AVG Secure VPN Review: Pricey VPN With Few Good Features
Although best known for its antivirus software, AVG also has a VPN service. It was launched after getting acquired by Avast back in 2016. With such steep competition between a wide range of VPNs currently on the market, we wanted to test AVG Secure VPN and see if it matches the quality of other top VPN providers.
After extensive testing, we can say that AVG VPN has some impressive features and a number of serious problems. Having said that, did any of these issues rise to the level of a full-blown deal-breaker?
Read our full AVG Secure VPN review to find out.
AVG Secure VPN Short Review
Pros
- Good speeds
- Decent security setup
- Automatic kill switch
- No data leaks
- 60-day free trial on Windows
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Up to 10 simultaneous connections
- Torrenting is allowed
Cons
- Mimic protocol didn't work for us
- Questionable logging policy
- Expensive
- No monthly pricing
- No crypto payments
- Subpar customer service
- Doesn't unblock streaming platforms
Knowing that AVG Secure VPN comes from the creators of AVG Antivirus already sets the bar quite high. Unfortunately, AVG VPN is not the top-tier privacy app we hoped to see.
It offers a good security setup with OpenVPN and WireGuard, an automatic kill switch, and zero data leaks. On the other hand, its proprietary protocol called Mimic didn’t work for us, and the company’s logging policy could be much safer.
In spite of its modest server network, AVG VPN provides excellent speeds and good connection stability. Torrenting is allowed, but we couldn’t unblock any of the geo-restricted streaming platforms.
The 60-day free trial on Windows is generous, but we still don’t like the absence of monthly subscriptions. If you purchase AVG VPN, you’ll be locked in for at least a year. We’d also like to see the inclusion of crypto payments, and the customer support team needs to learn a lot more about VPNs.
After our extensive testing circuit, we gave AVG Secure VPN an overall score of 6.8/10. Note that the score would be much lower if not for its impressive speeds. With all that in mind, can we honestly recommend this VPN? Read our full AVG VPN review below to find out.
| 💵 Price | From $4.39 a month |
| 📱 Operating systems | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android |
| 💻 Connections | 10 |
| 💳 Payment methods | PayPal, Credit card |
| 🔒 Protocols | OpenVPN, WireGuard, Proprietary |
| 📥 Torrent options | Torrenting allowed |
| 📅 Money-back guarantee | Money-back guarantee, 30 Days |
| 📋 Logs | Connection Logs |
| 🎬 Works with |
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Speed – How Fast Is AVG Secure VPN?
Speed is one of the essential aspects of any VPN service. The fastest VPNs are the ones that can encrypt your traffic without causing huge speed drops. That’s why we test the performance of every VPN we review. After our testing circuit, AVG Secure VPN got a 9/10 for speed.
Here are a few points to keep in mind:
- AVG Secure VPN was extremely fast during our testing.
- We didn’t experience any lag during regular day-to-day activities.
Speed test results for AVG Secure VPN
For this AVG Secure VPN review, we tested its Windows client from our corporate office in the Netherlands. We first measured our connection speed without a VPN and compared it to AVG’s performance across various servers.
Here are the actual results of our AVG Secure VPN speed tests:
| Server | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Ping (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 203.55 | 247 | 4 |
| Fastest server (Amsterdam) | 196.19 | 237.43 | 7 |
| Germany (Frankfurt) | 195.28 | 237.32 | 19 |
| United Kingdom (London) | 195.42 | 237.06 | 12 |
| United States (New York) | 195.14 | 196.24 | 94 |
| United States (Los Angeles) | 158.49 | 141.94 | 156 |
| Canada (Montreal) | 194.46 | 178.79 | 98 |
| Brazil (Sao Paulo) | 126.16 | 126.57 | 209 |
| South Africa (Johannesburg) | 111.08 | 105.77 | 173 |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 119.64 | 95.33 | 238 |
| Australia (Melbourne) | 83.7 | 56.94 | 294 |
As shown, AVG Secure VPN is lightning-fast. We saw a steady decline in speed as we moved away from the Netherlands, but we still didn’t experience any lag or similar problems. Getting lower speeds on distant servers is natural, but good VPNs will still ensure a smooth experience. Having said that, if your connection is extremely slow (<10 Mbps), we recommend sticking to nearby servers.
