There are so many VPN providers on the internet today that less popular options like PrivadoVPN hardly get a mention. Notably, their low popularity often has little to do with their efficiency. To determine whether PrivadoVPN is one of the good ones, we decided to thoroughly review everything about it, including its features and functions.
Founded in 2019 and based in Switzerland, PrivadoVPN focuses on security and privacy, which are the basic elements of any reliable VPN provider. The VPN also features OpenVPN and IKEv2, both connection protocols that drive efficiency.
No doubt, there is more about PrivadoVPN beyond its key features. Rest assured. Our PrivadoVPN review will unpack the VPN provider and give you unbiased insight into what to expect from the software.
A quick look at PrivadoVPN
| Server network | 325 servers in 47 countries |
| Data-logging policy | Questionable |
| Protocols | IKEv2, OpenVPN |
| Encryption type | 256-bit AES |
| Kill switch | Yes |
| Unblocks streaming apps | Yes (some) |
| Torrenting support | Yes |
| Simultaneous connections | 10 |
| Starting price | $1.99/month |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Customer support | Email ticketing system |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac |
Pros and cons of Privado VPN
- Prevents data leak in case of disconnection
- Good privacy and logging policy
- Secure and fast VPN protocols
- Ad blocker and threat protection
- Good streaming performance
- Kill switch is only active in Desktop apps
- Wireguard protocol is absent
- No evidence it works in China
PrivadoVPN overview
PrivadoVPN is a Swiss-based VPN provider that offers reliable and trustworthy services. Unfortunately, the VPN collects some user data, but only for diagnostic and operation purposes, which is better than most of its competitors. Thankfully, the VPN has robust encryption and supports the secure IKEv2 and OpenVPN tunneling protocols, among other dependable security features.
In addition, the VPN service offers decent speeds on most servers and user-friendly client apps. However, its customer support isn’t timely and does not always answer your inquiries. Also, its website offers little information and cannot unblock many streaming platforms. PrivadoVPN is a moderate VPN because its services are neither awful nor better than its top-tier competitors like ExpressVPN.
PrivadoVPN server network
PrivadoVPN has at least 325 servers in 47 countries. The United Kingdom and the United States are some of the countries with the most servers.
PrivadoVPN server locations
Here are the 47 server locations:
- Africa – South Africa
- Europe – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Spain.
- Asia – Hong Kong: SAR China, India, Japan, Korea (South), Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan: Republic of China, Thailand
- Oceania – Australia, New Zealand
- North America – Canada, United States
- South America – Argentina, Brazil
- Middle East – Israel, Indonesia,
As you can see, most of the PrivadoVPN servers are based in European countries. The VPN provider has a presence in only two countries on each of these continents: Oceania, North America, South America, and the Middle East. Meanwhile, PrivadoVPN is in only one country in Africa.
PrivadoVPN speed test
Speed is a vital factor to consider when choosing a VPN. Why consider speed? Technological advancements mean people do more things online today, including playing games, watching videos, and downloading torrents.
Generally, internet service providers (ISPs) limit the download speed for torrents because they know what their users are doing. However, a VPN ensures that an ISP can’t snoop, neutralizing its power to limit torrent downloads. Besides preventing ISPs from messing with your downloads, a VPN boosts your internet speed, thus enhancing streaming, gaming, and torrenting.
Understanding the importance of speed, we decided to perform a speed test to ensure an honest review of PrivadoVPN.
Speed without a VPN
Before testing the speed of PrivadoVPN, we determined our base internet speed. Our base speed was our benchmark to see how the VPN affects internet speed.
| Download speed (Mbps) | Upload speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 352.77 | 421.32 | 3.8 |
Speed on a local server (paid version)
It’s worth mentioning that a VPN slows down your internet connection because there are multiple steps between the internet and your device. So, it is not unusual for your internet speed to reduce after connecting to a VPN. Here are the speed test results for when we connected to a paid PrivadoVPN near our location.
| Download speed (Mbps) | Upload speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 350.21 | 435.32 | 3.5 |
We found that the download speed decreased, which was bound to happen. As you can see, the decrease in the download speed is small when using a local server. The most plausible explanation for this minimal drop is that there is a short distance between your device and the server. So, data packets take minimal time to travel.
However, the upload speed went up. The speed increased because the VPN bypassed the ISP’s throttling of the internet speed. Notably, the latency (delay) dropped slightly, showing that our connection improved after connecting to the VPN server.
Speed on a distant server (paid version)
You may need to connect to a distant server to unblock a streaming platform. Therefore, your VPN should be able to maintain a decent speed to ensure there is no buffering issue. A remote server is typically slower because of the long distance between your device and the server. Our results reveal as much.
| Download speed (Mbps) | Upload speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 90.44 | 138.14 | 73.4 |
Expectedly, we detected a vast decrease in download and upload speeds because of the long distance our data packets traveled from our device to the server. Also, the latency increased substantially, signaling a poorer internet connection.
