WeVPN, which first opened its doors to the public in March 2020, is still very much a young child on the VPN block, as seen by the service specifications. The firm claims to have over 66 locations, but only has “100+ servers,” which is a fraction of what you’ll receive with NordVPN (5,400+) or CyberGhost (7,100+).
But don’t pass judgement on WeVPN just yet; explore a bit further, and you’ll discover the firm has a lot more to offer than you may think.
Do you want to give WeVPN a shot? Check out the website here
Features
WeVPN has a smaller network than many of its competitors, but it is also more secure. The servers operate in RAM (much like ExpressVPN and NordVPN) to ensure that they’re totally reset every time the machine starts, and the firm employs LUKS encryption to protect its data from hackers.
With the aid of WeVPN’s extensive selection of apps, you may use it on practically any platform: Windows, Mac, Linux (in beta), Android, iOS, Chrome OS, Android TV, Amazon Fire Stick, and more. Smart DNS allows you to set up unblocking support on Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and nearly anything else that allows you to create custom DNS with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions.
A kill switches to protect you if the VPN goes down; private encrypted DNS; IPv6 and DNS leak protection; ad, tracker, and malware blocking; split tunnelling (on Windows); P2P support on all servers; and the ability to handle up to 10 simultaneous connections are just a few of the key features.
WeVPN has certain less-common and more technical features, such as SOCKS5 and HTTPS proxies, as well as port forwarding capabilities.
And if anything doesn’t operate as it should, WeVPN offers live chat, ticket, and even Discord assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Plans and costs
WeVPN costs $9.95 per month, $4.16 per month billed annually, or $2.59 for the first term of its two-year plan.(The latter comes with three free months when you sign up for the first time, so you just pay $2.91 when you renew.) WeVPN accepts payments through cards, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and bitcoins, among other methods.
WeVPN’s website features a link that says “risk-free VPN trial,” but it doesn’t imply what we thought it meant. There is no free trial period, no ‘give us your payment information now and we’ll bill you in 7 days; you must join up and pay as normal.
Because you get a 30-day money-back guarantee from WeVPN, they label it “risk-free.” That’s great news, and there aren’t any hidden traps in the fine print: if you’re unsatisfied, simply ask for a refund, subject to the standard limitations. (You won’t get a refund from WeVPN if you purchased through an app store or with bitcoin, for example, but that applies to everyone.)
Logging and privacy
WeVPN claims to have a “zero log policy,” but what exactly does that imply?
With its registered office in the British Virgin Islands, the firm gets off to a strong start because it is outside of the 14-Eyes group of countries and has no data retention rules.
Everything the service doesn’t track is listed in a thorough privacy policy, including connection times, session lengths, incoming and outgoing IP addresses, bandwidth consumed, and more.
WeVPN does gather one or two items, according to the policy, but this isn’t uncommon. When you sign up for the service, for example, it asks for your email address and keeps track of how much bandwidth an account has used in the previous 24 hours. “We may know that a client has used WeVPN, but we never know how they have used our service,” says the policy.
If you’re worried about firms racing to WeVPN with court orders requesting logs, the VPN’s Transparency Report could be of interest. Since January 2020, WeVPN has not received a single subpoena, search warrant, or court order.
WeVPN says all the right things, but there’s nothing to back them up right now. The corporation stated that it would have its systems independently inspected by autumn 2020, but in the VPN industry, that was a long time ago, and it still hasn’t occurred.
Windows application
We joined up, paid the fees, then installed and opened the WeVPN Windows client in a matter of minutes.
The app has a familiar appearance and feel. When you first open it, it automatically selects the closest server for you, and you can join with a single click. Alternatively, choosing the current location brings up a location list, from which you may choose a previously used server, search for certain nations or locations, or scroll through the list and pick what you need.
It lacks several of the functionalities we would anticipate. For example, there is no favourites system (though the recent list makes up for it), and there are no latency or server load metrics to assist you in picking.
However, there are some unique features, such as the ability to see your original and VPN IP addresses and copy them to the clipboard with a single click.
