OVPN Review – Is It Safe and Worth the Price?

OVPN is a 6-year-old VPN service with a pretty good track record. However, I have no clue why it still hasn’t gone mainstream like some other relatively newer VPN providers.

To be honest with you, before writing this review and just by visiting OVPN’s website, I thought that this VPN service would disappoint me. However, I was wrong.

After getting to play around with it for a couple of days, I can say that OVPN is definitely worth getting. It can easily unblock Netflix and other streaming services, it does support torrenting, it is quite fast, and it offers powerful military-grade AES-256-GCM encryption.

The only issue I have with the service is the price. Its 24-month plan starts at $4.99/mo, which can be considered expensive, considering that its server network is relatively small.

But overall, OVPN is a well-thought-out VPN service with an intuitive Android App. But how does it stand against its competitors? Does it have what it takes to be recommended on TheVPNExperts? Read on to find out or get started with OVPN now.

Key Findings from the OVPN Review

OVPN Speed Test Analysis

Since OVPN offers 90+ servers, I didn’t expect it to provide incredible speeds. However, once I performed an extensive speed test on it, I was more than happy with OVPN’s performance.

To figure out what OVPN was capable of delivering, I first ran speed tests on servers close to the Netherlands (my actual location) and then also on long-distance servers.

One thing that made my testing so much more convenient was OVPN’s automatic server selection feature. I didn’t have to pick servers manually. Also, being able to check latency against each offered server came in handy too. That’s something I found missing in Hide.my name VPN.

Anyway, here’s a table with all the speed test results of OVPN:

For close-distance speed tests, I made sure to connect to servers close to my actual physical location in the Netherlands. So, I shortlisted the Switzerland and the United Kingdom server locations.

Without OVPN connected, the speeds that I got through my ISP (T-Mobile) in the Netherlands were around 96.11 Mbps download, 92.45 upload, and 12 ms pings on my 100 Mbps connection.

When I connected to the Swiss server, which was only 627.7 km away from my actual location, I managed to get a download speed of 71.3 Mbps, an upload speed of 73.66 Mbps, and a ping of 125 ms. That’s a 28.7% decrease in download speed and a 26.34% decrease in upload speed.

For real-world testing, I played 1080p videos on YouTube and didn’t notice any fluctuations. I also played PUBG while connected to OVPN to test its latency but couldn’t nitpick anything annoying. Throughout my gaming session, my pings stayed roughly between 150 ms to 200 ms.

Aside from the Swiss server location, I also checked out the speeds while connected to the UK server location. When connected, I managed to get a download speed of 66.82 Mbps, an upload speed of 89.11 Mbps, and a ping of 119 ms.

Overall, OVPN performed quite well when connected to close-distance servers. I was quite impressed by its overall speed.

Overall, I can definitely confirm that OVPN’s leak protection feature actually works and it is not going to expose your real IP address no matter what.

OVPN Streaming: OVPN Can Unblock Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Hulu, But not BBC iPlayer

When testing OVPN, I was quite impressed by its streaming performance. I say this because I was able to unblock Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and even Hulu with it. I simply toggled on the “Streaming services” option, and everything worked flawlessly. The only streaming service that didn’t work with OVPN was BBC iPlayer. Even after trying multiple times, I just couldn’t get it to work.

Before I show you the screenshots of different streaming services that I managed to unblock with OVPN, here’s a screenshot of my original Netherlands IP address without OVPN connected:

OVPN Netflix Results

To unblock U.S. Netflix, I tested the following servers — USA (Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York). Out of the six servers that I tested, the Miami server location didn’t work. But the rest of the U.S. servers managed to unblock American Netflix almost instantly.

As I mentioned earlier, BBC iPlayer didn’t work. I tried accessing BBC iPlayer with multiple UK servers, however, with no luck whatsoever. Here’s a screenshot of that:

When I tried accessing Hulu with OVPN, I instantly managed to stream a bunch of shows without any issues. Here’s a screenshot of me streaming Harlots on Hulu:

When I tried accessing Amazon Prime with OVPN, it worked on the first try. Here’s a screenshot of that:

I also tried accessing Disney+ with OVPN and it too worked flawlessly. Normally, some VPNs tend to just get stuck on the login screen. I played IRON Man and it worked.

