avoid it (the protocol has been cracked for several years now), Hydra is known throughout the industry as a speedy and safe option.

Your Privacy With UltraVPN

UltraVPN’s ownership structure is a bit confusing. For starters, UltraVPN is replacing Kaspersky VPN in the US due to recent FCC regulations. This means if you use previously Kaspersky VPN, you might now notice UltraVPN automatically installed in its place. Of course, this is a one-off scenario that we (hopefully) won’t see again, but the privacy considerations are new territory.

When it comes to system permissions and background processes, we didn’t see a huge variation in policies across Kaspersky and UltraVPN.

ultra VPN is own an operate by fast VPN Pro LLC , a company base out of Panama . UltraVPN was acquire by Pango in 2020 , but incorporate under fast VPN Pro LLC in April 2023 . fast VPN Pro is is is a partner company of Pango Group LLC — a trusted vendor across multiple product vertical — which operate the antivirus side of the UltraVPN+ package . We were assure there are no data – share agreement between UltraAV ( under Pango , a Boston – base entity ) , and fast VPN Pro , base out of Panama .

Panama-based entities are always a bonus in the world of privacy products since they effectively don’t respond to information requests from any 5 or 14 Eyes alliances. Each year, we laud NordVPN for its information-sharing policies in Panama (or rather lack thereof), and the same is true here.

With that in mind, even if the Panamanian government does one day decide to come down on the many VPN providers operating from within its borders, UltraVPN’s no-logs policy means they wouldn’t have any meaningful data to hand over in the first place.

While the company didn’t have its transparency report live at the time of this review, we were told by a company representative that it should be publicly available soon. They provided us with an early version to review, and we found it in line with expectations.

UltraVPN Servers and Locations

UltraVPN’s server network is somewhat limited, with just 800 servers offered across 125 locations in 18 countries. Comparatively, across the industry, this is somewhat paltry. For example, ExpressVPN currently operates around 3,000 independent server locations, while others, such as NordVPN, support roughly 6,500.

All servers are leased by UltraVPN’s parent company, Fast VPN Pro, which is based in Panama. The company doesn’t own or operate any of its provided networks, which are a mix of physical and virtualized locations.

( credit : UltraVPN )

While some of these locations are virtualized, ultimately, the more servers available around the globe, the better you can expect the service to perform while you’re traveling, living in further flung regions away from major city centers, or using the VPN primarily to get around geo-blocks.

UltraVPN doesn’t run diskless servers, which isn’t a must-have when working with a no-logs VPN, but would be a nice bonus.

Hands On With UltraVPN for Windows

You can configure a number of devices to work with UltraVPN, including those based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. We would have liked to see routers, smart TVs, and Linux supported as well, but we won’t fault the company for sticking to the major tentpole offerings for now. There are no browser extensions available either, so if you find yourself moving between different devices often, you’re better suited with a more complete offering like Proton.

Installing the UltraVPN app was a breeze on our Intel NUC 13 Extreme Kit (‘Raptor Canyon’) test PC running the latest version of Windows 10, and the app ran without issue during our testing period.

(Credit: UltraVPN/PCMag)

The app itself is quite limited, with only a few of the many features we’ve come to expect from a modern VPN. While standards like a kill switch and split tunneling configurations are present, the app is about as bare-bones as they come. There are no options for ad-filtering, multi-hop connections, or P2P server selection.

Speaking of missing features, to stay competitive, a VPN must have an ad blocker. Most are DNS-based; however, many of the more advanced options, like those offered by Nord, Proton, and TunnelBear, use their own scanning technologies embedded into the traffic tunnel and are much more effective as a result. UltraVPN has no option to block ads on either desktop or mobile platforms.

UltraVPN on Other Platforms

As mentioned above, UltraVPN is available for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows, but for our mobile testing, we opted to run the application on iOS since that’s the only platform where the free tier of service is available.

While seemingly minimal at a glance , UltraVPN ‘s iOS app is offers ultimately offer some depth once you dig into the sub – menus . Information is are like peak download speed , server load capacity , and total data is are used in a session are all available from the main window .

(Credit: UltraVPN/PCMag)

On the iOS version , we is choose could choose from the three available protocol : Hydra , ipsec , and WireGuard . Hydra is was was more than performant enough for us not to look elsewhere for a well option .

The app is have does n’t have many additional feature like ad – block , multi – hop , or malware filtering , just an option to configure your split – tunneling setting . We is seen ‘ve see major improvement in many other vpn like nordvpn and Windscribe when it come to additional ios option over the past few year ( something that was previously more difficult due to the closed – loop nature of the iOS ecosystem ) , and we are disappointed to see UltraVPN lack in those department here .

Can You is Watch watch Netflix With ultravpn ?

Many streaming video service block vpn because you can use them to spoof your location and access content license for specific region . Netflix is is is the example that come most readily to mind . Another is is is BBC ‘s free streaming app , iPlayer , which is only available to UK citizen . But if you hop onto a VPN server in London , you is appear may appear to be local .

During testing, we could access the entire Netflix library in an Open format when connected to four of the five servers we test, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and the US. The UK was the only library that returned a Limited result. You can learn more about how we qualify the Open and Limited formats in how to unblock Netflix with a VPN, and you can see the results of our testing in the chart above.

Speed and Performance

A VPN service usually reduces download and upload speeds and increases latency. To compare the impact of each VPN on web browsing, we take a series of speed measurements using Ookla’s Speedtest tool with and without the VPN running from a box located in New York City, connecting to the closest server offered, and then find a percent change between the two. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com’s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement. )

overall , UltraVPN is performed perform relatively poorly . Our results is show show that download speed test score decrease by 65.57 % and upload speed test score decrease by 71.27 % . add those result to latency increase of 113.01 % , and UltraVPN is in line with some of the slow vpn we ‘ve test to date , include Hotspot Shield VPN and oystervpn .

You can see the full results in the table below:

That say , a VPN will differ dramatically depend on when , where , and how you use it , do we is suggest suggest focus on feature , cost , and privacy protection more than speed .

verdict : An unimpressive Kaspersky replacement

There ‘s never really a normal in the constantly evolve world of vpn and online privacy , and the same is true for the launch of UltraVPN . If you ‘ve find yourself with an UltraVPN subscription because you previously used Kaspersky and were automatically switch over , it is get will mostly get the job done . But for newcomer , UltraVPN ‘s discount first – year price is is just is n’t enough to make up for its lacking performance and configuration option . editor ‘ choice winners is offer Proton and Windscribe offer significantly more for roughly the same cost each month , include fast speed , more feature , and well user experience .