Morten Lund founded BullGuard in 2002 as a software development company focused on security. They started with an antivirus product and have since expanded into other areas, the latest of which is personal VPN. The company is headquartered in London. They also have offices in the United States, Australia, and five more throughout Europe. BullGuard launched their VPN service in partnership with NordVPN in April, 2019. At the moment we do not see any reason to sign up for BullGuard rather than subscribe to NordVPN since they both use the same network. Unfortunately BullGuard users only have access to a subset of NordVPN servers. Even so, if you’re a BullGuard customer and appreciate their products, the VPN is a good addition from a trusted company.
Pricing and Special Offers
When the BullGuard VPN service first launched the price was high in comparison with many popular VPNs. Fortunately the BullGuard team is offering a discount for those who want to sign up for a longer term. You can save up to 58% by subscribing for 3 years of unlimited VPN access for just $2.97 a month. That’s the deal we signed up for and we’ve been happy with the service. As you can see from the image below, the 3-year plan is by far the best value. You can also choose a 1-year plan for $7.08 a month or 2-year plan for $3.97 a month.
Let’s take a quick look at the features you can expect with BullGuard VPN:
- Custom VPN apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
- Consistent user interface across desktop and mobile apps
- Available in English, German, Danish, French, Dutch, and Spanish
- Unlimited access to servers in 16 countries
- Fast, reliable access through NordVPN network
- Connect on up to 6 devices simultaneously
- Internet kill switch and app kill switch
- No log policy (BullGuard does not track your activities)
- Ability to configure custom DNS server settings
- 30-day money back guarantee
- 24/7 live chat support
BullGuard offers a wide range of payment options. You can sign up using credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB), PayPal, PayNearMe, wire transfer, or check / money order. We did not see the option to pay with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Payments are processed through Cleverbridge. BullGuard does not offer a free trial, but all new members are covered by their 30-day money back guarantee.
BullGuard VPN Network and Server Locations
As mentioned earlier in our review, the BullGuard network is actually a subset of the servers available on the NordVPN network. As a BullGuard VPN member you will have access to servers in 16 countries. This is quite limited compared to the full NordVPN network which includes over 5,000 servers in 60 countries. BullGuard also lacks the ability to select an individual server location inside a country. For example, we connected to the United States but could not choose a specific city. The NordVPN service gives you this ability.
BullGuard VPN gives you access to servers in the following countries:
- Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
As you can see the BullGuard VPN network is well represented in North America and Europe. They also have Asia (Singapore) and Oceania (Australia) covered.
Privacy and Security
There are two areas to look at when considering the privacy and security of a VPN. The first being the protocol and encryption level used for server connections. In the case of BullGuard, you can rest assured that they provide secure connections through the NordVPN network. Their client uses OpenVPN and you can select between TCP and UDP. We recommend UDP for the best mix of security and fast performance. That’s what we used for our speed tests which wil be presented in a moment. If you have any issues using UDP then simply go into the settings and switch to TCP. This will add error checking for a more stable connection in some circumstances.
The other critical factor for many VPN users is what degree the company tracks and logs your usage. In the case of BullGuard, they are committed to users privacy. They clearly show a no-log policy which means they commit to not track your activity when connected to the network. Since we haven’t heard of any legal actions involving the NordVPN network this is a good sign for BullGuard.
Technical Support
The BullGuard team has a track record of offering excellent technical support. We would expect the same to be true with their new VPN product. They start with free 24/7 live chat support. You will also find a help center, product guide, and forum on the BullGuard site. All of these can be helpful in resolving issues. Fortunately we didn’t have any problems testing their VPN so we can not personally give an opinion of the support team.
Client Software and Mobile Apps
As mentioned earlier in our review, BullGuard has developed a full line of apps for their VPN service. You will find guides on their website for installing the VPN client on Windows and Mac. They also have a section for the Android and iOS apps. Of course you can download those directly from the Google and Apple app stores. BullGuard does not have an app for Amazon TV devices. If you want to change your IP address location on firestick or game console then we recommend connecting the VPN through your router. You can contact their tech support for more details.
Let’s jump right in and take a look at the BullGuard client. We’ll start with with BullGuard Windows VPN client.
