PrivadoVPN

PrivadoVPN is an up-and-coming service with a popular free version. It’s one of the few genuinely free VPNs that even has servers in Brazil. But is it a safe choice, and is the premium service worth upgrading? We tested all of its features to find out.

After our tests, I can recommend PrivadoVPN as a first-rate free service and a solid premium one. The free version offers 13 locations, a full suite of security features, and good speeds. However, there are paid VPNs with more extensive networks, live chat support, and better device compatibility for a comparable price to its premium plans.

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Streaming — Impressive on Free and Premium Tiers

PrivadoVPN’s premium app can safely access all the top streaming platforms and provide excellent playback quality. The premium locations worked great in the tests done by my international team and myself. We only had to adjust the protocols a few times, but there was no further troubleshooting required.

Its free option works nearly as well although it’s not compatible with as many platforms. However, its data limit (10GB per month) means you won’t be able to stream for long, especially in high quality. But, it’s still a great way to test out the VPN for streaming without making a commitment.

Works With: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, and BBC iPlayer

We were able to watch full Netflix libraries from several countries. I was happy that there were no quality issues. Videos loaded with little hesitation, and we rarely encountered any buffering with the platform.

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BBC iPlayer worked just as well. We were able to encrypt our connections and watch One Piece without even noticing a VPN was activated.

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Hulu and Amazon Prime Video worked great with the paid app. However, they couldn’t be safely viewed with the free version. It’s actually a great result that only 2 platforms didn’t work with the free tier. Most free VPNs have trouble securely accessing any major platforms (they’re generally used for things like YouTube).

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In the end, PrivadoVPN has no problems safely accessing the most popular platforms from anywhere. As stated above, you’ll need to use the premium app to get the most out of it. It could even be one of the best free VPNs for streaming someday, but it would have to adjust its data restrictions.

Speed — Above-Average Rates On All Plans

PrivadoVPN is fast on nearby locations and decent on distant ones. All VPNs will slow you down more as the servers get farther away, but we’ve found several that maintain better rates than Privado.

We employ a speed expert from the UK to do the vast majority of our tests. Since they connect from the same location with the same connection, it helps us create more fair comparisons. For Privado’s tests, OpenVPN UDP was utilized because it provided the fastest speeds.

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The fastest VPNs lower speeds 10-20% on nearby locations, and Privado is right in that range. They also reduce rates about 40-60% when servers get farther away, but Privado started dropping our speeds at closer distances than they normally do.

The speeds are basically identical on free and paid servers. But, you only get 13 locations with the free app, so you’ll encounter significant drops if there isn’t a location closeby. Based on our tests, it didn’t seem like the free servers were more crowded than paid ones, but that’s another possibility that could result in speed loss.

It’s unfortunate the VPN doesn’t provide load statistics (which measure how crowded server locations are). This could make it easier to find faster servers, but I do appreciate that you can adjust its Best Location feature. You can make it choose the best server for you based on location or latency.

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Privado performs well in this category, especially for a newer VPN. On the other hand, there are more established VPNs that are quite a bit faster. To find a service that makes it easier to find nearby connections, check out our list of the fastest VPNs.

Gaming — Not the Most Reliable Option

PrivadoVPN often has ping rates that are too high for enjoyable online gaming sessions. Like with streaming, you won’t be able to game for very long with its restrictive free app either. Its small server network could also cause issues because I’ve never found a VPN that lets you play games with minimal lag on distant servers.

This is because ping is affected even worse by distance than download or upload rates. You want a ping of about 85ms or less to play online. Unfortunately, Privado’s ping results were often much slower.

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There are many VPNs better suited for gaming with optimized servers and faster speeds. The top gaming VPNs also come with protection from DDoS threats, which are a horrible category of cyberattacks you want to avoid on sketchy gaming networks. I recommend you take a look at our best VPNs for gaming to stay safe while you hone your skills.

Server Network — Small Selection Without Many Extra Features

The VPN provides 500 servers in 50 countries which doesn’t compare favorably to its competitors. For example, CyberGhost offers twice as many countries and their prices are nearly the same on the longest subscriptions.

Servers are largely concentrated in Europe. There’s also an okay selection in Asia. Only 1 country is offered in Africa, and South America gets 2. So, I’d keep these in mind if you’re trying to optimize speeds. There are no optimized servers. Although the VPN didn’t require them for streaming, it could have helped its gaming results.

The free tier lets you connect to 13 locations, and it’s one of the few free VPNs that offers a server in Brazil. Check out all the countries its free service provides:

It was annoying that it took about 25 seconds on average to establish a connection. Once again, this was exactly the same while using free and premium locations. It also takes nearly as long to disconnect. This isn’t a huge issue, but top VPNs only take about 5 seconds to connect.

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Support stated it couldn’t disclose if it owns its servers or uses virtual locations. They claimed this was due to security reasons. However, many VPNs are proud to let you know when they own their servers since it gives less people access to them. This makes them more privacy-friendly. Virtual locations aren’t a problem, but they could be farther away than you expect.

