BolehVPN Review 2023

BolehVPN without a doubt offers tons of features, but I still don't recommend trying it. Find out all of its pros and cons in this updated review to see if it's worth the $6.66/mo price.

Based in Seychelles [SAFE]
Price $6.66/mo
Servers 35+ (12 Countries)
Logs Connection Logs
Multi Login 3 Devices
Refund 14 Days
Recommended No
Website BolehVPN.net

BolehVPN– aside from the terrible name, it is actually not a have bad VPN service. At least for the people who can bear it. To be honest, I don’t recommend it over top VPN like ExpressVPN, simply because of how terribly difficult it is to set up and use.

To briefly touch on its pros, BolehVPN offers a decent amount of features. Another thing that I found interesting at the time of writing this BolehVPN review, was its speed.

But that’s where the pros end. Despite being in the industry for over a decade now, it still offers some 35+ servers, which is just unacceptable. In addition, as I said earlier, it is infuriating to set up.

They don’t offer apps for iOS and Android. Despite costing $6.66/mo, they want you to manually configure it. Even their apps for macOS and Windows are terrible outdated looking. Overall, unless you want to punch a hole in your wall, avoid BolehVPN.

So, considering that it does offer good features, I can only give it 2.5/5.0 stars in this review.

BolehVPN Review – My Rating Criteria

To thoroughly test BolehVPN for its pros and cons, I used my 9-step rating criteria:

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

Jurisdiction – Where is BolehVPN located?

BolehVPN is a Malaysian VPN service provider but is registered in Seychelles. From the looks of it, BolehVPN seems to be operating outside the jurisdiction of the infamous 5 eyes alliance, however, it is unclear as to where they’re actually based.

If they’re truly operating from Seychelles, this would mean that they’re not obligated by law to keep user logs. We’ll look over the logging policy of BolehVPN in a bit to see whether it keeps any logs or not. Overall, it’s hard for me to figure out where it’s really based.

Security – Does BolehVPN keep logs?

BolehVPN doesn’t keep logs. At least that’s what they claim in their privacy policy. If you go through their terms of service, you’ll see that they clearly mention that they don’t track activity logs. Here’s a screenshot from their privacy policy:

“We have no obligation to keep any user activity logs nor do we track your internet usage.”

Although it claims to keep no logs, it does state that it can temporarily turn on logs to identify any abusers and for troubleshooting. This is not normal.

This means if you do use their service for anything shady, they do have the power to track you down and potentially report you to the authorities. Hence, their logging policy is a bit murky.

Encryption & Other Features

As far as encryption and protocols are concerned, BolehVPN packs in quite a lot. it offers OpenVPN with a 1024-Bit RSA certificate and L2TP/IPSec protocol with the AES 256-Bit encryption algorithm. This is the industry standard nowadays.

One thing you will not find in BolehVPN is the PPTP protocol. But I guess it’s a good thing since PPTP has become obsolete and not many devices support it anymore.

They also use Perfect Forward Secrecy alongside Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) with a 4096 bits key size for pretty decent security. Now let’s check out the features it offers.

TOR Compatibility

BolehVPN also supports TOR and recommends using it for maximum protection. You can combine the power of a VPN and TOR for ultimate anonymity. However, do keep in mind that using TOR is frowned upon in most countries as it is often used for illegal activities.

But you can’t overlook the utility of TOR in countries where online freedom is an unknown concept. TOR, when combined with a VPN, does a world of good for your online privacy. It helps you hide your actual IP even from the VPN provider.

BolehVPN xCloak Feature

BolehVPN also offers Obfuscation technology. It is advertised as xCloak and basically allows users to circumvent the most aggressive VPN detection mechanism in countries like China, Iran, and UAE.

Obfuscation is designed to mask your VPN traffic. So, in countries where VPNs are banned, obfuscation technology can help you stay under the radar of Deep Packet Inspection and bypass Firewalls. You can learn more about the benefits and the working of this technology in our obfuscation guide.

BolehVPN Kill Switch

Like most VPNs nowadays, BolehVPN also comes with a Built-in Kill Switch. You can find this feature in their client labeled as “Lockdown“. This feature works as you would expect. Like any other VPN with this feature, it can disconnect you from the internet the moment your VPN connection malfunctions.

BolehVPN DNS Leak Protection

Another thing I was glad to see in the BolehVPN app, was DNS leak protection. This option is also available in the settings menu and basically prevents your DNS from leaking accidentally. We’ll see how well this feature performs when we conduct our IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak tests.