With the app’s settings, it’s the same tale. This isn’t the most powerful tool we’ve seen, but it does a good job of covering the essentials. Auto-connect on startup or when connecting to an insecure network; a kill switch to prevent unprotected internet access if the VPN drops; split tunnelling to route selected app traffic outside of the tunnel; a choice of OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 protocols; and an optional WeBlock system to block ads, trackers, and malware. It has an enticing feature set that exceeds the competition in many ways.
In real-world use, the app connects in around 4–5 seconds. Even after we switched to OpenVPN, it took an average of 7-8 seconds to get up and running; many OpenVPN apps take two to three times as long.
It didn’t always work out this way, and it didn’t always work out this way. Until the connection was established, the app would display “connecting,” “disconnecting,” and “reconnecting” alerts. This usually necessitates an additional.
Kill switch
We tested a kill switch by forcing the VPN tunnel to collapse using various methods, then monitoring our connection and the app to see what happened.
In an ideal world, an app would identify the issue, disconnect our internet connection, display a warning to notify us of the situation, and rejoin us as soon as feasible. WeVPN didn’t quite meet that expectation.
For example, safeguarding our anonymity, WeVPN properly restricts our internet when we shut off an OpenVPN connection by shutting down the OpenVPN.exe application. However, the programme continued to indicate that we were connected, implying that in real-world use, we would notice that our connection had gone down but have no idea why. To regain regular access, we had to press the app’s disconnect button.
IKEv2 connections that were dropped functioned differently. The kill switch on WeVPN did not operate, and our internet was not blocked. This time, though, the software detected the issue and rejoined us in a matter of seconds, limiting our exposure to a bare minimum.
Attempting to remove WireGuard connections is harder, but when we did so, we encountered more strange issues. We had to manually close the programme from Task Manager to restore control since it wouldn’t disconnect sometimes and lingered on “reconnecting” at other times.
It’s critical to keep these findings in context. Our exams are designed to be as challenging as possible, simulating circumstances you may never encounter in real life. Even so, the programme performed admirably in several areas, such as blocking lost OpenVPN connections.
However, the IKEv2 failure is concerning, especially as we noted the same issue in our study in 2020. And, while WeVPN had a few victories, it fared poorly compared to the majority of the top competitors.
Mac application
We like the fact that WeVPN’s Mac client looks and feels virtually comparable to its Windows counterpart. It looks nice, and the familiar layout makes it simple to use: accept the closest location or select another from the list, then connect and detach with a few clicks.
There are also a lot more choices and settings than we generally find in Mac software. You may choose between three protocols (WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2), as well as a kill switch, the WeBlock ad, tracker, and malware blocker, and the ability to connect automatically when the programme is launched or connect to an unsafe or untrusted network.
The only big difference we saw is that the Mac programme lacks split tunnelling, but even that issue doesn’t appear to be a long-term issue: the firm promises split tunnelling will be available “soon.”
Android application
WeVPN’s mobile applications maintain the same visual design as the desktop versions, guaranteeing that once you’ve used it on one device, you’ll be ready to use it on any other.
The Android app has all of the essential desktop features, such as a kill switch, ad filtering, the WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols, and split tunnelling, as well as a few extras that aren’t available on Windows or Mac.
The VPN is turned off when you use the “Pause” option, but it is immediately restored 5, 30, or 60 minutes later. This is useful if you need to disconnect the VPN for a certain job but don’t want to risk forgetting to rejoin afterwards.
A “GPS Spoofing” option sets your GPS location to match the current VPN server, making it harder for apps to figure out where you are.
When WeVPN connects, haptic feedback vibrates your smartphone, letting you know when you’re secured without having to look at the screen.
There are also a few things that are lacking. The Android VPN software doesn’t immediately switch on when you connect to an untrusted or unsecured network, and it doesn’t support IKEv2 (just WireGuard or OpenVPN TCP/UDP). But if that’s not a concern for you, this appears to be a great Android pick, with a simple interface and a variety of useful functions.
The iPhone and iPad App
If you use an iPhone or iPad, you’re undoubtedly used to limited VPN programmes that offer just a fraction of the features available on Windows or Mac. WeVPN, on the other hand, offers a refreshingly new experience. The iOS version contains even more functionality than the other applications in the series, but has the same easy-to-use design and feel.
