You need a Virtual Private Network – or VPN – to protect your privacy and security while browsing the internet. Many VPNs claim to offer privacy and security, and OVPN is one of them. OVPN is operating since 2014, and it’s owned by OVPN Integritet AB, a Swedish company.
The VPN market is highly competitive. Apart from offering privacy and security, many VPN providers claim to unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix. Many VPNs claim to allow P2P/torrenting. You will find many VPNs promising to offer great speed, compatibility, and customer support. The reality often varies from their claims, though.
OVPN claims to offer privacy, security, transparency, speed, access to geo-restricted streaming services, access to P2P/torrenting services, compatibility, and robust customer support. Does it deliver what it promises? Will OVPN meet your requirements and should you buy it? Read our review to find that out.
Pricing
Most people buying a VPN consider the price as an important decision-making factor. OVPN offers 3 pricing plans, which are as follows:
- Monthly: This plan costs you $11/month;
- 6-months: You pay $41.94 once in 6 months, which translates to a monthly average cost of $6.99;
- Yearly: This plan costs you $59.88 once in a year, which means that your monthly average cost is $4.99.
All of these plans include all features except for “Multihop”. This feature allows you to route your encrypted Internet traffic through multiple servers, which increases your security. If you buy the monthly plan of OVPN, then you need to buy Multihop as an add-on. This costs you $5/month. The 6-months and yearly plans include Multihop in their price.
OVPN is slightly more expensive than several market-leading VPNs. It offers discounts in its 6-months and yearly plans, which makes its price justified due to its valuable features which we will review in a while.
Free Trial
OVPN doesn’t offer a free trial.
Payment Methods
You can buy an OVPN subscription using all major credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc. OVPN accepts payment via PayPal. You can also pay Bitcoin, which offers relative anonymity. Finally, you can pay by cash, which allows for complete anonymity.
Payment Security
OVPN has a secure website, and your payment transactions using it are secure. If you pay using credit cards, then OVPN doesn’t store your credit card information. OVPN uses Braintree, a popular payment provider with a PCI DSS certificate. Braintree stores your credit card information, therefore, your information is secure. OVPN uses BitPay to accept payment by Bitcoin, and BitPay is a secure provider too.
Features
We now examine the features that OVPN offers:
Support for secure protocols: OVPN supports OpenVPN, which is the most secure VPN protocol. This protocol doesn’t have any known vulnerability. OpenVPN also supports WireGuard, a promising VPN protocol that’s still under development. WireGuard uses more advanced cryptography, and it promises both security and speed. We recommend that you use OpenVPN since it’s tried and tested. You can use WireGuard on an experimental basis.
Up to 4 simultaneous connections: You can connect up to 4 devices simultaneously using one OVPN subscription.
Preventing IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks: OVPN prevents all IP and DNS leaks. To prevent WebRTC leaks, it asks you to install and use its Chrome and Firefox browser extensions along with its VPN.
“Kill Switch”: OVPN offers a “kill switch”, which blocks your Internet connection if the VPN connection terminates unexpectedly. This keeps your sensitive information safe even if the VPN connection drops suddenly.
“Perfect Forward Secrecy” (PFS): OVPN uses the OpenVPN protocol with the Diffie-Hellman key exchange. This has “Perfect Forward Secrecy” (PFS) built-in. PFS is a security feature that protects you even if a cyber-attacker gets hold of your encryption key. PFS changes the key regularly, therefore, the cybercriminal can’t use the stolen key for any significant time. In the case of OVPN, the PFS feature changes the key every 45th to 75th minute.
Security measures for the servers: OVPN owns and operates all of its servers, and it has implemented several security measures for them. This includes physical and technical measures.
RAM storage instead of hard drives: OVPN doesn’t use any hard drive in its servers. It uses tmpfs storage in RAM, which is a more advanced technology. This eliminates the logging of users’ Internet activities since the RAM storage is removed as soon as a system is rebooted.
Preventing ads, trackers, and malware: OVPN includes a blocker for ads, trackers, and malware in its Chrome and Firefox browser extensions.
Unblocking geo-restricted streaming services: OVPN claims to unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix, HBO Nordic, C More, TV4 Play, and SVT Play. The company claims that you can access these using all servers in the regions it supports. In reality, it often unblocks Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO. OVPN can’t do this always though. It can’t unblock BBC iPlayer. OVPN might not always offer good speed while streaming. While OVPN often succeeds in unblocking geo-restricted streaming services, you should explore a market-leading VPN if you want to consistently stream at high speed.
Allowing P2P/torrenting: OVPN allows P2P/torrenting on all of its servers, and it doesn’t impose any bandwidth restrictions. You could see a sub-optimal download speed though. If you want a VPN that allows P2P/torrenting at a high speed, then you should explore other leading VPNs.
