Both of these let you connect everything you own, which is usually why a household is comparing them. What sits behind that offer is not comparable at all.
No device limit, two different products behind it
Windscribe publishes open-source clients, asks for no email address and no password, accepts cash, and lets you buy only the countries you use. It has port forwarding, multi-hop, ad blocking, obfuscation, streaming support and servers running from memory with nothing written to disk.
IPVanish has multi-hop, ad blocking, obfuscation and IPv6 protection, and adds first-party apps for Apple TV, Android TV and Fire TV, which Windscribe does not have. Against that it has no first-party Linux app at all — Linux means configuring WireGuard or OpenVPN by hand — no port forwarding, closed clients, and servers that write to disk.
If a television is the device you are solving for, IPVanish covers it directly and Windscribe does not. That is the one place this comparison goes IPVanish's way.
The 2016 summons
In 2016, under previous ownership, IPVanish received a Homeland Security summons, replied that it kept no usage information, and then supplied a subscriber's name, email address, home IP address and the times they connected and disconnected. The affidavit is public. It has changed hands twice since and Schellman Compliance examined the claim in February 2025, with the report behind a customer login.
Windscribe has no comparable episode. Its weakness is currency rather than character: the last outside review of the server software was Packetlabs in June 2024, past the two-year mark, though the open-source clients are a continuous form of the same assurance.
Both are inside the five-country intelligence agreement — Windscribe in Ontario, IPVanish in Florida, an affiliate of Ziff Davis whose contract applies California law.
Price is not close. Windscribe renews at the rate it showed you and has a free tier with unlimited devices. IPVanish charges a low first year and far more for every year after.
Which should you choose?
Choose Windscribe unless you specifically need apps on a television. It costs less over time, publishes its source, needs no identity, and carries no disclosure to weigh.
Choose IPVanish if the living room is the requirement, and read the 2016 affidavit before deciding the audit has closed it.
Windscribe
Unlimited devices, no email needed, and a plan you assemble yourself.
IPVanish
Every device you own at once, and a logging case it still answers for.
Specs
Ratings
Speed
Privacy
Ease of use
Value
Features
Pricing
Windscribe
IPVanish
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