PrivadoVPN: Free Tier Shines, Paid Plan Falls Short

PrivadoVPN collects a small amount of information, and none of it is identifiable. It doesn’t log your IP address or the websites you visit.

However, this is not a true no-logs policy, and the data it collects appears to be stored indefinitely. VPNs like Private Internet Access deliver an excellent service without storing any user information at all.

PrivadoVPN loses points in our privacy assessment because it’s relatively new to the market and hasn’t done enough to verify its privacy claims and build user trust.

PrivadoVPN could improve by commissioning an independent audit of its policy. It could also publish regular transparency reports detailing legal requests and how it responds to them. A warrant canary would help, too.

Is PrivadoVPN Trustworthy?

The company behind PrivadoVPN is legitimate, and we appreciate that it is based in Switzerland, which has no data retention laws and respects consumer privacy. It is not in the European Union, so it is not subject to the Data Retention Directive.

Switzerland is also outside the Five Eyes and 14 Eyes alliances, as well as other intelligence-sharing agreements. In other words, PrivadoVPN is under no legal obligation to store or share user data.

For these reasons, we consider PrivadoVPN trustworthy. However, there is no public information about the company’s ownership. We want PrivadoVPN to build further trust by releasing transparency reports and commissioning audits of its logging policy.

PrivadoVPN Paid & Free Works with US Netflix

Both versions of PrivadoVPN can unblock US Netflix from anywhere. In our recent tests, the paid plan also unblocked Netflix in France, Israel, Turkey, and the UK.

This is still far fewer libraries than top competitors — Windscribe, for instance, unblocks 32. The inability to access Japanese Netflix is disappointing, but consistent access to the US catalog is a major perk.

This is especially valuable for PrivadoVPN Free, one of the few free VPNs that unblocks Netflix and the only free VPN we’ve tested that accesses US Netflix on desktop devices.

However, the 10GB monthly data cap on the free plan severely limits how much you can stream.

Works with HBO Max, Disney+ & Hulu

Both the paid and free versions also unblock US services like HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, and US Amazon Prime Video.

Because it reliably unblocks US Netflix and other sites, PrivadoVPN is the best free VPN for streaming overall, with Windscribe Free a close second.

BBC iPlayer Access Is Inconsistent

PrivadoVPN didn’t unblock BBC iPlayer on its Manchester server, though it briefly worked on its London server. When we tested again shortly after, the BBC detected our true location.

PrivadoVPN also failed to access ITVX. However, Channel 4 worked from abroad, including on PrivadoVPN Free. Overall, fans of British TV should choose a UK VPN that reliably unblocks all major British platforms.

Does PrivadoVPN Fully Encrypt Your Data?

We started by checking whether PrivadoVPN encrypts web traffic using the packet-sniffing tool Wireshark.

As shown in our tests, PrivadoVPN successfully encrypted our traffic, so you can trust it to hide your browsing activity from your ISP.

A Selection of Safe Connection Protocols

PrivadoVPN lets you choose among OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 — the leading secure protocols we expect from any safe VPN.

PrivadoVPN uses IKEv2 by default, but we recommend switching to WireGuard. On macOS, WireGuard isn’t immediately available; it must be manually authorized and installed, which is inconvenient and should be pre-installed.

If you’re on macOS and prefer not to install WireGuard, OpenVPN is the next best option.

Kill Switch Works, But Not on iOS

We tested PrivadoVPN’s kill switch on all apps to see if it prevents IP exposure.

The kill switch worked perfectly on Windows, macOS, and Android. In earlier tests, our real IP leaked when switching servers, but this has been fixed following our report to PrivadoVPN.

However, there’s no kill switch on iOS, so we advise caution if you use PrivadoVPN on iPhone or iPad.

PrivadoVPN’s premium network focuses heavily on Europe, with only one server location in Africa and two in South America. Asia is comparatively well covered, but we’d like to see more locations across all regions.

PrivadoVPN’s server network is nowhere near the size of networks offered by top-ranking VPNs.

ExpressVPN scores 9.9 in our server evaluation because it has a larger number of servers across 100 countries, including strong coverage in regions often neglected, like Africa and the Middle East.

Small Network of Physical Servers

PrivadoVPN’s network is smaller partly because it consists exclusively of physical servers. This approach is more expensive and makes it harder to offer IP addresses in countries with less-developed infrastructure.

There are some privacy benefits to physical servers, but as PrivadoVPN’s subscriber base grows, we’re concerned about potential congestion.

PrivadoVPN Offers Free Servers in 11 Countries

PrivadoVPN’s free plan has a much smaller network than the paid version, but 11 countries is generous for a free VPN. Competing free plans from Hotspot Shield Basic, Betternet, and ZoogVPN typically include only 3.

PrivadoVPN’s free network is refreshingly diverse. Alongside major European and North American locations, it offers IPs in Argentina, Brazil, and India. It’s also the best free VPN for Mexico, and there are four city-level options in the US.

Installation & Setup

Interface & Ease of Use

PrivadoVPN’s apps are clean and easy to navigate, with a large connect button, a server list, and a simple settings menu.

Advanced users may find the apps short on features and customization, and some functionality is exclusive to Windows and Android.

One area to improve is the settings menu, which opens in a separate window. This can feel fragmented and clutter your desktop if you forget to close it.

On macOS, we liked the “dock to tray” option, which lets you pin the app to the tray or move it around the screen. However, customization is limited — the app can’t be resized, and beyond Auto Connect there are few options.

Windows users benefit from split tunneling, which lets you control which apps and websites use the VPN. Unfortunately, this isn’t available on macOS or iOS, where it would be especially helpful.

Day-to-Day Experience

PrivadoVPN’s network supports P2P on all servers, including free locations.

We tested PrivadoVPN with qBittorrent and uTorrent. The average download bitrate of 7.9MiB/s is good, but faster VPNs for torrenting are available.

Premium users can also use a SOCKS5 proxy on every server. This is popular among torrenters for potentially faster speeds and additional anonymity. This feature is not included with PrivadoVPN Free.

Unfortunately, PrivadoVPN does not support port forwarding, which may limit your ability to seed files.

Overall, PrivadoVPN is a good but imperfect choice for torrenting: speeds are decent and no sensitive data is logged, but there’s no iOS kill switch and no port forwarding.

PrivadoVPN provides manual setup guides for routers and Linux on its website.

The limit of 10 simultaneous connections is sufficient for most households.

However, some competitors like Surfshark and IPVanish do not impose device limits.

It’s also disappointing that PrivadoVPN does not offer Smart DNS, which makes streaming on smart TVs and consoles easier without a VPN app.

Does PrivadoVPN Work in China?

Useful Live Chat, But It’s Not 24/7

Features We’d Like to See