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VyprVPN Review - What You Need To Know

Marc DahanVyprVPN Review - What You Need To Know

Marketing will always remain marketing: emotional, but not very informative.

With VPNs having gone mainstream in recent times, their marketing has exploded into huge lists of features. Many of them are the same. Some are different. And some are the same but have different names…

It can be a headache today to really assess a VPN provider’s value.

So, with that in mind, in this post we’re doing a deep dive review of VyprVPN, to see if we can, in good faith, recommend them to you.

Let’s begin.

Short on time? 
Here's what matters most.

VyperVPN Logo

Our score: 

8.0/10

VyprVPN offers a privacy-focused service. They are incorporated in Switzerland - a jurisdiction known for its strong privacy protections. They’re owned by parent company, Golden Frog, who has been around since the dawn of the Internet.

VyprVPN also offers a strong feature-set, with some unique features among them. So, they of course provide things like strong VPN protocols, robust encryption, in-tunnel, no-logging DNS servers, and commit to a strongly-worded no-logging policy. 

But they also provide access to their in-house VPN protocol: Chameleon. Chameleon, under the hood, is OpenVPN - which is reassuring, homegrown encryption is not the best thing as it’s not peer-reviewed.

But what Chameleon does is scramble the packet metadata so that your traffic is no longer susceptible to deep packet inspection (DPI) and hence, cannot be blocked.

With what we’ve learned in researching and reviewing VyprVPN, we can confidently recommend them as a very good player in the commercial VPN space, with some unique features on tap.

Visit VyprVPN

VyprVPN Overview

NameVyperVPN
Rating8.0/10
User Friendliness Score8
General features
Price per month (cheapest)$2.50
Simultaneous Connections5
Servers700
Countries40
Allows torrenting / P2PYes
Streaming
NetflixYes
HuluYes
Amazon PrimeYes
Disney+Yes
Security
Supports TORNo
Split TunnelingYes
Router SupportYes
Unlimited bandwidthYes
Refund Period30 Days
Free trialNo
Desktop Operating SoftwareWindows, MacOS, Linux
Mobile AppsiOS, Android
Browser ExtensionsNo
VPN ProtocolsIKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec, Chameleon
EncryptionAES-256
DNS Leak ProtectionYes
VPN Kill-switchYes
Rent/Own InfrastructureOwn
HackedNo
Malware/Ad BlockerYes
Privacy
Logging PolicyNo-logging Policy
Privacy PolicyGood
Jurisdiction Switzerland
Out of 14 eyesYes
Warrant CanaryNo
Accepts CryptocurrencyNo
Sign-up Information RequiredEmail and full name
Speed (average)
Avg. Ping NY46.33 ms
Avg. Download NYOver a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 98.29 Mbps
Avg. Upload NYOver a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 23.70 Mbps

VyprVPN is focused on user privacy. And as such, they offer all of the privacy-preserving features mentioned above.

They also offer services for businesses, such as VyprVPN Cloud, which provides businesses with a dedicated VPN server, which they control. An interesting feature to be sure. 

VyprVPN really does offer some unique features I haven’t seen being offered by other providers.

And - I really like this one - they own and operate all of their servers. And they have over 700 of them. That is a huge boon to security. We’d like to see more VPN providers moving towards owning their infrastructure.

About VyprVPN

Even though they’ve been around for a long time, VyprVPN is one of the smaller players in the commercial VPN space. But you don’t need to be big in order to be good. They tick most of the privacy boxes as well as many convenience boxes. And they’re very affordable too, as long as you sign up for more than a month.

Positives

  • Industry-Standard Encryption
  • Native Applications
  • Strict No-Logging Policy
  • VPN Kill Switch
  • Owns Entire Infrastructure
  • Chameleon Protocol
  • VyprVPN for Business

Negatives

  • No Dedicated Tor Over VPN Servers
  • No ads & tracker blocker

What to Consider Before Buying a VPN Subscription?

Features & Benefits

There are typically three main things you want to get out of using a VPN. And any trustworthy VPN provider should have strong policies defined around these points:

  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Anonymity

As I’ve said before, I believe that the best way to ensure all three points are respected is to commit to a robust no-logging policy. And of course, as I’ve also said many times, to me, jurisdiction is less important than the no-logging policy. 

This is because even if you’re outside of the 14 Eyes Alliance, and that your VPN provider logs your activities, what have you gained really?

Another thing to consider is the VPN provider’s accepted payment methods. This may not be immediately intuitive, but your money trail can compromise your anonymity.

