Speedify VPN Review

Speedify VPN, despite being obscure to many, remains one of the best-known examples of free VPN software. One of them is undoubtedly the fact that an underdog in a massive, oversaturated industry still managed to come up with a unique feature that solves a crucial problem. Foreshadowing – it’s about data transfer e.g., VPN speed, a thorn in the side for many individual and business users, especially when they must connect to a VPN server across the globe from their location. With your interest hopefully piqued, let’s dive straight into our Speedify VPN review.

Speedify VPN Features

We’re starting our review of Speedify VPN with key features of Speedify VPN:

Headquarters

Speedify VPN is based in the United States, a country that’s at the forefront of the Five-Eyes Alliance, a global surveillance agreement. The country also has mandatory data retention laws that require telecommunications companies to keep records. Without a logging policy, would’ve been disastrous for privacy and security.

Logging Policy

Although Speedify VPN has a no-log policy regarding your online activities and browsing history while connected to the VPN, they do keep some logs. Here are 3 important facts:

• They log your IP address and unique identifiers to ensure you don’t overstep the monthly limit on the free VPN.
• The VPN provider logs and shares cookie data and online usage with Google Analytics to improve their advertisements and quality of service.
• If you run into an issue, Speedify shares your feedback with Raygun, a third-party service for tracking errors.

Server Network

Speedify VPN offers 50+ servers in 35 countries that are purpose-built and configure and separated into 3 categories within their apps: Streaming Mode, Torrent Friendly Server, and Fastest Server.

Speed

Ironically, many users and reviewers alike complained about slow speed. Luckily, our experience was vastly different in a positive way. Here’s what we observed after connecting to VPN servers in these countries:

• Our country (in Europe): Our download speed only shrunk by 10%.
• Canada: The download speed went down by 14%.
• United States: The download speed was reduced by 33%.

Leaks and Encryption

After we ran back-to-back analyses using VPN test sites, we concluded Speedify doesn’t have IPv4, IPv6, or DNS leaks. Furthermore, we established that the VPN provider utilizes these ciphers:

• Newer devices: AES128-GCM encryption with the SHA256 algorithm
• Older devices: AES-128-bit encryption with a ChaCha cipher

Data Usage, Bandwidth, Simultaneous Connections

Speedify provides unlimited data usage and bandwidth on paid plans and the ability to connect up to 5 devices at once. They also offer two more plans:

• Free VPN: Allows connecting one device to free VPN servers, limited to 2 GB of monthly data usage.
• 7-day free Trial: Allows connecting one device to premium servers with a 5 GB limit.

Bypassing Streaming Service Blocks

The results of testings were inconsistent, both in our testing and when compared to the success of users and reviewers worldwide. During our attempts to bypass VPN blocks, we managed to unblock these platforms at least once:

• Netflix US
• HBO Max
• Hulu
• BBC iPlayer
• YouTube

Note. We couldn’t watch Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, or Peacock, even though some others claim they did.

Customer Support

Speedify VPN doesn’t have a 24/7 web chat Customer Service. However, they offer a comprehensive knowledge base on the website and you can reach out via contact form or e-mail.

Additional Features of Speedify VPN

Continuing our Speedify VPN review, it’s time to tackle two extra features:

Does Speedify VPN Work in China?

Speedify doesn’t work in China, even though they offer a VPN server in Hong Kong. No matter what we tried, we couldn’t bypass the Great Firewall of China with Speedify VPN.

Channel Bonding

Channel Bonding is their name for a custom security protocol that combines connections from tethered phones, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and cellular to boost the VPN speed to the maximum. We tried this in Europe and noticed a minor speed increase. However, user reviews suggest the feature works best in the United States.

Speedify VPN Installation and User Interface

Downloading and installing Speedify was brief, but starting a 7-day free trial is confusing. The solution is to create a user account on their website before you click on “Sign in” within the app. When the app detects you never paid or that you never used the offer before, it will grant your account 7 days to examine all premium features. The GUI is hard not to like. It features a split-screen, where the upper portion contains the toggle button and the status of the server while the bottom one displays current, top, and bottom VPN speed, as well as latency and data usage, both numerically and graphically.

Compatibility

Speedify VPN is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, and Firestick TVs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on Chromebooks, routers, consoles, smart TVs, or smart TV boxes.

Speedify VPN Pricing

The prices of Speedify VPN plans are as follows:

• 1-month plan – $14.99 monthly
• 1-year plan – $7.49 monthly with a 50% discount ($89.99 annually)
• 3-year plan – $4.99/month with a 66% discount ($179.99 every 3 years)

The extension of the plans above is available as “Families”, which represents 4 accounts with 5 simultaneous connections each. For business purposes, you can sign up for “Teams” which adds central account management, 5 devices per account, and access to API, CLI, and Dedicated Servers. Each payment plan comes with a 30-day money refund policy but you can only pay with PayPal, debit and credit cards, and Amazon Pay.

Conclusion

While wrapping up our Speedify VPN review, it was obvious Speedify honored its promise of providing the best speed possible for individual or business use. Simultaneously, they keep privacy and security at an acceptable level. We only wish the server network was greater, the app support more extensive, and that they could unblock major streaming services consistently.