The most expensive mainstream VPN ($300 per 2 years, $30/mo monthly) with the most hostile refund stance: 'All sales are final and refunds are not possible once purchase is made.' What you buy is a legitimately strong censorship-evasion stack - proprietary StealthVPN/OpenWeb protocols, a Supercharged China server tier, VIP latency add-on, BTC and even Monero payment, unlimited household devices - wrapped in opaque, unaudited, closed-source software.
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by the vpncomparison editorial desk · review version 4 · prose updated 2026-10-01 · facts as of 2026-10-01 · how we verify
Astrill VPN is a commercial service founded in 2009, marketed heavily to expats in China and Gulf states. It operates under Liechtenstein jurisdiction via Veloxee Corp., offering strong censorship-evasion tools like StealthVPN and OpenWeb. However, it comes with a premium price, zero refund window, and a privacy policy that collects more data than typical no-logs claims suggest.
Astrill claims a "no-logs policy" but admits to logging connection timestamps, IP addresses during active sessions, device types, app versions, and the last 20 connection records per account. Traffic volume is also tracked per account. This data retention is disclosed in its privacy policy, which contradicts a true no-logs stance. The logging evidence is "policy-only" - there are no independent audits, no warrant canary, and no court-tested validation. Jurisdiction in Liechtenstein offers moderate privacy protections, but the lack of transparency undermines any trust claims.
Astrill’s pricing is front-loaded: $300 every two years ($12.50/month), $180 annually ($15.00/month), or $30 monthly. The renewal price is not disclosed separately, so the renewal ratio cannot be calculated - but you’re locked into a 731-day contract with no refund option. There is no free tier, and all sales are final. Payment options include Bitcoin and Monero, offering some anonymity, though email verification is required at signup.
Astrill supports OpenVPN, WireGuard, and its proprietary obfuscation protocols StealthVPN and OpenWeb, making it one of the few services still functional in highly censored regions like China. It offers a kill switch, split tunneling, multihop, dedicated IPs, and supports P2P and streaming. It works across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and routers. Server count is unverified, but coverage spans 50 countries. Performance claims are untested by us, but user reports cite instability with streaming and high latency.
Astrill is operated by Veloxee Corp., registered in Liechtenstein. No ownership conflicts or conglomerate ties are disclosed, but the data quality is "reported," not verified. Red flags include a rigid no-refund policy unchanged since 2019, lack of audit transparency, and growing user frustration. Voices from Reddit and review sites describe outages, app instability, poor support, and declining reliability - including full-day downtimes affecting remote workers.
Astrill remains one of the few commercial tools still capable of bypassing the Great Firewall of China, thanks to its proprietary StealthVPN and OpenWeb protocols. It actively serves users in censored markets and is frequently recommended in expat communities. However, user reports confirm it can drop unexpectedly, fail on certain devices, or break during streaming - meaning it resists censorship in theory, but not always in practice.
Astrill may be worth considering only if you’re in China or a similarly restrictive country and need a tool that has a fighting chance against deep packet inspection. For everyone else - especially privacy-focused users or those who value refunds - it’s a poor choice. Be aware: this provider pays affiliate reviewers in Bitcoin, one of the highest commissions in the industry, which may explain its persistent presence in "top" lists.
| Intro price | $12.50/mo |
|---|---|
| Notes | No separate renewal-price disclosure found on the operator site - stays unknown, never guessed. |
See the 3-year total next to the marketing number: true-cost calculator →
has an affiliate program via in-house · published terms: 'Earn an average of $21 per sale, one of the highest in the VPN industry' - commissions calculated per subscription plan purchased; payouts in Bitcoin only ('Payouts are made in Bitcoin (BTC); no other payment methods are supported')
The only provider we verified that publishes a concrete average per-sale amount - and pays exclusively in BTC.
If we sign up for this program, every link here becomes rel="nofollow sponsored" and routes through /go/. Until then our links point straight to the provider's website with zero tracking. Ranking logic physically cannot read affiliate fields - here is the proof.
Captured by our screenshot bot from the live site (or its public archive). A capture is evidence of what the page showed at capture time - not an endorsement.
Before you pay: check the renewal price, the refund window, and whether a cheaper or free path covers your use case - the honest checklist.
Based on our checks as of 2026-10-01: Astrill VPN scores 6/10 in our weighted review. We logged 3 red flags (listed above). User reports, ownership and the incident record are documented with dated sources in the meta-review below.
You get access to Astrill’s proprietary obfuscation protocols, support for 50+ countries, P2P and streaming capabilities, and apps across major platforms. You also get zero refunds, opaque logging, and no independent verification of privacy claims - all at a premium price.
The renewal price is not disclosed, so the renewal ratio and three-year cash total cannot be determined. The two-year plan costs $300, but what happens after that is unknown - you’re locked into a 731-day contract with no refund option.
None beyond the company’s own policy. Astrill’s logging evidence is classified as "policy-only" - no third-party audits, no court-tested cases, and no warrant canary. It logs session IPs, connection times, device info, and traffic totals, which contradicts a true no-logs stance.
Yes, Astrill is one of the few commercial VPNs still used in China due to its StealthVPN and OpenWeb protocols. However, user reports confirm frequent drops, app instability, and outages - it works until it doesn’t, especially on laptops and routers.
Partially. Astrill accepts Bitcoin and Monero, which enhances payment privacy. However, email verification is required at signup, and some reports indicate phone number verification for the trial, reducing full anonymity.
You get no refund. Astrill’s policy states all sales are final, with no compensation for service loss. If the network goes down or gets blocked, you’re left without recourse - a serious risk given documented multi-day outages affecting users’ work.
There is no free tier. For budget users, self-hosting a WireGuard server (costing ~$10/month) or using community-driven tools like Outline or Shadowsocks offers more transparency and control - and avoids Astrill’s refund-free, closed-source model.
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