68 out of 100, built from two weighted parts
App store ratings, part of the score
3.752.83
Researched Oct 3, 2026Claims checked: 18Separate source groups: 8Scores updated Oct 8, 2026
Astrill VPN is purpose-built for bypassing China's Great Firewall with proprietary protocols, but extreme latency (4,800% increase on Windows), 71-80% upload loss, and $30/month pricing make it a poor choice for anyone not in a censorship-heavy region.
How the 68 is built
Points per criterion7-day money-back guarantee
8of 15 ptsSolid EverydaySpeeds
Ranked #17 of 22 VPNs for speed in our Speed Lab.
Astrill VPN ranked #17 of 22 providers in our speed rankings, built from published third-party test results.
8of 10 ptsA CapableServer Network
300+ servers across 56 countries.
Astrill VPN operates 300+ servers across 56 countries, providing solid global coverage.
56 countries · 5 simultaneous devices · P2P & streaming servers
#3of 22Top 3 forSecurity
Strong overall. Weakest score: Security (3/5).
Strong scores in Protocol (Stealth). Room to improve in Security (Not audited).
6of 10 ptsReliable forMost Platforms
Streaming is hit and miss.
Streaming support is limited compared to top competitors.
Astrill can access some streaming platforms, but high latency and upload degradation make it unreliable for consistent streaming quality.
14of 20 ptsStraightforwardto Use
5 connections, a few rough edges.
Room to improve in Devices (5-Unlimited).
Astrill offers apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. The interface is functional but dated compared to modern VPN apps.
Most expensive VPN in our comparison at $30/month. No money-back guarantee — only a 7-day trial. Annual plan drops to $15/month, 2-year to $12.50/month.
19of 30 ptsA SolidTrack Record
Value and trust need a closer look.
Strong scores in Support (24/7 live support). Room to improve in Value (2-year $12.50/mo).
Astrill has two tiers: Personal ($12.50/mo for 2-year) and VIP ($20/mo for 2-year). VIP adds unlimited devices and router support. All plans backed by 7-day money-back guarantee.
All plans and add-ons
Pick a billing period and compare every tier side by side.
Best for Short-term testing, flexibility, or travel without commitment
Best for Balanced commitment with savings over the monthly
Best for Long-term users in high-censorship areas
A plain-language breakdown of everything in the plans above: what each feature is, who it helps, and whether it is worth paying for.
All plans include:
Astrill VPN is a censorship-bypass specialist built for China and other restrictive regions. Its proprietary Stealth protocol disguises VPN traffic as ordinary HTTPS, surviving deep packet inspection that kills most competitors. At $30 per month, it charges 3 to 5 times more than mainstream providers for a narrowly focused product.
Founded in 2009, Astrill optimized hard for one customer profile. The company developed two proprietary protocols, Stealth and OpenWeb, specifically to penetrate state-level firewalls. When China tightens its Great Firewall before sensitive political dates, Astrill historically maintains connectivity while mainstream VPNs go dark.
That singular focus comes with trade-offs everywhere else. A 68/100 Trust Score puts it at #17 of 22 providers we review. The server network, privacy practices, speed performance, and pricing all lag behind competitors that cost a fraction of the price. Astrill solves one problem exceptionally well. It solves most other problems poorly.
The Speed Lab measured Astrill at 400 Mbps, ranking 19th out of 22 providers. That headline number tells only part of the story. The Speed Lab records latency of 180 ms, which creates noticeable lag during video calls, gaming, and real-time collaboration.
That latency makes Astrill a weak fit for tasks that depend on responsive connections. Video conferences and live streaming on Twitch will suffer.
Protocol choice matters significantly with Astrill. The Stealth protocol prioritizes obfuscation over raw throughput. It wraps traffic in layers of disguise that add overhead. OpenWeb performs faster for general browsing but offers less protection against deep packet inspection. WireGuard and OpenVPN are available as standard options, but they defeat the purpose of choosing Astrill in the first place. If you don’t need obfuscation, faster providers exist at lower prices.
For users inside China, context changes the calculus. A 400 Mbps connection that actually works behind the Great Firewall beats a 900 Mbps connection that gets blocked entirely. Speed benchmarks measured from unrestricted networks miss this critical reality. The relevant comparison is not Astrill versus NordVPN in London. It is Astrill versus no internet access at all.
