Surfshark Review Australia

Reviewed by Laurence Deer, founder and reviewer in Melbourne, testing VPNs since 2019 · How we test · How we earn money

Surfshark

Number 1 of 14 in our calculated order

Good for households with many devices

Surfshark suits a household that wants one account for every device: there is no device limit, it bills in Australian dollars, and BBC iPlayer and Netflix UK played on its London servers in October 2026. The catch is that our real address showed for a few seconds while we switched servers on default settings in October 2026, and the kill switch starts off.

From A$3.49 a month

Starter plan, paying for 27 months, A$94.23 upfront. Renewal price not shown on its pricing page. Lowest plan of each VPN we track: A$2.86 to A$17.89.

Black Friday dealVisit SurfsharkFrom A$3.49/mo · checked 20 Oct (Lowest monthly price, on the Starter plan paid upfront for 27 months; read from surfshark.com on 20 October 2026)

Checked 20 Oct 2026 Price and plan details read from surfshark.com.

Surfshark: key facts

Money-back

30 daysVPNs we track: 14 to 45 days

Free trial

7 daysCompare VPN free trials

Devices at once

UnlimitedVPNs we track: 5 to unlimited

Server countries

100VPNs we track: 30 to 150

Australian cities

5Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Company, audits, protocols and features

Company

Based in the Netherlands

Audits

Deloitte and Cure53, says Surfshark

Protocols

Dausos, IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard

Features

Ad and tracker blocker, Dedicated IP, Kill switch, Multi-hop (two servers), Obfuscation, RAM-only servers, Split tunnelling

As Surfshark's own site lists them, read 19 Oct 2026.

Surfshark: our tests

Speed, Australian server

96% keptOf our download speed with the VPN off. Tested 16 Oct 2026

DNS leaks

None foundTested 17 Oct 2026

Streaming

3 of 5 playedPluto TV✓ playedBBC iPlayer✓ playedNetflix UK✓ playedNetflix US✕ blockedNetflix Japan✕ blocked6 more opened but we did not play them. Tested 16–17 Oct 2026

Speed kept by the VPNs we have tested (2021 to 2026 rounds): 44% to 100% or more.

Tested on an account Surfshark gave us free of charge (16–17 Oct 2026). How we earn money

See our results in full

Surfshark: what has changed

• 20 Oct 2026 Price down: One+ plan (27 months), A$6.29 to A$5.59 a month
• 18 Oct 2026 Review text last edited
• 17 Oct 2026 Our latest test round: local speed, overseas speed, streaming, leaks, kill switch settings (drop test not run) and torrenting

Prices are read from Surfshark's website every morning (last read 20 Oct 2026) and its feature pages weekly; we record every change we see.

The short version

We tested Surfshark from a Melbourne home NBN line on 16 and 17 October 2026. The Melbourne server kept 96% of our download speed on 16 October, and BBC iPlayer played Panorama on a London server the next morning.

The catch showed up at 21:58 on 16 October. Switching from Tokyo to London on default settings, our real Melbourne IP address showed for about 4 seconds. Netflix also blocked Surfshark’s US and Japanese servers, and Security.org says Surfshark may record IP addresses.

Our October 2026 tests from Melbourne

The result that matters most came at 9.58 pm on 16 October 2026. I switched Surfshark from Tokyo to London while a script on the test Mac checked my public IP address every second and a half. For about 4 seconds it saw my real Melbourne address instead of Surfshark’s. Any site or app that connected in that window could have logged where I was, and the reassuring speed and DNS results below make that gap easy to miss.

I ran Surfshark’s macOS app (version 4.30.1) on the test Mac mini at home in Melbourne, on our NBN line and default settings, on 16 and 17 October 2026. The app chose WireGuard, a fast modern protocol, by itself. Before each set of tests I measured the line with the VPN off, so every result below is against the same line on the same day.

Speed: you would barely notice it in Melbourne; overseas costs more

On the Melbourne server on 16 October 2026, Surfshark kept 96% of my download speed, the second-highest of the three VPNs in our current round. Uploads held steady and ping was 14 ms. That left 51.1 Mbps coming through, more than three times what Netflix recommends for one 4K stream, with room for a video call at the same time. All three VPNs in our October round kept most of the line close to home, so do not choose between them on this alone.

Overseas servers cost more, as distance always does. On 16 October Los Angeles kept 83%, Tokyo 86% and London 68%. On the evening of 17 October South Africa kept 44% and Brazil 23%. Every one of them left enough for HD video, and the US, UK and Japan servers enough for 4K by Netflix’s own guidance; Brazil did not.

That covers what people use these servers for: iPlayer in London, ABEMA in Tokyo and Pluto TV in Los Angeles, though Netflix itself blocked the US and Japanese servers (see streaming below).

Surfshark’s India server is a virtual location. The app labels it that way, and on 17 October my IP check placed it in London, so a site that looks up your address may see Britain, not India.

