Perfect Privacy / Surfshark compared
Same criteria, same rules. You see where they diverge.
No winner on this page. vpn-matrix.com assigns no points and makes no recommendations.
Differences (101)
Criteria where the values diverge.
| Perfect Privacy | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal company name | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbHconfirmed | Surfshark B.V.provider claim |
| Trademark holder, if different | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH / Perfect Privacy brandprovider claim | Surfshark (founder Vytautas Kaziukonis); merged under holding with Nord Security in 2022 while operating independentlyprovider claim |
| Year founded | 2008provider claim | 2018provider claim |
| Headquarters (country) | DEconfirmed | NLprovider claim |
| Other relevant jurisdictions | DE (Hamburg HRB 152750)confirmed | Britische Jungferninseln (früherer Registrierungsort, bis zur Verlagerung in die Niederlande 2021)confirmed |
| Intelligence alliance of the home country | 14 Eyesconfirmed | Nine Eyesprovider claim |
| Parent group / holding | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH (Hamburg)provider claim | Cyberspace (gemeinsame Holding von Surfshark und Nord Security, Niederlande)confirmed |
| Ownership structure | owners undisclosedprovider claim | founder ownedprovider claim |
| Sister VPN brands in the group | none documentedprovider claim | NordVPN (Nord Security)confirmed |
| Group owns VPN review and comparison sites | none documentedprovider claim | none disclosed on about pageprovider claim |
| Typical commission rate | ? | Ab 40 Prozent Umsatzbeteiligung an Neuverkäufen, Cookie-Laufzeit 30 Tage, Mindestauszahlung 100 USD.provider claim |
| Acquisition history / former name | Originally Switzerland-based (from 2008); later operated by CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH in Hamburg, Germany; technical entity claimed as Webinvest International SA (Panama)provider claim | Fusionsvereinbarung mit Nord Security, am 01.02.2022 vom Anbieter und am 02.02.2022 per Pressemitteilung bekanntgegeben.confirmed |
| Operating status | discontinuedconfirmed | activeconfirmed |
| Discontinuation date | 01/30/2026provider claim | ? |
| Core statement of the logging policy | No user traffic logs; no IP addresses, access times/duration, or per-user bandwidth stored; account holds login, expiry, emailconfirmed | Laut Datenschutzerklärung werden besuchte IP-Adressen, Browserverlauf, Sitzungsinformationen, Verbindungszeitstempel, genutzte Bandbreite und Netzwerkverkehr nicht erhoben.provider claim |
| Connection logs | noneconfirmed | per sessionprovider claim |
| Storage of the real IP address | not storedconfirmed | transient onlyprovider claim |
| Recording of transferred data volume | aggregate onlyconfirmed | not recordedconfirmed |
| Enforcement of the device limit | Unlimited simultaneous connections (vendor claim; mirrored in reviews)provider claim | Unlimited simultaneous connectionsprovider claim |
| Minimum account data required | username/password, account expiry, emailconfirmed | E-Mail-Adresse, verschlüsseltes Passwort, Registrierungsdatum, gegebenenfalls Gutscheincode sowie Abonnement- und Zahlungsdaten.provider claim |
| Telemetry in the apps | noneprovider claim | cannot be disabledprovider claim |
| Trackers and SDKs in the Android app | None — vendor claimed in-house development without third parties (Wayback home)provider claim | Laut Datenschutzerklärung Iterable, Firebase Analytics (Google), Purchasely und AppsFlyer.provider claim |
| Trackers in the iOS app | No iOS app (CyberInsider con); N/A for first-party iOS SDKsprovider claim | AppsFlyer; Firebase Analytics; Iterable; Purchasely (named in privacy policy as marketing/application analytics providers)confirmed |
| Trackers and cookies on the website | Google Analytics with anonymizeIp; advertising cookies disclosedprovider claim | Privacy policy discloses site analytics/cookies categoriesprovider claim |
| Data shared with third parties | Payment processors (Paymentwall, PayPal, Stripe, Bitcoin processors); Google Analytics on website with anonymized IPprovider claim | Zahlungsdienstleister, Marketing- und Analysedienste, Speicher- und Chat-Dienstleister sowie Konzerngesellschaften; genannte Empfängerländer sind die USA, Schweden, Frankreich, Irland und das Vereinigte Königreich.provider claim |
| Retention periods stated in the policy | VPN: no connection data retained; account credentials/email/expiry retained for billing/supportprovider claim | Verbindungsdaten werden laut Anbieter innerhalb von 15 Minuten nach Sitzungsende gelöscht; Daten des Email-Scam-Checkers spätestens nach 7 Tagen.provider claim |
