Encrypt.me VPN review
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Wondering how to protect your privacy and security while browsing the Internet? You need a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Many VPNs operate in a competitive market, and Encrypt.me is one of them. It’s an American VPN.
VPNs promise privacy, security, speed, access to geo-restricted content, secure access to P2P/torrenting services, and great customer support. They promise to offer all of these for an attractive price. The reality doesn’t reflect these promises always though.
We evaluate Encrypt.me against all of the above-mentioned criteria. Does this VPN meet your requirements and should you buy a subscription? Find out the answers to these questions in this review.
Features of Encrypt.me VPN
Does Encrypt.me offer enough useful features? We now examine this.
Is your information safe with Encrypt.me VPN?
You probably value privacy, and that’s probably the main reason for you to look for a VPN. If a VPN masks your IP address, encrypts your Internet traffic, and refrains from logging your online activities, then it can protect your privacy.
Encrypt.me masks your IP address and encrypts your Internet traffic. It keeps a limited amount of logs, as it explains in its privacy policy. When VPN users use Encrypt.me, this VPN collects the following information:
· The number of bytes transmitted;
· The start-time, end-time, and duration of an outgoing connection;
· Original IP address;
· The IP address assigned by the VPN;
· The source port of the outgoing connection.
Encrypt.me retains this data for up to 16 days, and it deletes this data afterward.
We don’t find any reason for Encrypt.me to log this amount of information. This practice amounts to logging, although it’s limited logging.
Encrypt.me collects crash reports about its Android app. This is aggregate information and Encrypt.me can’t tie it to any user.
When you buy an Encrypt.me subscription, the company collects the name, company name, email address, and billing address. Encrypt.me use Stripe for payment processing and Stripe retains your credit card information securely. Encrypt.me can’t access your credit card information directly.
Encrypt.me tracks demographic information, site analytics, purchase details, consent records, etc. Some information in this category could be personally identifiable. For example, Encrypt.me collects the email address, IP address, username, password, etc. This VPN secures this information.
Encrypt.me processes your personal information per relevant laws. This VPN is subject to the jurisdiction of the USA. The USA is a part of the “5 Eyes” coalition of countries that conduct mass surveillance. Considering that Encrypt.me keeps limited logs, the jurisdiction of the company is a disadvantage.
We find the Encrypt.me keeps limited logs. This VPN provider collects more information than many other VPN providers, and we don’t see any valid reasons for this. We don’t find Encrypt.me the best choice for protecting your privacy. If you prioritize privacy, then you should explore other leading VPNs.
Does Encrypt.me VPN provide sufficient encryption?
Most VPN users consider security as an important factor, and you probably do that too. VPNs that support secure VPN protocols, offer strong encryption, prevent data leaks, and provide advanced security features can help in this regard.
Encrypt.me supports the OpenVPN protocol on its Mac and Android VPN apps. This is the most secure VPN protocol. On its Windows and iOS VPN apps, Encrypt.me uses the IKEv2/IPSec VPN protocol. This is a secure protocol too.
Encrypt.me offers AES-256 encryption, which is the strongest that you can get in the market. This VPN prevents IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. Its infrastructure and software are free from viruses.
This VPN offers a “kill switch” on its Mac VPN app. Encrypt.me calls this feature “Overcloak”. If the VPN connection terminates suddenly, then the kill switch will block the Internet connection. This prevents hackers from accessing your sensitive information even if the Internet connection drops unexpectedly.
A kill switch certainly helps. However, we would like Encrypt.me to provide this useful feature on its other VPN apps too. Leading VPNs offer this feature on all of their apps. Encrypt.me falls short in this regard.
We confirmed with the customer support representative of Encrypt.me that this VPN doesn’t offer the “Perfect Forward Secrecy” (PFS) feature. It’s a useful feature that regularly changes the encryption key. Even if hackers get hold of your encryption key, they can’t use it for long. PFS will soon change it. Leading VPNs offer this feature, and Encrypt.me falls short in this regard.
While Encrypt.me offers basic security features, it doesn’t offer advanced security features. For the price it charges, this VPN should offer advanced security features.
Note: At an added cost, you can buy a subscription for “Private End Points” (PEPs) from Encrypt.me. This is applicable only if you buy a “families” or “Team” plan. A PEP is essentially a VPN server dedicated to you.