A VPN provider that takes user privacy seriously should always accept either cash or cryptocurrencies (and ideally both).

Speed

As part of this review, I performed a few speed tests over VyprVPN's network. 

I performed the tests using a 100Mbps download and a 30Mbps upload connection. In testing my ISP connection, it confirmed that I’m getting all of the bandwidth I’m paying for from my ISP.

The tests were performed while connected to a New York server, which is near my actual location.

The speed tests were run three times, for added accuracy. And we took the average of the three tests as the final value.

Tested on a 100Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 98.29Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 23.70Mbps

As always, we’re interested in the difference between my ISP bandwidth and the speed test results.

We can immediately see that the download speed is very good. There is almost no difference between my ISP speed and my VPN speed.

The speed dip is actually so small that I doubt it would be noticeable in a real-world scenario. Very good performance on download.

On upload, we’re taking a bigger speed hit. It’s not massive, but it’s more significant than on download.

But upload speeds are usually slower than download speeds because ISPs outfit their networks with many more download channels than upload channels. Still, the performance on upload is good enough.

VyprVPN’s speeds - at least in my limited testing - are extremely good.

Pricing

Let’s look at VyprVPN’s subscriptions and prices.

They offer three subscriptions:

  • 12.95 USD for one month of service
  • 45.00 USD for one year of service (works out to 3.75 USD per month)
  • 60 USD for two years of service (works out to 2.50 USD per month)

They don't offer a free trial, but all of VyprVPN's subscriptions are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. And, honestly, free trials are relatively rare these days.

These prices are actually excellent. The price of the monthly plan is a little bit high. But as soon as you go for a one-year or a two-year plan, the prices are in free fall.

And VyprVPN's monthly price for their two-year plan is one of the lowest I’ve seen. Good stuff from VyprVPN on price.

Streaming

VyprVPN, like many VPN providers, doesn’t make a big deal about streaming on its website. This is probably due to them not wanting to be defined as a Netflix proxy - and I can understand that.

But VyprVPN is streaming-friendly. And streaming over a VPN has many benefits, such as:

  • Using a fully encrypted connection
  • Avoiding ISP bandwidth throttling
  • Circumventing geo-restrictions

And Netflix?

Yes, I know you know, but I still need to say it. In order to comply with the geo-restrictions content creators and distributers impose on their content, Netflix has been actively blocking VPNs from accessing its service since 2018.

Ever since then, the number of VPN providers that claim to be able to bypass the Netflix ban has just been growing. Some do unblock it. Others do not. 

VyprVPN, again, even though they remain pretty quiet about streaming. But in testing it for this VyprVPN review, they were able to grant me Netflix access over their VPN network.

And it worked extremely well, without buffering issues or lag.

Streaming Netflix over VyprVPN's network.

Now, because of the way Netflix likely enforces its ban, a server that is working today may stop working tomorrow. That’s not VyprVPN's fault. That’s just the nature of the game.

Netflix very likely blacklists server IP addresses to enforce their ban. VyprVPN rotates its server IP addresses, until Netflix catches on.

And the cat and mouse game goes on… So just bear in mind that you will eventually need to change servers.

Visit VyprVPN

Torrenting / P2P

Just as they do with streaming, VyprVPN doesn’t really talk about P2P in their marketing. But they do support it. And they support it very well.

And all of VyprVPN's servers just work with torrenting. No hoops to jump through. No subset of servers for use with P2P.

Just connect, launch your torrent client and you’re good to go.

[pic]

Just as they do with streaming, VyprVPN doesn’t really talk about P2P in their marketing. But they do support it. And they support it very well.

And all of VyprVPN's servers just work with torrenting. No hoops to jump through. No subset of servers for use with P2P.

Just connect, launch your torrent client and you’re good to go.

Torrenting over VyprVPN's network.

In my P2P test of VyprVPN, everything was fast and smooth. Good stuff.


User-Friendliness

Supported Platforms

VyprVPN supports most major operating systems. They also support Smart TVs, via their Android TV app, as well as Tomato-flashed routers.

Native Apps

VyprVPN provides native applications for the following platforms:

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • iOS
  • Android
  • AndroidTV
  • Tomato Router Firmware - VyprVPN actually have an app for it!

While Linux is an obvious omission, and while we’ve seen longer lists of supported platforms before, there’s one thing here that impressed me very much.

VyprVPN actually provides an app for Tomato-flashed routers. That’s pretty unique. I’ve played around with DD-WRT and OpenWRT routers before. And, normally, you need to fiddle around with settings in the router’s UI to get it working.

