Avast SecureLine VPN Review

Avast SecureLine VPN offers a kill switch on Windows, Mac and Android. A kill switch is a must-have security feature that blocks internet access if the VPN connection drops. This prevents accidental traffic leaks that could reveal personal information to your internet service provider (ISP), hackers and other prying eyes. 

Since our last review, Avast SecureLine has introduced a split tunneling tool on Android — a feature that was missing on all platforms. Split tunneling allows some apps to run through the VPN while letting others access the internet directly. For example, you can set online banking apps to use the internet normally while making the VPN unblock streaming services on the same device. 

Avast SecureLine VPN lets you choose between manual and smart VPN modes on Windows and Mac. The former is the normal mode, where you have to configure the VPN settings and connect manually. The smart mode enables you to configure the VPN to activate when you use torrent apps, public networks, banking sites or streaming apps.

With the preset options, Avast SecureLine VPN connects to a random server. Using the “add sites” feature, you can set SecureLine’s desktop apps to launch and connect to a specific server when you open the predefined URL. 

Another helpful smart mode tool is the “trusted sites” function, which is like a URL-based split tunneling feature. While activated, the VPN will not establish a connection when you open the preselected URLs.

The Android and iOS apps don’t offer an equivalent smart VPN mode. Instead, they provide an auto-connect option, which helps you choose when the VPN should connect automatically.

The WiFi Threat Shield is an automatic mode on Android apps. When enabled, the feature constantly scans for threats from your WiFi network. If it detects any form of online threat, it automatically turns the VPN on to safeguard your privacy and security. 

The “local device access” tool is available on all Avast SecureLine apps. It’s particularly helpful if you depend on local devices such as servers, printers and Chromecast. This feature allows your PC or smartphone to access these local devices when the VPN is connected.

Avast SecureLine VPN lacks some vital tools we’ve come to expect from the most reliable VPN providers, such as malware and ad blockers, obfuscation and a multihop connection.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to download and install Avast VPN on your Windows devices. The process should be pretty much the same for macOS users: 

1. Get an Avast SecureLine VPN Subscription

   Go to the Avast SecureLine VPN website and purchase your subscription. Alternatively, open the website and scroll down to find the “download trial” button.

   

2. Download Avast SecureLine VPN

   Click the “download trial” button to download Avast SecureLine VPN’s installation file.

   

3. Install Avast SecureLine VPN

   Double-click the installation file and follow the installation wizard to install the VPN on your PC.

   

4. Activate the Free Trial

   Launch the newly installed VPN app and click “start free trial.” Select your payment method and enter the relevant details to activate the free trial.

   

5. Use Avast SecureLine VPN

   Select the preferred server and click the red “on/off” button. The button will turn green once the VPN is connected.

   

Avast SecureLine VPN offers Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Android TV apps. It also has browser extensions for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Sadly, you can’t configure the VPN on routers, which makes it practically impossible to protect other digital devices, such as gaming consoles and non-Android smart TVs. 

The provider lets you connect 10 devices simultaneously, making it a great choice for device-heavy households. However, 10 connections doesn’t seem like a lot in an era where Surfshark, IPVanish, Windscribe and Avira Phantom support unlimited simultaneous connections. 

Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t offer a monthly plan; it only offers one-year, two-year and three-year plans for subscriptions purchased through its website. This means that users must pay huge upfront fees to get a subscription, which can be off-putting for those on a tight budget. 

However, mobile users don’t have to pay huge upfront fees. The provider offers one-month, six-month and one-year plans for purchases made via Google Play and the Apple app store. We would like to see the short-term plans introduced for desktop users. 

You get the same features with each plan, including 10 simultaneous connections. Other providers offer significant discounts for extended plans, but Avast isn’t as generous. The price difference between the plans comes down to just a few cents.

10 devices

• 10 devices, 60-day free trial
• Unlimited GB
• 10

30-days money-back guarantee

1-year plan, 2-year plan

1-year plan

$4.59/month

$55.08 billed every year

2-year plan

$4.39/month

$105.36 billed every 2 years

Save 4%

3-year plan

$4.39/month

$158.04 billed every 3 years

Save 4%

Regarding payment methods, Avast SecureLine VPN only accepts PayPal and credit cards. 

Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t offer a free plan, but it does have a 60-day free trial on desktop and a seven-day free trial on mobile devices. Keep in mind that the free trials for Android and iOS are available only when you opt for a 12-month plan.

If you need more time to test the apps, you can make the most of the provider’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Keep in mind that you have to provide payment information to activate the free trial. 

