Encrypt.Me Review

Encrypt.Me actually advertises this practice as being essential in creating a better customer experience for all its users. Usually, when VPN services engage in keeping logs of its users, they try to downplay their significance.

As such, Encrypt.Me may not be considered a safe option. Even though uers are protected via strong encryption as well as support for their torrenting needs, but none of them are enough to gloss over its incapability as a secure VPN service.

For users that do not particularly care about security, this might be a decent enough service. Otherwise, my judgment regarding this service is simple; stay away from it and opt for a better alternative like Surfshark. To learn more, continue reading this in-depth 2020 Encrypt.Me Review!

Rating Criteria

1. Jurisdiction: Where Does Encrypt.Me Operate from?
2. Security: Is Encrypt.Me a Safe Option?
3. Leaks: Does Encrypt.Me Leak Your WebRTC/DNS/IP Address?
4. Servers: How Many Servers Does Encrypt.Me Have?
5. Streaming: Does Encrypt.Me Unblock Netflix?
6. Speed: Does Encrypt.Me Have Speedy Servers?
7. Compatibility: Can I Use Encrypt. Me On All Devices?
8. Pricing: Is Encrypt. Me Affordable?
9. Trustworthiness: What Do Users Say About Encrypt.Me?

Jurisdiction: Where Does Encrypt.Me Operate From?

Encrypt. Me operates out of the United States; the de facto leader of the notorious 5/9/14 Eyes alliance, with legislation that enables mass surveillance and data retention practices as well. This should immediately start ringing alarm bells for the privacy-conscious.

The U.S. Stored Communications Act (SCA) binds companies to maintain extensive logs of all its users’ activities, adding further reasons for users to steer clear of this service. A simple gag order request accompanied by a subpoena would be enough to hand over logging information.

Security: Is Encrypt.Me a Safe Option?

Encrypt. Me not maintains connection logs but continues to keep them in storage for 16 days. There is no reason to believe that they do not retain data beyond that timeframe either.

Overall, there is not a single reason that would qualify Encrypt. Me as a safe and reliable VPN service. Its encryptions and protocols are not the best ones available on the market, in addition to the outdated features.

Invasive Logging Policy

The service has an incredibly invasive logging policy. Encrypt. Me blatantly maintains connection logs and stores them for up to 16 days. While most VPN providers go to great lengths to ensure they maintain no logs, their logging policy explicitly states:

“When you use Encrypt.me to secure your connection, we collect:

• The number of bytes sent and received
• The length of time connected
• The IP address connected from and the (virtual) IP we assign
• The source port of the outgoing connection with start and end times

We keep this information for at most sixteen (16) days, after which we permanently delete it.

We call this information your “personal session information” and it is the most sensitive data we collect. We treat it that way. After at most sixteen days, we permanently delete your personal session information.”

Maintaining logs is bad enough but storing them for such an excessive period is the final nail in the coffin. Based on their logging policy alone, I would strongly advise users to cross this provider permanently off their list of trusted VPN providers.

Encryption & Protocols

The services offer the IPSec protocol for its iOS users, while users on Mac and Android are supported OpenVPN. Similarly, users on Windows are secured via the open-source StrongSwan protocol that accommodated IKEv1 and IKEv2.

All of these protocols are complemented with the industry standard AES-256-bit encryption cipher. However, what is troubling in the services’ encryption is the non-availability of OpenVPN for all platforms, particularly Windows and iOS users.

Encrypt.Me Virus Test

I wanted to see if the service or the installation files themselves had any hidden viruses at all. I scanned the service using Virus Total and luckily found no viruses. Here is the result for their windows app.

Leaks: Does Encrypt.Me Leak WebRTC/DNS/IP Address?

As with most VPN providers, we wanted to see how secure are their protocols in terms of ensuring there are no IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks taking place. Using ipleak.net, we conducted different tests and Encrypt.Me successfully passed them all!

Servers: How Many Servers Does Encrypt.Me Have?

The service currently offers a mere 46 servers located across 24 countries. A bulk of these servers, 21 to be exact operate out of the United States casting a serious shadow over how safe are these servers are in terms of user privacy.

The company stated back in 2017 that they intended to add more servers, but there is clear indication that nothing of the sort transpired. You can receive access to a better network infrastructure with plenty of choices in the marketplace.

Does Encrypt.Me Support Torrenting?

While the service’s servers do support torrents, it explicitly makes it clear that the service won’t protect them if they engage in internet piracy. It singles out P2P sharing as one such activity that the service neither condones nor overlooks.

Considering the US’ strict laws on piracy, as well as Encrypt.Me’s logging, policy, users are strongly advised not to rely on this service for their torrenting needs.

Does Encrypt.Me Work in China?

No, the service fails at unblocking the censorship restrictions from inside China. Recent years have seen a spike in the Chinese government’s efforts to curb its citizens’ unfettered access to the internet. That has resulted in several VPN services being blocked.

