Turbo VPN: Unsafe Free VPN with DNS Leaks, Malware, and Intrusive Ads

Turbo VPN logs enough data to identify you. Although Turbo claims it doesn’t store VPN connection timestamps, it must record some data if it knows when a connection is successful.

The date of your connection combined with your VPN server location and ISP could allow a third party to pinpoint your individual connection.

We’d like to see Turbo VPN significantly reduce what it logs, ideally to nothing. For example, PIA VPN logs no user data and still provides an excellent service.

Troubling Ties to China

Turbo VPN is developed by a company called Innovative Connecting. It has released several other basic, free VPNs, including VPN Proxy Master, Snap Master VPN, Solo VPN Pro, and VPN Proxy Master Lite.

It’s incorporated at 38 Beach Road #29-11 South Beach Tower, Singapore. Singapore is known for extensive surveillance, government oversight, and links to the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.

Additionally, our independent research shows strong links between Turbo VPN and mainland China.

The director of Innovative Connecting is a Chinese national and entrepreneur named Danian Chen, once described by Forbes as “one of the most influential young leaders in China.” Chen appears only in corporate filings and has no public association with the company.

The fact that Turbo VPN is owned by a Chinese national, and that its privacy policy states it will hand over your personal information to authorities “if ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction,” is highly concerning.

As shown above, Turbo VPN cannot unblock most geo-restricted streaming services. Either the required server location is missing or the streaming platform immediately detects the VPN.

Unblocks Max on Windows & Android

You can use Turbo VPN to stream Max from outside the US, but only on its Windows and Android apps. This is because the macOS and iOS apps do not offer a US server location.

While we could consistently unblock HBO Max on Windows, the video quality was always grainy. The Android app took several attempts to work and video quality was similarly poor.

Leaks DNS Requests & Contains Malware

As part of our investigation into free VPNs, we detected unsafe functions, DNS leaks, and malware in Turbo VPN’s apps.

When your DNS requests are exposed, anyone monitoring your connection can see the websites and services you access.

The presence of malware is unacceptable and can harm your device’s performance and give third parties access to your personal files.

We would need Turbo VPN to release new apps and have them audited by multiple independent cybersecurity firms before we could even suggest installing them.

Unusual Protocol Selection

Turbo VPN lists multiple protocols within its apps, varying by device.

Some protocols are unfamiliar, like Trojan, and others are rarely offered by mainstream VPNs, like V2Ray and ISSR.

OpenVPN—an open-source, trusted protocol—is available on all platforms, but protocol selection is paywalled. As a result, you may be assigned a less secure protocol without knowing it.

We’d like Turbo VPN to make OpenVPN the default across its apps and allow protocol customization on the free plan.

No Kill Switch On Free Tier

Turbo VPN doesn’t include a kill switch on its free plan, leaving your real IP exposed if the VPN disconnects unexpectedly.

A kill switch is essential for maintaining anonymity, and we expect every VPN to provide one as a minimum. Its absence shows a lack of regard for user privacy.

Technical Features We’d Like to See

Turbo VPN lacks standard VPN features and more advanced options like multi-hop or an ad blocker. Here are the most important features we’d like added:

Turbo VPN’s server network changes based on the device you use. We’ve summarized its server coverage by platform below:

As shown above, iOS and macOS only assign a pre-selected nearby server. In our tests, this was always a Canadian IP address, though it may differ based on your location.

The options are better on Windows and Android but still poor compared to top-rated free VPNs like Windscribe, which offers 10 countries.

We’d like to see additional locations in Asia beyond Singapore, and at least one server in South America or Africa.

We do appreciate the number of city-level options on Android, with both US coasts covered. You can also connect to multiple locations in Germany, Canada, and the UK on Android.

Turbo VPN is quick to install and start using. It doesn’t require account registration or payment details—just download and go.

The exception is the Windows app, which failed to launch when downloaded from the Turbo VPN website. We had to install it from the Microsoft Store instead, which took a bit longer since it required creating a Microsoft account.

Here’s a closer look at our hands-on experience with Turbo VPN on different devices:

Desktop & Laptop (Windows & macOS)

Turbo VPN looks bad on computer screens, especially on Windows. Its desktop clients resemble stretched mobile apps, resulting in blurry text and a “stretched” UI.

Connecting is simple: click the orange-and-white carrot button once. To disconnect, click the X.

The rest of the app is bare-bones, with most features locked behind a paywall, though this isn’t always clear. For example, the macOS app displays multiple server locations, but clicking one opens a full-screen pop-up asking you to subscribe.

We were also puzzled by a 500MB data cap on macOS, which doesn’t exist on Windows or mobile. Even more confusing, the in-app counter counts up from 0 instead of down from 500MB, which often made it seem like we had more data left than we did.

Mobile (iPhone & Android)

Turbo VPN’s apps fit mobile screens well and look much better than on desktop.

That said, using Turbo VPN on mobile was far more frustrating due to constant, unskippable ads.

On both Android and iOS, you must watch a 30-second video ad every time you connect or disconnect. This became infuriating over multiple days of testing.

We also found it annoying that the Android app repeatedly asks you to rate it on the Google Play Store. The only way to remove the prompt is to tap it and follow the redirect to the Play Store.

Previously, Turbo VPN blocked P2P traffic and its privacy policy warned that your account could be suspended if you torrented too often.

In our latest tests, we were able to torrent on the US server, and any reference to account suspension has been removed from the privacy policy.

However, Turbo VPN’s support team confirmed that both torrenting and P2P connections are still banned on its servers.

Even if Turbo VPN allowed torrenting, we still wouldn’t recommend it. Its intrusive logging means your downloads could be traced back to you, and the lack of a kill switch risks exposing your real IP address.

Instead of Turbo VPN, consider one of our recommended free VPNs for torrenting. All of our picks allow P2P across their networks and include a working kill switch.

Turbo VPN works similarly across platforms, but server options and features differ. For instance, the Android app offers the most servers and is the only platform with split tunneling.

The browser extension is basic but easy to use. It won’t encrypt your browser traffic, but it can spoof your location to Singapore, Germany, or the US.

5 Simultaneous Connections

With a single Turbo VPN account, you can use the VPN on up to five devices at once. This is fairly standard, though some providers like Surfshark and IPVanish don’t impose limits.

Surprisingly Robust Customer Service

Turbo VPN recently overhauled its customer support. Where it was once almost nonexistent, it’s now comparable to some popular VPNs.

The biggest improvement is its 24/7 live chat, accessed via a chat window on the support page. A chatbot first tries to find an answer from a short FAQ section, but you can instantly escalate to a live agent.

The agent responded quickly and was helpful in resolving our issue.

Email support has improved, too. You now fill out a simple online form and receive a response within hours.

User-Friendly & Customizable Split Tunneling

Turbo VPN’s split tunneling feature is available only on Android. It lets you include or exclude apps from the VPN tunnel using two separate modes.