| Independent no-logs audit | noprovider claim | yesconfirmed |
| No-logs audit details | No-logs policy described as involuntarily tested via police server seizures (notably 2016 Golem/heise reporting); vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepageprovider claim | ISAE 3000 (Revised), Deloitte Lietuva UAB, Prüfarbeiten vom 14.05.2025 bis 10.06.2025, Bericht vom 10.06.2025. Geprüft wurden Standard-, Static-IP-, Multihop- und Multiport-Server sowie Konfigurations- und Deployment-Prozesse. Nicht im Prüfumfang: Datenübertragungssicherheit, Streaming-Infrastruktur, Zugriffsrechte und physische Sicherheit.confirmed |
| Audit report published | not publishedprovider claim | full reportconfirmed |
| App and client audits | Vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepage; no named app-audit firm/report URL foundprovider claim | Cure53 prüfte im November 2018 die Browser-Erweiterungen für Chrome und Firefox; SecuRing prüfte 2025 Web-, Desktop-, Mobil- und Browser-Anwendungen.confirmed |
| Infrastructure and server audits | No public infra audit report found; involuntary 2016 seizure treated as practical no-logs test in secondary sourcesprovider claim | Cure53 prüfte im März 2021 Server- und VPN-Konfiguration sowie im Februar und März 2026 Architektur und Kryptografie des Dausos-Protokolls; SecuRing führte vom 01.12.2025 bis 10.12.2025 einen Penetrationstest der Netzinfrastruktur durch.confirmed |
| Tested in court or by authorities | 2016 Netherlands server seizure reported; no customer data recovered (vendor/community narrative on archived pages and reviews)provider claim | Im Transparenzbericht für April bis Juni 2026 nennt Surfshark 33 behördliche Anfragen und einen Durchsuchungsbeschluss aus April 2026.provider claim |
| Transparency report | noneprovider claim | regularprovider claim |
| Warrant canary | staleprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Security incidents and data leaks | Police seizures of VPN hardware/servers reported (heise 2010; Golem 2016); operator framed seizures as validating no-logs (no user data found)confirmed | None disclosed on fetched home/features/privacy pagesprovider claim |
| Bug bounty programme | ? | Eigenes Programm ohne externe Plattform, Meldungen per E-Mail an security@surfshark.com.provider claim |
| Open source clients | someprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Listings by independent bodies | Historically recommended in privacy community reviews; CyberInsider and SafetyDetectives reviewed it; recommendations withdrawn after Jan 2026 shutdownprovider claim | Press quotes on features page (e.g., speed/reviews)provider claim |
| WireGuard | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Proprietary protocol | Stealth VPN (DPI obfuscation wrapping VPN to look like HTTPS)provider claim | Dausosconfirmed |
| Legacy protocols still offered | SSH2 tunnelprovider claim | none advertised; WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN used with Dedicated IPprovider claim |
| Default data cipher | AES-256 (OpenVPN)provider claim | Dausos verschlüsselt den Datenkanal laut Cure53 mit AEGIS und einem 256-Bit-Schlüssel; für die Apple-TV-App nennt der Anbieter ChaCha20.confirmed |
| Weakest accepted cipher | AES-256provider claim | ? |
| Key exchange and authentication | OpenVPN / IPsec industry standards (details not fully specified on feature pages)provider claim | Dausos kombiniert laut Cure53 einen ephemeren ML-KEM-Schlüsselaustausch mit ECDH innerhalb eines hybriden TLS 1.3; der Server liefert zusätzlich zum RSA-Zertifikat eine ML-DSA-Signatur.confirmed |
| Post-quantum key exchange | not availableprovider claim | on by defaultconfirmed |
| IPv6 handling | routed through tunnelprovider claim | unclearprovider claim |
| Obfuscation methods | Stealth VPN (HTTPS-like masking against DPI)provider claim | Verschleierte Server sowie der Modus NoBorders, der laut Anbieter bei Bedarf automatisch aktiv wird und auch manuell eingeschaltet werden kann.provider claim |
| Usability behind the Great Firewall | unclearprovider claim | per user reportsprovider claim |
| Permanent lockdown | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Split tunneling | yes (app split-tunneling per SafetyDetectives review of the service)provider claim | Bypasser für Windows, macOS, Android und iOS, wahlweise nach Anwendung oder nach Website beziehungsweise IP-Adresse; in den Erweiterungen für Chrome, Firefox und Edge nur nach Website.provider claim |
