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

Surfshark is extensively considered among the finest and most reasonably priced digital non-public networks in the marketplace right this moment, however that doesn’t imply it’s the suitable match for everybody’s wants. When you’ve been trying out competitor AVG Safe VPN and are questioning the way it stacks up in opposition to Surfshark, I’ve acquired you lined on this overview. I signed up for each VPNs and in contrast AVG and Surfshark head-to-head that can assist you resolve which one is your best option for you. Spoiler alert: It’s virtually actually Surfshark, because of its higher privateness coverage, better variety of servers and nations and limitless units.

AVG vs Surfshark: Comparability desk

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

	AVG Safe VPN	Surfshark
Variety of servers	59	100
Variety of nations	37	3,200+
Variety of units	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 gives three VPN-only plans, all of that are costlier than Surfshark’s two least expensive plans. One 12 months is the shortest subscription time for the AVG VPN, with three years being the longest (there isn’t any six-month or month-to-month plan out there). 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 12 months: $4.58 per thirty days.

AVG additionally gives a bundle plan, AVG Final, that features antivirus safety, machine lock, fee 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, nevertheless it does require a bank card (Determine A). You’ll be signed up for a two-year VPN plan, which shall be charged to your card on the finish of the 60 days should you don’t cancel your subscription prematurely. AVG additionally gives a 30-day money-back assure in case you alter your thoughts after you subscribe.

Surfshark pricing

Surfshark gives three ranges of plans for people, and the yearly subscriptions for all of them are fairly reasonably priced, 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 giant groups and companies, however you need to contact the gross sales crew for a customized pricing quote.

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

Surfshark gives each a seven-day free trial and a 30-day money-back assure, however there’s some high quality print hooked up to every. In an effort to get the free trial from Surfshark, you need to first obtain the app to your machine by means of both the App Retailer or the Google Play Retailer. After making an account, you need to 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 free of charge 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 may nonetheless get your cash returned so long as you ask for it inside that 30-day window. Nonetheless, the high quality print of the phrases of service states that subscriptions made through iTunes/App Retailer/Amazon with a pay as you go card/reward card or an nameless Devoted IP possibility are usually not 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 overview.

AVG vs Surfshark: Characteristic comparability

Velocity

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

SEE: Tips on how 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. Nonetheless, it’s price noting that connection pace can differ quite a bit relying on what machine and community you’re utilizing, what server location you’re connecting to, what number of different persons are connecting on the similar time and what kind of file you’re making an attempt to obtain or add. Simply because Surfshark was sooner for me doesn’t essentially imply that will probably be sooner for you, so it’s at all times price operating your personal exams.

Streaming

Streaming video content material was simple with each Surfshark and AVG Safe VPN. On each platforms, I used to be in a position to shortly 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 after I set the VPN to any nation that wasn’t the U.S.

SEE: 5 Greatest 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, at the least 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.Ok. and Germany — so they’re positively extra focused to worldwide customers eager to stream U.S. content material moderately than the reverse. If you would like extra choices, take a look at our picks for the most effective VPNs for streaming.

Ease of use

AVG gives probably probably the most uncluttered VPN interface I’ve but to check. The display merely includes a toggle that turns the VPN on and off and a field under that shows the placement AVG mechanically chooses (Determine E). If I needed to alter places, all I needed to do was click on the “change location” button, scroll by means of the choices and decide a brand new server. There’s not even a search bar, although there are classes that you would be able to click on by means of on the left facet, together with servers optimized for streaming and torrenting. This easy interface design may 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 on no account troublesome to navigate. A lot of the choices on the small left sidebar immediate customers to subscribe to different Surfshark merchandise, similar to notifications about potential information breaches. The primary panel is taken up by a listing of obtainable servers and the standing of the server you might be at the moment related to.

SEE: The 7 Greatest iPhone VPNs (Really helpful for 2024) (TechRepublic)

I actually preferred that Surfshark makes it simple to browse servers by nation, along with utilizing the search bar to discover a specific location. You can too filter servers to see people who supply static IP or MultiHop, if in case you have a desire for that. I used to be additionally in a position to favourite specific servers, which then confirmed up proper on the high of the checklist, making them simple to seek out once more sooner or later. Surfshark additionally gives a cool function known as Rotating IP (Determine F), which mechanically switches your IP deal with each couple of minutes for further safety.

Personally, I feel the extra options of Surfshark are definitely worth the ever-so-slightly increased studying curve. Even learners who’ve by no means used a VPN earlier than will shortly get the dangle of Surfshark.

Safety and privateness

Surfshark gives 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 gives 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 in terms of safety, privateness is the place they actually start to diverge. Surfshark has a no-logs coverage (the business normal) and gives multifactor authentication, which I extremely advocate 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 observe by means of its VPN, however that doesn’t give me loads of confidence — particularly when each AVG and its mum or dad firm, Avast, beforehand acquired busted for promoting consumer information by means of their free antivirus software program. Relating to privateness, I’d decide Surfshark over AVG.

AVG execs and cons

AVG execs

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

AVG cons

• Dearer than Surfshark.
• Fewer servers and places than Surfshark.
• Privateness coverage is unclear.
• Doesn’t supply MFA.
• Guardian firm was caught promoting consumer information up to now.

Surfshark execs and cons

Surfshark execs

• Extra reasonably priced than AVG Safe VPN.
• Extra servers and places than AVG.
• Join an infinite variety of units directly.
• Clear no logs coverage.
• MFA out there.

Surfshark cons

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

Ought to your group use AVG or Surfshark?

Usually it’s harder 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 reasonably priced than AVG and gives limitless units along with extra places 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 enchantment is that you would be able to get antivirus software program and different options bundled with the VPN on the AVG Final plan and avoid wasting money that means when in comparison with the standalone costs. Nonetheless, it’s also possible to get antivirus safety on the Surfshark One and One+ plans, that are both near and even cheaper than the value of AVG Final.

Overview methodology

To check out AVG Safe VPN and Surfshark, I signed up free of charge 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.