Looking to purchase SwissVPN? Read our SwissVPN review before taking a short!
SwissVPN was one of the first VPN service providers introduced in 2000. It was launched by Monzoon Networks AG, a Swiss telecom company. Despite being in existence for a long, it has still not built a strong reputation in the industry. To evaluate SwissVPN’s performance, it was thoroughly tested on many grounds, including security, privacy, pricing, network size, streaming and torrenting capacity, etc. It has a limited server network, weak encryption, and lacks a kill switch and protection against DNS leaks.
In terms of privacy, it stores user data, which is critically alarming to note. To cover more aspects, this SwissVPN review has been composed for complete guidance.
To explore more options for a reliable VPN, refer to our VPN reviews which can help you make an informed decision about where to invest.
Ranked #46 out of 56 VPNs
Key Findings for SwissVPN Review
- Pricing: The VPN offers only a monthly service plan for $6.59. It has no free trial or money-back guarantee.
- Servers and Locations: It has just 1 server in Zurich to provide VPN services in Switzerland.
- Security and Features: It has AES-128-bit encryption, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, PPTP/MPPE, and SSL VPN (SSTP). However, the kill switch and DNS leak protection are missing.
- Speed and Performance: It has slow servers with a maximum of 15 Mbps speed on record. The servers result in lagging and delayed services.
- Streaming: It can’t unblock streaming sites outside the Swiss region, like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, or any other foreign sites. However, it allows streaming services within the Swiss region.
- Torrenting: It supports torrenting but is unsafe due to the unavailability of a kill switch and leak protection.
- Device Compatibility: It is compatible with Android, Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, routers, and gaming consoles. However, it provides no dedicated apps for these devices.
- Bypass Censorship: It seems to have a good bypassing capacity against censorships because of the SSL protocol.
- Customer Support: It has email service and an extensive FAQs section, but no live chat support for customers. Furthermore, it lacks a phone line service for customers.
Pros
- Based in Switzerland
- Wide range of protocols
- Supports major operating systems
Cons
- User data stored by service
- Not secure for torrenting
- Not workable for unblocking streaming sites, like Netflix
- Single server network
- No kill switch or DNS leak protection
- The outdated or weak encryption standard
- No anonymous payment options
- No money-back guarantee or free trial service
SwissVPN Review: Pricing – How much does it cost?
SwissVPN pricing plan is costly for average usage. It only offers a single monthly plan that costs US$6.59. It charges US$2.20 extra for adding a firewall, increasing the device limit, or getting a 30 Mbps speed boost to the basic plan each.
There were no pricing packages to choose from.
It accepts credit card payments without any registrations or subscriptions. It allows Mastercard, Visa, Swiss Post Finance, American Express, and Twint. However, no anonymous payment options, like cryptocurrency, are available.
Users can renew SwissVPN access anytime in 1 year. It doesn’t offer any free trials or a money-back guarantee.
SwissVPN offers multiple methods to purchase its subscription.
The entire purchase process is simple. After selecting the payment option, we were just required to enter an email to receive access details and a subscription receipt. Adding the postal address information is optional.
Its price is not justified as compared to the limited and weak services.
SwissVPN Review: Server Network – How many servers does SwissVPN have?
In terms of the server network, SwissVPN has extremely limited coverage, with only 1 server in Zurich. In case of technical issues and overcrowding of servers, the VPN service becomes useless.
While testing, its only server was overcrowded, which resulted in speed inconsistency. The video loading was slow, and the servers didn’t allow content streaming outside Switzerland.
Therefore, this extremely small server network is not appropriate for high-bandwidth activities like torrenting, streaming, or gaming.
Security and Features – Is SwissVPN secure?
Yes, however, it lacks advanced security features. SwissVPN has a basic security protection mechanism, lacking advanced options. SwissVPN follows AES-128 and 168-bit encryption, which are weaker and older than the standard AES-256-bit encryption used in almost all premium VPNs.
Additionally, it has 4 protocols, including OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, and SSL VPN (SSTP).
However, it has no kill switch for identity preservation when the VPN connection drops suddenly. It can reveal your IP address by exposing you to your regular internet connection. Furthermore, it lacks DNS leak protection.
While testing, DNS requests were leaked even with the VPN connection turned on. When the firewall was purchased for US$2 and activated, all the incoming internet connections were filtered and blocked.
