VyprVPN Review

Since its acquisition by Texas-based Certida, VyprVPN is no longer a proven no-logs VPN.

The new owners moved operations to the US, and replaced its VPN-specific privacy policy with an auto-generated one that referred to the entire website instead of a specific product.

We contacted VyprVPN for clarification and were told there weren’t any plans to add a formal privacy policy or updated audit, since “no-logs” was self-explanatory.

In reality, a lot of no-logs VPNs collect some sort of data, whether it’s a username and password or aggregated bandwidth data to reduce server load. A lack of transparency about this is extremely worrying and almost unheard of from a trusted VPN.

VyprVPN does have some privacy initiatives that we like to see, though. Its VPN servers are all self-hosted and operated internally, meaning they aren’t rented by a third party. This makes VyprVPN less vulnerable to third parties interfering with the company’s logging practices.

2018 Logging Policy Audit

VyprVPN was one of the first VPNs to commission an independent logging policy audit in 2018, addressing the issues that were identified promptly.

However, 8 years have passed since that audit. Unlike other VPNs that conduct yearly logging policy audits, VyprVPN’s next audit is long overdue.

Given the significant change in ownership and jurisdiction during this time, there’s a possibility that VyprVPN has completely changed its logging practices.

Without a new audit, there’s no way to tell whether VyprVPN is still a no-logs VPN.

Given it once failed to unblock a single streaming service, VyprVPN’s streaming capabilities have definitely improved over the years.

The issue is that it’s still outclassed by virtually every VPN in our top 10, and beyond. For instance, IPVanish unblocks all of the same streaming services that VyprVPN can, as well as 15 more Netflix libraries and Hulu.

Speaking of which, VyprVPN only unblocks two Netflix libraries: Canada and Germany. While this covers some popular titles, it compares poorly to the breadth of content offered by competing VPNs.

Most notably, VyprVPN fails to unblock US Netflix, which has been the case for several years now.

We’ve never been able to unblock US Netflix with VyprVPN.

Aside from Netflix, VyprVPN has a mixed record in the US. While it accesses HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, our VPN connection was consistently blocked by Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount+.

When connecting to the UK, all of its servers worked to unblock BBC iPlayer. This is no easy feat considering many other mid-tier VPNs struggle to bypass BBC’s geo-blocks.

It also unblocks Channel 4, but is far more inconsistent for Sky Go, ITVX, and Disney+ (UK).

VyprVPN unblocks live and on-demand content from BBC iPlayer.

When VyprVPN did work with a streaming service, the video always loaded quickly and in the highest available quality. This smooth streaming experience is thanks to the VPN’s fast download speeds.

VyprVPN has consistently fast speeds, with a minimal speed loss of just 3% on nearby connections. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you shouldn’t have any speed issues.

While global speeds have been a past weakness for VyprVPN, this is clearly no longer the case. Across all five continents in which we test, including connections to Australia and South Africa, our download speed decreased by 12% on average.

VyprVPN delivered a fast download speed in every testing location.

To put its performance in context, you can see how VyprVPN’s local speeds compare to other top-tier VPNs in the table below:

As you can see in the chart above, VyprVPN holds up extremely well against the fastest VPNs on connections in the US. It’s one of the fastest VPNs on the market and can be relied on for streaming, torrenting, and casual browsing.

But if fast long-distance speeds are your priority, there are faster VPNs available.

VyprVPN uses WireGuard by default to tunnel your traffic. This is a fast, secure, and open-source protocol that you can trust with your personal data.

The VPN uses ChaCha20 to encrypt your network traffic and conceal it from your internet service provider (ISP). To check this was actually happening, we used a data packet analyzer (Wireshark) to inspect our VPN connection:

VyprVPN left our browsing activity indecipherable.

On top of this, VyprVPN also supports its own NAT firewall to block any unrequested traffic coming into your device.

VyprVPN also owns and operates all its VPN servers, which is extremely rare for a mid-tier VPN service.

This eliminates the involvement of third-parties and the security risks associated with renting VPN servers.

DNS Relay System Relies on Third-Parties

VyprDNS uses a DNS relay system to prevent your DNS query from being associated with VyprVPN, and prevent websites from knowing you’re using a VPN.

When we tested for VyprDNS’ servers, it showed us the last DNS server in the relay was actually a Google Cloud DNS server.

Our DNS testing tool revealed that VyprVPN uses third-party servers.

