Reading Time: 7 minutes
Based in Bulgaria [SAFE]
Price $3.21/mo
Servers 200+ (55 Countries)
Logs No Logs
Multi Login 8 Devices
Refund 30 Days
Recommended Yes
Website VPNArea.com

VPNArea is a rather interesting VPN service, to say the least. Headquartered in Bulgaria, I first heard about VPNArea back in 2011. It has grown quite a bit since then. For instance, at the time of writing this VPNArea review in New Zealand, I was impressed by the fact that it supports 256 bits AES encryption, has a no-logs policy, offers unlimited bandwidth, Anti-DNS leak protection, Kill Switch among other features.

The kind of perks you expect from more renowned VPN providers.

But while there’s a lot to love about this VPN service, you can’t overlook the fact that it only offers 200+ servers in 65 countries. Now granted these servers do work most of the time with Netflix and even support torrenting, however, its best price of NZ$5.25/mo is totally not justifiable when you compare it with Surfshark which offers 3200+ servers for way less.

Another gripe I have with VPNArea is its apps. Even though it supports all major devices, I found its apps to be pretty glitchy. Again, this is something you wouldn’t have to deal with if you go for VPNs like ExpressVPN.

So, after giving it a lot of thought and weighing in all the pros and cons, I’ve given VPNArea a 3.4 stars rating overall.

My Rating Criteria – VPNArea Review in New Zealand

To thoroughly test VPNArea for pros and cons, I used my 9 step rating criteria in this VPNArea Review in New Zealand:

  1. Jurisdiction – Where is VPNArea based?
  2. Security – Does VPNArea keep logs?
  3. Leaks – Does VPNArea leak IP, DNS, WebRTC?
  4. Servers – Is VPNArea P2P compatible?
  5. Speed – How fast is VPNArea?
  6. Streaming – Does VPNArea work with Netflix in New Zealand?
  7. Compatibility – Which devices can I use VPNArea with?
  8. Pricing – How much does VPNArea cost in New Zealand?
  9. Trustworthiness – Is VPNArea trustworthy?

Jurisdiction – Where is VPNArea located?

As I mentioned earlier in this VPNArea review in New Zealand, VPNArea is registered in Bulgaria according to its official site. However, it’s the entire infrastructure is physically present in Switzerland. Both of these locations are safe and don’t actually fall under the jurisdiction of 5 eyes, 9 eyes, and 14 eyes alliances.

So if you’re worried about your data getting into the hand of law enforcement or surveillance agencies, VPNArea has you covered.

Security – Does VPNArea keep logs?

In terms of security, VPNArea is safe to use and uses 256-bit military-grade encryption along with OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols. In addition, VPNArea keeps no logs whatsoever. According to their privacy policy, VPNArea claims that they don’t collect the following information:

We do not monitor, record or store logs for any single customer’s VPN activity. We do not monitor, record or store any login dates, timestamps, incoming and outgoing IP addresses, bandwidth statistics or any other identifiable data of any VPN users using our VPN servers. We do not log or track any DNS requests sent to our DNS servers.

Additional Security Features

In addition to using top-notch encryption with variations of 4096 bits RSA keys and SHA 512 for authentication,  VPNArea also offer other security features as well. Let’s start with the Anti-DNS leak, shall we?

Anti-DNS Leak

As the name suggests, Anti-DNS Leak protection basically allows the VPNArea Chameleon software to change your default DNS server. This allows you to hide your internet activity from your Internet Service Provider. Once you change your DNS servers, your ISP will have no idea what you are doing on the internet.

VPNArea Kill Switch

Kill Switch is another super handy feature that disconnects you from the internet in case your VPN connection drops for any reason. This feature comes built-in in the VPNArea Chameleon software and efficiently disconnects your internet connection until your VPN connection restores.

VPNArea Dedicated IP Address

VPNArea also offers dedicated IPs. You can get IP addresses for 11 countries and prices range anywhere from NZ$32.71 – NZ$65.42 per year depending on which country you choose.