| Port forwarding | availableprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| SOCKS5 proxy | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| HTTP proxy | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Ad and tracker filtering in DNS | configurableprovider claim | fixed listprovider claim |
| Custom DNS servers allowed | yesprovider claim | ? |
| Local network access toggle | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| GPS location override (Android) | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Traffic analysis defence | Stealth VPN Technology / NeuroRouting historically offeredprovider claim | Obfuscated servers; NoBorders for restricted networksprovider claim |
| IPv6 inside the tunnel | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Obfuscation without configuration | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Number of servers | 55 Serverprovider claim | 4,500 Serverprovider claim |
| Number of countries | 23 Laenderprovider claim | 100 Laenderprovider claim |
| Number of cities | 35 Staedteprovider claim | ? |
| Virtual locations | no virtual locationsprovider claim | not labelledprovider claim |
| Hardware ownership | colocationprovider claim | mixedprovider claim |
| 10 Gbps ports | some serversprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| P2P and file sharing | entire networkprovider claim | dedicated locationsprovider claim |
| Public status page | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Known upstream hosting providers | 100% dedicated bare-metal / root servers (no cloud VPS); operators not individually named on fetched pagesprovider claim | not disclosed on fetched servers/about pagesprovider claim |
| Linux command line | manual config onlyprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Android TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Apple TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Fire TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Browser extension | not availableprovider claim | own extensionprovider claim |
| Type of browser extension | no extensionprovider claim | standalone browser proxyconfirmed |
| Router support | VPN Routers documentation linked in footerprovider claim | Keine eigene Router-App; Anleitungen für DD-WRT, AsusWRT, GL.iNet, OpenWRT und weitere Firmwares mit OpenVPN- oder WireGuard-Client.provider claim |
| Native build for Apple Silicon | yesprovider claim | ? |
| Simultaneous devices | unlimited / personal multi-device use allowed; no sharing credentialsprovider claim | unbegrenztprovider claim |
| Data required at signup | any email addressprovider claim | verified emailprovider claim |
| Cash by mail | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Bitcoin | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Retail gift cards | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| SEPA payment | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Monthly price | €12.99provider claim | ? |
| Effective price on the longest term | €8.95provider claim | €2.49provider claim |
| Price change at renewal | same priceprovider claim | very large increaseprovider claim |
| Free tier and its limits | noneprovider claim | none (trials/guarantees only)provider claim |
| Money-back window | 7 Tageprovider claim | 30 Tageprovider claim |
| P2P policy in the terms of service | entire networkprovider claim | dedicated locationsprovider claim |
| Streaming unblocking officially advertised | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Netflix regions reported | Poor / largely incompatible with Netflix and Disney+ per CyberInsider testing notesprovider claim | ? |
| Other streaming services | CyberInsider: does not work well with streaming sites such as Netflix and Disney Plusprovider claim | Markets streaming/unblocking as a core use case on home and features pages (specific Netflix region list not published on fetched pages)provider claim |
| SMTP and port 25 handling | Not documented on fetched Wayback/review pagesprovider claim | Not stated on fetched home/features/privacy/pricing pagesprovider claim |
| Official support in restrictive countries | ? | Surfshark unterhält einen Support-Artikel zum Verbindungsaufbau aus Ländern mit Netzsperren und verweist darin auf einen eigenen Artikel zu China.provider claim |
| 24/7 live chat | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Self-service account deletion | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| SSL Labs grade of the website | ? | Aconfirmed |
| Tracker load of the website | Privacy policy covered website cookies historicallyprovider claim | Privacy policy details cookie/analytics categories on surfshark.comprovider claim |
| URL of the warrant canary | Historical warrant canary page (service discontinued)provider claim | none foundprovider claim |
