Turbo VPN is the free VPN with the orange rabbit icon. It’s also one of the most downloaded VPN apps in the world, with more than 500 million installs on Google Play alone. Most people use it to unblock apps and sites restricted by their school, office, or country, or to hide their IP address on public Wi-Fi.
Every request you make while connected passes through Turbo VPN’s servers, though. So trusting the app means trusting the company that operates them. To find out whether Turbo VPN is safe, we examined its ownership, its privacy policy, and independent research into its apps. The result doesn’t match its app store rating.
Turbo VPN Safety at a Glance
- Ownership: Its Singapore owner has been linked to Qihoo 360, a Chinese firm under US sanctions.
- Logging: It records connection and device details, and ad networks in the free version collect their own data.
- Security: Researchers found a shared password and outdated encryption in its Android apps.
- Free version: Ads throughout the app and no kill switch.
- Safer choice: NordVPN for an audited no-logs policy, or Proton VPN‘s free plan if you’d rather not pay.
What Is Turbo VPN, and Who Owns It?
Turbo VPN is a VPN app for Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, and Chrome. The free version shows ads and offers a handful of server locations. Its paid Gold and Platinum plans remove the ads and add more servers, a kill switch, and split tunneling. Our Turbo VPN review tests how each version performs on speed and streaming.
The app is published by Innovative Connecting Pte. Ltd., a company registered in Singapore. It also makes sister apps such as Turbo VPN Lite and VPN Monster. In 2025, however, the Tech Transparency Project, a US watchdog group, linked Innovative Connecting to Qihoo 360.
The US Defense Department lists that Chinese cybersecurity company as a Chinese military company. According to the watchdog, Qihoo 360 acquired the firm that owns Innovative Connecting. Qihoo says it sold the business in 2020. Still, company filings from 2025 name a director whose name matches a former head of Qihoo 360’s mobile security unit.
The link is a privacy risk because China’s National Intelligence Law requires companies to support state intelligence work when asked. A Singapore address doesn’t remove that risk if the people in charge answer to a company in China.
Does Turbo VPN Keep Logs?
Turbo VPN’s privacy policy says it doesn’t collect or store any traffic data or personal data in its data centers. On that point, it reads like a standard no-logs policy. Still, the same policy lists a good deal that it does collect:
- The server location you connected to
- Your country and the name of your ISP
- How much data you transferred
- Your device type and operating system version
- Whether each connection succeeded or failed
- Speed test results and crash reports
Turbo VPN calls this anonymous usage data and says it’s irreversibly anonymized as soon as it’s collected. Advertising is another matter. The free version is paid for by ads, and the policy says ad networks such as Google’s AdMob can set their own trackers in the app and collect data about you across other services.
Turbo VPN says it doesn’t target ads based on your personal data. Even so, the Google Play listing states that the app may share device IDs with third parties. One clause also stands out. Users in Europe and the UK who withdraw consent or ask for deletion are told Turbo VPN will still store their information to meet regulatory or police requests.
Turbo VPN has also never published an independent audit of these claims, so none of them can be verified. That puts it well behind VPNs with audited no-logs policies, where an outside firm has verified the claims on the company’s servers.
How Secure Are Turbo VPN’s Apps?
On paper, Turbo VPN covers the basics. It advertises AES-256 encryption and lists IKEv2, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPsec among its protocols. A protocol is the set of rules that decides how your data travels to the server. Free users can’t change it, because the app keeps the setting on Automatic. The research tells a different story.
In a 2025 study, Citizen Lab researchers examined eight Android VPN apps from Innovative Connecting and two related companies. Turbo VPN and Turbo VPN Lite were among them. The apps use the same hard-coded password for their Shadowsocks connections. As a result, an attacker who extracts it could decrypt traffic captured on those connections.
The researchers also found outdated encryption and exposure to attacks that inject data into a connection. On top of that, the apps collect users’ location. Using the shared password, the team showed that the three companies share the same servers.
My own leak tests found a similar weak spot. On Turbo VPN’s US server, ipleak.net showed no problem. However, browserleaks.com detected my real IP address while the VPN was connected. The German and Singaporean servers didn’t leak.
Is the Free Version Safe on Android, iPhone, or PC?
The free version is where the risks add up. Ads appear throughout the app, and the networks behind them collect data. In addition, the kill switch is reserved for paying users. A kill switch cuts your internet if the VPN connection drops. Without one, a dropped connection on café Wi-Fi sends your traffic out unprotected until you notice.
Your device doesn’t change that answer. The Android, iPhone, and Windows apps share one company, one privacy policy, and one server network. The Citizen Lab findings came from the Android versions, which are by far the most popular. India is no exception.
Many people there use Turbo VPN to access blocked apps, and while the app is legal to use, it doesn’t protect them any better. Modified “premium” versions are worse still. Mod APKs from third-party download sites skip Google Play’s checks. Repackaged VPN apps are also a common way to spread malware.
So never install a Turbo VPN mod, even one that promises free premium features.
Safer Alternatives to Turbo VPN
If you’d rather keep a VPN you can trust with your traffic, these two are the ones we recommend:
- NordVPN: Best overall. Independent auditors have verified its no-logs policy several times, its apps show no ads, and its kill switch is available on every plan. It also unblocks the streaming services and sites people usually install Turbo VPN for, and our NordVPN review covers its speed and streaming results.
- Proton VPN: Best free option. Its free plan has no ads and no data limit, and its Swiss owner has its no-logs policy audited every year. The free plan assigns a server for you, so it’s weaker for streaming, but it’s one of the best free VPNs we’ve tested for private browsing.
NordVPN and Proton VPN’s paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test either one before committing.
Verdict
No, Turbo VPN isn’t safe, and the free version is the riskiest way to use it. Two problems decide it: a company tied to a sanctioned Chinese firm operates the servers, and an attacker who extracts the app’s shared password can decrypt traffic passing through them. Either one is enough to rule it out for anything private.
Its huge download count and high ratings reflect an app that’s easy to use and costs nothing. Neither tells you what happens to your data. So if you only want a free VPN now and then, Proton VPN’s free plan is the better choice. For streaming and everyday privacy, NordVPN is the VPN we’d install instead.
FAQ
What is Turbo VPN used for?
Turbo VPN is used to unblock apps and websites restricted by a network or country, and to hide an IP address. Most people install its free, ad-supported version on Android or iPhone.
Is Turbo VPN a Chinese app?
Turbo VPN is registered to Innovative Connecting, a company in Singapore. However, a US watchdog group has linked that company to Qihoo 360, a Chinese cybersecurity firm under US government sanctions.
Does Turbo VPN steal your data?
No evidence shows Turbo VPN selling browsing history. Still, it collects connection and device details, and its free version lets advertising partners track users, so it shares more data than a trustworthy VPN.
Is Turbo VPN Premium safer than the free version?
Yes, slightly. The paid plans remove ads and add a kill switch. However, they use the same company, privacy policy, and servers, so the ownership and security concerns apply to every plan.
Is Turbo VPN legit?
Yes, Turbo VPN is a genuine VPN app that hides an IP address and unblocks some sites. However, its ownership, data collection, and app flaws make it a poor choice for privacy.