BolehVPN Split Tunneling

While there isn’t a built-in or configurable option for Split tunneling in the BloehVPN app, it does let you achieve the same functionality through two separate options.

If you go through their app, you’ll find two options under “Manage Configuration” labeled “fully routed” and “proxied“. With “fully routed” selected, all of your traffic will get encrypted. With “proxied“, it’s the other way around.

Leaks – Does BolehVPN leak IP, DNS, WebRTC?

As for the leak tests, BolehVPN passed without any issues. Since they offer DNS leak protection, it’s no surprise that it showed no signs of DNS, IP, and WebRTC leaks during my testing.

IP Leak Test:

For the first test, I looked for any signs of IP leaks. To perform my test, I connected to their US server. After that, I simply ran the IP leak test. As you can see from the screenshot below, BolehVPN didn’t leak my original IP address.

BolehVPN-IP-Leak-Test

DNS Leak Test:

For the DNS leak test, I again connected to their US server. After running the test, BolehVPN again showed no sign of leaks. It passed this test too without any issues.

BolehVPN-DNS-Leak-Test

WebRTC Leak Test:

Last but not least, I also ran a quick WebRTC leak test and it surprisingly passed this test too. Even after conducting multiple tests, I found BolehVPN to be actually leakproof.

BolehVPN-WebRTC-Leak-Test

Virus Test:

Now, just to be extra cautious, I ran BolehVPN’s Windows app file through VirusTotal to see if it contained any viruses. Luckily, the test result came back clean.

Virust-Test-BolehVPN

Servers – Is BolehVPN P2P compatible?

Another thing to like about BolehVPN is that it is actually P2P compatible. It offers some P2P-optimized servers with no bandwidth limits to help you efficiently download torrents. However, even though it supports P2P, you do have to keep in mind that it only offers some 35+ servers in 12 countries.

This is where things get a bit disappointing. With such a small server network, you can’t expect beefy performance. I guess what I’m trying to say is, that your performance will vary from mine and vice versa. It all depends on how far away you are from the server that you’re reconnecting to.

On the bright side, I like that it has a server-status page to help you pick the right server, however, I still recommend choosing ExpressVPN over it.

Does BolehVPN work in China?

Surprisingly yes, BolehVPN works in China. Since it offers obfuscated servers, it actually managed to unblock Chinese websites during my testing. I tried unblocking a bunch of websites like Baidu and QQ and all of them worked. However, one thing I did notice was slow speeds.

If that’s something that matters to you, I suggest checking out ExpressVPN which can deliver faster speeds for Chinese users owing to its Lightway protocol.

Speed – How fast is BolehVPN?

As for speeds, BolehVPN can deliver above-average speeds. I conducted multiple tests and found it to be pretty fast for most tasks. First, here’s a screenshot of my 35 Mbps internet connection without BolehVPN:

base-internet-connection-speed-test-result-without-BolehVPN

US Server:

With the US server, I managed to get around 22 Mbps downloading speed. The ping was significantly high, however, the upload speeds were quite impressive.

BolehVPN-speed-test-result-with-us-server

Canada Server:

With the Canadian server, I managed to get slightly better speeds. On average, the Canadian server managed to output around 25.4 Mbps download speed.

BolehVPN-speed-test-result-with-canada-server

UK Server:

The UK server performed quite well too. It managed to output around 24.9 Mbps which is pretty good. Again the ping was high, however, the upload speed was quite impressive.

BolehVPN-speed-test-result-with-UK-server

Streaming – Does BolehVPN work with Netflix?

As for streaming, BolehVPN is not a good choice. I tried unblocking Netflix, but it didn’t work. Even after using their “surfing/streaming” and “BolehFlix” servers, I had no luck. I also tried tweaking my DNS settings to get BBC iPlayer to work, however, that didn’t help either.

So if this is something that matters to you, you’d be better off with ExpressVPN.

bolehVPN-not-working-with-netflix

Compatibility – Which devices can I use BolehVPN with?

If we talk about compatibility, BolehVPN is beyond atrocious. It is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Routers, however, it only offers apps for Windows and macOS. For other devices, you’ll have to deal with manual configurations.

Now, if you’re new to VPNs, I would highly suggest not wasting your time getting BolehVPN configured and just get any other VPN that offers simple downloadable apps. BolehVPN offers 3 multi-logins as well, however, it only allows one VPN connection to run at a time. Not very useful if you ask me.

