AdGuard VPN 2023 Review: 3 cons and 5 pros

by Petr Lippert

✅ Fact-checked by Petr Novák​

updated May 11, 2023 (Report a bug)

1. AdGuard VPN Hides Behind Normal Communication & Increasing Privacy

   • It does not offer an alternative to the AdGuard protocol
   • Only supports basic platforms
   • Low number of servers (1,000)

   • Proprietary AdGuard protocol that is indistinguishable from normal Internet communication
   • String response speed (7 ms)
   • Blocks ads, malware and trackers very well
   • Download speed (91 Mb/s) is sufficient for streaming 4K video
   • Compatible with AdGuard AdBlocker

   The AdGuard VPN is a company known mainly for its adblocker and has been in the user protection business since 2009. AdGuard VPN is one of the younger services and is also still under active development. However, it is already performing well in terms of, for example, connection speed, which is an advantage especially for torrenting and streaming.

   In testing AdGuard VPN, we were able to unblock most streaming services. We also appreciate the ability to block ads and trackers, as some leading VPNs do not offer these features.

   With the number of 1,000 servers, while AdGuard VPN is still a bit behind the top, the operator is continuously expanding the offer. The AdGuard VPN application is now updated approximately once a month, so it is a service with great potential for the future.

   The AdGuard VPN is a very good choice, especially for users who already use AdBlocker from the same manufacturer. Incompatibility between VPN and AdBlocker is a common problem with competing solutions.

2. AdGuard VPN Subscription: Discount Code, Free Trial, Money Back Guarantee…

   • Your Price: $11.99​80% off  $2.40 /mo (10 devices)
   • Money Back Guarantee: Yes (30 days)
   • Free Trial: No
   • Cryptocurrency payments:
     Yes

     Bitcoin :Yes
     Dash :No
     Ethereum :Yes
     Ripple :No

   Get this VPN 80% cheaper

   Subscriptions AdGuard VPN are available in three options: monthly, yearly, and bi-annual. The content of each variant does not differ; the best price $2.40 per month is for the two-year subscription when paying in advance.

   The price of a AdGuard VPN subscription is comparable to competitors, for example, Surfshark is paid $2.30 per month, CyberGhost VPN is charged $2.29 per month.

   When ordering a subscription AdGuard VPN, only the email address is entered. You can use a card, PayPal, or selected cryptocurrencies to pay. Please note that it takes approximately one hour to process the payment for cryptocurrencies.

   One-year and two-year subscriptions AdGuard VPN are covered by a money-back guarantee without reason for 30 days after purchase. For a refund, simply contact the support team at support@adguard-vpn.com, the request is processed within 10 days.

   The same manufacturer also offers AdGuard VPN Free with a data transfer limit 3 GB per month. The free variant does not support torrenting and cannot unblock streaming services.

3. AdGuard VPN and Supported Devices: Android, iOS, macOS…

   • Device limit: 10

   Platforms supported

   • Android:
     Yes

     Android is supported by 100 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Android TV:
     Yes

     Android TV is supported by 39 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Apple TV:
     No

     Apple TV is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Fire TV:
     No

     Fire TV is supported by 42 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromebook:
     No

     Chromebook is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromecast:
     No

     Chromecast is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • iOS:
     Yes

     iOS is supported by 99 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Kodi:
     No

     Kodi is supported by 22 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Linux:
     No

     Linux is supported by 59 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Mac:
     Yes

     Mac is supported by 98 % of reviewed VPNs
   • NAS:
     No

     NAS is supported by 26 % of reviewed VPNs
   • nVidia Shield:
     No

     nVidia Shield is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Playstation:
     No

     Playstation is supported by 22 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Raspberry Pi:
     No

     Raspberry Pi is supported by 17 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Roku:
     No

     Roku is supported by 17 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Router:
     No

     Router is supported by 52 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Windows:
     Yes

     Windows is supported by 100 % of reviewed VPNs
   • xBox:
     No

     xBox is supported by 22 % of reviewed VPNs

   Browser Extensions

   • Brave :
     Yes

     The Brave browser add-on is offered by 48 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Chrome :
     Yes

     The Chrome browser add-on is offered by 48 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Edge :
     Yes

     The Edge browser add-on is offered by 20 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Firefox :
     Yes

     The Firefox browser add-on is offered by 35 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Opera :
     Yes

     The Opera browser add-on is offered by 48 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Safari :
     No

     The Safari browser add-on is offered by 0 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Vivaldi :
     Yes

     The Vivaldi browser add-on is offered by 48 % of reviewed VPNs.