It also doesn’t sell dedicated IP addresses. These are necessary if you want to safely set up something like a website, which requires a consistent address. Many VPNs offer them for a small additional fee. You can find a VPN with a vast network and options for static IPs in this list.

Security — Safe With a Good Amount of Customization

PrivadoVPN can keep you safe, and it gives you a vast number of security options. It comes with all the necessary features to protect you from hackers and snoops online, and I’m glad its free app can access all its security settings.

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In addition to the features listed below, it comes with Smart Route (its name for split tunneling). This allows you to keep some traffic out of the VPN tunnel. I find it useful when I need to access my bank app. I put it on my regular connection, so I don’t get flagged.

Encryption & Protocols

You’ll get AES 256-bit encryption and a great selection of protocols. This is the standard encryption level you should expect with any VPN. It’s put into practice by major banks around the world because it’s nearly impossible to decrypt. You can also customize your connection by deciding which protocols it connects through. Check out this breakdown of each one:

• OpenVPN is generally the safest option. It’s open-source, which allows cybersecurity enthusiasts all over the world to check it for vulnerabilities. The TCP version is more stable, while UDP offers better speeds. The Scramble option can also obfuscate your connection with OpenVPN, which makes your VPN traffic look like normal traffic.
• WireGuard is usually the fastest choice. However, as you saw in our tests, OpenVPN UDP outperformed it with this VPN. Still, it’s a good option because it’s secure and could work better with certain platforms or websites.
• IKEv2 is an older protocol well-suited for mobile devices. While OpenVPN and WireGuard offer more advanced security, IKEv2 is more lightweight. This means it drains less battery and can reconnect more quickly when you’re switching between networks.

Kill Switch

This is a particularly important feature which acts as a failsafe in case the VPN ever falters. In the event that the VPN suddenly disconnects, the kill switch cuts off your internet connection. That prevents you from going online without any protection. I appreciate that you can set it to allow local network devices or certain applications through (like printers).

Control Tower (Ad and Malware Blocker)

Control Tower offers tons of selection for blocking pop-ups, adult content, social media apps and more. I was impressed by how comprehensive it is. There are 3 categories you can adjust here: Threats, Family Security, and Social. The first category offers your main protections, while the other 2 allow you to censor the internet for children.

It’s a good ad-blocker, but like with most VPNs, some things can still sneak through. For example, you shouldn’t rely on it to block ads on YouTube videos, but it’s quite effective on banner ads, malicious websites, and installation files with malware.

Privacy — Excellent Policy That Just Requires Verification

PrivadoVPN has a great no-logging policy and is located in one of the most privacy-friendly countries. Its policies state that it never stores users’ IP addresses and that it has no access to their online traffic. The only thing is it hasn’t undergone an audit or any kind of legal court case which could definitively prove its policies are followed.

Does PrivadoVPN Keep Logs? No

The VPN only stores aggregated and anonymized information to keep its services running. This includes things like operating systems, device type, total number of installs, and the number of active users. It also has to track the amount of data used on its free app.

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I appreciate that it stores so little because even some great VPNs record more anonymized information. This can include things like timestamps, the IP addresses of the servers you connect to, and which country you access the VPN from.

Was PrivadoVPN Audited? No

There is no evidence online that PrivadoVPN has undergone any kind of third party audit. While it can be an expensive process, the top VPNs pay credible outside organizations to test their infrastructure and to make sure they’re following their policies. Needless to say, I hope Privado goes through this process in the future.

Based in Switzerland

Switzerland isn’t a part of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances, which makes it a more attractive location for a VPN company. This is an agreement between several governments to share their citizens’ information. So, I’m always happy to see a VPN with headquarters outside of it.

Does PrivadoVPN Work in China? Yes

PrivadoVPN support staff confirmed that the VPN does work in China.

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It’s true that the Chinese government has banned many VPNs, but there have been no publicly-reported cases of them prosecuting the individuals who use them. With that said, my team and I don’t condone any illegal activities. We strongly recommend that you read up on the local laws before using a VPN anywhere in the world.

Torrenting — Fast With the Security You Want on P2P Networks

PrivadoVPN let us download torrents slightly faster than we could with no VPN connected. In our test, we used a nearby server to access a 700MB torrent file. Without a VPN, it would have taken us 20 minutes to complete. Impressively, it only took about 19 minutes with Privado connected. But, you could have decreased speeds if there are no servers near you.

Although there’s no port forwarding feature in the app, it’s plenty fast without it. This is a feature that can be helpful for torrenting as it’s known to increase both downloading and seeding speeds. In addition, Privado’s great security features make it a VPN I feel safe using on P2P networks where you never know who you’re connecting with.

While torrenting is legal in most countries, it’s illegal to download copyrighted files everywhere. We ask that you please only access torrents within the public domain.