BolehVPN for Windows

The desktop client of BolehVPN for Windows features an oddly difficult-to-use interface with five (5) tabs for Dashboard, Log, Settings, Proxy Configuration, and Status. But as I said, using the app is very difficult.

BolehVPN-Windows-Client

One thing I like about the app is that it lets you check your connection status, download and upload speed along with an option to share stats. But all in all, it’s not an intuitive app to use.

BolehVPN for Mac

BolehVPN offers a dedicated VPN client for macOS as well. However, just like its Windows counterpart, it is very difficult to use. The options are very hard to find especially if you’re new to VPNs.

BolehVPN- for-Mac

BolehVPN for Android

For Android, you’re not going to find a dedicated app. That’s just absurd considering that literally every other VPN nowadays offers dedicated apps for mobile operating systems. Unless you have the technical knowledge, you will have a hard time manually configuring it.

BolehVPN-for-Android

BolehVPN for iOS

For iOS, it’s the same thing. BolehVPN doesn’t offer a dedicated app for iOS either. Despite offering innovative features, it still doesn’t offer mobile apps so that’s a shame. If you want to use it on an iOS device, you will have to manually configure it with a third-party OpenVPN Connect client like a peasant (not in a literal way).

BolehVPN-for-iOS

Pricing – How much does BolehVPN cost?

Well, considering that BolehVPN is not user-friendly in any way, I don’t think it offers value for your money. It currently only offers pricing plans based on the number of days you want to use it.

BolehVPN-Price

As you can see, $6.66/month is nothing close to being an affordable plan. Industry leaders such as ExpressVPN are much cheaper. As for payments methods, BolehVPN currently accepts the following options:

  • Bitcoin, Bitpay
  • PayPal
  • Monero
  • Zcoin and Zcash
  • Online and ATM

Last but not least, let’s talk about their refund policy and free trials. BolehVPN offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. But do keep in mind that anonymous payment methods are non-refundable in most cases.

Even if they refund you your money, you will have to bear a 2% administration charge. As for the free trial, BolehVPN lets you try out their service for 1-day. However, they only let you use 3 servers at max.

Trustworthiness – Is BolehVPN safe to use?

Without a doubt, BolehVPN is safe to use. However, would you want to use it even when it’s overpriced and so damn difficult to configure? I mean, I personally wouldn’t recommend using it. But enough of what I think let’s check out its Trustpilot reviews. On Trustpilot, BolehVPN has a 3.7/5.0 star rating. But, it only has one review so I wouldn’t consider it as anything substantial.

BolehVPN-Trustpilot-Rating-and-User-Reviews

Warrant Canary

BolehVPN issues a monthly warrant canary within the first week of each calendar month. It’s basically a way for their user to know if they’ve been asked by the authorities to hand over users’ information or to keep usage logs. So far they haven’t disclosed anything, which is pretty good.

Customer Support

BolehVPN does not have live chat support. This is unacceptable, especially considering how expensive it is. They do, however, have a FAQ page and you can also reach out to them through email support. Simply put, its customer support is not worth it. You will have to wait for at least 24 hours to get a response from their support staff.

Comparison between BolehVPN and ExpressVPN

Overall, BolehVPN is pretty good when it comes to features. However, when it comes to using it, it can be a pain in the neck. In comparison, other VPNs are way more user-friendly. Let’s have a look at the features of BolehVPN when compared with ExpressVPN:

Features ExpressVPN BolehVPN
Price $6.67/mo - Save up to 49% with exclusive 1-year plans + 3 months free $6.66/mo
Servers 3000+ in 94 Countries 35+ in 12 Countries
Compatibility All Devices Windows, macOS, Linux,
iOS, Android, & Routers
Jurisdiction The British Virgin Islands Seychelles
Logging Policy Zero Log Connection Logs
Customer Support Live Chat & Email Support FAQs & Email
Trustpilot Score 4.6 3.7
Website ExpressVPN BolehVPN

BolehVPN Alternatives

Looking for alternatives to BolehVPN because of limited app availability? I understand the frustration. Here’s a list of alternatives you might want to explore. Additionally, for a more detailed understanding, consider looking into unbiased VPN reviews to make an informed decision.

Do I Recommend BolehVPN?

No. I do not recommend BolehVPN. That’s because BolehVPN only offers a limited number of servers. It also does not work with US Netflix and doesn’t offer any apps for iOS and Android and for a few other devices. It’s also not even clear where exactly they’re based. And worst of all, it is just too expensive.

Overall, there are far better VPNs out there. In comparison, ExpressVPN are well built, offer easy-to-use apps, and have way more features too.