FastVPN VPN Review 2024: Is It Safe to Use & Fast?

Namecheap FastVPN is great for securing your data when browsing the web. It’s also good for torrenting and gaming but only on nearby servers — since only those locations maintain fast speeds. It’s also a decent pick for larger families or people who own a lot of devices, as the provider allows unlimited simultaneous connections.

What’s more, it’s one of the cheapest VPNs out there, with prices starting at just $0.99 / month — that said, if you’re not on a tight budget, I’d recommend going with ExpressVPN instead since it provides significantly better value.

The provider comes with all essential VPN security features, including 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logs policy. It also provides strong leak protection, it uses secure VPN protocols, and it has advanced security tool like perfect forward secrecy. Plus, the VPN has extras like split-tunneling and obfuscation, offers user-friendly apps, and includes a pretty big server network.

Still, FastVPN has some issues I can’t overlook. For starters, it doesn’t work with many popular streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Max. It also has pretty noticeable slowdowns on distant servers. In addition, the provider doesn’t consistently work in restrictive countries, and it’s missing an app for Linux and smart TV devices.

FastVPN has a paid monthly and yearly plan, and it backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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FastVPN Full Review

I spent a few weeks testing and researching FastVPN to see if it’s worth purchasing. Overall, it provides good security and is good for some online activities but only if you use nearby servers — the VPN is produced by Namecheap, a domain name registrar and web hosting company established in 2000.

The VPN comes with both essential and advanced security features, and it also has feature-rich apps. Plus, it allows P2P downloads across all of its servers, and it has really easy-to-use apps.

However, it still doesn’t offer the same level of quality as top competitors (like ExpressVPN, for example) — it doesn’t work with many popular streaming sites, it doesn’t have an app for Linux and smart TV platforms, and it provides bad speeds on distant servers.

FastVPN Features

FastVPN has all industry-standard VPN security features I expect a good VPN to have:

• 256-bit AES encryption. The provider uses military-grade encryption to make your internet traffic completely unreadable.
• No-logs policy. FastVPN doesn’t record your IP address or traffic, so the VPN doesn’t know where you’re located, and what sites you browse while connected to its servers.
• Kill switch. This feature shuts down your internet access if the VPN disconnects. It does this to make sure your data doesn’t leak outside the VPN tunnel.

The VPN also uses 3 VPN protocols, including WreiGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2/IPSec. These protocols are secure, but I’m happy to see built-in support for WireGuard — it’s much faster than OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec.

The provider also has built-in protection against DNS and IPv6 leaks. It’s missing WebRTC leak protection, but I ran leak tests on servers in 15 countries and never experienced any type of leak. Still, if you want a VPN with full leak protection, I recommend using Private Internet Access instead.

I also like how the VPN uses perfect forward secrecy — an advanced security feature ensuring each VPN session uses a different encryption key. This way, hackers can’t try to compromise past or future session encryption keys to spy on your traffic.

However, the VPN doesn’t use RAM-only servers, which essentially save all data to the RAM instead of the hard drive — this ensures that each server reset wipes all data. This isn’t a huge drawback, but it’s something I’d like to see FastVPN add, as most top VPNs have RAM-only servers.

FastVPN has a great split-tunneling tool — this feature lets you pick which apps or websites use the VPN connection, and which ones don’t. The provider’s split-tunneling feature is available on Android, iOS (many top competitors don’t have split-tunneling on iOS), and Windows. On Android and Windows, you can split-tunnel both app and website traffic, which is very convenient.

Plus, FastVPN also provides obfuscation via the OpenVPN protocol — this security feature masks your VPN traffic, making it look like regular internet traffic. This feature should help you access the web in restrictive countries (like China and Russia), though FastVPN doesn’t guarantee its service will work in such places 100% of the time. If that’s a deal-breaker, I recommend getting ExpressVPN instead since it consistently works without issues in restrictive regions.

Still, the provider is missing other extras that most top VPNs provide access to. For example, FastVPN doesn’t come with built-in access to an ad-blocking tool, and it’s also missing a smart DNS feature, which is useful for streaming on devices that don’t work with VPN apps.

Overall, FastVPN comes with all essential VPN security features, it also has strong leak protection and perfect forward secrecy, and it provides access to split-tunneling and obfuscation. But its obfuscation doesn’t work 100% of the time in restrictive countries, and the VPN is missing other useful extras, like an ad blocker and a smart DNS.

FastVPN Privacy & Security

FastVPN comes with a strict no-logs policy. This means it doesn’t collect your IP address (which reveals your location) or your web traffic, specifically what sites you access and what files you download. The provider also doesn’t log bandwidth usage and connection timestamps. It only collects your email address, which it requires to set up your account and communicate with you.

