Head to head
The gap
The security score is not a total of good things. It starts at 100 and eight channels each take a share of what is left, so one channel can settle a record on its own. Both records are drawn here on the same scale — the model’s own cap of 0.9 — rather than on a scale fitted to this pair, which would make every comparison look equally dramatic.
Line by line
Every field the contract publishes about a provider, in the contract’s own groups, including the rows where the two agree — a table that printed only differences would invent a disagreement, and one that printed only the interesting rows would be us choosing what is interesting. Open a group to read its rows; each one says how many it holds and how many of them the two records answer differently.
A green cell means the methodology itself prices that value below the other one, not that we prefer it. Rows the model does not price carry no mark at all: price is never marked, because nothing in the model says cheaper is safer, and neither is coverage, platform count or devices. Where a value was never established the cell says so instead of showing a zero.
What actually happened
Other pairs
Pairs within the top ten get a page — 80 comparisons in all. Records below that are not paired here: a comparison earns a page where the choice between the two is a real one, and that choice is made near the top of the register.
Security
Usability
Rank 3 of 68 in the register
Gibraltar · Commercial VPN
Exits in 41 countries
Security
Usability
Rank 10 of 68 in the register
Not published · Commercial VPN
Exits in 25 countries
No demand on the public record
No demand on the public record
Open questions
Still open on this record.
Jurisdiction. The about-us page says CactusVPN "started as a small company in Moldova" but that is company narrative, not a registration statement, and the Terms of Service state no governing law or incorporation country at all; the Securitum report names the client only as "Cactus VPN LLC" with no jurisdiction attached. M06 and the fields derived from it stay unknown until a registry record or an explicit jurisdiction clause is found.
Mandate hosting. All 25 countries in the published server list carry a data-retention mandate in this catalogue's own table, so C09b is not a narrow question here, but the server-locations page does not distinguish physical exit points from virtual ones for any location, and no per-country hosting fact was established this session.
App-level identifiers and store declarations. C07a, C12 and X12 stay unknown: no Play Store data-safety form or Apple privacy label was read this session, and the Securitum audit's whitebox scope covered server-side configuration and DNS/traffic handling, not what the mobile or extension clients transmit to app stores or analytics SDKs on their own.
Transparency and canary. No /transparency, /transparency-report, /warrant-canary or /canary path resolves on the site, and no such page turned up in the sitemap; that is an absence found by looking, not a sourced "none", so both fields stay unknown rather than being marked none.
Still open on this record.
One no-logs audit, in 2019. IVPN is unusually explicit about what it does not do: its own post states that its last and only no-logs audit was Cure53 in March 2019, and that it has deliberately not repeated the format because such a stamp describes one day and not the days after it.
What the claim rests on now. Every audit since targets apps and services, so the no-logs claim on the infrastructure rests on the March 2019 engagement and on the February 2023 gateway review, not on anything recent.
The audit not yet published. The eighth annual Cure53 audit was scheduled for July 2026 and no report for 2025 or 2026 is published yet, which is why the latest report date is the April 2024 one.
The August 2026 incident. In August 2026 an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the self-hosted BTCPay Server, before it was public, and took IVPN's own Lightning operating funds. IVPN published the account four days later, unprompted, and scoped it to that machine: the VPN gateways were not involved, no customer records were reached, no customer money was lost.
Why it costs nothing. The model charges nothing for this, which is the point — an operator that says so promptly is behaving the way the field is meant to reward, and the entry is here so a reader knows it happened rather than to move a number.
What the engagements covered. The app pentest (iOS, Android, Electron, the daemon) is from March 2022 and the gateway/server-OS review from February 2023; neither tested the no-logs claim itself, the 2023 report says so explicitly, so retention rests on the privacy policy declaration alone.
The latest report is not the relevant one. April 2024's engagement, Cure53's sixth with IVPN, tested the customer account website, API and hosting; its own scope page names client apps and VPN servers out of scope, so it extends neither the app nor the gateway evidence, and V03_audit_subject reads unknown for it rather than carrying that credit forward. The seventh engagement, on the new email and DNS services, was only announced for May 2025; no report for it is published.
What the primary site never establishes. RAM-only is recorded as partial because IVPN describes it as a transition with test deployments under way, and has not announced its completion. Server hardware ownership (leased vs owned), traffic modification at the exit, and the beneficial owner's personal jurisdiction are unestablished: no primary IVPN page states any of the three, nor does user-base scale.