VyprVPN clarified in an email that before your DNS traffic reaches any public DNS servers it is routed through a DNS proxy, fully anonymizing your traffic.

This isn’t quite the same as total end-to-end elimination of third parties, as VyprVPN seems to be leasing third-party DNS servers, but it’s still as close to it as possible without alerting websites that a VPN is being used.

The choice of 700+ servers in 73 cities and 64 countries is quite average, compared to ExpressVPN’s 13,360 server count and NordVPN’s 9,000 server count.

It’s not remarkable, but it will be enough for most VPN users in Europe, Asia, and America.

The choice of server locations in Africa is limited to just Algeria and Egypt. This is an unfortunate oversight, but it’s also a common issue in the VPN industry.

VyprVPN offers few city-level server locations

We’re also disappointed by the lack of city-level servers. VyprVPN only offers city-specific choices in two countries: the United States and Australia.

VyprVPN’s US servers are located in:

• Austin
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Washington D.C.

Servers in Australia are located in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney, which is great for Australian users.

A majority of VyprVPN’s servers are not city-specific.

Unusually, there’s no city-level choice in Canada. If that’s important to you, head over to our list of top Canada VPNs.

Clarity is clearly a priority in all VyprVPN’s apps. The simple and uncluttered desktop apps are incredibly easy to set up and use.

Choosing a server location couldn’t be simpler, either, and VyprVPN keeps all the advanced options you may want to change in one place, clearly explained in plain language.

On all major platforms, you can search for specific servers, sort servers by distance, and see ping (ms) for each server.

In this section, we’ll describe our experience using VyprVPN on every major platform, and how exactly the applications differ from each other.

VyprVPN’s kill switch and first-party VPN servers are great additions, both of which protect your real IP address during file-sharing on Windows and macOS.

Having said that, VyprVPN’s torrenting speeds aren’t the fastest and there is no support for port forwarding, either. This is a real surprise given how fast the VPN is when handling typical web traffic.

If you’re a devoted torrenter then you may prefer to use a VPN that’s more suited to P2P activity, like Private Internet Access.

We tested VyprVPN on qBittorrent.

We also found an isolated incident of someone being flagged for DMCA violations while using VyprVPN in 2022. In this case, however, it seems the user didn’t configure VyprVPN and qBittorrent properly.

What this revealed is that it’s possible to receive a DMCA when connected to VyprVPN if you don’t configure the app properly. We’re also reluctant to recommend the VPN for any P2P activity when it does not have a clear and transparent privacy policy.

If you’re a frequent torrenter, it’s worth checking out better VPNs for torrenting.

VyprVPN’s device compatibility has steadily declined in recent years. We suspect this is the result of the change in ownership from Golden Frog to Certida.

VyprVPN used to offer a native Tomato router app, before it was discontinued in 2023. Considering that VyprVPN was one of only two VPNs to offer a native app, this is a disheartening move.

Similarly, VyprVPN used to include a browser extension. However, this was removed from the Google Chrome Store in February 2023 and there are no plans for it to be re-added. When we contacted customer support, they recommended we use the desktop apps instead.

If you want to use VyprVPN with devices that don’t support VPN apps, like Xbox and PlayStation, your options are limited. You must either manually install the VPN onto a router, which is difficult, or set up a mobile hotspot.

You can also sideload VyprVPN’s apk file into Android devices not compatible with VPN applications.

Chameleon Obfuscation Protocol

VyprVPN uses its proprietary Chameleon Protocol to beat censorship in highly-censored countries, such as Russia and Turkey. It doesn’t unblock websites reliably in China, but it might work in other regions. The protocol is available on Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.

VyprVPN used to work in China, but lately it’s been very inconsistent. In our China VPN tests, we found it only had a 3% success rate in the past year.

You can find VyprVPN’s obfuscation protocol in Customize > Protocol.

This VPN protocol is specifically designed to bypass aggressive censorship and VPN blocks in countries like Turkey, China, and UAE. It’s currently available with every VPN server, too.

VyprVPN’s Chameleon protocol works by scrambling the metadata of each OpenVPN packet, preventing it from being identified through Deep Packet Inspection (DPI).

This should allow it to avoid detection from governments, ISPs, and other network administrators like your employer, school or university.

Underneath the obfuscation technology lies the unmodified OpenVPN protocol, with tried and tested AES-256 encryption. This means you can overcome censorship without sacrificing security.

The latest version of the protocol, Chameleon 2.0, has additional compatibility with Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS devices.