AVG Secure VPN Review (2024)

AVG Secure VPN protects your internet traffic from snoopers keen to see your online activities. A single account can cover up to 10 devices, which makes it a good value for device-heavy homes, and its simple interface is easily understood. That's tempered by a hefty up-front cost, few additional privacy tools compared to the best VPNs, and the lack of a third-party audit.

Before we go any further here's a quick primer. When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server controlled by the VPN company. Your ISP won't be able to see what you're up to and it's harder for advertisers and snoops to track your movements online. You can also use a VPN to spoof your location by selecting a far-off server.

How Much Does AVG Secure VPN Cost?

Most VPN companies offer monthly subscription plans, with longer-term subscriptions at a discounted rate but a higher up-front cost. AVG doesn't go that way with Secure VPN. Its shortest subscription is one year, which costs $98.99. A two-year plan costs $191.99 and a three-year plan will set you back $288.99, but both will renew as annual plans. Note that these plans often have additional discounts applied.

Among the products we've evaluated, the average monthly cost of a VPN comes out to $9.83, while the annual cost is around $66.07. While the discounts currently applied to AVG Secure VPN bring its cost below that average, it's a pricey product at face value, which is the price we consider in our evaluations. It's also slightly more expensive than it was the last time we reviewed it.

Many excellent VPNs manage to come in under the industry average. Some even offer more features than AVG, such as Mullvad, which boasts a bevy of privacy tools and an excellent system for protecting user privacy. That service costs just 5 euro per month ($5.06 at time of writing).

Nothing is cheaper than free, and there are a few free VPNs worth your consideration. Proton VPN offers one of the best free subscriptions because it places no restriction on the amount of data its free subscribers can use.

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You can purchase an AVG Secure VPN subscription with any major credit card or with PayPal. The company does not accept crypto payments. Some VPNs go further with privacy protections baked into purchases. Editors Choice winners IVPN and Mullvad VPN both allow you to make payments in cash sent to their respective HQs. Mullvad VPN even did away with recurring subscription payments in order to store as little information about its customers as possible.

What Do You Get For Your Money?

A subscription with AVG Secure VPN will let you use up to 10 devices simultaneously, which is double the average we've seen across the industry. One subscription can easily cover even device-heavy households. Some VPN services have done away with this limitation altogether. Avira Phantom VPN, IPVanish VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN place no limit on the number of devices you can use simultaneously.

(Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

Several VPN services offer additional privacy features that go beyond basic VPN protection. Split tunneling lets you decide which apps send traffic through the VPN connection, letting you prioritize high-bandwidth low-risk activities such as gaming and streaming videos, not sending them through the VPN. AVG Secure VPN only supports split tunneling on Android devices.

The best VPNs offer multi-hop connections that route your web traffic through a second VPN server. This provides additional protection and assurance that your traffic has not been tampered with. AVG does not include multi-hop connections.

A very few VPNs allow you to connect to the Tor anonymization network via VPN. Tor bounces your internet traffic through several volunteer nodes, making it much harder to trace online activities back to you. Also, you can only access hidden Dark Web sites through Tor. Tor is a free service and does not require a VPN to use, although it is convenient. AVG does not support access to Tor via VPN.

The best VPNs include some or all of these features. NordVPN and Proton VPN are among the very few to have all three.

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A new trend among VPNs is to include antivirus features to compliment that privacy protection of a VPN. NordVPN recently launched Threat Protection and Surfshark VPN offers Surfshark One. Neither did particularly well in our hands-on antivirus testing, and in general we recommend that readers stick with standalone antivirus. Fortunately, AVG is an antivirus company first and VPN provider second. We were impressed with AVG's malware-blocking abilities and named it among the best free antivirus products.

AVG Secure VPN is a bit different because in this case, the VPN is more of a sweetener for a larger collection of antivirus and other PC utilities. The AVG Ultimate bundle includes AVG Internet Security antivirus, the AVG TuneUp utility, AVG AntiTrack, and AVG Secure VPN for $127.99 per year, although that is currently marked down to $79.99 for the first year. Provided you actually use the other services, that pricing compares very well with other standalone VPN services.

A few VPN services offer extra-cost add-ons, like additional simultaneous connections, or static IP addresses. AVG doesn't offer any such upsells, but it's no real loss. TorGuard VPN has an extensive, albeit confusing, collection of add-ons and bundles.

VPNs are powerful tools, but they don't protect against every ill. We still recommend using antivirus software on your computer, creating and saving unique and complex passwords with a password manager, and enabling multi-factor authentication wherever it's available.