Still, I think it’s a shame that FastVPN hasn’t undergone a no-logs audit — this would make it easier to trust the provider. Most top competitors (like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access) have had their no-logs policies audited.

FastVPN is headquartered in the US and is part of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances (a group of countries that collect and share surveillance data). If the US authorities ask FastVPN to hand over user data, the provider shouldn’t be able to do it since it has a no-logs policy — though, it would be easier to trust this if the no-logs policy was audited.

Overall, FastVPN provides good privacy since it comes with a strict no-logs policy that doesn’t collect personal data. I just wish the provider would undergo a no-logs audit.

FastVPN Speed & Performance

I ran speed tests on servers in all 57 countries where FastVPN has a server. I did this to determine my average VPN connection speeds. I started with a speed test without being connected to FastVPN — this was to show what my original internet speeds were. Then, I followed up with a speed test while connected to a local server in my country.

After this, I connected to a distant server in the US to test my speeds. These are my results:

Whenever I used local and nearby servers, I maintained good speeds — I hardly noticed a slowdown. All websites and HD vidoes loaded instantly, and I didn’t experience any lag while playing online games.

I had a different experience on distant servers. While the speed test results look good, the VPN’s performance didn’t match the results since I experienced noticeable slowdowns. Whenever I accessed a site, it usually took around 3–4 seconds for it to load. Also, my videos loaded in around 5–6 seconds, and I noticed buffering at the start of the videos and during them.

Overall, FastVPN maintains good speeds on nearby servers but experiences noticeable slowdowns on distant servers. If you know you’re going to end up using distant servers, It’s better to go with ExpressVPN — it maintains blazing-fast speeds on all servers, which is why we rank it the fastest VPN out there.

FastVPN Servers & IP Addresses

FastVPN has 1,000+ servers in 57 countries, which are located in most parts of the world, so most users can find and use nearby locations to get fast speeds. That said, other top competitors have much larger server networks — for example, ExpressVPN has servers in 105 countries, and NordVPN has servers in 111 countries.

The VPN allows torrenting across all of its servers — some top VPNs only allow P2P downloads on dedicated torrenting servers (for example, PureVPN has P2P servers in 30+ countries).

FastVPN also has dedicated streaming servers in 3 countries: the US, Canada, and the UK. However, they’re sadly not great since they don’t work with most popular streaming platforms (like Netflix and Max). In addition, I also don’t like how the streaming servers limit you to just 5 connections — on regular servers, FastVPN allows unlimited connections.

I like how the provider displays ping and load metrics for all of its servers on desktop apps. The ping represents how long it takes for your device to communicate with the VPN server, and the load shows how many active users are connected to a server. Both of those metrics help you find fast servers — the lower the ping and load, the faster your VPN speeds will be.

Overall, FastVPN has a decent server network, although most top competitors have servers in nearly double the number of countries. It also allows P2P traffic on all servers, and although it has dedicated streaming servers, they don’t always work with top streaming sites.

FastVPN Streaming & Torrenting

FastVPN isn’t great for streaming. While it’s compatible with Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, it doesn’t work with other popular streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Max. Also, you need to use the provider’s streaming servers to access streaming sites — but the support reps told me they can’t guarantee that those servers will work with streaming platforms 100% of the time.

If you mainly want to use a VPN for streaming, just get ExpressVPN instead. It’s compatible with 100+ streaming services.

FastVPN also has pretty good torrenting support, as it allows P2P downloads across all of its servers, which are located in 57 countries. That said, I still think Private Internet Access is a much better option if you mainly want to use a VPN for torrenting. It supports torrenting on servers in more countries (91), it has port forwarding and SOCKS5 proxy support (both of those features are good for speeding up your P2P downloads), and its no-logs policy passed an independent audit.

Overall, I don’t recommend FastVPN for streaming, but it’s pretty good for torrenting. It works with Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, but it’s not compatible with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Max. On the plus side, it allows torrenting on all of its servers.

FastVPN Plans & Pricing

FastVPN has a paid monthly and a paid yearly plan. The provider allows unlimited connections (the industry average is between 5 and 10 connections). That said, FastVPN limits you to just 5 connections if you use its dedicated streaming servers — though, they don’t work with most top streaming sites.

This is by far one of the cheapest VPNs on the market, as FastVPN’s pricing begins at only $0.99 / month. It’s a decent pick if you’re on a tight budget, as the VPN is secure and good for torrenting. That said, it’s not great for streaming, and its speeds on distant servers are pretty slow. If this is an issue, I recommend Surfshark as an alternative — its prices start at just $2.19 / month, it allows unlimited connections on all servers, it’s very fast, it works with 50+ streaming sites, and it’s very good for torrenting.