| Length and readability of the legal documents | Technical privacy-focused documentation historicallyprovider claim | Standard long-form ToS linked from pricing; readability not specially simplifiedprovider claim |
| Marketing claims contradicting the provider's own terms | Discontinued service — historical claims onlyprovider claim | Home advertises 4500+ RAM-only servers and 100+ countries; pricing heavily uses multi-month intro discounts with free trialprovider claim |
All sourced criteria (152)
| Perfect Privacy | Surfshark | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal company name | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbHconfirmed | Surfshark B.V.provider claim |
| Trademark holder, if different | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH / Perfect Privacy brandprovider claim | Surfshark (founder Vytautas Kaziukonis); merged under holding with Nord Security in 2022 while operating independentlyprovider claim |
| Year founded | 2008provider claim | 2018provider claim |
| Headquarters (country) | DEconfirmed | NLprovider claim |
| Other relevant jurisdictions | DE (Hamburg HRB 152750)confirmed | Britische Jungferninseln (früherer Registrierungsort, bis zur Verlagerung in die Niederlande 2021)confirmed |
| Intelligence alliance of the home country | 14 Eyesconfirmed | Nine Eyesprovider claim |
| Parent group / holding | CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH (Hamburg)provider claim | Cyberspace (gemeinsame Holding von Surfshark und Nord Security, Niederlande)confirmed |
| Beneficial owners publicly known | partly knownprovider claim | partly knownprovider claim |
| Ownership structure | owners undisclosedprovider claim | founder ownedprovider claim |
| Leadership team publicly named | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Verifiable postal address for legal service | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Sister VPN brands in the group | none documentedprovider claim | NordVPN (Nord Security)confirmed |
| Group owns VPN review and comparison sites | none documentedprovider claim | none disclosed on about pageprovider claim |
| Runs an affiliate programme | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Typical commission rate | ? | Ab 40 Prozent Umsatzbeteiligung an Neuverkäufen, Cookie-Laufzeit 30 Tage, Mindestauszahlung 100 USD.provider claim |
| YouTube and influencer sponsoring | unknownprovider claim | unknownprovider claim |
| Acquisition history / former name | Originally Switzerland-based (from 2008); later operated by CyberDock IT Solutions GmbH in Hamburg, Germany; technical entity claimed as Webinvest International SA (Panama)provider claim | Fusionsvereinbarung mit Nord Security, am 01.02.2022 vom Anbieter und am 02.02.2022 per Pressemitteilung bekanntgegeben.confirmed |
| Operating status | discontinuedconfirmed | activeconfirmed |
| Discontinuation date | 01/30/2026provider claim | ? |
| Core statement of the logging policy | No user traffic logs; no IP addresses, access times/duration, or per-user bandwidth stored; account holds login, expiry, emailconfirmed | Laut Datenschutzerklärung werden besuchte IP-Adressen, Browserverlauf, Sitzungsinformationen, Verbindungszeitstempel, genutzte Bandbreite und Netzwerkverkehr nicht erhoben.provider claim |
| Activity and traffic logs | noneconfirmed | noneconfirmed |
| Connection logs | noneconfirmed | per sessionprovider claim |
| Storage of the real IP address | not storedconfirmed | transient onlyprovider claim |
| Storage of the assigned VPN IP | not storedprovider claim | not storedprovider claim |
| Precision of stored timestamps | noneconfirmed | noneprovider claim |
| Recording of transferred data volume | aggregate onlyconfirmed | not recordedconfirmed |
| Enforcement of the device limit | Unlimited simultaneous connections (vendor claim; mirrored in reviews)provider claim | Unlimited simultaneous connectionsprovider claim |
| Minimum account data required | username/password, account expiry, emailconfirmed | E-Mail-Adresse, verschlüsseltes Passwort, Registrierungsdatum, gegebenenfalls Gutscheincode sowie Abonnement- und Zahlungsdaten.provider claim |
| Telemetry in the apps | noneprovider claim | cannot be disabledprovider claim |
| Trackers and SDKs in the Android app | None — vendor claimed in-house development without third parties (Wayback home)provider claim | Laut Datenschutzerklärung Iterable, Firebase Analytics (Google), Purchasely und AppsFlyer.provider claim |
| Trackers in the iOS app | No iOS app (CyberInsider con); N/A for first-party iOS SDKsprovider claim | AppsFlyer; Firebase Analytics; Iterable; Purchasely (named in privacy policy as marketing/application analytics providers)confirmed |