Multihop: OVPN offers the “Multihop” feature, which allows you to route your traffic through multiple servers. It adds to your security while browsing the Internet. Note that for the OVPN monthly plan, this feature is an add-on. OVPN includes the price of this feature in its 6-months and yearly plans.
We are happy with the features that OVPN offers. We consider the price of OVPN justified due to these features. Having said that, we would like OVPN to work in China. At the time of this review, it can’t bypass the kind of Internet censorship that countries like China impose.
Server Locations
If a VPN provider has a sufficient number of servers in all key geographies, then it has a better chance to offer good speed. At the time of this review, OVPN has 89 servers in 23 countries. It has a presence in the following geographies:
Asia:
OVPN has servers in Japan and Singapore.
Europe:
OVPN has its presence in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, UK, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
North America:
OVPN has servers in the US and Canada.
Oceania:
OVPN is present in Australia.
OVPN has fewer server locations and servers than several market-leading VPNs. It has no presence in geographies like Latin America and Africa, moreover, it has a limited presence in Asia. While OVPN offers good speed, it could drop depending on where you connect from.
OVPN invests in high-quality servers. It owns and operates its infrastructure. The company describes its server infrastructure transparently on its “network” page. OVPN also shows its server status transparently.
This VPN provider invests in both the physical and technical security of its server infrastructure. OVPN doesn’t use any hard drive on its servers since it uses RAM storage. This is an advanced technology, which helps OVPN to implement a “no logs” policy.
In our review, we find that OVPN has invested in very robust server infrastructure. Despite of its fewer servers than some leading VPNs, we are impressed with the server infrastructure of OVPN.
Privacy
Most VPN users prioritize privacy and you probably do that too. OVPN demonstrates a strong privacy focus. This VPN doesn’t log its users’ Internet activities. On its “Privacy policy” page, OVPN states that it doesn’t log any of the following:
- Internet traffic
- Timestamps
- DNS requests
- IP addresses
- MAC addresses
- Bandwidth consumed by users
While this is a comprehensive “no logs” policy, OVPN goes further. It takes the following technical and physical measures to protect the privacy of its users:
- OVPN runs its own servers.
- The company secures its servers both physically and by using technical means.
- This VPN doesn’t use any hard drives. It uses tmpfs storage in RAM, which eliminates its logging capabilities. RAM storage is automatically removed upon rebooting a system.
- OVPN has removed the writing permissions for the OpenVPN processes.
- This VPN provider has removed syslogs.
- OVPN doesn’t allow any physical console access to its servers. This VPN doesn’t allow any keyboard or USB access to its servers either.
OVPN has implemented a comprehensive “no logs” policy!
You don’t need to provide your name, address, or even an email address when you buy an OVPN subscription. OVPN requires you to create a username and password, and it secures this information. Since you don’t need to provide an email address, OVPN can’t even connect any of your activities to an email address. Note that OVPN recommends that you provide an email address for purposes like password reset, however, you can choose not to provide this. In effect, OVPN doesn’t collect any personally identified information, and we are impressed!
You can pay for an OVPN subscription by cash or Bitcoin, which allows anonymous payment. OVPN doesn’t store any payment information. It uses secure payment providers like Braintree and BitPay, and these providers securely store your payment information.
This VPN runs its website using a physical machine it owns, and it hosts this machine in its datacentre in Stockholm. It uses a few 3rd party services and it lists all of them in its privacy policy. The following are a few examples:
- OVPN uses Matomo, which collects website analytics information about visitors. This process the anonymity of IP addresses, therefore, it collects no personal information.
- To provide customer support, OVPN uses Intercom. OVPN shares only the user account information with Intercom and users don’t need to provide an email address. As a result, no personal information is exchanged.
Note that if you use the OVPN chat support outside of its working hours, then you need to provide an email address to receive a response to your question during its working hours. You can choose not to provide the email address and use the chat during the working hours. OVPN processes all information per applicable laws.
The jurisdiction of OVPN is Sweden, which is part of the “14 Eyes” coalition of countries that conduct mass surveillance. However, OVPN has no technical capability to log the Internet activities of its users. If a competent orders OVPN to provide information concerning its users, then OVPN can only provide user account information. As we have explained earlier, OVPN doesn’t store any personally identifiable information as part of user account information.
OVPN has bought insurance that covers legal fees arising from a court case where a party asks OVPN to hand over users’ information. This VPN provider publishes monthly transparency reports listing requests for information from government agencies, uptime, etc. The company states that it has never provided any information about its users to any government agencies.
We are satisfied with the privacy focus and “no logs” policy of OVPN. If you prioritize privacy, then OVPN is an excellent choice.
Encryption
Look for a VPN that secures your sensitive information when you browse the Internet, and encryption is the key to this. OVPN describes its encryption solution on its “Security” page. The company uses the following encryption solution:
- AES-256-GCM for OpenVPN 2.4 or above;
- AES-256-CBC with HMAC-SHA1 for OpenVPN 2.3 or older.