  • US – ($20/yr)
  • Canada – ($40/yr)
  • Australia – ($44/yr)
  • UK – ($30/yr)
  • Netherlands – ($30/yr)
  • Germany – ($30/yr)
  • Romania – ($30/yr)
  • Sweden – ($40/yr)
  • Hong Kong – ($40/yr)
  • Bulgaria – ($30/yr)
  • Singapore – ($40/yr)

Leaks – Does VPNArea leak IP, DNS, WebRTC?

This VPNArea review in New Zealand let us know that this VPN does not leak your IP, DNS, and WebRTC data online. I ran it through extensive testing and found it to be actually leakproof. Here are the screenshots of the test results:

IP Leak Test:

First, I tested for IP leaks. To do that, I connected to a server in Denmark and ran the test. As you can see from the screenshot below, my original IP address is nowhere to be seen. So far so good.

VPNArea IP Leak Test

DNS Leak Test:

Next, I checked for DNS leaks. Now since VPNArea comes with Anti-DNS Leak protection, it managed to show no sign of DNS leaks. Check out the screenshot below.

VPNArea DNS Leak Test

WebRTC Leak Test:

I also checked for WebRTC leak and VPNArea passed the test without any issues. Even after multiple tests, VPNArea stood strong.

VPNArea WebRTC Leak Test

Virus Test:

Last but not least, I ran its windows setup file through Virustotal.com and did not find any virus at all. So overall, VPNArea is pretty watertight.

VPNArea Virus Test

Servers – Is VPNArea P2P compatible?

The VPNArea server list is not all that extensive when compared to some other VPN providers like ExpressVPN. The service currently only offers 200+ servers in 55 countries. But the good thing is that VPNArea does support P2P and torrenting.

In fact, they offer plenty of optimized servers for P2P with no bandwidth caps. You can check out their server page which has an entire list of available servers along with the protocols they support.

vpnarea-servers

Does VPNArea Work in China?

Surprisingly yes, VPNArea does work in China. However, only through Windows/Mac clients, unfortunately. If you’re located in China, you can connect to the following regions:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Japan
  • Netherlands
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • Switzerland
  • UK
  • USA

Speed – How fast is VPNArea?

To test how fast VPNarea was, I performed the speed test using Speedtest.net and my base 25 Mbps Internet connection. The test results didn’t impress me all that much.

Denmark Server:

I used a 25 Mbps internet connection before performing the speed test. When I connected to its Denmark server, I received a 12.76 Mbps connection speed. This is a significant drop. It means there was a 50% decline in speed when I connected to VPNArea.

vpnarea speed test result on denmark server

US Server:

With the US, I managed to get slightly better speeds. On average, the US servers managed to peak at 17.2 Mbps download speeds.

vpnarea speed test result on us server

 UK Server:

Last but not least, I also checked the speeds using the UK servers. Again, the results I got weren’t too impressive. At max, the UK server managed to push out around 15 Mbps download speeds.

vpnarea speed test result on uk server

Overall, VPNarea certainly needs to improve its speeds. If you’re a speed freak like me, you might be better off with ExpressVPN.

Streaming – Does VPNArea work with Netflix in Austrralia?

Yes, VPNArea actually works surprisingly well with Netflix in New Zealand. Considering that most VPNs nowadays get easily blocked by Netflix, this is quite impressive. I tried streaming “Steve Jobs” on Netflix and didn’t encounter any issues.

VPNarea working with Netflix on us server

Overall, the performance was quite good and I didn’t notice any lags or buffering issues.

Other Streaming Services that work with VPNArea

Aside from Netflix, VPNArea also worked with BBC iPlayer. Though I encounter a few connectivity issues while trying to stream Peaky Blinders with the UK server.

VPNarea working with bbc iplayer on uk server

Compatibility – Which devices can I use VPNArea with?

VPNArea is compatible with all the leading platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, and iOS. I personally tried out all the apps and found them to be slightly glitchy. Overall, I found these apps to be simple and easy to navigate. Despite lagging a bit, the apps worked as they should.

VPNArea Windows App

The VPNArea software for Windows is called VPNArea Chameleon. The Windows app is suitable for Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and even Windows XP. Overall, in terms of user experience, the app might need a bit of tweaking.