The firewall feature protected the DNS requests and IP address leakage on disconnection. It is also useful for safeguarding against DDoS and other cyberattacks.
SwissVPN Review: Privacy options
SwissVPN is not user-privacy-friendly. Its invasive privacy policy keeps user data for a longer period than needed.
We reviewed the privacy policy of SwissVPN’s founder company, Monzoon Network AG, and found some questionable insights. Unlike most VPNs, it collects user email addresses, hardware MAC addresses, IP addresses, mobile numbers, pages visited, and location details, including city and country.
No trusted VPN collects user information to this extent. Additionally, we found an extremely disappointing clause stating that user data is not guaranteed complete protection from third parties. It warns users to be cautious while transmitting information online.
Furthermore, SwissVPN can use user data and statistics for promotional activities or marketing campaigns. It can also forward user data to the Swiss law enforcement authorities if they order.
The major concern for users is that SwissVPN keeps their personal data for up to 10 years, which is condemnable when it only requires user data for 6 months. Moreover, users’ financial data is not safe on SwissVPN’s database as it can be hacked long after leaving the service.
However, to improve its privacy standing, SwissVPN can invite auditors to test its information collection and usage practice. Have a look at what the VPN logging policies should be for a trustworthy VPN.
Speed and Performance – Is SwissVPN fast?
No, SwissVPN servers are extremely slow, with inconsistent speeds. The VPN speed relies on server congestion, connectivity status, and your distance from the server.
While testing, the maximum speed recorded was 15%-20% lesser than the basic 15 Mbps offered by SwissVPN. Additionally, the speed dropped up to 60% after frequent gaps in streaming. On our SwissVPN speed tests, the VPN provided a download speed of 1.95 Mbps and an upload speed of 0.11 Mbps which needless to say wasn’t of much use.
SwissVPN speeds didn’t let us stream content or torrent files easily.
Moreover, SwissVPN’s poor and unstable speed ranges are not ideal for gaming. You need approximately 5 Mbps to download and around 3 Mbps upload speeds for gaming. You can’t enjoy fast-paced games uninterruptedly with this service providing you lesser than 10 Mbps at times.
You can upgrade your plan by purchasing a speed boost of 30 Mbps for US$3. However, no noticeable improvement in speed was observed even after purchasing the speed boost. Therefore, we don’t recommend paying an extra amount for a service that you may not receive.
Streaming – Does SwissVPN Work with Netflix?
No, SwissVPN neither works with Netflix nor does it let you access sites outside Switzerland. As this VPN only provides Swiss IPs, you can only use it for streaming local Swiss content. Therefore, you can’t unblock foreign streaming sites, like Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Netflix US, YouTube US, Disney+, ESPN, etc. While trying to access the streaming site using SwissVPN, we ran into the Netflix proxy error:
We ran into an error while trying to access US Netflix using SwissVPN.
SwissVPN only unblocked Swiss versions of Disney+, Kodi, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. The streams were accessible with Swiss titles.
We don’t suggest SwissVPN for streaming, as you can’t access anything outside the Swiss region. Instead, you can try the best VPNs for streaming as alternatives as they’ve been tried and tested by us first-hand.
Torrenting – How good is SwissVPN for torrenting?
SwissVPN supports torrenting, but it lacks complete protection. Ensure you review your country’s cyber regulations to avoid violation and penalization.
When SwissVPN was tested for torrenting, uTorrent and BitTorrent were tried. Both worked fine, but the IP address was leaked when the connection dropped. It lacks torrenting safety essentials, including the SOCKS5 proxy firewall and kills switch required to safeguard connection.
SwissVPN failed to conceal our IP/DNS requests while torrenting.
Moreover, the connection was unstable and extremely slow. A 75 Mb file took around 30 minutes to download completely. There are a variety of best VPNs for torrenting you ought to check out instead of using SwissVPN.
Device Compatibility & Ease of Use
SwissVPN is compatible with most devices and platforms we use today. It supports systems that include:
- Android
- Windows (7, 8, 9,10, Vista, XP, and later)
- macOS
- Linux (Fedora, Mint, and Ubuntu)
- iOS (iPad/iPhone)
- Routers (DD-WRT, Asus)
- Gaming consoles
However, it doesn’t offer a dedicated app or client form VPN for any device. You don’t get an impressively smooth smartphone app with attractive features or advanced options. It provides an installation guide on the website to set the system up.