OVPN uses the Diffie-Hellman key exchange for OpenVPN with RSA-4096 bit keys. This is the strongest possible encryption that a VPN can use!
Note that OVPN supports WireGuard, another promising VPN protocol still under development. You can use it on an experimental basis. OVPN uses the strongest possible encryption for this protocol too.
We believe that your sensitive information is secure with OVPN since OVPN has excellent encryption solutions.
Interface and Ease of Use
User-friendly VPNs matter, especially to users that aren’t tech-savvy. OVPN demonstrates its user-friendliness as soon as you visit its website. You can navigate it easily and locate key “Call To Action” (CTA) buttons like “Get Started”.
The OVPN website displays key information like pricing, server network, and privacy policy. You can easily understand its privacy policy and terms of services. Buying an OVPN subscription involves just a few intuitive steps.
You can easily find its custom apps, install them, and use them. While OVPN offers custom apps for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu, it doesn’t do that for other platforms. It would be great if OVPN to offer custom apps for all key desktops, Android, and iOS.
OVPN offers easy-too-use guides for the platforms where it doesn’t offer a custom app. These guides can help you to install the OpenVPN client and configure OVPN on your device. Where applicable, OVPN also provides guides to use the WireGuard VPN protocol with its VPN configuration information. You can locate these guides easily.
OVPN is user-friendly. However, it should offer custom apps for all key platforms that it supports.
Customer Support
A VPN provider should offer robust customer support, which OVPN does. This VPN provider offers guides and FAQs, moreover, you can contact the customer support team in several ways.
Setup Guides
OVPN provides detailed guides. These guides cover the installation and use of its custom apps, moreover, they also cover manual VPN configuration. The OVPN website has guides for all the platforms it supports.
Contact Support
You can use the live chat facility offered by OVPN, however, it’s not available 24×7. The live chat is available from 9 AM to 5 PM Central European time on working days. You can use its contact form to reach the OVPN customer support team. Alternatively, you can send an email to the support team.
Troubleshooting
The OVPN customer support team demonstrates professionalism. The customer support team is knowledgable, and it promptly supports you.
FAQ
OVPN offers an excellent FAQ. You can search it, moreover, OVPN neatly categorizes all articles. The FAQ is comprehensive, and it covers all key topics like troubleshooting, streaming, pricing, etc.
OVPN is perfect when it comes to the Customer Support aspect. It offers excellent documentation, searchable knowledgebase, and robust customer service.
Money-Back Guarantee
OVPN offers a 10-days money-back guarantee for first-time purchases. The company explains its refund policy in its “Terms of Service” page. You need to contact OVPN with your refund request via email or live chat within 10 days of purchase.
OVPN reserves the right to refuse refund requests if you have renewed your account with it. If you have paid using Bitcoin, then OVPN will refund the equivalent amount irrespective of exchange rate fluctuations. If you have paid by cash, then you need to visit the OVPN office to receive your refund.
Speed and Performance
OVPN offers good speed and performance, thanks to its high-end server infrastructure. Since OVPN isn’t present in certain geographies, you could see a bit lower speed if you connect from these regions.
Compatibility
OVPN supports all key platforms. Among desktops, it supports Windows and Mac. OVPN supports Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Manjaro, and Fedora among Linux desktops. This VPN also supports operating systems like Raspberry Pi and FreeBSD.
Among smartphones and tablets, OVPN supports Android and iOS. OVPN supports a wide range of routers, which include the following:
- AsusWrt
- DD-WRT
- EdgeOS
- OpenWrt
- OPNsense
- Tomato
- pfSense
OVPN also supports “Network Attached Storage” (NAS) devices like Asustor, FreeNAS, Synology NAS, and QNAP.
OVPN offers custom apps for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. It offers guides to set up the VPN manually on all other platforms. We would like OVPN to offer custom apps for all Linux distributions it supports, Android, and iOS. Some VPN users may not be tech-savvy, and custom apps help them.
We are okay with the compatibility of OVPN with all key platforms. However, if you want a VPN that offers custom apps for all key platforms, then you should try to search for a different VPN.
Conclusion
OVPN promises privacy, security, speed, user-friendliness, and access to geo-restricted streaming services. This VPN has very strong privacy features and an effective “no logs” policy. OVPN also offers excellent security features.
While OVPN unblocks geo-restricted streaming services, it can’t do that always. OVPN allows P2P/torrenting. While OVPN offers reasonable speed, its lack of presence in some geographies impacts its speed sometimes. This can impact your streaming and P2P/torrenting experience.
OVPN supports all key platforms and it’s a user-friendly VPN. It doesn’t offer custom apps for all key platforms though. OVPN provides guides for all platforms, a comprehensive FAQ, and robust customer support.
OVPN is on the expensive side. While it doesn’t provide a free trial, it does offer a 10-days money-back guarantee. We consider OVPN a good buy considering its excellent privacy and security features.