Avast SecureLine VPN Review

Avast is the company that gave us excellent and reliable tools like Avast Internet Security and Avast Antivirus. However, the company’s VPN is far from the high-quality product one might expect – at least for now.

In my Avast SecureLine VPN review, I will look this service from various angles and answer some important questions. Is Avast SecureLine VPN safe? Does it keep logs? Does Avast VPN unblock Netflix? Continue reading to find out.

Avast SecureLine VPN Overview

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How safe is Avast SecureLine VPN?

When choosing a VPN, staying secure and private should be your top priority. In terms of security, here’s what Avast SecureLine VPN has to offer:

• AES-256 military-grade encryption
• IPsec and OpenVPN on UDP protocols
• IP and DNS leak protection
• Kill switch

The features are not bad. However, they’re very basic. For instance, functionalities like split tunneling, or Tor over VPN are not included. Hence you’re not getting as much as you would by subscribing to some of the premium VPNs like NordVPN.

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Does Avast VPN keep logs?

Avast SecureLine front page states that the VPN “doesn’t log websites visited or app usage.” So, on the face of things, there seems to be no issue of Avast VPN logs. However, let’s have a closer look at what the Avast privacy policy actually says about logging.

Avast SecureLine VPN privacy policy states that when you start up SecureLine, Avast “may capture certain basic data such as the time and network location from which the VPN connection was made and the duration of the VPN connection.”

This is a somewhat vague clause but isn’t necessarily worrying in itself (for instance, if Avast only records the type of computer connecting to their servers). And as they say, all of this data is deleted within 30 days. The problem is that Avast doesn’t say what it will do with this data, or what it would do if law enforcement agencies requested it.

The policy continues, noting that “the system may store data on the bandwidth transferred per session.” The use of words like “may” is not something we feel good about in the context of a privacy policy.

Finally, Avast will keep records of your interactions with their support team, including “personally identifiable information.” Officially, this is intended to make their support operations run more smoothly, but it might reasonably spook some users. Having said that, the data collected won’t be used for marketing purposes unless you “opt in” – which is a welcome inclusion.

None of this proves that Avast keeps detailed logs of customer activity when they log onto the VPN. But it does suggest that Avast is collecting plenty of information at other times, and the company isn’t as open as it could be about exactly how it does this.

The company also admits to not having many protections against official agencies. In fact, it’s pretty weak when it comes to protecting user identity.

For instance, Avast won’t just surrender personally-identifiable data to legitimate requests from law enforcement bodies. It will also hand over data to other third parties “if we believe on the advice of our attorneys that we are required to respond.” And it routinely transfers personal data to contractors for “product development or market research.”

Avast SecureLine VPN logs timestamps, your IP address (minus the last 4 digits), and the IPs of VPN servers you connect to

According to the Avast Transparency Report 2017, over that year the company received 28 log disclosure requests from authorities in different countries. Avast VPN proved to be helpful in one case, where personally identifiable information was provided to the Czech police. To be precise, a user’s real IP address was linked to an email account.

That’s quite a worrying record. Even though Avast VPN logs an anonymized version of your IP, there can only be 256 versions of the last octet, and pairing that with the VPN server you’ve been using might give just enough to identify you.

Moreover, Avast VPN has even more stains on its reputation when it comes to keeping its users’ data private. It was revealed quite recently that the company was scanning its users’ devices, collecting data, and later selling it through its subsidiary, Jumpshot.

Put simply, anyone who has ever had any Avast product had their data sold. For this reason, I’ll put it out there now – Avast SecureLine VPN is not a product I’d recommend purchasing.

Is Avast SecureLine VPN leak-proof?

While the service offers reliable IP and DNS leak protection, WebRTC leaks are another matter.

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a built-in browser feature enabled by default in some of the major browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. In other words, this isn’t Avast VPN’s problem. Still, it can cause severe privacy and security issues.

The temporary solution to this significant leak issue offered by Avast VPN is to “protect your privacy in the meantime by blocking or disabling WebRTC manually.”

