VyprVPN has made it onto our list of the best VPN favorites thanks to a combination of low pricing and top security, making it ideal for those that seek privacy and anonymity as a priority.
One reason for this is the fact that VyprVPN owns and controls all of its own servers, so there's no worry of a third-party weakness leaving an opening for a breach with this service – as there can be with some of the competition.
All that said, this isn't without its flaws, specifically in the kill switch and streaming unblocking areas. So read on to find out all you need to know about VyprVPN.
VyprVPN 1-minute review
If you only sign up for a month, VyprVPN has dropped in price since our last update and now offers a competitive rate of $6.47 per month. That includes one free month, effectively making it a low-cost two-month plan. However, sign up for longer and prices drop ever further, and currently you can bag a three-year plan for just $1.81 a month, which is excellent value.
VyprVPN's strong suit is its commitment to privacy, and you'll be covered by seriously powerful encryption. VyprVPN also runs its own zero-knowledge DNS service, which avoids any third-party intervention at any stage.
When using OpenVPN, VyprVPN's speeds are somewhat disappointing, but now WireGuard has been introduced, connections are far more competitive, averaging at around 345Mbps in the UK, and maxing out at a mega 600Mbps in the US. We'd like to see OpenVPN improved, but at least now we have an option that's speedy.
VyprVPN is useful for streaming, with access to BBC iPlayer and US Amazon Prime Video. On the downside this round of testing found that US Netflix and Disney+ were no longer accessible. Torrenting is also fully supported.
The desktop apps are strong, with plenty of options and useful server sorting tools like favorites and ping time. However, we noticed the kill switch didn't always act as expected, which is probably VyprVPN's biggest software issue. The mobile apps are more powerful that most, and are fairly similar to the desktop versions. There are also tons of supported platforms not seen elsewhere, like a number of niche routers and privacy-focused mobile and streaming devices.
In terms of support, you'll get live chat, effective email support, and tons of written articles. The range isn't quite class-leading, but it's close.
Overall, VyprVPN is an excellent service that's great value, and it's only let down by some minor bugs and poor OpenVPN speeds.
Latest updates
The biggest update since our last VyprVPN review is the inclusion of WireGuard support. This means VyprVPN can avoid one of our main complaints – poor OpenVPN speeds – and also shows the provider's commitment to keeping up with the rest of the pack.
Amazon Prime Video can now be unblocked when you're outside your home country, alongside BBC Player – but US Netflix and Disney+ are no longer accessible.
The proprietary Chameleon protocol has been given an overhaul, and is even better at evading VPN blocks. Plus, iOS now supports both OpenVPN and Chameleon.
VyprVPN specs
Number of servers: 700+
Number of countries: 70
Platforms supported: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, QNAP, Blackphone, Anonabox, routers, smart TVs, Blackberry, Boxee, DD-WRT, AsusWRT, Synology NAS, OpenWRT
Simultaneous connections: 30
Split tunneling: Yes
Kill switch: Yes
Supported protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, IKEv2, Chameleon
Country of registration: Switzerland
Support: 24/7 live chat, email, knowledgebase
VyprVPN price: how much is it, and is there a VyprVPN free trial?
VyprVPN offers a one-month plan, but for a good while now that's come bundled with an extra month free. Working out at just $6.47 a month, that's one of the very best monthly VPN plans available – and it doesn't rise on renewal.
There is also an 18-month plan, billed once, at a price of $2.50 per month ($45 up front) and for the biggest savings you can get a three year plan costing $1.81 per month ($65 paid at the start). That makes this one of the best cheap VPN options out there right now.
Payments can be made through credit card, PayPal, or UnionPay. You’re asked for payment details upon signing up, though you won’t be charged for three days, so you can treat it like a short free trial. Even after your three days have expired, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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How private is VyprVPN?
By default, VyprVPN uses strong AES-256-GCM, SHA384 HMAC encryption with TLS-ECDHE-RSA-2048 on OpenVPN connections. This means that even if an attacker could somehow obtain the private key to your connection, they could only access data from that particular session and not future sessions.
Even better, WireGuard and IKEv2 are now supported across all platforms. Older, less secure PPTP and L2TP protocols have been dropped. VyprVPN even offers its own Chameleon 2.0 protocol, which helps get around aggressive VPN blocking. That said, we haven’t been able to test this feature from a country like China or Iran that actively blocks the use of most VPNs.
To avoid potential man-in-the-middle attacks, VyprVPN uses its own encrypted no-knowledge DNS service. It’s a good way to sidestep the few security holes in VPN connections. The apps include kill switches too, to minimize the chance that your real IP address will be leaked if your VPN connection dies.
VyprVPN is clear and transparent about its no-logging policy. User traffic, connection logs, IP addresses, and DNS requests are not logged at all. While many VPN providers say the same thing, VyprVPN has gone further and had the platform audited by third-party Leviathan Security Group.
An in-depth report shows that VyprVPN is not logging clients’ VPN activity. It’s been a few years since this audit, though, and we’d like to see VyprVPN catch up with providers like TunnelBear that have annual independent security audits of its service.
How fast is VyprVPN?
We tested all of VyprVPN’s servers for connection time, speed, latency, and connection failures on lines in the UK and US, both of which were capable of 1Gbps. Connection times have improved by about five seconds since our last VyprVPN review, which is a significant enhancement.
However, OpenVPN speeds in our US and UK testing locations were poor. We got around 32Mbps in the UK and 35-55Mbps in the US. Thankfully, VyprVPN supports the WireGuard protocol, which bumps up speeds significantly.
Using WireGuard, the provider delivered speeds of 330-360Mbps in the UK, and an very impressive 400-600Mbps in the US. This brings it up to the average speed of the VPN market, though it doesn’t compete with fast VPN provider NordVPN, which topped out above 800Mbps in our recent testing.