VPN Protocols

To create its VPN connection, AVG Secure VPN uses the OpenVPN protocol with its Windows and Android apps. On macOS and iOS, it uses the IKEv2 and IPSec protocols. We prefer OpenVPN because it's open-source, and therefore has been picked over for any potential vulnerabilities.

OpenVPN's heir apparent is WireGuard, another open-source VPN protocol that uses newer technology and promises better performance. AVG announced support for WireGuard in October, and we look forward to testing it soon.

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Along with the usual VPN protocols, AVG provides Mimic, a proprietary protocol. The company says that Mimic is intended to slip past efforts to block VPN traffic by mimicking HTTPS traffic. Other companies have similar features with different names, but AVG is keen to point out that Mimic is unique. The company uses standard encryption technologies, which we're happy to see, but we generally prefer open-source to proprietary solutions.

Servers and Server Locations

AVG Secure VPN provides servers in 56 locations across 37 countries. That's a far cry from ExpressVPN and Editors' Choice winner Surfshark VPN, both of which provide servers in nearly 100 countries and with some of the best geographic diversity among VPNs we've tested. While AVG may not have the sheer numbers, it does provide a good selection of servers, covering regions like Africa—an entire continent that is often ignored by other VPN providers.

When a server is configured to appear as if it is somewhere other than where it is physically located, we call it a virtual location. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but we prefer it when VPN services make it clear which locations are virtual and which are not. AVG says that it owns its entire network of over 500 servers, and that none of its servers use virtual locations.

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In some configurations, a single hardware machine plays host to multiple, virtual servers. Representatives from AVG tell us that Secure VPN runs on "bare metal" machines and does not share space with other companies within data centers. The company owns some servers but, like most VPNs, also rents space on corporate data centers.

An unusual wrinkle with AVG Secure VPN is that it and Avast SecureLine are owned by the same company and share the same infrastructure. HMA VPN, which is also owned by the same company, uses its own systems and servers.

Your Privacy With AVG Secure VPN

A VPN's encrypted tunnel is only half of how it protects your privacy. The other half is the company's policies on what it collects and how it stores data about you.

AVG and Avast share the same privacy policy for their VPNs. It’s easy to read and very clear about the company's practices when it comes to your data. Notably, the company does not store your true IP address or DNS queries, nor does it monitor your browsing history or traffic contents. A company representative tells me it only makes money through the sale of subscriptions, not user data. That's what we want to hear.

AVG does gather some information, however. It stores a timestamp of your connection and logs the amount of data you use, as well as the IP address of the VPN server you use. The company also gathers a portion of your true IP address in order to track geographic usage trends. The company says it is not enough to identify individual customers and is not associated with user accounts. This data is deleted on a rolling 35-day schedule. Some events—such as connection attempts, errors, etc.—are stored for two years but are not associated with an account.

The company provides reasonable explanations for all of these activities, such as preventing fraud and managing their network. This is adequate, but the company should provide a more granular explanation and timeframe for removal given the scope of the information. More importantly, many VPNs have set the bar much higher, storing as little information as possible for as short a time as possible. Mullvad VPN and IVPN, for example, have an account system that's divorced entirely from personal information. We'd like to see AVG do better.

Avast SRO, the company behind AVG Secure VPN, is headquartered in the Czech Republic, and operates under Czech law. A company representative tells us it has revealed partial information as required by law enforcement in the past, which isn't unusual but we believe AVG and Avast should strive to do better.

We're happy to see that the company's transparency report has been updated and contains significantly more information than before. All VPN companies should try to have this level of transparency and detail. We're especially happy to see that the company has only disclosed user information 11 times in the last six years and not at all since 2020. The company does maintain a live warrant canary, which notably includes assurances that the company has not built a backdoor into its system that would grant access to encrypted information. Other companies should follow this example.

Some VPN companies have released the results of third-party audits of their products in order to establish their security bona fides. TunnelBear, for instance, has followed through on its promise to provide annual audits of its service. AVG Secure VPN has not undergone such an evaluation. The company should release meaningful third party audits for all its VPN services.

Some VPNs, like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, have moved to RAM-only servers, which are rendered useless if someone attempts to seize the machines. AVG does not use this technique with its infrastructure, but did outline other steps the company has taken to secure its servers. The company says it uses boot verification, stores its certificate authority private keys on isolated signing infrastructure, and uses full-disk encryption on all its machines.

In early 2020, a PCMag investigation revealed that Avast was harvesting data from its browser plugin, anonymizing it, and selling it. The Avast SecureLine VPN, AVG Secure VPN, and HMA VPN were not involved. The company has since ceased this practice. Trust is the single most important thing that security software requires, and if you do not feel you can trust a VPN service for any reason there are plenty others to choose from.

