Windscribe is a very capable VPN with a great reputation. Both free and paid Windscribe plans net you tons of useful features, such as unblocking streaming platforms, ad blocking, and port forwarding. This is also one of the few providers that let you build your own monthly paid plan, which is a godsend for users looking to get a customized, affordable VPN service.
Servers
Windscribe doesn’t have the biggest VPN server network around. Actually, it has fewer servers than even PrivadoVPN - only 170 or so. However, this network does cover a lot of ground, as its spread around 63 countries and 110 cities. As usual, free users have access to a significantly smaller 11-location network, which thankfully covers locations in the US, UK, and Germany, among others.
The area in which WIndscribe blows its competitors out of the water is unblocking streaming platform content. While a lot of premium VPN companies struggle with bypassing Netflix’s VPN detection, even the free version of Windscribe is capable of giving you access to the elusive US Netflix library. Keep in mind that this might change at any given time since VPN providers and Netflix are locked in an eternal cat and mouse struggle, with the streaming service always looking for new ways to prevent VPN users from accessing geo-locked content.
Windscribe is also a physical server-only provider, which greatly reduces the chances of you experiencing slowdowns or server crashes.
Speed and Protocols
Windscribe proved to be pretty quick during our tests. When we connected to the closest possible server, the slowdowns were barely noticeable. However, if you choose one of the servers further away, your connection speed will suffer a bit, as expected.
The available protocols include IKEv2, OpenVPN UDP, TCP, and Stealth. This is a pretty decent selection, and the inclusion of Stealth - a Stunnel based protocol for masking your VPN connection - is certainly worthy of praise. Thankfully, free users can use all of the aforementioned protocols without issue.
Privacy and Security
The company behind Windscribe is based in Canada. While Canada isn’t the worst country in the world when it comes to privacy laws, it’s still part of the Five Eyes alliance. Still, Windscribe prides itself on keeping absolutely no user logs.
The company also boasts military-grade encryption in its software to keep all of your data private. The desktop application comes with great security features such as a proxy gateway, firewall, and secure hotspot technology.
Windscribe is yet to undergo an independent security audit, but the company does publish transparency reports on a regular basis.
Additional Features
Windscribe has a considerable number of extra features, but you’ll have to switch to a paid plan to get access to most of them. The browser extension comes with automatic server selection, Double Hop tech, cookie management, time/location spoofing, and user agent rotation.
There’s also port forwarding and split tunneling, along with server config file generators. The R.O.B.E.R.T VPN feature is also worth mentioning, as it lets you block IPs and domains (ads) of your choice. You’ll have to pay for these features separately, though.
Pricing
The Windscribe monthly plan will set you back $9 per month, while an annual subscription lowers the monthly cost to just $4.08. This is not expensive for what you get (open-source browser extensions, free mobile apps, the complete server network, etc.) and is on par with what other providers charge.
The free plan imposes a 2 GB VPN bandwidth limit per month and gives access to only 11 servers, but you can upgrade to 10 GB/month just by registering to Windscribe with your email address.
Lastly, you can build your custom Windscribe plan by choosing which servers/locations you want to be included. The price correlates to the number of locations you have in the plan, but expect to pay $1 per location per month.