Lastly, I tried using Kodi with OVPN, however, I couldn’t find the add-on for it. I did try leaving OVPN running in the background while accessing Kodi and it worked out quite well. Here’s a screenshot of that:

Overall, OVPN is good for streaming, but if you want to unblock BBC iPlayer, you might want to try some other VPN. Surfshark for instance can easily unblock BBC iPlayer.

OVPN Works Great with Torrenting

Even though OVPN didn’t perform too great in my streaming test, it actually performed quite well in my torrenting test. Not only does it support torrenting on all of its servers, but it also offers cool features like unlimited bandwidth, a strong no-logs policy, and, Kill Switch.

To test out the torrenting performance of OVPN, I first connected to a US server. After getting connected, I managed to achieve a downloading speed of around 106.04 kB/sec and an uploading speed of 4.27 kB/sec.

I also connected to other server locations as well and didn’t notice my speeds dropping or anything like that, even when queuing up multiple torrent files at the same time. Overall, I think OVPN is a fantastic VPN to download torrents with.

OVPN Offers Apps for Most Platforms

Although OVPN is compatible with pretty much anything you can think of, it only offers dedicated apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. For iOS and Android, you’ll have to rely on manual configurations. But the good thing is that you can find easy setup tutorials on their website.

As far as look and feel go, I’m not a big fan of how OVPN apps look. Their apps are very basic looking in design. But regardless of that, their apps work great, which is what matters the most.

The setup files for their Windows, macOS, and Linux apps are quite small. For instance, OVPN’s Windows app file size is only 75.4 MB. Because of the small file size, it takes little to no time to get installed.

As far as ease of use goes, OVPN’s apps are very easy to use. I like that all the settings of their desktop apps are nicely sorted in a single list. Overall, if looks don’t matter to you, OVPN should be a perfect fit for you.

OVPN Has a No-Logging Policy

OVPN is a legit no-log VPN service. They clearly state in their Privacy policy that they do not log any of your activities when you connect to their VPN service.

And the best part is they even won the court order after fighting for two months for not disclosing their user information. This makes it a solid contender in our list of no-logs VPN services.

To summarize the verdict, the Rights Alliance and their security experts have not been able prove any weaknesses in OVPN’s systems that could mean that logs are stored.

Source: OVPN

All of their servers are owned by them and run without any hard drives. Here’s all the information OVPN promises to not log:

• No logging of traffic
• No logging of timestamps
• No logging of DNS requests
• No logging of IP addresses
• No logging of MAC addresses
• No logging of individual user bandwidth volumes

Here’s one snippet from OVPN’s Privacy Policy that really caught my attention.

“OVPN can not provide any activity information or logs about users if a court order was issued asking us to provide that information. As previously mentioned, no information about what our users do when connected is stored.”

OVPN Transparency Reports

Another cool thing about OVPN is that they release monthly transparency reports. I really appreciate the fact they don’t hide anything from their customers. They’ve consistently published these since October 2014, which is quite an impressive streak.

The reports provide fascinating insights into the load at each data center and outline the number and types of user data requests the company receives.

OVPN Offers a 10-day Money-Back Guarantee – Proven

Getting refunds from most VPN providers is never easy. Most VPN providers ask way too many questions. With OVPN, you just have to generate a one-time code from your account profile and send it over to the live chat support team.

After generating my one-time code, I quickly hopped on to live chat support and forwarded it to the support agent.

Since I purchased my subscription via PayPal, I got my money back in my account within 2-days. But do keep in mind that payment methods like credit cards and Crypto can take a while to get refunded. Also, if you paid via cash, you’ll have to visit OVPN’s office to receive a refund.

Key Features of OVPN Service

If we talk about features, I would say that OVPN comes with a pretty decent number of features. You do get a ton of security features. Here are some of the most notable features of OVPN:

1. 256-bit AES encryption
2. Kill Switch
3. DNS Leak protection
4. DNSCrypt
5. Streaming mode
6. Multi-Hop

256-bit AES Encryption

For security, OVPN uses 256-bit AES encryption in combination with RSA-2048 handshake and SHA-1 for authentication.

