Atlas VPN Review

Our Verdict

Atlas VPN is a great VPN service that offers a free version with a lot of useful features. Its free version is among the best free VPNs we’ve tested. It guarantees security, reliability, and the ability to work with US Netflix. The premium version offers even more speed and unblocks even more streaming websites. Overall, Atlas VPN is perfect for beginners who want to bypass geo-blocking.

Why Trust Our Review?

We’ve spent thousands of hours testing and reviewing 55 different VPN services using our objective evaluation process to bring you the best VPN software available.

Below are some key statistics from our VPN testing process:

Atlas VPN is one of the fastest growing VPN services on the market, having launched in January 2020. Its success led Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, to acquire Atlas VPN in 2021.

Atlas VPN offers both free and paid subscription levels. We have thoroughly examined every feature of both versions to find out if this service is worth using compared to other available options on the market.

Here is a short video illustrating how Atlas VPN works:

Who Should Get Atlas VPN?

Get Atlas VPN if:

• You need a VPN for free. With Atlas VPN, you can use it without having to provide payment information.

• If you’ve never used a VPN before, Atlas VPN is an easy-to-learn basic service that’s perfect for beginners. Its simple apps are easy to use even if you have no experience.

• What matters to you is the speed of your connection. No matter where you are, Atlas VPN’s premium and free servers are fast.

Avoid Atlas VPN if:

• You need a VPN to use with your Roku or other streaming device. Atlas VPN does not support Smart DNS and cannot be configured on routers.

• You need guaranteed privacy. Unlike most of the best VPNs, Atlas VPN’s log retention policy has not been tested.

• You need a free VPN with a lot of data. Atlas VPN allows you to use 5 GB of data per month, which is enough for two hours of HD video streaming.

Streaming

Atlas VPN Free & Premium Work Well for Streaming

Both versions of Atlas VPN are capable of streaming American channels Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+. However, only the paid version is able to bypass geo-blocking of streaming from other countries, such as BBC iPlayer and Star on Disney+. All videos are broadcast in HD and 4K formats. However, it is important to note that Atlas VPN does not have a Smart DNS tool, so it cannot be used on all streaming devices.

Here are the results of our streaming tests using Atlas VPN:

For premium subscribers, Atlas VPN offers specially optimized servers for streaming in 12 countries. Although Atlas VPN claims that these servers have been customized “to address buffering, latency, and other issues,” our tests have shown that they are functionally indistinguishable from other servers.

You can find a more detailed overview of our Atlas VPN streaming tests in the following sections.

Tested: Atlas VPN Streams US Netflix

In our tests, Atlas VPN successfully unblocked US Netflix on all eight US-dedicated servers.

Despite Atlas VPN’s claim to be able to stream 11 other Netflix libraries, we noticed during our tests that it only worked successfully with five of them.

This means that Atlas VPN does not provide access to most popular Netflix libraries, such as the UK, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

If you need access to these regions, we recommend considering PrivateVPN. PrivateVPN’s price is the same as Atlas VPN, but it provides permanent access to major Netflix libraries.

However, when it comes to other US streaming services, Atlas VPN performs on par with any other VPN in its price range. In our tests, the VPN has always worked well with Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu.

Atlas VPN Unblocks BBC iPlayer

Thanks to the use of Atlas VPN, we were able to bypass the geo-blocking of BBC iPlayer. We were able to watch popular TV shows such as Top Gear and Doctor Who without any buffering delay.

We also noticed that this VPN is an excellent choice for other UK streaming services such as ITVX and All 4 and works with them without any problems.

However, it should be noted that Atlas VPN only has two servers in the UK. If these servers stop working with UK streaming sites, you will not have an alternative connection to another server in the country.

Atlas VPN Free Streaming Tests

In February 2022, Atlas VPN added a new US server specifically optimized for streaming, available to free subscribers. Previously, during years of testing, the VPN was not able to unblock any streaming services.

Now Atlas VPN Free can work with some American streaming websites. With its help, we were able to bypass geo-blocking on US Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+. It’s worth noting that while it was less frequently down compared to some of the other leading free VPNs for Netflix.

However, when we tried to connect to the same server, access to Hulu, Prime Video, and Peacock was blocked. In addition, due to the lack of free servers in the UK, we were unable to try to access even BBC iPlayer.

