PrivadoVPN
Iceland-based VPN known for an unusually generous free tier and cheap long-term plans, but with no published independent audit.
privadovpn.com ↗- Jurisdiction
- Iceland
- Founded
- 2019
- Owner
- Privado Networks ehf. (Iceland)
- Best price
- $1.11/mo
- Devices
- 10
- Free tier
- Yes
Best for
- · Budget users wanting a low-cost long-term VPN
- · People who need a capable free VPN for light/occasional use
- · Streaming and general privacy on multiple devices
- · Casual torrenting/P2P
Not ideal for
- · Threat models requiring independently audited, court-proven no-logs guarantees
- · Users who need open-source clients or a native Linux GUI
- · Anyone needing port forwarding or multihop
- · Fully anonymous signup (email is required)
Strengths
- ✓Genuinely useful free tier (10 GB per 30 days, full AES-256, kill switch, split tunneling, P2P, one device)
- ✓Very cheap long-term plans (around $1.11/month on the 2-year plan) with 10 simultaneous connections
- ✓Privacy-friendly jurisdiction after 2026 move to Iceland (outside 5/9/14 Eyes and EU data-retention rules)
- ✓Solid core feature set: WireGuard/OpenVPN/IKEv2, own DNS, kill switch, split tunneling, OpenVPN 'Scramble' obfuscation, and reliable Netflix unblocking
Weaknesses
- ✗No published independent no-logs or security audit, no transparency report, and no warrant canary
- ✗Never court-tested by a documented seizure or subpoena, so the no-logs claim is unverified
- ✗Closed-source apps and no native Linux GUI (manual/CLI setup only)
- ✗Retains some account-level metadata (bandwidth, billing records, diagnostics) and lacks advanced privacy features like multihop and port forwarding
Full data sheet
Every attribute we track, coloured by whether it helps or hurts your privacy.
| Based in | Iceland |
| Eyes alliance | Outside 5/9/14 Eyes |
| Enemy of the Internet | No |
| Owner | Privado Networks ehf. (Iceland) |
| Conglomerate | n/a |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Traffic / activity | None kept |
| DNS requests | None kept |
| Timestamps | None kept |
| Bandwidth | Some |
| Source IP address | None kept |
Markets a 'zero-log' policy: per its Privacy Policy (eff. 1 May 2026) it does not retain browsing history, traffic destination, data content, VPN-session IP logs, or DNS queries. It does keep account data (email, username, hashed password; ~30 days post-deletion), payment/billing records (kept ~7 years under Icelandic bookkeeping law), and aggregate per-account/plan bandwidth counters, plus self-hosted Sentry crash reports (~1 yr) and anonymous aggregate app statistics. Independent reviewers (Top10VPN) note the account/bandwidth metadata means this is 'not a no-logs privacy policy' in the strictest sense, and the claim is unaudited. No connection-timestamp retention is described in the policy, so 'timestamps: none' is inferred rather than explicitly stated.
| Anonymous signup | No |
| Accepts cash | Unknown |
| Accepts crypto | Yes |
| PGP key | Unknown |
| OpenVPN | Yes |
| WireGuard | Yes |
| Proprietary protocol | n/a |
| Multi-hop | No |
| Obfuscation | Yes |
| Kill switch | Yes |
| First-party DNS | Yes |
| RAM-only servers | Unknown |
| Port forwarding | No |
| P2P / torrenting | Yes |
| IPv6 | Unknown |
| Data cipher | AES-256-GCM |
| Handshake | unknown |
| Open-source clients | No |
| Independent audits | None |
| Transparency report | No |
| Court / seizure-tested | Untested |
No documented server seizure, raid, or subpoena has tested the no-logs claim; no warrant canary. No published independent no-logs or security audit as of June 2026 (confirmed by Top10VPN, vpnMentor, Security.org and PCMag/Wikipedia).
| Simultaneous devices | 10 |
| Countries | 50 |
| Servers | 500 |
| Linux support | CLI / config |
| Month-to-month | $10.99 |
| Best $/mo | $1.11 |
| On plan | 24 months |
| Free trial | None |
| Refund window | 30 days |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Logging policy | Consistent |
| Marketing honesty | Unknown |
Founded 2019 as Privado Networks (originally Zug, Switzerland). In early 2026 it relocated its legal home/data controller to Iceland (Privado Networks ehf., Garðabær near Reykjavík), citing Switzerland's proposed March 2025 OSCPT surveillance/data-retention amendment; new ToS/Privacy Policy effective 1 May 2026, with the Swiss AG and a Delaware LLC retained only as payment processors. Some official marketing pages remain stale: the No-Log feature page still says 'PrivadoVPN is based in Switzerland' and cites Swiss consumer-protection law, contradicting the Iceland legal entity. Server count (~500+) and ~50 countries (67 cities) are vendor/reviewer figures, not independently audited; Security.org confirms physical (not virtual) servers, so RAM-only is effectively absent but not vendor-stated. PrivadoVPN is bundled with Usenet brands (Newshosting, UsenetServer, Tweaknews, Easynews) and reportedly absorbed Newshosting's prior VPN; historically these shared WLVPN infrastructure. However, no source establishes a single named parent conglomerate that owns PrivadoVPN (Highwinds-era brands like IPVanish went to Ziff Davis, a separate lineage), so conglomerate is left blank. Crypto is accepted via BitPay (BTC/ETH/LTC and others). AES-256-GCM is standard for its WireGuard/OpenVPN here, but the exact handshake/key-exchange details were not verified.
Sources
- PrivadoVPN Privacy Policy (data controller: Privado Networks ehf., Iceland; eff. 1 May 2026; logging/retention detail) ↗
- PrivadoVPN official Pricing page ($10.99/mo; 24-mo $1.11/mo; free 10GB/30d; 30-day money-back; 10 connections) ↗
- PrivadoVPN No-Log VPN feature page (STALE: still references Switzerland and Swiss consumer-protection law) ↗
- TechRadar: PrivadoVPN's new Terms of Service make its move from Switzerland to Iceland official ↗
- TechRadar: 'Our users deserve better' – PrivadoVPN set to leave Switzerland on privacy grounds ↗
- Top10VPN PrivadoVPN review (logging is 'not a no-logs policy'; no audit/transparency report/warrant canary; never court-tested; closed-source; Iceland no Eyes; independent ownership) ↗
- vpnMentor PrivadoVPN review (Scramble obfuscation; no port forwarding; no third-party audit; PayPal/cards/crypto BTC-ETH-LTC; free 10GB/1 device) ↗
- Security.org PrivadoVPN review (hundreds of physical servers in 50 countries; IKEv2/OpenVPN/WireGuard; no IP logging; unaudited) ↗
- VPNCompare PrivadoVPN review (Iceland move + Privado Networks ehf.; BitPay crypto; CLI-only Linux; 50 countries/67 cities; free-tier features; no public audit) ↗
- Wikipedia: PrivadoVPN (released 2019; operates under Iceland law as of 1 May 2026; PCMag noted no third-party audit) ↗
Last verified 2026-06-17. Point-in-time data, so always confirm on the provider's own site.