Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN Comparison | Get the Best One in Australia 2022

If you go for the yearly plan, both Surfshark and Ivacy will set you back by AU$5.97/mo(US$3.99/mo). Ivacy is currently offering a 5-year special to users. It gives you a massive 78% off, reducing the monthly costs to AU$1.78(US$1.19) only!

You get unlimited simultaneous connections with a Surfshark subscription, whereas Ivacy lets you protect 10 devices at the same time.

Additionally, Surfshark and Ivacy accept common modes of payment in Australia. Surfshark accepts payments made via Credit Card, PayPal, Google Pay, Sofort, Amazon Pay, and cryptocurrency. In comparison, Ivacy VPN price can be paid through PayPal, Visa, BitPay, MasterCard, American Express, Coingate, PerfectMoney, and multiple other payment methods.

Get This Best Deal for Surfshark: Save 81% on their 2-Year Special

Get This Best Deal for Ivacy: 78% Discount on the 5-Year Plan

Winner in Prices and Discounts

Ivacy VPN offers various payment methods as compared to Surfshark. Although both VPN services have affordable subscription packages, Ivacy VPN has cheaper plans with an additional 5-year plan for its subscribers.

However, you get unlimited simultaneous device connections with Surfshark which is not the case with Ivacy VPN.

2. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Speed Comparison for Australian Users

For this Ivacy VPN vs Surfshark speed comparison in Australia, I ran multiple speed tests on my 100 Mbps internet connection using Ookla. I measured the speeds of the supported protocols across 3 different server locations (Canada, the US, and the UK) to record the average connection speed.

Surfshark and Ivacy VPN use the WireGuard protocol to ensure excellent connection speeds in Australia. Here are the average speed test scores for Surfshark and Ivacy VPN on their different protocols:

IKEv2

OpenVPN UDP

OpenVPN TCP

Winner in Speed Comparison

Overall, Surfshark is a faster VPN than Ivacy VPN as its protocols showed higher download and upload speeds. However, Ivacy VPN does not fall way behind Surfshark in terms of speed on its OpenVPN (UDP/TCP) protocols.

3. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Important Features Comparison for Australian Users

In terms of features, Surfshark and Ivacy both do exceptionally well in the Australian region. With each provider, you have access to dedicated apps for all popular platforms and devices in the world.

These include Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and even routers. If you go for Ivacy, you can even get a dedicated add-on for Kodi.

In addition to this, Surfshark and Ivacy both offer Split Tunneling across all their apps. Other features available with Surfshark include NoBorders mode (obfuscated servers) which are great for carrying out torrenting activities.

With Ivacy, you gain access to different Ivacy modes: Smart Connect for fast server connectivity, Secure Download to download without fearing malicious content, Streaming to unblock geo-restricted platforms, and Unblocking to access restricted content from a particular region.

On the other hand, Surfshark has an add-on named Surfshark One with access to many advanced features. With Surfshark One, you get access to VPN, Antivirus, Search, and Alert.

Winner in Features Comparison

Surfshark clearly wins this round in the Ivacy vs Surfshark comparison. Although both VPNs have sufficient additional subscription features, Surfshark has more to offer its subscribers with Smart DNS and unlimited device connections.

4. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Netflix & Unblocking Other Streaming Capabilities in Australia

Despite being incredibly budget-friendly, both Surfshark and Ivacy do surprisingly well at unblocking a myriad of streaming platforms in Australia, where even the most expensive providers fail.

Where Surfshark offers numerous obfuscated servers for the task, Ivacy goes the extra mile in offering a dedicated “popular websites” tab in all of their applications.

Simply click on the tap and select any VoD from the list. The app will instantly redirect you to the unblocked version. You can expect to get decent connection speeds for streaming on different platforms in Australia. Similarly, Surfshark’s connection speeds make it an excellent VPN for streaming Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and even Disney Plus.

The best part of all: I faced no downtime issues with either provider, streaming was smooth even on Ultra HD quality, and I did not get the “proxy/VPN detected error” on all the above websites. Also, you can watch local content airing on BBC iPlayer using Surfshark without any location constraint. Using Surfshark, I was able to access more regional Netflix libraries than Ivacy VPN in Australia.

