Astrill VPN Client Reviews

by Rafael.JW

1. There are many bugs in the iOS application, but their engineers turned a blind eye, iOS application version 2.2.4; after disconnecting the VPN server connection, he actually "magically" reconnected

2. Some servers in my favorites list click the red heart to cancel the favorites, I log out of the account and log in again, he still keeps it as it is, and continues to exist in my favorites list

I paid a high membership subscription fee to Astrill, but they are so lazy, there is a bug in the application, and Astrill does not work hard to fix it

by Depoplover

I have used different kinds of VPNs and astrill is the last one you want to use. The speed is super slow and it gets disconnected anytime. I purchased the one-year plan. The first 2 months it was okay, starting from month 3, it keeps having connection problem and 50% of time I cannot even log in. Even after I logged in, I can’t even load my email. I contacted astrill support and they are unable to help and they were claiming sometimes it can’t be slow in China. When I requested refund, they were just like all sales are final. Now month 4, I purchased another VPN from another company and it works amazing. Don’t believe Astrill’s lie about “VPN can be slow in China”. They just don’t have enough technology and don’t want to improve Please stay away from this company, they are simply just scammers. A whole waste of money!

by EvanEiga

The connection is slow to mediocre at best, and unlike many other alternatives, when yon connect to their service, you lose almost all internet connection to local websites. They claim/blame the low quality service on the local internet provider, but out of hundreds of connection points they offer, almost one is usable, where as smaller VPN providers often have fewer connection points that are highly reliable and faster, hmmmmm

The customer service is nonexistent. They refuse to offer refund for services that are near unusable, and when you file dispute with your payment method they revenge you by suspending your accent, even if your dispute was denied and that you’re still a paying customer.

ITS A SCAM!!!

by Lawrence712

I’ve heard so many positive reviews about Astrill mostly from friends. It’s the main reason that I hopped to it when it started to get a bit tricky using VPN in China in Aug./Spet., 2019.

But ever since I started my 1-year subscription, it’s need pretty tough to get it to work. PC’s been having issues to get a good channel for fast enough internet, but it can still work out OK. MAC’s just terrible. The old version of AstrillVPNClient on iOS looked like an antique but works out OK. With the update, the whole interface’s much better now, but I cannot even SIGN IN!

It would stop at the signing in page all the time and there’s nothing you can really do. Hope the team can fix this SERIOUS bug ASAP.

by Physicles

As of 2019, the Astrill VPN service is one of the more reliable in China. Even though servers regularly stop working — presumably blocked by the Firewall — they’re almost always quickly replaced. It even works on my 4G.

It’s a shame that AstrillVPNClient is so bad:

(Edit: even with version 2.2.4, the latest version as of early December 2019, these issues persist)

- Quite often AstrillVPNClient gets stuck on the login screen. When that happens, the only way to fix it so you can use your internet again is apparently to restart your phone, or in some cases to uninstall the VPN profile.
- Turning on the “reconnect VPN” makes it nearly impossible to turn off the VPN. AstrillVPNClient apparently can’t distinguish between the VPN switching to off because it dropped the connection, and because the user hit the Off switch: it tries to reconnect in both cases.
- Connecting to a server sometimes shows random error messages like “IPC Error”. Sometimes it’ll work if you try a few times, so maybe AstrillVPNClient should just do this?
- There’s no feature like in the VPN router or in the desktop client to automatically connect to one of your favorite servers. You sit there for a minute or two trying a bunch of servers one by one until one of them works.

Internet life in China is a frustrating experience, and AstrillVPNClient does nothing to make it better. Will I continue paying for the service? Yes, because it works. And I’ll curse AstrillVPNClient every time I have to touch it.

by Borkya

I love astrill vpn on my computer but AstrillVPNClient sends me into a constant rage and I need to constantly delete it and re-download it later. Like everyone else complains about it just won’t turn off, even when you try a dozen times in a row. It keeps reconnecting but doesn’t do it correctly so it basically blocks your internet and makes your phone unusable unless you delete AstrillVPNClient .

It’s a common problem now for years (as proven by these complaints) so I don’t know why they haven’t fixed it yet.

