Avast SecureLine VPN vs Surfshark

With so many VPNs to choose from, picking can be a nightmare. Not all VPNs are created equally, and many exaggerate the quality of their service to drive sales. This can make finding the right VPN for your needs extremely frustrating.

We understand how hard it is to sort the wheat from chaff. That is why we test and review the world’s leading VPNs. In this guide, we tested Surfshark and Avast VPN head-to-head. We compared each VPN across 11 important categories to see which service offers better value, and a higher quality of service.

Highlights

Pricing and discounts

Although both these VPNs are relatively affordable, Surfshark impressed us more. A single month with Surfshark costs $12.95, which is a touch pricey compared to some competing services.

However, the point is largely moot because Avast VPN doesn’t have a monthly plan at all. This makes Surfshark a much better option for anybody who only needs a VPN to go on vacation or while traveling for work.

Where Surfshark really starts pulling ahead is when you compare its one-year and two-year plans. A 12-month contract with Surfshark will cost you $3.99 per month. This makes it $1.50 cheaper per month than Avast VPN. That is impressive considering the level of service you get.

As you can see in the image above, Surfshark becomes even cheaper when you commit to 2 years. This reduces the cost to just $2.39 per month, with an extra month thrown in for free. That means you will pay just $59.76 for 25 months of VPN use!

With Avast, by contrast, a 2-year plan costs $105.36. That is almost double the price you pay for Surfshark. In our opinion, this makes Avast SecureLine VPN too expensive considering its overall lack of features.

One positive of Avast is that you can get a 60-day free trial. You will have to provide your payment details to access that offer, but you won’t be charged until the trial period is over. That gives you 60 days to cancel if you want to, and no money will ever leave your account.

Surfshark also lets you try its service. You will need to pay upfront to take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee. The good news is that Surfshark always honors its guarantee, so you have no reason not to try the VPN yourself to see how it works on your devices and with your favorite streaming services.

BEST DEAL FOR SURFSHARK:Cut the monthly price by over 80% with Surfshark’s two-year deal.

BEST DEAL FOR AVAST VPN:Get 46% off with Avast’s introductory prices.

Winner: Surfshark

Features

In terms of features, Surfshark is far more impressive. Users get apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Firestick, and Linux (with a full GUI). It makes browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. In addition, you can set it up manually on VPN-compatible routers to automatically protect every single device in your home.

The custom Surfshark VPN apps come with a wealth of useful features. You get a kill switch, DNS leak protection, a choice of protocols (including WireGaurd and OpenVPN), AES-256 encryption, ad blocking, malware filtering, split tunneling, obfuscation, a custom No-Borders mode for getting around strict firewalls in countries like the UAE and China, and auto-connect to protect you on untrusted networks. A free Smart DNS service helps you unblock streams on devices such as consoles and Smart TVs.

Avast SecureLine VPN, by contrast, is pretty basic. Apps are available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, and they come with DNS leak protection, a kill switch, an auto-connect feature that connects you to the VPN on untrusted wifi networks, and a choice of protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN, and Mimic). It also has split tunneling, but only in its Android app.

All things considered, it is hard not to recommend Surfshark over Avast VPN. Not only does it have more apps and features, but it is also cheaper, making it an absolute steal for the average home internet user.

Winner: Surfshark

Streaming and unblocking

One of the leading uses for VPNs nowadays is to access popular streaming services worldwide. If you want to access your favorite TV broadcasts and streaming platforms while on vacation, a VPN can help you bypass location restrictions.

To find out which VPN is better, we thoroughly tested both VPNs while connected to servers in various locations around the globe. We found that Surfshark worked to securely access more than a dozen Netflix regions, including the US to stream the largest catalog.

Surfshark also worked to watch Hulu, HBO Max, ESPN, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, ABC, Peacock, DAZN, and BBC iPlayer. This makes Surfshark one of the most impressive streaming VPNs we have ever encountered.

Unfortunately, Avast VPN is not as reliable. In our tests it worked to access Netflix US and Netflix Germany, but not other regional catalogs. It also worked to watch CBS, ITV Hub, Hulu, and NBC. However, it did not work for streaming Prime Video, DAZN, HBO Max, ABC, or BBC iPlayer.

Winner: Surfshark

Do these VPNs work in China?

In China, the government blocks access to many Western services, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, and even news websites like the BBC and the New York Times. As a result, people visiting China must use a VPN to access their home services or communicate with loved ones.

Unfortunately, the Chinese government is extremely effective at blocking VPNs. Very few VPNs still work in China, so take out a subscription and make sure the VPN is working on your devices before you go there.

