ZoogVPN

ZoogVPN claims to offer great performance with cheap offers that include a free tier. Its free app offers many features, and it boasts about its fast speeds and true no-logging policy. But, does it actually live up to its claims, or is it simply cheap because it’s no good?

After extensive testing, I can say that Zoog is a good VPN, but not great. It’s relatively fast and works well for gaming and torrenting. However, its server network is small, especially with the free app. It’s also missing a few key security features. I recommend you check out our list of the best VPNs before trying ZoogVPN.

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Streaming — Too Many Frustrating Issues

ZoogVPN can only securely access a small number of streaming platforms. My global testing team and I also encountered several annoying issues with the streaming services that did work. It does offer streaming-optimized servers, but they weren’t much help.

You’ll need to use the premium app for streaming since the free version failed completely. There were no streaming services we were able to safely access with the free servers.

Works With: Netflix, Max, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video

We could safely stream Netflix US, Canada, and the Netherlands’ full libraries with ZoogVPN.

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However, many times we could only watch Netflix Originals. It was impossible to view the full libraries of Australia and the UK, for example. Originals only has the titles Netflix owns outright, so you miss out on a lot of content.

Many Netflix tests with the non-optimized servers were unsuccessful. So, you’ll be better off sticking with the locations you find under the Streaming tab. Although we did have one test with a UK streaming server that didn’t work either.

There were no issues with loading videos and streaming in great quality on Max.

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After several failed attempts, we could safely view movies on Amazon Prime Video Italy. It was a bit frustrating because each of our tests were done with locations labeled as supporting the platform. Plus, it took about 18 seconds for any video to load.

The same thing happened with BBC iPlayer. We could eventually stream BBC iPlayer, but the picture quality wasn’t great, and our video paused to buffer several times.

Doesn’t Work With: Hulu & Disney+

Zoog claims to be compatible with some platforms that never worked.

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We also tried switching protocols, but none of them made a difference with Hulu or Disney+. So, ZoogVPN isn’t the worst VPN for streaming we’ve tested. However, there are many providers in a similar price range that make life much easier. You can check out our list of the best VPNs for streaming to stay safe on all the top platforms with less hassle.

Speed — Decent Rates at Any Distance

ZoogVPN offers above average speeds that are just below the top VPNs. To make sure we have accurate results, we try to get most tests done by our speed expert. This way they’re completed from the same location with the same connection for fairer comparisons. These tests were all done with the WireGuard protocol since it was the fastest protocol.

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You can expect to lose about 10-20% of your speeds on average with a good VPN. At long distances, losses of up to 50% are acceptable, depending on how far away the server is. So, as you can see, ZoogVPN can offer fast speeds as long as your base rates aren’t too low.

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Of course there are much faster VPNs, and I wish that Zoog offered a few more quality options when it comes to speed. For example, some VPNs show you the load for each server (how crowded they are). Some even display an estimate of the ping rate you can expect before you connect to a server or tell you how far away a location is.

Still, I can’t complain about Zoog in this category. The premium VPN isn’t bad at all in this regard. However, the free servers will lower your speeds considerably more, especially since you can’t use WireGuard with the free app.

Gaming — Low Ping for Smooth Gameplay

ZoogVPN’s nearby servers let us play online without any significant lag. Ping rates are what you want to pay attention to while gaming. These tell you how long it takes your data to travel. When it gets too high, there’s a delay between your button presses and your character’s actions. That makes it impossible to stay immersed in your games and play competitively.

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We played a fast-paced game and could shoot and maneuver without any added delays. But, this test was done with a nearby server. Once you connect to a location about 5,000km away or more, your ping rate will probably become too high. This isn’t a knock against ZoogVPN because this happens with just about any VPN.

Server Network — Small With Limited Privacy Assurances

ZoogVPN has a small server network with only 100 servers in 55 countries. I do like that it offers city-level servers (there are 70+ locations in total), which make it easier to tell how far away a server truly is. They also claim to have 1,000+ IPs at their disposal.

It owns some of its servers but also rents a number of them from third parties. I couldn’t get any more concrete details from support, so it’s anyone’s guess which servers are Zoog’s. I understand that it’s expensive, but I always have a little more peace of mind when a VPN owns all its servers (it cuts out a middleman that could access your data).

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They also state that they mostly use physical servers, but have virtual locations as backups. Once again, it was difficult to get more information from its support staff. I’m not entirely sure what this means, but I do know that several of its IPs come with DNS servers in different locations, which could cause you problems when you’re trying to access specific websites.

There are optimized servers for torrenting and streaming. I like that these are clearly labeled within the server list, but I was a bit confused by the glasses icon. Support confirmed that these used to be their obfuscated servers. However, these are no longer relevant since it’s added an obfuscation protocol which works with every server. I’ll expand on this in the next section.

Finally, it doesn’t offer dedicated IPs or RAM-only servers. The former are provided by many VPNs for an additional fee and are helpful when you need a static online address for things like running a website. RAM-only servers delete all of their data after every reboot, so they’re a little more privacy-friendly.

In the end, this is one of ZoogVPN’s weakest areas. It’ll need to beef up this network if it wants to compete with the top players in the industry. To find a VPN with much better server selection and plenty of excellent privacy features, read this list of providers with great networks.

