Windscribe VPN review 2024: Is it worth the price?

Windscribe is one of the most searched VPNs on Google due to its basic, free plan. We tested Windscribe to find out whether it is secure enough to compete with market-leading competitors.

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Bleeping Computer Rating: 8.4

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What impressed us:

• Reliable apps for all popular platforms. You can use Windscribe on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and FireOS. It even has a Linux client with a full GUI.
• Servers in 60+ countries provide excellent speeds. Those servers work to access a wide selection of streaming services.
• WireGuard protocol is available in all of its applications. Perfect if you need fast speeds for gaming, torrenting, or streaming in HD.
• System-level kill switch acts as a firewall that completely blocks your internet if the VPN connection fails.
• Comes with a HTTPS and SOCKS proxy.
• A choice of secure VPN protocols including OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard.
• Rock solid no-logging policy promises never to retain records of your IP, your traffic, or the VPN servers you use.
• A basic free plan lets you get online privacy without purchasing an account.

What it could improve:

• A full third-party audit would help improve trust in this service’s no logs and security claims.
• Headquartered in Canada, which is a member of the FIVE EYES.
• Quite pricey compared to competing providers.
• Live chat support is a bot and you cannot be forwarded to an agent.
• Port forwarding is only available with a static IP that costs an additional fee.

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Editor’s opinion:

Windscribe is a VPN that has improved steadily since being launched in 2016. It started life as a relatively unimpressive VPN but has recently become faster; making it a better choice for accessing international streaming services. Where it shines, however, is in its selection of security and privacy features. 

Windscribe has a clean record of protecting its users' privacy. The apps encrypt user data using reliable encryption and obfuscated connections – perfect for users in countries where VPN use is frowned upon or networks that block VPNs. Windscribe stores no identifying logs.

In our latest tests, Windscibe worked to access popular streaming services like Netflix – a vast improvement over the previous years when I used it.

The only real quibble is that a premium account is a touch pricey, and having to pay extra for port forwarding is going to make some people shop elsewhere. It is also a bit spotty in terms of speeds, with some servers performing much better than others. 

Windscribe is a service worth trying out using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Windscribe VPN – Overview

Windscribe was launched in 2016 in Toronto, Canada. Its server network covers 110 cities in 63+ countries. This gives subscribers plenty of options to access region-locked or censored internet content, regardless of where they travel (it even works in tricky places like China).

Fully featured apps are available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and Fire TV. It has browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Those extensions prevent WebRTC leaks, block ads, delete cookies each session, change your time zone to the location of the proxy, update your GPS location, and help prevent fingerprinting.

In previous years, Windscribe had trouble keeping up with some of its competitors in terms of performance. Since introducing the WireGuard protocol, however, we’ve noticed a vast improvement. 

The Windscribe apps look great and are a pleasure to use. The VPN comes packed with a wide variety of advanced features, including split tunneling and port forwarding, ideal for users who want to torrent. 

HTTPS and SOCKS5 proxies are included with every subscription. Users also get access to Mac address spoofing, auto-connect, ad blocking, and a choice of six different VPN protocols (including obfuscated connections for concealing VPN use in countries like the UAE and China). 

Windscribe is a feature-packed VPN that should appeal to many home internet users, including those who want to access streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer on vacation. 

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Windscribe – Highlights

• No-logs policy
• Fast WireGuard protocol
• Reliable apps for all platforms
• No administrative privileges needed to install the VPN
• Global server network
• Port forwarding available with Static IP
• Has a 30-day money-back guarantee
• System-level kill switch
• Works to watch Netflix US

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Windscribe review

In this comprehensive review of Windscribe, I tested the VPN's apps using three different devices (Windows, iOS, and Android) as well as a dedicated test server located in Ohio, USA. Our precise VPN testing methodology allowed me to evaluate each facet of the VPN’s performance. 

During my time testing, I checked Windscribe across seven categories: Features, Pricing, Streaming, Speeds, Privacy, Security, and Customer Service. Below, you can see the results of my tests in each of these important review categories.

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Windscribe features

This is the category where Windscribe shines brightest. Since being launched in 2016, Windscribe has worked extremely hard to keep improving and fleshing out its apps and services, and it has slowly become one of the most fully-featured VPNs on the market. 

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Global server network

Windscribe has servers in 63+ different countries and 110+ different cities around the world. You can check the status of those servers on Windscribe’s website.

I ran through the list and was unable to find servers that were more than about 30% loaded with users. Windscribe is keeping on top of its server count and ensuring it has enough capacity for its client base.

