Turbo VPN Review 2024: Is This Free VPN Service Worth the Risk?

Turbo VPN is a moderately priced virtual private network (VPN) with a large server count and minimal features, even on the paid plan. We weren’t thrilled with the reports of data leaks, malware infections, and disclosure of user data rumors that have plagued Turbo VPN across the internet. We did experience data leaks and slow speeds and were unable to confirm the validity of its privacy policy, given there are no independent audits.

Still, other users have reported it to be a good option. Our testing didn’t reproduce good results, and it’s not a product we would use ourselves. We’ve outlined what we think Turbo VPN did right and the parts we think it got very wrong.

Turbo VPN review at a glance

Who is Turbo VPN best for?

• Recommended for anyone wanting a lot of server options

Turbo VPN offers a lot of servers, over 21,000 in 50 countries. If this is something that’s important to you, Turbo VPN may be a good choice. Just be careful, as there have been reported privacy concerns and the potential for malware.

Turbo VPN pros and cons

Turbo VPN prices and subscriptions

Turbo VPN only has two options: a free plan and a four-tiered premium plan. The free plan is a budget option for anyone looking to save money on a VPN, while the paid plan has more features like an ISP throttling detector and private DNS. There are several subscription lengths available with the paid plan. You can pay monthly, but there are also six-month, one-year, and two-year plans. Each payment tier is the same in regard to features. The only change is the subscription length.

The free plan is limited to a random connection you don’t choose, but the VPN protection is still active. The paid plan offers the full suite, including access to all of Turbo VPN’s servers, up to five simultaneous connections, and no data cap.

The two-year plan is the most economical option if you break it down by monthly expense. If you aren’t sure you want to commit to two years, you can try Turbo VPN free for 30 days and get a refund if you aren’t happy with it.

Turbo VPN cost

Turbo VPN plan comparison

Turbo VPN features

Turbo VPN doesn’t offer a lot of advanced features, like torrenting support or a dark web monitor, but it does offer a lot of servers. With over 21,000 servers, it has one of the highest server counts we’ve seen. It states a no-logs privacy policy, but we couldn’t find any evidence that the privacy policy has ever had a third-party edit to verify if it’s doing what it claims. Turbo VPN does offer a kill switch and some VPN protocol options, but not anything premium like a double VPN.

Server count and countries

• 21,000+ servers in 50 countries

21,000+ servers is a lot of servers, especially considering all of these are within the walls of 50 different countries. Given the country count is so low, we didn’t expect every server to be a top performer. When we tested, we found that many of the servers blocked us from being able to use basic functions in our other apps. Some even tanked our speeds to zero. And then we tested some that were perfectly fine and worked exactly how we expected. It’s a toss-up as to which server is going to perform well for you and which will be a total bust.

No-logs policy and headquarters

• Turbo VPN logs policy: No logs
• Turbo VPN headquarters: Singapore

Turbo VPN maintains that it offers a true no-logs policy for the security of its users. The headquarters are in Singapore, which is a Five Eyes country. The Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes countries are cooperatives that allow each other to monitor and collect data on other citizens within those alliances. VPN and privacy enthusiasts generally consider VPNs headquartered in these countries to be less desirable than other VPNs outside of the Eyes Alliances.

Many VPNs located in Alliance countries tend to have a no-logs policy due to the nature of data and privacy laws within their borders. This means that even if they were required to hand over your browsing data, by not keeping logs of what you’re doing, there’s nothing to hand over. It’s up to you whether or not you feel comfortable using a VPN headquartered in an Eyes Alliance country.

Security features

Additional security features can definitely be the difference when choosing VPN services. We like a VPN that offers split tunneling, a kill switch, torrenting support, protocol options, and extras like a password manager or cloud storage. Turbo VPN is light on the extra features with a kill switch and several VPN protocol offerings only.

• Split tunneling: Split tunneling is when you funnel some of your internet traffic through a VPN channel and some of it outside of one. If your VPN has the option, you can even funnel traffic through two different VPN channels.
• Kill switch: The kill switch in Turbo VPN is easy to find from the settings menu. It’s a simple toggle off and on and will disconnect you from the internet if the VPN connection is ever lost. This is a security measure to protect your IP address in case of VPN failure.
• VPN protocols: Turbo VPN mentions on its website that it offers IKEv2 and OpenVPN as protocol options, but it includes more than that. It also offers L2TP-IPsec, iSSR, and SSR and includes instances for when these protocols may be appropriate. If you aren’t sure, there’s an automatic option that will connect to the most secure option for you.

Our experience with Turbo VPN

We didn’t have any problems installing Turbo VPN. We logged in through the website and clicked the download link, which took us to the Apple App Store. Since the installation and setup were so easy, we weren’t surprised when we discovered how easy it was to navigate the dashboard. Turbo VPN doesn’t offer a ton of features, so there weren’t a lot of menu options to sort through before finding what we wanted.

The problems came into play as we were casually using Turbo VPN. It would block certain aspects of apps we use daily, and when we tried testing it with streaming Netflix, it kept the page from loading entirely. When we switched to another server, it invalidated our credentials for Netflix, so we had to turn it off to log in. We also found that it would severely slow our speeds or block legitimate websites from loading.

We didn’t get malware like some users have reported, but we did find it to be problematic using the VPN. On almost every server we tried, we had connection and speed issues. Some of them leaked our data, which is a deal breaker for us. Overall, we weren’t that impressed and wouldn’t use Turbo VPN ourselves.

Turbo VPN test results

We test every VPN for several key features like speed, streaming viability, and data leaks. Turbo VPN didn’t do well in our testing, and we were particularly surprised by the streaming and leak test results. It’s important to test a VPN for key factors so you know it’s performing how it's expected. Turbo VPN did some things right, and some things very wrong.