The connection times were good, usually ranging between three and five seconds. Occasionally, a server would take 30+ seconds to connect, but those were the exceptions, not the rule. It only happened seven times during a full week of testing. Once established, the connection was always solid, without any sudden interruptions.
AVG Secure VPN offers great speeds and impressive connection stability. However, if you want the absolute fastest VPN out there, we still recommend going with Surfshark. AVG is fast but still can’t compete with the king of raw speed.
Speed during daily use
During our testing, we watched a lot of YouTube shorts without a single buffer circle. We usually watch some good shows on Netflix during this phase, but we skipped it here since AVG VPN doesn’t work with Netflix. Regular browsing was smooth, but note that browsers with enhanced security might affect your speed as well.
During our gaming test, we played Minecraft, MTG Arena, and Diablo II: Resurrected. The experience was quite seamless, as expected after our initial results. So, AVG is a good gaming VPN, even for bandwidth-hungry titles. We had a similar experience during our torrenting test, as well.
Safety – How Secure Is AVG Secure VPN?
When it comes to online safety, your VPN’s main job is to anonymize your browsing. It does this by encrypting your traffic, masking your real IP, and avoiding invasive logging. With these principles in mind, AVG Secure VPN gets a 6/10 for security.
Here’s our reasoning behind this score:
- AVG Secure VPN supports OpenVPN, WireGuard, and Mimic (which didn’t work for us).
- The company incorporates a questionable logging policy.
- The client comes with an automatic kill switch.
- We didn’t experience DNS or IP leaks during our tests.
- We had to provide our email and billing method during registration.
Protocols
AVG Secure VPN supports the following VPN protocols:
- OpenVPN (Windows, Android): The gold standard among VPN tunnels, known for its excellent speeds and security.
- WireGuard (Windows, Android): The future of VPN tunnels, this is the fastest protocol by far.
- Mimic (Windows, Android, macOS, iOS): A proprietary protocol launched by Avast that didn’t work for us.
- IKEv2 (macOS, iOS): A protocol with the best reconnection capabilities, ideal for mobile users and people who travel a lot.
AVG VPN client doesn’t offer a choice between OpenVPN TCP and UDP. In other words, we don’t know what type of connection it uses. When we asked the customer support team about this, we didn’t get a satisfactory response.
However, their Mimic protocol is advertised as a perfect tool for bypassing online censorship. According to the site, it uses ports that are less likely to be blocked in censorship-heavy countries. Since TCP usually has fewer problems with port blocking, we would hazard a guess that AVG VPN only supports UDP. Of course, we can’t know for sure without official confirmation.
AVG’s Mimic protocol didn’t work at all during our testing. In spite of its suggestive name, Mimic is not a stealthy protocol. It doesn’t use obfuscation to make your VPN traffic appear like regular browsing. If you’re looking for this ultimate tool against online censorship, we recommend going with NordVPN instead.
Lastly, we have WireGuard, which is the fastest protocol on this list. However, WireGuard has some privacy issues that every VPN provider has to solve. At this point, we don’t trust AVG VPN enough to recommend using their implementation of WireGuard. So, we’d recommend using OpenVPN for most of your activities.
AVG VPN can also pick the protocol for you automatically. Usually, this is a sophisticated mechanism that takes numerous factors into account and employs the best connection for your needs. This is not the case with AVG, though – its client simply tries to use OpenVPN (IKEv2/IPSec on iOS and macOS) and switches to Mimic if it encounters a problem.
OpenVPN and Mimic use AES-256 encryption, while WireGuard employs ChaCha20. AES is the best encryption cipher out there, also known as “military-grade” encryption. It’s also used by banks, hospitals, and other institutions with sensitive data to protect.
Logging and privacy
in 2016, AVG was acquired by Avast Software, which is based in the Czech Republic. This is a good VPN location since the Czech Republic is GDPR-compliant and outside of the Eyes Alliance. Naturally, this has to be complemented by a secure logging policy.