Encrypt.Me is one of those services as it lacks the servers and the tenacity to bypass these restrictions for its users. On the other hand, it isn’t able to unblock local content for expats either. So, as far as a potent VPN option for China goes, Encrypt. Me isn’t a contender by any means.

Streaming: Does Encrypt.Me Unblock Netflix?

Yes, the service is fully capable of unblocking Netflix and its US library. The primary reason for this seems to be its operations out of the US, making it easy for users to unblock Netflix.

To test its abilities more, I tried unblocking other streaming sites like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Hotstar, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and was able to do so with relative ease.

Speed: Does Encrypt.Me Have Speedy Servers?

Despite some undesirable server locations, I wanted to be fair and unbiased when judging the speed of these servers. On a 100 Mbps connection, I connect to 5 random servers inside the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Compatibility: Can I Use Encrypt.Me On All Devices?

Users can use this service on almost all major platforms and devices as the user offers complete support for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, which means you can leverage strong security at all times.

Similarly, the service’s website also has dedicated apps and clients for the platform of your choice that comes with detailed installation guides that make the whole installation process easier for users.

Pricing: Is Encrypt.Me Affordable?

Encrypt.Me has by far the most convoluted and bizarre pricing strategy I’ve ever seen. It is needlessly complicated and leaves users completely unsure of the difference and benefits of the various plans on offer. Most of their plans can be categorized as follows:

• Passes
• Subscriptions
• Families
• Teams

Additionally, the Passes have sub-divisions into weekly, monthly, and yearly plans:

• Week Pass ($3.99 per week)
• Monthly Pass ($9.99 per month)
• Yearly Pass ($99.99 per year)

The sub-divisions don’t end there in terms of the subscriptions:

• Unlimited plan ($9.99 per month)
• Annual plan ($99.99 per year)

The families section offers the following plans:

• Monthly ($12.99 per month)
• Yearly ($149.99 per year)

The teams section offers just one plan for two individuals.

• Monthly ($15.98 for two connections)

Encrypt.Me Refund Policy

The service has a noticeable 30-day money-back guarantee. If users feel like the service is not up to their standard, users can get a refund simply by sending an email to their support (support@encrypt.me). Annoyingly, if you purchased the service through an in-app service, you cannot use the refund policy at all.

Encrypt.Me Payment Methods

Encrypt. Me allows payments via the traditional VISA/Mastercard debit and credits cards, as well as through other providers such as American Express, Discover and Diners.

The lack of support for PayPal or any sort of cryptocurrencies means that users may not have the same kind of digital anonymity in terms of financial transactions that most other services can provide.

Trustworthiness: What Do Users Say about Encrypt.Me?

The best way to judge whether the service itself can deliver on all the promises it makes is to see what existing users feel about using it. To get a fair view, I scanned the service’s Trustpilot reviews as well as what Reddit had to say in addition to the service’s own customer support.

Encrypt.Me Trustpilot Review

The service’s Trustpilot does reflect an overall good impression of users. Though the reviews aren’t that many in number, they do state that more than half of the users seem content with what they’ve received.

It should be noted that these reviews are most talking about Encrypt. Me’s ability to unblock Netflix and not about its ability to properly protect their identity online.

Encrypt.Me Reddit Review

Redditors were visibly more critical of the service. As evident through numerous comments, users seemed particularly distrusting of the service’s logging policies, which is quite an alarming detail to say the least.

Additionally, users did not seem happy with how lax the service’s support for Android. The constant crashes and disconnection rates were particularly troublesome.

Encrypt.Me Customer Support

The service’s own website does not seem to be committed to creating a smooth and user-friendly customer experience. To start off, there is no 24/7 live chat that may assist users instantaneously.

Additionally, there is a peculiar absence of information regarding its server locations. I had to dig deep inside their FAQs section to find a press release from 2017 indicated it had 46 servers.

As mentioned earlier in the review, the pricing options can leave users dazed and confused. To make things worse, users need to sign up providing their email and other contact info to get access to the download files.

Encrypt.Me Alternatives

Unsurprisingly, users would be highly recommended to look for more secure and user-friendly alternatives. The price structure is abysmal, the logging policy appears to be openly bellicose. Keeping that in mind, I would suggest users look for other, more reliable options.

As such, Surfshark should definitely be at the top of your list in the Comparison table owing to its vast array of servers, a strict no-logs policy, and a straightforwardly affordable pricing plan with numerous essential VPN features that truly secure users online.

Do I Recommend Encrypt.Me?

Absolutely not. Encrypt.Me doubles down on its authority to keep detailed logs on its users and evens stores them for 16 days. These issues are further aggravated by the fact that the service operates out of the United States.

I would advise users to steer clear of this service and opt instead for a service like Surfshark that is less ambiguous about its practices, works in China, unblocks Netflix, and excels at all VPN-related tasks for a minimal $1.99/mo.