Astrill’s jurisdiction changed in 2026. Its terms of service named Seychelles law from at least January 2020 through at least March 2026, and many reviews still call Astrill Seychelles-based. The September 2026 terms say Astrill is a brand of Veloxee Corp., a company based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, governed by Liechtenstein law, and we found no announcement of the change. That link between brand and company rests on Astrill’s own statement. We have not assessed how Liechtenstein law applies to user data requests, so jurisdiction is not a proven privacy advantage, and the company’s own logging behavior matters more than where it is registered.
Astrill’s privacy notice says the company keeps session data while a VPN session is active, including your IP address, connection time, device type, and application version. It also says it keeps the last 20 connection records per account, covering time, duration, country, device type, and app version. The September 2026 notice says those records contain the registered e-mail address, which the February 2026 version did not. That is retained information that can link your account to your VPN usage.
Compare this to Mullvad, which retains nothing and survived a police raid with nothing to produce. NordVPN says its no-logs policy has been independently audited. We found no independent security audit of Astrill. No third party has verified what the company does or does not store.
Astrill supports AES-256 encryption across its protocols. The Stealth protocol layers obfuscation on top of OpenVPN, making traffic appear as standard HTTPS. A kill switch exists on desktop clients and blocks internet traffic if the VPN connection drops. DNS leak protection is built into the apps.
These are competent security features. They meet industry standards without exceeding them. The absence of an independent audit, combined with the session data Astrill says it keeps, means you are trusting Astrill’s word rather than verified evidence. For users in China who need a functioning VPN, that trade-off may be acceptable. For privacy-focused users with other options, it should not be.
User reports indicate Astrill accesses Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, though results are inconsistent across server locations and we have not independently verified them. Treat streaming reliability as anecdotal rather than guaranteed.
The 300+ servers across 57+ countries provide reasonable geographic coverage for streaming. However, competitors like ExpressVPN and NordVPN maintain 3,000 to 6,000+ servers and deliver more consistent results. Astrill lacks the dedicated streaming server infrastructure that larger providers have built.
SmartDNS is not available as a standalone feature. Users who want to access streaming on devices that don’t support VPN apps, like smart TVs or gaming consoles, have fewer options with Astrill. Router-level installation works but adds complexity.
The 180 ms latency creates buffering issues on high-definition streams. 4K content requires sustained bandwidth and low latency. Astrill can deliver the bandwidth at 400 Mbps but struggles with the latency requirement. Expect occasional buffering, especially on servers geographically distant from your location.
Astrill offers native apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. Router support covers common firmware including DD-WRT, Tomato, and ASUS Merlin. The 5 simultaneous device limit sits below the industry average. NordVPN allows 10. Surfshark allows unlimited.
The desktop apps are functional but dated. The interface lacks the polish of competitors like ExpressVPN or CyberGhost. Navigation works. Settings are accessible. But the design reflects a product that prioritized protocol engineering over user experience.
Mobile apps receive mixed user feedback. The iOS app performs adequately. The Android app occasionally requires manual reconnection after network switches. Neither app matches the stability of top-tier competitors.
Browser extensions are not available. This limits flexibility for users who want to route only browser traffic through the VPN while keeping other applications on their direct connection. The router installation option partially compensates by covering all devices on a network, but it consumes 1 of 5 allowed connections.
Astrill serves one audience exceptionally well: people who live in, work in, or travel to China and need reliable internet access. Business travelers making regular trips to mainland China will find Astrill’s Stealth protocol more reliable than most alternatives. Expatriates in China who need consistent access to Western services represent the core customer base.
Users in Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, and other countries with aggressive VPN blocking may also benefit. Astrill’s obfuscation technology was built specifically for these environments. If your government actively blocks VPN protocols, Astrill’s track record matters more than its speed ranking.
Everyone else should look elsewhere. The $30 monthly price buys less capability than NordVPN at roughly $3 to $4 per month on a 2-year plan. The 180 ms latency makes it poor for gaming. The session logging makes it poor for serious privacy. The 300+ server count makes it limited for geographic flexibility.
If you want speed, choose a provider ranked higher than 19th out of 22. If you want privacy, choose a provider with verified no-logs policies. If you want streaming, choose a provider with dedicated streaming infrastructure. Astrill is the right tool for a specific job. It is the wrong tool for almost every other job.
Charts and reference images from our research, free to view and share.
