Brave VPN, officially branded as Brave Firewall + VPN, is a VPN service built into the Brave web browser and powered by Guardian, a privacy-focused company founded in 2013 by security researcher Will Strafach. Brave Software itself was founded in 2015 in San Francisco by Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla. The VPN component launched as an add-on within the Brave browser ecosystem and was significantly relaunched in late 2024 with expanded servers, city-level selection, and a completed independent audit.
The VPN infrastructure is operated by Guardian, which was acquired by DNSFilter in August 2022. Despite the acquisition, Guardian continues to operate the Brave VPN backend independently. The service uses WireGuard with ChaCha20 encryption as its primary protocol, with IKEv2 using AES-256 available as a secondary option on iOS. All traffic is routed through Guardian's physical servers, which the company claims to control at the bare-metal level with 10 Gbps uplinks. Under realistic conditions, users can expect speeds of up to 500 Mbps, though independent testing has shown more modest results. Gizmodo's 2026 review recorded average download speeds around mid-200 Mbps, while other tests from a 50 Mbps baseline showed 60 percent speed retention on nearby servers dropping to about 32 percent on distant ones.
The server network consists of roughly 300 servers spread across 40+ regions in countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, and South Africa, among others. While this covers essential regions, it pales in comparison to major providers like NordVPN with over 9,000 servers across 130 countries or Proton VPN with 18,000+ servers across 129 countries. The geographic distribution skews heavily toward North America and Western Europe, with limited presence in Asia, Africa, and South America.
On privacy, Brave VPN employs a notable anonymous credential system. When you subscribe, you receive an unlinkable purchase token that proves only that you have paid for the service. Brave cannot determine whether you have ever connected, when you connected, which server you used, or what data was transmitted. The no-logs policy covers traffic, DNS requests, connection metadata, IP addresses, and bandwidth. Additionally, the journald process on all production VPN nodes is configured to prevent persistent log storage. This architecture was independently audited twice in 2024 by Assured, a security consulting firm, which found no major concerns during software and infrastructure reviews.
The firewall component is a distinguishing feature that blocks ads, trackers, and malware at the network level. Unlike a simple browser extension, the VPN protects all traffic on the device, not just what passes through the Brave browser. The service supports up to 10 simultaneous connections across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Linux support has been announced but remains unavailable. There is no support for routers, smart TVs, or streaming devices.
Streaming and geo-unblocking performance is a weak point. Independent reviewers report inconsistent results with Netflix, with US-exclusive content frequently inaccessible. BBC iPlayer was blocked in multiple tests, and other streaming platforms showed mixed results with occasional buffering. Torrenting is permitted on all servers, though the relatively small network and variable speeds make it less practical than dedicated VPN services.
The feature set is notably limited compared to the competition. There is no split tunneling, no multi-hop routing, no custom DNS configuration, no protocol selection toggle, and no obfuscation technology for bypassing VPN blocks in restrictive countries. A kill switch is available but was initially limited to iOS. Customer support is handled through an in-app ticketing system with no live chat option.
Brave as a company has faced some controversies worth noting. In 2020, the browser was caught appending affiliate referral codes to cryptocurrency exchange URLs without user consent. CEO Brendan Eich acknowledged the behavior and committed to making affiliate features opt-in. In 2021, a DNS leak was discovered that exposed .onion address queries outside the Tor network. In 2022, the VPN was criticized for being bundled into Windows browser installations even for non-subscribers.
At $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, Brave VPN sits at a premium price point without the feature depth to justify it. Established competitors offer significantly larger server networks, advanced security features, proven streaming unblocking, and broader platform support at comparable or lower prices. The service does earn marks for its thoughtful privacy architecture, the anonymous credential system, and the convenience of browser integration, but these advantages are undermined by the limited server footprint, missing features, and inconsistent performance.