Kaspersky VPN Review – Tested, Reviewed, and Compared for 2024

Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection

The starting price for Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection is $29.99 for the first year and then $42.99 annually. It’s a competitive rate that works out at around $3.60 per month.

You can also subscribe on a monthly basis for $6.99 per month, and there’s the option to go from five devices to ten with an annual plan for an additional $20 in the first year or $22 in subsequent years.

Kaspersky’s VPN Secure Connection product has the standard features of a paid starter plan, including a kill switch, split tunneling, and access to all 2,000+ servers. There’s also streaming support, so you can use Kaspersky for Netflix, Amazon, and other services.

Kaspersky VPN Premium Plan

Although there’s a sharp price increase to $74.99 for Kaspersky’s Premium Plan, you get a host of new features that more than justify the cost. The main ones to note are antivirus tools, parental control features, and identity protection.

You also get 24/7 support with the premium plan, which includes phone, email, and live chat, and there’s remote assistance to help you with the installation and maintenance of tools.

With both paid plans, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, and while it’s not particularly promoted, there is a Kaspersky VPN free trial, which runs for seven days.

As with many VPNs, Kaspersky’s renewal price is higher than the introductory offer. You’ll get a notification, though, so you can cancel if you want by logging into the platform before the auto-renewal.

If you need assistance with canceling your plan, it’s also possible to contact the customer support team directly.

Kill switch

Kaspersky’s kill switch feature turns off your internet when your VPN connection drops, so there’s no data leakage. You immediately regain access when you reconnect to Kaspersky.

You won’t find the kill switch with the Kaspersky free VPN, but this is fair enough, and you’re unlikely to need it as a casual, occasional browser.

We found the kill switch to be easy and intuitive to use. There are brief instructions for the tool, and there’s a link to a help page.

Split tunneling

Sometimes, you may want to split your traffic so only some of it is running on a VPN-encrypted connection. For example, you may find some websites or apps won’t let you access them if they can detect a VPN, or you may simply want to route some apps directly for the fastest possible connection.

Kaspersky’s split tunneling tool lets you specify which apps it should protect.

It’s notable that Kaspersky offers split tunneling for Mac devices. Many VPNs, even leading providers like NordVPN, don’t offer this due to the unique configurations required to make the feature work.

The interface is simple – you just have to enter the apps you want Kaspersky to protect. If successful, you should see them listed in the white box.

Support for multiple devices

With Kaspersky’s paid plans, you can have up to 10 devices connected simultaneously. There are other VPNs on the market, like ExpressVPN, that include all connections at one price, while some allow unlimited connections.

Child safety features

One of Kaspersky’s standout features is the Safe Kids child safety product. Most VPNs on the market don’t include anything comparable.

You can keep kids safe by filtering their web searches and blocking inappropriate content. Kaspersky also gives you a log of what they’ve looked at. YouTube is often contentious, as it’s popular with children but also has explicit content, so we were impressed by the YouTube Safe Search features.

We also loved Kaspersky’s time management features. You can schedule and limit time online and show kids how long they’ve been browsing. That way, you’re not just telling younger users what to do but educating them on healthy screen time.

Smart home security

Another of Kaspersky’s standout offerings is its protection for your smart devices. Any tech you own that connects to the internet is potentially vulnerable to attack.

Kaspersky allows you to manage the online security of these devices in the same place as your phones and computers. There’s also remote installation, so it’s easy to set up.

As you might expect, smart home protection comes with Kaspersky VPN’s Premium plan – meaning users who don’t want it won’t have to pay for it.

Customer support

We were pleasantly surprised by Kaspersky’s knowledge base. There are lists of how-to guides by feature and user FAQs, and Kaspersky’s website also lets you filter by operating system and translate support information into 27 languages.

If you can’t find answers to your questions in the knowledge base, you can contact customer support 24/7 via email, chat, and phone, and the company also offers remote assistance. There are also several premium support packages depending on your needs.

Encryption

Kaspersky uses two of the strongest encryption standards on the market – AES-256 and ChaCha-Poly1305. Governments often use these military-grade standards to protect their own websites and servers, and other reputable VPNs, like NordVPN and SurfShark, also use them.

Both these standards are thought to be virtually unbreakable at present.

IP masking

Although this should be sufficient for most users, it’s worth noting that some competitors offer more advanced tools. For example, Surfshark has an IP Rotator and Randomizer, which change your IP address repeatedly, so it’s harder for anyone to monitor your activity.

No logging policy

Like most secure VPNs, Kaspersky has a no-logging policy, which means that it commits to not track or record your online activity. It only records the minimal details necessary to set up and run your account, such as your email and username.

iOS

Kaspersky VPN for iOS is available for customers with version 14.0 onwards. There are a few differences with the Android app, like the appearance of icons – but these are fairly minor.

The fact Kaspersky has a split tunneling feature for iOS, while many providers don’t, is also a major benefit.

Windows

You can install Kaspersky VPN for Windows on any computer with 150MB of memory available and 1GB of RAM (for 32-bit operating systems) or 2 GB (for 64-bit operating systems).

As with Android and iOS, there are a few differences in layout and appearance, with the menu bar in a different location. As navigation is clear, though, this doesn’t interfere with the user experience.

Mac

Kaspersky VPN for Mac is available for version 10.13 onwards and requires 200MB on your hard drive and 1GB of RAM.

The Mac experience is consistent with iOS but with a few differences in appearance when compared with Android and Windows, such as icon appearances and placement. We were also happy to see the split tunneling feature available on Mac.

Securing financial transactions

When you’re making payments online, hackers can intercept your transactions and get hold of your banking credentials.

VPNs like Kaspersky use encryption to ensure nobody can read sensitive information like your credit card number or banking passwords. This feature is especially useful if you need to use public WiFi, where security is weak.

Accessing geo-restricted content

Often, websites and online services restrict foreign users from accessing specific content. For example, Netflix and Disney+ have a library of shows and movies that are specific to each country they operate in.

Kaspersky VPN allows you to connect to local servers so you can access geo-restricted content. As you can switch between servers all over the world, you can watch almost anything you like.

Gaming online

Kaspersky can improve your gaming experience in several ways. You can connect to servers in countries with fewer players for easier matches, for example.

You can also get additional security against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, where hackers attempt to overwhelm a service to take players offline.