Streaming Platform	Works with Atlas VPN
Netflix	Yes
Disney Plus	Yes
BBC iPlayer	Yes
HBO Max	Yes
Hulu	Yes
YouTube	Yes
Amazon Prime Video	Yes
All 4	Yes
ITVX	Yes

 

Speed

Fast Speeds Across All Server Locations

Atlas VPN’s download speeds are very fast. Using the WireGuard protocol, we noticed that it matches the performance of the best VPN services such as IPVanish and PIA. When connecting to a nearby server in the US or a remote server in the UK on a basic 100 Mbps internet connection, we recorded download speeds of over 93 Mbps.

Our VPN speed testing process always follows the same scientific methodology. We also run tests using the fastest VPN protocol available, which ensures objective and representative results for your home use.

Here are our speed test results on Atlas VPN premium servers:

As our results show, Atlas VPN delivers fast speeds anywhere. The results were especially impressive in the United States, where the speeds hardly dropped. This means that we could stream American Netflix with ease.

In Japan and Australia, the download speeds were a bit slower, but still faster than the more well-known VPN services that cost significantly more.

EXPERT TIP: What’s different about Atlas VPN is that it doesn’t automatically connect to the fastest server, as most other VPN services do. Instead, you choose the server closest to you with the best connection speed.

Atlas VPN’s Ping Is Too High for Gaming

We noticed that Atlas VPN was too slow on remote game servers. We tested the VPN by connecting to a server in Brazil to access less demanding game lobbies.

Unfortunately, we found that our ping increased from 1ms to 112ms, which is too high for dynamic games like CS:GO. This is worse than the leading gaming VPN services like ExpressVPN and Windscribe, which have an average ping of 3ms. These services are better options for lag-free online gaming.

However, Atlas VPN has demonstrated high performance on cloud gaming services. Since these services are streamed, the download speeds on Atlas VPN made the experience almost identical to playing on a local device.

We were also able to access geo-restricted cloud gaming services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Atlas VPN Free Speed Tests

Atlas VPN Free was fast compared to other free VPN services. In our tests, we noticed only a 5% speed loss when connecting to the closest server in New York.

However, due to the limited number of countries available, your experience will vary greatly depending on your geographic location. For example, if you’re in India, your nearest free Atlas VPN server will be 4,500 miles away, resulting in a speed drop and a less reliable connection.

Below are the full results we obtained when connecting to three Atlas VPN Free servers using a 100 Mbps internet connection:

Atlas VPN has stated that their free servers have no speed limit and are identical to their premium servers. Therefore, the slower speeds we experienced can only be caused by server congestion when many people connect to it at the same time.

Unfortunately, unlike other free VPN services such as ProtonVPN, the Atlas VPN app does not provide any information about server load and does not have multiple servers that you can connect to in specific locations.

In future updates, we would like to see Atlas VPN provide more server options for free users. Or at least provide information about server load so that users can manually connect to a less busy server.
 

Price & Value

Free & Premium Subscriptions Are Excellent Value

Atlas VPN generally offers great value for its services. According to our research, it is the sixth cheapest VPN out of the 55 VPNs we reviewed. A three-year plan costs only $1.99 per month. There’s also a month-to-month option for an affordable $10.99 if you don’t want to commit to a longer period. Additionally, for those who don’t want to pay at all, there is a 100% free option with no account registration required.

Above are all the available payment plans for the premium version of Atlas VPN.

Even though a three-year plan can save you more money, most people usually choose the 12-month plan as the best option. This plan is available for as little as $3.29 per month, and it doesn’t require a long-term commitment.

Every Atlas VPN subscription comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to get a full refund if you are not satisfied with the service.

Payment & Refund Options

There are several payment methods available to purchase an Atlas VPN subscription:

Atlas VPN Free

Atlas VPN is one of the few VPNs that can be reliable but offers a free tier of service. We consider this free VPN to be one of the best, as it outperforms well-known services such as Avira and TunnelBear in our tests.

Previously, you didn’t have to provide your email address to use the free version of this product. This was very convenient from the point of view of privacy, as Atlas VPN did not require you to store your personal information.

The application interface is indistinguishable from the premium version. Paid servers are marked with a crown icon and an app. Unfortunately, the app regularly displays offers to subscribe to a premium plan.