Having an actual app for that instead is huge. 

VyprVPN's native macOS app one of the best I’ve seen. Its design is simple. Navigation through the app is straightforward. And everything is clearly laid out.

VyprVPN's native macOS client app.

VyprVPN’s app is excellent. App designers from other VPN providers should take some cues from VyprVPN on app design. Really good stuff.

Number of Devices That Can Connect Simultaneously?

VyprVPN allows up to five simultaneous connections.

It’s a pretty standard offering. I’ve seen better. I’ve seen worse.

Five should be enough for most.

The Number of VPN Servers Available?

VyprVPN has over 700 server locations, in over 40 countries, on their network. More than enough for anyone.

And, as I mentioned earlier, they own their entire network. And that’s what we like to see. You read that correctly: VyprVPN owns their entire network of more than 700 servers.

Having a provider own its entire infrastructure is more secure than a provider who rents out its server from third-parties.

And the reason is obvious: the more access third-parties have over your server, the less control you actually have over it.

And so with VPN providers making claims about protecting your privacy, owning their own servers should be the norm (though it’s not).

Good stuff here too.

Do They Support Multiple Server Hops?

By enabling multiple server hops, your VPN provider bounces your traffic over a second or third VPN server before sending it off to its ultimate destination.

By bouncing your traffic over multiple servers in this way, you’re much harder to identify because the additional hops add a layer of obfuscation to your connection.

Unfortunately, VyprVPN does not support multiple server hops at this time. We hope that changes in the future.

Blocks Ads & Trackers?

Many VPN providers today support ad-blocking. They achieve this by doing what is known as DNS blackholing.

With DNS blackholing, whenever you make a DNS request, it is checked against a blacklist and if it matches an entry on the blacklist, the connection is blocked.

VyprVPN provides an ads & tracker blocker in all of their native apps. You simply need to enable the ‘Block Malicious Sites’ toggle.

Tor Over VPN Support?

VyprVPN does not provide Tor over VPN servers at this time.

Much like multi-hop connections, Tor over VPN servers bounce your traffic over additional locations. But with Tor over VPN, the additional hops are over the Tor network.

We hope to see VyprVPN support Tor over VPN services in the future.


Logs & Privacy

Let’s turn our attention to VyprVPN’s policies. The way in which a provider describes its policies also tells us how they understand what they are meant to protect.

Have they ever spied on their users at the request of law enforcement?

We couldn’t find any evidence that VyprVPN spies on its users.

However, in researching this review, I did find mentions of other reviewers claiming that in the past, VyprVPN would log connection timestamps, origination IP address, and total traffic consumption, for a 30-day period.

Is it a good practice? No. Is it necessarily ominous? No.

Many VPN providers do this in order to mitigate abuse, rather than spy on their users. But, again, it is NOT a good practice.

And they’ve stopped doing that. And submitted to an independent audit, by Leviathan Security Group, in 2018, to give credence to their claims.

Would they warn users if/when compromised by law enforcement?

I simply cannot answer that question.

How do they respond to DMCA notices?

On VyprVPN’s support site, they outline their practices relative to DMCA notices:

"Golden Frog takes copyright and other intellectual property rights very seriously. When a copyright holder or their agent reports copyright infringement by a user that is using our service through submitting a DMCA takedown notice, we will make every effort possible to assist. As VyprVPN is a no-log VPN, meaning we do not log our users' activities when connected to our VPN service, we are unable to identify particular users that may be infringing upon the copyrights of others. For further information regarding how we handle copyright infringements, you may review our Copyright Policy at https://www.goldenfrog.com/copyright."

Logging Policy

From VyprVPN’s privacy policy:

"VyprVPN is a zero log VPN Service. We do not record or retain any data when you use the VyprVPN Service.

We engaged a respected security firm to audit our zero-log policy so users have third party validation of our logging policies. You can view the full report here: VyprVPN Letter of Attestation and No Log Assessment by Leviathan

This means:

  • We do not log a user's source IP address (typically assigned to the user by their ISP).
  • We do not log the IP address assigned to the user when using VyprVPN.
  • We do not log connection start or stop time.
  • We do not log a user's traffic or the content of any communications.
  • We are network neutral. We do not discriminate against devices, protocols, or application.
  • We do not throttle or rate limit your Internet connection.”

Good stuff. And again, they were audited prior to making these claims.

Privacy Policy

The rest of VyprVPN's privacy policy is also good. It’s written in plain English and is easy to understand. They outline what is collected, what is not collected, and why.

