Softwr

Marketing · head to head

Freshpaint vs Surfshark

Freshpaint logo

Freshpaint

Marketing

Privacy layer that lets healthcare organisations run marketing analytics without sending PHI

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Surfshark logo

Surfshark

Cybersecurity

Secure your digital life

From
$1.78/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Freshpaint filtering necessarily degrades what advertising platforms receive, so campaign optimisation and lookalike modelling perform worse than an unfiltered pixel would, and the marketing team must accept measurably weaker targeting as the price of compliance.; Surfshark smaller server network (4,500+ servers) compared to larger competitors like NordVPN
  • They diverge on capability: Freshpaint covers PHI detection and redaction, Surfshark covers Unlimited devices.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Freshpaint and Surfshark actually diverge.

Attributes where Freshpaint and Surfshark differ
AttributeFreshpaintSurfshark
Starting priceOn request$1.78/month
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
PlatformsWebWindows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryMarketingCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2018

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Freshpaint

  • PHI detection and redaction
  • Business associate agreement
  • Event verification
  • Pixel replacement
  • Consent governance
  • Advertising destinations
  • Analytics and session tools
  • Audience activation

Only in Surfshark

  • Unlimited devices
  • CleanWeb ad blocker
  • MultiHop
  • Camouflage Mode
  • NoBorders mode
  • Kill Switch
  • Bypasser split tunneling
  • Rotating IP

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Freshpaint

  • A health system told by legal to remove its Meta and Google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaignsnot Surfshark
  • A provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewednot Surfshark
  • A compliance officer who needs a field level record of exactly what patient related data leaves the website, for a privacy committeenot Surfshark
  • A multi-site provider group standardising tracking governance across marketing agencies that would otherwise each add their own tagsnot Surfshark

Surfshark

  • Vpnnot Freshpaint
  • Privacynot Freshpaint
  • Security Suitenot Freshpaint

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Freshpaint

  • Filtering necessarily degrades what advertising platforms receive, so campaign optimisation and lookalike modelling perform worse than an unfiltered pixel would, and the marketing team must accept measurably weaker targeting as the price of compliance.
  • Pricing is not published on the vendor site despite three named tiers, and third party reports of entry around 599 US dollars a month cover only the lowest tier, with audiences and advertising activation sitting above it.
  • It addresses web and marketing tracking rather than the whole protected health information estate, so it solves one exposure while patient data in the CRM, call centre and email tooling remains a separate problem.
  • The commercial case rests on a specific regulatory interpretation of online tracking technologies, and litigation and future guidance could narrow or widen it, which makes the size of the problem it solves less stable than a compliance purchase usually is.
  • It is built for healthcare and priced accordingly, so an organisation wanting a general customer data platform pays for a regulatory specialism it does not need and gets narrower general purpose functionality than Segment or RudderStack.

Surfshark

  • Smaller server network (4,500+ servers) compared to larger competitors like NordVPN
  • Lower brand recognition compared to established VPN providers
  • Limited customer service availability in some time zones

Pricing, plan by plan

Freshpaint

On request
  • Comply$undefined/month
    • Governance and consent foundation
    • PHI detection and redaction
    • Web analytics, funnels and surveys
  • Perform$undefined/month
    • Everything in Comply
    • Audiences and demand side platform activation
    • Attribution, journeys and recommendations
  • Scale$undefined/month
    • Everything in Perform
    • Ad performance reporting
    • Full AI feature access

Surfshark

$1.78/month
  • Starter$1.78/month
    • Unlimited simultaneous connections
    • 4,500+ servers
    • Basic VPN
  • One$3.59/month
    • VPN
    • Antivirus
    • Personal data leak alert
  • One+$4/month
    • All One features
    • Incogi included

Which should you pick?

Choose Freshpaint if

  • You need phi detection and redaction.
  • You also want business associate agreement.
Freshpaint review

Choose Surfshark if

  • You need unlimited devices.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want cleanweb ad blocker.
Surfshark review

Questions people ask

Is Freshpaint or Surfshark better?
Neither clearly leads. Freshpaint starts at On request and Surfshark at $1.78/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Freshpaint or Surfshark?
Freshpaint starts at On request and Surfshark at $1.78/month.
Does Freshpaint or Surfshark run on more platforms?
Freshpaint runs on Web. Surfshark runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is Freshpaint best used for?
Freshpaint is most often used for a health system told by legal to remove its meta and google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaigns, a provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewed, a compliance officer who needs a field level record of exactly what patient related data leaves the website, for a privacy committee, a multi-site provider group standardising tracking governance across marketing agencies that would otherwise each add their own tags. Of those, a health system told by legal to remove its meta and google pixels that still needs to report cost per acquisition on service line campaigns and a provider running paid search for elective procedures that must send conversion signals without disclosing which condition page a visitor viewed are not what Surfshark is typically brought in for.
What can Freshpaint do that Surfshark cannot?
Freshpaint covers PHI detection and redaction, Business associate agreement, Event verification, Pixel replacement. Surfshark covers Unlimited devices, CleanWeb ad blocker, MultiHop, Camouflage Mode.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Freshpaint: Why can a hospital not just use Google Analytics?

US Department of Health and Human Services guidance treats IP addresses and health related page URLs as protected health information in this context, and advertising and analytics platforms will not sign a business associate agreement, so the disclosure is unlawful without an intermediary that filters.

Surfshark: Does Surfshark maintain a no-logs policy?

Yes. Surfshark does not log browsing history, visited IP addresses, bandwidth usage, or network traffic. This policy was independently verified by Deloitte in 2025.

Source
Freshpaint: Does Freshpaint sign a BAA?

Yes, and it holds SOC 2 Type II. That is the central reason it exists, because the destination platforms will not.

Surfshark: How many simultaneous device connections does Surfshark allow?

Surfshark allows unlimited simultaneous connections on all subscription plans, enabling protection of every device in a household with a single subscription.

Source
Freshpaint: What does it cost?

Freshpaint does not publish prices. Three tiers, Comply, Perform and Scale, are all sales led, and third party sources report entry around 599 US dollars a month for the lowest.

Freshpaint: Will my ad performance suffer?

Somewhat. Stripping identifiers reduces what platforms can optimise against. The trade is weaker targeting in exchange for measurement that a compliance committee will approve.

Share

Related pages

More on Freshpaint

More on Surfshark

Keep looking

Other head to heads