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FastestVPN is a cost-effective VPN solution based in the Cayman Islands, which makes it a solid choice for privacy-conscious users. However, in our testing, we found that while the service offers decent functionality and has come a long way in terms of privacy, features, and app usability, it still underperforms when compared to today's best VPNs.

That’s not to say FastestVPN isn’t worth considering, though. In addition to its sub-$1 two-year introductory plan, its lifetime VPN plan at just $40 is something you’ll rarely find elsewhere. It also boasts an audited no-logs policy and apps for all device types, and unblocks most popular streaming platforms with ease. Read on to see whether FastestVPN is worth your time.

Features

FastestVPN offers a standard suite of VPN features, along with a few less-common extras.

Even though it has a relatively small pool of servers, it’s impressive that FastestVPN offers P2P-optimized servers, allowing you to download and upload P2P files with increased security. Combined with its port forwarding feature – which can further boost download and upload speeds – FastestVPN is a solid option if you’re looking for a torrenting VPN.

Other than that, there’s also an ad blocker that enhances your online experience by ensuring you’re not bombarded with frustrating and potentially malicious ads. FastestVPN is also one of the very few VPNs to offer extra device logins for an additional fee. While it comes with 10 simultaneous connections by default, you can add more devices for $4 per device if you want to share the love.

Other add-on options include a dedicated IP and port forwarding, both of which are extremely reasonably priced. Admittedly, most VPNs don't provide port-forwarding, but some generous services (like Private Internet Access) offer it for free.

Plus, regardless of the plan you choose – monthly, yearly, or the exclusive lifetime plan – you’ll also get two years of free access to the FastestPass password manager, which helps improve the security of your online accounts and reduce the risk of identity theft by creating and safely storing highly secure passwords.

Features score: 5/10

(Image credit: FastestVPN)Server network

FastestVPN has over 800 servers spread across 49 countries, with over 100 locations to choose from. While there are plenty of servers across Europe, as well as access to the US, Japan, Australia, and Canada, it's not particularly comprehensive across the Middle East, Africa, or Asia.

Server locations, though, don’t add up: the website claims 100+, yet we could only count 66. It seems FastestVPN is inflating the figure by listing individual servers as distinct locations.

So, while it might not be the first choice for users in some of these countries, the good news is that all the popular streaming locations you’d expect are easily accessible.

The provider also recently rolled out a double VPN feature, which, as the name suggests, routes your internet traffic through two servers instead of one, adding an extra layer of encryption and security to your data.

Admittedly, FastestVPN is nowhere close to the thousands of servers offered by industry leaders like NordVPN, Surfshark, or ProtonVPN. However, it’s also worth considering that FastestVPN doesn’t have the same volume of users as these top providers. Still, I’d like to see the service add more servers and locations.

Server network score: 6/10

Apps

When you jump into the FastestVPN downloads page, you're immediately presented with nearly twenty different platforms to choose from. FastestVPN supports fully-fledged apps on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, as well as browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

For everything else like routers and TVs, there are setup guides available on the support site. There's a download link for Linux, too, but it just takes you to the features page. You'll have to read the support blog and use a third-party client – which can be tricky if you're not a tech-savvy Linux user.

Apps score: 8/10

(Image credit: FastestVPN)Ease of use

For me, this is where FastestVPN disappoints. When you boot up the VPN, you're immediately presented with the full app. However, trying to actually use it bounces you over to the login screen.

It's slightly confusing, but once you're through it only takes one click to connect to your nearest server. Even though it's easy enough to read and navigate, the actual app looks a little rough compared to some of its closest competitors.

Unfortunately, trying to use FastestVPN for the first time on a Mac testing machine brought up some issues with the app. After trying to connect to the DVPN servers for testing, the app shut down and wouldn't restart even after a reboot. I couldn't replicate this issue on any other platform, but if you're hunting for a bulletproof Mac VPN app, you might need to look elsewhere.