Aside from powerful encryption, OVPN offers two VPN protocols which are OpenVPN and Wireguard. But to be fair, OpenVPN and Wireguard are more secure than any other VPN protocol out there.

Kill Switch

Like most VPNs, OVPN also offers a built-in Kill switch. If you go into settings, you can turn on or off the Kill switch feature. I’ve tested out this feature and it works exactly as advertised.

DNS Leak Protection

The DNS leak protection of OVPN also works great. It basically prevents your DNS address from leaking when you visit any website. You can toggle on or off this feature from the settings menu

We’ve already tested it out in the leak test section of this review. Feel free to scroll back and check it out.

DNSCrypt

The DNScrypt feature prevents DNS spoofing. This feature can come in handy in case you experience man-in-the-middle attacks on your DNS calls. The DNScrypt option can be activated/inactivated from the Settings tab.

Streaming Mode

As the name suggests, the streaming mode basically allows you to unblock streaming services. While the feature sounds great, during my testing, it was unable to unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu. You can enable or disable this feature from the settings menu.

Multi-Hop

The Multi-Hop feature is pretty cool as it routes your traffic through two data centers located in different parts of the world. It also encrypts your network traffic twice offering greater anonymity.

This feature works great, but it can slow down your speeds. The Multi-Hop feature used to be a paid add-on, however, OVPN now offers it for free with every subscription plan.

WireGuard Support

In February 2020, OVPN became one of the first VPN providers to support the WireGuard protocol. This modern protocol utilizes advanced encryption and optimized code to offer significantly faster VPN connection speeds and a range of other features.

All OVPN applications are compatible with WireGuard, which is the default option for their iOS and Android apps. Previously, users had to manually install the WireGuard code on their devices to utilize it with OVPN, which might not be feasible for many average VPN users.

However, OVPN has resolved this issue for its desktop clients by integrating WireGuard into their latest versions. While OpenVPN is still the default protocol, switching to WireGuard is easy.

Simply click the Gear icon (referred to as Cogs by the OVPN team), navigate to the Protocol page, and choose “Connect Using WireGuard” to enjoy the enhanced speed and quicker connection times it offers.

Public IPv4

Additionally, OVPN provides a public (static) IPv4 add-on, perfect for those needing access to their server from outside their home network. This add-on grants a unique IP address as long as the subscription is active.

Unlike most VPNs, which assign dynamic IP addresses, static IPs serve various specialized purposes that will be evident to those who require them.

Analysis of OVPN Servers

To be honest with you, OVPN doesn’t offer a lot of VPN servers. In fact, it only offers 90 servers in 29 countries. But the good thing is that their servers are fast.

While a few servers are not an issue, I do find it odd that they don’t offer any servers in the Middle East. They also don’t offer any servers in China or even in Hong Kong for that matter.

Overall, its server network needs to improve. They should definitely offer more servers and a much more diverse server network.

OVPN’s network is composed of high-quality, secure servers located in third-party data centers with stringent security measures. While these servers are housed in external facilities, they are owned and managed by OVPN staff.

By maintaining their own servers, OVPN can ensure they are properly maintained and configured to their specifications. Although leading VPN providers like NordVPN and Surfshark are also moving toward colocated servers, few have embraced this approach to the extent that OVPN has.

Another notable aspect of OVPN servers is that they are diskless. In the past, authorities in various countries have seized servers from data centers in an attempt to extract information about VPN users. Although OVPN does not keep logs, the absence of drives on their servers should discourage overly aggressive investigations in the future.

OVPN Apps Compatibility

Compatibility wise OVPN is great. It is compatible with most operating systems and devices. But as I mentioned earlier, it only offers apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. For other operating systems, you will have to use manual configuration files.

