PerfectVPN Review 2020

Last updated: January 19, 2023
William Sams
William Sams
PerfectVPN takes the crown as the worst VPN service I’ve ever reviewed. No Netflix unblocking, no torrents support, unsafe jurisdiction, misleading encryption information, a defunct website, and a suspicious client. Far from protecting, this service actually puts users in increased danger online.
Jurisdiction United States
Price $45 (One-time payment for 1-Year Plan)
Servers 20+ servers in 20+ countries
Logs Yes
Encryption No info
Unblocks Netflix No
Torrenting No
Works in China No
Recommended  No
Website https://www.perfectvpn.net/
Compatibility Windows, Android, Apple, Desktop

Unlike what its name might suggest, the service is far from being perfect. I am confident that of the thousands of VPNs that I have covered over the years, this one takes the crown as being the least impressive of them all.

There is not one positive aspect that I could find about the service. Users cannot expect to unblock Netflix or support for torrenting. There was a surprising lack of information about the service’s logging policy on its website, which I found out had been taken down in late 2019.

Users are not protected, there is no wide array of servers that can unblock ceaseless amounts of content for them online, and worse of all, it has an unfairly expensive set of payment plans.

All of this are polar opposites of a service like Surfshark, that guarantees user safety at every turn using the strongest encryption and keeps them entertained through complete support for torrenting and streaming.

Rating Criteria

  1. Jurisdiction: Where Does PerfectVPN Operate From?
  2. Security: Can PerfectVPN VPN Keep You Safe Online?
  3. Leaks: Does PerfectVPN VPN Leak Your IP/DNS/WebRTC?
  4. Servers: How Many Servers Does PerfectVPN Have?
  5. Streaming: Does PerfectVPN Unblock Netflix and Other VoDs?
  6. Speed: How Fast are PerfectVPN VPN Servers?
  7. Compatibility: Can I Use PerfectVPN On All My Devices?
  8. Pricing: How Much Does PerfectVPN VPN Cost Exactly?
  9. Trustworthiness: What Do Users Say About PerfectVPN VPN?

Jurisdiction: Where Does PerfectVPN Operate From?

PerfectVPN operates out of the United States. There is an entire litany of reasons why this is a terrible location for a VPN to be based out of.

The foremost reason is undoubtedly the US’ role as the de facto leader of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliance. These are compounded by the fact that there are multiple federal and state laws that make it easier for law enforcement agencies like the NSA and CIA to conduct mass surveillance.

And as if those weren’t enough, there are further ongoing attempts to pass laws that would effectively criminalize encryptions of all kinds, making the US the least safe place for a VPN to be operating from.

Security: Can PerfectVPN VPN Keep You Safe Online?

No, the service is far from being a safe location for a VPN to be based out of. The service offers the sketchiest and encryption information that I’ve ever read and to make matters irredeemable, a virus test indicated that the downloadable files had malware in them.

PerfectVPN VPN Logging Policy

The service does not state whether they keep any kind of logs on its users or not. Most of the VPN providers that I’ve reviewed have usually contained some kind of info about how they deal with usage and connection logs. This would make PerfectVPN one of the select VPNs that are suspiciously mute on this front.

This gives off the impression that the service is probably engaged in practices that it does not want to be known, hence it is trying its best to evade the question entirely.

Encryption & Protocols

I was already infuriated with its dodgy attitude regarding its logging policy but its similar lax attitude about its encryption tipped me over the edge. In my experience, such services only manage to offer users 128-bit encryption, at best.

The service does not have any kind of information about the specifics of its encryption and the details about the protocols on offer. After hours’ worth of research, I only managed to learn that the service offers users the choice between PPTP, SSTP, and L2TP/IPsec. This means that the most popular protocol i.e. OpenVPN would not be supported at all.

PerfectVPN VPN Virus Test

Aside from how safe it can keep users, I wanted to see how safe are PerfectVPN’s own installation files. Hence, I carried out a virus test to be certain that there were no hidden malware and viruses.

Here’s what I learned:

PerfectVPN-Virustest

As users can see, the service has an extremely dangerous engine on its installation file that is considered malicious. Not a safe client to install, in my opinion.

Leaks: Does PerfectVPN VPN Leak Your IP/DNS/WebRTC?

Despite the limited servers, I conducted a couple of tests to see whether my DNS, and IP were being compromised or not. These are the results of those leak tests:

PerfectVPN-Leak

As users can see, my actual European location was not exposed at all.

Servers: How Many Servers Does PerfectVPN VPN Have?

PerfectVPN offers users 20+ servers located in 20+ countries. Admittedly, this has to be one of the most unimpressive servers counts I’ve ever reviewed. Upon further investigation, it becomes clear that most of these servers are located in contentious locations of the UK, US, Canada, Germany, and France. All these countries are extremely unsafe as far as VPN locations are concerned.

Does PerfectVPN VPN Support Torrents?

No, the service is not a suitable service as far as your torrenting needs go. If there were any doubts, the service alleviates those doubts by categorically stating on its own website that no P2P sharing activity is permitted on its servers.

This should be expected considering how most of the service’s servers are located in countries that have strict laws prohibiting P2P activity.

Does PerfectVPN VPN Work in China?

It had become clear fairly evident early on that the service cannot unblock China’s formidable censorship on the internet.

The Chinese government has a notorious set of techniques and protocols that restrict its users’ access to the internet thanks to the Great Firewall of China. Users have to rely heavily on VPNs to evade these totalitarian restrictions.

PerfectVPN is in no way capable of unblocking content from inside China. Additionally, it won’t be able to unblock any geo-restricted local Chinese content for expats.

