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Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory, so 'outside Five Eyes' deserves an asterisk rather than a clean pass. IVPN publishes its team and ownership openly, which most of this market does not.
Public-source facts, not yet checked against primary documents. How we verify.
Lab test pending: score uses public, checkable data only. How we verify.
Verdict
IVPN is Mullvad's closest sibling in philosophy: founder-owned, a team published by name and photograph, no-email account numbers, cash and Monero accepted, open-source apps audited by Cure53 with public reports, a transparency report, and no affiliate programme — which is why almost no review site recommends it. It is small, does not stream, dropped port forwarding, and costs a little more than Mullvad. For a privacy-first user who wants a second provider of the same kind, or who prefers a smaller company, it is an excellent choice.
Best for
Privacy-first users who want an alternative or complement to Mullvad, and anyone who values a company that publishes its team and its limits.
Not for
Streaming, seeding, large-network needs, or anyone who wants live chat.
Refuses affiliate programmes and discount pricing on principle.
iOS app quality
App Store review analysis
129 most recent reviews across 5 storefronts, 2017-02-06 to 2026-08-20. Listing rating 4.07★ from 250 ratings. Version 2.14.2, released 2026-06-11.
49
Billing complaints 10.1%Sentiment worsening last 90 daysCritical complaints 41.1%
iOS integration
21.7%
Privacy concerns
11.6%
Connection drops
10.9%
Slow speeds
10.9%
Billing & auto-renew
10.1%
Praised: reliability
10.1%
Customer support
9.3%
Praised: speed
9.3%
★★☆☆☆ “Wireguard has issues reconnecting to a network.” App Store reviewer, 2026-07-24
★☆☆☆☆ “I paid £1.99 for a week subscription.” App Store reviewer, 2026-06-25
★☆☆☆☆ “Was trying to find the kill switch feature but couldnt” App Store reviewer, 2025-07-14
★★★★★ “The app is a bit laggy.” App Store reviewer, 2026-03-11
★★★★★ “Where have you been all my life?!” App Store reviewer, 2024-06-24
Themes tagged by keyword rules; percentages are share of sampled reviews mentioning the theme. Full breakdown · Method.
Streaming and censorship status
Streaming
NetflixUnreliable
BBC iPlayerBlocked
Disney+Unreliable
HuluBlocked
Prime VideoBlocked
Restricted countries
ChinaUnreliable
United Arab EmiratesUnreliable
RussiaUnreliable
IranUnreliable
TürkiyeWorks
Basis: user reports and provider statements; our own checks pending.
A company that publishes its team
IVPN’s website lists everyone who works there, with names and photographs, which no other VPN provider does. It publishes a transparency report, an ethics page that explains what it will not do, and a page titled “Why you don’t need a VPN” that describes the situations in which its own product is unnecessary. It runs no affiliate programme, so no review site earns anything by recommending it, which is why you have likely not seen it recommended.
This site would rather explain that than pretend the market’s rankings are neutral.
Ownership, jurisdiction and audits
IVPN Limited, Gibraltar, founder-owned since 2009 with no investors. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory with its own legal system, no data retention law, and no membership of the intelligence alliances in its own right. Cure53 has audited the apps and infrastructure in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2024, with reports published in full. All apps are open source. No incidents on record.
Protocols, network and features
WireGuard and OpenVPN, with obfsproxy for censored networks. Around 100 servers in 37 countries — small, and IVPN says so. Multi-hop between any two servers (Pro plan, and now Standard). AntiTracker blocks ads and trackers at the DNS level, with a hardcore mode that also blocks Google and Facebook domains. A firewall-mode kill switch. Port forwarding was removed in 2023. Two devices on Standard, seven on Pro. No live chat; email support.
What it costs
Plan
Price
Renewal
Notes
Standard monthly
$6
$6
2 devices
Standard yearly
$60
$60
2 devices
Pro yearly
$100
$100
7 devices, multi-hop
No intro, no renewal increase, no tiers beyond the two. Cash by post and Monero accepted. A 30-day refund applies to card payments.
Streaming and censorship
IVPN does not unblock streaming services and does not claim to. Its obfsproxy option works intermittently in China and Iran; it is a reasonable backup there rather than a first choice.
The iPhone app
This month’s App Store analysis has only 130 recent reviews to work with, so the score is noisy and should not be read precisely. It sits in the lower half, with iOS integration and connection issues as the main complaint themes, and a listing rating of 4.07 stars from about 250 ratings. IVPN’s user base is small and desktop-heavy. Full breakdown.
The pricing page nobody else writes
IVPN sells weekly plans as well as monthly and yearly ones, which sounds trivial
and is not: it is the only provider on this site that assumes some people want a
VPN for a specific trip rather than forever. Combined with the no-email account
and cash payment, a week of IVPN can be bought and used without the company ever
learning anything about the buyer. That is a coherent product for a journalist on
assignment, and it exists because nobody at IVPN is being paid on renewals.
What we have not tested
Speed and leaks. Published tests put IVPN’s WireGuard mid-pack, limited by the small network. Our own tests are pending; the speed dimension is excluded from the score until they land.
IVPN Limited, Gibraltar, founded in 2009 and owned by its founder Nick Pestell and team, with no outside investors. Unusually, the whole team is listed by name on the website. IVPN runs no affiliate programme.
Is IVPN safe?
Yes: open-source apps audited by Cure53 regularly (2019, 2020, 2022, 2024) with reports published; no-email account numbers; cash and Monero accepted; a transparency report; no incidents on record. Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory with its own legal system and no data retention law.
How much does IVPN cost?
Standard is $6 a month or $60 a year for two devices; Pro is $10 a month or $100 a year for seven devices with multi-hop. Weekly plans exist too. There is no intro discount and no renewal increase. A 30-day refund applies.
Does IVPN work for Netflix?
Not reliably, and IVPN does not try to. It is a privacy VPN and says so plainly.
Does IVPN keep logs?
No. It keeps no connection or activity logs, publishes a transparency report of requests received, and has had its claims and apps audited by Cure53 repeatedly. The account model means it does not know who you are.
Is IVPN better than Mullvad?
They are close. Mullvad has a larger network, a simpler flat price and a police-search record. IVPN has a named team, multi-hop on the base plan and a slightly more polished app. Our full comparison picks Mullvad by a small margin and calls IVPN the equally principled alternative.