Similar to other free VPN services, Atlas VPN has some limitations. For a detailed comparison between the paid and free versions of Atlas VPN, you can find the main differences in other parts of this review.

• VISA
• Master Card
• Paypal
• American Express
• Bitcoin

Privacy & Logging Policy

Can You Trust Atlas VPN?

Atlas VPN does not collect personal information such as your IP address or location. However, their logging policy has not been audited and has not been tested on real-life cases. In addition, the VPN provider is based in the United States, which is one of the Five Eyes countries. While Atlas VPN’s private logging policy is not perfect, it is designed to mitigate risks.

Atlas VPN claims to be a log-free VPN, but this is not absolutely certain. Here is the information that Atlas VPN logs:

You can read the full privacy policy on the Atlas VPN website.

Since this data is general and not meant to be personally identifiable, you don’t need to worry. You can trust Atlas VPN to keep your data confidential.

We are pleased that Atlas VPN has updated its logging policy. Previously, we were worried that the VPN service records the city from which the user connects, as well as their unique device ID. This could potentially be used to identify a user by their online activities.

One of the disadvantages of Atlas VPN is the lack of diskless VPN servers. Theoretically, this means that user data can be extracted from the server if a third party gains access to it. Most other leading VPN services, such as Windscribe and NordVPN, have this feature in their standard feature set.

Privacy Policy Hasn’t Been Audited

Since Atlas VPN is a relatively new service, its privacy policy has not yet been tested against real-life breaches. Therefore, it is impossible to confirm the accuracy of the statements contained in their privacy policy.

More well-known VPN services, such as Private Internet Access, have tested their logging policies in practice as a result of several real-life cases. PIA received subpoenas from the FBI and in each case was unable to provide user data.

After our inquiry to Atlas VPN, we received the following response:

“If we receive a subpoena […], we will be required to provide existing customer data. However, our no-logs policy prevents us from having access to such data.”

One option for Atlas VPN would be to commission an independent audit to verify their logging claims. However, so far, this VPN service has not conducted such an audit.

We hope that the situation with Atlas VPN will improve after the acquisition of Nord Security. As part of the announcement, it was stated that Atlas VPN will be regularly audited by an independent auditor in accordance with NordVPN standards.

Who Owns Atlas VPN?

In 2021, Nord Security, the company behind the popular NordVPN VPN service, acquired Atlas VPN. As of today, Atlas VPN is still registered as Peakstar Technologies Inc. in Delaware, USA.

Recently, Atlas VPN started publishing a list of its employees on its website, including its CEO, Dainius Vanagas. We found out that all of these employees previously worked for companies owned by Nord Security. None of them had worked for Atlas VPN prior to its acquisition.

Previously, Atlas VPN refused to disclose information about the ownership team. In previous statements, we have been told that “protecting our [Atlas VPN] team and their privacy is one of our top priorities.

We are grateful that Atlas VPN has made the decision to increase transparency about ownership. This helps build trust between users and the VPN service.

Data Type	Logged by Atlas VPN
Browsing Activity	No
Device Information	Yes
DNS Queries	No
Individual Bandwidth Usage	No
Individual Connection Timestamps	No
ISP	No
Number of Simultaneous Connections	No
Originating IP Address	No
Account Information	Yes
VPN Server IP	No
VPN Server Location	No
Date of Last Connection	No

 

Torrenting

Atlas VPN Premium & Free Are Safe for Torrenting

Atlas VPN offers fast data transfer speeds and all 750 servers support P2P activity, including the free version. Thanks to the VPN kill switch feature and private logging policy, your torrenting activity will be protected from interception by your ISP. If you are not an advanced user who needs advanced features such as port forwarding, Atlas VPN is a good choice for torrenting.

We tested Atlas VPN with various torrent clients, such as qBittorrent and uTorrent. In each case, it took less than 17 minutes to download a 10 GB torrent file using the premium servers. When connected to Atlas VPN’s free servers, the same file took 27 minutes to download.

The paid version of Atlas VPN showed an average bitrate of 9.4 Mbps, which is one of the fastest results we’ve recorded. In comparison, the best VPN services, such as Private Internet Access and NordVPN, have download speeds of 9.6 Mbps and 9.5 Mbps, respectively.