Where are the servers of Encrypt.me VPN located?
You want a VPN that offers good speed. VPNs with enough servers in all key geographies can offer good speed, however, they need to invest in high-quality infrastructure too.
Encrypt.me doesn’t explicitly state its total number of servers. After reading its FAQ materials, we could find that this VPN has its servers in 55 cities spread across 31 countries.
It covers all key geographies like North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Latin America, and Africa. This VPN has a smaller server network than its leading competitors. While it offers good speed, you could experience a slow connection depending on where you are.
Which of your devices can you use Encrypt.me VPN on?
You would want a VPN that supports all kinds of devices that you have. Encrypt.me supports Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
This VPN provides easy-to-use custom apps for all of these platforms. That’s an advantage, however, Encrypt.me doesn’t support Linux. Most leading VPNs support Linux since it’s a key desktop platform. Encrypt.me lags behind its competitors in this regard.
Encrypt.me supports Amazon Fire TV and it offers a custom app for this. While that’s certainly an advantage, this VPN doesn’t support other smart TVs. It doesn’t support gaming consoles. Encrypt.me doesn’t support Chromebook either.
A key disadvantage of Encrypt.me is that it doesn’t support routers. If a VPN supports routers, then you can secure other devices via the router. Even if the VPN doesn’t support that platform, you can bypass that limitation. Since Encrypt.me doesn’t support routers, you can use it only on devices that it supports.
Encrypt.me doesn’t offer any manual configuration guide for any platforms. You need to use its custom apps, which is good news for users that aren’t tech-savvy. However, advanced uses often prefer to manually configure a VPN connection. Encrypt.me doesn’t encourage them.
Encrypt.me states that you can connect an unlimited number of devices using one account. However, it states that you can limit one individual subscription to one user only. This VPN offers a separate “Families” plan to include up to 5 members of your family.
Encrypt.me supports 4 key platforms and offers user-friendly custom apps for them. It supports Amazon Fire TV. However, this VPN doesn’t support Linux, routers, and any other platforms. So far as compatibility is concerned, Encrypt.me lags behind other leading VPNs.
Can you unblock streaming sites with the help of Encrypt.me VPN?
Many Internet users buy a VPN subscription to unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer. However, these streaming services know that and they aggressively block VPNs. As a result, not all VPNs can unblock these streaming services.
Encrypt.me states that it can’t unblock Netflix. That’s transparent! In reality, this VPN can sometimes unblock Netflix and BBC iPlayer. If you want a VPN to unblock geo-restricted streaming services consistently, then you should explore other leading VPNs.
Does Encrypt.me VPN allow torrenting?
Encrypt.me doesn’t allow access to P2P/torrenting services. This VPN provider makes it clear in its FAQ. It states that it blocks Bittorrent and similar P2P file-sharing protocols. The company also states clearly that this service is not for downloading copyrighted materials.
We like the fact that Encrypt.me doesn’t allow P2P/torrenting! P2P/torrenting can be tricky. Some countries have banned them, whereas, you can get into copyrights issues even in countries that allow them. You should check applicable laws if you plan to use P2P/torrenting services.
Even if you use these services legally, hackers will target you. Your ISP might throttle your connection. Many Internet users buy a VPN subscription to bypass these challenges. However, they need a VPN that doesn’t log their activities. The VPN should encrypt their Internet traffic and offer a kill switch.
Encrypt.me keeps limited logs, and it offers a kill switch on its Mac VPN app only. Therefore, it’s not the right choice for accessing P2P/torrenting services. You should explore other leading VPNs to access P2P/torrenting services securely.
Note: Encrypt.me can’t bypass the “Great Firewall” of China. This VPN is also blocked in Iran. The company states this transparently in its FAQ, which is good. If you want a VPN to bypass the kind of Internet censorship that countries like China or Iran impose, then you should explore other leading VPNs.
How much does Encrypt.me VPN cost?
You would want a VPN subscription at a reasonable price. Encrypt.me provides 4 types of pricing plans, which are as follows:
· Passes: These are subscriptions, however, Encrypt.me doesn’t renew them automatically. The company offers weekly passes for $3.99 each, monthly passes for $9.99 each, and yearly passes for $99.99 each.
· Subscriptions: Encrypt.me sets these up for automatic renewal. You can cancel that. The company offers monthly subscriptions for $9.99 per month and yearly subscriptions for $99.99 per year.