Ease of use score: 6/10

(Image credit: FastestVPN)Speed and performance

As our speed tests show, FastestVPN isn’t the fastest VPN – it’s actually one of the slower ones we’ve tested.

Against a 135 Mbps baseline, we managed just 105.5 Mbps on a local UK server, a loss of nearly 22%. In comparison, Mullvad lost under 5% and VPN Super a little over 12%. Speeds dropped further over distance, reaching just 86 Mbps on US servers – again, well behind both rivals.

Provider

UK-UK average download speed

Baseline retention percentage

UK-US average download speed

Baseline (no VPN)

135 Mbps

100%

N/A

FastestVPN

105.5 Mbps

78.1%

86 Mbps

Mullvad

128.5 Mbps

95.2%

121.5 Mbps

VPN Super

118.5 Mbps

87.8%

120 Mbps

FastestVPN’s results were also far less consistent over long distances than Mullvad’s, suggesting limited system capacity and too many users competing for the same resources at peak times.

These speeds don’t match up to our top VPNs, but they'll still suffice for most activities. If you need a VPN for gaming, torrenting, or HD streaming, then FastestVPN isn't a bad choice.

Speed and performance score: 7/10

Unblocking

FastestVPN might not be the fastest, but is it capable of working with streaming services?

To test a VPN's unblocking claims, we skip all of the marketing material and go straight to testing the top streaming sites. We check out multiple different Netflix regions (the US, Canada, UK, Japan, and Australia) as well as Amazon Prime and Disney+. We even check out some regional providers, like BBC iPlayer and ITV, too.

Unfortunately, streaming was a mixed bag. FastestVPN worked with Netflix (US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan), Amazon Prime Video Canada, Disney+ (US, UK, and Canada), DAZN (US and Canada), and YouTube UK, plus local services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX.

Elsewhere, results were patchier. Although it worked with 7Plus and 9Now in earlier testing, FastestVPN has since removed its Australian servers – and even then, more than one server was needed to access 7Plus.

The Canadian specialty streaming server couldn’t unblock DAZN or Prime Video, though one in Montreal could. Servers in Japan refused to open Disney+ or YouTube at all, and FastestVPN also failed with Amazon US and Canada, DAZN UK, and YouTube Canada.

Torrenting thankfully works pretty well on FastestVPN's dedicated P2P servers, and the inclusion of port forwarding means you'll be able to connect to the full swarm whenever you're torrenting.

Unblocking score: 6/10

Privacy and security

FastestVPN doesn't have the extensive suite of security tools you'd see from a provider like NordVPN or Surfshark, but it does cover the basics.

It offers all the VPN protocols you’d expect from a top service, including OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2, allowing you to choose the best option for your specific use case. On top of that, all FastestVPN apps have been audited and use the highly secure, industry-standard AES-256 encryption.

That said, it has yet to announce support for post-quantum encryption, which is becoming increasingly important as it protects your data against the threat of quantum computers and Q-Day.

Digging into FastestVPN's privacy policy revealed that the VPN commissioned its first no-logs audit in 2023 from Altius IT, a California-based auditing company with over 30 years of experience. The full report makes for illuminating reading. You can check it out yourself via the provider's site and the link included at the bottom of the page.

The only information FastestVPN logs is the date you connect to the VPN service and your email address. While this is certainly excellent and in line with what we expect from a private VPN, the provider hasn’t undergone another audit since. Ideally, a VPN should regularly submit its no-logs policy for independent verification.

Even if law enforcement does come asking for the little information that FastestVPN holds onto, it's headquartered in the Cayman Islands. This puts it far outside of the jurisdiction of Five Eyes nations while retaining strict data laws with a national data privacy policy comparable to GDPR.

However, the company’s LinkedIn and Trustpilot pages list US addresses. This would be a very different picture for privacy, given US retention laws and Five Eyes membership. Adding to transparency concerns, there’s very little information about the people behind the company.