Nevertheless, in our experience, these results still produced a decent streaming performance.
Speed on a local server (free version)
PrivadoVPN offers free and subscription-based versions. Ideally, we expected the subscription-based version to provide faster speeds than the free version, but we still needed to know how wide the difference is.
Therefore, we decided to review PrivadoVPN’s free service too. We maintained the same base speed we used for the subscription version.
| Download speed (Mbps) | Upload speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 124.54 | 130.16 | 29.3 |
When we tested the free version’s speed on a local server, we found a significant drop in the download and upload speeds. Also, the latency went up.
Speed on a distant server (free version)
We repeated the speed test on a free version of PrivadoVPN, but we used a distant server. Below are our results of connecting to a PrivadoVPN distant server on the free version.
| Download speed (Mbps) | Upload speed (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 49.34 | 73.84 | 194.56 |
Unsurprisingly, the distant server’s speeds (download and upload) were even much slower. The latency also jumped up. While testing the streaming capacity, there was a lot of buffering, making it unsuitable for streaming. You must opt for the paid version for decent streaming performance, especially if you plan to use free movie streaming sites because you need extra security features on top of VPN protection on such sites.
So, is PrivadoVPN fast enough?
PrivadoVPN is not the fastest VPN we’ve used, but it did not perform poorly. As our results show, it held its own. During our tests, we selected the faster protocol, IKEv2, instead of letting the VPN choose for us. Overall, the result was a decent speed.
Unlimited bandwidth
PrivadoVPN does not limit bandwidth usage on the subscription-based version. However, it restricts users of the free version to 10GB of data every 30 days.
PrivadoVPN security features
PrivadoVPN packs many security and privacy features that contribute to providing safe online activity. We will unpack all of the features in our unbiased review of PrivadoVPN below:
Encryption
PrivadoVPN boasts multiple encryption protocols you can count on for great speed and security. OpenVPN and IKEv2 are two of the leading encryption protocols in the industry. Both strike a good balance between speed and safety. Generally, the IKEv2 protocol is more stable and faster than OpenVPN, thanks to an auto-connect feature that boosts security and ease of use.
However, OpenVPN also has a significant advantage; it uses a TCP port 443, making it easier to mask itself as regular internet traffic. This deception helps the protocol evade detection by firewalls and filters. Therefore, it is harder to be blocked by sysadmins and stopped by a firewall.
Despite these differences, OpenVPN and IKEv2 are more similar than they are different, making it challenging to select one over the other.
It’s good that you don’t have to face such a dilemma with PrivadoVPN, thanks to its ‘Automatic‘ setting, which chooses the best protocol for your network during selection.
Additionally, PrivadoVPN uses military-grade 256-bit AES encryption to secure user data.
Kill switch
PrivadoVPN features a kill switch that automatically disables your online activity after an unexpected loss of connection. Your internet will only return after the VPN has reconnected. That means you will never unintentionally send unsecured data.
SOCKS5 proxy
PrivadoVPN does not use the traditional proxy, rather opting for the SOCKS5 proxy. This is a significant upgrade that makes a whole lot of difference for users. SOCKS5 proxy is a more secure alternative, allowing you to hide your IP address.
So, if a website blocks the IP addresses of your VPN’s servers, you can bypass the block by routing your online traffic through a SOCKS5 proxy. Besides helping you avoid IP address blocks, the SOCKS5 proxy moves data quickly and provides a reliable connection, making it ideal for faster downloads and torrenting.
Ad blocker
PrivadoVPN’s ad blocker stopped intrusive ads from affecting our online experience during testing. We intentionally visited websites with the most annoying ads, and this VPN’s ad blocker successfully repelled them.
Besides blocking intrusive ads, the ad blocker blocks tracking cookies and targeted ads with the click of a button.
Threat protection
Online threats are growing every second and minute, meaning you need robust protection to stay safe online. PrivadoVPN offers a threat protection suite that fights online threats such as phishing, malware, etc. We visited insecure websites to test the threat protection, and it delivered impressive results.
Every time, the VPN warned us not to access suspicious websites. Likewise, it protected us from visiting links attached to suspicious emails.
Protocols
The VPN service offers IKEv2 and OpenVPN (UDP and TCP) protocols. The OpenVPN protocol, especially the UDP version, is the best way to enhance online security while maintaining sufficient speed.
Fortunately, you can tweak the protocols from the app’s ‘preferences’ tab depending on your need. In addition, an ‘automatic’ option promptly selects the best protocol for you if you are unsure which one to use.
Leak test results
During our tests on ipleak.net, we found no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks. We tested the VPN’s 10 servers in the UK, US, France, Brazil, and Germany, and they all passed all the leak tests.