If you are buying astrill just for phone use, don’t! For the computer it’s fine.

by Thurein Htet

The Mac app and the iPad app work great. What’s really annoying is the iPhone app. When I try to toggle off the VPN (sometimes Chinese app doesn’t work when the VPN is on), it is an extremely infuriating experience. The VPN will always try to reconnect, even after I toggle off the auto reconnect option. During this process, my WiFi connection is disabled by AstrillVPNClient as well and nothing can be connected. I have to connect to a bad server or restart my phone sometimes to solve this issue. And may I remind you that AstrillVPNClient is not cheap. With so many people with the same problem, it should have been resolved long ago.

by Lao Bio

I have used AstrillVPNClient for five years especially in Asia. In China they lost the battle a number of times this year so one has to fan through 12 or 15 channels to get through. Then just went to renew and both cards wouldn’t work. Spent over an hour with tech support. Finally had to get my son to pay from the states. They say sorry. Sorry. Then this year after I have used them five years, they raise annual fee 20 percent, “to keep improving infrastructure.” They are mostly reliable and good. I appreciate that. But what bad business moves given current economic climate. Really, what are you thinking? Customer loyalty deserves company loyalty.

by Peaceful_Julia

I first got the free trial, downloaded AstrillVPNClient , logged in, signed up for the paid membership, came back to AstrillVPNClient and tried to use VPN. I would imagine this is a common flow for many users. However, It just failed to connect smoothly. I tried different servers but the problem persisted. I later solved the issue by logging out Astrill app and logging in.

In addition to the above problem, the design of AstrillVPNClient looks outdated. A simple UI lift will make a different impression but I don’t think they care.

by Enjilaw

I’ve been with Astrill since 2016 and every year the price changes. It went from $69–> $99–> $108—> $120!!!! What gives!!! It is not doing anything different. You would think they would offer people that renew some sort of customer loyalty discount. There are lots of VPN servers out there to choose from. But no.... I contacted them about it and was basically told 🤷🏽‍♀️. The service worked fine for me, but this price is ridiculous. And there has still be no explanation as to why it increases EVERY year.

by Gdoggy1678

AstrillVPNClient is very buggy and not what I expect for paying a premium price of 20 USD per month.

AstrillVPNClient has constant errors saying “IPC error” the error stays there until you force close AstrillVPNClient and re open it.

The VPN will disconnect after the phone is locked for about 1 minute. After unlocking the phone AstrillVPNClient still says it’s connected even though it’s not and makes no attempt to automatically reconnect. At this point the VPN is not connect yet AstrillVPNClient says “On” after pressing this button to switch it to “off” then it will automatically try to reconnect even though I just told it to turn off. Granted the disconnecting of the VPN might be due to iOS there is no excuse why AstrillVPNClient should continue to say its “on” or make no automatic attempt to reconnect or to at least inform AstrillVPNClient user that’s it’s trying to reconnect.

The service is OK when it works in China but AstrillVPNClient needs some serious work.

by Rainman10004

They scammed us all on Black Friday. Instead of offering a discount they had this wheel you could spin each hour. They stated that each discount had equal chance. I spun the wheel 50 times and never got more than 30%. I read about it on Reddit and on some forums in China and everybody else had the same exact results. Not a single person got the 80% discount. It was a scam. Maybe some people actually got the 80% discount but they lied when they said each part of the prize wheel had equal chances. I’m so disappointed after my 10 years of faithful purchases

by Eman Kacaiana

Can’t count how many times i wanted to smash my phone because of the vpn and i don’t even have anger issues.. It’s not a bad vpn in China right now but the connection hasn’t been as good. When we first started using i think there was a trial and it was absolutely amazing, fast and never had any connection issues. Ever since we started paying for the yearly subscription service (have been for a year now), it constantly disconnects, often you’ll have to scroll through and try every single server just to find one that will actually connect. 8 out of 10 don’t work, 10-15% chance it’ll be spotty and slow, and you get 5% it’ll actually work.