Windscribe also allows peer-to-peer connections in most places. You can see which locations don’t support torrenting by looking for the “no P2P” message next to the server: The servers that don’t support P2P are: Bosnia, India, Russia, Lithuania, and South Africa. You can use most of its network to torrent privately and securely. 

Windscribe has some faster, streaming-optimized servers. These are referred to as its "WINDFLIX" servers on the website but have now been removed from its apps, which can lead to confusion. 

For this reason, instead of looking for a “W” icon next to a server in the app, you should look for the 10 Gbps icon instead (the servers marked with the 10Gbps icon are fast servers that are optimized for streaming).

The Location Status page shows how many data centers Widnscribe has in each country. In the US, for example, Windscribe has 45 data centers covering three distinct regions (West, East, and Central USA).

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Kill switch

A VPN kill switch is a hugely important feature that blocks your internet access if the VPN connection fails for any reason. Some VPN kill switches are reactive and app-based. These cut your internet as quickly as possible if the VPN connection fails. 

Other VPN kill switches are more robust. They work at the system level and behave like a firewall that blocks all traffic from ever leaving your device outside of the VPN tunnel. Windscribe prides itself on having the second type of system-level kill switch, which is why it has decided to refer to this feature as “Firewall Mode”.

I tested the kill switch by forcing my system to crash the VPN on purpose and used a website called page refresher to check my IP address once a second. This allowed me to monitor my connection to see whether my home IP address leaked outside the VPN tunnel. 

Whether I disconnected the VPN manually or crashed the app, I never detected my home IP. This demonstrates that the system-level kill switch works as advertised.

The system-level kill switch/firewall is available in the Windows, Mac, and Linux apps. On Android and iOS, Windscribe has an “Always ON VPN” function that blocks your internet from working outside of the VPN tunnel. 

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Bandwidth allowance and data use

As long as you are a premium Windscribe account holder with a paid account, then there are no bandwidth limitations or data restrictions. All paid customers are permitted to use the VPN on an unlimited basis. You can connect and disconnect to as many different servers as you like.

Windscribe offers a basic free plan. It gives limited access to a few servers for gaining privacy or bypassing internet blocks in an emergency. The free version limits the server locations you can use to 11+ countries and caps your usage to 10 GB of data each month. 

Overall, we consider 11+ server locations and 10 GB of data per month to be extremely generous for a trustworthy free VPN plan (the free version allows you to use all of the important privacy and security features you get with a paid plan) – so kudos to Windscribe for this.

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Split tunneling

Split tunneling is available in the custom Windscribe apps for Windows, Mac, and Android. On Mac, split tunneling is exclusively available in the app for macOS 10.12 to 10.15 (Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, and Catalina).

If you are using an earlier or more recent version of macOS, you will not have access to split tunneling as of the time of writing. If you have macOS 11 (macOS Big Sur) or later, you won't have the split tunneling feature in your Windscribe application. 

For the time being, the iOS app does not support split tunneling. This is normal for an iOS VPN app, which does not usually include split tunneling due to restrictions imposed by the iOS operating system (for example, this is also true of leading competitors like NordVPN and Surfshark). 

If the Windscribe VPN app for your device includes split tunneling, then you can set it up to either include or exclude specific apps or domain names from the VPN tunnel. 

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Port forwarding

Windscribe is one of the few VPNs that offers port forwarding. Port forwarding allows you to more easily host servers, seed torrents, or remotely access resources on their network.

To use the port forwarding function you will need to purchase a dedicated, static IP. This is an extra that you have to bolt onto a premium account, which will increase the cost of a subscription by $2 per month for an IP address in a data center, or by $8 per month for a dedicated residential IP.

Once you purchase a static IP (either type), you'll be able to set up port forwarding through the VPN to your network.

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MultiHop connections

If you want to route your internet connection through more than one VPN server location, then you can use the Windscribe browser extension to “double-hop.”

To do this, you first connect using the browser extension, and then connect again using the Windscribe desktop application. This routes your traffic through two different IPs, which helps to further obscure your location.

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Obfuscation

In addition to popular protocols like OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, IKEv2, and WireGuard, you can also connect using two different types of obfuscation: Stealth and WSTunnel. 

The Stealth protocol conceals your OpenVPN traffic as regular HTTPS, making it look like normal traffic bound for a website. This can help you to connect to the VPN in countries (or on individual networks) where VPN connections are blocked. Obfuscation also helps to hide VPN use from your ISP, which is useful in countries where VPN use is frowned upon, or where using a VPN might raise suspicion of wrongdoing. 

You can use OpenVPN with Stealth over 11 different ports. This helps you to connect to the VPN on networks that have blocked certain ports to prevent people from using a VPN (options include 443, 587, 21, 22, 80, 123, 143, 3306, 8080, 54783, 8443).