Three fields the knowledgebase answers, not the pages read at first fill. IP allocation is shared by design — "crowding" pools users on one address to blunt attribution. P2P is allowed everywhere, but IVPN asks customers to avoid US exits, citing upstream DMCA pressure. Streaming carries no guarantee, though the company says many customers do reach it.
Recent changes
No change logged on this record
Notes
On the record as a whole.
The Securitum engagement (20 Apr–7 May 2026, nine person-days, whitebox) inspected four production servers across four of CactusVPN's ~25 listed server countries and the VPN client's connection behaviour (including a Linux app used for testing, which is not among the platforms the downloads page currently lists — apparently manual/legacy client access rather than a listed product).
The report is a bespoke Securitum security assessment, not an ISAE 3000 or SOC 2 engagement, so V07/V15 record that rather than guessing an assurance tier.
Pricing carries a renewal-rate guarantee: the annual ($70/yr) and 2-year ($95/2yr) plans are both stated to renew at the same locked price "for life," which is unusual among providers in this catalogue and is not a lifetime one-time-fee scheme (X07=no).
On the record as a whole.
First fill 2026-08-26. Sourced entirely from ivpn.net's own pages, the Cure53 audit PDFs and IVPN's blog — no affiliate or review-aggregator site cited.
12 Sep 20265 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
42 changed to 40
IP allocation modelC03_ip_sharing
not on the record changed to shared
P2P allowedU12a_p2p_allowed
not on the record changed to partial
Major streaming services reachableU12b_streaming_works
not on the record changed to partial
Subject of the latest auditV03_audit_subject
app_security, infrastructure changed to not on the record
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | CactusVPNDominant channel: Ignorance0 to 0.9, longer is worse | IVPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.299 | 0.526 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.333 | 0.061 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.280 | 0.063 |
| SilenceTen years, millions of users and nothing on record? | 0.225 | 0.000 |
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.155 | 0.000 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.079 | 0.030 |
| ArchitectureWho operates the exit, and what does it do to the traffic? | 0.000 | 0.050 |
| DisclosureHas it already handed something over? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| What is left of 100The channels multiply: each one takes a share of what the one before it left standing | 20 | 38 |
By circumstance
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | Allowed yes | Allowed on some servers partial |
| Streaming | Reachable yes | Some services reachable partial |
| Devices at once | unlimited | 5 |
| Under censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
| Exits in mandate countries | 2 India, Russia | None |
| Hosting in those countries | — not established | — the question does not arise |
| Company under a mandate | — not established | No such mandate no |
| Secret orders | No secret-order regime on record none_known | No secret-order regime on record none_known |
CactusVPN and IVPN were assessed by the HushFleet team: CactusVPN scores 20/100 for security, in the Insufficient band, and IVPN 38/100, in the Weak band. They share an independent audit and independent ownership. The 18-point gap opens widest on Ignorance — “How much of this did nobody establish?” — taking 33% from CactusVPN and 6% from IVPN.
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 20 insufficient · rank 10 of 68 | 38 weak · rank 3 of 68 |
| Usability | 66 out of 100 | 66 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 63% usability 100% | 89% usability 100% |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the exit | Run by the provider itself provider_operated | Run by the provider itself provider_operated |
| Retention as declared | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkable |
| RAM-only diskless servers | — not establishedno source published | Part of the fleet partialBivpn.net · |
| IP allocation model | Exit address shared between users shared | Exit address shared between users shared |
| Signup without email | No, an email address is required noBcactusvpn.com · | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
| Anonymous payment options | Cryptocurrency through a processorBcactusvpn.com · | Cash · Cryptocurrency paid directlyBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verifiedAsecuritum.com · | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBivpn.net · |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | — not establishedno source published | No third-party SDK noneBivpn.net · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | Analytics analytics | Analytics analytics |
| Who owns the hardware | — not established | — not established |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | 2 India, RussiaBcactusvpn.com · | NoneBivpn.net · |
| Hosting in the mandate countries it offers | — not establishedno source published | — the question does not ariseno source published |
| Incorporation country mandates retention | — not establishedno source published | No such mandate nono source published · |
| Beneficial owner sits under a retention regime | — not established | — not established |
| Persistent device identifier | — not establishedno source published | An identifier scoped to the app app_scoped_idBivpn.net · |
| Weakest protocol still offered | PPTP pptpBcactusvpn.com · | — the question does not ariseBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | Traffic passes through unaltered noneBcactusvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| At least one independent audit | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified |
| How the report is published | The full report is published full_pdf | The full report is published full_pdf |
| Subject of the audit | The no-logs claim itself · The infrastructureAsecuritum.com · | — not establishedAcure53.de · |
| Server fleet coverage | A sample of servers sampleAsecuritum.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
| Auditor name | Securitum |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | No seizure on record none_known | No seizure on record none_known |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | No court record none_knownno source published · | Told a court it had nothing to produce unable_to_produceBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
