Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Inexpensive subscriptions
- Unlimited connections
- Great connection speeds overall
Cons
- Small network
- Doesn’t unblock all streaming services
- Based in US, with no third-party audit
Our Verdict
Atlas VPN may be cheap, but that’s reflected in the service. If privacy isn’t high on your wish list and you only want to unblock major streaming services it might tempt you. But ultimately there are better VPNs if you’re prepared to spend a bit more.
Price When Reviewed
From $1.99 per month
Best Prices Today: Atlas VPN Premium
Atlas VPN is owned by Nord Security, which also owns NordVPN and Surfshark. It’s positioned as the budget offering, and is the only one of the three services that has a free tier.
Originally, the free version gave you unlimited bandwidth, but that was cut to 10GB per month and now it’s just 5GB.
However, we’re not reviewing the free offering here; we’re focusing on the paid-for Premium tier which gives you access to all servers and a number of other benefits such as the fastest speeds and apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Linux.
Since you’re reading this, chances are you’re tempted by Atlas VPN’s low-cost subscriptions. Whether or not it’s good value depends upon what you want a VPN for.
That’s why we’re going to look at every aspect of Atlas VPN to see exactly how it stacks up against the big names, including NordVPN and Surfshark.
Features & apps
- 38 countries covered by 750+ servers
- WireGuard protocol
- SafeSwap servers
- Two Multihop+ routes
As you’d expect from a relatively new VPN service which charges very little, Atlas VPN doesn’t have the thousands of servers in as many countries around the world as those that charge more and have been around for a lot longer.
You’ll also notice that some of the more advanced features are missing from its apps. But if you’ll mainly use servers in popular countries such as the UK and US, you might not need a bigger choice.
Atlas VPN has a choice of seven locations in the US and two in the UK. It doesn’t offer a choice of locations in any other country, and has no servers in Africa at all.
None are virtual, which means servers are physically located in the countries listed. In the Netherlands, you get the option of connecting to Atlas VPN’s 10Gbps server – the only location it currently offers that faster uplink speed.
There are apps for Windows, Android, iOS and macOS. As mentioned, you also get access to the Android TV, Fire TV and Linux apps when you sign up to Atlas VPN Premium. Linux support isn’t graphical: you sign in and connect using the command line.
There are no browser extensions, but that’s no problem because almost all VPN services (besides ExpressVPN) with Chrome and Firefox extensions don’t actually provide a VPN service through those extensions. They’re proxy services, which isn’t the same thing.
Weirdly, there is no way to ‘favourite’ a server in the apps. There is a ‘recent’ section which is a reasonable alternative, but it’s an unusual choice by Atlas VPN. No information is provided next to each location: you can’t see individual servers, which means you can’t choose by how busy they are or find one with the lowest ping.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
There’s an on/off kill switch in the main four apps, but only the Android app offers split tunnelling. That means you can choose which apps do or don’t connect via the VPN. It’s not a feature everyone will want, so it’s not a massive problem that it’s missing in the apps for other devices.
You can’t get a dedicated or static IP address with Atlas VPN but, again, these aren’t features many people need.
There’s no limit on the number of devices you can use with Atlas VPN at the same time, unlike most VPNs which either force you to use just one device at a time or 5-10.
What you will find are SafeSwap servers. These are available in the US, Singapore and the Netherlands. Instead of assigning you just one IP address and sticking with it for the whole time the connection is active, SafeSwap regularly changes your IP address from the available pool, and this makes it even harder to identify you, which is good for privacy.
The other thing you’ll see in the Privacy Pro tab is Multihop+. This routes your connection through three servers instead of one, which is even better for privacy, but you can’t choose the route: you can only click on ‘Europe’ or ‘North America’. The actual routes are Netherlands > Germany > France and, in the US, New York > Dallas > Miami.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The interface is replicated almost exactly on mobile, making Atlas VPN very easy to use.
Recently, a pause button has been added to the Windows app, allowing you to temporarily disconnect (and use a website or service which doesn’t work properly with a VPN, for example) and automatically reconnect so you don’t forget.
Jim Martin / Foundry
You can set the apps to auto-connect to your choice of server when Atlas VPN starts, and you can choose what happens when you push the Quick Connect button, such as connecting to the nearest or fastest server, a specific server or a Multihop+ route, or SafeSwap server.
Logging into the apps is only required if you’re a paying customer. Unfortunately, this can be annoying. Instead of a password, you enter your email address to be sent sent a “magic link” or a six-digit code. This can take a couple of minutes to arrive, and we’d prefer the option of being able to set a password (and perhaps 2FA).
The good news is that there’s no limit on the number of devices you can use with Atlas VPN at the same time, unlike most VPNs which either force you to use just one device at a time or 5-10.
Security features
Under the oddly named Assistant menu (which is now included in the macOS app) are Breach Scanner and SafeBrowse. The first monitors email addresses and notifies you if they ever appear on the dark web. Adding an email address won’t start a scan for historical breaches, though, so you’ll see a message saying “Your accounts are safe!” which may well be false. You’ll only get notified of future breaches. That means you would still need to use a website such as haveibeenpwned.com to see if you need to take any action (such as changing passwords) immediately.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Also, you can enter any email address without verifying that you own it.
