Are you considering purchasing an IPVanish or StrongVPN subscription?
StrongVPN, even though a relatively smaller vpn company, has a ton of great features that a great vpn company should have.
So how does IPVanish and StrongVPN compare against each other?
In this IPVanish vs StrongVPN comparison we are going to compare these two vpns in order to establish which is a better vpn overall than the other.
We are going to compare IPVanish with StrongVPN along the lines of their connection speeds, streaming as well as torrenting support.
I hope that by the end of this IPVanish vs StrongVPN comparison you’ll be able to make a choice between either IPVanish or StrongVPN.
So let’s get started right away.
Here is a quick summary.
| IPVanish | StrongVPN | |
| Website | ipvanish.com | strongvpn.com |
| Servers | 1,400 | 950 |
| Jurisdiction | United States | United States |
| Streaming | Netflix US, Hulu, Amazon | Netflix, Hulu, Amazon |
| Speed | 4.2/5 | 4.2/5 |
| Torrenting | P2P servers | All servers |
| Kill Switch | YES | YES |
| Works in China? | NO | YES |
| Devices | 10 | 12 |
| Pricing | $ 6.49/month | $ 5.83/month |
About
IPVanish is VPN services provider that enables you to access the internet privately and securely making your invisible to your ISP.
Here is a detailed IPVanish review.
StrongVPN, on the other hand, is a VPN company based in the United States that will enable you to access the internet securely as well as access censored content in internet restricted countries like China.
Here is a more in depth StrongVPN review.
Server Collection
How many vpn servers does IPVanish and StrongVPN have?
In order to be able to provide more options when choosing a server to connect to, a vpn company should have a large collection of servers.
It is also better if these servers are spread across a larger geographical region.
IPVanish has a total of 1,300 vpn servers based in 75 different countries at the time of writing this IPVanish vs StrongVPN comparison.
StrongVPN, on the other hand, only has a collection of 950 servers in total that are based in 30 different countries.
From this comparison it is clear that IPVanish has a large collection of servers as compared to StrongVPN.
Their servers are also more widely spread across different countries than StrongVPN.
If you are looking for a vpn that covers a larger geographical region then I recommend IPVanish instead of StrongVPN.
Streaming
One area that most vpns struggle with is the ability to unblock geo restricted content on video streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu.
These platforms are getting smarter every day at detecting proxy servers or vpn IPs that are used to circumvent their content blocks.
Once detected, they blacklist your IP and server you with a proxy server error page.
How does IPVanish vs StrongVPN streaming capabilities compare?
IPVanish is able to unblock and streaming content on Netflix when you are connected to their servers that are based in the United States.
However, their servers are blocked by Netflix in other countries like the UK and Canada.
Other streaming platforms like Hulu, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer also completely block all IPVanish IPs regardless of the country you try to connect from.
StrongVPN, on the flip side, is able to unblock Netflix for the US and other countries without experiencing proxy server errors.
In addition to Netflix, you’ll also be able to stream content on Hulu using StrongVPN.
However, other streaming platforms like Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer currently block StrongVPN IPs.
Nonetheless, StrongVPN is able to unblock more streaming platforms that IPVanish.
If you are looking for a vpn that can unblock both Netflix and Hulu then I recommend StrongVPN.
Speed
How does IPVanish vs StrongVPN speeds compare?
A vpn that provides better connection speeds will deliver a better user experience.
In order for a vpn to deliver better connection speeds, it needs to maintain at least 80% of your original connection speeds before connecting to the servers.
I tested IPVanish and StrongVPN speeds by connecting to three servers that are located in the US, UK and Hong Kong.
I then used speedtest.net to measure their ping, upload and download speeds before and after connecting to their servers.
For the servers that I connected to, IPVanish had an average download speed that was 84% of my original speeds.
StrongVPN also delivered download speeds that were 83% of my original download speeds.
In terms of internet download speeds, it appears that both IPVanish and StrongVPN are a match for each other.
If you are are looking for a vpn that will deliver great connection speeds then either IPVanish or StrongVPN is a great option.
Torrenting
When it comes to downloading files from torrent sites, you should ensure that you never start any torrent downloads before first connecting to a vpn server.
This will ensure that your original IP address is hidden so that your torrenting activities cannot be traced back to you.
How does StrongVPN vs IPVanish torrenting support compare?
