In response to recent allegations against major VPN providers, some experts and hobbyists are tapping IP Vanish, a NordVPN competitor, as a viable alternative.
In recent months, online sleuths have uncovered the dubious nature of some leading VPN options. For example, a number of investigations by independent sources have revealed irregularities with the way NordVPN, one of the most-used options on the market, handles user data. Several free VPN options were also found to be harvesting and selling data, according to coverage by tech news outlet CNET. This has led to renewed scrutiny of leading VPN options, with some outlets, such as the self-help blog Thrive Beyond Burnout, turning to IP Vanish as a potential answer.
In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that Americans are increasingly concerned about digital privacy but are, by and large, confused by the issue and what can be done about it. Now, in 2025, the importance of digital privacy has only increased, while public education on the matter has not. Hence the renewed effort by outlets such as Thrive Beyond Burnout to uncover the true utility of these systems.
They recently published a comprehensive comparison of IP Vanish, an increasingly popular paid VPN option that claims to offer services comparable to NordVPN, free of the troubling allegations associated with that company.
A VPN is likely the easiest and most accessible way to establish digital privacy for most people, but many options do not do what they claim to do or offer only partial protection. With that in mind, Thrive Beyond Burnout analyzed IP Vanish as a potential alternative to the most popular options on the market today.
In their analysis, they examined the privacy features and protections offered by IP Vanish, as well as its ability to unblock region-locked content. They also tested its overall speed, which, in their estimation, is one of the most crucial aspects of a VPN system’s usability on a day-to-day basis.
Overall, their team found that IP Vanish stood up well next to the competition, offering reasonable speeds at an affordable price point. They emphasize that while most VPNs in the current market offer a comparable level of protection from intrusive monitoring, the small details regarding how the data is actually encrypted can make a substantial difference.
While IP Vanish has been on the market for many years, a continuous rollout of updates seems to have allowed it to keep in step with its upstart competitors, even exceeding them in some key areas, as Thrive Beyond Burnout says in the conclusion to their guide.
All encryption algorithms offer a different level of privacy and protection, though heavier algorithms naturally impact the speed of the system they are running on. This is a critical decision for consumer-facing software, given that, despite warnings from watchdogs, most users prioritize speed over safety, as corroborated by recent Forbes coverage.
On that topic, Thrive Beyond Burnout had this to say: “IP Vanish uses AES-256 encryption, which is the standard used by government and financial institutions to protect sensitive information. Additionally, IP Vanish has a no-logs policy, meaning they don’t store any information about your online activity. This policy has been independently verified by the Leviathan Cybersecurity Group.”
Thrive Beyond Burnout is an independent resource for entrepreneurs and those seeking self-empowerment. They offer guidance and coverage on a wide range of topics, including tech, personal finance, health and well-being, and more.
Their coverage comparing IP Vanish to its closest competition can be found here.