The good news is that Surfshark provides various features that help to keep its users connected in China. Obfuscation for the OpenVPN protocol, as well as its custom “No Borders” mode, means that anybody can consistently regain access to censored services while in China. To turn this feature on, simply head to Settings > Advanced > NoBorders.

Unfortunately, Avast SecureLine VPN is not suitable for users in China. Avast VPN does not have the features needed to bypass the Great Firewall, and even its proprietary Mimic protocol, which it is claimed includes obfuscation, does not work in China.

Winner: Surfshark

Setup and interface

The good news is that both these VPNs are extremely user-friendly. Getting a subscription with either service is simple by visiting their website, and you can download the apps either directly from the downloads page or by visiting popular app stores (Google Play for Android and the Apple App Store for iOS).

Both the Surfshark and Avast VPN apps install quickly, and they require only a minimal amount of space on your hard drive. As a result, they are both suitable for the vast majority of consumer devices currently in circulation.

Admittedly, Surfshark has more advanced features than Avast. This will increase the learning curve slightly. However, we find Surfshark’s menus easy to use – and can recommend the VPN to beginners just as much as Avast VPN.

Surfshark comes with the most secure settings turned on by default. You don’t necessarily need to learn all of its advanced features right away. We think it is better to have these extra features because it makes the VPN more versatile in the long run.

Winner: It’s a draw

Servers and performance

The best VPNs provide access to a large network of servers around the world. This allows you to get an IP address in a more diverse list of locations – to access censored or region-locked content, for example.

A larger server network also helps with performance, by allowing the VPN to engage in server balancing that avoids server congestion. So how do these providers compare?

Surfshark provides access to more than 3200 servers in 100 countries. This gives you more server options than with just about any other VPN on the market. This includes servers in 25 different US cities, allowing you to access regional gambling sites, local TV services, and sports competitions such as MLB and NFL blackout games.

Avast SecureLine VPN is more limited but it still has a decent amount of choice. The VPN has around 700 servers in total – spread across 33 different countries. This includes servers in 16 US cities, which means it is still good for accessing state-level services.

Just remember that Avast is less likely to cater to more exotic locations, so if you have specific requirements, we advise checking in with the VPN to find out where it has servers before you subscribe.

When it comes to speeds, Surfshark is the winner. We tested server locations in the US, the UK, and Hong Kong to get global averages and found Surfshark to have superb average download speeds of 189 Mbps. Avast VPN was somewhat sluggish in comparison, with average speeds of 35 Mbps.

Winner: Surfshark

Security

A VPN’s security is the most important aspect of its service. This is part of the VPN that protects your data against snoops and ensures that nobody is able to detect what you are doing online. Unfortunately, there are plenty of VPNs on the market that leak data and provide insufficient data security. That means you can’t just take VPN security as a given.

The good news is that both Surfshark and Avast provide strong levels of security. They both allow users to select the popular OpenVPN protocol and implement it using strong AES-256 encryption and Perfect Forward Secrecy.

We tested both these VPNs for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks and found them to be completely leak free. The VPNs are properly protecting your data inside the VPN tunnel to stop local networks, ISPs, government agencies, and other eavesdroppers from being able to track you online.

Both of these VPNs securely proxy your DNS requests to their own servers, and provide DNS leak protection. Nobody can detect which websites you are asking to visit.

To make its service even more secure, Surfshark has also moved its entire network over to diskless servers. These servers run entirely in RAM, which means they are constantly in the process of being cleared of old data as new data passes through them.

These diskless servers also provide additional security by allowing Surfshark to pull the plug on its servers remotely; for example, if the authorities raid one of its servers. This permits the VPN to more easily comply with its no-logging promise, even in the event of an emergency. Avast does not have diskless servers at this time.

Surfshark has had a full third-party audit of its server network and privacy policies. This increases trust in the service and means that users don’t need to take Surfshark’s privacy claims on faith alone. As far as we are aware,  Avast VPN has not completed any third-party audits of this kind.

Winner: Surfshark

Privacy

Where a VPN is based will affect what laws the VPN company must abide by. Both these VPNs are located in countries that do not enforce any mandatory data retention directives that apply to VPNs. Both services can implement a no-logging policy without fear of data requests at the hands of the authorities.

Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is well out of reach of invasive jurisdictions such as the US, the EU, and the UK. It also lacks any well-funded intelligence agencies that might seek to come knocking at its door.

Avast SecureLine VPN is based in the Czech Republic. Again this is a country that lacks any mandatory data retention directives, meaning that the VPN is not forced to keep any invasive logs about its users.