Good stuff.

Visit VyprVPN

Security & Encryption

Supported VPN Protocols

VyprVPN supports: 

  • IKEv2/IPSec
  • L2TP/IPSec
  • OpenVPN
  • WireGuard
  • Chameleon

So it’s a mixed bag here.

IKEv2/IP, OpenVPN, and WireGuard are all deemed very secure. L2TP/IPSec is not.

VyprVPN should not be supporting weak and obsolete protocols. We’d like to see them drop support for L2TP/IPSec.

Chameleon is their home-grown protocol. Under the hood, it’s OpenVPN - which is reassuring. But home-grown solutions aren’t usually peer-reviewed. And so we’re left with the provider’s assurance that all is well.

And while we have no reason to doubt their competence in making that call, we have no way of verifying those claims.

Nonetheless, VyprVPN does provide support for the three most secure VPN protocols.

Encryption Level & Supported Ciphers

VyprVPN uses the industry-standard AES-256 cipher, which is very secure and has no known vulnerabilities. 

AES-256 is used with both IPSec protocols, OpenVPN, and Chameleon. WireGuard, however, uses more modern ciphers, which are just as secure, if not more:

  • ChaCha20
  • Curve25519
  • BLAKE2s
  • SipHash24
  • HKDF

Very good stuff.

DNS Leak Protection

A VPN provider can prevent DNS leaks, by running no-logging DNS servers that are only accessible from inside the VPN tunnel. This is the default for a serious, trustworthy VPN provider.

VyprVPN knows this and does exactly that. By default, when on VyprVPN’s network you’re using their in-tunnel, no-logs DNS servers.

VPN Kill Switch

VyprVPN’s native apps all include a VPN Kill Switch that blocks all traffic from exiting your device if ever your VPN connection drops. 

Very useful in situations where you need to leave your devices unattended. Your internet traffic will never go out unencrypted.

In Which Jurisdiction is the VPN Provider Based?

VyprVPN is based in Switzerland: a country with some of the world’s strictest privacy laws. Great

Just remember that a VPN provider’s no-logging policy is (at least in my opinion) much more important than jurisdiction.

This is because all the other benefits essentially evaporate if your provider logs your activities - regardless of where they are located.

So of course, if jurisdiction is important to you and you want to make sure your service provider is outside the 14 Eyes Alliance, by all means, go for it.  Just make sure they don’t log.

For more information on the 14 Eyes Alliance, check out our 5, 9 & 14 Eyes: What Does It All Mean For VPN Users? article.

Do They Have a Warrant Canary?

As far as I can tell, VyprVPN does not provide a warrant canary or a transparency report.

It would be nice if they did one of the two in the future.

Do They Own or Rent Their Infrastructure?

As I mentioned earlier, owning your infrastructure is more secure, as it greatly reduces the risk of third-party access.

Renting your infrastructure, on the other hand, scales more easily but is inevitably less secure because the server(s) aren’t in the complete control of the provider, making it harder to make strong privacy and security claims.

But VyprVPN owns its entire infrastructure, which counts over 700 VPN servers.

Have They Ever Been Hacked?

As far as I know, VyprVPN has never been hacked.

What Information Is Collected at Signup?

VyprVPN doesn’t require much information in order to sign-up to their service: a name and an email address.

Not bad. But they could perhaps ditch the name

Accepted Payment Methods

Accepted payment methods, though it may not be immediately obvious, impact user privacy.

A trustworthy VPN provider should always enable anonymous payments, though either cash or cryptocurrency.

VyprVPN accepts the following payment methods:

  • Credit Cards
  • PayPal
  • UnionPay

No cryptocurrency. No cash. Too bad.

We hope to see VyprVPN offer anonymous payment options in the future.


Standout Features

Let’s look at some of VyprVPN’s more unique features here. We mentioned them earlier. Let’s now take a closer look at them.

VyprVPN for Business Cloud

VyprVPN provides VPN services for businesses. That’s not something we hear about very often.

What it is is a dedicated VPN server, provided by VyprVPN, that businesses can use within their organizations to provide secure access to company resources, from anywhere in the world.

The benefit is that companies don’t need to roll out their own VPN servers - the hard work is done by VyprVPN.

The VPN server provided has a dedicated IP address and the entire server is under the control of the company. Great for remote teams.

Chameleon VPN Protocol

VyprVPN also offers its home-grown VPN protocol, called Chameleon.

Chameleon uses OpenVPN under the hood but obfuscates the packet metadata so that the VPN traffic cannot be identified using deep packet inspection (DPI) and hence cannot be blocked.

