SaferVPN Review

You are here because you want to know how well this application works today in 2019, and that’s exactly what I am about to share in this in-depth SaferVPN review.

I’ll be breaking their service down in great detail, discussing the speed, customer support, security, and features of SaferVPN along with a bit of background about the company and their operations.

I’ll also cover Torrenting & Netflix.

SaferVPN main features (last confirmed February 2019):

• Servers: 700+ servers in 34 countries
• Compatibility: Win, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, TOR, Routers, SmartTV & Consoles
• Encryption: 256-bit AES
• Protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2 (by default), IPSec, SSTP and PPTP
• Kill-Switch: Yes
• Browser extension: Yes
• Max. connections: 5

SaferVPN Overview

SaferVPN Pros

1. Great Download Speeds

SaferVPN is fast…

Just to back this up, here are my results without using SaferVPN:

While using SaferVPN, I managed to achieve an impressive 79.23 Mbps on an EU server, making SaferVPN the 5th fastest VPN (out of 70+) that has ever been reviewed on this site.

Here’s a speed test I ran on speedtest.net to ensure the accuracy of this review.

Call me petty, but I absolutely detest VPN providers who force users to restart their devices after installing the VPN client.

Luckily, not only is SaferVPN “Restart Free”, they are also one of the simplest and most user-friendly VPNs that I have ever reviewed.

About 3 minutes after I purchased their services,  SaferVPN was installed, launched, and protecting my Windows device.

With one of the most straightforward user interfaces I have ever encountered, SaferVPN makes it easy to use their service and you can protect your device with just the click of a button.

They also make it easy to quickly find and optimize your settings and ensure that you have the perfect connection for your specific goals.

Although SaferVPN might not be the most feature-rich provider that I’ve ever reviewed, their intuitive design and easy to navigate interface makes using their software an absolute delight.

3. Effective Customer Service (But using BOTS?)

While it isn’t up to the standard of a company like ExpressVPN, SaferVPN’s customer support definitely exceeded my expectations.

Throughout the course of this review, I submitted a handful of queries at different times, some of them genuine, and some of them designed to gauge the efficacy of the support team.

Each time, I received a prompt response to my question and was on my way in a matter of minutes.

Here’s one such encounter that I had while trying to figure out if there was a better way to use SaferVPN for torrenting (which we will talk about in the “Cons” section).

This whole conversation took place in about 90 seconds and is very indicative of my overall customer service experience.

Their team isn’t the most knowledgeable support crew that I’ve ever seen, but they got the job done and they did so in a matter of minutes.

However, I should point out that at various points throughout this SaferVPN review, it did seem that they were using an automated software to respond to my customer support inquiries.

While I cannot verify this theory, I do believe that SaferVPN uses robots to answer some of the more common queries that are submitted through their chat feature and, if you look at the above correspondence, you will understand why.

The question that I submitted did not require a client email address for any reason and (considering the fact that they probably receive this question 100 times a day), my support agent should have been able to answer me immediately.

Instead, I was asked to provide my email address (less than one second after submitting my question) for no apparent reason making me feel like I was talking to a robot and not an actual agent.

This trend repeated itself across several other support questions and while it amounted to little more than a mild annoyance, I did feel that it was worth mentioning. Considering the overall quality of their customer support and the general friendliness of their team, I’ve got to applaud SaferVPN on their customer service… Bots or no bots.

4. Kill Switch and 5 Simultaneous Connections 

As I’ve already mentioned, SaferVPN does not offer a particularly feature dense service.

And I’m honestly kind of glad that they don’t.

After using their VPN for some time, it’s clear to me that they focused almost all of their resources on optimizing their servers, creating an efficient support team, and offering their services at an affordable price.

SaferVPN does a few things great whereas most of their competitors do a lot of things acceptably.

While many users might be disappointed by the apparent lack of bells and whistles, I feel that SaferVPN offers all of the features that truly matter, including a kill switch* and a generous 5 device simultaneous connection limit.

Both of these features are welcomed additions to an already stellar service and I am happy to report that (unlike many of their competitors) SaferVPN’s kill switch feature works exactly as advertised.

*Kill Switch is a feature that disconnects you instantly when you lose your Internet connections. This avoids your IP being leaked. 

5. Jurisdiction = Israel

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, the mere location of SaferVPN might make it seem like they’ve lost the game before they even set foot on the field.

After all, Israel has become an increasingly tumultuous and politically charged region, making many VPN buyers hesitant about trusting their privacy to a company located at the center of the turmoil.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I originally learned about their location, I was pretty nervous about using their services too.

However, after a little bit of light digging, I found that Israel might actually be one of the best jurisdictions for a VPN due to their privacy laws that severely limit the government’s (legal) ability to track and monitor ordinary citizens.

Although it’s not ideal for a VPN provider to be headquartered in a country so deeply embedded with the “Five Eyes” information sharing partnership, you can rest easy at night knowing that the law and SaferVPN’s privacy policy (more on that later) is on your side.