IPVanish at the time of writing this vpn comparison only supports torrenting on some of their servers.
In order to download torrent files, you first need to connect to these P2P optimized servers that are available by clicking on the torrenting tab in the app menu.
StrongVPN, on the flip side, supports torrenting activities on all their servers.
So you don’t need to connect to any special servers in order for you to download torrent files… any server will do.
It is therefore clear that StrongVPN has better support for P2P files sharing than IPVanish.
If you are looking for a vpn that support torrenting, then either StrongVPN or IPVanish is a great option.
Privacy Policy
A vpn that really wants to make you anonymous only will not keep any logs that can be used to identify you.
Unfortunately, vpn companies are greedy for information and will not be that nice by default.
So you have to comb through their privacy policies to find out who really cares about your privacy and anonymity online.
In order to compare IPVanish vs StrongVPN privacy policies, I read through each one’s privacy policy and here is what I found out.
To begin with, both IPVanish and StrongVPN are located in the United States which is not a great place to base a vpn company.
The US is part of the 14 eyes countries surveillance alliance that will spy on you and share this information with other countries in this alliance.
In addition to that, the US also has laws that obligate a vpn company to comply anytime the government asks for user logs through a court order.
IPVanish, in order to deliver true privacy, states in their privacy policy that they do not log data.
I find that rather vague.
IPVanish should come out clear on what kind of data they actually log and what they don’t log.
We know that vpns need some kind of data logs to work properly.
Without logs at all, how would the vpn know that you have exceeded the total number of connected devices?
StrongVPN, just like IPVanish, also states in their privacy policy that they do not keep logs…
The same thing… very vague and does not make me any confident that they don’t keep any information that could tie certain activities on their servers to me.
I don’t think IPVanish and StrongVPN are being honest, open or clear enough about their privacy policies.
If you are looking for a vpn that is transparent about their privacy policy then I challenge you to show me any vpn that does it better than NordVPN.
Encryption and Data Protection
In order to protect you personal information online you should ensure that it is encrypted in a format that is impossible to decrypt.
This is what vpns do…
They encrypt your data and make it unreadable to a malicious hacker who would hijack the packets and try to decrypt them.
IPVanish and StrongVPN, both use AES 256-bit encryption to encrypt your data.
It is a tamper proof encryption technology that is impossible to crack and is even used by militaries and top government agencies like the FBI.
What about the vpn protocols?
IPVanish will let you choose to use various protocols that include OpenVPN, L2TP, SSTP and PPTP protocols.
StrongVPN also gives you a lot of options when it comes to protocols that include OPenVPN, IKEv2, SSTP, L2TP and WireGuard.
As you can see both IPVanish and StrongVPN use strong encryption technologies and connection protocols that ensure the security of your personal information.
If you are looking for a vpn that is great for security online then I recommend either StrongVPN or IPVanish.
Ad Blocker
A vpn ad blocker is a feature in most vpns that enable you to turn off ads on most websites.
They’ll not only disable ads, but they also block any kind of tracking that most adware do in order to follow you around the web with a particular ad.
How does IPVanish vs StrongVPN ad blockers compare?
You’d expect that since both IPVanish and StrongVPN are vpns that charge a premium for their servers, they’d at least have adblocker but that ain’t the case.
Both of these vpn do not have ad blockers in any of their apps.
Their apps also lack any malware blockers that can protect your devices from malware infected websites online.
If you are looking for the best vpn ad blocker then you have to look elsewhere because neither StrongVPN nor IPVanish has this feature.
Dedicated IPs
If you want an IP that is only available to you whenever you connect to the internet then you are talking about a dedicated IP address.
Connecting to a vpn the usual way always leads to you being assigned a shared IP address.
This increases the chance of a bad neighbor effect where someone might about this IP and get it blacklisted in certain websites.
These websites will then require you to prove you are not a robot by completing a captcha every time you access them.
A dedicated IP address solves this and also enables you to whitelist your IP on sensitive sites that will not allow you remote access using an IP that is strange.
Unfortunately, neither IPVanish nor StrongVPN support dedicated IPs.
So you won’t get a unique IP that you can whitelist for example in your work network if you want to be able to access it remotely.
If you are looking for a vpn with a dedicated IP then I recommend you check out CyberGhost vpn.
Kill Switch
How does StrongVPN vs IPVanish kill switches compare?