| Response to a national logging mandate | — not establishedno source published | Was never present in that country no_presenceBivpn.net · |
| Transparency report | — not establishedno source published | Current, with request numbers |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | — not establishedno source published | No documented lie noneCcure53.de · 3 sources · |
| Marketing against audit findings | No gap on record none | No gap on record none |
| Ownership structure transparency | Ownership is stated and checkable clear | Ownership is stated and checkable clear |
| Adverse events on the owner group record | — not establishedno source published | Nothing adverse on record cleanCivpn.net · |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_only | Paid subscriptions only paid_only |
| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | Claims total anonymity or military-grade encryption |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Cactus VPN LLCAsecuritum.com · | IVPN Limited, 5 Secretary's lane, GX11 1AA, GibraltarBivpn.net · |
| Where the company sits | — not establishedno source published | Gibraltar GIBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
| Year the service launched | 2011Bcactusvpn.com · | 2009Bivpn.net · |
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) |
| CactusVPN | IVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 7 Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Android TV, Fire TV, Browser extensionBcactusvpn.com · | 6 Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, RoutersBivpn.net · |
| Countries with an exit | 25 countriesBcactusvpn.com · | 41 countriesBivpn.net · |
| Paying monthly | $15.00 per monthBcactusvpn.com · | $6.00 per monthBivpn.net · |
| Cure53Acure53.de · 3 sources · |
| Auditor category | A security specialist security_specialist | A security specialist security_specialist |
|---|
| Assurance standard | Another standard other | Another standard other |
|---|
| Date of latest report | 2026-05-08Asecuritum.com · | 2024-04-08Acure53.de · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | One-off one_offAsecuritum.com · | An annual series annual_seriesBivpn.net · 4 sources · |
|---|
| Total published audits | 1Asecuritum.com · | 7Bivpn.net · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableAsecuritum.com · | The report does not address retention not_statedBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Client source code published | None noneAsecuritum.com · | Every client allBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Separate pentest | — not establishedno source published | Yes, and the report was read yes_verifiedAcure53.de · 3 sources · |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | — not establishedno source published | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
fresh_with_numbers| Reported numbers plausible for this scale | — not establishedno source published | The numbers are plausible at this scale plausibleno source published · |
|---|
| Warrant canary discipline | — not establishedno source published | Kept current maintainedBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Requests received | — not establishedno source published | 34Bivpn.net · |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | — not establishedno source published | 0Bivpn.net · |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | No secret-order regime on record none_known | No secret-order regime on record none_known |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | — not establishedno source published | 0 No demand on the public recordBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
|---|
yesMakes no such claim noBivpn.net · |
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | Covered only on sites paid to cover it yesCcactusvpn.com · | Covered outside affiliate sites too noCivpn.net · |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | No incident on record none_knownno source published · | Disclosed by the provider, promptly self_disclosed_promptBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | A standard payout standardBcactusvpn.com · | No affiliate programme noneBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — not establishedno source published | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| App store declaration | — not establishedno source published | The store form matches the published policy matches_policyBapps.apple.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| — not established |
| Ultimate beneficial owner as written | Independent; founded and run by co-founders (Sergiu Candja, Pavel Bodeanu, and colleagues), who state they have refused outside buyout offersBcactusvpn.com · | Nicholas Pestell, founder and CEO, 100% owner of IVPN LimitedBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | None disclosed | None disclosed |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Owner group | independent | independent |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | The group's principal brand principal | The group's principal brand principal |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | Separate infrastructure separate | Separate infrastructure separate |
|---|
| Paying yearly | $70.00 a year at renewal, billed onceBcactusvpn.com · | $60.00 a year at renewal, billed onceBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier none | No free tier none |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | Claimed to work claimed | Claimed to work claimed |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 8 OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, L2TP, PPTP, SSTP, A vendor protocol with published source, An obfuscated protocolBcactusvpn.com · | 4 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, An obfuscated protocolBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | On every platform all_platforms | On every platform all_platforms |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | unlimitedBcactusvpn.com · | 5Bivpn.net · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | An email address only email_onlyBcactusvpn.com · | No account needed no_accountBivpn.net · 2 sources · |
|---|
| P2P allowed | Allowed yesBcactusvpn.com · | Allowed on some servers partialBivpn.net · |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | Reachable yesBcactusvpn.com · | Some services reachable partialBivpn.net · |
|---|