Please note that specific applications depend on the WebRTC feature. For example, file sharing and video chatting may not work with it disabled.

For the best protection against WebRTC leaks, we suggest that you use a top VPN, such as Surfshark VPN, NordVPN, or any other premium service. One that has proven not to leak anything anywhere.

Where is Avast located?

Avast SecureLine VPN is based in the Czech Republic. The country is outside the Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes surveillance alliance. However, with Avast’s spotty record, this isn’t much consolation.

Speed and performance

To see how Avast SecureLine VPN performs, we ran speed tests in both Germany and the US (baseline speeds were 303 Mbps Download and 307 Mbps Upload).

As you can see, the speeds are – at best – mediocre. With Avast SecureLine VPN, you are likely to experience interrupted connections, lags, and problems playing videos in HD, not to mention 4K.

Hence, I’d recommend checking out our list of fastest VPNs to choose a provider that won’t disappoint you.

Server coverage

Avast SecureLine VPN has an undisclosed number of servers in only 700+ locations in 34+ countries.

It’s fair to say that all the continents are covered, albeit some more than others. The United States is without a doubt the most represented nation, with it alone boasting a total of 16 servers.

3 servers are based within the United Kingdom, while other countries, such as Spain, Russia, Germany, and Canada, each have 2 servers. I must warn, that Russia has already driven most premium VPNs away with its new intrusive laws.

The rest have one server each. This includes countries such as Taiwan, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, and a handful of others.

When it comes to server speeds, Avast Secureline often doesn’t disappoint. With their servers having no bandwidth limits and supporting up to 2 Gbps, we found that each of their servers offered a decent performance which meant that we could enjoy 4K streaming, online gaming, and other demanding online tasks.

However, just bear in mind that baseline speeds and other factors come into play. This is why it would be a great option for you to take advantage of Avast Secureline VPN’s 7-day free trial to test out the service before you part with your hard-earned cash.

Does Avast SecureLine VPN support my device?

You have the basic choices when it comes to Avast SecureLine VPN apps:

• Windows 
• macOS
• Android and Android TV
  
• iOS

The one positive thing to mention here is that these apps are very easy to use.  The interface is user-friendly and pretty self-explanatory. Hence, it’s a great solution for those who don’t expect much from a virtual private network or just start using this type of product.

It is usually a no-brainer to download and install VPN apps. However, it may take a few extra clicks in the case of Avast VPN since Avast has a number of cybersecurity products to offer and their website makes them all available.

So, basically, the first step is to select whether you want a tool for your home or for your business. You can do so by clicking either the For home or For business menu at the top of the official website.

Next, you choose a platform (Windows, Mac OS, Android, or iOS) from the left panel and then, you can select a security product from the appearing lot. In this case, you will click SecureLine VPN, which will redirect you to the download page.

One more click on the Download For PC button, or whichever platform you chose, and the download should start automatically in a few seconds.

Before you could use it, you need to activate Avast SecureLine VPN. There are three ways to activate your VPN software after purchasing it depending on what you may prefer:

• Activation code
• License file
• Avast account.

You will find the activation code or license file in the order confirmation email you have received from Avast. Once you copy the activation code onto the clipboard or save the license file to your hard drive, you need to launch your Avast VPN software.

Open the menu and go to the My licenses option. Now, you can choose to Log in to your Avast Account or Enter a valid activation code on the Subscription screen. If you select the activation code method, you can either enter the code you find in your order confirmation email (or copy it from your clipboard) or click the Use a license file link to upload your saved license file.

Once you have finished with the activation process, you are ready to use your VPN software.

For the PC and Mac versions, you can choose to download the free trial version, or you can click Buy Now. The Avast VPN Android and iOS clients, however, can only be downloaded as trials for first-timers.

Once you get your VPN client, it’s only a matter of several clicks in the “OK-Next-I accept…-Next-Next-Install-Finish” drill to get it up and running.

When you log into your activated app, you’ll see the initial screen:

This home screen has the necessary information on it, including your real location and the last location you chose.

