Psiphon Review 2020

Is Psiphon a VPN? Yes! Psiphon is a free anti-censorship service/tool with a slogan “Beyond Borders”.

Psiphon is absolutely free and has servers in 17 countries. But this isn’t the VPN to protect your online privacy and security.

Psiphon plainly expresses data privacy and digital protection are not among Psiphon’s prime objectives. In their privacy policy, they admit selling users’ data to sponsors and third-parties.

Let us discuss Psiphon review in full detail.

If you did not find this VPN to your liking, we have others covered for you in our exclusive VPN reviews guide.

My Rating Criteria

Below you will find a list of factors that I have used to review Psiphon VPN:

1. Pricing – How much does Psiphon VPN cost?
2. Security – Protocols & Encryption
3. Jurisdiction – Is it located in a five eye country?
4. Speed – How fast is Psiphon VPN??
5. Streaming – Does it work with Netflix?
6. Leaks – Does it leak IP, DNS & WebRTC?
7. Trustworthiness – Logs and customer support
8. Compatibility – Apps and supported devices

Pricing – How much does Psiphon VPN cost?

Psiphon is absolutely free. There are no service charges for using the service. But the fact of the matter is, if this free censorship tool worth it?

For that, I will be looking at some features of Psiphon VPN.

Psiphon only requires a simple three-step installation process, after which subscribers are free to use all service features of Psiphon VPN.

Moreover, if you’re not into free VPNs and are looking for premium VPNs at discounted rates, I would suggest you to check out our handpicked list of VPN deals 2019 right now.

Security – Protocols & Encryption

Psiphon has a mediocre-level encryption. Your second question must be does Psiphon hide IP address? Your primary concern must be is Psiphon VPN safe to use?

Being a free tool, Psiphon VPN offers following three tunneling protocols to assure a decent and reliable connection:

• SSH (Secure Shell Protocol)
• SSH+ (A random layer on top of SSH protocol for protection against protocol fingerprinting)
• L2TP/IPSec (A secured protocol used by various VPN services)

Note: Although Psiphon VPN offers L2TP/IPSec protocol that is known for a military grade protection, on the same time it doesn’t recommend using it for bypassing various firewalls.

Jurisdiction–Is it located in a five eye country?

Psiphon is based in Toronto, Canada. A country that falls under 5 eyes nations that spies on their own citizen.

There’s nothing hidden from authorities of those countries. Even if a company is committed to protecting users’ information, a subpoena or a warrant from authorities would leave them no chance.

Therefore, a VPN company that falls under this radar is normally not recommended.

Servers

At the moment, Psiphon VPN offers servers in 17 countries. These include United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Austria, Denmark, France, Hungary, India and Italy.

However, the company hasn’t disclosed the exact number of its servers, but for our review, we conducted server tests and performance evaluation of Psiphon VPN servers.

Speed – How fast is Psiphon VPN?

Psiphon servers are too slow. The tests were performed on a 33 Mbps internet connection. Once it automatically connected to its fastest server i.e. Canada, my internet went down to 6.21 Mbps.

Here is the test results:

Streaming –Does it work with Netflix?

Sadly, it did not bypass Netflix, and the below error was prompted.

Netflix restrictions are very tough. It has a strong VPN detection tool that only few VPNs (PureVPN or Surfshark) can bypass.

Psiphon isn’t an exception.

When viewing Live TV shows on Kodi, Psiphon VPN also helps in avoiding geo-restrictions.

I have a compiled a list of VPNs that works well with Kodi. Here is a list of free Kodi VPN.

Leaks – Does it leak IP, DNS & WebRTC?

During our Psiphon VPN review, I found no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leak. I tested for leaks on its Argentina server.

Here are the test results:

IP Test

DNS Test

Virus Test

In this Psiphon Pro review, I checked if there were any viruses in its Windows client. I found no virus in its client which is a good indication.

Here is the test result:

Trustworthiness – Logs and customer support

Psiphon VPN does not store any usage logs. Since Psiphon VPN is a free service, it does collect some connection logs.

Here is a list of data they collect:

• City and Country
• ISP connection
• Original IP address and Psiphon IP address
• How long the device was connected
• Device type

Tracking your IP address is indeed a critical information However, they delete the information in 60 days.

Here is the statement directly quoted from their Privacy Policy:

“We consider user activity data the most sensitive category of data. We never, ever share this data with third parties. We keep user activity data for at most 60 days, and then we aggregate it and delete it.”

They do share aggregated data with organizations they collaborate with, and civil society researchers.

Customer Support

Psiphon has a poor customer support. You can only contact them through Email. There is also a FAQs section where you can find some answers to the most important question, but barely of any help with technical issues.

Before downloading, subscribers should keep in mind that Psiphon is free to use and its support channels shouldn’t be compared with those of premium online security tools.

Compatibility– Apps and supported devices

Psiphon VPN works on a vast platform of devices such as stated below.

1. Windows
2. Android
3. Windows direct download, no client required.
4. Android Direct Download
5. Pro for Android in the Google Play Store
6. iOS in the Apple App Store
7. Browser for iOS in the Apple App Store

Psiphon VPN for Windows

Psiphon VPN Windows’s client comes as a relatively straightforward 4.92 MB self-executable file which doesn’t require a traditional installation process.

Once installed on a system, the program offers one-touch connection feature. Moreover, smooth interface and single-click dropdown servers selection makes Psiphon VPN a preferred solution for unblocking sites.

Strangely, Psiphon VPN application can be sent through an email and other sharing methods, as no installation procedure is required.

In this way in our Psiphon review, we conclude the application as a one-click accessibility solution.

Psiphon VPN for Android

Psiphon VPN for Android devices offers superior unblocking experience than many premium evasion tools.

The elegant duo-tone layout with upright connection option makes the app easy to use and understand. Moreover, a dedicated stats tab gives you usage details about sent/received data.

VPN Comparison between Psiphon and PureVPN

Below you will find a table that list down some important features and price of the two VPNs. You device which one is best:

Alternatives to Psiphon

In case you don’t like Psiphon, I have got you covered in this regard too. Here is the some other VPN reviews you may consider:

• Review TorVPN
• Review CyberSilent VPN
• Review ExpressVPN
• Review Private Internet Access
• Review PureVPN
• Review Windscribe
• Review AVG VPN
• Review Private Tunnel VPN
• Review Hola VPN
• Review Goose VPN

Do I Recommend Psiphon VPN?

No, absolutely not. I do not recommend Psiphon VPN at all.

Psiphon is a free VPN, but there are many that offers good service and fast speed. Psiphon servers are nowhere near fast.

Psiphon is not a good choice for users’ who want to protect their online privacy, because it clearly mentions that it will sell users’ data (aggregated data) to business allies or sponsors.

It may be a free VPN but I wouldn’t advise anyone to use it.