Avast SecureLine VPN Review
Avast SecureLine is an average VPN from cybersecurity giant Avast RSO. The VPN software is consumer-friendly and easy to use, but we’ve seen far better VPNs.
Does avast vpn keep logs
Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience.
By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.
By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform.
For more information, please see our Cookie Notice and our Privacy Policy .
Avast SecureLine VPN Review
Simon Migliano is a recognized world expert in VPNs. He’s tested hundreds of VPN services and his research has featured on the BBC, The New York Times and more.
Additional Testing by David Hughes
- VPN Reviews
- Avast SecureLine VPN
Our Verdict
Overall Rating:
6.21 6.2 / 10
How is this calculated? Close
We calculate the VPN service’s Overall Rating by combining the ratings of several testing categories. Each category is weighted as follows:
- Privacy & Logging Policy: 20%
- Speed: 20%
- Security & Technical Features: 15%
- Streaming: 15%
- Ease of Use: 10%
- Torrenting: 5%
- Server Locations: 5%
- Bypassing Web Censorship: 5%
- Customer Support: 5%
Avast SecureLine is an underwhelming VPN service, scoring only 6.2 in our overall assessment. It logs too much user data, it isn’t private enough for torrenting, and it doesn’t unblock US Netflix. Although it’s very fast and easy to use, there are more private and secure VPNs available for less.
Ranked #34 out of 55 VPNs
Avast SecureLine VPN Category Ratings
- Streaming
Avast SecureLine VPN Pros & Cons
Pros
- Avast Mimic protocol offers very fast speeds
- Unblocks Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer
- P2P-optimized servers for torrenting
- Smart Mode split tunneling on macOS
- AES-256 cipher and kill switch across apps
- 24/7 live chat support
Cons
- Intrusive logging policy
- Company history of sharing and selling data
- Unable to unblock Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix
- No OpenVPN protocol on Mac or iOS
- Not many global servers
Why Trust Our Review?
We’ve spent thousands of hours testing and reviewing 55 VPN services using our impartial review process to recommend you the best VPN software.
Here are some of our key VPN testing statistics:
| Total Hours of Testing | 30,000+ |
| Weekly Speed Tests | 3,000+ |
| VPN Services Reviewed | 55 |
| Streaming Platforms Tested Daily | 12 |
| IP & DNS Leak Tests Performed | 9,500+ |
| How Much We’ve Spent On Testing | $25,000+ |
Avast SecureLine is an average VPN from cybersecurity giant Avast RSO. The VPN software is consumer-friendly and easy to use, but we’ve seen far better VPNs.
In our review of Avast SecureLine VPN, we tested each application to assess the service’s ability to protect your internet privacy and security.
We also tested the VPN to see how effectively it bypasses streaming and censorship content filters.
What transpired from reviewing Avast SecureLine is that the VPN’s proprietary Avast Mimic protocol is very fast, but the VPN falls short in many key testing areas.
We were especially disappointed by how few streaming services it unblocks. Its server network is also limited compared to other popular VPN services.
More worryingly, Avast VPN keeps too many user logs and is subject to EU data retention laws, too. The company’s troubled company history is also concerning.
In short, Avast SecureLine is a fast VPN service that will reliably hide your IP address, preventing websites and third parties from tracking your activity and true location.
However, the VPN logs an unacceptable amount of user data, and it can only unblock a small selection of streaming websites. Ultimately, there are far more effective and cheaper VPNs available than Avast SecureLine.
EXPERT ADVICE: In our Private Internet Access (PIA) review we show you what a fast and no-logs VPN can do for you.
What’s more, PIA VPN unblocks US Netflix and you can try it for free using its 100% refund guarantee.
Avast SecureLine VPN Key Data
Add to compare
| Data Cap | Unlimited |
|---|---|
| Download Speed | 97Mbps |
| Logging Policy | Some User Logs |
| Data Leaks | No |
| Jurisdiction | Czech Republic (EU Member) |
| Servers | 700 |
| IP Addresses | 700+ |
| Countries With Servers | 34 |
| US Netflix | No |
| Torrenting | Partially |
| Simultaneous Connections | 10 |
| Works In China | Yes |
| Support | 24/7 Live Chat |
| Cheapest Price | $3.75 /mo over 3 years |
| Free Trial | 7 Days (No Payment Info Required) |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30-day Money-Back Guarantee |
| Official Website | Avast.com |
Streaming
Avast VPN Streams Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and German Netflix, but Not Much Else
Streaming Rating
How is this calculated? Close
This rating is calculated by how many different streaming services and regional content libraries the VPN can unblock, and how consistently it can access them.
We test access to Netflix, Disney+, Max, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and many more platforms on a weekly basis.
Avast VPN is not a great solution for your streaming needs. The service only unblocks German Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer. It can’t stream any other streaming service we tested, including other Netflix regions.
Ranked #32 out of 55 VPNs for Streaming
Here’s a list showing the popular streaming services that Avast SecureLine VPN unblocks:
| Streaming Platform | Works with Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| All 4 | Yes |
| Amazon Prime Video | Yes |
| BBC iPlayer | Yes |
| Disney+ | No |
| HBO Max | No |
| Hotstar India | No |
| Hulu | No |
| ITVX | No |
| Netflix US | No |
| YouTube | No |
If you want to know if Avast VPN works with a streaming service that’s not listed above, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll test it for you.
Avast Secure Line has a number of servers optimized for video streaming, although they don’t specify which streaming sites they’re designed to unblock.
In any case, we tested all these servers with major streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and more.
We found Avast SecureLine works with Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and All 4.
The UK streaming server easily bypasses Channel 4 geo-blocks and accesses BBC iPlayer. It didn’t work with UK Netflix, though.
Amazon Prime Video worked on the US Miami server, but not the Gotham City, New York, or Seattle ones.
In addition, the Germany streaming server worked with German Netflix.
Avast SecureLine beat German Netflix blocks easily in our tests.
Avast VPN Doesn’t Unblock US Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max
Sadly, none of Avast’s four US streaming servers could stream US Netflix.
None of the streaming-optimized servers worked with Disney+, either. Both HBO Max and Hulu detected our Avast VPN connections and blocked them, too.
Based on our latest findings, there are far more effective streaming VPNs than Avast VPN, especially Netflix VPNs.
Speed
Impressive Local Speeds
Speed Rating
How is this calculated? Close
We calculate the VPN’s speed rating using our download speeds, upload speeds, and ping (latency) measurements.
We regularly test the VPN’s local and international speeds using a dedicated 100Mbps internet connection in New York, USA.
Avast SecureLine’s local download speeds are some of the best we’ve recorded, with an average result of 97Mbps. However, our data reveals that its long-distance speeds are relatively slow when compared to the very best VPNs, with connection performance dropping by 21%. Based on this mixed performance, Avast scores 9.1 in our speed test evaluation.
Ranked #21 out of 55 VPNs for Speed
We tested Avast SecureLine on servers in six continents to evaluate its speed performance. Here’s a table showing the full speed results:
A short-distance speed loss of 97Mbps is an excellent outcome. For local speed test results, it’s one of the best we’ve seen.
However, it’s not all positive: Avast’s long-distance speeds are quite slow when compared to the fastest VPNs.
To see what we mean, use the bar chart below to compare Avast’s local and long-distance speed results against a few top-performing VPNs, like ExpressVPN and StrongVPN:
As you can see, Avast’s local speeds are very fast. But it’s long-distance connections are well behind. The best VPN for international connections is Hotspot Shield, which is only 1% slower than your normal internet speed wherever you connect to.
EXPERT ADVICE: For optimal speed, we recommend using Avast Mimic protocol to connect to distant server locations, and OpenVPN to connect locally. On macOS, which doesn’t have OpenVPN, we recommend using Avast Mimic all the time.
Privacy & Logging Policy
Avast VPN Logs Too Much Data & Has Handed It Over
Privacy & Logging Policy Rating
How is this calculated? Close
We analyze and dissect the VPN service’s logging and privacy policy. A VPN should never log and store:
- Your real IP address
- Connection timestamps
- DNS requests
Headquarters outside of 14 Eyes or EU jurisdictions are also preferable.
Avast SecureLine VPN logs more data than is acceptable. Worst of all, the company has a history of sharing user information. While the service doesn’t record your IP address or browsing history, it does log connection timestamps and the amount of data transferred for up to 35 days.
Ranked #42 out of 55 VPNs for Privacy & Logging Policy
Here’s a table summarizing the information that Avast SecureLine logs:
| Data Type | Logged by Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| Browsing Activity | No |
| Device Information | Yes |
| DNS Queries | No |
| Individual Bandwidth Usage | Yes |
| Individual Connection Timestamps | Yes |
| ISP | No |
| Number of Simultaneous Connections | No |
| Originating IP Address | No |
| Account Information | Yes |
| VPN Server IP | No |
| VPN Server Location | No |
| Date of Last Connection | No |
Avast’s VPN privacy policy is clearly written and transparent, but the service logs more data than we’re comfortable with.
Avast’s servers store your connection data for 35 days, and any client data (account information) for up to two years. There’s no real justification for this practice.
At least Avast SecureLine doesn’t store your original IP address, DNS queries, or browsing history. This is the most sensitive information that no VPN should keep.
Moreover, Avast has a privacy policy for its VPN specifically (and another for its browser extension), and not a vaguely worded policy for all Avast products, like other antivirus companies have.
The problem is the content of the privacy policy. Sadly, Avast makes it abundantly clear it will hand over your data to government agencies. This is a serious cause for concern.
Avast VPN Operates Under EU Jurisdiction
Avast RSO is a Czech cybersecurity company founded in 1988. It’s best known for its antivirus software, but now sells a range of cybersecurity products. It also owns the HideMyAss! (HMA) and AVG VPN services.
Avast is still headquartered in Prague, Czechia, and is therefore subject to invasive EU data retention laws and intelligence agreements with privacy-unfriendly nations like the United States.
In its own transparency report, Avast admitted to providing data to law enforcement in response to legal requests.
In 2017, Avast handed over information concerning 41 of its users – 31% of all legal requests that year.
Its co-operation with law enforcement has since dropped to 0% for 2021 (that could be due to an exodus of trusting users, however).
But it shows that Avast has data to hand over in the first place, and that its legal jurisdiction is inappropriate for a VPN.
Warrant Canary
Avast introduced a tri-monthly warrant canary to warn users of gag orders. Right now it shows that Avast has not received any gag orders and that it has not been compromised.
However, we’ve noticed that Avast isn’t always on time updating its warrant canary, which makes it look like it has received a gag order. Avast should keep on top of this.
Avast Has a Privacy-Unfriendly History
Not only does Avast VPN log too much connection data, and is based in a privacy-unfriendly nation, but the company has also been caught harvesting user browsing data.
In December 2019, Mozilla removed Avast’s antivirus browser extensions for breaking its privacy rules.
The antivirus extension had been in fact harvesting and sending data back to Avast. This data included websites visited, search terms, videos watched, links clicked, and unique device IDs.
In January 2020, it was reported that personal data harvested by free Avast add-ons was being monetized and sold to tech companies like Google.
While Avast has abandoned this practice, which doesn’t apply to the VPN, service, no privacy company should engage in such activity in the first place.
Torrenting
Fast Torrent Speeds, but Avast’s Logging Policy Is a Concern
Torrenting Rating
How is this calculated? Close
This rating is determined by the VPN’s torrenting speeds, the percentage of servers that allow P2P file sharing, the service’s privacy and trustworthiness, and useful settings like port forwarding.
For speed specifically, we calculate the VPN’s average download bitrate using our bespoke torrenting setup.
Avast VPN recorded fast torrenting speeds on its P2P-optimized servers. However, because of SecureLine’s intrusive logging policy, we don’t recommend using this VPN for safe torrenting.
Ranked #31 out of 55 VPNs for Torrenting
Here’s a quick summary of showing how Avast VPN performed in our torrenting tests:
| Torrenting Attribute | Result |
|---|---|
| Average Download Bitrate | 9.29MiB/s |
| No. of P2P Servers | 700 |
| Logging Policy | Some User Logs |
| Kill Switch | Yes |
| Port Forwarding | No |
Avast lists eight servers that are optimized for P2P activity. These are:
- Czech Republic
- France
- Frankfurt, Germany
- London, UK
- Miami, US
- Netherlands
- New York, US
- Seattle, US
Testing torrent speeds on these P2P servers, we recorded an average download bitrate of 9.3 MiB/s. This is up there with the best torrent VPNs.
The VPN possesses a kill switch, too, ensuring there aren’t accidental data leaks or exposures while you torrent files.
But Avast’s timestamp logs, data harvesting scandal, and cooperation with government agencies are all red flags. Basically, Avast SecureLine is not safe for torrenting.
The VPN offers no extra features for torrenters either, like a SOCKS5 proxy, or port forwarding.
Security & Technical Features
Avast VPN Is Sufficiently Secure, but Basic
Security & Technical Features Rating
How is this calculated? Close
A secure VPN must offer OpenVPN or WireGuard protocols, AES-256 encryption, and a working kill switch.
To calculate this rating, we also factor in additional security settings and features.
Avast SecureLine can be trusted to hide your IP address and encrypt your data with AES-256 encryption. We didn’t detect any IP or DNS leaks in our testing, but those seeking the highest levels of internet privacy could benefit from more sophisticated VPN services.
Ranked #31 out of 55 VPNs for Security & Technical Features
Protocols Encryption Security Advanced Features
| Protocols | Available in Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| IKEv2/IPSec | No |
| L2TP/IPSec | Yes |
| OpenVPN (TCP/UDP) | Yes |
| Proprietary | Yes |
| WireGuard | Yes |
| Encryption | Available in Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| AES-128 | No |
| AES-192 | No |
| AES-256 | Yes |
| Blowfish | No |
| ChaCha20 | No |
| Security | Available in Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| DNS Leak Blocking | No |
| First-party DNS | No |
| IPv6 Leak Blocking | No |
| Supports TCP Port 443 | No |
| VPN Kill Switch | Yes |
| WebRTC Leak Blocking | No |
| Advanced Features | Available in Avast SecureLine VPN |
|---|---|
| Ad Blocker | No |
| Dedicated IP | No |
| Double VPN | No |
| Smart DNS | No |
| Static IP | No |
| SOCKS | No |
| Split Tunneling | Yes |
| Tor over VPN Server | No |
| Tracker Blocker | No |
Avast Uses an Experimental Protocol
Avast has an in-house proprietary protocol called Avast Mimic, which it describes as “experimental.” This doesn’t inspire much confidence; when it comes to VPNs, you want data protection to be reliable, not experimental.
When we asked Avast how Mimic works, we were told:
Mimic employs military grade security and can connect to the internet up to 4x faster…it mimics/duplicates the connection to all websites you are visiting during your browsing session, providing fake information about who you are and where you’re coming from, making it impossible for anyone to identify you, track you or monitor you.
The protocol certainly delivers fast speeds, but we’d like a clear and transparent explanation of how the protocol protects your data.
OpenVPN is available as an alternative protocol on Windows and Android, but not on macOS, or iOS. We’d like to see it included across all apps, and WireGuard too.
You cannot change protocol on mobile devices (the default is OpenVPN). While the only alternative to Avast Mimic on Mac is the IPSec protocol. IPSec is not an unsafe protocol, but it’s not as powerful as OpenVPN or WireGuard, which are the leading industry-standard.
Safe Practices, but Too Basic
Avast SecureLine uses the best encryption cipher, AES-256, and it has a kill switch across all of its applications (this is off by default, so don’t forget to turn it on). This shows that it has a solid grasp of VPN security.
However, the VPN would benefit from advanced and customizable protection measures like a malware and ad blocker, DNS leak protection, double VPN (multi-hop), and Onion over VPN.
Avast is basic compared to many leading VPNs, which are moving to RAM-only servers, open source apps, and invisibility on LAN.
One neat feature is that Avast VPN allows you to use a free password leak detector, to check whether passwords associated with your email have been exposed by data leaks or hacks. All you have to do is insert an email.
Avast SecureLine has a free password leak detector.
Smart Mode Is a Useful Split Tunneling Tool
Avast SecureLine has a feature called Smart Mode, which is essentially an automatic split tunneling feature that selects which websites and apps are encrypted through the VPN tunnel and which are not.
Avast says that its Smart Mode can “tell when you’re connecting to a sensitive site,” closing the VPN session after you leave. This is usually for banking websites and torrent sites. It also knows whether you’re using public WiFi.
Smart VPN Mode is a split tunneling feature that can work automatically or manually.
You can also customize this feature, choosing which websites you want to encrypt or not. In this way it’s like a regular manual split tunneling tool.
Credit to Avast that this is available on Mac; it’s rare to find a functioning split tunneling feature on Apple devices. Even top VPNs like ExpressVPN and NordVPN don’t have one.
Security Tests: Is Avast Safe?
We used our leak test tool to test whether Avast SecureLine won’t accidentally expose your data. We recorded no leaks of any kind — Avast SecureLine is free of IPv4/IPv6, DNS, WebRTC, and geolocation leaks.
We also ran the Avast SecureLine software through a virus and malware scanner to ensure it’s safe to put onto your device.
The results showed that Avast is clean of any malicious content and is safe to install.
No viruses or malware were detected on Avast SecureLine software.
We inspected the Android app for unwarranted permissions or trackers, too. We discovered that it has quite a number of trackers and permissions.
Avast SecureLine’s Android app has five trackers and 19 permissions built in.
This includes access to your exact location and the ability to find accounts on your device. Both of these are considered ‘dangerous’ according to Google’s protection levels. Trackers include Facebook Analytics and Google Firebase Analytics.
Considering this is supposed to be privacy technology, we think there should be very few trackers or permissions. For context, Astrill VPN and Hide.me have zero – which is the gold standard.
We’d like to see Avast respect the privacy of its users more by cutting down the number of Android permissions and trackers.
Bypassing Web Censorship
Avast SecureLine Works in China
Bypassing Censorship Rating
How is this calculated? Close
We routinely test if the VPN can bypass strict internet restrictions in China using our remote-access server in Shanghai.
Other important factors we consider include obfuscation technologies and the availability of servers in neighboring countries (for faster connections).
Avast SecureLine is currently working to get around the Great Firewall of China. This is great, but we can’t be certain how long this success will last. As it stands, Avast is a good anti-censorship VPN.
Ranked #11 out of 55 VPNs for Bypassing Web Censorship
Does Avast work in China? Yes it does.
Considering Avast SecureLine has no anti-censorship tools to speak of, we were surprised to learn that it gets around the Great Firewall of China.
This isn’t speculation: we tested it from our own servers in Shanghai. Using Avast’s auto-connect option we established a secure connection to South Korea, fooling the Firewall.
How long this success will last in the absence of obfuscation is not clear. Also, if Avast becomes better-known as an anti-censorship VPN, it can alert the authorities and initiate a harsher crackdown.
The Avast website and all of its products are blocked in China. Because of that, you’ll have to download the VPN before going into the country, or while using another VPN that works within the country.
Avast will also work against censorship in countries like Russia and Turkey, which have less robust crackdown methods than China.
For China specifically, we still wouldn’t recommend Avast SecureLine over an anti-censorship VPN like Astrill. But, if you’re already an Avast user, it’s useful to know it works within China.