All Atlas VPN desktop apps include a “mute” switch, AES-256 encryption, and the secure WireGuard protocol. These security features ensure that you can trust Atlas VPN to hide your sensitive torrent activity.

No Port Forwarding

Unlike the leading torrent networks, Atlas VPN does not support port forwarding on any of its servers. This means that you will not be able to share torrent files with other users. Some torrent clients may limit your download speed if you don’t share files as actively as the “seeders”.

Overall, Atlas VPN is a good choice if you need a VPN to protect your torrenting activity. Its speeds are impressive, and it’s one of the few free VPNs that support P2P file sharing. However, it is worth remembering that some advanced features are missing and there is no app for the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which means limited access to P2P-based streaming platforms.
 

Torrenting Attribute	Result
Average Download Bitrate	9.4MiB/s
No. of P2P Servers	1,000
Logging Policy	No Identifying Data
Kill Switch	1
Port Forwarding	No

Security & Technical Features

All the Basics, but No Advanced Security Features

Atlas VPN offers a standard combination of VPN security features that is appropriate for their price range. They use WireGuard, come with a kill switch, and provide IP address leakage protection like most other VPN services. However, they do not use diskless VPN servers and do not have split tunneling. You can trust Atlas VPN to securely protect your internet traffic, but it doesn’t offer advanced features.

Below is a complete list of Atlas VPN’s encryption and technical features:

Safe Encryption & VPN Protocols

When you connect to the Atlas VPN server, your traffic is encrypted using the ChaCha20 cipher. This encryption method, which is used by almost all VPN services on the market, is virtually unbreakable. You can safely trust it with your most sensitive data.

We tested Atlas VPN’s encryption with Wireshark, a packet analysis tool. In all of our tests, Atlas VPN completely encrypted all of our web traffic. You can see in the bottom screenshot that no data was read in clear text.

Atlas VPN has a slightly limited selection of available protocols. All of its programs automatically use the IKEv2 protocol by default. However, we recommend that you manually change the protocol to WireGuard. WireGuard is more secure, faster, and consumes less data than IKEv2.

Let’s imagine an ideal scenario where Atlas VPN completely stops supporting IKEv2 and replaces it with OpenVPN.

Kill Switch Worked in Our Tests

The kill switch feature in Atlas VPN automatically disconnects your device from the Internet if your VPN connection is disconnected for any reason to prevent your real IP address from being leaked.

The kill switch feature is enabled by default in all apps, including iOS. Very few VPN services have a kill switch on iPhone and iPad, so we appreciate Atlas VPN’s efforts to provide the same functionality across all platforms.

While you can turn off the kill switch in the App Settings section of the Settings menu, we strongly recommend leaving it on.

To verify that Atlas VPN’s kill switch feature is working properly, we deliberately disconnected our VPN connection while running our kill switch test tool. Each time, Atlas VPN immediately blocked our internet traffic, and no data was transmitted outside the VPN tunnel.

Atlas VPN Passed Our Leak Tests

We also tested Atlas VPN for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks using our tests. The VPN successfully passed all of our tests and none of our personal data was leaked.

You can see in the bottom screenshot that our real network data in the UK remained invisible during our tests.

We were particularly impressed with Atlas VPN’s ability to provide IPv6 addresses. In our tests, their service was one of the few VPNs that had this capability.

Most other VPN services try to block IPv6 connections, which can create privacy issues. For example, we noticed that Surfshark occasionally allowed our real IPv6 address to be leaked due to a faulty blocking system.

All Servers Are Rented from Unvetted Third Parties

All of Atlas VPN’s 750 servers are leased from third parties. After reaching out to them, Atlas VPN confirmed that they do not conduct a vetting process for each server provider, which is a bit of a security concern.

Atlas VPN claims that they take their own security measures on each server they rent. However, they do not disclose details about these security measures.

What is worrisome is that, as mentioned earlier, Atlas VPN servers are not diskless. This means that in theory, information can be saved and retrieved from a compromised VPN server.

Given that Atlas VPN has been acquired by Nord Security, we hope that in the future Atlas VPN will be able to implement some of the security methods used by NordVPN. For example, NordVPN uses colocation servers and diskless servers. These approaches greatly reduce the risk to user data, especially from untrusted third-party server providers.