However, for the vast majority of users, setting VyprVPN to WireGuard will likely get you excellent speeds, and considering few homes have connections over 110Mbps, it's plenty for the job.
How good is VyprVPN for streaming and torrenting?
Most VPN providers state that you’ll be able to access geo-blocked content if you connect through their VPN, but few deliver. VyprVPN has impressed in the past but in the latest round of testing it has struggled.
VyprVPN is no longer a great Netflix VPN as it failed to get around geo blocking for US Netflix – and this was tested in three locations. This continues with Disney+ where we were unable to access it as it was "only available in certain locations".
When it came to getting access to BBC iPlayer using a UK server, the service performed well. This worked on all three test locations without any issues at all. Amazon Prime Video, using US servers, also proved to work well using VyprVPN.
So VyprVPN is in the list of the best streaming VPN services but it's certainly not one of the top choices right now. That said, these results fluctuate so that may change.
It’s also particularly transparent about what it can unblock and what it can’t. A status page on the VyprVPN website keeps you informed on which streaming sites currently work and which don’t, and it even includes advice on which are the best servers to choose to access particular content.
VyprVPN says all peer-to-peer traffic is allowed on all servers. No logs are retained from sessions, and no ports are blocked. This makes VyprVPN a fine torrenting VPN.
How good are the VyprVPN desktop apps?
VyprVPN is notable for its wide platform support. Besides the usual Windows, iOS, and Android apps, there are apps for Smart TVs, QNAP, routers, Anonabox, Chromebooks, and Blackphone. There are tutorials on the VyprVPN website for setting up other devices too, from Apple TV and OpenELEC to DD-WRT and OpenWRT. Typically, you’ll set up these other devices using the APK file or OpenVPN configuration file available from the VyprVPN website.
Despite all this, VyprVPN doesn’t have extensions for browsers. While there are many third-party extensions that you can find on app stores to shore up your browsing privacy and security, many VPN companies include their own browser extensions for enabling and disabling the VPN. This level of convenience isn’t available with VyprVPN.
Signing up for VyprVPN brings you to a download page for the main app, and there’s a good amount of information here on the protocols that each support, the minimum requirements, and what’s changed. If you prefer to use your own client, there are OpenVPN configuration files available for all the servers.
Installation is a matter of running the file and entering your username and password when prompted. The VyprVPN desktop app feels like a mobile app in its simplicity. Server locations are sorted by country and city, but you have the choice to organize by ping time. A simple favorites system can help you keep your most-used server locations at the top.
Four protocols are available: OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, and VyprVPN’s own Chameleon. The app has a built-in kill switch, so if your VPN connection drops for any reason, your internet connection will be blocked momentarily to stop your true location from being broadcast.
Unfortunately, in our testing the kill switch feature wasn’t reliable. When we forcibly dropped an IKEv2 connection, the app only displayed a Disconnected alert but didn’t close the connection. When we forcibly closed the VyprVPN WireGuard service while connected via WireGuard, the VPN didn’t notice, even though our traffic was no longer going through the VPN.
VyprVPN’s settings menu hides a few other options, like the option to use your own DNS server or connect the VPN automatically when you connect to untrusted Wi-Fi networks.
Some more advanced settings have been dropped – likely due to lack of use – meaning you can no longer set the MTU size. But it's hard to imagine many users are really going to miss that.
How good are the VyprVPN mobile apps?
A mobile VPN can help protect your identity and improve security when you’re out and about connecting through insecure public networks.
VyprVPN’s Android VPN carries over the look and feel from the desktop client and includes most of the features too. Notably, there’s DNS leak protection, a kill switch, custom DNS options, split tunneling, and automatic startup options.
There are now even more protocols from which to choose, including WireGuard, OpenVPN, and VyprVPN’s proprietary Chameleon, but there’s no support for IKEv2. You can choose to bypass the VPN for particular apps. If you’re an advanced user, you can install the Android app using the APK file from the VyprVPN website.
We enjoyed the addition of URL filtering as a way to protect you from malicious websites. Although, if you blacklist a site it won't block it outright, you'll just get a notification – which can be good as you may know it's safe in that circumstance and want to visit.
The connection per app feature is great, allowing you to have some apps connect to the VPN but others won't – ideal if you want streaming apps to work in one location but your banking app to stay in another.
The VyprVPN iPhone VPN looks similar to the Android client but lacks a few of its features. You don’t get a kill switch, for example, but you do get support for WireGuard. The lack of URL filtering is a shame, but the auto connection when on untrusted networks is a useful feature.
Overall, the VyprVPN mobile apps are more powerful and versatile than most on the market, particularly the Android app.
What customer support does VyprVPN offer?
VyprVPN has many articles on its support site, covering setup instructions, advice on specific devices, and troubleshooting steps. There are around 30 articles on the mobile apps and over 50 on manually setting up lesser-known devices. However, the guides are typically short and lack screenshots or videos. That said, the search function works well, so finding the relevant article is easy.
There are two other options for support: live chat and email. We tested the live chat and got a friendly, knowledgeable response within minutes. When we emailed, we got a response within an hour. Overall, VyprVPN has good support, but it doesn’t excel like ExpressVPN’s support does, for example.
VyprVPN: Final verdict
VyprVPN is a powerful, great value service that has a couple of small issues that stop us from recommending it wholeheartedly, the biggest of these being the middling OpenVPN speeds, unreliable kill switch feature and current below-par streaming unblocking abilities. However, it performed well with WireGuard and it’s a good VPN for P2P.
On the whole, it can’t stand up against the likes of ExpressVPN, which performed better than VyprVPN on all these metrics. However, it does have an incredibly cheap three-year plan if budget is your main concern, and for the price it’s a remarkably fully featured option.
