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IVPN vs Windscribe

Comparing
two VPNs
Decided by
Independent no-logs audits
Last reviewed
2026-08-26
IVPNTakes bitcoin

Eight straight years of Cure53 security audits, cash or Monero accepted, and a company that publicly refuses to commission another no-logs audit.

WindscribeTakes bitcoin

Seized twice and prosecuted once, with nothing to hand over each time; no email needed to sign up, and it takes bitcoin over Lightning.

No verdict

No verdict: both carry 3 independent audits, so the rows below decide by jurisdiction, price and how you want to pay.

Criterion
Independent no-logs audits
IVPN
3
Windscribe
3

IVPN and Windscribe, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

IVPN and Windscribe compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
FactIVPNWindscribe
Independent audits3, latest 20263, latest 2024
Real-world tests03
Incidents on record01
Market exits00
OwnerIVPN LimitedWindscribe Limited
JurisdictionGibraltarCanada
Eyes allianceOutsideFive Eyes
PriceFrom $60/yr on Standard$69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo
Money-back30 days7 days
Crypto acceptedbitcoin, monerobitcoin, bitcoin lightning
Anonymous signupYesYes
Free tierNone10 GB a month with a confirmed email, 2 GB without, across 11 countries
ServersVendor runs a deliberately small network, in the low tens of countries, rather than competing on server countsVendor states servers in more than 69 countries on paid plans, all running from RAM after the FreshScribe rebuild
Last reviewed2026-08-262026-08-26

No-logs evidence, side by side

Dated audits and real-world tests from each review. An empty column is a finding: the claim has not been independently checked.

IVPN

  • 2026Audit by Cure53: eighth annual security audit, covering the cryptography and privacy model of the Unlinked Access system
  • 2023Audit by Cure53: penetration test and configuration review of the new VPN gateway infrastructure, report published in full
  • 2019Audit by Cure53: the no-logs audit of the VPN gateway and authentication servers, which IVPN says was its first and only audit of that format

Windscribe

  • 2026Dutch authorities physically seized a Windscribe server from a data centre rack: The company reports they found a stock install running entirely in RAM, with no drives, logs or user data on it
  • 2025Greek prosecutors, with INTERPOL involvement, charged co-founder Yegor Sak personally over activity traced to a Windscribe server: The case was dismissed on 11 April 2025 after a two-year fight, because Windscribe held no user data to produce
  • 2024Audit by PacketLabs: the full FreshScribe server infrastructure, 20 repositories and roughly 80,000 lines of code, with external and internal penetration testing
  • 2022Audit by Leviathan Security Group: security audit of the mobile applications
  • 2021Audit by Leviathan Security Group: security audit of the desktop applications
  • 2021Ukrainian authorities seized two Windscribe servers: No user activity logs were found, but the unencrypted disks exposed an OpenVPN certificate authority key; Windscribe disclosed this publicly and rebuilt its network to run only in RAM

Frequently asked questions

Is IVPN or Windscribe better for privacy?

No verdict: both carry 3 independent audits, so the rows below decide by jurisdiction, price and how you want to pay. Audits, court and seizure records and incidents are dated on each review with their sources.

Can I pay IVPN or Windscribe with bitcoin?

IVPN takes bitcoin and monero (processor: In-house). Windscribe takes bitcoin and bitcoin lightning (processor: In-house). Each review quotes the vendor's own refund sentence for crypto purchases verbatim.

Which is cheaper, IVPN or Windscribe?

IVPN: From $60/yr on Standard. Windscribe: $69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo. Money-back: IVPN 30 days, Windscribe 7 days. Prices are from each vendor's own page as of the review date.

Where are IVPN and Windscribe based?

IVPN: Gibraltar (outside the five, nine and fourteen eyes alliances). Windscribe: Canada (five eyes member). A jurisdiction matters less than a court record showing what the provider could hand over; the reviews carry those where they exist.

The full reviews: IVPN and Windscribe, each with its sources, and every VPN we review.

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