Combined with other features like the kill switch and no-logs policy, your personal data will be safe from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other malicious third parties.
Security features PrivadoVPN should consider
PrivadoVPN is secure, but its security mechanisms must be improved to compete with the best VPNs on the market. The following are some of the currently missing features that we would like the service to add:
- Diskless RAM-only servers – Ensure the servers do not store your data to keep you private. They wipe your information immediately after you end a VPN session.
- Multi-hop servers: Instead of routing your traffic through a single server, the multi-hop feature redirects it through two or more servers to improve your security. However, the additional server route might slow down your speed.
- An efficient kill switch on macOS: A kill switch prevents data leaks in case the VPN connection drops. Therefore, it will be a great addition to the macOS app.
- First-party DNS servers: This feature would allow PrivadoVPN to manage your DNS requests rather than your ISP.
Privacy – Does PrivadoVPN keep you private?
Many VPN providers promise a zero-log policy, meaning they do not track and store your online activity, but most do not deliver on the promise. PrivadoVPN also claims a zero-log policy, but the facts do not support that claim.
A thorough look into PrivadoVPN’s privacy policy shows that the VPN provider collects personal information such as email addresses, app analytics, and mobile identifiers.
Also, the VPN claims that it cannot supply any user information to law enforcement because it does not exist, but in the same breath, it says,
We store the data we collect about you for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we originally collected it.
It is not clear how long PrivadoVPN needs to retain user data. Nor do they elaborate on the purposes for data collection, except citing business reasons and Swiss law requirements. But clearly, this VPN provider does not operate a zero-log policy as it wants users to believe.
Despite PrivadoVPN’s disputed claim of zero-log policy, we acknowledge that it offers some level of confidence regarding data protection. The company is based in Switzerland, which arguably has some of the strongest consumer protection laws in the world.
Furthermore, the European country is not part of any international surveillance alliances, which means your data has less risk of exposure.
What information does PrivadoVPN need?
PrivadoVPN requires a verified email address to create a free account. In addition, it requires you to give your PayPal or credit card details to create a premium account that offers you access to all its advanced features. Moreover, after integrating with Coinbase in April 2022, this VPN service now accepts crypto payments. So, like most VPNs, you can now pay with your crypto debit card and crypto wallet.
PrivadoVPN usability review
Besides security, speed, and unblocking, ease of use is another essential factor when buying a VPN. You want your ideal VPN to have a user-friendly interface, a simple installation process, and responsive customer support.
PrivadoVPN’s website
PrivadoVPN has a user-friendly website highlighting most of the VPN’s features on the homepage. The homepage also features all countries where the VPN provider has servers. The bottom of the homepage also has quick links to any information you want about PrivadoVPN.
PrivadoVPN download and compatibility
PrivadoVPN is compatible with many devices, making it an attractive choice. This VPN provider has apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, FireTV, and Android devices, including TVs. You can use a subscription for ten devices at a time to secure all your devices.
Here is how to execute the PrivadoVPN download and start using the VPN:
- Visit the PrivadoVPN website.
- Either click “Get PrivadoVPN” in the top right corner or scroll down to the bottom of the homepage and tap a quick download link for your device.
- The link will take you to your app store. Download and install the app.
- Open the app and follow the on-screen instructions to connect to a server.
Desktop & laptop (Windows & macOS)
PrivadoVPN’s desktop apps have been in service since 2019 and are constantly being improved in terms of design and user experience, making them run more smoothly and fixing bugs. The kill switch is displayed at the front and center of the home screen.
However, the ‘Settings’ tab opens a new window, making the experience less controlled and your PC more disarranged, and you have to close the window manually.
The macOS app includes the ‘undock’ or ‘dock to tray’ feature, allowing you to drag and move the app. Unfortunately, you cannot manually resize the app, and the only other available type of customization is an ‘Auto Connect’ switch.
On the other hand, PrivadoVPN’s Windows app supports split tunneling. This feature lets you choose and control the apps that pass via the VPN tunnel. However, Privado should include this option in the iOS and macOS apps.
Mobile (iPhone & Android)
PrivadoVPN for iOS is much simpler to use than the macOS version. The interface is similar but includes fewer settings, allowing you to turn on Auto Connect and switch protocols.
On the other hand, PrivadoVPN’s Android app is a bit more advanced. It includes a functional kill switch and split tunneling (Smart Route).
The Fire TV Stick app now works
PrivadoVPN’s Fire TV Stick app failed to function during our previous tests due to bugs. Luckily, this VPN service has updated and fixed its app, enabling it to unblock major streaming platforms such as Netflix effectively. Moreover, the app is easy to use and visually appealing. It also allows you to add servers to a favorite list, saving you the hassle of scrolling down the server list every time.