| Trackers and cookies on the website | Google Analytics with anonymizeIp; advertising cookies disclosedprovider claim | Privacy policy discloses site analytics/cookies categoriesprovider claim |
| Data shared with third parties | Payment processors (Paymentwall, PayPal, Stripe, Bitcoin processors); Google Analytics on website with anonymized IPprovider claim | Zahlungsdienstleister, Marketing- und Analysedienste, Speicher- und Chat-Dienstleister sowie Konzerngesellschaften; genannte Empfängerländer sind die USA, Schweden, Frankreich, Irland und das Vereinigte Königreich.provider claim |
| Retention periods stated in the policy | VPN: no connection data retained; account credentials/email/expiry retained for billing/supportprovider claim | Verbindungsdaten werden laut Anbieter innerhalb von 15 Minuten nach Sitzungsende gelöscht; Daten des Email-Scam-Checkers spätestens nach 7 Tagen.provider claim |
| EU representative named under GDPR | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Independent no-logs audit | noprovider claim | yesconfirmed |
| No-logs audit details | No-logs policy described as involuntarily tested via police server seizures (notably 2016 Golem/heise reporting); vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepageprovider claim | ISAE 3000 (Revised), Deloitte Lietuva UAB, Prüfarbeiten vom 14.05.2025 bis 10.06.2025, Bericht vom 10.06.2025. Geprüft wurden Standard-, Static-IP-, Multihop- und Multiport-Server sowie Konfigurations- und Deployment-Prozesse. Nicht im Prüfumfang: Datenübertragungssicherheit, Streaming-Infrastruktur, Zugriffsrechte und physische Sicherheit.confirmed |
| Audit report published | not publishedprovider claim | full reportconfirmed |
| App and client audits | Vendor claimed regular internal/external audits on Wayback homepage; no named app-audit firm/report URL foundprovider claim | Cure53 prüfte im November 2018 die Browser-Erweiterungen für Chrome und Firefox; SecuRing prüfte 2025 Web-, Desktop-, Mobil- und Browser-Anwendungen.confirmed |
| Infrastructure and server audits | No public infra audit report found; involuntary 2016 seizure treated as practical no-logs test in secondary sourcesprovider claim | Cure53 prüfte im März 2021 Server- und VPN-Konfiguration sowie im Februar und März 2026 Architektur und Kryptografie des Dausos-Protokolls; SecuRing führte vom 01.12.2025 bis 10.12.2025 einen Penetrationstest der Netzinfrastruktur durch.confirmed |
| Audit frequency | irregularprovider claim | irregularconfirmed |
| Tested in court or by authorities | 2016 Netherlands server seizure reported; no customer data recovered (vendor/community narrative on archived pages and reviews)provider claim | Im Transparenzbericht für April bis Juni 2026 nennt Surfshark 33 behördliche Anfragen und einen Durchsuchungsbeschluss aus April 2026.provider claim |
| Transparency report | noneprovider claim | regularprovider claim |
| Warrant canary | staleprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Security incidents and data leaks | Police seizures of VPN hardware/servers reported (heise 2010; Golem 2016); operator framed seizures as validating no-logs (no user data found)confirmed | None disclosed on fetched home/features/privacy pagesprovider claim |
| Bug bounty programme | ? | Eigenes Programm ohne externe Plattform, Meldungen per E-Mail an security@surfshark.com.provider claim |
| Open source clients | someprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| Open source server side | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Reproducible builds | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Available on F-Droid | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Listings by independent bodies | Historically recommended in privacy community reviews; CyberInsider and SafetyDetectives reviewed it; recommendations withdrawn after Jan 2026 shutdownprovider claim | Press quotes on features page (e.g., speed/reviews)provider claim |
| WireGuard | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| OpenVPN over UDP | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| OpenVPN over TCP | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| IKEv2/IPsec | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Proprietary protocol | Stealth VPN (DPI obfuscation wrapping VPN to look like HTTPS)provider claim | Dausosconfirmed |
| Legacy protocols still offered | SSH2 tunnelprovider claim | none advertised; WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN used with Dedicated IPprovider claim |