If you select the OFF button, you’ll automatically connect to the last used server. When you click the Change Location button, a screen comes up with all the servers categorized by regions and functions (P2P or Streaming).

The good thing is that you don’t need to disconnect from the current server before choosing another one. I do like it when there are no unnecessary clicks involved.

The Avast SecureLine Settings menu allows you the following very basic optimizations:

• Show SecureLine notifications
• Start SecureLine when my computer starts
• Automatically turn on VPN when the app starts
• Receive beta updates
• Language: you have 44 languages to choose from, which probably makes Avast the most multi-lingual VPN software on the market
• Turn on SecureLine when connected to unsecured WiFi networks

When it comes to the Android app, you can get it in two ways. First, you can directly visit the Google Play Store and download the app called VPN Proxy by Avast SecureLine.

Second, you need to visit the official website, go to For home menu, select Android on the left, click the SecureLine VPN link under Privacy, and finally, press the Install On Android button on the dedicated page. The second option basically redirects you to the very same Google Play Store app page.

Android client offers the following:

• 7-day trial
• Accessing blocked restricted websites and apps
• Decent online security and privacy when connecting to unsecured public WiFis
• Anonymous browsing
• VPN On/Off dashboard widget
• Up to 5 simultaneous devices
• 54 VPN servers in 34 countries ensuring relatively good speeds

Android app’s interface is very intuitive, a dream for beginner VPN users, for sure. We believe that the ease of use is its real forte.

After you launch your app, simply tap the large Connect button to initiate a connection to an optimal VPN server location, which is most likely the closest to your physical location and the least crowded one, too. As a matter of fact, due to the relatively low number of servers, it is possible to fail to connect to overloaded servers or it may take a few tries.

If you want to change the location yourself, you can easily do so by tapping the Change location button and selecting one of the servers. It can’t get any simpler.

If you tap the Gear icon in the top right corner, you can access the following settings:

• Account: information about your subscription if you have any; if not or you haven’t activated it, you can tap the Subscription link to get redirected to the Options page.
• Settings: these are essentially the Connection Rules to view the automatic connection and reconnection options. Basically, this is all you can customize about your online privacy and security with this app.
• Troubleshooting: this is where you can have help regarding the use of this app.
• General: to view your Personal Privacy settings and the End User License Agreement.

As you can see, the Avast VPN Android app doesn’t give you too many features to tweak around. This can be rather frustrating for more serious VPN users; however, novice users may actually welcome this simplicity.

If there is a new version available, the Google Play Store notifies you automatically, so, keeping your app up-to-date should not be an issue.

Avast SecureLine VPN has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, as well as, Avast Secure Browser. Once you download the VPN, you can download the browser for free.

However, I advise you to think twice before opting in – it’s no better than the VPN.

Streaming with Avast SecureLine VPN

As you’ll soon learn, streaming with Avast SecureLine VPN is a matter of success. Sometimes you can bypass the geo-blocks with no problems whatsoever, and sometimes it simply does not work.

One good thing about Avast SecureLine VPN is that it supports Android TV, and there’s no bandwidth limit.

However, you cannot use it with Amazon Fire TV Stick or Apple TV.

Does Avast VPN work with Netflix?

I tested the Netflix US library first and was surprised to find not only that the dedicated US Streaming servers worked, but other random US servers (New York and Washington) did as well.

However, when I connected to the UK Streaming server, I failed to access Netflix UK. Then, I tried the London server on a just-in-case basis, and I succeeded: yes, you can watch Netflix UK.

Unfortunately, I kept failing with other Netflix regions like Canada and Australia. However, I got lucky when I tried the Paris server for Netflix FR and the Tokyo server for Netflix JP.  I was surprised to find the Tokyo server to perform impressively fast.

All in all, I found Avast VPN to be quite decent for Netflix.

Avast VPN for Kodi and other streaming services

In theory, you could use Avast VPN for Kodi, however, you should think twice when it comes to one of the biggest Avast VPN problems: its logging policy, privacy record, and speed.