Winner in Netflix & Unblocking Other Streaming Capabilities in Australia

Surfshark is the undisputed winner for unblocking Netflix libraries and other streaming services because it unblocks more services consistently than Ivacy in Australia.

Surfshark unblocks Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Netflix, Telequebec, ICI, Hayu, Noovo, RD, JOYN, ZDF, TVNow, ITV, Sky Go, BTTV, NowTV, Britbox, ESPN, Peacock, SpectrumTV, MTV, Discovery+. Whereas, Ivacy VPN unblocks a few streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, BBC News, Hulu, ABC, HBO Go, ITV, BT Sports, and BeinSports.

5. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – China & Internet Restricted Countries

Unfortunately, Surfshark does not offer servers in China as confirmed by its support agent.

Live chat agent confirmed that Surfshark does not work for unblocking Chinese content.

In China, you’ll have to configure the Ivacy VPN manually. For which, you can contact the customer support team and get the steps of configurations and the optimized server. The live chat team confirmed that Ivacy can be manually configured on devices to use in China.

You’ll have to manually configure the Ivacy VPN on your device to use in China.

You can try using the NoBorders feature of Surfshark to access geo-restricted content in countries like China and Russia. Where most VPNs fail, some of the best VPNs for China still work to fulfil the demands of Chinese expats and residents.

Surfshark and Ivacy both offer a Chinese mirror website so that users have no trouble downloading native apps on their devices. This is something that most providers fail at offering.

Users in China can download Surfshark from their dedicated Chinese page here: shark-china.com

Winner in Working for China & Internet Restricted Countries

If we compare the two, Ivacy definitely wins the category. It is the only provider in the marketplace that offers a dedicated app for Chinese residents called “Ivacy Prime”.

6. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Torrenting in Australia

In terms of torrenting, Surfshark offers more reliability as compared to Ivacy in Australia. Although you do receive fast speeds with Ivacy, sometimes you may receive some downtimes on different servers.

On the other hand, Surfshark allows P2P activities on all its servers and it does not suffer from leaks. It even offers the ability to add a SOCKS5 proxy for maximum speeds. For both services, you get access to the Split Tunneling feature. This helps in redirecting VPN traffic to those sources that need it and exempting those that do not.

Winner in Torrenting

In this Ivacy vs Surfshark comparison, it’s evident that Surfshark is the winner in the Australian region. It’s because Surfshark offers P2P-optimized servers in more locations than Ivacy VPN.

7. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Gaming in Australia

For gaming, you need to choose a VPN with a lower ping. Users do not prefer using a VPN for gaming because it drastically impacts your gaming speeds with high ping. However, I was actually surprised to see Surfshark’s results in Australia. I recorded these results while testing Ivacy and Surfshark for gaming:

Winner in Gaming

It’s clear that Surfshark had lower ping than Ivacy while playing all three games in the Australian region. At such ping rate, it’s safe to call Surfshark one of the best gaming VPNs.

8. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Device Compatibility for Australian Users

Surfshark and Ivacy are compatible with common devices and operating platforms in Australia, however you cannot directly set them up by installing their app on some of the following.

The table below shows which devices and operating platforms are supported by Ivacy VPN and Surfshark:

Winner in Device Compatibility

Although both Surfshark and Ivacy VPN are compatible with most operating systems and platforms, Surfshark lets you use VPN on all these devices at the same time. This is why Surfshark is the winner for device compatibility in Australia.

9. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Setup and User Interface

Surfshark’s apps are built in a minimalist manner which makes them extremely user-friendly for the Australian users. The app’s GUI is especially great and so is the architecture, so you won’t have major problems navigating.

Connection times are also incredibly quick; averaging at a minimal 5 seconds. However, locations that are far away from where you reside may take a little longer in connecting.

As far as features are concerned, you have plenty of configuration options in the “settings” menu. Ivacy has a broader interface overall on its desktop versions, but one that is quite user-friendly and intuitive. In comparison to other apps, it actually lists websites and streaming sites you may want to unblock.

This does give it an edge over other providers, as they do not have to test multiple servers, before unblocking a particular website. Simply click on the site you want to unblock and enjoy using it seamlessly.