Hands On With AVG Secure VPN

We had no trouble installing AVG Secure VPN on an Intel NUC 11 (NUC11PHKi7C, 'Phantom Canyon') desktop running the latest version of Windows 11. We also found the app to be straightforward and easy to use: A big toggle in the middle of the screen will connect you to the VPN. Once toggled, the entire interface shifts from red to green, indicating that the VPN is running. It's very accessible.

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That said, we would not call the app well-designed. Its large single window cannot be resized or customized, like Private Internet Access VPN. It also lacks the charm of TunnelBear VPN. That service is likewise easy to use, but its bright yellow color scheme and trademark bears make it something you'd actually want to use. AVG is just fine, but it's just...there. Notably, it's almost identical to Avast Secureline VPN in its appearance, showing that these sibling services share more than just infrastructure.

By default, the app will connect you to the VPN server it thinks is the best, which usually means the closest to your actual location. You change the location by clicking Change Location at the bottom of the screen. Now you're presented with a list of the available servers. A search bar sits at the top, and geographic filters go down the side. The last two options, P2P and Streaming, pick out the servers that best do those things.

Note that you cannot drill down to see specific servers. That's fine for most people, but does mean you're very reliant on AVG to find a server that will work for you. Proton VPN and NordVPN let you browse all the available servers, and can save them for future use. AVG Secure VPN also doesn't offer a map view for its servers. Although that sounds like a silly thing to pick on, maps deftly show servers' location relative to each other. That way, you can pick out a nearby location without a good grasp of geography.

The Settings menu has little to offer. Some notable tools include a Kill Switch, which shuts down your internet connection should your VPN connection drop. Also useful are Network Profiles, which let you make your computer discoverable on trusted networks.

When you use a VPN, you expect it to actually change your IP and not leak your DNS information. Using the Leak Test Tool, we confirmed that AVG Secure VPN did change our public IP address and did not leak DNS information. Note that we only tested one of AVG's servers. Other servers may not be properly configured.

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Netflix actively works to block access from VPN users, likely to protect its region-specific streaming agreements. In our testing, we found we were only able to access a small subset of Netflix content while connected to a US server. What we could access streamed normally.

The problem persisted even when connected to AVG Secure VPN's servers earmarked for streaming. With one such server we were able to see content that was normally restricted, but we were blocked from actually streaming it. Bear in mind that this could change at a moment's notice. There's no guarantee that a server, or even a VPN service, that works with Netflix today will work tomorrow.

Speed and Performance

When you use a VPN, you will almost certainly lose some speed in the process. To get a sense of the impact each VPN makes on internet performance, we compare speed test results from Ookla with and without the VPN active, and find a percent change. See the aptly named How We Test VPNs for more on VPN testing, and its limitations.

(Editors' Note: Speedtest by Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

In our testing, we found that AVG Secure VPN reduces upload and download Speedtest results by 27.8% and 41.1%, respectively. That's almost exactly the median we've seen across the industry. AVG Secure VPN appears to increase Speedtest latency by 11.3%, which is a very good result. Keep in mind that these results are from before AVG released support for the WireGuard protocol. We'll be testing it again to see if the new protocol has changed AVG Secure VPN's performance.

You can see how AVG Secure VPN compares with all the other services we tested in the chart below. We now update our reviews with new testing and new products throughout the year, so this chart will always be up-to-date.

We caution readers against choosing a VPN solely on speed, however. My results will almost certainly not reflect yours, and could change in an instant. Instead, it's better to focus on value and privacy protections.

AVG Secure VPN on Other Platforms

AVG offers VPN apps for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. There does not appear to be support for Linux, although it may be possible to configure your computer to connect without an app. We don't recommend this approach, however, because it's difficult to maintain and you won't get access to all the features you're paying for.

We look forward to reviewing AVG Secure VPN on other platforms soon.

No Frills, No Fuss

AVG Secure VPN may not have the brand recognition of Avast, but it's effectively the same product under a thin coat of paint. It's easy to use, and a single account will cover up to 10 devices, making it a good value to a device heavy home. It will serve you just fine, particularly if you find you already have a subscription thanks to a larger AVG purchase.

That said, its upfront cost requires more commitment than we are comfortable with, and it doesn't offer many privacy tools in addition to standard VPN protection. We'd like to see AVG release a third-party audit of Secure VPN's infrastructure and policies.

Our Editors' Choice winners in this crowded field remain Proton VPN, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, NordVPN, and TunnelBear VPN.