Astrill VPN Review

This is a scam company. Servers are down most of the time. No automatic monitoring of services. You have to submit a ticket if connection issues. And then it takes days before the servers are restarted. No refunds, obviously.

I have been using Astrill in China since probably 2011. They have the worst custom service. Very rude. I really wanted to find a replacement and tried ExpressVPN, but I have to say Astrill is more stable than Express. As long as there is any new replacement, I will discard it without any hesitation.

Astrill is fast and reliable, and it is probably approved, licensed and surveilled by the Chinese government. There are several clues.

I remember very well the day when GfW started blocking FB back in 2008-2009-ish ... that was the day when I started using VPN, which was Witopia, then, when GfW got upgraded, StrongVPN, and then, when it stopped working, i started using Astrill and though I tried few others, Astrill works best. BUT - recently, when you want to register, you have to register using your China phone number. That sounds like a CHINESE website. So I would really like to know who is now the owner of Astrill...

The one great thing about this VPN is its speed. I have tried many VPNs in my time, around 100 of them, and Astrill still offers the best speed and latency. Also, their Android app now seems to work quite well and their Windows app is very reliable. Security is also very good, but like the review states, their customer service is rather slow in getting back to you. All in all, if speed and security matter to you, I would recommend Astrill over any other VPN provider. Coming in second for me is NordVPN followed by ExpressVPN.

I've been with them for several years but this may be my last. When it works it's great, but this year I've experienced throttling where I get 1-5Mbps on a 1Gbps connection on ALL servers. Their customer service has gone downhill and I've experienced rude representative who have been pushing to upsell additional products all while avoiding to resolve any of the issues on their servers. Stay away for the moment until they can resolve some of their internal issues and hopefully they can return it to a consistent and favorable service.

I wanted to post notice that @astrillvpn has become an untrustworthy company. They apparently care about money to the point they deny they are auto-renewing subscriptions using payment on record, but are doing just that. When I questioned them, they denied it, refused to reverse the charge despite the payment not being due as of my identifying the unauthorized charge, nor would they conduct an investigation as to how the auto-charge happened. This is forcing me to actually lock my account for about 2 weeks to get a new card as they simply re-charge after every contest I push with my bank account.

Any company that takes these actions are NOT TO BE TRUSTED WITH YOUR PRIVACY as a VPN provider. If they're willing to put money first & hope people either don't notice or contest it, they are willing to do worse with their data. It is sad to see a company with such potential reach this point, but apart from a full leadership changeout, you cannot trust the decisions of the leaders who drove the company to this point. For this reason, I revoke my endorsement for Astrill VPN.

No connection to UK TV servers always blocked which is strange as Express and Nord work easily. Good for google and messaging which may be banned in some countries.

Poor inline support and absolutely no refunds under any circumstances so beware of long contacts.

I am based in China and even if there are some drawbacks, Astrill is the only 100% reliable VPN service I know. During certain events or anniversaries the Great Firewall of China blocks everything. Friends with VPN providers like Witopia or ExpressVPN can not connect for days. Astrill always connect, even if you need a few attempts. The downside is that the iOS app often takes multiple tries to connect. MacOS app never has a problem. Netflix works all around the world. Compared to other providers I tried, the speed is better. Never needed support so far, so I can not comment.

For China there is no way around Astrill.

The logging you are referring to is related to the WEBSITE, not the VPN. Even in your screenshot, it clearly says "Astrill.com's . . . ." It is a disclaimer like is on every other website.

I have used Astill since 2014 and though it has occasionally been slow, it has always connected and I've never had any real issues with it. On the few times that I did, an email to the support desk was responded to quickly and the problems were easily solved. It is a more expensive option than some of the others but it has always worked without issue. I made the mistake of being lured by NordVPN into a long-term deal (Price looked great) but for access from China you have to use their obfuscated servers. Problem with this is that you have to be able to connect to get the updated list which I couldn't. Astrills interface is clean, simple to use and works pretty much all the time which is key if you are in a country like China that blocks access to most services that you might need like facebook, youtube, twitter, etc. In my book, Astrill is number 1 if you're in China.

They used to be OK, but many websites won't work anymore using Astrill. Express VPN is a lot better. Communication with Astrill is extremely bad. Untrustworthy VPN service. I would choose ExpressVPN anytime, especially for China.

I live in China, and I was using Astrill vpn for a year. Connection time is very good and the vpn works perfectly on a pc (not sure about the mac), but there is a problem on a iOS and android devices. Connection breaks constantly on iOS and android devices almost every 30 seconds, and when I contacted the customer support it was a nightmare. I've never experienced that kind of support. Few times they even left the chat and almost every time they were extremely rude. If you need a vpn for your pc device this is going to be one of the best vpns for you because of the speeds they provide, but not for mobile devices, they haven't updated their app for a long time(check that before the purchase ).
pros:
- Speed and connection time
cons:
-rude customer support
-bad for iOS and android devices
-some logging

I've used Astrill for over 5 years and it's been fast, reliable, and easy. I like the little Astrill window that shows a graph of download and upload speeds - I can quickly see if it's working OK or if I need to change to another server. Contrary to this review I've had excellent chat support on the rare occasions I've needed to contact them. I do think they are more expensive than other VPNs so periodically I've tried others. Based on this website's reviews I gave ExpressVPN a try. Unfortunately ExpressVPN was a lot slower than Astrill from my location. I tried lots of different servers and connections but Astrill was faster and more reliable than ExpressVPN. The tech support at ExpressVPN was really helpful and friendly but no tweeks solved the problems and after a few days trying I stayed with Astrill. Also ExpressVPN does not have a way to quickly see upload and download speeds like Astrill does - a feature I really like.