Tokyo’s uploads were the weakest of any server I tried. That matters little for what most people use a Japanese server for: ABEMA and TVer only need download speed, and Tokyo kept plenty of that.

London’s ping of 300 ms is mostly the distance to the UK and back. It makes no difference to iPlayer, which loads ahead of what you are watching, but it rules out fast online games on a UK server, as does Los Angeles at 174 ms. I tested the overseas servers only in the evening and have not yet repeated them in the morning.

Leaks: DNS stayed private, but a server switch showed my address

• DNS: no leak on the Melbourne, Los Angeles, London or Tokyo servers on 16 October 2026, or on the India, Brazil and South Africa servers on 17 October. Every lookup went to a resolver on the VPN server’s own network, so our internet provider could not see which sites I looked up.
• IPv6: our line has no IPv6, so I could not test for an IPv6 leak; with the VPN on, IPv6-only sites would not load. If your NBN connection does use IPv6, we cannot yet tell you whether Surfshark covers it.
• Switching servers: this one failed. In the 9.58 pm switch, my IP check saw Tokyo, then my home address for about 4 seconds, then a second with no connection, then London.

Four seconds sounds trivial, but anything open on the Mac was free to connect. A torrent client would have shown my real address to everyone sharing the file, and a site in a background tab could have logged it. The app does warn that it disconnects briefly when you change location. NordVPN, put through the same switch on 14 October 2026, never showed my home address.

Kill switch: off by default, a beta, and not yet tested

Surfshark’s VPN settings list Kill Switch (Beta), which it says cuts your internet if the VPN connection suddenly drops. As described, it covers the whole Mac, where NordVPN’s Mac app only closes the apps you choose. It was off when I opened the settings on 16 October 2026.

Streaming: iPlayer and Netflix UK played; Netflix US and Japan did not

What played

Melbourne · our own tries, dated per service

Netflix US	✕ Blocked16 Oct 2026
Netflix UK	✓ Played16 Oct 2026
Netflix Japan	✕ Blocked16 Oct 2026
Pluto TV	✓ Played16 Oct 2026
BBC iPlayer	✓ Played17 Oct 2026
ABEMA	Site opened, not played16 Oct 2026

"Site opened, not played" means the service's site loaded through the VPN but we did not play anything.

• United Kingdom: BBC iPlayer played Panorama on a London server on 17 October 2026, with me signed in to a BBC account. The night before, another London server got me as far as iPlayer’s “Got a TV Licence?” question, and I stopped there. The next morning I confirmed it, and Panorama started after BBC’s trailer. Netflix UK showed its UK library on 16 October and started The Gentlemen with a UK advert. ITVX and Channel 4 loaded that night; I did not press Play.
• United States (16 October 2026): Netflix showed “You seem to be using a VPN or proxy” on Los Angeles and New York. A Pluto TV live channel played on Los Angeles, as it happens showing Transformers: Age of Extinction. Tubi and Hulu’s US sites loaded, but I had no Hulu account and did not test playback.
• Japan (16 October 2026): Netflix began loading Japanese rows, then showed the same VPN or proxy error. ABEMA loaded with no region block and TVer’s site loaded, though I did not play anything on either.

If British TV is why you want a VPN, Surfshark did the job for us in October 2026. If it is American Netflix, it failed on both US servers I tried.

I used one Netflix profile throughout. With the VPN off it showed the Australian library, so I judged each server by Netflix’s own region cues and by pressing Play.

NordVPN also played iPlayer on a London server on 17 October 2026, three days after iPlayer refused it on five UK servers. Streaming services keep closing the doors VPNs open, so treat any result here as true on the day I tested it.

Torrenting: worked, and the VPN did not slow it

Torrenting worked on Surfshark’s Melbourne server at 10.42 am on 17 October 2026, at about the same speed as the same download with the VPN off eight minutes earlier. I used the official Debian 13.7.0 DVD torrent, downloaded for 2 minutes with aria2c, capped uploads, did not seed, and deleted the partial file.

VPN	Our torrent speed	P2P policy	Kill switch	Port forwarding	Audited by
Surfshark	4.13 MiB/s tested October 2026	Not checked	✓ Listed	Not listed	Deloitte, Cure53

Torrent speed is the average download rate we measured on an Australian server, with its date. Features and auditors are as each provider lists them; "Not checked" means we have not recorded it yet.

For a big download, the VPN is not the bottleneck: the people sharing the file and your NBN plan set the pace. NordVPN did much the same on its own Melbourne server that morning, so this test will not pick between them.

Extras: the security tools sit behind Surfshark One

On 16 October 2026 the app’s Alert, Antivirus and Search tabs showed “Get Surfshark One” prompts on our account, so I did not test those extras. CleanWeb, Surfshark’s ad and tracker blocker, and Auto connect were both off by default. CleanWeb only works while the VPN is connected, so switch it on in the VPN settings if you want fewer ads.

