Turbo VPN Review: A Popular But Opaque VPN Provider

Turbo VPN offers a free and paid service, both of which are focused on getting you connected without much fluff. It’s a standard VPN service, offering five simultaneous connections on the paid subscription and a generous free plan.

The free service is the star of the show, but Turbo VPN’s paid subscription isn’t too expensive. Here’s what you’ll pay after the seven-day free trial:

• One month: $11.99
• Six months: $39.99 every six months
• One year: $59.99 every year
• Two years: $99.99 every two years

Turbo VPN secures your connection with AES-128 encryption and hides your IP address for the free plan; premium users are protected by AES-256 encryption, the company confirmed to Forbes Advisor. It offers the OpenVPN protocol for connections, which is widely used across the VPN industry and considered a trusted protocol.

Unlimited Free Plan

Turbo VPN stands out in the crowded VPN market with an unlimited free plan. Although the app pushes users to sign up for a seven-day free trial (and eventually, a subscription), you can use it free of charge without any limits on speed or bandwidth.

The free plan is supported by ads, which periodically pop up while you’re using the app. Free users don’t have access to the full server list, but Turbo VPN still provides locations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore and India.

A Lot of Servers (But Not a Lot of Locations)

Turbo VPN offers over 21,000 servers on its paid plan, but they aren’t distributed very well. Across the free and paid plans, Turbo VPN offers 21 locations at the time of writing. Other Turbo VPN reviews claim anywhere from 26 to over 50 locations, so the exact number may change from time to time.

The number of countries is even slimmer. Our count shows only 11 countries: the U.S., UK, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Singapore, India, Russia, Japan, Argentina and Mexico.

Turbo VPN claims on its App Store page that it follows a strict no-logs policy. The definition of a “strict no-logs policy” is messy across VPN services, as most participate in some level of data collection, even if that data can’t identify you. That said, Turbo VPN stretches the definition even beyond its vague boundaries.

The privacy policy on Turbo VPN’s website starts with what the service doesn’t collect. That includes your IP address, connection timestamps and your browsing history. Shortly after, Turbo VPN talks about what it does collect, which is at odds with the first section.

Turbo VPN collects anonymous data, including “success of VPN connections, VPN location you connected to, your country, and your internet service provider.” So, Turbo VPN doesn’t log your IP address, but it still logs where you’re coming from, where you’re going and who is facilitating that connection.

The privacy policy says that “you cannot be identified from this abstracted data,” but the fact remains that many other VPN services, at least publicly, don’t collect this information.

The free plan makes the privacy matters worse. Turbo VPN doesn’t target advertisements based on your data, but it allows third-party advertising partners to “set and access their own cookies, pixel tags, and similar technologies,” as well as “collect or have access to data about you.”

We’re not claiming malice, but it’s important to remember that Turbo VPN offers an unlimited free service. That carries some caveats that run counter to the purpose of a VPN, and those caveats aren’t really accounted for under a “strict no-logs policy” claim.

Outside of its privacy policy and marketing bullet points, Turbo VPN shares very little information about itself.

Its parent company, Innovative Connecting Pte. Ltd., is based out of Singapore and manages several other free VPN and proxy apps. It, too, shares very little information.

The lack of transparency doesn’t inspire trust. And trust is a key factor when it comes to choosing a VPN service.

Further obfuscating matters, Turbo VPN’s shares the exact same name with another VPN, which is owned by a Cyprus-based company called Airsharp Ltd. The popular VPN apps are run by the Singaporian company—not the Cyprian company.

Turbo VPN doesn’t look bad in a number of areas, but putting it up against some of the top VPNs on the market starts to reveal its weaknesses. At around $60 per year and $12 per month, it’s in-line with NordVPN and TunnelBear. It doesn’t always offer the same features for the cost, though.

NordVPN stands out as the strongest provider. It includes an extra simultaneous connection and offers a dedicated IP address add-on. NordVPN also benefits from a lot of social proof. It has 4.2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot out of 5,560 reviews—whereas Turbo VPN doesn’t have a Trustpilot page. (The Cyprus-based TurboVPN does.)

With a slim server network and no dedicated IP option, TunnelBear is lacking. Both TunnelBear and Turbo VPN offer a free plan, which earns them some extra points. However, TunnelBear’s free plan uses a limited bandwidth model while Turbo VPN supports its free option through in-app ads.

You’ll spend the same price for all three services on the annual end of things (and across most of the VPN market, for that matter). With the cost equal, it becomes clear that an option like NordVPN offers more for your money than Turbo VPN.

NordVPN is perhaps the most generous comparison to Turbo VPN, too. Private Internet Access is cheaper and offers a larger server network. CyberGhost is also cheaper, and it comes with more simultaneous connections. In short, Turbo VPN charges the same or more than the competition without really justifying that cost.

The best VPNs on the market are flexible, offering up functionality for remote workers, small businesses and everyday web surfers. Turbo VPN is for personal use, and its marketing reflects that.

The killer is the lack of a dedicated IP option. Even as a security tool, businesses need a dedicated IP address to interface with remote workers and configure cloud-based apps. Turbo VPN doesn’t have that functionality, leaving it suitable for personal use such as unblocking content from other countries.