6. Works with Netflix (at least some servers)

When I tried connecting to Netflix, SaferVPN seemed to work.

Obviously, not all of the servers worked, maybe 30%, since Netflix is actively trying to crack down VPN providers and block their IP’s to respect their geo-restrictions.

Here’s a quick summary:

• “US streaming” server option worked nicely for me – quick and easy
• US East server didn’t connect to Netflix at all
• Canadian server was blocked by Netflix
• Netherlands server worked nicely
• UK server was blocked by Netflix

SaferVPN Cons

Although SaferVPN has a lot of great things going for it, their services aren’t perfect and they aren’t for everyone. So before you go smashing that “Buy Now” button, let’s take a quick look at some of the “Cons” of using SaferVPN’s services.

1. Torrenting is VERY Limited 

Personally, this was my biggest point of contention with SaferVPN’s services.

Considering that they have such a vast collection of servers, you would imagine that they would have spent some time optimizing at least a few of those servers for P2P transfers and torrenting.

However, SaferVPN only has one server out of their collection of 700 that works for these purposes. (Their Netherlands server if you’re wondering).

If you plan to use their services solely for torrenting then forget it. There are much better VPNs available for torrenting (here are 7 best).

This particular “con” is far from a deal breaker, but it is an issue that I would like to see the company take more seriously.

2. The “No Logging” Policy Could Be More Strict 

Something that always bothers me about VPN companies is how misleading their logging policies can be.

In fact, if you dig through their privacy policies, it’s not uncommon to find companies that advertise a “Zero Logs” policy while actually logging a metric crap ton of data.

Although SaferVPN doesn’t quite fall into that category, they do track a little bit too much data for my liking.

Here is a summary of their logging policy as stated by their privacy policy.

As you can see, this isn’t quite the “Zero Logs” policy that we are promised. Although it’s far from ideal, I didn’t find SaferVPN’s logging policy to be particularly worrisome.

Would I prefer to use a VPN that doesn’t log any of my information? You bet.

Does SaferVPN’s logging policy preclude me from using their services? Not at all.

3. SaferVPN Doesn’t Work in China

If I ask you to think of the first country where you would need to use a VPN, what comes to mind?

China, right?

Considering their draconian government and oppressive censorship laws, China is one of those countries that you shouldn’t visit without a fully functioning VPN.

Unfortunately, according to many third-party sources, SaferVPN’s applications will no longer work while on Chinese soil.

And this is a big problem for the company.

Expats and travellers all across the world rely on high quality VPN providers (like SaferVPN) to unblock content and keep themselves safe and the fact that their services no longer work in the region is a big blow to their potential customer base.

If you aren’t travelling to China anytime soon, then you can ignore this point, buy SaferVPN, and go along your merry way.

Otherwise, you will need to purchase a more premium service like ExpressVPN (read review here).

(Please note that this is not something I could directly test since I have not visited China in recent months. If you have a different experience using SaferVPN in the so-called People’s Republic, please let me know in the comments below.)

SaferVPN Pricing, Plans & Features

I was astonished to find that their services are actually marketed at an incredibly budget friendly and affordable price.

Like, less than $3 a month affordable…

However, you’ll need to be ready to pay 2 or 3 years upfront.

All of their packages offer the same features and services and the only difference between them is how long you actually get to use their service.

Here’s how it all breaks down.

1 Year: $59.88

• $4.99 per month
• $59.88 per year
• 55% savings

2 Years: $71.77

• $2.99
• $35.89 per year
• 73% savings

Three Years: $82.26

• $2.29 per month
• $27.42 per year
• 80% Savings

Some of you might remember that the last time I reviewed SaferVPN they offered a 14-day money back guarantee and a 24 hour free trial.

However, they have improved their money back guarantee and extended the return window from 14 to 30 days.

After scouring their privacy policy and ToS, I am happy to report that SaferVPN, unlike many of their competitors, doesn’t have any surprise “catches” or caveats to their 30-day policy either. Regardless of how many connections you initiate or how many GB of data you download, you can request a full refund for your purchase as long as you do so within 30 days.

SaferVPN also allows their users to pay with a Credit Card, PayPal, Bitcoin (anonymous payment) or Paymentwall meaning that, if privacy is an issue, your entire purchase can be made with complete anonymity.

Do We Recommend SaferVPN?

Not really, but they’re not a bad option per se…

Out of the 70+ VPNs that have been reviewed on this site, SaferVPN currently ranks 41st overall and 5th in speed, but some of the cons are making them un-recommendable.

They offer fast (and stable) speeds, a seamless interface, and good customer service all at a decent price.

While their services aren’t definitely free of problems and I am eager for the company to improve their Torrenting capacity and logging policy, my experience with SaferVPN was satisfiable.

However, you’d be better off using some other VPN providers which we recommend here. For example, NordVPN offers similar features and is also more torrent-friendly.

Add your own review:

Have you ever used SaferVPN before? If so, what was your experience like? I’m always interested to hear what other enthusiasts have to say about the VPNs that I review! Let me know below.