Take, for example, protocols. Not only does the software have WireGuard and OpenVPN, but it also has iOS compatibility, including Shadowsocks (to help you bypass firewalls and get online in VPN-blocking environments).
There are new options for using encrypted DNS or anonymized DNSCrypt to safeguard your DNS requests. Apple-only capabilities include the option to create Siri shortcuts for a more hands-free connection experience.
The iOS app also includes some of the more complex features you’ll find elsewhere. For example, there is still a kill switch. An ad blocker is a programme that prevents advertisements from being displayed. When you connect, the gadget vibrates with haptic feedback. In addition, unlike Android, the iOS app has an option to connect automatically when you connect to an unsafe Wi-Fi network.
It isn’t all good news, though. We had several troubles: it took a long time for the app to even let us log in – and the 3.7-star rating on the App Store isn’t great (ExpressVPN scores 4.5, NordVPN an impressive 4.7).
Nonetheless, we must commend WeVPN’s ambition. If you’re weary of iOS VPN apps that lag behind the rest of the pack, give WeVPN a try to see how the service works for you.
Extensions for the web browser
VPN browser extensions normally just secure browser traffic, but that’s plenty in certain cases, and WeVPN provides add-ons for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, which is nice to see.
These are a wonderful complement to the rest of the collection’s general appearance and feel. The UI is basic yet recognisable, and if you’ve ever used a VPN or proxy extension before, you’ll know what to do right away.
There’s also a long list of features. Split tunnelling, WebRTC leak prevention, location spoofing, WeBlock ad, tracker, and malware protection, and enhanced blocking of YouTube advertising and annotations, as well as cookie popups, are all features of the Chrome extension.
The bad news is that the Chrome extension did not function consistently for us. We frequently connected just to discover that we couldn’t access any websites. Perhaps there was a problem with our system, but if the browser extensions are vital to you, don’t expect them to perform properly. While you’re still inside the 30-day money-back guarantee period, thoroughly test them.
Streaming services such as Netflix
Our WeVPN unblocking tests were off to a solid start, with the UK server allowing us to access BBC iPlayer right away.
Our Netflix findings were a bit of a mixed bag. We were unable to access Netflix material in the United States, Canada, or Australia. However, WeVPN was able to unblock Netflix in the United Kingdom and Japan.
More good news came when we were allowed to view Amazon Prime Video programming that was only available in the United States. WeVPN allowed us to browse and watch everything we wanted, despite the fact that Disney Plus blocks numerous VPNs.
Three out of four successes is a good outcome, and it’s better than many other suppliers. Others, however, have been more successful; in our most recent evaluations, CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, Hotspot Shield, NordVPN, ProtonVPN, and Surfshark unblocked everything.
WeVPN has one more unblocking feature. The company’s SmartDNS solution allows sites to be unblocked on gaming consoles, Smart TVs, and other devices that can’t run standard applications.
Performance
We run many tests, utilising a variety of platforms, including SpeedTest’s website and command-line software, SpeedOfMe, nPerf, and others, to get a sense of what a service can achieve.
The download speed from a UK data centre with a 1Gbps connection was 610-640Mbps. That’s a decent mid-range result, and while it’s not as fast as the leaders (TorGuard hit 950Mbps, Hide.me 900Mbps, and IPVanish 890Mbps), it’s still faster than some of the most popular VPNs (Hotspot Shield and Private Internet Access reached around 320Mbps).
WeVPN gets a lot of points for its consistency. This VPN didn’t achieve the same highs as the best of the others, but it also didn’t have any surprising lows, and the 600Mbps+ it provided is more than adequate for most circumstances.
If you run into any issues, you may get assistance from the support site. Although there is some stuff here, it pales in comparison to what we see from services like ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
Another alternative is to contact the customer service department. There are more options for communication than normal, such as live chat, email, and even a Discord channel. We used email to see how long the longest delay would be, and the response was “not long at all.” Only 19 minutes later, a brief yet informative, courteous, and correct response arrived. Even if you have a complicated problem that necessitates a longer discussion, finding a solution should not take long.
Review of WeVPN: The Final Word
WeVPN is a good middle-of-the-road VPN service. It doesn’t offer the fastest speeds, the most secure privacy protection, or the finest unblocking performance, but it has enough power to outperform many competitors, and you get a lot for your money.
