BlackVPN Review

Is My Data Safe with BlackVPN?

Your web activity should be super safe with BlackVPN. The provider states on the homepage of its website that it doesn’t store any traffic logs, connection logs, or DNS logs. The only data ever stored will be account details like your email address and payment information.

Moreover, the provider operates its very own private DNS servers to ensure that you don’t experience a DNS leak that could reveal identifiable details about you, such as your real IP address.

When using BlackVPN to surf the internet, your browsing data should be safe from the prying eyes of third parties like your Internet Service Provider, hackers, and government agencies. This is because the VPN uses AES-256 encryption as well as very secure tunneling protocols.

It’s worth mentioning that 10% of every purchased VPN Privacy Package is donated to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) in a fight for more privacy on the web. This is a great sign of the VPN’s dedication and commitment to user privacy and is reassuring for customers of the service.

Where is BlackVPN Based?

BlackVPN is based in Hong Kong, a jurisdiction that is one of the most privacy-friendly in the world. Although China is increasing its control in the autonomous region, for now, Hong Kong still does not operate any data retention policy that could put your online privacy at risk. Furthermore, Hong Kong is not a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes, which is beneficial for BlackVPN customers.

Since Hong Kong has good data retention laws in place, this bodes well for BlackVPN. The VPN company will not be forced to store and share user data with the government, meaning that all customers of the VPN service can enjoy advanced privacy and security.

Does BlackVPN Have a Kill Switch?

Although BlackVPN has a lot to offer in terms of security and privacy features, the one thing the VPN provider doesn’t offer is a kill switch. If your connection to the VPN server is disrupted or the connection drops, your internet access won’t be automatically cut off. This is something to bear in mind when using the VPN, especially if you’re worried about your browsing data being exposed.

How Much Does BlackVPN Cost?

Unlike many other providers, BlackVPN offers varying subscription options based on what you want the service for. While this may be useful for some users, we think it is quite limiting and rather unnecessary.

The provider sells the packages as it does so that users have access to only servers that support P2P networking or can use those that are better optimized for activities like streaming.

Here’s a rundown of the subscription plans on offer. You can choose from either monthly, 3 month, or 12-month long plans but for ease we have listed the yearly prices:

• The Privacy Package costs $60.01 for a year which works out to around $5 per month. With this plan, you get access to all server locations except the US and the UK and can enjoy unrestricted torrenting on the available servers.
• The Global Package is $121.26 per year, around $10 per month. This plan allows you to use all servers in 18 countries.
• The TV Package is $91.86 a year or $7.65 per month, and this provides you access to servers in the UK and the US. Aptly named the TV Package, this plan is good for people who want to watch the best TV content on platforms such as US Netflix and BBC iPlayer.

Does BlackVPN Have a Free Trial?

Yes, BlackVPN has a 3-day free trial for all new customers, giving you time to test out the VPN before signing up for a subscription plan.

If you’re satisfied with the VPN, then you can sign up for a plan and enjoy a 14-day money-back guarantee. Most VPN services offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, so it is interesting to see what BlackVPN’s refund policy is half the length of a standard one. However, we understand the provider’s reasoning behind a shorter refund policy since there is a free trial.

How Many Servers Does BlackVPN Have?

BlackVPN is a small VPN service in terms of the size of its server network. It operates 31 VPN servers in 18 countries and has 20 VPN locations in these countries overall. This is one of the smallest networks we have seen and may not offer enough choice for many users, especially considering that VPNs like Private Internet Access have more than 20,000 VPN servers.

In terms of VPN locations, BlackVPN provides coverage in North America, including the US and Canada, as well as Europe. There is one Asian location in Japan but no servers in Africa or the Middle East. This is disappointing, and we hope the see BlackVPN increase its number of servers soon.

Is BlackVPN Fast?

BlackVPN claims to offer unlimited speeds and bandwidth. We ran a few speed tests to see if server speeds were really as fast as the provider makes them out to be.

We connected to a server in the US for our first speed test and experienced a decent download speed of 30Mbps. This provided us with a fast connection as well as fast page loads and HD quality playback on videos.

Connecting to servers a little further away from our location provided us with slower speeds. For example, our Australian server speed was 27Mbps, which is not slow, but was not as speedy as our US connection.

