(Credit: Atlas VPN)
Atlas VPN, a service with 6 million users, is shutting down, citing competition and rising costs.
The company will sunset the service on April 24 and migrate users to NordVPN, whose parent company acquired Atlas VPN in 2021.
Hence, Atlas VPN’s decision to close up shop may not seem like a total surprise. But under the merger, the VPN service was supposed to remain independent while growing its freemium business. The company now says it went through a “comprehensive assessment of the evolving cybersecurity landscape” to determine its place in the market.
“Despite our best efforts and the incredible support of our users, we've encountered insurmountable challenges," Atlas VPN wrote in the announcement. “These include rapidly advancing technological demands, a highly competitive market, and the escalating costs of providing top-tier services. These factors have led us to conclude that continuing to operate Atlas VPN is not sustainable in the long term.”
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The VPN market has faced some consolidation. For example, NordVPN's parent also merged with SurfShark back in 2022. And the year before, Kape Technologies bought ExpressVPN after acquiring Private Internet Access.
For Atlas VPN, the resulting migration means NordVPN will serve out the remainder of any paid users' subscriptions. A password-creation link will be sent to affected customers. “You'll be able to use all the premium features of NordVPN without any additional cost until your current subscription expires,” Atlas VPN says.
However, users who subscribed to Atlas VPN on the Apple App Store will receive a refund for the time remaining on their premium subscription. Users can also choose to opt out of the migration by sending an email to support@atlasvpn.com before April 22.