CrypticVPN Review
CrypticVPN is an extremely cheap VPN that can unblock websites and download torrents – but the drawbacks are pretty bad as well. The security and privacy are low, it has limited platform support, and the servers usually don’t work.
The saying that good things come to those with money has never been truer! While CrypticVPN may be one of the cheapest VPNs in the market currently, it also fails to live up to its extremely low price.
CrypticVPN does live up to its name, at least in the sense that they are extremely cryptic about their service and it’s very difficult to ascertain a lot of the facts about it.
To make a long story short, CrypticVPN is held back by a lot of different things. Whether it be the fact that it is owned by a company registered in the US or the fact that you do not get a money-back guarantee, CrypticVPN definitely does not seem like a good choice for any user who is serious about their privacy. Things do not bode well for CrypticVPN in other departments either.
How does CrypticVPN justify all this? By charging an abnormally low price for its service.
But is CrypticVPN even worth it at that price? Let’s go ahead and take a look, starting with its security.
CrypticVPN doesn’t cost much, but it also doesn’t do much either. If you want a cheap and effective service, take a look at our Best VPNs list.
Is CrypticVPN safe to use?
Let’s start with the protocols, or the lack thereof. The only protocol that you have when using CrypticVPN is OpenVPN. While OpenVPN is a very good protocol which has 2048-bit encryption, there are numerous downsides to having only one protocol on your VPN.
For one, not having any protocol other than OpenVPN essentially guarantees the fact that CrypticVPN will not work in China. On top of this, you will need to use the OpenVPN iOS app if you want to use CrypticVPN on your iPhone.
Things do not get much better. There is also no kill switch, meaning that you will be at the mercy of Cryptic’s server to not suddenly disconnect. Considering that we found five of their fourteen servers to be down on our very first visit, it is a safe bet to say that you will be experiencing a lot of interruptions when connected to Cryptic.
Does CrypticVPN log your data?
Although CrypticVPN claims to have a solid no-logging policy, a look at their Privacy Policy reveals that they can log user data in case of “suspicious activity.” Suspicious activity is such a broad term that the company can pretty much log your data any time they please.
We personally do not believe that CrypticVPN is logging any more data than is common for VPNs to log (e.g anonymous bandwidth statistics). However, it’s important to be careful if you’re using their service because they have the option of logging your data if they choose to do so.
On top of this, CrypticVPN is based in the United States, which is a five-eyes country. The US is generally known as being very anti-privacy and it is possible for your private information to be under threat when you use a VPN based in the US.
Overall, it does not seem like CrypticVPN is a good VPN for secure web browsing in any way. So, let’s take a look at whether or not it can be used for other purposes such as accessing Netflix and torrenting.
Speed and performance
In terms of speed, we found that only the US servers had decent speeds (75-85% of our normal speeds) and all the other servers had subpar performance. We were not able to test every single server on the platform due to almost half of them being offline, but the ones that we did test only had 10-20% of our normal speeds which made using them extremely frustrating. If speed is what you are looking for – we recommend to check fastest VPN providers in 2024.
In the end, it seems as if you are going to have a bad time using CrypticVPN unless you are close to the USA. People in Asia, Africa, and Australia should simply avoid CrypticVPN and instead go for something like PrivateVPN.
Server coverage
CrypticVPN has servers in 14 locations. Most of these locations only have a single server, meaning that you will not have a lot of options in terms of the countries you can connect to.
The servers span across multiple continents and you should not have any trouble finding a server close to you unless you are in South America or Africa. However, the one thing we did notice is that their servers are often down, which is really terrible since there is only a single server in every location and a server being down means that you must connect through another country.
Multi-platform support
CrypticVPN currently has an application for both PC and Android. However, you can use it on any device which allows you to use the OpenVPN protocol.
This means that it is possible for you to use CrypticVPN with MacOS, Linux, and iOS as long as you are willing to download all the necessary programs and information.
The fact that CrypticVPN does not have dedicated clients for so many of the mainstream operating systems is a testament to the small size of the company, and it makes them look extremely unprofessional.
Unblocking Netflix
We were quite excited to test CrypticVPN on Netflix since the website proudly displays how it unblocks Netflix on the home page. Imagine our disappointment when we found out that CrypticVPN does not work on Netflix.
During our tests, not a single location was able to connect to the Netflix servers. It is a shame though since CrypticVPN could have been an extremely cheap option for someone who only needs a VPN to unblock Netflix.
P2P and torrenting
This is the one thing that CrypticVPN can be currently used for. We were able to easily torrent files while connected through CrypticVPN, and the speeds were pretty much the same as they were for web browsing.
If you are someone who wants an extremely cheap VPN solution for torrenting, then CrypticVPN may work for you. Still, there are numerous other options which will be far better for torrenting provided you are able to shell out a little more cash such as TorGuard.
China and online censorship
If you have any knowledge about the way VPNs work, then you will already know the answer to this. CrypticVPN uses the OpenVPN protocol, which has been banned in China for a long time now.
Unlike other VPNs, CrypticVPN does not offer any alternative protocols, which means that it will not work in China or at all.
Customer support
Let’s see what CrypticVPN has in store support-wise:
- Email support
- Knowledge base
- FAQ page
…And that’s pretty much it. There is no live-chat feature, but there’s a decent knowledge base available on the website including a fairly lengthy FAQ page.
Our dealings with the support were fairly normal. All of our questions were answered within a few hours and the people were generally helpful. However, we have heard numerous different complaints by various users about their support and how it often fails to remedy any problem they have.
It seems to us that CrypticVPN has been working to improve its customer support by learning from past mistakes, and that’s a step in the right direction. But there’s still a long way ahead.
Pricing
CrypticVPN currently offers a total of four different plans:
- Two-day days access with complete features for $0.99
- 1-month plan for a measly $3.49/month
- 1-year subscription for $1.25/month
- Lifetime subscription for a total of $49 (they have discounts on this often, going as low as $19)
One thing to remember is that there is no free trial for CrypticVPN and nor is there a money back guarantee. They try to make up for this by having the 2-day trial.
As for the payment methods, you have the option of PayPal, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and PerfectMoney. However, remember that PayPal does not work for the 2-day trial option.
Bottom line
CrypticVPN is by no means a good VPN. Not only does it not have nearly good enough security, but it is also fairly short on features including a kill switch, the ability to unblock Netflix, and the ability to work in China.
If you’re looking for an extremely cheap way to unblock websites or download torrents, then CrypticVPN may work for you. However, those looking to protect their online anonymity and privacy should definitely stay as far away as possible. Our list of 10 top-notch VPNs is a good place to find a reliable VPN.
Pros
- Extremely Cheap
- Torrenting works
- Option to pay with different cryptocurrencies
Cons
- Subpar security and privacy
- No kill switch
- Servers are often down
- Bad for Netflix
- Does not work in China
- Only OpenVPN protocol
- No dedicated apps for most OS