Speed tests

• Turbo VPN speed test results: Pass (sort of)

In all of our tests, we’ve never had a VPN that straight-up tanked our connection speeds. Turbo VPN had some servers that didn’t respond at all and returned a 0 Mbps download as well as a latency error. It also had some servers that performed fine. That’s why it gets a sort of Pass rating.

Our testing was done on a new Macbook Pro running an M2 chip and updated with the latest version of Sonoma. If you aren’t sure what that means, it’s a newer Macbook that’s running the most recent software available with powerful internal processing power. This also means that any quality software should run smoothly.

When using the VPN, it either worked without issue or didn’t work at all. We would get random connections using the “optimal location” option on the VPN dashboard. Sometimes these would work, and sometimes they wouldn’t. VPNs can definitely be personal, given people’s individual needs and preferences, but for us, a VPN that stalls out your internet connection is a universal problem.

Turbo VPN speed test results

Turbo VPN Netflix tests

• Turbo VPN Netflix test results: Fail

We tried a variety of servers to see if Turbo VPN would allow us Netflix access in any region, and it was a resounding “no” all the way around. We found on the U.S. server that the Netflix page wouldn’t even load. When we switched to the U.K., the page loaded, but it repeatedly denied our login credentials, indicating our password was wrong. As soon as we disabled the VPN, our credentials worked fine. There were no servers located in Canada or Australia for us to test. This is definitely not the VPN you’ll want if your goal is to stream geo-restricted content.

Turbo VPN Netflix test results

DNS and WebRTC leak tests

• Turbo VPN DNS leak test results: Fail
• Turbo VPN WebRTC leak test results: Fail

DNS and WebRTC leaks may be one of the biggest controversies surrounding Turbo VPN. It’s been noted by others who have studied and reviewed the app that there are, indeed, data leaks. The entire point of a VPN is to encrypt your data. We decided to try one of the servers rumored to leak, and sure enough, our real IP address was visible in a WebRTC leak even though it was registering as no leak.

We tested a variety of servers for the DNS leak test as well and found some hid our real IP address and some exposed it. Since the “optimal connection” quick connect option chooses the server for you, we can’t be sure it won’t choose one that leaks. As far as data leaks are concerned, we can’t ensure that Turbo VPN won’t leak your data.

Turbo VPN compatibility

If you want a VPN to keep you safer while gaming or to hide your phone’s data when on Wi-Fi, you need to make sure it’s compatible with your device. Turbo VPN offers compatibility with a wide range of devices, from mobile to gaming. We’ve rounded up the full list:

• Windows
• macOS
• Android
• iOS
• Android Lite
• Chrome
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• Nintendo Switch

Turbo VPN customer support

This was a strange test for us. Turbo VPN claims to have 24/7 customer support, but when we tried to access the chatbot on the site nothing happened. It didn’t even allow the chatbot to pop up. We kept pressing the prompt only to get zero response. We even tried disabling the VPN and our content blockers and switching from a Safari browser to a Chrome browser. Nothing happened.

When we went back a second time after a few days, we had the same initial result. We again tried disabling our content blockers, and this time the chatbot did appear at the lower portion of the screen. We want to stress that we do not have the issue with other services’ chat options being disabled by content blockers. We’re not sure what coding is in Turbo VPN’s web chatbot, but if you find it doesn’t work for you, try disabling content blockers and trying again.

There is a self-help section if you need to troubleshoot. There’s also the option to email the support staff. Depending on how quickly you need assistance, however, the email option might not be the best choice.

Turbo VPN alternatives

VPNs transmit a lot of information, so you want to make sure you have a trustworthy one protecting your devices. The best VPNs include a variety of features in addition to the server list. We’re partial to the following because of the features and extras they provide, along with their proven security.

• NordVPN: NordVPN offers safety and security along with a lot of great features like split tunneling, a kill switch, and even the option for a double VPN. NordVPN has a host of good ratings from professionals and everyday users alike, so you know you can trust the quality that comes from it. We like it because it unblocks streaming services, doesn’t slow us down, and includes an extensive list of quality servers.
  
  Get NordVPN | Read Our NordVPN Review

• Surfshark: Surfshark aims to provide users with a robust security suite that includes its antivirus and identity theft protection software. If you don't need all that, you can still get Surfshark’s award-winning VPN with all of its bells and whistles for less than the cost of some of its competitors. We like it because of the quality of features you get for the cost.
  
  Get Surfshark | Read Our Surfshark Review

• Proton VPN: If you’re looking for a free service with lots of features, Proton VPN is one of the few without a data or speed cap that can also be trusted. If you want additional features, Proton VPN offers a paid option with even more simultaneous connections and servers, as well as other features like streaming access. We’re fans of Proton VPN’s security, which passed an independent audit.
  
  Get Proton VPN | Read Our Proton VPN Review

Turbo VPN FAQs

Bottom line: is Turbo VPN a good free VPN service?

Turbo VPN isn’t our cup of tea. Between the usability issues, data leaks, and lack of features, we would choose to go with a different VPN option. We didn’t find this VPN to be particularly robust or fast in our testing. While we didn’t experience any malware on our device like other users reported, it’s still worth taking the multiple reports of malware into consideration when choosing to install Turbo VPN. We believe that the best VPNs come down to personal preference, but this isn’t one we’d be comfortable using.

3.5

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

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On Turbo VPN's website

Turbo VPN

• Includes a free plan option
• Over 21,000 servers in 50 countries
• Potential for malware and data leaks

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary is a seasoned cybersecurity writer with over seven years of experience. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University, she educates audiences on scams, antivirus software, and more. Her passion lies in educating audiences on helpful ways to protect their data.