   Within a single subscription, AdGuard VPN can be used simultaneously on 10 devices.

   The AdGuard VPN offers apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android operating systems. VPNs can also be used through add-ons for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera browsers.

   Support for gaming consoles and most smart TVs is lacking. The AdGuard VPN does not support router traffic either, so security cannot be bypassed in this way. However, the app is still in fairly active development, so it’s possible we’ll see support for other platforms soon.

4. AdGuard VPN App: User-friendliness, whitelist, server selection…

   • App Languages: 🇺🇸 English +25 more🇩🇪 German 🇪🇸 Spanish 🇫🇷 French 🇵🇹 Portuguese 🇮🇹 Italian 🇨🇳 Chinese 🇷🇺 Russian 🇰🇷 Korean 🇵🇱 Polish 🇯🇵 Japanese 🇫🇮 Finnish 🇹🇷 Turkish 🇦🇪 Arabic 🇺🇦 Ukrainian 🇳🇱 Dutch 🇭🇺 Hungarian 🇩🇰 Danish 🇮🇩 Indonesian 🇨🇿 Czech 🇷🇴 Romanian 🇻🇳 Vietnamese 🇸🇰 Slovak 🇸🇮 Slovenian 🇭🇷 Croatian 🇷🇸 Serbian
   • Whitelisting:
     Yes

     Whitelisting is supported by 53 % of reviewed VPNs

   The AdGuard VPN app is clear and intuitive. It offers a great interface, and we appreciate its imaginative graphics. Using the app won’t be a problem even for users not yet experienced with VPNs. The app is available in 26 languages, including English. Downloading it wasn’t difficult either, the download link can be found directly on the website.

   Like all paid VPNs, AdGuard VPN doesn’t limit users to a data transfer limit.

   The basic features of AdGuard VPN include the ability to automatically connect to the VPN when the device is booted. At the same time, the app lists all the servers with their current speed, so you can easily choose the best one. The fastest servers are indicated in green. The servers are listed alphabetically, and you can automatically connect to one of the three fastest servers.

   The mobile and desktop apps, as well as the browser extension AdGuard VPN, offer the possibility to create a list of sites you always want to connect to with or without a VPN. These are whitelist and blacklist features that make it easier to use a VPN without having to disable the connection in case you want to connect to the selected site in the normal way.

   The only thing we didn’t like about the app from a user perspective AdGuard VPN was having to change settings solely through the interface on the website. This is not possible in the applications; for example, it concerns the WebRTC blocking settings. Most users will probably not change these settings, but we would still welcome the ability to do so directly in the application.

5. AdGuard VPN Connection Speed: Upload, Download & Latency

   • Traffic limit: Unlimited

   Download speed

   Higher is better. The average download of all tested VPNs is 98 Mb/s.

   Upload speed

   Higher is better. The average upload of all tested VPNs is 67 Mb/s.

   Server latency

   A lower value is better. The average response rate of all tested VPNs is 66 ms.

   While the free version of AdGuard VPN Free limits users to the amount of data 3 GB per month, the paid version AdGuard VPN has no limitations.

   Connecting to the server was fast, the same goes for the measured download speed. During the testing, we achieved an average value of 91 Mb/s, and the upload speed reached 94 Mb/s. The AdGuard VPN is thus fast enough to watch a 4K video, for which the required speed of 50 MB/s is specified.

   The achieved values are also sufficient for torrenting and for transferring large amounts of data.

   The response speed 7 ms ranks AdGuard VPN among the absolute top among VPNs.

6. AdGuard VPN Server Locations

   • Number of servers:
     1,000

     The average number of servers for the reviewed VPNs is 1654.
   • Number of countries:
     59

     The average number of countries available for the reviewed VPNs is 40.

   Europe	🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇮🇹 Italy 🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇦🇹 Austria 🇷🇴 Romania 🇬🇷 Greece 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇹🇷 Turkey 🇺🇦 Ukraine
   North America	🇨🇦 Canada 🇲🇽 Mexico 🇺🇸 USA
   South America	🇧🇷 Brazil 🇦🇷 Argentina 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇨🇱 Chile 🇨🇴 Colombia
   Asia	🇵🇭 Philippines 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 🇮🇳 India 🇮🇩 Indonesia 🇮🇱 Israel 🇯🇵 Japan 🇰🇷 South Korea 🇰🇭 Cambodia 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 🇲🇾 Malaysia 🇵🇰 Pakistan 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇻🇳 Vietnam
   Africa	🇪🇬 Egypt 🇿🇦 South Africa 🇳🇬 Nigeria
   Oceania	🇦🇺 Australia 🇳🇿 New Zealand

   Although the server network at AdGuard VPN is relatively small, it is well distributed across all continents. With AdGuard VPN, the user can choose from more than 1,000 servers in 59 countries.

