Is Surfshark legit?
Its claims are independently audited. Audits verify a point in time - check what exactly was audited. Owner: nord-security - see the ownership map. We logged 3 red flags - listed on the review page.
Surfshark delivers on streaming and household coverage with a technically audited no-logs policy, but it’s part of a consolidated corporate machine with opaque pricing and rising renewal costs. Only consider it if you plan to reassess before renewal. Be aware: Surfshark runs a 40% affiliate program, heavily funding the “top 10” lists that recommend it.
// The facts
| Pricing | $2.19 /month · renews $15.45 morePricing page is fully JS-rendered and account API gated; intro/renewal figures are best-2026-knowledge: Starter ~$2.19/mo (2-yr intro), standard renewal 'full price' per their own renewal page; historically renewal climbs toward ~$15/mo equivalent. Reliability: medium. |
|---|---|
| Typical term | 730 days |
| Refund window | 30 days |
| Payment | fiat/cards |
| Signup needs | email-only |
| Personal info required | none |
| Logging claim | No logs moreDeloitte (Lietuva) ISAE 3000 independent reasonable assurance report on the no-log VPN configuration, concluded 10 June 2025 (PDF fetched from surfshark.com) plus a SecuRing infrastructure penetration test Dec 2025 (PDF fetched). |
| Protocols | wireguard, openvpn, ikev2, dausos |
| Obfuscation | NoBorders / camouflage mode (obfuscated WireGuard/OpenVPN wh… moreNoBorders / camouflage mode (obfuscated WireGuard/OpenVPN where censored), Dausos - proprietary QUIC-based protocol released 2026-04 (ZDNet; community skeptical of closed-source crypto) |
| Audits | Deloitte Lietuva UAB 2025, SecuRing 2025, Cure53 2022 https://surfshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ISAE_3000-_Report-Surfshark_No_Log_VPN.pdf |
| Servers | ~4,500 |
| Countries | 100 |
| Apps | windows, mac, linux, android, ios, router, fire_tv, apple_tv |
| Features | kill switch, split tunneling, multi-hop, dedicated IP, P2P allowed, streaming |
| Jurisdiction | Netherlands |
| Owner | nord-security Owned by nord-security since 2022 (100%) |
based on 8 dated external sources · facts checked 2026-09-28 · methodology