We've been living in China for about 6 months and a reliable VPN service is essential. Today we'll take a look at two VPN providers that work in China and do a comparison on price, user interface, and speed tests.
A word of warning, ExpressVPN and NordVPN do not currently work in China! We moved here with ExpressVPN on every device, only to find it unusable and unable to connect.
The first service is Astrill VPN. It is a pretty popular name and is known to be reliable in China. It's also pretty expensive and there are no refunds if you do not like their service. For this reason, we only signed up for the one month plan.
The user interface of Astrill VPN is also somewhat clunky, and there are huge lists of servers and we do not know the difference or which ones to use in China. Their China recommended Seattle server doesn't connect, which forces us to use trial and error to find a server with the best connection speeds.
The second service is called LetsVPN and it is not very well known. In fact, I would say their website is not as professional as Astrill VPN and there is a lot to be desired in terms of account management. However, LetsVPN allows you to download and try out the service for a few days before you buy.
The price for LetsVPN is also cheaper then Astrill VPN, but it is only limited to 2 devices. If you have 4 devices, like us, you'll be paying double. Compared to unlimited devices with Astrill VPN, LetsVPN may or may not be the better deal.
In a head to head speed test, LetsVPN beats out Astrill VPN pretty consistently.
The user interface for LetsVPN is a lot simpler and easier to use. It can auto select the server and region for you, with a one click connection. A lot smoother and faster than Astrill VPN.
For our needs, we lean towards LetsVPN a lot more because it is cheaper and easier to use. If you are only in China for a short amount of time, the free trial might just be enough for you.
00:00 - Intro
01:33 - Pricing Comparison
03:43 - Brand and Website Comparison
04:19 - User Interface Comparison
06:50 - Speed Test Comparison
10:36 - Account Management Comparison
11:43 - Conclusion