VPNArea Mac App

In addition, VPNArea also offers its own dedicated apps for Mac as well. Similar to Windows, the app worked, however, it did need a bit of an update.

VPNArea Android App

Likewise, the VPNArea Android app is also user-friendly and easy to operate. In addition, they have recently released a new line of applications that have more added features than the previous versions. The app has nearly all the features that you will find in the Windows client of VPNArea which is quite nice to see.

VPNArea iOS App

The iOS users can opt for OpenVPN Connect to install the service on their iOS devices. OpenVPN Connect is an extremely user-friendly open-source program that allows users to set it up and run it with minimal configuration. There are detailed guides available on the VPNArea website to help iOS users set up their OpenVPN Connect software.

Pricing – How much does VPNArea cost in New Zealand?

As I mentioned earlier, VPNArea is not the most affordable VPN out there. In fact, their most affordable plan costs way more than Surfshark. What’s even more disappointing is the fact that there’s no VPNArea free trial available. At present, they offer three subscription plans. Here’s the list of the current VPNArea price plans:

vpnarea-price-plans

All plans support 8 simultaneous connections. In addition, except for the monthly plan which comes with a 14 day money-back guarantee, the rest of the two plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Aside from standard subscription plans, VPNArea also offers dedicated IP packages. The price of VPNArea static IP varies between NZ32.71 – NZ$65.42 per year depending on which country you pick. As for the list of online payments, VPNArea accepts Bitcoin, PayPal, Credit Cards, and more.

vpnarea supported payment methods

Trustworthiness – Is VPNArea trustworthy?

Overall, VPNArea is pretty trustworthy. In fact, it has received an overall 3.1-star rating on Trustpilot and is also GDPR compliant. If we come over to VPNArea Trustpilot user reviews, you’ll notice that out of 10 reviews, 69% of users have rated the service as excellent and 31% have rated the service as bad.

vpnarea-trustpilot-rating

VPNArea Customer Support

As for customer support, VPNArea has one of the fastest customer support I’ve come across. This might be because they don’t have a lot of customers. No matter what I asked them, the support team was quick to respond within minutes.

vpnarea live chat support

Comparison between ExpressVPN and VPNArea in New Zealand

If you want to know the major differences between these two VPNs, have a look at this table:

Features ExpressVPN VPNArea
Price NZ$11.13/mo (US$ 6.67/mo) - Save up to 49% with exclusive 1-year plans + 3 months free NZ$5.25/mo
Servers 3000+ in 94 Countries including 1 server location in New Zealand 200+ in 55 Countries
Compatibility All Devices Windows, macOS, Linux,
Android, iOS
Jurisdiction The British Virgin Islands Bulgaria
Logging Policy Zero Logs No Logs
Customer Support Live Chat & Email Support Live Chat, FAQs & Email
Trustpilot Score 4.6 3.1
Website ExpressVPN VPNArea

ExpressVPN’s single subscription can be used on five devices simultaneously, regardless of the platforms (including virtual machines). Check out all the features of this VPN in our   in-depth review of ExpressVPN in New Zealand.

Alternatives of VPNArea

If you do not want to get VPNArea for any reason, I’ve got you covered in this regard too. You can read the following reviews of some VPNArea alternatives to see if you can find anything you like:

Do I Recommend VPNArea in New Zealand?

So after this VPNArea review in New Zealand, yes, I do recommend VPNArea. After all, it works with Netflix and other streaming services, It also doesn’t keep logs, has decent Trustpilot reviews, and is also leakproof.

However, it’s hard to overlook the fact that this VPN only offers limited servers, is fairly slow, and top it all off, it is super expensive compared to other VPNs.

Now, sure the service is good, however, you might get a better bang for your buck with Surfshark. So, based on the above VPNArea review in New Zealand, I have no hesitation in giving it a 3.4/5.0 stars rating overall. In case you don’t want to get VPNArea or Surfshark, check out our other VPN reviews.

If you want to read comprehensive reviews about other VPNs in New Zealand, read our dedicated VPN reviews page.