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Cybersecurity · head to head

IVPN vs Milestone XProtect

I

IVPN

Cybersecurity

Privacy-focused VPN with anonymous account numbers instead of email signup

From
$6/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Milestone XProtect logo

Milestone XProtect

Cybersecurity

Open platform video management software with perpetual per-device licences

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Milestone XProtect has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: IVPN has no free tier, unlike several consumer VPN competitors with limited free plans.; Milestone XProtect care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.
  • They diverge on capability: IVPN covers Anonymous account numbers, Milestone XProtect covers Open device support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IVPN and Milestone XProtect actually diverge.

Attributes where IVPN and Milestone XProtect differ
AttributeIVPNMilestone XProtect
Starting price$6/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOne-time purchase per device licence, plus annual Care Plus
Free tierNoYes
Platformswindows, mac, linux, ios, androidWindows, Web, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 IVPN

  • Anonymous account numbers
  • Multi-hop connections
  • Independent audits
  • WireGuard and OpenVPN support
  • AntiTracker

Only in Milestone XProtect

  • Open device support
  • Perpetual device licences
  • Federated architecture
  • Failover recording
  • Evidence export
  • Smart Map
  • Integration platform
  • Video summarisation

What people use each for

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

IVPN

  • Signing up for a VPN without providing an email addressnot Milestone XProtect
  • Verifying a VPN's no-logs claims via independent auditsnot Milestone XProtect
  • Layering multi-hop routing for higher-anonymity browsingnot Milestone XProtect
  • Blocking trackers and ads via built-in AntiTrackernot Milestone XProtect

Milestone XProtect

  • A city or transport operator running tens of thousands of cameras across federated sitesnot IVPN
  • An enterprise with mixed legacy camera brands that refuses to standardise on one manufacturernot IVPN
  • A critical infrastructure site needing failover recording servers and tamper-evident evidence exportnot IVPN
  • An integrator building a bespoke security application on top of an open VMS platformnot IVPN

Where each one falls short

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

IVPN

  • Has no free tier, unlike several consumer VPN competitors with limited free plans.
  • Standard plan's two-connection limit is lower than many rivals offering five or more devices.
  • Smaller server network than large mainstream VPN providers, which can limit streaming unblocking.
  • Pricing is higher than budget VPN competitors for comparable simultaneous-connection counts.

Milestone XProtect

  • Care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.
  • Per-device licensing means multi-sensor and multi-imager cameras consume several licences each, so a headline camera count badly understates the true licence cost of a modern design.
  • It is Windows only for servers and needs a properly designed server and storage architecture, so the software price is a fraction of a project that also needs recording servers, storage and an integrator.
  • Complexity requires trained staff or a certified integrator; organisations that install it without either end up running a large deployment on default settings and never using the features they paid for.
  • Milestone retired Kite from its portfolio in favour of Arcules from January 2025, which stranded buyers who had standardised on Kite and is a reminder that the cloud side of the portfolio has changed direction more than once.

Pricing, plan by plan

IVPN

$6/month
  • Standard$6/month
    • 2 simultaneous connections
    • $60/year billed annually
    • WireGuard and OpenVPN support
  • Pro$10/month
    • 7 simultaneous connections
    • Multi-hop connections
    • $100/year billed annually

Milestone XProtect

Free
  • XProtect Essential+Free
    • Free for up to 8 cameras
    • No recording time limit
    • No vendor support included
  • XProtect Express+$109/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Single site, single server
    • Care Plus purchased separately per device per year
  • XProtect Professional+$177/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Multiple recording servers
    • Edge storage retrieval
  • XProtect Expert$282/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Failover recording servers
    • Advanced video wall and evidence handling

Which should you pick?

Choose IVPN if

  • You need anonymous account numbers.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want multi-hop connections.
IVPN review

Choose Milestone XProtect if

  • You need open device support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want perpetual device licences.
Milestone XProtect review

Questions people ask

Is IVPN or Milestone XProtect better?
Neither clearly leads. IVPN starts at $6/month and Milestone XProtect at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IVPN or Milestone XProtect?
Milestone XProtect has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $6/month for IVPN and Free for Milestone XProtect.
Does IVPN or Milestone XProtect run on more platforms?
IVPN runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android. Milestone XProtect runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Milestone XProtect for free?
Yes. Milestone XProtect has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IVPN starts at $6/month.
What is IVPN best used for?
IVPN is most often used for signing up for a vpn without providing an email address, verifying a vpn's no-logs claims via independent audits, layering multi-hop routing for higher-anonymity browsing, blocking trackers and ads via built-in antitracker. Of those, signing up for a vpn without providing an email address and verifying a vpn's no-logs claims via independent audits are not what Milestone XProtect is typically brought in for.
What can IVPN do that Milestone XProtect cannot?
IVPN covers Anonymous account numbers, Multi-hop connections, Independent audits, WireGuard and OpenVPN support. Milestone XProtect covers Open device support, Perpetual device licences, Federated architecture, Failover recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Milestone XProtect: Is XProtect really free for small sites?

Essential+ is free for up to eight cameras with no recording time limit, but it comes with no vendor support and no multi-server capability.

Milestone XProtect: Are licences perpetual or annual?

Device licences are perpetual. The annual cost is Care Plus, the support and software update contract, which you need to stay on current versions.

Milestone XProtect: What happens if I do not renew Care Plus?

The system keeps recording, but you stop getting version upgrades, and over a few years that blocks you from adding newer cameras.

Milestone XProtect: Who owns Milestone?

Canon. The portfolio also includes BriefCam analytics and Arcules cloud video, with Arcules replacing Milestone Kite from January 2025.

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