Astrill’s proprietary Stealth protocol wraps OpenVPN traffic in layers that disguise it as ordinary HTTPS, letting it slip past the deep packet inspection China uses to detect VPN traffic. Astrill also offers OpenWeb, a faster proprietary protocol with less obfuscation. Founded in 2009, Astrill has historically maintained connectivity during Great Firewall crackdowns when mainstream VPNs go dark.
Astrill ranks #19 of 22 in our Speed Lab, aggregated from published third-party tests, one of the weakest showings in the Speed Lab. Its latency is high at 180 ms in the Speed Lab data. That tradeoff happens because the Stealth protocol prioritizes evading deep packet inspection over raw throughput.
Yes, partially. Astrill’s privacy notice says it keeps session data, including your IP address, connection time, device type, and app version, while a session is active, and keeps the last 20 connection records per account. That policy has been revised in 2026, and no independent audit has ever verified what Astrill stores. Compare that to providers like NordVPN, which says its no-logs policy has been independently audited.
Yes, Astrill VPN is legal in most countries, including China, where using a VPN itself isn’t illegal even though the government restricts unlicensed providers. Astrill’s terms were governed by Seychelles law until 2026; the September 2026 terms say Astrill is a brand of Veloxee Corp. of Vaduz, Liechtenstein, governed by Liechtenstein law. Jurisdiction is not a proven privacy advantage, and no independent audit has verified how the company handles the session data it does collect.
Astrill’s cheapest rate is from $12.50/month on its longest 2-year plan, while its standard monthly rate runs $30/month, among the highest of any provider we’ve reviewed. That premium buys 300+ servers across 57+ countries and 5 simultaneous device connections, roughly 3 to 5 times the cost of mainstream competitors for a network built around censorship bypass rather than broad server coverage.
Astrill backs every plan with a 7-day money-back guarantee, shorter than the 30-day window many competitors offer. That narrow trial period matters if you’re testing whether the Stealth protocol actually holds up against your country’s specific censorship methods, since firewall behavior can shift and a week may not be enough to confirm reliable, long-term access.
Astrill’s standard plans cover 5 simultaneous device connections, below what providers like NordVPN (10) or Surfshark (unlimited) offer. Native apps exist for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, and router support covers DD-WRT, Tomato, and ASUS Merlin firmware, though installing on a router consumes one of your five allowed connections rather than counting separately.
User reports indicate Astrill accesses Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, but results are inconsistent across server locations and we have not independently verified them. Astrill also lacks a standalone SmartDNS feature, so devices that can’t run VPN apps, like smart TVs or consoles, have fewer options here than with providers offering dedicated streaming infrastructure.
Astrill uses AES-256 encryption across its protocols, including Stealth, OpenWeb, WireGuard, and OpenVPN, plus a kill switch on desktop clients that blocks traffic if the connection drops, and built-in DNS leak protection. These are competent, industry-standard features, but Astrill has no independent security audit that we could find, so its no-logs and data-deletion claims remain unverified by any third party.
Download and install the Astrill app before entering mainland China, since both app stores and Astrill’s own site can become inaccessible once you’re behind the Great Firewall. Once installed, select the Stealth protocol rather than WireGuard or OpenVPN, since Stealth is purpose-built to disguise traffic as regular HTTPS and survive the deep packet inspection that blocks standard protocols.
Switch away from the Stealth protocol to OpenWeb, which trades some obfuscation for less overhead and faster performance. Astrill’s local servers are generally acceptable for casual play, though users report that titles like Call of Duty: Warzone and Rainbow Six Siege refuse to connect while Rocket League and Apex Legends work. A VIP server add-on offers lower latency for competitive play at extra cost.
Try switching to the OpenWeb protocol as a backup, since it uses a different obfuscation profile than Stealth, or reconnect to Astrill’s China-specific Supercharged servers, built specifically for Great Firewall bypass. No VPN guarantees permanent access as censorship tactics evolve, but Astrill’s proprietary protocols have historically maintained connectivity during crackdowns when mainstream competitors have gone completely dark.
Astrill says it is a brand of Veloxee Corp., a Liechtenstein limited company with registered seat in Vaduz, entered in the Liechtenstein commercial register on 9 December 2021. The register does not name Astrill, so the link between the brand and the company rests on the statement of Astrill.
"Astrill" is a brand by Veloxee Corp., with registered seat at Staedtle 36, 9460 Vaduz, Principality of LiechtensteinThe company was entered in the trade register on the 09.12.2021.Astrill VPN is currently under the ownership of a corporate entity called Veloxee Corp.Published speed results and expert reviews for every major VPN.
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