The provider accepts payments via credit/debit cards and PayPal. But doesn’t also accept cryptocurrency payments — this payment method provides very good privacy and most top VPNs support it. FastVPN backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Overall, FastVPN has super-cheap prices, allows unlimited connections (except on its streaming servers), provides decent value, and also comes with a 30-day refund policy.

FastVPN Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps

FastVPN has apps for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. It also comes with a browser extension for Chromium browsers, and it allows manual router setups. If you’re interested in getting a low-cost VPN with an app for Linux and smart TVs, try Private Internet Access or Surfshark instead.

I’m very happy with the provider’s Android app on my smartphone. It makes it very easy to find and connect to different servers, and there’s also a convenient quick-connect tool that automatically connects you to the fastest server location. Plus, I never experienced any bugs while using the mobile apps, like buttons not working or random crashes.

The Windows app works well and only takes 5 seconds to find and connect to a VPN server. Plus, I like how there are helpful explanations for all settings and features, so you never feel lost while using the VPN.

Overall, FastVPN provides access to intuitive apps that work on most platforms. Though, I still think it’s a shame that the VPN lacks an app for Linux and smart TVs.

FastVPN Customer Support

FastVPN has pretty good customer support. It provides access to multiple support channels, including 24/7 live chat support, 24/7 email support, and a helpful support library that consists of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), setup tutorials, and a few troubleshooting guides.

I’m pretty happy with the live chat. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to be connected to a live chat rep, and most of the reps I talked with were friendly and helpful. It does often take the reps a few minutes to answer your questions, but I don’t think it’s a huge issue since they at least provide very detailed and accurate answers.

The VPN’s email support is great as well. I sent the provider around 10 questions over email, and I generally received a reply in less than 24 hours, which is pretty good. Plus, all the replies  I received were detailed and helpful.

The provider’s support library is pretty good — most of the FAQs I came across answered all of my questions. Plus, I like how most of the tutorials come with screenshots, which makes it easy to follow them.

Overall, FastVPN provides great customer support — it has 24/7 live chat and email support, its support reps are generally helpful, and it provides access to a detailed support library as well.

Is FastVPN Secure & Fast in 2024?

FastVPN provides strong security features, so it’s good for securely surfing the web. It’s also good for gaming and torrenting, though only if you use nearby server locations (since they provide the best speeds). It’s also super affordable, and it allows unlimited connections, which might make it a good pick for large families who are on a tight budget.

The VPN comes with all industry-standard VPN security features, and it also provides strong leak protection and perfect forward secrecy. Plus, it has useful extras, including split-tunneling and obfuscation. And FastVPN is easy to use, and it has a pretty big server network.

Still, it has some drawbacks that are hard to ignore. For starters, it doesn’t work with many popular streaming sites, such as Netflix, Max, and Amazon Prime. Also, its speeds are pretty slow on distant servers. Finally, the VPN doesn’t work well in restrictive regions, and it’s also missing an app for Linux and smart TV devices.

FastVPN comes with a paid monthly and a yearly plan, and it provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for all of its plans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FastVPN safe?

Yes, FastVPN comes with strong security features. It has all essential VPN security tools, including 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch to prevent traffic leaks, and a strict no-logs policy. It also provides strong leak protection (and it passed all of my leak tests), and it uses perfect forward secrecy too, which is an advanced security feature that makes sure each VPN session uses a different encryption key.

Does FastVPN work with Netflix?

No, the VPN isn’t compatible with Netflix. It’s also not good for streaming in general, as it doesn’t work with other popular streaming sites (like Amazon Prime and Max) either. If this is a deal-breaker, consider getting ExpressVPN instead — it works with Netflix 100% of the time, it’s also compatible with 10+ Netflix libraries, and it provides the fastest streaming speeds on the market.

Does FastVPN work in China?

Yes, but not consistently — I have confirmation from the provider’s support reps that FastVPN only works 50% of the time in restrictive countries like China. If this is an issue, it’s better to get ExpressVPN instead since it works with issues in China and other restrictive regions.

Is FastVPN good for torrenting?

Yes, FastVPN provides decent P2P support. It allows torrenting across all of its servers, which are located in 57 countries, which is really good. That said, if you’re mainly interested in torrenting with a VPN, I’d get Private Internet Access instead — this provider allows P2P downloads on serves in 91 countries, and it also has extra P2P-related features that can boost download speeds (port forwarding and SOCKS5 proxy support).