Comparison
Atlas VPN review vs. Buffered review
⏳ Short on time? Here’s the overall winner.
The better choice between AtlasVPN and Buffered is Buffered. Here are all the things which we’ve tested:
- Privacy: AtlasVPN has worse privacy features than Buffered
- Features: AtlasVPN has less features than Buffered
- Speed: AtlasVPN is faster than Buffered
- Countries: AtlasVPN has less countries available than Buffered
- Security: AtlasVPN has worse security than Buffered
- Price: AtlasVPN is cheaper than Buffered
- Compatibility: AtlasVPN supports less platforms than Buffered
- Support: AtlasVPN has less options to contact support than Buffered
1. Privacy
I’ll start with a comparison of the most important aspect of any VPN - privacy. During review I will consider whether VPN logs anything (IP address, traffic, DNS logs, bandwidth, or any type of timestamps) and the jurisdiction of VPN’s country of origin.
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| IP address | Yes | |
| DNS | Yes | |
| Traffic | No | |
| Bandwidth | Yes | |
| Timestamps | Yes |
AtlasVPN is located in United States which is part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is part of enemies of the internet countries while Buffered is located in Gibraltar which is not part of 5 9 14 eyes countries and is part of enemies of the internet countries.
It’s important to note that If you are like me and you will be using VPN only to unblock GEO-restricted content, privacy will not be that important factor but it’s still essential for any VPN.
2. Features
The next category I want to compare are features of AtlasVPN and Buffered such as kill-switch, unblocking of streaming, support of P2P traffic (torrenting). I am a heavy user of various streaming platforms so for me it’s important whether VPN unblocks major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO or BBC. I don’t do much torrenting but it’s always good to use a VPN while doing so. If this is an important factor for you, definitely look for a VPN which supports P2P traffic.
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| Kill-switch | Yes | |
| Streaming (Netflix) | Yes | |
| P2P traffic - torrents | Yes |
As you can see from the comparison table above, AtlasVPN has kill-switch, supports streaming services, and supports torrenting. On the flipside Buffered has kill-switch, supports streaming services, and supports torrenting.
3. Speed
Being hidden behind VPN shouldn’t limit the speed of your connection. I’ve measured the speed of each VPN against a 100mbps connection - which should be sufficient for any activities including heavy streaming in 4K or downloading large files.
In my test AtlasVPN was more on the side while Buffered had fast speed. If there were no limits in speed on a 100mbps connection, I consider VPN a “fast” one. If the speed is limited somehow but still achieving decent values, I categorize it as “average”. The “slow” is usually used for VPNs which limit your bandwidth significantly.
4. Security
I will start by comparing the type of encryption AtlasVPN and Buffered use, what tunnelling protocols are available, and finally we’ll test whether it leaks the IP address or DNS.
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | 256-bit | |
| Tunneling protocols | OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec and PPTP | |
| IP leaks | Yes | |
| DNS leaks | Yes |
The most important factor of a VPN service is a strong encryption of the traffic which is forwarded through the VPN servers. The most common encryption types in cryptography are SHA encryption or AES encryption which are not really comparable against each other. There might be different lengths of encryptions (eg. 128-bit, 256-bit, 2048-bit) and while usually the higher is the better, for most use cases you will be fine with any encryption. Watch-out if there is no encryption at all. AtlasVPN uses and protocol and Buffered uses 256-bit and es and OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec and PPTP protocols. I’ve tested both VPNs also for IP and DNS leaks and AtlasVPN had IP leaks and DNS leaks while Buffered had No IP leaks and No DNS leaks.
5. Price
Probably one of the most important decision factor for the majority of users will be price. Shocking? Not really. We all love to compare things and I am not different. It’s always good to get the best value for your hard-earned money, isn’t it? So let’s see whether AtlasVPN or Buffered is cheaper.
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.50 | $4.12 |
| Trial version | No |
6. Compatibility
AtlasVPN supports connections at the same time while it works fine on all the platforms below. You can use Buffered on 5 devices at the same time with support of all these platforms:
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Yes | |
| MacOS | Yes | |
| Linux | ||
| Android | Yes | |
| iOS | Yes |
7. Support
Should you have any problems with AtlasVPN or Buffered you can reach out to their support via:
| Name | AtlasVPN | Buffered |
|---|---|---|
| Livechat | No | |
| Yes | ||
| Phone | No |
Summary
AtlasVPN ranked in our list on 101. position while Buffered. is on 61 position. If you are looking for a better choice, see our rankings here.