Betternet

Betternet is a popular free VPN, but it’s been involved in several controversies. In 2016, a team of researchers caught Betternet embedding malware and tracking libraries in their VPN apps. So, is this VPN actually safe, and can you trust it with your personal information?

To remove any doubts, I extensively tested its security and privacy features. I also thoroughly explored its speeds, gaming capabilities, device compatibility, and customer support to determine if the pricey paid purchases are worth it.

Overall, Betternet VPN is decent, but there are definitely better alternatives. It has excellent speeds and works great for streaming, gaming, and torrenting. However, I was concerned with the amount of information it collects. I recommend you check out the best VPNs available today to stay anonymous online.

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Streaming — The Premium Option Is Good for Streaming

Our global team could safely stream all the local platforms they tested with Betternet VPN’s paid version. They were impressed by the quality as they could usually load videos quickly and stream in HD.

However, the free version isn’t ideal for streaming. It limits your daily bandwidth to 500MB, which is barely enough for casual browsing.

You could hypothetically use Betternet VPN’s paid version to stream content from other regions. However, this is against the platforms’ T&Cs and is seen as copyright infringement. My teammates only connected to servers in their respective countries while testing.

Works With: Netflix, Hulu, Max, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, and BBC iPlayer

Our US tester didn’t have any issues streaming in decent quality on all her local platforms. Peacock let her load videos nearly instantly, and Amazon Prime Video only took a few seconds to start playing titles before they quickly resolved into high quality.

Max, Hulu, and Disney+ worked nearly as well from the US. She did encounter a little buffering on Max and Disney+, especially when she tried to skip around. Hulu took a lot longer to improve its picture quality, but luckily the ads were playing while the screen was grainy.

These tests were all done with the paid version of the VPN. I recommend checking out Betternet’s server list before you attempt to stream with the free version. It only offers a limited number of servers, and there may not be one in your country.

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Our teammate in the UK also confirmed that it worked with all the UK platforms he tested. He had no problem safely streaming ITV, BBC iPlayer, and Netflix UK. However, he mentioned that it always took a few minutes for videos to load on iPlayer.

Testers in India, Italy, and Israel, also had no issues using servers in their respective countries to securely view their local platforms. So, Betternet is a great VPN for safe streaming. However, this is only true of the paid version.

Speed — Fast on Most Servers

The premium Betternet VPN app gave us excellent speeds on most of the servers that we tested. This was very impressive because even some of the top VPNs I have tried have slow speeds on servers far away.

My teammate and I had to test speeds on nearby and distant servers to assess the service’s overall performance. As stated above, we don’t condone copyright infringements and ask you to please use any VPN responsibly.

We record speeds for the majority of our reviews from one location in the UK with the same internet connection for fair comparisons. The chart below shows the average speeds from at least 10 tests for each location. Our speed guru used the Hydra protocol as it was the fastest.

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I also tested it from my location in Nairobi and was not disappointed. In most cases, my speeds never dropped by more than 17%. For context, it’s normal for a premium VPN to drop your speeds by an average of about 10-20% on nearby to mid-range servers (below 5,000 km away).

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Far-away servers did drop my speeds significantly. For instance, my speeds dropped by 81% on South Korean servers. However, this was expected since South Korea is more than 10,000 km away.

Unsurprising, the free version is slow. Betternet lists limited speeds as one of the drawbacks of using the free service. I always lost at least 60% of my base rates, even on nearby servers.

Overall, Betternet VPN speeds were impressive. It performed better than most smaller VPNs that I have tested.

Gaming — Fast Enough for Enjoyable Gameplay

Most Betternet premium servers had a decent ping for gaming without slowdowns. I started by connecting to a server in South Africa to play Minecraft. The game loaded in under a minute, and I played smoothly without any issues. I was impressed that my ping was only 17ms. You need a ping that’s below 85ms to get quick responses to your inputs while gaming.

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However, testing far-away servers in Nepal created too much lag. This wasn’t unexpected since Nepal is over 6,000 km from my location in Nairobi and had a ping of 417ms. When I tested the free version, I couldn’t even get my game to load. The speeds were too slow, and the ping was too high on all the free servers.

Overall, Betternet VPN’s premium version performed great for gaming. I wouldn’t recommend using the free version. It’s too slow for gaming without lag, and there is no guarantee that your data will be safe.

Server Network — Small but Well Distributed

Betternet VPN has a smaller than average network of 1.000 servers in 115 countries. However, the entire list of servers is only available to premium customers. The free version will only give you access to 4 servers — Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, and the UK.

A small bank of servers not only means you’re less likely to find the state you need, but the available servers can get overcrowded, causing slow connection speeds. However, I like how well the servers are distributed around the world – there is at least one server location in every continent.

Betternet owns all its servers. I contacted customer support, and the agent confirmed that all its servers are privately owned. This is important to me because it ensures that no third party can interfere with them. Like most VPNs, it also offers an automatic connection (called “Optimal”), which always gives me the fastest speeds.

Except for a few countries, most Betternet servers are not city-level. In other words, the servers are only marked by country name. This can end up giving you slower connections than you expected. Its servers are all virtual locations as well, which can also result in speed drops.

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Unfortunately, Betternet doesn’t have dedicated IP addresses. These are nice when you need a consistent and unique online identity, which is valuable for tasks like hosting a website. Many of the leading VPNs offer this service for an extra cost. Check out this list to find a VPN that comes with a larger server network and dedicated IPs.

Security — Above Average Security Features

BetternetVPN has a pretty decent suite of security features. Due to its troubling past, I was particularly interested to see what exactly it had to offer in terms of security features.

Fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed. I was especially happy to find that it has a kill switch, which is crucial for keeping your data secure even when the VPN connection drops unexpectedly. Like most VPNs, it also offers an auto-connect feature, so it can turn on as soon as you boot up.

I also like that it can be used in conjunction with Tor. However, you will miss out on a few premium features, such as private DNS servers and double VPN. So, it’s not perfect.

Encryption

Betternet VPN offers AES 256-bit encryption, the industry standard. This level of encryption is highly secure and widely used globally in various security applications because it’s nearly unbreakable. Betternet also supports Perfect Forward Secrecy, which frequently changes the encryption keys for added security.

Security Protocols

You can switch between Catapult Hydra, IKEv2 (IPSec), and WireGuard protocols. The Catapult Hydra protocol is Betternet VPN’s proprietary modification of the OpenVPN protocol. This protocol uses AES-128-bit encryption with 2048 DHE-RSA keys.

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It’s important to note that the proprietary nature of the Catapult Hydra protocol means it cannot be peer-reviewed by security researchers. This is generally considered a drawback since open-source protocols allow for public auditing and are generally trusted for their transparency. So, you’ll want to use WireGuard for maximum security.

Kill Switch

Betternet VPN offers a solid kill switch that immediately cuts your device’s internet connection if the VPN service is unexpectedly disrupted. This prevents your data from being transmitted over an unsecured network, safeguarding your privacy.

I tested the kill switch by randomly switching servers, and it immediately paused my connection until I was safely connected to the new server.

IP & DNS leak protection

It also provides IP/DNS leak protection. This feature ensures your actual IP address and DNS requests remain hidden online. I tested over a dozen of its servers, and my IP address and DNS requests never leaked. It also successfully prevented WebRTC leaks.

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IP leaks can expose your real location to the websites you visit, while DNS leaks expose your browsing history to your ISP — which beats the purpose of having a VPN in the first place. Happily, Betternet successfully hid my IP address and DNS requests.

Split tunneling

Split tunneling is one of my favorite VPN features, so I was happy to see that Betternet VPN offers it. Available on Windows, Android, and iOS, split tunneling allows you to choose which apps or websites bypass the VPN connection and which are routed through it. This can improve speeds because only some of your traffic is encrypted.

When testing, I used the VPN to protect my data while playing Roblox and using my banking app with my regular Internet connection.

Anti-Phishing Protection

Betternet’s anti-phishing protection keeps you safe from malicious websites. This feature automatically detects and blocks access to known phishing sites. I was pleased to see this feature since few smaller VPNs offer it.

Privacy — Logs Too Much Data

Betternet VPN is located in a surveillance country and logs quite a bit of data. Plus, its no-logging policy hasn’t been audited. So, this is definitely its weakest area, and I hope it improves in the future since it’s so promising in other categories. You can find VPNs with verified no-logs policies in this list.

Does Betternet VPN Keep Logs? No

Betternet VPN privacy policy was heavily questioned in the past after research showed that its apps harbored a high number of malware and third-party tracking libraries. For instance, the research found that its Android app contained 14 tracking libraries.

During our previous review, the privacy policy stated that Aura (the mother company then) was the one managing data on behalf of Betternet. This was really concerning. So, when testing it this time, I was really keen to see if this is still the case. When I examined the privacy policy, I was happy to find that third parties are no longer involved in its data management.

Betternet states that it doesn’t collect or store any identifiable data. However, I was still uncomfortable with the amount of data that it collects.

Even though it doesn’t log any personal data while you use the service, it records your device or mobile advertising identifiers. It also stores operating system versions and other crucial information such as your internet service provider and carrier name.

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The privacy policy also clearly states that it may serve ads through third-party advertising services. In other words, Betternet might sell your data to advertisers in exchange for the free service. However, it states that it will not log any of your online activities while you use the paid service — such as the apps or the websites you visit.

Was Betternet VPN Audited? No

Unfortunately, Betternet VPN’s policy hasn’t been audited or verified by any third parties. I couldn’t find any information online about this. When I contacted support to ask, the agent vaguely pointed me to the privacy policy page for more information.

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Based in Switzerland

Betternet was recently acquired by Pango Group, a company based in Switzerland. This is within the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances — a group of countries that collaborate in intelligence gathering and sharing. This means that in the event that a government requests information about you from the company, they will have to hand it over.

Does Betternet VPN Work in China? Maybe

Betternet VPN claims to work in China. However, support was a bit vague in this regard. There have been many reports of it only working sporadically in the region. I contacted Betternet’s customer support, and the agent said you can reach out if you have any issues connecting in China. However, they didn’t say exactly what the VPN does to work in China.

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Generally, the Chinese government tends to block VPN technology. There have been no publicly-reported cases of them targeting individuals. However, my team and I do not support any illegal activities. Always make sure to familiarize yourself with the local laws regarding VPN usage before deciding to use one.

To get a VPN that’s been tried-and-tested, check out our top VPNs for China.

Torrenting — Great for Downloading

Betternet VPN premium is an excellent choice for torrenting. Betternet’s strong security features also mean it can keep you safe on P2P networks, which I consider a necessity.

While connected, I managed to download a 1.6GB copyright-free file in less than 18 minutes (about the same as my speed with no VPN connected). What’s impressive is that this was achieved with only a small number of seeders available. Nearby servers gave me the best speeds, but long-distance servers weren’t bad either.

As you might expect, the free version is inadequate for this purpose. The speeds were slow on all the free servers, and my files couldn’t even load. Plus, the 500MB bandwidth limit makes it useless for torrenting.

Keep in mind that while torrenting is legal in most countries, downloading copyrighted files isn’t. My team and I don’t condone any form of copyright infringement. Therefore, we urge you to only access torrents within the public domain.