Reading Time: 6 minutes
Based in Switzerland [SAFE]
Price $0.00
Servers 11
Logs Keep Logs
Multi Login 5 Devices
Refund 30 Days
Recommended No
Website VPNBook.com

Is VPNBook really a free service in Canada?

Yes, VPNBook is one free VPN that is packed with some fantastic features and amazing performance in Canada. While it offers limited servers and does not offer any dedicated applications for devices, it is still known to offer decent speeds and the ability to unblock geo-restricted video streaming services in Canada.

This VPN is a Switzerland-based free VPN provider. It has 8 VPN servers located in the US, Germany, France, Canada, and Poland. In addition, it has 2 proxy servers in the UK and US each and an “Outline VPN” (which is basically Shadowsocks) server in Canada.

In this VPNBook review in Canada, I tested this service’s speed, and security, and evaluated its overall performance. VPNBook does not support Netflix unblocking in Canada. But, it supports p2p activities on some servers.

VPNBook does not have dedicated apps for any platform but supports all devices that can run OpenVPN in Canada. As such, you get a no-frills service with no extra features such as Kill Switch to keep you protected from accidental leaks of your information.

For security, the provider uses AES-256 encryption but has a less-than-ideal logging policy, as it stores the IP addresses of users and connection timestamps. Speed is another factor where the provider performs poorly in Canada.

Although it is still pretty good for a free service, that’s because the standard of free VPNs is quite low. Therefore, in this VPNBook review in Canada 2023, I rate it 2.0/5.0.

Since VPNBook has a lot of limitations in servers as well as unblocking capabilities, ExpressVPN and Surfshark are two excellent alternatives that cover all the weak areas inherent in VPNBook.

VPNBook Review in Canada – Rating Criteria

For this review, the following criteria were taken into consideration:

  1. Jurisdiction – Where is VPNBook located?
  2. Security – Is VPNBook safe in Canada?
  3. Leaks – IP, DNS & WebRTC Leak Tests
  4. Servers – Is VPNBook P2P Compatible?
  5. Speed – Not on the Higher Side
  6. Streaming – Does VPNBook support Netflix in Canada?
  7. Compatibility – Supports Different Platforms & Devices
  8. Pricing – How much is VPNBook in Canada?
  9. Trustworthiness – Trustpilot Ratings, Reddit Reviews & Support

Jurisdiction – Where is VPNBook located?

VPNBook hails from a safe jurisdiction i.e. Switzerland. The country is not a part of the 14 eyes alliance nor does it follow mandatory users’ data retention rules as well. Therefore, you have nothing to worry about as far as government surveillance is concerned, since VPNBook is located in a country with safe jurisdiction.

Security – Is VPNBook safe in Canada?

Through our detailed test in this VPNBook review in Canada, we found that VPNBook is safe because it uses good encryption standards. The provider offers PPTP and OpenVPN protocol that uses 256-bit military-grade encryption by default. The provider claims to use AES-256 encryption:

vpnbook strong encryption

In the config files of the provider, I found that the provider truly does use AES-256 making it a great choice for users in countries with high surveillance. It is also one of the few VPNs that work in Bahrain and other Middle Eastern countries like the UAE.

vpnbook truly uses aes-256

Does VPNBook keep logs?

VPNBook keeps logs in Canada to some extent, such as your IP and connection timestamps.

Although the provider is quite good as far as encryption is concerned, it does have a logging policy that raises some concerns. For instance, the provider clearly mentions that they store IP address addresses and connection timestamps:

vpnbook privacy policy

Therefore, VPNBook is not the best option out there if you are looking for security and privacy in general. Nonetheless, it is still more reliable than many other free providers in Canada.

Leaks – IP, DNS & WebRTC Leak Tests

The service does not expose your actual whereabouts be it IP, DNS, or WebRTC information online. To test the service, I used ipleak.org and connected it to the Canada server. Here are the results:

IP Leak Test:

No IP leaks were detected when connected to this server.

vpnbook-ip-leak

DNS Leak Test:

The service passed the DNS leak test comfortably.

vpnbook dns leak test

WebRTC Leak Test:

Similarly, it was also found innocent of any WebRTC leaks.

vpnbook webrtc leak test

Server – Is VPNBook P2P compatible?

As a free online software that runs on advertisements and donations, VPNBook only has 11 servers in total located in the following countries:

  • US
  • UK
  • Canada
  • Poland
  • Germany
  • France

VPNBook also offers paid dedicated servers as a paid option in three regions: Canada, US East, and US West. In addition to VPN servers, there’s a VPNBook free web proxy. There are four proxy servers within the UK, US, France, and Canada that can be accessed through the web. Keep in mind that these servers will only change your IP address but do not offer the same level of security that the VPN protocols do in Canada.

Can you use VPNBook for torrenting?

You can download torrents with VPNBook on its Poland and Germany servers, but p2p activity is restricted on other servers. We recommend you don’t use VPNBook for torrenting due to the below reasons:

  1. VPNBook’s speeds are very slow in Canada.
  2. VPNBook logs personal information which includes your actual IP address, this can easily match you to your P2P activities in Canada.
  3. The absence of an Internet Kill Switch and DNS leak protection puts your privacy at risk in Canada.

Does VPNBook work in China?

VPNBook doesn’t work in China. There are no nearby servers to China within VPNBook’s network, nor does it use any obfuscation features to fool sophisticated Chinese firewalls. Nonetheless, it does offer VPN Outline which runs on the Shadowsocks proxy, though it isn’t effective in China as per our research.

Speed – Not on the Higher Side

In terms of speed, VPNBook may disappoint you big time. I used a 30 Mbps internet connection while conducting the speed test.