Of course, you may only use Kodi to access geo-restricted TV shows and not those “shady” torrenting add-ons with free movie libraries. But Avast SecureLine VPN is simply not the best for that.

When it comes to streaming platforms other than Netflix, Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t work with Hulu, but seems to do okay with BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO GO.

Is Avast VPN good for torrenting?

Avast SecureLine VPN supports torrenting on a limited number of servers, and its connection speeds aren’t particularly great for P2P file-sharing. There’s also the issue with our privacy and logging concerns.

Avast has a rather poor VPN protocol variety, only offering IPsec and OpenVPN on UDP. On the other hand, this might just be enough for you for torrenting. Your internet traffic is encrypted with military-grade encryption (AES-256), which is a standard now in this market.

Although Avast VPN has DNS leak protection, it still can’t resolve the WebRTC leak issue. In all fairness, you can find useful information on their website regarding how to solve this problem manually, which is indeed browser-related and not directly a failure of the VPN software.

Avast VPN also keeps connection logs as well as personally identifiable information, such as your full name, Zip code, and email address. Since this provider may also regard your internet traffic as “unethical,” chances are they would willingly share all they have about you with the authorities if such a request should arise.

We believe Avast VPN software doesn’t pass our criteria to be a good candidate for torrenting. Simply put, the Avast VPN solution is not cut out for privacy and torrenting. Of course, with time, it may improve to be one of the top picks; after all, it comes from a world-renowned family of cybersecurity tools. However, as for now, we don’t advise you to use Avast VPN for torrenting mainly due to its questionable privacy.

Customer support

You can access Avast SecureLine VPN’s online Support Center, but it may not get you far. Hence customer support is one of the most significant issues Avast VPN has.

The Support Center options include:

• An FAQ database
• Help forums
• Free 24/7 consultation via phone
• No live chat support

It may also take up to two days for the support staff to address your issue. You can’t even send them an email directly, but it’s possible to submit a support ticket by clicking the Contact Us button at the bottom of the FAQ pages.

The only “live” way for you to be connected to a human is to call the customer support phone number.

How much does Avast SecureLine VPN cost?

You can choose between a monthly or annual subscription. The limit for simultaneous connections is ten.

Here’s the Avast SecureLine VPN pricing list:

• 1-year plan for 10 devices: $4.60/month
• 2-year plan for 10 devices: $4.20/month
• 3-year plan for 10 devices: $3.75/month

You can also test the service out with a 7-day free trial. You don’t need to provide any payment information to get it.

The Avast VPN trial is totally free of charge, with no obligation to purchase when the trial period ends. It comes with all of the main features, so users can get a really good feel for what the VPN has to offer.

You can just click on the download button, fire it up, and make up your mind. However, subscription payments will kick in if you run over the 7-day limit.

So, what Avast has done is very clever: they give a full-featured taster for one week, letting users experience the full Secureline package. Many VPNs offer free trials, but they usually come with restrictions that make them much less functional than the real thing. That’s not the case with the Avast VPN trial.

Even though we’re talking about a free trial, the feature set is pretty extensive, offering everything you’ll get with the full paid-for version. For instance, with the Avast VPN free trial you’ll get:

• Military-grade encryption.
• A UI that’s optimized for smartphone users, with specialist Android and iOS versions.
• Anti-geo-blocking functions that work around price discrimination, blocks on streaming sites, and government censorship.
• Servers in 34 countries around the world, including the United States, Russia, Brazil, Australia, and the UK.
• The ability to connect up to 10 devices using the same VPN account.
• No bandwidth limits, speeds of “up to” 2 gigabits per second, and a choice of torrent-friendly servers.

If you’ve tried the free trial and don’t like what Secureline has to offer, that’s fine. You can cancel any time before the 7 days have elapsed. If you don’t cancel, then the subscription option you chose when downloading the VPN will kick in. So it pays to be sharp about ending the trial.

Simply uninstalling the VPN will not end your free trial. To do so, mobile users will need to use Google Play (payments.google.com) or the Apple App Store, where they can cancel their Secureline subscription.