The WSTunnel protocol provides an OpenVPN connection that is masked to look like WebSocket traffic over port 443. This is helpful on restrictive networks that purposefully attempt to block VPN connections. To any third parties, your OpenVPN traffic appears to be regular HTTPS traffic bound for a website.

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Simultaneous connections

Some VPNs limit the number of devices you can connect to just a handful of devices. Other VPNs allow you to connect using an unlimited number of devices, which means you are free to share your account with friends.

Windscribe lets you connect an unlimited number of devices. This makes the VPN incredible value for money and means you will never need to disconnect a device or worry about how you are going to protect your family's new devices.

Windscribe is compatible with various routers, including models by Linksys, ASUS, and Netgear, as well as routers that have been flashed with VPN-compatible firmware like Tomato, OpenWRT, and DD-WRT. Setting up Windscribe on a router allows you to protect every device on your network without needing to connect each one individually. It also facilitates connecting devices like smart TVs and game consoles, which don’t support VPN apps.

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Additional features

Below, we have listed the rest of Windscribe’s features:

• Auto connect: You can set Windscribe to detect when you connect to untrusted WiFi networks. This will automatically connect the VPN to ensure you do not expose data when using unknown WiFi networks. 
• Static IPs: Allows users to purchase a dedicated static IP for their use only. This can be handy for accessing services that require a stable IP address. Users can rent a static IP located in a server farm or a static residential IP that appears to be a normal home in the region required. These IPs cost extra and are purchased as add-ons to premium accounts. 
• Ad and tracker blocking: Ad and tracker blocking: Windscribe leverages various customizable block lists to block ads, trackers, and malicious scripts by preventing access to pre-identified malicious domains. This feature helps enhance your online safety by preventing unwanted tracking and reducing the risk of malware infections. Additionally, it can block botnet Command and Control (CnC) servers and improve page load times while reducing data usage, making it particularly useful for conserving data on mobile plans.
• Automatic cookie deletion: The Windscribe browser extension can keep track of cookies arriving on your browser each session and delete them at the end of each VPN session to help keep your browser free of invasive trackers.
• Mac address spoofing: Alters your device's Mac address as part of the VPN connection process. Increase your privacy by preventing long-term tracking based on your device's Mac address. It works by altering your Mac address each session to make you appear to be a different user.
• Custom configs: Windscribe lets you import custom configs for OpenVPN and WireGuard VPN tunnels. You can use WireGuard as your client to establish a connection to a workplace VPN, or another consumer-facing VPN that provides configs. The benefit of using the Windscribe client to connect to a third-party VPN is that you also get the benefit of features included in the client, such as the kill switch. 
• HTTPS or SOCKS5 proxy: Establishes a secure HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy server on your computer. 
• Third-party DNS: By default, Windscribe routes your DNS requests to its private servers for optimal privacy. However, you can also choose to use a secure third-party DNS resolver like OpenNIC or Google DNS.
• Automatic packet size detection: Improves the consistency and performance of the VPN connection by adjusting the packet size based on the characteristics of the network it's running on.
• TCP Socket Termination: Blocks apps from maintaining persistent network connections that remain open even when not actively transmitting data. These types of long-term sockets can unwittingly allow data to leak outside of the VPN tunnel creating security and privacy risks. 
• Secure Hotspot: Allows you to share a VPN connection with other users by setting up a VPN-protected WiFi hotspot from inside of the VPN application. 

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Subscriptions & pricing 

The pricing structure for Windscribe is pretty straightforward. You can purchase either a monthly or annual plan. The single-month plan will set you back $9.00, which is pretty reasonable when compared to similar competitors. 

The yearly Windscribe plan costs US$69.00, which works out to $5.75 per month. Unfortunately, this is the cheapest plan available, and it is fairly pricey compared to some of its closest competitors.

Additional costs

Users can purchase a static IP for $2 per month. This increases the cost to $7.75 per month on the annual plan. You can alternatively get a residential static IP for $8 per month, which will work better with most streaming services.

3-day refund guarantee – Is it too short?

Many of Windscribe's competitors offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, providing ample time to test the VPN on all your devices thoroughly and with all your accounts.

With Windscribe, however, the refund guarantee is limited to just three days. Additionally, to be eligible for a refund, you must have used the VPN to download less than 10GB of data within those three days. This requirement can make it easy for users to accidentally exceed the data limit and become ineligible for a refund. In my opinion, this refund policy is too stingy.

Free plan

One of the reasons for its shorter refund period is that Windscribe offers a completely free plan. This free plan lets you connect to 11 different server locations at no cost, and you get 10GB of monthly data usage.

