Based in the Commonwealth of Dominica, ZenVPN is a provider that has been offering an affordable VPN solution since 2013. The company takes online freedom very seriously and it is committed to offer customers the chance to enjoy the content that they want, without worrying about censorship or geographical restrictions. Of course, security is another important aspect of the service and ZenVPN strives to help you to keep your connection secure in a simple and effective way. Here is more about ZenVPN.
Privacy and Security
OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP/IPSec are the protocols supported, which gives you flexibility to use the service on a variety of platforms and for different purposes. OpenVPN is the bets option if your main concern is security, while L2TP/IPSec is a practical and efficient protocol that works well in multiple devices. PPTP is fast, but it is not secure so you may want to avoid it, or use it only to access non-sensitive information. Unfortunately, ZenVPN doesn’t provide specific details about the encryption used and only states that it uses a strong level of protection to ensure that your traffic can’t be compromised.
They state that your online activities are not logged. However, they do collect some details about the way in which you use the service. For instance, they keep track and store information regarding the amount of bandwidth that you use. It is likely that the date and time of connection, as well as the type of device used are also logged. In addition, This is kept for the time that your account remains active. They claim that your data is not shared with third-parties, unless there is a request from law enforcement in which case, they will hand over the data they have. Still, this wouldn’t be a major concern for most people. Since they are based in Dominica, they are less likely to be affected by surveillance from the likes of the NSA.
Features
Downloading and installing the ZenVPN client on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS is simple, and they also offer set up guides and configuration files to get the service running on any platform. Since the client is very basic, there is no much to adjust in terms of settings. ZenVPN doesn’t offer advanced features, but it allows you to connect fast. You can see information about different aspects including performance and status of your connection. At the moment, they have servers in 30 countries and the network of servers is regularly being updated. Using ZenVPN is easy and you can easily select the server that you want to connect to. The service promises blazing speeds and although overall, the service works well and will be suitable for general browsing and some streaming, it is not impressively fast. On the bright side, P2P is allowed and no bandwidth restrictions are imposed on the unlimited plans.
Plans
ZenVPN has two types of plans. The Standard plans offer up to 5GB of data transfer per day. One week of this plan costs $2.95 USD, which would be a good option if you only want to use the VPN for a limited time and don’t want to commit to a long term subscription. One month of the Standard plan costs $5.95 and if you want to use the service for a full year, you will need to pay $49.99, which reduces the monthly cost to around $4.16. If you don’t want to be subject to data transfer restrictions, you should go for an unlimited plan. One week costs $5.95, one months is priced at $9.95 and one year costs $95.50, meaning that the monthly cost is $7.95. There is also a free trial that lets you check the service with limited access to the network of servers. ZenVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee offered, but keep in mind you are only eligible for a refund if you have used less than 5GB. Bitcoin is accepted as method of payment.
Customer Support
This is an area in which ZenVPN has some work to do. Although there are useful guides and information that will help you to set up the VPN manually if needed, the lack of a knowledge base or FAQ section makes things challenging for customers who want to know more about the service. It is only possible to contact them via web form and the responses may take a few hours.
Conclusion
If simplicity is what you want, ZenVPN is right up your alley. The service works well when it comes to bypassing restrictions to access websites and it adds security to your connection when you are using public WiFi. However, it is not the fastest solution and the fact that they don’t offer details about their security measures and encryption may cause concerns. The client is easy to use but it lacks features that could help to improve your security and enjoy a more versatile experience. In addition, the paid plans are more expensive than what you pay for other VPNs that are known for offering reliable and fast performance. ZenVPN is a good service, but it has some work to do in order to catch up with the leading names in the industry.