If you’re using Windows or Mac, you’ll need to disable auto-renewal via the Avast Customer Portal. Enter your Avast ID and password, then choose the “Manage Subscription” option next to Secureline.

On the next page, just set “Automatic Renewals” to “Off”, then press the “Disable Automatic Renewal” button and you’re good to go.

Alternatively, you could upgrade to a full Secureline subscription. Avast VPN prices vary depending on which device you use. The cheapest package for computers works out at just over $5 per month, although smartphone users can benefit from much cheaper rates, with monthly charges of as little as $1.67.

As with many services, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You can pay for your Avast VPN plan via a credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Unfortunately, no anonymous payments are offered or accepted.

Common Avast VPN problems

All that glitters ain’t gold, as the late singer, Prince, put it so correctly. This old saying proves to be true in this case, too: it’s quite possible you’ll find your Avast SecureLine VPN not working in one way or other.

For example, we’ve found Avast not connecting to certain servers occasionally. What’s more, you could also experience issues with establishing connection if you have conflicting software installed on your device.

In addition, you may encounter the following, among other Avast problems:

• Your Avast client is not responding
• Your Avast connection failed
• Speed problems
• Issues in China
• Problematic support
• No anonymous payment method
• Possible security and privacy issues

Common payment problems

When purchasing your SecureLine VPN, you are offered basically two payment methods: Credit/Debit Card or PayPal. While these are the most usual and most often used ways by all other VPN services, we do have privacy concerns. Why?

Our Avast VPN payment problem is based on the fact that there is no anonymous payment method available. In other words, you cannot pay for your subscription by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dash, or Ethereum, or gift cards. This means that you can be linked to a VPN account personally, which is not the best practice when you want to stay as anonymous online as possible.

Does not work in China

The simple truth here is that Avast VPN does not work in China. So, if you are a traveler going behind the Great Firewall or located in China, this VPN will not be of help.

The only solution for this problem is to do your research properly if you need the best VPN for China. Right now, there is no way for you to use Avast SecureLine VPN in China.

How to solve Avast problems ?

So what can you do if you are facing Avast VPN problems? Where can you turn?

First of all, you can browse the Support page, which has a search field as well as categorized topics (Product Activation, Sales & Billing, and Refund Request) to help you with frequently asked questions.

Second, you can visit the Avast forums to find solutions to your issues.

Third, if you need specific help, press the Contact Us button at the bottom of a FAQ page. This is how you’ll be able to submit a support ticket to the support team after going through a number of questions and providing the requested data.

Finally, there is a toll-free telephone number to call 24/7 to “get help for all your device problems.” It seems that this is the only and the fastest way for you to talk to a human support agent.

To be frank, when it comes to support, Avast VPN may not be the most effective. You will find lots of complaints in forums and review comments from Avast users who couldn’t help their technical issues even after contacting the support team.

Avast SecureLine VPN FAQ

Does Avast have a free VPN?

No, Avast SecureLine VPN does not offer a free VPN version. What you can get is a 7-day free trial, but otherwise, you will have to pay for the service.

Can I use Avast SecureLine VPN without installing Avast Antivirus?

Sure! You don’t need Avast Free Antivirus or Avast Premium Security to use Avast SecureLine VPN.

Is Avast VPN good?

Not really. Not only is it infamous for the lack of respect for its users’ data, but it also lacks security features.

When subscribing to Avast SecureLine VPN, you get military-grade encryption, a kill switch, and that’s about it.  Hence, if security is important to you, I’d highly recommend choosing another provider.

What are Avast SecureLine alternatives?

As AvastSecureLine is not the most advanced VPN provider, we highly recommend you check our top VPN providers, such as NordVPN or Surfshark.

Bottom line

We can say that this VPN is decent for casual users. However, if you’re a frequent traveler, a hacker, a journalist, or an activist, you may find Avast SecureLine VPN to be poorly equipped with security features.

You can give it a chance and get a refund within 30 days if it fails to charm you. Or, better yet, protect yourself with the best possible VPN software for real peace of mind.