Surfshark vs Windscribe

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

Unlimited devices and Deloitte-verified no-logs, from a company that merged into the same group as NordVPN in 2022.

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

Verdict: Windscribe

Windscribe carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 3 against 2 for Surfshark. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides.

Criterion: Independent no-logs audits
Surfshark: 2
Windscribe: 3

Surfshark 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.

Surfshark and Windscribe compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Surfshark	Windscribe
Independent audits	2, latest 2025	3, latest 2024 (favoured on this row)
Real-world tests	0	3
Incidents on record	0	1
Market exits	0	0
Owner	Nord Security	Windscribe Limited
Jurisdiction	Netherlands	Canada
Eyes alliance	Nine Eyes	Five Eyes
Price	From $2.49/mo on the 2yr plan	$69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo
Money-back	30 days	7 days
Crypto accepted	bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, dogecoin	bitcoin, bitcoin lightning
Anonymous signup	No	Yes
Free tier	None	10 GB a month with a confirmed email, 2 GB without, across 11 countries
Servers	Vendor states more than 4,500 servers across 100 countries, all upgraded to 10Gbps ports	Vendor states servers in more than 69 countries on paid plans, all running from RAM after the FreshScribe rebuild
Last reviewed	2026-08-26	2026-08-26

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.

Surfshark

2025Audit by Deloitte: independent assurance that the service does not monitor or log user activity, announced June 2025
2023Audit by Deloitte: first Deloitte no-logs assurance engagement on the server configurations

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 Surfshark or Windscribe better for privacy?

Windscribe carries more independent audits of its no-logs claim: 3 against 2 for Surfshark. We publish no rating for VPNs, so the audit count is the one criterion that decides. Audits, court and seizure records and incidents are dated on each review with their sources.

Can I pay Surfshark or Windscribe with bitcoin?

Surfshark takes bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and dogecoin (processor: CoinGate). 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, Surfshark or Windscribe?

Surfshark: From $2.49/mo on the 2yr plan. Windscribe: $69/yr Pro, or from $3/mo. Money-back: Surfshark 30 days, Windscribe 7 days. Prices are from each vendor's own page as of the review date.

Where are Surfshark and Windscribe based?

Surfshark: Netherlands (nine eyes member). 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: Surfshark and Windscribe, each with its sources, and every VPN we review.

More comparisons

Every other head-to-head Surfshark or Windscribe appears in.