· Families: You can use this plan for up to 5 members in your family. The monthly plan costs $12.99 per month, whereas, the yearly plan costs $149.99 per year.
· Teams: For a team of 2 members or more, you can buy a subscription using the “Teams” plan. It starts at $15.98 per month for 2 team members, at the rate of $7.99 per team member per month.
Encrypt.me also offers a mini-plan for $2.99 per month. This limits your data transmission to 5 GB per month.
You can pay for a subscription using popular credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners, JCB, and Discover. Encrypt.me has partnered with Stripe, therefore, you have a secure way to pay.
This company offers a 14-days free trial period. You don’t need to enter your credit card information to avail of this. Encrypt.me also offers a 30-days money-back guarantee.
For the products and services it offers, Encrypt.me is expensive. You can find a cheaper VPN with much more comprehensive products and services.
The pros and cons of Encrypt.me VPN
Let’s examine the pros and cons of Encrypt.me. This VPN offers the following advantages:
· It offers basic security features like secure protocols, strong encryption, and protection from data leaks.
· Encrypt.me offers user-friendly custom apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV.
· This VPN offers reasonable speed.
· Encrypt.me provides very good documentation and good customer support. Its customer support team responds to emails promptly, and it provides useful information.
· This VPN offers a 14-days free trial, moreover, it provides a 30-days money-back guarantee.
Encrypt.me has a few disadvantages, which are as follows:
· This VPN keeps limited logs. Considering that it’s subject to the jurisdiction of the USA, these logs can be disadvantageous to its users.
· Encrypt.me doesn’t provide a kill switch for Windows, Android, and iOS. This is a common security feature, however, Encrypt.me provides this for Mac only.
· Encrypt.me states that it can’t unblock Netflix. We found that it can sometimes unblock Netflix and BBC iPlayer, however, it’s not a good choice if you want to consistently unblock geo-restricted streaming services.
· Encrypt.me doesn’t allow P2P/torrenting, moreover, it’s not a good choice for P2P/torrenting activities either.
· This VPN doesn’t support Linux, routers, and a few other platforms that many other VPNs support. Encrypt.me doesn’t allow manual configuration of its VPN on any platform.
· This VPN can’t bypass the kind of Internet censorship that countries like China and Iran impose.
· Encrypt.me doesn’t offer 24x7 live chat support.
· This VPN is expensive for the products and services it offers.
· We find that Encrypt.me has quite a few disadvantages, which is notable considering that it’s expensive.
A few quick facts about Encrypt.me VPN
Let’s summarize a few quick facts about Encrypt.me VPN, which are as follows:
· This VPN was originally known as Cloak VPN, and it’s operating since 2011.
· Encrypt.me is subject to the jurisdiction of the USA.
· This VPN keeps limited logs.
· While Encrypt.me offers basic security features like secure protocols and strong encryption, it offers a kill switch for Mac only. It doesn’t offer advanced security features.
· Encrypt.me doesn’t commit to unblock Netflix. It can unblock Netflix and BBC iPlayer sometimes, but not consistently.
· This VPN doesn’t allow P2P/torrenting.
· Encrypt.me has servers in 55 cities spread across 31 countries.
· This VPN supports Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV. It offers user-friendly custom apps for each of these platforms, however, this VPN doesn’t support any other platform.
· Encrypt.me offers a 14-days free trial and 30-days money-back guarantee.
· This VPN provides very good documentation and prompt email support, however, it doesn’t offer 24x7 live chat support.
Is Encrypt.me VPN easy to use?
You would want to buy an easy-to-use VPN. Encrypt.me offers an easy-to-navigate website, and you can easily find all key information. You can find key menu options and CTA (“Call To Action”) buttons easily.
For example, you will easily be able to locate the free trial option. You can find the VPN apps, documentation, pricing, FAQs, etc. Encrypt.me offers an easy-to-use and secure process to buy a subscription. The company has neatly organized key information on its website.
Whether you avail of its free trial or buy a subscription, you can register yourself easily for a user account. You can install the custom VPN apps easily, and these apps are easy to use.
As we have explained, Encrypt.me offers custom apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV. It doesn’t support any other platform. While this limits its compatibility, we find that the custom VPN apps are user-friendly. We find that Encrypt.me is a user-friendly VPN.