So I'm staying with Astrill. It works perfectly, no hassles. I think this review needs to be updated for the latest Astrill use permissions. I don't have problems with two computers running Astrill at the same time. Happy Astrill User

I am based in China. Happy with stealthvpn connection on my own router running Asuswrt merlin, mac os, and android phone. Servers sometimes slow necessitating purchase of VIP plan. But to be honest China is so aggressively restrictive I am happy to pay the money to a company that is offering a proper solution. By the way I think the reviewer's comments in this article are incorrect as the wording clearly relates to the astrill.com website rather than the vpn service.

In order to access UK content from China, I was advised by Astrill customer support to purchase a $99 Private VPN service. With my $99 service enabled, the upload speed is 1.2 MBPS!!! With one of the FREE Public VPN services enabled, the upload speed is 69.7 Mbps!!

This VPN is super fast for me in Germany. I have been using Astrill for 2 years and the service has consistent quality. On certain European servers I max out my 400Mbit connection and even US gets over 300Mbit on multiple East-coast cities like New York. Their app looks a bit old, but I don't remember it ever crashed or stopped responding. Netflix works, tons of torrent friendly servers. And since November 2017 I can use 5 devices at once, not 2 as the review says. I'll admit I have not tried many VPN providers, but if one works great, why ever change it.

I’ve been using Astrill in China for 4 years. China is a tough environment for testing a VPN. The government systematically shuts down VPN protocols and blocks servers from time to time. So, during the 4 years we’ve had a few short term problems, however compared with the problems I hear other expats have with their VPNs we have the hi-tech solution that just keeps on going. I use Astrill’s Home Plan (5 connections) + I bought their year plan that came with a free VPN router. I have the router and my mobiles set to their encrypted Stealth protocol and set to TCP. I have access to 1 other VPN provider and maybe use this once a month if I’m have difficulty with the Astrill servers.

When I have struck difficulty with Astrill its probably been caused by the Astrill server getting blocked by China. So a quick switch to another VPN provider is the fastest solution. However I then test the Astrill servers and rotate around 3-4 favourites to find the best one. So all in all, I have a continuous connection in difficult circumstances.

This is my third year using Astrill. First two years were….ok. This year however, it is a total waste of money. I use it for watching UK tv shows via the BBC iPlayer but it just isn’t working at all. Chased customer services about it and they basically blamed the BBC. Very poor vpn indeed.

All their VPNs – Open Web, Open VPN, Stealth VPN are toxic. Chrome Google constantly blocks Astrill and always asks for CAPTCHA. Every. Time!

I bought a family package for 5 devices but none works – error message says I am logged in to multiple devices (duh!) Astrill also slows down ALL MY DEVICES – they’re all brand new ( I replace my apple devices every two years).

When I asked them about the toxic VPNs, they suggested that I pay for private ones. So on top of what I already paid, I will be charged for each private VPNs because the ones they sold me don’t work.

The point here is why would they even sell VPNs that don’t work to begin with, then surreptitiously suggest a working one?

Had they offered it for free, their motive wouldn’t have been questioned.

I would give negative 10 score if I could.

Astrill stole my money without giving me service and will not refund. I paid for 1 year, about $100 and was provided with not a single second of service. When I tried to ask why through their customer service, I was confronted by the RUDEST people I have ever encounter, and I have been living in China for 7 years dealing with Chinese companies and people, Astrill is by FAR the WORST customer service I have ever witnessed.

They refuse to give me a refund, and simply terminated my account because they did not want to provide me a solution or an answer to why they are doing this.

I think it is mainly because I paid through WeChat pay wallet, the money is not connected to a bank, so therefore I cannot open a payment dispute. There is no way of getting my money back from this scam unless Astrill gives it back, but they made it clear they will ABSOLUTELY not give me my money, or provide me with service.

For your own safety and protection from not getting scammed by a fraud company, please do not use Astrill.

I’m almost coming on with depression from dealing with their customer service the last week, and they have not helped a single bit, instead they will be extremely rude to you, and disconnect their online support whenever they please, they told me their phone support is down, which is a lie because I read online that someone else was told their phone support is down 9 months ago. So they actually do not have a phone support, everything is fake and a lie.

They will try in anyway possible to take your money without giving you service.

I also read many people who had issues and did not get their money back, if you keep trying to get a refund from this fraud company, they will make excuses to blame you for their service not working. And miraculously under there “Terms of Service” pop out fine print saying they have the right to suspended your account and not refund you money if they please.

I am currently contacting WeChat to see if they have a way to reverse the payment process, hopefully they can help.

ASTRILL IS A FRAUD COMPANY, DO NOT USE.

I’m located in China (no American TV) which is very competent in blocking all kinds of needed sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Search, etc… that I need daily for work. I’ve tried every VPN available and Astrill has been the only one (literally) that I can count on to connect day-in and day-out.

Having problems with my standard Astrill package, I was advised by them to buy a private IP. I paid $99 for the IP but it’s so slow it’s unusable. They refuse to give me a refund and are offering to transfer me to another Private IP instead. Trouble is, they have no stock of other IP’s and can’t tell me when one will be available. Meanwhile, I’m $99 poorer and have an Astrill private IP that’s unusable.

Use another VPN provider, there’s lots of choice and much better customer service!!

Astrill offers 3 different kinds of privacy protection. I mainly use the web/browser VPN which allows me switch my location for youtube/netflix streaming services to get shows only available in that region. For streaming services they are affordable and there is no lag at all on any of their available VPNs, do not use the trial VPN’s which subscribers have access to as well, they tend to be overloaded and the ping and speed is quite slow.