   Among the available countries are some where government censorship is common, such as the United Arab Emirates or Russia. The AdGuard VPN also has servers in the USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, the list of these countries is growing, and we can expect more locations to be added in the near future.

   Compared to the competition, AdGuard VPN lags far behind with the number of 1,000 servers, but we have to take into account the fact that it is still a relatively young and developing VPN. The higher number of servers is usually based on the number of users, and during our testing of AdGuard VPN, we did not experience any problems resulting from potential congestion.

   All protocols and features offered are supported on all AdGuard VPN servers.

   Thus, the current range of countries and servers should be sufficient for most users. If you are looking for a VPN with a higher number of servers, your requirements will be met by Private Internet Access, which has over 35,400.

7. AdGuard VPN Security Features: DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch…

   • DNS leak protection :
     Yes

     DNS leak protection is offered by 95% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Kill Switch:
     Yes

     Kill Switch is supported by 84% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Multi-Hop:
     No

     Multi-Hop connection is offered by 22 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Tor:
     No

     Tor support is offered by 15 % of the reviewed VPNs.

   AdGuard VPN provides DNS protection for VPNs via AdGuard’s own servers. The user also has a choice of DNS servers from other providers, including Cloudflare or Cisco.

   Security when using AdGuard VPN is enhanced by a kill switch feature that disconnects the user from the Internet when the connection to the VPN server is lost. This prevents possible data loss or exposure of the user’s location.

   DNS-level malware blocking is provided by AdGuard servers. The setting of the malicious site blocking is done for AdGuard VPN after logging into the account via the web interface.

   The AdGuard VPN uses AdGuard’s own protocol along with TLS 1.3 encryption, which can use AES 128-bit or AES 256-bit. In the future, it is planned to distribute the protocol as open source, so anyone can authenticate it.

   Compared to the protocols used by competitors, the one at AdGuard VPN is indistinguishable from regular Internet communication. In addition, the AdGuard protocol does not suffer from slowdowns when masquerading VPN traffic as normal traffic, so there is no need to enable a special hidden mode.

8. AdGuard VPN & Streaming: Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime…

   • Amazon Prime:
     Yes

     Amazon Prime streaming is supported by 54 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Disney+:
     Yes

     Disney+ streaming is supported by 53 % of reviewed VPNs
   • HBO:
     Yes

     HBO streaming is supported by 58 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Hulu:
     Yes

     Hulu streaming is supported by 50 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Netflix:
     Yes

     Netflix streaming is supported by 66 % of reviewed VPNs
   • YouTube:
     Yes

     YouTube streaming is supported by 88 % of reviewed VPNs

   AdGuard VPN offers very good support for streaming. During our VPN testing, we were able to unblock Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer streaming services. We used the same servers for standard use.

   We didn’t experience any issues during our measurements, video loading speeds were good, and the video didn’t stutter even at 4K resolution. The measured speeds always exceeded the 50 MB/s limit stated as necessary for streaming video at such high resolutions.

   However, let’s take into account that streaming services try to block traffic over VPNs on an ongoing basis. So if you can’t unblock the stream, try reconnecting. This will change your IP address, and playback should work fine.

9. Features of AdGuard VPN: AdBlock, Static IP…

   • Blocks Ads:
     Yes

     Ad blocking is offered by 46 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Malware:
     Yes

     Malware blocking is offered by 36 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Trackers:
     Yes

     Trackers blocking is offered by 39 % of the VPNs reviewed.

   The AdGuard VPN feature set for anonymity and security is slightly above standard compared to competing VPNs. VPNs generally disguise their connections as normal, making them harder to detect. The AdGuard VPN does so via a proprietary protocol, making the connection appear to the outside as regular HTTPS.

   Some of the most sophisticated features of AdGuard VPN include blocking ads, trackers, and malware, which is a native part of the application. The blocking ensures the user can move around the internet unhindered. In practice, it looks like the user chooses either the default DNS server in the application or from a menu of dozens of others. The browser extension offers seven of them. From this perspective, AdGuard VPN ranks among the top.

