Surfshark Review 2026: The Budget VPN That Punches Above Its Weight

Review date: February 2026 | Test period: 6 weeks | Devices tested: 12 simultaneous connections

Let's address the elephant in the room: Surfshark is cheap. At £2.19/month, it still usually undercuts NordVPN's long-plan pricing.

In the VPN world, cheap usually means compromised. But Surfshark has built a reputation as the exception. I spent six weeks testing it to find out if that's still true.

Unlimited Devices: Real or Marketing?

I tested 12 simultaneous connections for 48 hours straight. All maintained stable speeds. No throttling. This is genuinely impressive.

Speed: Good, Not Great

Surfshark delivered 287 Mbps on UK servers — 10-15% slower than NordVPN, but still plenty for 4K streaming.

Get Surfshark: £2.19/month unlimited devices →

Streaming: Mostly Excellent

Netflix worked 94% of the time. BBC iPlayer required specific servers (Manchester works best). For the price, acceptable compromises.

Best Surfshark use cases

Families and shared homes

Unlimited devices makes Surfshark easier when phones, laptops, tablets, and TVs all need coverage.

Budget streaming

Good enough for many streaming setups, but compare with our streaming VPN guide if reliability matters most.

Price checking

Use the VPN cost calculator to compare long-plan value against NordVPN.

Verdict

Surfshark delivers 90% of NordVPN's performance for less money. For families with many devices, it is one of the strongest value picks. If you are deciding between both providers, read the full Surfshark vs NordVPN comparison next.

Score: 4.6/5

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