| Default data cipher | AES-256 (OpenVPN)provider claim | Dausos verschlüsselt den Datenkanal laut Cure53 mit AEGIS und einem 256-Bit-Schlüssel; für die Apple-TV-App nennt der Anbieter ChaCha20.confirmed |
| Weakest accepted cipher | AES-256provider claim | ? |
| Key exchange and authentication | OpenVPN / IPsec industry standards (details not fully specified on feature pages)provider claim | Dausos kombiniert laut Cure53 einen ephemeren ML-KEM-Schlüsselaustausch mit ECDH innerhalb eines hybriden TLS 1.3; der Server liefert zusätzlich zum RSA-Zertifikat eine ML-DSA-Signatur.confirmed |
| Perfect forward secrecy | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Post-quantum key exchange | not availableprovider claim | on by defaultconfirmed |
| Own DNS resolvers | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| DNS leak protection | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| IPv6 handling | routed through tunnelprovider claim | unclearprovider claim |
| WebRTC protection or guidance | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Obfuscation methods | Stealth VPN (HTTPS-like masking against DPI)provider claim | Verschleierte Server sowie der Modus NoBorders, der laut Anbieter bei Bedarf automatisch aktiv wird und auch manuell eingeschaltet werden kann.provider claim |
| Usability behind the Great Firewall | unclearprovider claim | per user reportsprovider claim |
| Kill switch | system-wideprovider claim | system-wideprovider claim |
| Permanent lockdown | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Split tunneling | yes (app split-tunneling per SafetyDetectives review of the service)provider claim | Bypasser für Windows, macOS, Android und iOS, wahlweise nach Anwendung oder nach Website beziehungsweise IP-Adresse; in den Erweiterungen für Chrome, Firefox und Edge nur nach Website.provider claim |
| Multihop | freely combinableprovider claim | freely combinableprovider claim |
| Tor integration (Onion over VPN) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Port forwarding | availableprovider claim | not availableprovider claim |
| SOCKS5 proxy | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| HTTP proxy | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Smart DNS | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Ad and tracker filtering in DNS | configurableprovider claim | fixed listprovider claim |
| Malware and phishing filter | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Custom DNS servers allowed | yesprovider claim | ? |
| Local network access toggle | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Auto connect rules | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Private device network (mesh) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| GPS location override (Android) | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Traffic analysis defence | Stealth VPN Technology / NeuroRouting historically offeredprovider claim | Obfuscated servers; NoBorders for restricted networksprovider claim |
| IPv6 inside the tunnel | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Obfuscation without configuration | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Number of servers | 55 Serverprovider claim | 4,500 Serverprovider claim |
| Number of countries | 23 Laenderprovider claim | 100 Laenderprovider claim |
| Number of cities | 35 Staedteprovider claim | ? |
| Virtual locations | no virtual locationsprovider claim | not labelledprovider claim |
| RAM-only servers (diskless) | entire networkprovider claim | entire networkconfirmed |
| Hardware ownership | colocationprovider claim | mixedprovider claim |
| Own AS (autonomous system) | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| 10 Gbps ports | some serversprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| P2P and file sharing | entire networkprovider claim | dedicated locationsprovider claim |
| Public server list | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Public status page | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Known upstream hosting providers | 100% dedicated bare-metal / root servers (no cloud VPS); operators not individually named on fetched pagesprovider claim | not disclosed on fetched servers/about pagesprovider claim |
| Windows app | native appprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| macOS app | native appprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Linux app with GUI | native appprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Linux command line | manual config onlyprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Android app | native appprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| iOS app | native appprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Android TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Apple TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Fire TV app | not availableprovider claim | native appprovider claim |