Nearest Server Speed Performance

Distant Servers Speed Performance

Avast SecureLine VPN isn’t part of our automated speed testing. For this reason, we conducted the speed test manually. Overall, the provider reached 44.8% and 53.3% of our unprotected download and upload speeds, representing a considerable drop from our previous tests.

The speed doesn’t decrease with distance. For example, the U.K. server reached 82% and 85% of the unprotected download and upload speeds. On the other hand, South Africa had slightly slower connection speeds despite being the closest server. 

However, distance had a huge impact on latency. When connecting to the South Africa server, the latency was approximately 156 ms, but the U.K. server’s latency was nearly double that figure. For this reason, Avast VPN may negatively impact your gaming experience, mainly when connecting to distant servers. 

While Avast VPN doesn’t offer advanced security features, it gets the job done. We ran its protocol and encryption combinations through a series of security tests, and they showed no IP, WebRTC or DNS leaks. 

The VPN creates a secure tunnel that doesn’t leak your traffic or personal information. Barring any unlikely mishap, the VPN will keep hackers, snoopers, government surveillance and other malicious individuals at bay, allowing you to enjoy a safe internet. 

• OpenVPN is the gold standard of VPN protocols due to its excellent security. Sadly, Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t let you choose between OpenVPN’s TCP and UDP options. The VPN service is configured to automatically use OpenVPN UDP.
• WireGuard is a lightweight protocol that offers faster speeds than OpenVPN. It has no known vulnerabilities, so it’s secure.
• Mimic is the newest addition to Avast SecureLine VPN’s toolbox, meant to help users bypass internet restrictions. 
• Automatic isn’t a VPN protocol but a setting. When you set the protocol to automatic, the VPN app chooses the best protocol based on your connection and the prevailing conditions, such as internet restrictions. 

According to the VPN’s privacy policy, Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t collect or store user logs, browsing history, IP addresses or DNS queries. That sounds good; however, the general privacy policy — which applies to the VPN product — offers contradictory information. 

When we combed through the general privacy policy, we found that the provider collects personally identifiable information directly from you or your device. The information may include direct or indirect identifiers, such as names and IP addresses.  

This contradiction leaves users in a difficult position, as they do not know whether Avast SecureLine VPN adheres to a strict no-logs policy. To help solve the puzzle, we scoured the web for the provider’s data processing history and found some discouraging news.  

In 2023, Avast — SecureLine VPN’s parent company — was fined by the Czech Republic’s data protection authority (DPA) for illegally processing user data. The case first came to light in 2020 when Avast was found to have collected detailed data that could help identify specific users. Avast then sold this data to various companies through Jumpshot, its marketing analytics subsidiary. 

The fact that Avast was caught in the act negates any positive user privacy statement it plasters across its website. It paints the provider as a data-hungry merchant that can’t be trusted to protect user privacy.  

Third-party audits help verify a provider’s commitment to user privacy, boosting customer confidence and trust. Unfortunately, Avast SecureLine VPN hasn’t undergone audits of its infrastructure and policies, which is another dent in its privacy profile. 

The last time we tested Avast VPN, it unblocked BBC iPlayer on the first attempt. This time around, the streaming and regular servers couldn’t bypass iPlayer’s geoblocks. The story was the same for Hulu. 

Disney Plus was a tough nut to crack for the regular servers, but the streaming servers unblocked the service on the first attempt. The regular and streaming-optimized servers easily accessed Amazon Prime Video and Max. 

The good thing is that when it did unblock a streaming service, the VPN let us stream the videos without lags or buffering. Some videos took too long to load, but that’s unsurprising given Avast VPN’s high latency on distant servers. 

Besides the regular servers, Avast SecureLine VPN offers streaming and P2P-optimized servers. There are four streaming servers in the U.S., one in the U.K. and one in Germany. The U.S. has three torrenting servers, whereas the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands have one server each. 

Avast SecureLine offers a live chat option. The only minor issues are that it’s only available to paid users and it’s hard to access. We’re used to seeing the live chat button on the bottom right of a provider’s official website, but Avast has chosen a different route. 

We had to wade through several questions to access the live chat option. Even after answering the questions, we had to wait for eight minutes despite being told that only two people were in the queue. 

That’s a long wait time and can be unsettling, especially if you have a burning issue requiring immediate resolution. The only respite is that Avast’s support agents were knowledgeable and always provided satisfactory answers.

However, its email support is fast. We created a ticket and got a reply about 24 hours later, which is perfectly acceptable by email support standards.