MultiHop+ Servers Encrypt Traffic Twice

Paid Atlas VPN subscriptions include a multi-hop feature known as MultiHop+. MultiHop transmits your internet traffic through two different VPN servers, while a regular VPN connection uses only one server.

The servers used for multihop can be found on the Privacy Pro tab in the app. This feature is available in two versions: Europe and North America.

We would like you to be able to connect to multihop servers in specific countries, not on entire continents. However, when we selected “Europe”, we were given IP addresses of other countries.

So, Multihop+ is not an ideal solution for bypassing geographical restrictions on the Internet, as you cannot choose the exact destination of your origin server. Other VPN providers, such as Surfshark, allow you to choose a specific server location and have faster speeds than Atlas VPN.

However, it’s worth noting that unlike many other dual VPN features we’ve tested, MultiHop+ encrypts your traffic on both VPN servers. For example, some other VPN providers, including Proton VPN, only encrypt traffic on the last server.

While this may not be a necessary feature, it is a small improvement for security. Double encryption is not advertised on the Atlas VPN website, but we found it when we ran encryption tests with Wireshark.

SafeSwap Servers

Users who pay for an Atlas VPN subscription have access to SafeSwap servers. The difference between these servers and conventional VPN servers is that SafeSwap automatically changes your IP address as you use the Internet, while traditional servers assign you a static IP address until you disconnect.

SafeSwap servers are only available in three countries: The United States, the Netherlands, and Singapore.

Atlas VPN claims that this makes it harder for “spies, authorities, your ISP, and advertisers to spy on your online activity.” However, this is not a problem for spies, authorities, or your ISP because your data is already protected from these parties.

It also doesn’t matter much for ad tracking, as your IP address changes every time you connect to a regular VPN server.

Atlas VPN also claims that SafeSwap is “unique,” but similar features can be found on other VPN services. For example, HMA VPN’s IP Shuffle feature allows you to get a new IP address with the click of a button. The only difference with SafeSwap is that it is performed on the fly.

Using SafeSwap turns out to be just a gimmick and doesn’t provide any significant privacy improvement. We would have preferred it if Atlas VPN had focused on implementing more necessary security features, such as the ones we listed in the next section.

Missing Security Features

Atlas VPN lacks many important security features that are commonly expected from premium VPN services. Here are some features we would like to see Atlas VPN add in future updates:

1. Tor over VPN to provide quick and easy access to the Tor network.

2. Use of diskless VPN servers, which ensures that user data cannot be extracted from the VPN server.

3. Split tunneling, which allows you to encrypt sensitive Internet traffic while maintaining compatibility with local sites for streaming and online banking. Currently, this feature is only supported in the Android app.

The absence of these advanced technical features is Atlas VPN’s main drawback. To compete with the best VPN services, it needs to improve its features significantly.

Streaming Platform	Works with Atlas VPN
Protocols	IKEv2/IPSec, WireGuard,
Encryption	AES-256, ChaCha20
Security	DNS Leak Blocking, First-party DNS, IPv6 Leak Blocking, VPN Kill Switch, WebRTC Leak Blocking
Advanced Features	Double VPN, Split Tunneling, Tracker Blocker

 

Server Locations

What Countries Does Atlas VPN Have Servers In?

The Atlas VPN network includes 750 servers located in 35 countries. Compared to other VPN services, Atlas VPN’s network is relatively small, but it performs satisfactorily within its price segment. However, it does not reach the level of the best VPN services. Atlas VPN servers are present mainly in Europe, North America, and Asia, but not in Africa.

The Atlas VPN network includes servers located in the following locations:

Some large countries like South Africa and South Korea are not available on the Atlas VPN network. We would like to see Atlas VPN add these countries in future updates.

The available servers provide a basic set of features. For example, there are no specialized servers for options such as dedicated IP address or obfuscation. The app also doesn’t provide information about server load and ping, which can make it difficult to choose a connection to a suitable server.

The free version of Atlas VPN has servers available in only three cities in two countries: New York and Los Angeles in the US and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

This is significantly limited compared to the best free VPN services, such as Windscribe and Hide.me, which offer servers in 11 countries. However, we think it’s positive that Atlas VPN provides access to European IP addresses, as many low-rated free VPN services only offer US servers.