In order to ensure your internet access is always through your vpn, you need an internet kill switch to ensure your internet access is blocked anytime you are not connected to the vpn.
A disconnection could occur when you are switching servers or when your internet connection drops.
It is usually during these few seconds when you let your guard down that most vpn users are caught.
IPVanish and StrongVPN both have inbuilt automatic kill switches that will block internet access for you entire device anytime your are disconnected from the server.
So you’ll only be able to access internet when it is through your vpn and your real IP address with never be exposed.
If you are looking for a vpn with a kill switch then I recommend either IPVanish or StrongVPN.
Split Tunnelling
How about the ability to exempt certain applications from your vpn?
If there are some applications on your device that would love to not have their traffic channelled through your vpn tunnel then you need a split tunnel.
It enables you to whitelist certain applications and exclude them from your vpn.
This means that traffic through these apps is routed through your ISP as usual and not through your vpn.
Unfortunately, neither IPVanish nor StrongVPN have a split tunnel.
So you won’t be able to exempt certain applications, like your banking app, from having their traffic channelled through your vpn.
It could even be your app that runs your backups that you don’t want slowed down by speed drops caused by vpn connections.
If you are looking for a vpn that has a vpn split tunnel then I don’t recommend StrongVPN or IPVanish.
How about you check a vpn like Surfshark?
Works in China?
Are you looking for a vpn that you can carry with you to China?
China is not your typical country where you just walk in and launch your vpn and there you have the entire internet at your disposal.
No. It is a country where internet access is not only restricted but the use of vpns is also prohibited.
It is for this reason that most vpns are blocked in China.
How does IPVanish vs StrongVPN compare in terms of their ability to bypass China’s firewall?
In order for a vpn to be able to bypass China’s firewall, it needs to be able to make its traffic look like normal https traffic in order to be able to bypass the deep packet inspection technology of the firewall.
IPVanish does not have any such technology and it is for this reason that it is completely blocked in China.
IPVanish will not work in China.
StrongVPN, on the flip side, has a strong server obfuscation technology that makes it impossible for China’s firewall to detect their vpn traffic.
This means that you’ll be able to connect to StrongVPN servers while in China and access all the censored websites like YouTube without being detected.
If you are looking for a vpn that works in China then I recommend StrongVPN.
Pricing
How does IPVanish vs StrongVPN pricing compare?
In order to establish the cheaper vpn between StrongVPN and IPVanish, let’s compare their pricing plans.
The longer the pricing plan a vpn offers the great the discount that you’ll get.
IPVanish and StrongVPN both have a 1 year subscription plan that is their longest and cheapest plan.
StrongVPN 1 year plan costs $ 5.83/month while IPVanish 1 year plan will set you back $ 6.49/month.
As you can see, StrongVPN is a cheaper vpn than IPVanish.
However, it is quite annoying that none of these vpns has a plan that is longer than a year.
So you’ll have to find a disposable email each year to create an account which is very cumbersome.
If you are looking for a vpn that is cheaper, though, then I recommend StrongVPN instead of IPVanish.
Payment Options
What payment methods does IPVanish and StrongVPN support?
If a vpn supports anonymous payment methods like crypto payments, it makes it easier for you to avoid giving your billing address as these payment methods do not require a billing address.
Let’s finish this IPVanish vs StrongVPN payment options comparison by looking at how you’ll pay for your vpn plan.
IPVanish and StrongVPN both accept payments through all the major credit cards and PayPal.
However, neither IPVanish nor StrongVPN support crypto payments.
So you don’t get an opportunity to be anonymous through cryptocurrency payments.
If you are looking for a vpn that support crypto payments then I don’t recommend either IPVanish or StrongVPN.
You should check out other vpns like PrivateVPN.
In Conclusion
I hope this IPVanish vs StrongVPN comparison has helped you learn about the pros and cons of StrongVPN and IPVanish.
Are you now ready to make your choice between these two vpns?
If you are looking for a cheaper vpn that has unblocks both Netflix and Hulu, support torrenting on all its servers and works in China then I recommend StrongVPN.
However, if you are willing to pay a little more for a vpn that offers great connection speeds, has servers in more countries and works great with Netflix, then I recommend IPVanish.
Have you used either IPVanish or StrongVPN before?
Please share your experience in the comments below.