Privacy and security score: 7/10

Customer support

FastestVPN offers 24/7 live chat and email support, but its support section lags behind. Many setup guides are outdated – some still recommend PPTP, a long-obsolete and insecure VPN protocol dropped by other VPNs, with no warning of the risks. The site’s search engine is poor too: searching “slow vpn” returned just three results, only two of which displayed, and neither was relevant.

Accessibility is equally disappointing. The website scored just 10% on AccessibilityChecker, with structural issues that make pages hard for screen readers to interpret and poor color contrast for users with limited vision.

The Windows app fares no better: Tab switches between controls but without any highlight, making it impossible to even connect using the keyboard alone.

Customer support score: 8/10

(Image credit: FastestVPN)Track record

For a vendor with nearly a decade of experience, FastestVPN has a relatively uneventful history.

No traffic breaches, no huge exploits, no scandalous lawsuits. Instead, it's a VPN that has been slowly but steadily reinventing itself over and over into what is now a decent service. Maybe it isn’t at parity with top-tier VPNs, but WireGuard integration and a no-logs audit put it above a big chunk of the industry.

However, FastestVPN's reviews don't quite paint the same story. Some of the reviews I read complain about the lifetime plan running out or having other subscription issues, although it seems like the support team is pretty good at catching these complaints and rectifying them.

Track record score: 8/10

Pricing and plans

FastestVPN is one of the most budget-friendly VPNs around. At $5, its one-month plan is far cheaper than NordVPN ($14.99) or Surfshark ($16.45) – though these are among the best VPN services on the market – making it great for short-term coverage or a risk-free trial.

Longer plans offer even better value: the two-year subscription costs $19.95, working out at just $0.83/month – an 83% saving that rivals can’t match. FastestVPN is also one of the few providers to offer a lifetime plan at $40, less than two or three months with many competitors.

All plans include a 31-day money-back guarantee, though oddly its own support pages cite 15 days instead.

While the subscriptions are excellent value, the add-ons aren’t. Dedicated IPs are reasonable at $1.20/month, but extra devices are poor value. On the two year plan, adding five devices ($20) costs as much as buying an entire second two year plan with ten more connections.

Pricing and plans score: 9/10

Should you use FastestVPN?

FastestVPN is a strong budget option for those looking for basic security and privacy without breaking the bank. It's not the fastest VPN, despite its name, and it doesn't have the largest server network. That said, its affordability and core privacy features make it a solid choice for if you're a casual VPN user who's willing to compromise on some performance for a significantly lower price point.

However, if you require a VPN with high-speed performance, global streaming access, or advanced security tools, premium services like ExpressVPN or NordVPN may be better options.

FastestVPN alternatives

1. NordVPN – from $3.39 per month
The best VPN overall
There's no better VPN in the industry if you need a fast and secure provider with global server access. With a variety of security and performance features, including a built-in virus scanner and double-hop servers, NordVPN is great value for money.View Deal

2. ExpressVPN – from $3.49 per month
The best VPN for beginners and the most secure
ExpressVPN offers fantastic blocking capabilities with a nearly unparalleled set of locations to choose from. ExpressVPN guarantees high-speed obfuscated connections with its own proprietary VPN protocol, Lightway, as well as a high-quality server bank and audited no-logs server technology.View Deal

3. Proton VPN – from $3.49 per month
A superb all-round VPN and online security alternative
Proton VPN is the best free VPN out there, with a truly unlimited bandwidth plan across three different locations. Built by the minds behind Proton Mail, Proton VPN also provides a range of privacy-first features which make it a great choice if you're concerned about your internet data. The standout of these is Secure Core, which allows you to chain your VPN connection through multiple servers for better security.View Deal

FastestVPN FAQsAre all VPNs required to have a no-logs audit?

No, most VPNs do not provide proof of a no-logs audit. FastestVPN is one of the few VPNs on the market to have contracted a third party to audit its privacy policy.

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