Streaming: Does PerfectVPN Unblock Netflix and Other VoDs?

This was my last hope for PerfectVPN as so many VPNs have been able to redeem themselves via offering complete streaming support. This was not the case with PerfectVPN as the service performs extremely poorly in terms of unblocking Netflix.

I tried unblocking all other major streaming sites like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, Hotstar, and BBC iPlayer and disappointingly, it does not work. To my surprise, it cannot accomplish the tasks that simple proxies are able to do seamlessly.

Speed: How Fast are PerfectVPN VPN Servers?

I have to be fair; I did not have any high initial expectations in terms of speed considering how limited the options are. However, I did not want that to hinder an objective test. Using a 100 Mbps connection, I connected to 5 servers in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Canada.

Here are the results:

Server Download Upload Ping
US 34Mbps 28Mbps 189ms
UK 32Mbps 27Mbps 112ms
France 42Mbps 38Mbps 284ms
Germany 31Mbps 33Mbps 320ms
Canada 48Mbps 38Mbps 292ms
Average 38Mbps 33Mbps 239ms

Compatibility: Can I Use PerfectVPN VPN On All My Devices?

I found the service completely compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, and iOS. Considering how easy it is to download the client from the website, I can say that using the service across multiple devices won’t be a particular issue.

However, there is no support for routers or any SMART devices which have quickly become the standard for most VPNs.

Pricing: How Much Does PerfectVPN VPN Cost Exactly?

PerfectVPN offers users the choice between 4 different packages for their users. The service claims on their site that the purpose of these different plans is to cater to the different needs that individuals and companies might have.

There is a Static and Dedicated plan with different payment plans. Additionally, there is also a plan for Unlimited Bandwidth and Dynamic connections. The details for these plans are as below:

Static Plan

  • Monthly ($1.75 per month)
  • Quarterly ($4.75 one-time payment)
  • Half-Yearly (9.50 one-time payment)
  • Yearly ($19.00 one-time payment)

Dedicated Plan

  • Monthly ($5.00 per month)
  • Quarterly ($13.00 one-time payment)
  • Half-Yearly ($26.00 one-time payment)
  • Yearly ($45.00 one-time payment)

Unlimited Bandwidth

  • Monthly ($5.00 per month)
  • Quarterly ($13.00 one-time payment)
  • Half-Yearly ($26.00 one-time payment)
  • Yearly ($45.00 one-time payment)

Dynamic Plan

  • Monthly ($3.00 per month)
  • Quarterly ($8.00 one-time payment)
  • Half-Yearly ($15.00 one-time payment)
  • Yearly ($27.00 one-time payment)

PerfectVPN-Price

PerfectVPN VPN Refund Policy

I suspect that a lot of users will need this info if for any reason they decide to buy this service. PerfectVPN only offers a 7-Day refund policy that falls significantly short of the industry-standard 30-Day period.

PerfectVPN VPN Payment Methods

Users will have the option to pay via the traditional VISA/Mastercard credit cards as well as through CashU, EGOPAY, WebMoney, OKPay, and PayPal to make online transactions easy for users.

The lack of support for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was disappointing since it failed to provide the appropriate kind of digital anonymity that most other VPNs can provide seamlessly.

Trustworthiness: What Do Users Say About PerfectVPN VPN?

I usually try to balance out my own feelings and perceptions about the service by also taking into account what others feel about the service. I have found Trustpilot and Reddit to be the best avenues to do so. Hence, you can imagine my surprise when I learnt that PerfectVPN does not have a presence on Trustpilot at all.

Its generic name does no favors for it on Reddit as well. I scoured the site for this service but a combination of an absurdly nonspecific name as well as lack of any distinctive features means that Reddit is hush about this service as well.

The only thing left was to review PerfectVPN’s customer support. My expectations from this service were the lowest I’ve had for probably any service.

PerfectVPN VPN Customer Support

Perhaps there’s no single area where I did not find myself disappointed with this service. Unlike the industry standard, there is no dedicated 24/7 live chat function that would help users stay connected with their VPN provider and ask for help instantaneously.

The only shreds of support that this service provides is in the form of a Contact Us and FAQs page. As I mentioned earlier, the service does not have an updated website meaning that most of the answers in the FAQ section are outdated and the Contact email still hasn’t responded to my query sent over a week ago.

PerfectVPN VPN Alternatives

I never thought I’d have to write this sentence but any other VPN would probably be an improvement over this pathetic excuse. Every minute I was using this service, my bar of expectations kept tumbling lower and lower.

Every VPN usually has a redeeming quality, a feature that compels me to state that at least it’s good for something. PerfectVPN gave me no such opportunity. In fact, having this service is as good as having no VPN at all, except you’ll be paying in the former scenario.

It stands in stark contrast to a VPN like Surfshark for example, that delivers the most transparent logging policy, a safe jurisdiction, the ability to unblock Netflix and so much more, all available at the most affordable rates.

Do I Recommend PerfectVPN?

No, this is an extremely sub-par VPN provider. In fact, I would go one step further and ask users to steer clear of this service that does deliver a single feature worthy of their time. It has all the bad elements that I tell all users to avoid i.e. an unsafe jurisdiction, a terrible logging policy, a non-existent presence online, and lax customer support.

I am not sure I would even want to classify it as a VPN since it cannot perform the most basic functions that we have come to expect from VPNs i.e. unblocking Netflix and support for torrenting.

For users, that want the best of the best in terms of both protection and entertainment, Surfshark would be my choice considering it scores highly in each category that counts

Compatible with device: Windows, Android, Apple, Desktop, ,

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