Overall, we were impressed with BlackVPN’s speeds. For a VPN service with a tiny network, its speeds are good.

Does BlackVPN Work with Netflix?

A TV subscription plan is dedicated to unblocking TV shows and films that are only available in the US and the UK. However, BlackVPN is not the best service based on its unblocking abilities. For this review, we tested the VPN on several streaming services and were less than impressed, to say the least.

A VPN’s ability to unblock Netflix US is always a good indication of whether it can bypass blocks on other services and websites. We were, at first, unable to unblock Netflix. However, reconnecting to a different server in the US enabled us to get past the firewall.

Unfortunately, BlackVPN wasn’t as effective when trying to unblock BBC iPlayer in the UK. In a way, we expected this since the British media platform is notoriously hard to unblock. However, if we had paid solely for a TV VPN plan from this company, we would have felt annoyed.

Does BlackVPN Support Torrenting?

BlackVPN supports torrenting on all of its servers, excluding the US and UK server locations. This is due to the fact that, even though torrenting is legal in the US and the UK, these countries may intervene with your activity on torrent platforms, and you may be more at risk.

Fortunately, you can access torrenting platforms like BitTorrent in 16 other countries and even purchase a special BlackVPN plan that is optimized for P2P networking purposes.

What Devices Does BlackVPN Support?

BlackVPN offers 7 simultaneous connections per subscription plan, which is 2 more than the industry average. With 7 device connections, you can easily protect all of your operating systems at once.

There are BlackVPN apps for Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS for instant setup, and we recommend using the BlackVPN app if you are a VPN novice. However, if you’re a tech geek, you can also manually configure the VPN to these devices using configuration files provided by BlackVPN.

There are IPSec/L2TP and OpenVPN config files available for Android, iOS, and Windows users. You can also configure the VPN with OpenVPN over SSL tunnels on macOS and Android to prevent Deep Packet Inspection.

You can also use BlackVPN on Linux and even connect your VPN to routers with compatible firmware such as DD-WRT and OpenWRT.

Does Black VPN Have Good Customer Service?

BlackVPN has an entire help section on its website for customers. Users will need their account information to access the support portal, where they can find useful FAQs and also submit a support ticket to the customer service team.

Disappointingly, there is no live chat support on the website, which is disappointing as many customers find this a great way of getting in touch with the customer support team.

Is BlackVPN Worth it?

If you want anonymity on the web and a guarantee that your internet traffic won’t be stored or shared, then we would recommend BlackVPN. Although the provider has not undergone an audit, we trust the company’s claims regarding zero-logging and its commitment to user privacy. Moreover, there are many shared IP address options, which allow users to mask their internet use with a foreign IP that is used by others on the network.

However, the VPN lacks in some major areas. It can’t unblock many streaming services and doesn’t support torrenting in the US and the UK (two of the most popular locations for P2P networking). Moreover, the pricing plans are lengthy and more expensive than some other services.

Overall, we’d say that BlackVPN is worth it – but only if you’re willing to sign up for a long time and are more concerned about staying private on the internet.

What Are some VPN Alternatives?

There are many great VPN services on the web and several that offer everything in terms of features and security. NordVPN is an excellent choice and one of the most well-known providers due to the first-rate VPN experience it provides to users.

Surfshark is another great option since it provides support for an unlimited number of devices at any given time and is constantly updating its services to provide customers with the latest version of its software.

CyberGhost is also another good option and is based in privacy-friendly Romania. This provider is great for gamers since it can be easily connected to routers and works well against DDoS attacks. Moreover, it has a no-strings-attached 45-day money-back guarantee which is much longer than what other VPNs offer and gives customers more time to play around with the software before deciding if they want to sign up or not.

Finally, if you want more server choice (and after reading this BlackVPN review, we’re not surprised) then Private Internet Access (PIA) might be a good choice for you. This provider operates more than 20,000 servers, making it one of the largest server networks available. Furthermore, PIA supports torrenting across all of its network.

Author Madeleine Hodson

I’m Madeleine, and I'm a writer that specializes in cybersecurity, tech products, and all things related to the internet. I have a keen interest in VPNs and believe that everyone deserves internet freedom and security. I wr...
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