This could be helpful in order to bypass strict firewalls and may even help with Netflix streaming.

The only downside I see is that with home-grown solutions, you’re often left having to trust the claims of the company behind the protocol - custom solutions are rarely peer-reviewed.

Visit VyprVPN

What Others Are Saying

restoreprivacy.com

"Overall VyprVPN is a high-quality, fast, secure VPN that performed well in testing for this review. It offers a great lineup of applications that are user-friendly, secure, and reliable. The live chat support is also helpful if you need assistance getting anything setup. Now that VyprVPN is officially a no logs VPN service, and has been publicly audited, it is even better for privacy-focused users than before".

vpnmentor.com

"With their Chameleon technology and strong commitment to privacy, Vypr has a lot to offer. VyprVPN is a really easy-to-use VPN with a ton of attractive features for users of all experience levels. This is a great VPN for travel to China, streaming US Netflix, and torrenting. Recent updates to VyprVPN’s privacy policy have improved the VPN’s ability to provide privacy and anonymity. However, we would like to see speeds more consistent across servers”.

trustedreviews.com

"VyprVPN formerly logged customer IP addresses but in November 2018 parent company Golden Frog introduced VyprVPN’s new no-logging policy backed by an independent audit. VyprVPN’s annual and bi-annual subscription fees are great value compared to most of its rivals and it provides plenty of connection and security features. However, although it’s fast enough for most purposes, we weren’t impressed by its performance, particularly in the U.S.".

VyprVPN Alternatives

Surfshark is a VPN provider based in the British Virgin Islands, which was founded in 2018. 

They take a strong stance on user privacy and security, while still offering some very convenient features, such as background P2P routing.

Their sign-up process is minimalistic, in that it only requires a valid email address from you.

They only support IKEv2 and OpenVPN. And while this may seem restrictive, we commend Surfshark for not weakening their users’ security by supporting insecure or obsolete VPN protocols

Surfshark offers a very good service with a strong focus on privacy. And at 1.99 USD per month, it’s the least expensive, serious VPN service we’ve seen.

  • Industry-Standard Encryption
  • Native Applications
  • Strict No-Logging Policy
  • Ads & Tracker Blocker
  • VPN Kill Switch
  • Passed Security Audit in 2018
PIA logo

Our score: 8.5 

Visit PIA

Private Internet Access(PIA) is a U.S.-based VPN service. 

They put a strong focus on privacy and security while offering a large number of features. They also have a strict and proven no-logging policy. 

They have over 3386 servers in 42 countries. They support many VPN protocols, including the obsolete and insecure PPTP protocol (unfortunately). 

PIA is also one of the cheapest high-quality and secure VPN services out there.

  • Based in the United States
  • Strict no-logging policy
  • Blocks ads & trackers
  • SOCKS5 Proxy support included
  • Over 3386 servers in 42 countries
  • One of the least expensive high-quality VPN Providers
NordLogo

Our score: 8.5 

Visit NordVPN

NordVPN is an excellent VPN service, based in Panama. They offer a great mix of security, privacy, and convenience. 

DNS leak protection, CyberSec, strong encryption, VPN kill switch have you covered on the security front. 

A strict no-logging policy, a thoughtfully written Privacy Policy, Bitcoin payments, and a Panama-based jurisdiction have your back for privacy

And dedicated P2P servers, native apps for every major (and not so major) platform, and up to six simultaneous connections (or more with a VPN router) make the service very user-friendly.

  • Industry-Standard Encryption
  • Native Applications
  • Strict No-Logging Policy
  • Ads & Tracker Blocker
  • VPN Kill Switch
  • Tor Over VPN

Conclusion

So what are the takeaways from this VyprVPN review?

VyprVPN feels like a solid player in the commercial VPN space today. They’re not as well-known as other providers, but they appear to be just as good.

They have a history of logging certain data points, but they were always transparent about it, so it doesn’t feel like anything ominous was happening. Still, it was a bad practice and they apparently realized it and stopped.

And, once they stopped, they know they couldn’t just say “Hey! We don’t log anymore!” and be done with it. No, they submitted to an independent audit prior to making the claim. This shows a thoughtful understanding of privacy.

Are they the best VPN provider out there? No, they’re not. Are they a good VPN provider? Yes, they are.

And more importantly, do we recommend them? Yes, we do. VyprVPN, with its independently verified “new” privacy policy is a recommended VPN provider, as far as we’re concerned.

Further Reading

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