The Windows app has an extra section for Advanced Info, including Credit Card, Social Security Number and ID documents. However, there is no way to enter any of this: you’ll just get notified if those details were leaked along with your email address and password.
SafeBrowse warns you of potentially dangerous websites, and also attempts to stop tracking cookies and other means of monitoring your behaviour online. It works only when the VPN is connected, of course.
Privacy
If you know anything about VPNs, you’ll know that they’re often registered in countries with favourable privacy laws, even if their actual offices are elsewhere. Altas VPN is based in the US where authorities can ask VPNs to hand over whatever data they have.
This is why they have ‘no-logs’ policies so there’s no data to hand over. Atlas VPN clearly explains what this means.
“We do not log your browsing activity, browsing history, records of IPs assigned, original IP, sites visited, outgoing traffic, content, or data accessed. So, even if compelled, we cannot provide such data as we do not have it in the first place.
We try to minimize the collection of any data. However, we need to collect some information to provide our Service for you, improve and optimize it, deliver you relevant information, create new and better privacy services and comply with our legal obligations.”
You can read the privacy policy in full to see exactly what data is stored. Essentially, it is nothing unusual or untoward.
It’s standard practice to log some data in order to optimise and develop the service the company likes to know which servers people are using, roughly where they’re located in the world and what device they’re using to access it, which options they change in settings, etc. None of this is supposed to be personally identifiable: it’s anonymous.
You might notice ‘VerSprite Verified Protection’ mentioned in the App Store and Google Play Store. However, this doesn’t mean Atlas VPN’s privacy policy has been audited: it hasn’t (yet). Instead, its Windows and iOS apps have been audited to make sure they’re secure.
You’ll have to take Atlas VPN’s word for it that it doesn’t log any of your data, and that’s why its USA location is far from ideal.
If you want a VPN simply to unblock videos, websites and for security on public Wi-Fi, none of this really matters. But if you want one for privacy, we’d recommend looking at Surfshark, NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
Performance
We tested Atlas VPN on a full fibre gigabit connection in San Francisco. At the time of testing, SpeedTest reported a download speed of just under 800Mbps and an upload of 950Mbps.
These are the upload and download speeds we saw from – going clockwise – New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney.
Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry
As you can see, speeds are very good considering the price Atlas VPN charges. The only poor connection was Tokyo: we re-ran the test several times (after disconnecting and reconnecting) to make sure it wasn’t a one-off, and got a similar result every time.
Usefully, Atlas VPN has supported IPv6 from the get-go, meaning you’re protected from your real IP address being exposed even if you have an ISP that has already switched over from IPv4 (such as BT in the UK).
We found no DNS leaks in our tests either, which was good.
The kill switch is the permanent type. In other words, if the VPN connection drops, you’ll lose internet access until it’s restored. That’s done for protection, but can be confusing, which is probably why the switch isn’t enabled by default.
Using the streaming-optimised servers, unblocking is a bit hit and miss.
Mathilde Vicente / Foundry
We were able to watch titles exclusive to Netflix US and Japan, as well as other shows on Disney+ and HBO Max. But this time around, neither the Manchester nor London servers would let us watch BBC iPlayer or ITV X from France, even when tried using an incognito browser tab.
We also tested the Australia server, but found it didn’t unblock 9now.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Support
Atlas VPN offers 24/7 live chat for Premium subscribers. This is only available in a web browser when you’re logged into your Atlas VPN account, as opposed to in the apps themselves.
However, when we tested this, the response was immediate and technical questions were answered quickly and accurately, including a fix for when the Windows app wouldn’t install due to an error.
If you’re on the free tier, you can search the FAQ on Atlas VPN’s website (where there are a lot of up-to-date guides) or email support@atlasvpn.com.
Pricing & plans
If you sign up to Atlas VPN for two years and you’ll pay $49.19, or £36.21 in the UK. That’s a lot cheaper than buying it one month at a time, which costs $10.99 / £8.09.
You can now pay anonymously via cryptocurrencies. but you can also choose PayPal, Google Pay and credit/debit cards.
Just note that when the subscription expires it will auto-renew annually, and you’ll pay more per month at that point.
Jim Martin / Foundry
If finding a cheap VPN is your top priority and you don’t mind committing to a five-year subscription, it’s worth reading our review of Ivacy.
Ivacy limits you to five devices, but has considerably more servers in roughly twice the number of locations and supports OpenVPN (but not yet WireGuard). It’s also based in Singapore, which is a more privacy-friendly jurisdiction.
You can also see other recommendations in our roundup of the best VPN services.
Verdict
Atlas VPN has come a long way since launched a couple of years back. It may not have many advanced features, and some aren’t available in all versions of its apps, but it ticks a lot of boxes for those with relatively undemanding needs.
That means it’s good value if you just want a VPN to unblock popular US streaming services, or for a bit of extra privacy and protection online. It’s a shame its unblocking is relatively limited, though, and it didn’t let us watch BBC iPlayer, or 9now.
And without an independent audit of its no-logs policy, it’s difficult to recommend Atlas VPN to…