With that in mind, here’s the info recorded during our AVG Secure VPN review:
- Server-side data: Connection timestamps, amount of transmitted data
- Client-side data: Connection events (attempts to connect/disconnect, errors, etc.), application events (auto-connects, uninstalls, etc.), crash reports
On the other hand, AVG VPN doesn’t log your:
- Real IP address
- DNS queries
- Browsing history
- Transferred files or messages
At first glance, this is an acceptable privacy policy. Connection logs are the lesser of two evils (as opposed to activity logs) and shouldn’t be able to positively identify you. However, we do have some concerns.
Namely, connection timestamps could be dangerous if someone also manages to obtain your real IP address. This will allow hackers to target your ISP with phishing attacks or even break into your computer. Even though AVG VPN doesn’t log your true IP, some of its third-party tools do (AppsFlyer Analytics for Android and iOS, for example).
Pro Tip
When reading a VPN privacy policy, also focus on what is not said. For example, if AVG VPN states that it doesn’t log your real IP address, you have to wonder whether it records the IP of the VPN server used. Noting what the privacy policy of a VPN provider doesn’t mention will help you learn more about it.
Furthermore, AVG doesn’t say anything about the IP addresses assigned to you by their VPN servers. These are not dangerous on their own but could become a privacy risk when combined with various device identifiers and other logged data.
Lastly, Avast has had some security blunders in the past, which makes this logging policy even more problematic. Although not the worst logging practice we’ve ever seen, AVG VPN is still recording a lot of info it shouldn’t. In our opinion, adopting a full no-logging policy would greatly benefit this VPN provider. In the meantime, we recommend picking a safer option from our list of truly zero-log VPNs.
Kill switch
A kill switch is an essential fail-safe that cuts your internet connection if your VPN malfunctions and drops the protected tunnel. This prevents important data like your IP address and online activity from leaking out.
AVG Secure VPN comes with an automatic kill switch, located in the “Network Security” section of the Settings menu.
Apart from the Windows operating system, the kill switch setting also works on macOS, Android, and iOS.
Note that the kill switch is disabled by default, so you’ll have to activate it manually. We definitely recommend doing this since you’ll be risking all your private info every time AVG VPN’s connection fails.
Does AVG Secure VPN leak your data?
During our extensive testing circuit in this AVG Secure VPN review, we didn’t see any DNS or WebRTC leaks. We used the leak test on ipleak.net as well as our own IP checker.
As you can see, our DNS requests were only routed through AVG VPN’s servers, which means our ISP can’t see what we’re doing online. Our real IP address was also well-hidden at all times, so extra points to AVG for being completely leak-proof.
If you want to check your device for any type of dangerous data leaks, we recommend giving our free tool a try.
What information does AVG Secure VPN need?
During registration, we were prompted to provide only our email and payment method. We used a burner email without personal identifiers and went with PayPal. However, AVG somehow managed to pull our PayPal email and use it as a part of our sign-up credentials. Furthermore, the receipt will also feature your full name and phone number associated with PayPal.
We are definitely not fans of this approach where a company pulls info from its third-party associates. We also didn’t feel comfortable accessing PayPal through the AVG VPN Windows app. The company also doesn’t support crypto payments, so the potential for privacy is heavily limited.
With all that in mind, AVG VPN’s registration process needs a lot of work. We’d like to see crypto payments included in the future and more user privacy thrown into the mix.
Usability – How User-Friendly Is AVG Secure VPN?
A good VPN should maintain a perfect balance between beginner-friendliness and advanced options aimed at power users. With that in mind, AVG Secure VPN gets a 7/10 for user-friendliness.
Here are the main conclusions describing our user experience while compiling this AVG Secure VPN review:
- AVG Secure VPN’s website is simple and easy to navigate.
- The installation is fast and effortless.
- Activating the free trial can be confusing.
- AVG VPN apps are fairly easy to use.
- The prices are quite high for what you’re getting.
- The customer support team is quick to respond, but they lack technical knowledge.