Security — Safe but Missing Many Useful Features

It can keep you safe, but this VPN doesn’t have the most extensive list of security features. It comes with top-notch encryption, all the best protocols, and a kill switch. However, it doesn’t offer a fully functional split tunneling feature. It’s also missing double VPN, ad-blocking, and some other customization options its competitors provide.

I’m happy that it passed all of our leak tests, but we ran into a strange issue with its DNS servers. As I stated above, sometimes you get DNS locations that don’t match the IP you’re given.

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Support staff stated that it does this to “balance the load and improve performance.” However, it’s possible that these DNS servers could give you websites in a different language than you expected. For example, I was given Polish results on Google when I expected Greek content. Most of the top VPNs I’ve used offer DNS servers that match the IP’s location.

I’m also curious if this issue is linked to its use of virtual servers. But, since it doesn’t provide much information about them, I can’t be sure. Either way, ZoogVPN can keep you safe online, but it’s not the most convenient VPN. If you’re looking for more customization options, I recommend you explore this list of some of the safest VPNs around.

Encryption

The premium app uses AES 256-bit encryption, which is nearly unbreakable. It’s the standard encryption level used by many banks and militaries around the world. It’s basically impossible to crack its keys with current computing technology.

The free app only offers AES 128-bit encryption. This is still relatively safe. It’s also usually faster since it’s a bit more lightweight, but this probably won’t improve your speeds on its overcrowded free locations.

Security Protocols

The most important protocols ZoogVPN offers are OpenVPN and Wireguard. WireGuard is usually the fastest protocol offered with any VPN, and that was the case during our tests with ZoogVPN. OpenVPN was about twice as slow.

However, OpenVPN is usually considered the safest protocol since it’s open source. This means it’s always being tested for vulnerabilities by cybersecurity enthusiasts around the world. It also comes with two versions. OpenVPN TCP is known to be more reliable while UDP is a bit faster.

Shadow is its obfuscation protocol, and it hides your VPN use. This is useful on restrictive networks like you might find at a school or place of business. Although the VPN used to rely on obfuscated servers, you can now utilize obfuscation with any location by enabling this protocol.

It also offers some older protocols like IKEv2, but I’d stick with OpenVPN and WireGuard whenever possible. Lastly, there’s its ZoogTLS protocol, which is quite slow, so I’d avoid it.

Kill Switch

This is a necessary feature that blocks your internet connection if the VPN ever disconnects. I tested it out by enabling it and switching servers with a browser window open. Sure enough, when no server was connected, the website was inaccessible.

I appreciate that this is offered for all 4 major operating systems as well. Many VPNs fail to include this option on mobile devices or on Mac.

Privacy — Great Policies in a Good Location

ZoogVPN has an impressive privacy policy with a solid track record. I didn’t find any controversies related to the company or its ownership. It’s also located in a privacy-friendly country. Support staff claimed that a third-party audit of its policies are underway, and once that’s done, they could end up being one of the stronger options when it comes to privacy.

Does ZoogVPN Keep Logs? No

It will only collect your email address and the amount of data used. This is all it will record whether you’re using the free VPN or the premium app. That’s great because most VPNs store much more information like your device type, timestamps, the servers you’ve connected to, and more.

ZoogVPN claims it has no way to view any of our online activities. It also states it will never store personal information like your IP address. Its policy says all the right things, so I’m hopeful that it will be proven soon.

Was ZoogVPN Audited? No

Currently, there are no published audits of ZoogVPN’s infrastructure or policies. When the support agent told me an audit was underway, I asked who was conducting it. Unfortunately, they could not disclose that information. The best VPNs use reputable companies in the cybersecurity space and make the results public. I hope that ZoogVPN does the same.

Based in Greece

It’s headquartered in Greece, a country outside of the 14 Eyes Alliance. This is an agreement between governments to share their citizens’ information. With Zoog’s excellent policies, it wouldn’t have anything to share anyways. But, I do feel more safe knowing that it doesn’t have to comply with any other countries requests.

Does ZoogVPN Work in China? Yes

Support confirmed that you can use ZoogVPN within China if you activate the Shadow protocol.

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While many VPNs have been banned by the Chinese government, there have been no publicly-reported cases of them prosecuting individuals for using them. My team and I don’t condone any illegal activities. We ask that you please read up on the laws of the country you’re in before deciding to use a VPN.

Torrenting — Fast With Optimized Servers

ZoogVPN didn’t slow down my torrenting speeds at all. When I tested out a nearby torrenting-optimized server, I could complete a 700MB file in about 20 minutes. I downloaded the same file with no VPN connected, and it took the same amount of time. I found that the non-optimized servers were slightly slower, but only by a few minutes.

It doesn’t offer port forwarding, which can increase your seeding and downloading speeds. However, this isn’t a huge deal since it’s already so fast on its own. I also felt safe on P2P networks thanks to its kill switch and other strong security features. The main issue is you may have a tough time finding a nearby location since the server network is small.

While torrenting is legal in most countries, downloading copyrighted files isn’t. We urge you to only access torrents within the public domain, so you never break any laws.