Still to test: other cities, phones and the kill switch

I have not yet tried Surfshark’s other Australian cities, its iPhone and Android apps, the overseas speed tests in the morning, or a forced connection drop with the kill switch on. We will add each result here, dated, when we have it.

What other testers found

Security.org changed its Netflix region without trouble in its September 2026 review, which is kinder than our US and Japanese results. Top10VPN recorded a 4% speed loss on nearby servers and a 13% loss in its torrent test (review updated September 2026).

These reviewers test from outside Australia, so their speeds will not match a Melbourne line. Their summaries are in what independent reviewers found, near the end of this page.

Surfshark deal in Australia (checked 17 Oct 2026)

What Surfshark costs

Surfshark shows Australian visitors its prices in Australian dollars, so there is no exchange rate to work out. The table is read from its pricing page and updates automatically. Check at checkout whether GST is added. Named offers, such as a Black Friday deal, are on our VPN deals in Australia page once we have checked them on the provider’s site.

VAT/GST may apply.

Checked 20 Oct 2026 Price and plan details read from surfshark.com.

Black Friday dealVisit Surfshark

The monthly figure is the upfront total spread across the first term: two years plus three bonus months. Surfshark’s pricing page does not show what each plan renews at. Check the renewal terms at checkout rather than assume the first-term rate rolls over.

Starter is the VPN with a few extras. One and One+ add security tools such as antivirus and data-removal services. If you only want a VPN, compare Starter with other providers. Every plan carries a 30-day money-back guarantee, though we have not tested Surfshark’s refund process.

Here is what the first payment comes to, and how it compares with the other VPNs we price.

Is Surfshark safe? Privacy, audits and the Netherlands

Surfshark publishes more detail about its audits than most. It says Deloitte has verified its no-logs claim in two assurance reports under ISAE 3000, an international standard for checking non-financial controls. It also names Cure53 as auditor of its infrastructure, and it publishes transparency reports on legal requests.

Surfshark says every server runs in RAM only, so nothing stored survives a reboot. That limits what anyone could take from a seized server.

There is one caution. Security.org’s review (updated September 2026) says Surfshark may record IP addresses, and that this is not best practice for a no-logs VPN. If that matters to you, read Surfshark’s privacy policy before you buy.

Surfshark is based in the Netherlands, which it describes as a country that does not require companies to store or report user data. Security.org (September 2026) points out that the Netherlands is in the Nine Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, so its government can compel Surfshark to hand over customer information.

Apps, devices and Australian servers

Surfshark puts no limit on simultaneous devices. For a household with many phones, laptops and TVs, that is the main practical difference from NordVPN and ExpressVPN, which cap an account.

Its server list names Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. We have tested only Melbourne so far.

It supports WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2, plus Dausos, a protocol of its own listed on its Australian server page. The extras that matter:

• Bypasser is Surfshark’s name for split tunnelling: your banking app or Stan can skip the VPN while everything else uses it.
• Dynamic MultiHop routes you through two servers, for extra privacy at a speed cost.
• CleanWeb blocks ads and trackers while the VPN is connected.
• Obfuscation disguises VPN traffic on networks that block VPNs, such as some hotel and office Wi-Fi.
• Dedicated IP gives you an address of your own.

Using Surfshark in Australia

• Australian servers: Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, according to Surfshark's server list.
• Billing: priced in Australian dollars.
• Where it is based: the Netherlands, according to its own site.
• Refund period: 30 days.

Australian law requires internet providers to keep customers' metadata for two years. A VPN encrypts the connection between your device and the VPN server, so your internet provider can see that you are using a VPN but not which sites you visit. It does not make you anonymous to the VPN provider itself, which is why the provider's logging policy and audits matter.

Alternatives to Surfshark

These are picked by a fact in our data, not by commission. For a head-to-head, read NordVPN vs Surfshark or Surfshark vs ExpressVPN, or see the full Best VPN for Australia table.

PrivateVPN

Lowest advertised price we track: US$2.00 a month

NordVPN

Servers in 150 countries, the most we track

Visit NordVPN

IPVanish

No limit on devices per account

Visit IPVanish

Surfshark FAQ

How we keep this review current

Prices, plans and server details are read from Surfshark’s own website, with the date of the last check beside each figure. Our test results carry the date they were measured, and each retest is added here with its own date. Every 2026 figure comes from our test log, and the independent reviews we cite are linked so you can read them in full.

Sources

Surfshark’s own pages, read on 13 October 2026: pricing, servers, Australian servers, features and no-logs policy. Independent reviews: Security.org (September 2026) and Top10VPN (updated September 2026). Our own results are from 16 and 17 October 2026 (Surfshark macOS app 4.30.1, Melbourne).