Psiphon VPN Review

Security and Privacy

Maintaining the user’s security and privacy during browsing sessions is a critical feature for a VPN service. This is especially important when accessing sensitive websites that request personal information. Psiphon’s website warns that the tool isn’t well suited for keeping the user’s data and activity secure. In fact, users are warned not to consider it a security tool. The VPN service mostly focuses on circumventing rules and restrictions that prevent open access to web content.

Psiphon operates using the L2TP/IPSec protocol rather than OpenVPN, which is the most secure available. This is less of a worry when used with AES-256 encryption — the industry standard for ciphers — but for security and privacy purposes, it leaves much to be desired.

Psiphon had a security audit in 2017 from the German firm Cure53, and no significant security risks were discovered. However, user tests have shown some data leaks while using the VPN’s proxy addresses. This means at least some personal information is exposed to third parties and can be obtained without consent.

Server Coverage

To manage high usage and provide convenient access to regional addresses, a VPN service should have a large network of servers across different countries. Some users require a VPN to access content restricted in their country while others just prefer to hide their real physical location while surfing the web.

Unfortunately, Psiphon has a small number of available servers. The iOS app provides 22 locations in total, and the Android app has one fewer at 21. There are 22 available locations for Windows, but the VPN doesn’t allow the user to choose their server connection, which is inconvenient if a specific location is needed to access web content.

The majority of Psiphon’s servers are in North America and Europe, with a select few in Asia (India, Japan and Singapore). There are none at all in South America or Africa. The company doesn’t provide much information about the types of servers it uses or whether they’re company-owned or rented.

Performance

A VPN must provide good performance, or it will be difficult for users to surf, stream and work online. Although using a VPN generally slows down connection speeds, some VPNs perform well enough that the losses aren’t too noticeable.

Compared to other VPNs, Psiphon is considerably slow. The free version for iOS and Android throttles connection speed to 2Mbps — much too slow for most people. The Windows app doesn’t cap speed, but the automatic server location may result in the user being stuck with a poor connection. Some users might find it frustrating to reconnect in search of a closer or faster server.

There is a paid version for mobile users that’s similar but promises higher speeds. However, the speed boost is relatively minor compared to competitors’ offerings, maxing out around 5Mbps. Psiphon’s slow speeds shouldn’t be a problem while browsing static sites and watching low-definition videos, but for gaming, HD video streaming and P2P file sharing, much higher speeds are preferable.

Psiphon has earned many positive reviews, especially from free VPN users such as this one: “The entire VPN is awesome, and with the updates, it gets better! This is my favorite, easy to use, user friendly, 100% free VPN! If your connection is slow, obviously it will be slow, but if you want to skip over a firewall or two (ALL) then this is what you’ve been looking for! Psiphon can be downloaded, put on a drive, and used from any location with ease.”