Astrill is the reliability pick most expat threads agree on — but it's also the most expensive China VPN, takes no refunds, requires a phone number, and its website is blocked once you're inside the country. IT CRP runs the same generation of TLS 1.3 obfuscation, costs less than half, refunds you within 7 days, and lets you sign up from inside China. This page exists because you can read it from inside.
Public pricing and policies, last verified May 2026. Astrill values pulled from astrill.com/pricing and their published Terms.
| IT CRP | Astrill | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest monthly rate | $5.58/mo (12-month plan) · $9/mo monthly | $12.50/mo (24-month plan) · $30/mo monthly |
| Money-back guarantee | 7 days, no questions, full refund | None — all sales final |
| Phone number for signup | Not required | Required (incl. for free trial) |
| Devices per account | 5 on Solo, +5 with Extra Key ($15) | 5 simultaneous |
| Sign up from inside China | Yes — site, dashboard, checkout all load | Site blocked — sign up before arrival |
| Obfuscation method | VLESS-Reality + XTLS-Vision (Xray-core) | StealthVPN (proprietary OpenVPN-based) |
| Recommended client | Happ (one-tap import) · also Shadowrocket, Clash Verge, sing-box | Astrill app only |
| Brand age | Operating since 2024 | Operating since 2009 |
Five concrete differences, ordered by how much they typically matter to people switching.
This is the difference that most people don't realise until it's too late. Astrill's website (astrill.com) is blocked from inside mainland China. If you didn't sign up before flying, you're stuck contacting their support and asking for a mirror — assuming your email provider isn't also blocked. The IT CRP website, dashboard, and checkout load from inside China without a workaround. You're proving it right now by reading this page.
Astrill's terms state all sales are final. The closest thing they offer is a free trial — which itself requires a phone number and is limited to 7 days. IT CRP gives you 7 days after paying to ask for a refund, no questions, no debate. We'd rather you tell friends we were fair than argue with you for $9.
Astrill requires a phone number for both the trial and for signup. For journalists, activists, and people in countries where SIM cards are tied to ID, that's a privacy issue. IT CRP asks for an email. That's it. No phone, no Chinese ID, no name on a passport. We don't have your real-world identity because we don't need it.
Astrill's StealthVPN is a custom layer on top of OpenVPN, designed in the early-2010s era of anti-censorship engineering. It still works, but it's tied to Astrill's proprietary client. IT CRP uses VLESS-Reality with XTLS-Vision flow control on Xray-core — the open-source obfuscation generation that introduced TLS 1.3 fingerprint mimicry against AI-driven DPI. Reality makes the server look like a real third-party HTTPS site to a censor's prober; Vision handles flow control to break the "TLS-in-TLS" detection pattern. Same anti-DPI bar, with the entire stack publicly auditable.
To get Astrill's "$12.50/mo" headline price, you commit to two years up front — that's $300 paid before you've used the service. IT CRP's $9/mo is the month-to-month rate. The 12-month plan drops it to about $5.58/mo, less than half of Astrill's deepest discount, and you're still only locking in for one year, not two.
Three steps, zero overlap with your current Astrill window.
$9 by card via WATA. You receive a subscription URL by email, usually under 30 seconds.
Open Happ, paste the subscription URL, pick the fastest route. If you're on a Chinese ISP, the recommended profile auto-selects.
Keep Astrill running until your renewal date. Compare on real workdays. If IT CRP doesn't hold up, email us in 7 days and we refund the full $9 — Astrill won't, so you keep the option open.