No Virtual Server Locations

Each Atlas VPN server is physically located in the country it serves. This means that the IP address assigned to it and its actual location are the same.

We favor this approach because it ensures that you are connecting to a server that is located in your vicinity. On the other hand, it limits the number of countries in which Atlas VPN can provide server locations.

Continent	Number of Countries
Europe	25
Asia	7
North America	3
Oceania	2
South America	3
Africa	1

 

Bypassing Web Censorship

Atlas VPN Works in China

Atlas VPN can be used to bypass the Great Firewall of China. In our tests, both the free and premium versions successfully passed censorship, allowing access to blocked websites and apps such as YouTube and Instagram.

After contacting Atlas VPN, it was reported that it cannot be guaranteed that their VPN service will be able to bypass the Great Firewall of China, as it does not use advanced obfuscation technologies.

Nevertheless, 80% of the Atlas VPN servers we tested are located in Shanghai, China. For a more reliable connection, we recommend connecting to servers in Japan or Singapore.

You can also access blocked websites using free servers in New York and Los Angeles. Other free VPNs that work reliably in China include Windscribe.

However, the only significant drawback is the slow connection time. In our experience with VPNs in China, server connection times often took over 80 seconds.

Below is a video where you can watch our performance tests of Atlas VPN in China.

EXPERT RECOMMENDATION: The Atlas VPN download page is not available in China and requires a VPN to gain access. Make sure you have already downloaded a VPN program before entering the country.
 

Device & OS Compatibility

Simple Apps for All Popular Devices

Device Compatibility

Atlas VPN offers apps for many popular platforms, but not all. You can use it on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV. However, it does not provide browser extensions and does not support installation on a router. In addition, it does not have the Smart DNS feature.

Apps

Atlas VPN has native applications for the following platforms and devices:

While each of these programs is easy to use, they do have some minor differences. Here are a few differences between the Atlas VPN apps:

Unlimited Simultaneous Connections

Atlas VPN is one of the few VPN services that doesn’t limit the number of devices you can use it on at any given time. We have successfully connected more than 10 devices to the Atlas VPN server at the same time and did not experience any problems with its functioning.

Unlike Windscribe and some other VPN services with unlimited simultaneous connections, Atlas VPN does not tell you that it will block your account if you share it with other users.

Games Consoles & Streaming Devices

Since Atlas VPN does not support installation on a router, it is not compatible with game consoles or streaming devices. We were unable to use it to forward traffic on our Roku or Apple TV. However, it does have apps for Fire TV and Android TV.
 

Ease of Use

Simple Software That’s Easy to Use

Atlas VPN offers a very simple interface, but this is due to the lack of many features that can be found in other VPN services. Using the apps, you can easily connect to the server, change your location, and choose protocols. However, we would have liked to see more customization options, even if it would have resulted in a more complicated interface.

Setting up Atlas VPN is a very simple process. You simply download the VPN app from the website or app store, and then click the big “Connect” button to start the VPN connection.

Atlas VPN is one of the easiest VPN services we’ve ever used. It is ideal for beginners who have no experience with VPN software.

However, this simplicity makes Atlas VPN less appealing to advanced users who want more customization options, such as choosing an encryption level or setting up additional proxy servers.

Desktop & Laptop (Windows & Mac)

After we shared our feedback, Atlas VPN updated its Windows and Mac apps to make them more user-friendly and similar. Previously, the Windows app simply listed servers in random order without any systematization.

Now, the list of servers is more organized in both apps. Countries are arranged in alphabetical order and grouped by continent, making it intuitive for the user.

The main problem with the Atlas VPN for Windows program is the constant size of its window. Because the program window is so large, it takes up a large portion of the screen.

The Mac app, on the other hand, is resizable, including the ability to reduce the window to half the size of the Windows version. It would have been nice to be able to shrink it down to one column in both versions of the app.

Unfortunately, both versions of the desktop application do not have a “quick connection” feature. Instead, you need to scroll through the list of servers until you find your location. Since we are in the UK, we had to scroll down the list every time we connected to a VPN server.