AVG Secure VPN’s website and installation process
AVG VPN’s website is just a branch of AVG’s main site. It’s pretty well-designed, and you’ll have no trouble finding your way around. Companies with multiple products, like McAfee, for example, usually have massive convoluted websites with confusing menus and options. Fortunately, this is not the case with AVG.
The page goes straight to the point – you can see the available plans after your first mouse scroll and pick the option that works for you. However, we recommend creating your AVG account beforehand. Simply click on “Log in to AVG MyAccount” in the top-right corner and then “Create an account.”
As we mentioned, make sure to use an email that’s tied to your PayPal account if you’re opting for this payment method. After registration, you’ll gain access to your personal dashboard. It offers good control over your AVG account and software without overwhelming you with options.
It allows you to:
- Add more devices to your account
- Monitor your subscriptions
- Check your order history
- Customize your account
- Contact customer support
- Access free online tools (AVG Secure Browser and Password generator)
The installation was fast and simple. At the moment, AVG Secure VPN supports only Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It also doesn’t feature any browser extensions. AVG does have its own browser with a built-in VPN, but we prefer the luxury of choosing our own browsers and adding the extensions we want.
For this AVG Secure VPN review, we primarily tested its Windows and Android apps. Here are the steps for installing AVG VPN on Windows:
- Visit AVG Secure VPN’s official website.
- Click on “Log in to AVG MyAccount” in the top-right corner of the homepage.
- Click on “Create an account” and sign up with your chosen credentials.
- Go back to the homepage and pick a subscription plan.
- After purchase, use the same “Log in to AVG MyAccount” button to access your personal dashboard.
- Click on “My subscriptions” to download the setup file for your device.
- Click on the downloaded file to initiate the installation.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
If you want to start your 60-day free trial on Windows, make sure to pick the corresponding option on the official website. Once you’ve installed the client, you’ll get a pop-up offering to start your trial.
Note that you’ll have to provide your payment method at this point. If you do not cancel in time, you will be charged for a full year. Oddly enough, AVG’s corporate policy allows them to charge the price for the next subscription period up to 35 days before the present subscription expires. We’re not sure how this works with the 2-month free trial and couldn’t get a response from customer support. Theoretically, their policy allows them to turn a 60-day free trial into a 25-day trial.
You can also activate a seven-day free trial on Android. Simply click the corresponding option in the menu of the AVG VPN Windows app. Note that the option says, “Get free mobile version,” which is misleading. You’ll, in fact, be getting a seven-day trial, after which you’ll be charged.
AVG VPN supports up to ten simultaneous connections, which is quite generous. This should cover most households, but if you need even more, you can get unlimited simultaneous connections with IPVanish and Surfshark.
AVG Secure VPN’s appearance and ease-of-use
AVG Secure VPN apps are fairly basic and easy to use. They don’t offer any advanced options, so power users might not enjoy them as much.
The main window features a prominent on/off toggle with location info underneath. A server list shortcut is located at the very bottom of the client. Apart from the hamburger menu in the top-right corner, the AVG Secure VPN app doesn’t feature anything else. It’s a rather minimalistic client without too much clutter, which we always enjoy.
Once you connect, you’ll also get info about your current location, original/assigned IP, and session duration.
The aforementioned hamburger menu allows you to:
- Enter the premium activation code (if you have one)
- Access the Settings menu
- Check your subscriptions
- Start your seven-day trial on mobile
- Contact customer support
The Settings menu is divided into three tabs:
- General: Notifications, app startup, language, local device access
- Network Security: Options to activate AVG VPN automatically, kill switch
- VPN Protocols: VPN tunnel options
AVG Secure VPN app currently supports 20 languages, which should be enough for all users worldwide.
Pricing and payment methods
AVG Secure VPN is far from the cheapest VPN out there. It basically starts at $4.39/month for their longest subscription, which is too expensive for what you’re getting. For example, CyberGhost costs only $2.19/month and offers so much more. If we wish to take things even further, we can recommend FastestVPN – an excellent service that costs only $0.66/month. Note that we’re talking about the longest subscription for all providers.