You can configure its manual setup on your computer or mobile phone, which can be an exhausting experience for absolute beginners with no knowledge. SwissVPN offers instructions for setting up the VPN on various platforms:
Instruction manuals are available on SwissVPN’s website.
Moreover, you can only use 1 device with SwissVPN’s basic plan. However, you can connect up to 3 devices by purchasing an extra device limit with a US$3 payment additionally.
SwissVPN Bypass Censorship
SwissVPN makes no claims about its bypassing strength. We have found no related information on its official website, so we are unclear if it can bypass censorship of international content.
Does SwissVPN Work in China?
No, SwissVPN can’t work in China. There’s no evidence to support that SwissVPN bypasses the great firewall and works in China. Moreover, we didn’t find any information about SwissVPN’s accessibility in China.
However, there seems a possibility about its connectivity in China due to the SSL protocol known for bypassing censorship. But just in case it works, the great distance between the two countries will not result in effective service.
We can’t expect the existing slow servers to work at fast speeds. This can lead to your activities being identified by the Chinese network authorities.
SwissVPN Customer Support
SwissVPN offers limited options for customer support. It provides help in German and English language for:
- Email Service (contact: swissvpn@monzoon.net)
- FAQs Section
The SwissVPN website covers around 24 FAQs with extensive responses. In the help section, we found information about connectivity issues, service failures, data limitations, VPN configuration, and email service.
Unlike other premium VPNs, it doesn’t offer a 24/7 live chat service for instantly connecting to human agents. Moreover, customers can’t contact the support team via phone line. The absence of standard customer assistance features seems a major drawback of SwissVPN to us.
SwissVPN doesn’t offer many channels for customer support.
SwissVPN took approximately 36 hours to reply back to the email, which is not suitable in need of emergency assistance. However, the response was comprehensive and helpful.
SwissVPN badly needs to improve its customer help service by adding a live chat option on priority.
Alternatives to SwissVPN
If you want to choose a different service, we suggest you try the following SwissVPN alternatives:
- ExpressVPN Review – The best VPN for Switzerland
- NordVPN Review – The wide VPN service for Switzerland
- Surfshark VPN Review – An affordable VPN for Switzerland
- CyberGhost VPN Review – Secure VPN for Switzerland
- PrivateVPN Review – Good VPN for streaming in Switzerland
- WorldVPN Review – The VPN has a small server network
- VPNCity Review – a secure and privacy-friendly VPN
- iProVPN Review – It provides good speeds to handle heavy browsing
- Snap VPN Review – The VPN offers free services
- SiteLock VPN Review – This VPN offers high-speed connections
You can also avail the best VPN deals for these VPNs through our blog.
FAQs – SwissVPN Review
Is SwissVPN safe?
Yes, SwissVPN is completely safe. It has headquarters in Switzerland, which is clearly one of the best locations to connect via VPN service. Switzerland is not a member of the EU and has no implications for the US jurisdiction. Moreover, it has a couple of the safest and strongest privacy policies for personal data protection.
Can SwissVPN unblock Netflix?
No, SwissVPN cannot unblock Netflix in foreign countries. It has only one server in Zurich that provides services for the Swiss region only. However, it allows users to access the Swiss version of Netflix.
Will SwissVPN slow my speeds down?
Yes, SwissVPN can slow down your speed with its basic servers offering not more than 15 Mbps. The servers can’t exceed the limit. However, it offers a speed boost of up to 30 Mbps for an extra US$3.
Do we Recommend SwissVPN?
No, we don’t recommend Swiss VPN. It is a basic service provider that offers encrypted internet connection services in Switzerland. It is an overpriced VPN that fails to provide quality services, like security, privacy, and speed.
Unlike other VPNs, SwissVPN has a single server location and no native apps supporting systems. It underperforms in many departments, restricting streaming, torrenting, and gaming activities for users. Moreover, it comes with limited features and no accessibility outside Switzerland.
Our SwissVPN review is a complete guide for users. If you only want to route traffic through Switzerland and are not concerned about speed, security, or gaming, then this VPN can be your choice. We only recommend it to users who would like to obtain a Swiss IP address.