OpenVPN is an average VPN provider that doesn’t offer the best of features. Upon reviewing OpenVPN, we had mixed feelings about its overall capabilities. It doesn’t have a quality feature set, its server network is relatively small compared to the top guns in the VPN industry, and its protection policies are poor.
OpenVPN does have solid customer support on paper, but our experience with the live chat support wasn’t satisfactory. We were not provided accurate answers to our inquiries, which was unfortunate.
OpenVPN is not worth the price its services come at. If you want to use a reliable VPN provider, read our reviews of the five best VPN providers, and find the right pick for you.
Features
OpenVPN is not a regular VPN provider. It is a free, open-source software application created by OpenVPN technologies. OpenVPN lists the following as some of its key features:
This is not a standard set of features. We’re accustomed to looking for specific features, like the provider’s bandwidth policy, speed limitations, kill switch, torrent status, and more. As OpenVPN provides different features than the ones we’re used to seeing, we can’t recommend this features set.
Countries & servers
OpenVPN has 50 VPN servers across 23 regions in 12 countries. That is a small server network and can’t compete with the server networks of the top VPN providers that have thousands of servers across multiple countries. Private Internet Access alone has over 300 servers!
OpenVPN has most of its servers in the US (11), while the rest of the countries have one VPN server each. As far as geo-unblocking is concerned, this server network is simply insufficient, and we wouldn’t expect this kind of network to have decent and stable VPN connections.
If unblocking geo-restricted content is the main reason why you’re using a VPN, we suggest that you take a look at VPN providers that excel in geo-unblocking.
Speed & reliability
Information about the speed and reliability of OpenVPN’s VPN connection is scarce. The website doesn’t offer much information to brief us on OpenVPN’s average speed and stability, and this bothers us because without these statements there’s no way to hold them accountable.
The information we were able to collect is not enough for us to have a better understanding of the type of speed and stability OpenVPN will offer you.
OpenVPN states that it offers ultra-high speeds, but there is no conclusive evidence supporting this statement. There is only one article in its FAQ section addressing its VPN speed, and it is an article on how to improve your VPN speed connection. The article shares information that we already know, like the effect of your ISP, router, and server distance on the stability on your connection speed.
We asked live chat support about the average speed of OpenVPN’s connection, but they failed to address our inquiry with informative feedback. We dug a little deeper and found this statement in the terms of services section:
Pricing & payments
OpenVPN offers two VPN pricing plan: monthly and yearly. It also offers a seven-day free trial period. The two pricing plans only differ in the time-length users are required to subscribe. They offer the same features:
The yearly subscription plan offers the biggest savings, as users can save up to 50%. OpenVPN accepts payments through PayPal, credit cards, and Apple gift cards:
Support
We already mentioned that OpenVPN has live chat support. Other than that, it also has several other customer support sections which may be helpful to you, such as:
- Knowledge base
- FAQ
- Portal
- News
- Press
- Email support
We reached the live chat with several questions, but they didn’t respond appropriately. When we asked them about their server speed and reliability, they responded almost instantly, but their response was neither friendly nor informative. We wanted to be more thorough about our research, so we sent them another set of questions; this time, they responded a little bit differently:
Policies & logging
OpenVPN has three different customer protection policies:
- Privacy policy: OpenVPN collects personal data such as your name, email address, phone number, and credit card information. The company uses these pieces of information to improve its website, improve customer service, and process transactions. It also uses cookies. It claims not to share, trade, or sell your data to third parties except to those they deem trustworthy.
- Refund policy: OpenVPN has a seven-day refund policy which is disguised as a seven-day free trial period. Users can only ask for a refund during the first seven days. After that period, they lose any right to a refund.
- Logging policy: OpenVPN logs your data for 14-30 days.
We didn’t like the fact that OpenVPN logs your data for almost a month. You would be much better off with Cyberghost VPN and their very clear no-logging policy.
Expert recommendation
OpenVPN is an average VPN provider. It barely provides the basics and has a very shaky policy of protecting its customers. We don’t trust this provider, especially after having gone through its customer protection policy.
OpenVPN doesn’t provide a good set of features; it lacks some of the most valuable features, like a kill switch and leak protection. The server network is insufficient; with only 50 VPN servers in 12 countries, it’s definitely not ideal for geo-unblocking.
Customer support is not that bad, considering that the company has a live chat and multiple content sections. The live chat support, however, was not very helpful with their brief answers. The customer protection policies are probably the thing that bothered us the most about OpenVPN. The company doesn’t protect your personal data, it logs much of your online activity for about a month, and it only offers a seven-day refund guarantee.
OpenVPN is not a good provider. For the price of its services, we believe you could find a better VPN solution. Check out the top VPN providers we have reviewed on our website, and find the perfect VPN for you.