This is the speed result on its French server:

vpnbook speed test on french server

The US server delivered almost the same speeds:

vpnbook speed test on us server

As such, VPNBook is not a fast service at all.

Streaming – Does VPNBook support Netflix?

Sadly in this VPNBook review in Canada, this VPN is not compatible with Netflix. Even though the provider claims that it works with Netflix, I got the familiar proxy error when trying to access Netflix with VPNBook enabled:

vpnbook proxy error during connecting to Netflix

Other Streaming Services

Trying the VPNBook on other platforms such as BBC iPlayer and Hulu also led to the same results i.e. the VPN was easily detected by these websites and I was denied access to every streaming platform that I tried.

Therefore, VPNBook cannot be used for unblocking streaming websites in Canada.

Compatibility – Supports Different Platforms & Devices

In our VPNBook review in Canada, this VPN is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, & iOS. However, it does not have dedicated clients for any of these platforms.

This means you will have to use third-party apps such as OpenVPN GUI and OpenVPN Connect to access VPNBook on Windows and smartphones respectively.

vpnbook compatibility

VPNBook for Windows

To get this VPN on Windows, download VPNBook config files for OpenVPN mentioned below:

use vpnbook in windows

Once downloaded, you will have to extract the contents of the RAR file in this location: C:\Users \[your username]\ OpenVPN \Config (you will of course need OpenVPN GUI installed on your machine to be able to do this).

After extracting the files to this location, you will be able to connect to VPNBook servers from the taskbar.

VPNBook for macOS

You can get VPNBook for macOS through TunnelBlick, where you can add the necessary config files in much the same as Windows. The performance of VPNBook on macOS is the same as that in Windows with slow speeds and the same levels of encryption.

VPNBook for Mac through TunnelBlick

VPNBook for Android

VPNBook Android setup requires you to download the OpenVPN Connect app. This will allow you to import the OpenVPN config files:

vpnbook openvpn connect app for android

VPNBook for iOS

For iOS, the VPNBook setup process is much the same as in the case of Android. You can find set-up tutorials for all platforms here.

Pricing – How much is VPNBook in Canada?

VPNBook offers its services absolutely free in Canada. However, you will need to pay for attaining a dedicated IP VPN subscription.

VPNBook-Price-Plans

The service exclusively offers a dedicated IP VPN feature that you can avail of after paying CA$10.68on a monthly basis.

Likewise, the dedicated VPN feature is embedded with different benefits like 500 GB+ dedicated bandwidth and 5 simultaneous connections. You can also check out the IPVanish review as it offers unlimited simultaneous connections.

In case you have opted for a dedicated VPN service in Canada, you will have to use different online payment methods to pay your monthly dues.

Here are those payment plans:

  • PayPal
  • American Express
  • VISA
  • Discover

As already described, most of this service is free. Hence, there is no need for a money-back guarantee for that instance. However, the service offers a 30-day money-back guarantee benefit to the users who opt for premium dedicated IP VPN service.

VPNBook offers a free web proxy on its site. The 256-bit SSL-encrypted allows users to bypass government censorship.

It does that by hiding your actual IP address and providing you with an alternative one. The proxy servers are from the US, UK, and Canada.

Netizens can use this tool to unblock sites like YouTube and Facebook.

Trustworthiness – Trustpilot Rating, Reddit Reviews & Support

I researched VPNBook on Trustpilot and Reddit to see what the people have to say about this VPN:

However, VPNBook has no presence on Trustpilot. This shows that the provider isn’t as well-known because most companies that are recognized widely enough are available on Trustpilot.

VPNBook Reddit Review

VPNBook has a shady reputation and has been accused by some Redditors of being a “honeypot“.

Is VPNBook a honeypot?
by inVPN

While nothing conclusive is available to test the veracity of these claims, the thread does consist of some interesting points made against VPNBook.

I’d suggest users stay away from this service if privacy is what you’re aiming to obtain from this VPN.

Customer Support

The provider has no dedicated customer support. They only deliver one option by the name of “Contact Us” to their users.

Through the ‘contact us’ page, you can directly send your queries through an email ticketing system. Otherwise, this section is pretty empty, containing only three FAQs with short answers.

The provider’s email is contact@vpnbook.com.

Comparison between ExpressVPN & VPNBook in Canada

I have mentioned the attributes of both these VPNs to help you decide about your online privacy in the right way.

Features ExpressVPN VPNBook
Price CA$9.05/mo (US$ 6.67/mo) - Save up to 49% with exclusive 1-year plans + 3 months free $0.00
Servers 3000+ in 94 Countries 11 in 6 Countries
Compatibility All Devices Windows, macOS, Android,
iOS
Jurisdiction The British Virgin Islands Switzerland
Logging Policy Zero Logs Keep Logs
Customer Support Live Chat & Email Support Email & Tutorials
Trustpilot Score 4.6 N/A
Website ExpressVPN VPNBook

ExpressVPN is a safe, trustworthy, and capable VPN overall in Canada. It offers fast connection speeds and works with streaming services such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. To read about ExpressVPN in detail, check out our ExpressVPN Review Canada.

VPNBook Alternatives

If you did not find VPNBook enticing, there are various other options on the net. The following are some VPNs that can serve as a good alternative to VPNBook.

Do I Recommend VPNBook in Canada?

No, I don’t recommend VPNBook in Canada. The review hereby conducted has found that the service has a small server network, keeps your logs, no support for Netflix and other popular streaming platforms, and has awful speeds in Canada.

Based on the above VPNBook review in Canada, I would assign a 2.0/5.0 stars rating overall.

If you want to read comprehensive reviews about other best VPNs, read our dedicated VPN reviews page comprised of 160+ VPN reviews.