| Browser extension | not availableprovider claim | own extensionprovider claim |
| Type of browser extension | no extensionprovider claim | standalone browser proxyconfirmed |
| Router support | VPN Routers documentation linked in footerprovider claim | Keine eigene Router-App; Anleitungen für DD-WRT, AsusWRT, GL.iNet, OpenWRT und weitere Firmwares mit OpenVPN- oder WireGuard-Client.provider claim |
| Native build for Apple Silicon | yesprovider claim | ? |
| Command line documented | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Simultaneous devices | unlimited / personal multi-device use allowed; no sharing credentialsprovider claim | unbegrenztprovider claim |
| Usable without an account | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Data required at signup | any email addressprovider claim | verified emailprovider claim |
| Account model | email as loginprovider claim | email as loginprovider claim |
| Cash by mail | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Monero | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Bitcoin | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Lightning | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Retail gift cards | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| PayPal | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Credit and debit card | yesprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| SEPA payment | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Monthly price | €12.99provider claim | ? |
| Effective price on the longest term | €8.95provider claim | €2.49provider claim |
| Price change at renewal | same priceprovider claim | very large increaseprovider claim |
| Flat pricing without permanent discounts | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Free tier and its limits | noneprovider claim | none (trials/guarantees only)provider claim |
| Money-back window | 7 Tageprovider claim | 30 Tageprovider claim |
| Cancellation path | cancel in accountprovider claim | cancel in accountprovider claim |
| P2P policy in the terms of service | entire networkprovider claim | dedicated locationsprovider claim |
| Streaming unblocking officially advertised | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Netflix regions reported | Poor / largely incompatible with Netflix and Disney+ per CyberInsider testing notesprovider claim | ? |
| Other streaming services | CyberInsider: does not work well with streaming sites such as Netflix and Disney Plusprovider claim | Markets streaming/unblocking as a core use case on home and features pages (specific Netflix region list not published on fetched pages)provider claim |
| Bandwidth cap | no limitprovider claim | no limitprovider claim |
| Data cap | noneprovider claim | noneprovider claim |
| SMTP and port 25 handling | Not documented on fetched Wayback/review pagesprovider claim | Not stated on fetched home/features/privacy/pricing pagesprovider claim |
| Official support in restrictive countries | ? | Surfshark unterhält einen Support-Artikel zum Verbindungsaufbau aus Ländern mit Netzsperren und verweist darin auf einen eigenen Artikel zu China.provider claim |
| 24/7 live chat | noprovider claim | yesprovider claim |
| Email or ticket support | yesconfirmed | yesprovider claim |
| Telephone support | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| German-language support | yesprovider claim | yesconfirmed |
| Documentation assessment | workableprovider claim | workableprovider claim |
| Self-hosted chat widget | noprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| Self-service account deletion | yesprovider claim | noprovider claim |
| SSL Labs grade of the website | ? | Aconfirmed |
| Tracker load of the website | Privacy policy covered website cookies historicallyprovider claim | Privacy policy details cookie/analytics categories on surfshark.comprovider claim |
| URL of the warrant canary | Historical warrant canary page (service discontinued)provider claim | none foundprovider claim |
| Length and readability of the legal documents | Technical privacy-focused documentation historicallyprovider claim | Standard long-form ToS linked from pricing; readability not specially simplifiedprovider claim |
| Marketing claims contradicting the provider's own terms | Discontinued service — historical claims onlyprovider claim | Home advertises 4500+ RAM-only servers and 100+ countries; pricing heavily uses multi-month intro discounts with free trialprovider claim |