The usability does not get compromised on smaller screens and you still have most of the same features as available on desktop counterparts. All in all, both Surfshark and Ivacy are quite remarkable.

Winner in Setup and User Interface

In this Ivacy VPN vs Surfshark competition, Surfshark wins in the Australian region. Although Ivacy does not lag way behind in its setup procedures and app user interface, it’s still not better than Surfshark.

Besides being minimal, Surfshark establishes connections much faster than Ivacy.

10. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Servers and Performance in Australia

There is not much difference in the “server availability” offered by both Surfshark and Ivacy in Australia. The latter though tends to offer a more expansive listing by a small margin.

Where Surfshark has a network infrastructure of 3200+ servers in 65+ countries worldwide, Ivacy offers 3500+ servers in 100+ countries and 180 locations worldwide.

A high number of servers means less crowding, as the user load is distributed evenly. Since servers are available in 100+ countries, most can also find one near their location, thereby reducing the chances of experiencing lag considerably.

Winner in Servers and Performance

Ivacy has a larger server network as compared to Surfshark in Australia, so it wins this round in the Ivacy VPN vs Surfshark competition.

11. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Security and Encryption for Australian Users

Surfshark, on the other hand, is a big fan of the OpenVPN protocol and uses it as “default” across all of its devices with the exception of iOS. Users, nevertheless, do have the option of configuring UDP and TCP on all platforms.

It utilizes AES-256-GCM ciphers so no additional authentication is provided on the data channel. For the control channel, Surfshark uses AES-256-GCM cipher with the TLS key exchange secured using RSA-2048.

Perfect forward secrecy is provided by an ECDH-(384?) key exchange. If we talk about security overall though, Surfshark definitely tends to be stronger.

Ivacy, on the other hand, supports the same number of protocols. As a default, it also uses OpenVPN across all devices with the exception of iOS and MacOS that uses IKEv2 protocol.

For the data channel, Ivacy uses an AES-256-CBC cipher with HMAC SHA256 hash authentication. And for the control channel, it uses AES-256-GCM cipher with DH-4096 handshake encryption.

Perfect forward secrecy is provided by the Diffie-Hellman handshake encryption. Also, the DH-4096 is way stronger than Surfshark’s RSA-2048 control channel encryption.

Winner in Security and Encryption

Surfshark offers better security and encryption standards to protect Australian users’ online anonymity, so it is the winner.

12. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Logging and Privacy for the Australian Users

Surfshark is located in the British Virgin Islands, a country that has no data retention laws. BVI is not even a part of any data-sharing alliance as well. So Surfshark’s headquarters is located in a secure region.

There is no major issue in Surfshark’s logging policy either. The provider has managed to keep its privacy policy clean and by that, it has ensured that users can trust it blindly as a zero-logs service.

Ivacy, on the other hand, has its headquarters in Singapore. As such, you can feel assured that the VPN is secure, as the Singaporean Government does not mandate data retention and mass surveillance.

Winner in Logging and Privacy

Both VPN services do not log user data, however Surfshark has an edge over Ivacy due to its more anonymous payment method options for the Australian suers.

13. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Configuration

For configurations, Surfshark and Ivacy both support dynamic and static IP addresses. Where Ivacy offers more in the way of locations, Surfshark adds extra security features for the Australian users.

For instance, Ivacy supports dedicated IPs in more than 7+ countries around the world. Surfshark is currently only offering static IPs in 6+ locations in varied cities.

Dedicated IPs are available as an add-on, meaning you will have to pay extra for them. However, they are incredibly handy tools, especially for travelers, streamers, torrents, etc.

Winner in Configuration

Since Surfshark does not offer dedicated IPs, Ivacy takes the trophy home for this comparison.

14. Surfshark vs Ivacy VPN – Customer Service to Assist Australian Users

Both Surfshark and Ivacy offer a number of options to receive technical support for the Australian users. You have live chat, email, FAQs, a searchable knowledge base, and even ticket support available. In case you want to cancel the Surfshark subscription you can always ask the support team to guide you.

All options work quite well and the response times on either VPN live chat is quite impressive. It took only a few seconds to get answers to technical queries.

I even conducted a test on the response times from each provider on email support. The process included sending both providers four questions via email. See the statics for each VPN below:

Surfshark Customer Service