About the customer service of Encrypt.me VPN
Most VPN users prioritize customer support when they shop around for a VPN. Users that aren’t tech-savvy consider great customer support especially important. We now evaluate how Encrypt.me does on this front.
The “Help” page on the Encrypt.me website is very neatly organized. The company provides a searchable knowledgebase, useful guides, and FAQs.
Encrypt.me offers very useful articles on troubleshooting, VPN apps, billing, and other matters. We have reviewed several of its knowledge base articles, and we have found that Encrypt.me provides high-quality articles.
Encrypt.me provides a chat feature on its website, however, it uses an automated chatbot only. The chatbot refers to knowledgebase articles.
If you don’t find answers to your questions in these articles, then you can contact its customer support team. However, the customer support team doesn’t answer to your questions through this channel promptly. We are yet to get an answer to our question even after 2 business days.
The Encrypt.me customer support team responds very promptly to emails though. When we sent our questions in an email, we got useful and informative answers within a few minutes.
In our overall analysis, we find that Encrypt.me offers good customer support. For the price it charges, it should offer 24x7 live chat support though.
Where is Encrypt.me VPN based?
Encrypt.me is an American VPN, therefore, it’s subject to the jurisdiction of the USA. Since the USA is a part of the “5 Eyes” coalition of countries that conduct mass surveillance, it’s not the ideal jurisdiction for a privacy-focused VPN. Moreover, Encrypt.me keeps limited logs. Its jurisdiction is a disadvantage to Encrypt.me VPN users.
Does Encrypt.me VPN keep any logs of your activity?
Encrypt.me keeps limited logs when its users connect using this VPN. According to its privacy policy, this VPN logs the following information:
· The source port of the ongoing connection;
· The start-time, end-time, and duration of outgoing connections;
· The number of bytes transferred in session;
· The original IP address of the user;
· The IP address that Encrypt.me assigns to the user.
This VPN keeps this information for up to 16 days, subsequently, it deletes this information. We read its privacy policy, and we couldn’t find any justification for keeping these logs.
Admittedly, Encrypt.me doesn’t log much information. However, leading VPNs in the market strictly follow a “no logs” policy. Encrypt.me falls short in this regard. If you want a VPN that truly protects your privacy, then Encrypt.me isn’t the best option. Explore other leading VPNs.
Technical security of Encrypt.me VPN
On its Mac and Android VPN apps, Encrypt.me supports OpenVPN. This is the most secure VPN protocol. Encrypt.me supports the IKEv2/IPSec VPN protocol on its Windows and iOS apps. While it’s a secure VPN protocol too, OpenVPN offers stronger security capabilities.
With AES-256 encryption, Encrypt.me offers the strongest encryption available in the market. This VPN presents IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. Its infrastructure and software are free from all viruses.
Encrypt.me provides a kill switch on its Mac VPN app, and this company calls it “Overcloak”. However, this VPN doesn’t offer this useful feature on its other VPN apps. In this regard, it lags behind leading VPNs in the market.
The customer support team of Encrypt.me confirmed to us that this VPN doesn’t offer PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy). This is another area where Encrypt.me falls short of what its leading competitors offer.
In summary, we find that Encrypt.me offers basic security features. It doesn’t offer advanced security features, although it charges like a premium VPN.
The short conclusion of our review
Encrypt.me keeps limited logs, therefore, it’s not the best privacy-focused VPN. While it offers basic security features, this VPN provides a kill switch for Mac only. It doesn’t offer advanced security features like PFS. Encrypt.me supports Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV, and it offers easy-to-use custom apps for these. However, it doesn’t support platforms like Linux and routers.
With severs in 55 locations across 31 countries, Encrypt.me offers reasonable speed. This VPN doesn’t commit to unblocking Netflix, and we found that it can sometimes unblock Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Encrypt.me doesn’t allow P2P/torrenting, moreover, it’s not ideal for this due to logging and the lack of a kill switch. This VPN can’t bypass the “Great Firewall” of China.
Encrypt.me offers very good documentation and prompt customer support via email. It doesn’t offer 24x7 live chat support. This VPN offers a 14-days free trial and a 30-days money-back guarantee. For its products and services, Encrypt.me is expensive. We don’t consider it as a good buy, however, you can avail of its free trial and see if this VPN meets your requirements.