PrivadoVPN interface
PrivadoVPN’s simple interface makes it easy to connect and operate the settings. The homepage has a space to search for the country you want to connect to. You can also sort servers by latency to find the best option for a seamless browsing experience.
Also, you can easily enable the kill switch from the homepage. You can access other settings by tapping the settings icon on the homepage.
Is PrivadoVPN good for streaming?
The VPN service unblocked streaming websites like Netflix US, Disney+, and HBO Max. Unluckily, we could not access BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
PrivadoVPN does not offer dedicated streaming servers, but the platforms that we unblocked functioned properly with all the servers. Also, it provides fast speeds that enable you to stream smoothly without annoying buffering or lagging.
Furthermore, the VPN has a free version with a monthly data cap of 10 GB. Unfortunately, this is insufficient for a data-intensive activity like streaming, and you’ll only be able to watch a 6-hour video or less if it is in HD.
Unblocked: Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, HBO Max, and other platforms
We experienced no issues accessing Netflix libraries in the UK, US, France, Japan, and Germany. The shows and movies loaded promptly, and we could stream in Ultra HD without buffering.
Also, we could access HBO Max using PrivadoVPN and stream the available content without any issues.
Blocked by BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video
The VPN could not unblock Hulu, as it was detected the moment we attempted logging in.
Moreover, Amazon Prime Video was initially promising because we could log in and choose a show to stream. Unfortunately, we got an error message after clicking the ‘Start Watching’ button. It is disappointing that PrivadoVPN, unlike many other premium VPNs, failed to unblock these streaming sites. We recommend using a top-notch VPN provider like NordVPN to access all major streaming platforms.
Note: Streaming sites actively search for VPN servers to block them. Using such servers means you won’t be able to access geo-blocked shows. However, VPN providers like PrivadoVPN constantly update their servers to evade restrictions on streaming sites. Therefore, you must hunt for a server to access your target streaming platform.
Can I use PrivadoVPN for torrenting?
What PrivadoVPN misses in streaming, it makes up in torrenting. All servers support P2P traffic, ensuring seamless torrenting.
PrivadoVPN also adds SOCKS5 Proxy to enhance torrenting. SOCKS5 servers provide faster speeds because they don’t use encryption, which makes data heavier and slows down connection.
Does PrivadoVPN Work in China?
PrivadoVPN can now circumvent The Great Firewall of China. However, it does not include the obfuscation feature, making it easy for Chinese authorities to see your VPN traffic. Also, the Free version of PrivadoVPN used to work in China, but it failed in July 2023.
We used a Shanghai server during our test and discovered it could bypass China’s Great Firewall. For example, we successfully unblocked YouTube and bypassed Chinese-blocked sites using the Taiwan server.
Unfortunately, establishing a connection with Chinese servers took a very long time. The triumph of PrivadoVPN in China is possible due to its small user base and unpopularity. As this VPN service becomes more popular, the Chinese authorities may eventually detect and block it. If you are blocked, you can select a top-tier alternative like NordVPN.
Customer service
PrivadoVPN uses the email ticketing system to attend to customers.
When we tested the system, we were connected to a rep in about a minute. However, answers to some questions were vague, which was frustrating. Surely, customer support could be better.
PrivadoVPN pricing and payment methods
PrivadoVPN offers three payment packages that give you savings depending on how many months you pay for. Here are the price packages:
| 1-month plan | 24-month plan | 12-month plan |
| $10.99/month | $1.99/month | $2.99/month |
All three packages offer the same features. However, only the 12-month and 24-month plans offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. That means you get a month’s trial to determine if the VPN provider is worth investing in for 12 or 24 months.
You can pay for PrivadoVPN using your credit card, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex, JCB, Diners Club International, or PayPal account.
Our thoughts about PrivadoVPN
PrivadoVPN is one of the youngest VPN providers in the industry and is holding its own regarding security, safety, and speed.
Despite PrivadoVPN’s success in security, its streaming performance disappoints us, which is not good enough. Nevertheless, the VPN provider offers decent speed and a free plan.
Ultimately, PrivadoVPN offers fairly good value for the money, but there are much better VPNs available.
FAQs
PrivadoVPN is a freemium VPN service that offers a free version but with limitations. You can upgrade to its premium version if you don’t want fewer features.
That depends on what you need from the free service. If you aim to bypass weak geo-blocks on YouTube, Twitter, and other less aggressive sites, you can enjoy PrivadoVPN for free. However, you need the paid version if you want a VPN that unblocks tougher sites and downloads torrents.
While PrivadoVPN unblocks Netflix in a few countries, there are better options for unblocking content on the streaming platform, as explained in our PrivadoVPN review. You need a more reliable VPN provider like NordVPN to unblock Netflix and other top streaming sites.