Surfshark privacy policy

Surfshark has a solid no-logging policy that has been independently verified by a third-party auditor. The policy clearly explains that Surfshark will never track or keep records of its users’ source IP addresses, the VPN servers they use, or any data that passes through its servers, including their web browsing activities and metadata.

Avast SecureLine VPN privacy policy

One downside with Avast is that it has a single privacy policy that applies to all its different services. This is not ideal, because it creates a few grey areas for its VPN users in terms of what data is collected and processed by the company.

The policy explains that Avast can collect device-level identifiers for the purposes of advertising its services. It also shares this private information with third-party companies like Google Analytics and Apps Flyer.

Avast also admits to tracking how its subscribers use the VPN. This included connection log data that lets Avast know when and how much you use the VPN. Unfortunately, this also includes collecting some IP address information.

Avast’s privacy policy states that it anonymizes part of the user’s IP address to ensure that it cannot be used to identify them. Unfortunately, previous studies have suggested that it is easy to re-identify previously anonymized data. This creates concerns over the potential for a correlation attack.

Overall, we think that Avast collects too much data. Anybody wanting a VPN for privacy purposes will be better off sticking with Surfshark, or an alternative no logs VPN.

Winner: Surfshark

Configuration

Both of these VPNs provide access to shared, dynamic IPs. That means that you will not necessarily be able to connect to the same IP address each time. Your data is mixed with that of many users each session, which helps to provide additional privacy.

DNS requests are proxied securely to each VPN’s own servers, and both VPNs both provide a NAT firewall to block unwanted requests from making their way to your machine. Unfortunately, this also means that neither VPN allows port forwarding.

Both services offer rudimentary protection against DDoS attacks by concealing your IP address from other internet users, which is useful if you play online games.

Surfshark includes DNS-based ad blocking, tracker blocking, and malicious website filtering to protect you against websites known to contain phishing or malware. Avast VPN does not offer this extra.

In addition, Surfshark allows you to rent a dedicated static IP. This is an IP address that is reserved for your use only. It is useful for those who want to host game servers, or who want to access online services that require you to have the same IP address every time.

Winner: Surfshark

Surfshark VS Avast SecureLine VPN for gaming

A solid VPN for gaming must have certain features. Fast servers and the WireGuard protocol ensure that you can play data-intensive games like Call of Duty without any lag. A wide choice of servers ensures that you never suffer from server congestion, and can connect to different game servers around the globe.

The good news is that Surfshark has over 3,200 servers in 100 countries. It also provides lightning-fast speeds of around 200 Mbps thanks to its solid WireGuard implementation. This makes it a fantastic option for gaming, torrenting, streaming, and making video calls.

Avast, on the other hand, is very slow. It registered average download speeds of just 35 Mbps. It only has servers in 33 countries, which is rather limited compared to Surfshark.

Winner: Surfshark

Customer service

When it comes to supporting their users, both these VPNs do an adequate job. Overall we prefer Surfshark. It has an excellent website that is full of useful setup guides, FAQs, and blog posts that help you to use and set up the VPN and learn about topics that relate to online privacy and security.

Both VPNs provide live chat support. However, Avast’s agents must also provide help for antivirus users, so it seems fair to say that the help isn’t as directly focused on VPN issues.

That said, we found Avast’s agents to be polite and they were able to answer our questions. With Surfshark, both the live chat support and email support are first class, so you will be able to get help 24/7 no matter what issue might arise.

The biggest drawback with Avast is that it really doesn’t have as many helpful resources on its website, and we did also find email response times to be a bit slower, on average, than Surfshark (though there wasn’t much in it). So, if you want the very best customer service possible, stick with Surfshark.

Below you can see the response times for our email support questions:

Winner: Surfshark

The winner: Surfshark

If you are looking for a VPN that offers good value for money, superb features, and robust privacy for all our devices, we recommend Surfshark.

During this head-to-head battle, Surfshark came out ahead for Customer Support, Pricing and discounts, Gaming, China, Security, Privacy, Features, Streaming and unblocking, Servers and performance, and Configuration. The only remaining category, Setup and Interface, was a draw.

As you can see, we found Surfshark to be better than Avast SecureLine VPN in almost every way. During our tests, we found it to be faster and better for streaming. It had more useful features to pick from, a larger server network, and more apps. Plus, it had a better privacy policy.

Despite having so many advantages over Avast VPN, Surfshark was also cheaper. Choosing between these services a complete no-brainer. Surfshark works with around a dozen Netflix regions, provides ad blocking to make your online experience all the better, and gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee.