Comparison

Dark Surf vs Nostr VPN

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dark Surf

Enhance your browsing experience with a customizable dark theme for Safari. Adjust shade, contrast, saturation, and image settings. Schedule dark mode or set it per-site.

Highlights
  • Customizable dark theme
  • Adjustable shade and contrast
  • Saturation and image handling
  • Scheduling for dark mode
  • Per-site theme controls
  • Preset themes (Midnight, Warm, AMOLED, Gray)
Features
Read full description

Dark Surf gives Safari a thoughtful dark mode for every website. Instead of painting over pages, Dark Surf reads each site’s own design and rebuilds it in the dark. Backgrounds and cards turn deep and calm, text stays crisp, and the colors that carry meaning, like buttons, links, warnings and highlights, keep their character. Photos stay natural. SMART BY DEFAULT • Leaves websites that already have a dark design alone • Keeps dark logos, icons and formulas visible • Keeps text on top of photos readable • Handles modern websites built with CSS variables, Tailwind, Bootstrap and web components MAKE IT YOURS • Six themes: Midnight, Ocean, Dim, Warm, Graphite and true-black AMOLED • Build your own palette from any colors • Fine-tune brightness and contrast, and choose how images look • See every change instantly in a live preview that runs Safari’s own Dark Surf engine YOUR RULES • Switch any website between Dark, Invert and Off right from Safari • Keep lists of websites that are always dark, inverted or never themed • Follow a schedule or your device’s Dark Mode, or pause for an hour PRIVATE BY DESIGN Pages are recolored on your device. Dark Surf has no account, no analytics, no ads and no tracking, and never sends the pages you visit to anyone. Dark Surf is a Safari extension. After installing, turn it on in Settings › Apps › Safari › Extensions. The app shows you how.

About

Nostr VPN

This app allows you to create secure, private mesh VPN networks connecting your own devices and trusted peers. It offers encrypted tunnels for accessing private services with customizable routing options and DNS names.

Highlights
  • Create private mesh VPN networks
  • Connect your own devices and trusted peers
  • Encrypted tunnels for private services
  • Readable MagicDNS names
  • Relay-assisted and exit-node routing
  • User-controlled network configuration
Features
Read full description

Nostr VPN creates private mesh VPN networks between your own devices and trusted peers. Create a network, invite devices, start the VPN, and reach your private services through encrypted tunnels. Devices can use readable MagicDNS names, direct LAN paths when available, relay-assisted paths when needed, and optional exit-node routing through a peer or WireGuard upstream you control. You choose the networks, peers, relays, routes, and exit nodes. Nostr VPN does not sell or operate public VPN exits and is not a public internet proxy, anonymity, or stealth browsing service.

Screenshots

Dark Surf4 screens
Nostr VPN3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Nostr VPN at weekly against Dark Surf's every 4 months. On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.0 for Dark Surf against 3.0 for Nostr VPN. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dark Surf ships an update every 4 months, Nostr VPN weekly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Dark Surf versus Nostr VPN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDark SurfNostr VPN
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB41 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperVali MikayilovSirius Business Oy

Customer experience

Dark Surf

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Nostr VPN

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Dark Surf

No in-app purchases

None

Nostr VPN

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dark Surf free?
Dark Surf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nostr VPN free?
Nostr VPN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dark Surf or Nostr VPN?
Dark Surf and Nostr VPN are both rated 3.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Dark Surf or Nostr VPN have ads?
Neither Dark Surf nor Nostr VPN shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dark Surf or Nostr VPN?
Dark Surf ships an update every 4 months, and Nostr VPN weekly. Most recently, Dark Surf was updated on November 5, 2026 and Nostr VPN on November 5, 2026.

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