Mobile (iPhone & Android)

Atlas VPN started out as a mobile VPN service, so it’s no surprise that its apps look better on mobile phones and tablets. Compared to desktop apps, Atlas VPN’s mobile apps have a convenient feature that automatically connects to the nearest available server.

This feature in itself makes using the app easier and more enjoyable. You just need to press the large connect button located in the center of the screen to establish a connection.

The Android app has a similar look and feel to the iOS version. The only problem we encountered was opening the app with a large advertising banner that tried to encourage upgrading to a premium subscription. We did not experience this when using the iOS app.

Linux

Atlas VPN for Linux is a command-line-only program that does not have a graphical user interface (GUI). This can make it too complicated for most users.

To log in, connect to the server, and change security settings, Atlas VPN for Linux requires you to use commands in the terminal. This makes it different from other VPN applications.

There is no free version of Atlas VPN for Linux. At the same time, Windscribe is a completely free VPN and has a graphical interface for Linux. We highly recommend choosing Windscribe over Atlas VPN if you are a Linux user.

Fire TV & Android TV Apps

Atlas VPN recently introduced its Android TV and Fire TV apps. Both apps are very easy to use and have been specifically designed to accommodate the large size of TV screens.

However, to improve the app, one could consider automatically switching to the “Streaming Servers” tab by default, especially if it is installed on a streaming device. Additionally, adding the ability to split tunnel would be a welcome feature. This would avoid the need to disconnect from the VPN server to access local streaming services.

The app’s interface is easily controlled by the remote control, and it’s always clear which button you’re pressing. This compares favorably to some other popular VPN providers, such as ExpressVPN, which have not made any changes to their apps for streaming devices.
 

Customer Support

Helpful Customer Support

Atlas VPN’s live chat customer support is excellent, with friendly agents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, free users only get access to online tutorials and email support, neither of which are very good. It can take more than 24 hours to respond to an email query, and the online help center does not have any videos.

As a paid subscriber, you have the option to contact Atlas VPN through the following channels:

Free users can only contact Atlas VPN support via email. You can do this by submitting a support request through the Atlas VPN website.

During our testing of Atlas VPN, we contacted support over 30 times. Almost every time, we received a satisfactory response within minutes. In cases where an agent was unable to answer technical questions, we received a follow-up email within 24 hours.

Since the chat is only available to paid users, you will need to log in to the Atlas VPN website to use this feature. Once you do, click the blue “Support” button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Atlas VPN claims that their live chat is available around the clock, but it may not be available during peak hours. However, we were always able to reach a live chat agent when we reached out in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Sometimes we had to wait three days to get a response via email, which is quite slow for many questions. Nevertheless, the answers we received were always helpful and resolved any issues we addressed.
 

The Bottom Line

Is Atlas VPN Worth It?

If you’re new to VPNs and on a tight budget, Atlas VPN is one of the best options for you.

Its paid subscriptions are among the most affordable on the market. You can get a VPN for as little as $1.99 per month with a three-year duration.

This gives you access to US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu. You can also connect to 35 fast servers using the WireGuard protocol.

The free version of Atlas VPN also has its advantages, especially if you need to anonymize your torrent traffic and bypass geographic restrictions on US Netflix and HBO Max.

The service is currently owned by Nord Security, which increases its reliability. Despite being free, Atlas VPN meets the same high standards as NordVPN, including third-party auditing and more private log storage.

However, it’s worth noting that it can’t compete with the best premium VPNs on the market because it lacks some key features like Smart DNS, split tunneling, and browser extensions.

Alternatives to Atlas VPN

Despite the low cost of Atlas VPN’s premium subscription, there are still better alternatives.

Surfshark and NordVPN are a significant improvement over Atlas VPN, costing as little as $2.30 and $3.29 per month respectively on long-term plans.

Like Atlas VPN, both of these VPNs are owned by Nord Security, but they outperform Atlas VPN in all of the key categories in our testing. NordVPN and Surfshark both have Smart DNS, browser extensions, and both have been audited for their log retention policies.

If you need a completely free VPN, Proton VPN Free is a great alternative to Atlas VPN. It provides unlimited free data on servers in the US, the Netherlands, and Japan. It also uses the WireGuard protocol for high speeds, but it cannot be used for video streaming and torrenting.

In the table below, you can compare the paid and free versions of Atlas VPN with their main competitors: