Here i will look into the Features available for the VPN’s i have recommended and the availability of Apps for each provider as well as their usability.
Accessibility
First i will look at which platforms the app is available for. All four Providers have availability for all of the common platforms, so in terms of accessibility they are all the same.
Apps are widely available in each of their related appstores.
Platform | IP Vanish | Surfshark | NordVPN | ExpressVPN |
Android | Y | Y | Y | Y |
IOS | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Windows | Y | Y | Y | Y |
MacOS | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Amazon | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Linux | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Router | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Usability
Each app that i tried on the Android Platform was really intuitive. You simply login and click connect. The only app i had a little trouble with to start with was IPVanish, once i force closed it and opened again it started to work as expected.
Features
Now i will look at some of the Extra features that are included from each provider. For the comparison below i will be comparing the four providers Android apps.
Extra Security relates to additional features in the App which give further protection from things like malware and ad’s etc. In Surfshark this is called CleanWeb and in NordVPN its called CyberSec.
Split Tunneling in Surfshark is called Whitelister. Split tunneling is a really handy feature as it allows you to select which apps needs to use VPN and which apps can bypass it for example you could set a Streaming App to use the VPN and Netflix to bypass the VPN and use your regular internet connection. This removes the need to manually turn your VPN on and Off for different apps.
Feature | IP Vanish | Surfshark | NordVPN | ExpressVPN |
Auto Connect | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Split Tunneling | Y | Y* | N | N |
Max Connections | 10 | unlimited | 6 | 3 |
Extra Security | N | Y | Y | N |
Countries | 60+ | 50 | 62 | 94 |
Verdict
It really is hard trying to find a favourite in regards to features as they all pack a punch in their own way. I think Surfshark still pips the post for me. The unlimited connections makes it favourable and due to it being relatively new it also allows via the App to suggest/request new features. When an App/Service is relatively new developers are more susceptible to accepting such requests as its helps them build a better product.
In the app there is a list of Shortlisted Ideas which you can Vote up and this will give weighting to the ideas which will then allows the developers to choose what to implement, so if you do purchase Surfshark check the list out and cast your votes!