The speed test function on laptop version has failed to load any server at all, and the smart mode on the phones don’t work either. I don’t mind switching my vpn on and off depends on what website/app i use, but if you have the function for it to do the work, make sure it actually does work.

Overall not a bad vpn and one of the few that still work in China, but i expect more and better speed for a paid product.

by Anonymous453

Astrill has worked well in China and customer service has been efficient. However, each iPhone where I install Astrill eventually develops a bug where it shows I’m connected to the internet when I’m on airplane mode and vice-versa. Also, even after purchasing add ons that are meant to improve service in China, there eventually always seems to be a new add on being advertised for the same purpose. Seems unnecessarily underhanded for a service that relies on customers trusting it fully. I will keep using Astrill but wish these issues were corrected.

by Clubaamir

Although I like this VPN for its speed and other aspects, the application itself needs huge updates. Sometimes it’s stuck on connect screen and there is no way to go back to normal even if you quit AstrillVPNClient . I often have to reinstall or offload AstrillVPNClient to get it back to normal. Second, there are issues when you are trying to connect while on cellular network. There are lots of errors and logouts. I suggest to regularly update the all. On the Windows version they have fixed some issues in the latest release. Oh yes, I have conveyed these concerns to the customer service before without any luck.

by CBoidy

In terms of stability, speed, etc, this is the best I've found by a fair margin.

But switching from one device to another when I can only have it on one or so at a time can be a pain if you have "Reconnect" or "Always On" on, which can make your devices fight you for access and can lead to locking up.

It's minor and by being careful to log out it's easily remedied.

by Bad_uncle999

I switched to Astrill from ExpressVPN because of so many problems using ExpressVPN in China. At first, Astrill worked beautifully but lately I have been noticing a very irritating problem on my iPhone. When my phone goes into sleep mode, Astrill loses connection. AstrillVPNClient says it is connected, but that isn’t really the case. I have to on/off cycle to regain connection. Sometimes AstrillVPNClient refuses to switch to off and I have to reboot phone. It is so annoying. However the desktop app is solid and reliable with no complaints.

by Kevingarywilkes

Just started using Astrill yesterday after a week of struggling with Express VPN’s terrible service. So far, it is very fast and connects in an instant.

The UI, though, is terrible. They need to pay someone a few hundred dollars to update this antiquated interface.

Finally, my coworkers app is stuck at the login screen. I imagine poor software design is responsible for this bug, and if it happens to me, I’ll be looking elsewhere for a VPN.

by QufuChina2019

I like how easy it is to connect to AstrillVPNClient. The problem lately is that when I need to turn Astrill off, it keeps turning itself back on, and I have to waste time trying over and over in settings to toggle the VPN connect switch to OFF. In China, this means that lately (past two weeks) I’ve had to put my purchases back or forego the DiDi ride I was planning to take home—a big downer. Please fix this bug! Otherwise, Astrill is fast and reliable. Until this problem, I was liking it better than Express VPN or Nord (which is just useless in China).

by Joey's House 北京幼儿园

I have used Astrill since 2014. During the crackdowns of other VPN services Astrill has always been a great option. I’ve never experienced and outage and their customer service has always been quick and helpful. Unfortunately, for the past year, using AstrillVPNClient on my phone requires allowing it to access VPN services. Since this update there has been constant trouble to turn the VPN off on my phone. This stops all other apps from working. While you watch it glitch the VPN settings on and off. You can either fight to turn it off or delete it and download it again. It’s been extremely frustrating.

by Spetsnaz26

a lot of productivity goes out of the window as you need to constantly change and hunt for those few servers that might work. Speed test only available on PC and recently only able to produce a few out of the useless long list of servers. In any case, what works can change in an instant so the speed test results are not valid for long. US for China not available on Ipad client for some reason. Really frustrating but there is few other choices.

by Darin....

The service is really good and fast

However AstrillVPNClient leaves some things to be desired. Sometimes when it’s running and you open AstrillVPNClient it just sits on the greyed-out login page with a spinning circle for a long time.

Also sometimes you try to turn it off and it keeps just automatically turning itself back on. Hit the button, it flips to off, and the a few seconds later flips back on by itself. And you have to repeat that several times