1. OVPN for macOS, Windows & Linux
2. OVPN for Android & iOS
3. OVPN Browser Extensions
4. OVPN Router App

Here are all the operating systems that OVPN is compatible with:

OVPN for macOS, Windows & Linux

As I mentioned before, the desktop apps of OVPN are not too good-looking. However, functionality-wise they’re perfect. The apps are lightweight and don’t glitch out like some other VPNs.

The apps are also very easy to navigate through. You can click on the Connect button and the app will automatically connect you to the fastest available VPN server near you. It is super simple and straightforward.

OVPN also lets you pick servers manually from a drop-down list. What I love about OVPN is that it shows you the pings of all the available servers in real time.

It makes it very easy to connect to the best possible servers. Speaking of connection, OVPN barely takes any time to connect you to its servers. In my testing, it took less than 10 seconds to establish a connection.

Other than that, I like how their apps display incoming and outgoing data through a graph that gets updated in real time. You can get even more in-depth information if you click on the Statistics tab.

Lastly, I love the top bar which displays when you’re connected to a VPN server, when the Kill switch is activated when a DNS leak occurs, and when the browser extension is installed.

Overall, OVPN’s desktop apps might not look the best, but they’re easy to use, offer tons of features, and display a lot of information to help you monitor your VPN usage.

OVPN for Android & iOS

The Android App for OVPN uses the latest WireGuard VPN protocol. As per our findings, they are in the middle of developing their iOS app later next year. But you can still use OVPN with iOS by manually configuring it. You can find configuration files and set-up tutorials on their website.

Do keep in mind that manually setting up OVPN on iOS and Android can take quite a long, however, the setup process is quite easy. It took me around 10 minutes to get everything set up which is not too bad. Here’s what the app interface looks like once you install it via OpenVPN:

While It’s great that OVPN is compatible with iOS and Android, I do wish that it offered downloadable apps on iTunes and Google Play Store like other VPN providers.

OVPN Browser Extensions

OVPN is probably the only VPN service I’ve ever seen that supports browsers other than Google Chrome and Firefox. OVPN offers extensions for four different browsers.

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Vivaldi
• Opera

Instead of just functioning as a simple proxy, OVPN’s browser extensions work more or less like a proper VPN.

It helps you block unwanted ads, blocks companies from tracking you, prevents your WebRTC from leaking and it also warns you when you access any website that might require a VPN connection for security reasons.

OVPN Router App

OVPN supports a whole bunch of mainstream routers. Again, you can find setup guides for all of the compatible routers on their website. Here are all the router brands that OVPN currently supports:

• AsusWrt
• DD-WRT
• EdgeOS
• OpenWrt
• OPNsense
• Tomato
• pfSense
• Vilfo

By following the setup guides on OVPN’s website, I was able to configure OVPN on my DD-WRT router within 15 minutes max.

That being said, if you don’t have much experience with manual VPN configurations, you can purchase a pre-configured router running OVPN from Vilfo for $379.

Does OVPN Work in China?

As per my foreign colleague residing in China, OVPN doesn’t work in China. This can be disappointing for some people, but to be honest, even much more renowned VPNs don’t tend to work in China because of strict restrictions imposed by China’s Great Firewall.

Best Alternative to OVPN

Overall, OVPN is a decent VPN service that packs in some pretty decent features. It works great with torrenting and also offers fast speeds. Having said that, there’s still room for improvement.

By that I mean OVPN should work on adding more servers and establishing a better network. OVPN should also do something about the fact that their service doesn’t work with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu.

Because at the end of the day, there are other VPNs out there that can deliver better performance. For instance, you can go for Surfshark or ExpressVPN which are known to offer exceptional unblocking performance and rock-solid privacy.

All in all, If you want to get a VPN that’s more affordable than OVPN and offers more features, you might find my in-depth Surfshark vs NordVPN and ExpressVPN vs Surfshark comparisons helpful.

Do I Recommend OVPN?

Definitely, yes. I do recommend getting OVPN. After all, it works great with torrenting, offers fast speeds, and works with Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ too.

However, do keep in mind that OVPN costs $4.99/mo which is considerably more expensive than Surfshark which offers more features in just $2.49/mo.

If the price is not an issue for you and you can compromise on some features, then really you can’t find a better VPN than OVPN.