With that out of the way, here’s the current pricing scheme offered by AVG Secure VPN:
- AVG Secure VPN 1 year $4.49mth View offer
- AVG Secure VPN 2 years $4.39mth View offer
- AVG Secure VPN 3 years $4.39mth View offer
As you can see, one year is the shortest subscription offered by AVG VPN. We are huge opponents of this approach and prefer having a one-month option as well. Admittedly, a 60-day free trial mitigates this problem to an extent.
Moreover, AVG VPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you test the product and decide you don’t want to continue with the service, the provider will refund your money.
When it comes to payment methods, AVG only accepts PayPal and credit cards. We prefer the option of paying for VPNs with crypto and hope AVG will include this in the future. In the meantime, we always have services like Mullvad VPN, which accepts anonymous cash payments.
During purchase, AVG will try to create a bundle and push some of their other products. So, we recommend taking your time and reading everything carefully. Otherwise, you might end up buying software you don’t really need.
All in all, we don’t feel like AVG Secure VPN is justifying its prices at the moment. Offering a basic, beginner-friendly service is fine, but the prices have to follow suit. We have to commend the 60-day free trial on desktop devices, though. This is something we don’t see often, and it earns AVG a huge thumbs up from us.
Customer service
AVG offers enough on-site support to solve some of the problems you might encounter. This includes a comprehensive FAQ section paired with a support forum. After browsing the forum for a while, though, we discovered that not many user questions were answered properly.
AVG also offers live chat support, which is always a huge plus in our book. However, the support team was one of the worst we’ve ever encountered. It’s clear that AVG doesn’t put a huge emphasis on its VPN, and the agents certainly don’t know much about it.
After our initial talk with an agent, we were transferred to another (tech-savvier) agent and got even less from him. All they did was copy the general talk from the on-site FAQs and couldn’t go much further than that.
It was a frustrating experience when the support agent wasn’t even reading our questions. They were just skimming for buzzwords and copying and pasting anything remotely related from the FAQ section. We did get two follow-up emails asking us whether our issues were resolved. Unfortunately, we already knew that we couldn’t get the info we needed for this AVG Secure VPN review.
Also, note that the chat tool requires your first and last name. This is not something a VPN provider needs, and it leaves a bad taste coming from a privacy/security tool.
All in all, AVG VPN customer support needs a lot of work. Maybe they’re more familiar with AVG’s other products, but their VPN knowledge is severely lacking.
Server Network – Can AVG Secure VPN Unblock the Internet?
The overall performance of any VPN largely depends on its network of servers. Going bigger is almost always better, but server quality also plays a huge role. Good VPN server networks provide better speeds, less lag, and a smoother geo-unblocking experience. With that in mind, AVG Secure VPN gets a 5/10 for its server setup.
Here’s what we discovered during our testing in this AVG Secure VPN review:
- AVG Secure VPN has about 700 servers in 56 locations worldwide.
- It does not unblock Netflix and other streaming services.
- It allows torrenting and offers dedicated P2P servers.
- AVG Secure VPN does not provide a dedicated IP address.
Number of servers and locations
AVG uses Avast SecureLine VPN’s server network, which means it operates around 700 servers. They are spread across almost 40 countries and 56 locations. During our leak test, we noticed that all the servers we used were rented from Datacamp Limited. So, we believe that Avast/AVG mostly rent their servers instead of hosting them.
You can access the list of available server locations by clicking the “Change Location” button at the bottom of the AVG VPN app. The server locations don’t come with any load indicators, and you cannot even create a list of favorites.
The full list of AVG Secure VPN server countries includes:
- Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the US
- Asia Pacific: Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan
- Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and Ukraine
- Middle East: Israel and Turkey
- Africa: South Africa
AVG VPN can’t pick a server for you automatically. This feature usually chooses one based on your location and connection speed. With AVG, though, you’ll have to do this manually.
AVG Secure VPN and streaming (Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, BBC iPlayer)
We tested AVG Secure VPN with all the popular streaming platforms, and the results were not flattering. We tried with OpenVPN and WireGuard and couldn’t unblock anything.