   In the AdGuard VPN Android app, the user has the option to change the DNS server settings. This can be used to restrict access to individual websites that may pose a potential threat. In addition, the function can be used as a parental control. Thanks to the whitelist, AdGuard VPN can be used to select which applications the VPN is applied to and which are not (blacklist).

   The kill switch protects data from leakage in case of a connection failure with the VPN server. This is achieved by immediately disconnecting from the internet. The available split tunneling feature is also worth mentioning. The browser extension offers WebRTC protection, which prevents third parties from finding out your real IP address.

   Static or dedicated IP addresses are not offered by AdGuard VPN. Similarly, multiple connections were not available at the time of writing this review; however, AdGuard VPN is still under active development and receives frequent performance and feature updates.

10. AdGuard VPN‘s CPU usage and App Performance

    The AdGuard VPN application loads your computer at a similar rate to competing VPNs. The load is the same when connecting to the VPN and running the application only in the background. During testing, we did not encounter the load spikes that some other VPNs suffer from. Therefore, you will not notice any difference in device performance when using AdGuard VPN.

    However, if you want to reduce the load on the device as much as possible, you can disable some features, such as auto-starting when connected to the Internet.

11. AdGuard VPN Torrenting Servers

    • Torrenting servers:
      Yes

      Torrenting support is offered by 89 % of the reviewed VPNs.

    AdGuard VPN is good for torrenting. P2P traffic is automatically detected and redirected to dedicated servers with the P2P label in the list. Both download (91 Mb/s) and upload (94 Mb/s) speeds are sufficient for torrenting.

12. What is the country of origin of AdGuard VPN?

    • Country of origin: 🇨🇾 Cyprus

    The company behind AdGuard VPN is AdGuard Software Limited, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Cyprus. The company specializes in protecting user privacy in the online world, so a VPN is a logical part of its portfolio.

    The Cyprus is a member of the European Union and is not one of the so-called 14 Eyes Countries, which are known for monitoring their citizens and passing information across the grouping. So we can say that being based in Cyprus does not detract from the company’s credibility. Moreover, AdGuard VPN guarantees privacy and security of traffic.

    No logs are stored when using AdGuard VPN, so the operator has no data to pass on.

13. AdGuard VPN and Privacy: Logging Policy, Security Issues…

    • No-Logs Policy:
      Yes

      The No-Logs Policy is followed by 80% of reviewed VPNs.

    AdGuard VPN only stores data that is necessary to provide a fully functional and quality service. This includes the email address, the password to log in to the account, and diagnostic data such as the length of time the VPN has been used or the amount of data transferred. This information is necessary for running user accounts and monitoring the limit restrictions of the free AdGuard VPN Free.

    When ordering the paid version AdGuard VPN, payment method data is also processed. Cookies are used on the AdGuard website to personalize the site for the user.

    In addition, AdGuard VPN does not store any data from users’ internet activity, and all data collected is immediately anonymized. According to its statement, AdGuard does not share or sell users’ personal data and does not collect data for tracking purposes.

    To date, there have been no AdGuard VPN audits to confirm compliance with the strict no-logs policy. On the other hand, no data leaks have been reported either.

14. AdGuard VPN Support: Chat, e-mail…

    The AdGuard VPN provides continuous support via a customer forum that offers a database of FAQs and their solutions. Users can also take advantage of the website’s detailed tutorials for the VPN service, application installation, feature descriptions, or troubleshooting common issues.

    Support AdGuard VPN can be contacted directly at support@adguard.com. A dedicated email address, security@adguard.com, has been set up for security-related questions.

    Live chat or phone support is unfortunately not available. In this area of customer support, AdGuard VPN has room for improvement.

15. AdGuard VPN FAQ

    How is AdGuard VPN better than the competition?

    The AdGuard VPN service was created by a company that has been in the business of Internet security since the beginning. Unlike its competitors, it offers its own security protocol, AdGuard, which is fast and secure. Outwardly, it is indistinguishable from normal Internet communication.

    How do I install AdGuard VPN?

    You can easily download the app using the link on the website, it can also be found on Google Play and the App Store. Detailed installation instructions for each platform and how to use the app can be found on the website AdGuard VPN.

    How does the AdGuard protocol work?

    The provider itself AdGuard VPN states that by creating its own protocol, it has tried to eliminate the negative features that may be present in other protocols. These can sometimes be easier to detect and block at the network level. Performance can also drop when trying to hide it. This transport protocol makes it virtually impossible to be detected and ensures maximum security for its users.