The user interface couldn’t be any easier. You can simply click on the quick connect button to connect to the best VPN server for your current location. In our case that was a BullGuard VPN server in the United States. Unfortunately you can not select an individual city but the service was responsive as shown in our speed tests.
As you can see we connected to VPN servers in the US, UK, and Australia. Our Internet connection maxes out around 130 Mbps. The speed ranged between 100 Mbps and 113 Mbps when connected to BullGuard VPN using OpenVPN UDP protocol. The impressive performance comes from utilizing the NordVPN network.
While you do not need to change any of the settings to connect to BullGuard VPN, there are a few options worth mentioning. The first is that the Windows client includes both an Internet kill switch and app kill switch feature. The first will kill your internet connection if the VPN fails. The app kill switch gives you the flexibility to set individual apps to be cut off from communication until the VPN reconnects. This will help protect your privacy anytime you lose connection to their network for any reason.
Next up is the BullGuard VPN client for Mac.
You will immediately notice the look and feel of the Mac app is the same as it’s Windows counterpart. The settings are very similar as well. The Bullgaurd Mac client has a kill switch and will let you choose between OpenVPN UDP and TCP protocol. The client defaults to UDP which is a good choice. Only change to TCP if you have connection problems.
We connected to a VPN server in Spain to test the performance on Mac. As you can see our download speed was over 109 Mbps. That’s great considering we are located in the United States. You can easily stream HD content or enjoy fast online gaming with BullGuard.
Let’s wrap this section up with a look at the BullGuard iOS and Android apps.
Both the iPhone and Android app are very simple to use. You simply select a location or let the app choose the best server for you. There aren’t many other options. The settings screen includes a kill switch that will disconnect your Internet if the VPN drops. Privacy conscious users will want to enable this feature. Otherwise the mobile app is straight forward and only takes a minute to set up.
We connected to a few different locations including The Netherlands, Singapore, and Canada. The Netherlands server performed the best with a download speed just under 100 Mbps. The Canada and Singapore server locations came in around 60 Mbps. Fast enough to enjoy a wide range of online activities on your phone or tablet.
Conclusion
BullGuard has been protecting user’s computer’s and mobile devices for over 15 years. They partnered with NordVPN to launch a VPN product in April, 2019. The VPN service is quite good but is limited compared to NordVPN. If you’re goal is specifically VPN then we suggest you consider going directly to NordVPN. For the same price you will have access to more server locations and features. However, if you use other BullGuard products and want to support their efforts then we feel good recommending BullGuard VPN. The service performs well and is reasonably priced during their current promotion.
BullGuard VPN allows users to connect up to 6 devices at a time. You can install their Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android apps on as many devices as you want and connect on 6 simultaneously. This is a good way to protect your desktop and mobile devices. Those who frequently travel will appreciate the extra connections. The VPN apps have a unified user interface and are very easy to use. You can let the app choose a server location or select a country on your own. Unfortunately you can not select a specific city. NordVPN gives users the ability to choose cities and individual servers, so hopefully BullGuard will add this level of flexibility in the future. For now you can connect to servers in 16 countries as compared to 60 with NordVPN. Once again hopefully BullGuard will expand the list of available servers.
What we liked most about the service:
- Partnership with NordVPN for fast, reliable VPN access
- Custom VPN apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
- Internet kill switch and app kill switch
- Connect on up to 6 devices at a time.
- No log policy. BullGuard does not log user’s activities.
- 30-day money back guarantee
- 24/7 live chat support
Ideas to improve the service:
- Offer more server locations (currently 16 countries vs. NordVPN 60 countries)
- Give users the ability to choose individual servers and cities within a country
- Add support for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency payments
In summary we enjoyed testing BullGuard VPN. The software worked well and the network is fast. The only downside is the limited network in comparison to NordVPN. We’re not sure why BullGuard users are limited to 16 countries. Perhaps NordVPN limits the service for partners or it’s cost related. Either way we hope that BullGuard will add more server locations and the ability to select servers down to the city and individual server level. As for cost, we find BullGuard to be fairly priced. You can sign up for unlimited VPN access from just $2.97 a month for 36 months. All new members are covered by there 30-day money back guarantee.