So, here are the official results of our AVG VPN geo-unblocking test:
| Platform | Can AVG Secure VPN unblock it? |
|---|---|
| Netflix | ✖ |
| Disney Plus | ✖ |
| Hulu | ✖ |
| Amazon Prime Video | ✖ |
| BBC iPlayer | ✖ |
The bottom line, AVG VPN has zero geo-unblocking capabilities. If you wish to access premium streaming catalogs, we recommend using one of our best VPNs for Netflix instead.
The funniest thing is AVG VPN actually has dedicated streaming servers. We tested every single one and still could not access anything. We were bombarded by proxy errors, no matter which streaming platform we were testing.
Since we didn’t see any leaks during our tests, we can’t really say why AVG VPN can’t unblock popular streaming sites. Their shared IPs could’ve all been blacklisted, but we can’t know for sure.
AVG Secure VPN and torrents
AVG VPN allows torrenting and even offers dedicated P2P servers. You can pick between eight server locations, and we can say that they’re all pretty fast.
So, AVG Secure VPN is a true P2P powerhouse that’ll help you download files in no time. Given its speed and stability, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it among the very best VPNs for torrenting in the future.
Dedicated IP address
We’ve already categorized AVG as a simple VPN, which means it most definitely doesn’t offer dedicated IP addresses. If you’d like an IP that’s tied to your account and never changes, we recommend giving Private Internet Access a try.
Our Experience With AVG Secure VPN
AVG Secure VPN is a mixed bag that needs a lot more work before it can compete with the best VPNs out there. It provides a decent security setup but can’t get anywhere near the likes of NordVPN.
Its speeds are quite impressive, which makes AVG a good VPN for gaming, torrenting, and streaming. Unfortunately, it can’t unblock Netflix US or any other geo-restricted streaming services. In other words, you’d be much better off using Surfshark, which is faster, cheaper, and more feature-packed.
AVG VPN’s apps are beginner-friendly with some annoying features, but CyberGhost is still a better option for complete beginners. It also offers higher levels of privacy and security.
Lastly, AVG VPN is quite expensive for what it provides. Yes, you get a 60-day free trial on Windows, but after that, you’re locked in for a whole year. With all the flaws outlined above, we’d honestly recommend using the free version of Proton VPN instead if you’re on a budget.
AVG Secure VPN definitely has potential but also too many problems to be considered a worthwhile investment. The modern VPN market is very competitive, and there’s simply no room for half-baked services. As it stands, we can’t recommend AVG VPN until all its problems get solved.
Want to learn more about AVG Secure VPN without going through our entire review? Just click on one of the FAQs below to expand the answer.
AVG Secure VPN is not very good, considering the modern standards for VPN quality. It offers good speeds and decent security, but logs too much info, it’s expensive, its Mimic protocol doesn’t work, and the customer support can’t answer even the most basic of questions. If you’re looking for a solid VPN, we recommend checking our list of the best VPN for this year instead.
No, AVG Secure VPN is not free. It comes with a 60-day free trial after which you’ll be charged for a full year. 60 days is a very generous trial period but AVG has too many problems for us to honestly recommend it. If you’re on a budget, we suggest taking a look at our list of truly free VPNs instead.
AVG VPN doesn’t keep activity logs but records plenty of info it shouldn’t. This includes your connection timestamps, which can be used for nefarious purposes against you. Its partners are also logging quite a bit of data, including your IP address. In other words, we don’t like AVG VPN’s privacy levels and would recommend one of truly no-logging VPNs instead.
No AVG Secure VPN does not work with Netflix and can’t unblock geo-restricted streaming services. During our testing, we got proxy errors on Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Crunchyroll, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video. If streaming is your main reason for getting a VPN, we recommend going with one of our best VPNs for Netflix.
Yes and no. AVG Secure VPN definitely has enough speed to push even the most bandwidth-hungry of titles. However, its logging practices are not the safest and it’s quite expensive for what it offers. You can learn all about this provider in our full AVG Secure VPN review.
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