Although this free plan is one of the most generous we have encountered from a reputable VPN service, it does come with some limitations.

Free users do not have access to streaming-optimized servers, which means you won't be able to use the free version to access popular streaming platforms like Netflix US, Hulu, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer from abroad. The free servers are slower than those available with a premium account, primarily due to server congestion caused by the large number of free users.

Payment options

Windscribe accepts a variety of payment options. Credit and debit cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express), as well as transactions via Paypal and Paymentwall. Users can also choose to pay with Bitcoin and a burner email for added anonymity.

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Speed tests

The VPN’s average download speed across all tests was 170 Mbps. 

Unfortunately, there was an enormous discrepancy between the speeds we achieved in each location, and at different times of day. You may experience large swings in performance when using different server locations in the Windscribe network.

This lack of consistency could cause frustration in the long term, even though the global average download speed is pretty good overall.

As you can see below, the results of our server-based tests were a bit of a mixed bag. The Hong Kong server performed particularly badly the first two times we tested. However, it had slightly better speeds on the last test (good enough for streaming in HD and playing most games). 

I conducted a comprehensive evaluation of Windscribe's performance on a minimum 1 Gbps connection. To gauge these speeds, we employed the desktop version of Speedtest by Ookla. Our testing focused on Windscribe servers located in New York, London, and Hong Kong. We used those results to get download speed averages. We opted for the WireGuard protocol during our tests because it is the fastest protocol available. To account for any potential fluctuations in speed, we conducted multiple tests at three-hour intervals for each location. 

Home broadband tests

To provide real-world insights into Windscribe's performance on a home broadband setup, we conducted tests using an Asus Zenbook 14 laptop. On the day of testing, my download speed without the VPN was 33 Mbps (Cogeco broadband in Canada). I then tested Windscribe using servers in the UK, US, and Hong Kong. The results are listed below:

• UK server (London – Custard) Download speed of 19 Mbps. This is a 42% drop.
• US server (New York – Grand Central). Download speed of 26 Mbps. This is a 21% drop.
• Hong Kong (Hong Kong – Phooey). Download speed of 28 Mbps. This is a 15% drop.

These results highlight the variability in Windscribe's performance. The Hong Kong server was furthest away, but it delivered a relatively high download speed. In contrast, the UK server exhibited a better ping rate (96 ms) but resulted in a substantial drop in download speed.

On average, across all three home broadband tests, we experienced a 26% reduction in speed. For comparison, when testing using the same broadband connection and laptop, Surfshark only caused a 3.5% decrease in speed.

While this drop may not be a significant concern for users with faster connections, it could pose challenges for people with slower internet connections. If you are paying for speeds of 10 Mbps or less, for example losing a quarter of your performance could make it hard to play games, stream videos, and engage in video calls.

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Streaming

Many people want a VPN to access their streaming accounts on vacation. In 2024, this process is becoming harder because leading streaming providers block IP addresses associated with VPNs. This has resulted in fewer VPNs that can access popular services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.

Windscribe has servers in 60+ countries, and as always we decided to test whether these servers work to access popular streaming services.

First, I connected to the “Biscuit” Windscribe server in London. I was happy that the VPN worked to watch ITVX, BBC iPlayer, and Channel 4. 

I logged into my Netflix account and used the London “Custard” server to successfully watch UK-exclusive shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Next, I connected to the New York “Grand Central” server and was able to watch the US exclusive, NCIS. So far, so good. 

I found Windscribe servers that worked to watch ABC, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+. This is a vast improvement over previous years when the VPN failed to work with almost every streaming service I tested.

Some services such as Peacock and Paramount+ will work on one US location such as Dallas, but not on another like Texas. You might have to use some trial and error to find a server that works.

Finally, I connected to a server in Australia to see whether I would be able to watch Ten Play. Unfortunately, Windscribe does not have any Australian servers with a 10Gbps label next to them (which as mentioned earlier appear to be the servers optimized for streaming). Despite trying servers in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, I could not unblock the service. 

Windscribe can still struggle to access streaming services outside of the US and the UK, so we would recommend testing the VPN with your streaming accounts using its three-day money-back guarantee. Just remember not to watch too much content, or you will invalidate the refund guarantee (it’s only valid if you use less than 10 GB of data, which is around 2.5 hours of HD video streaming). 

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WINDFLIX – No longer available

Perhaps my biggest complaint is that Windscribe still advertises the existence of WINDFLIX servers on its website. I was unable to find these servers in the app. Eventually one of its agents explained that the company decided to remove the WINDFLIX branding from its app. Presumably to stop Netflix from catching wind (pardon the pun) of its streaming servers.

This is annoying because the Windscribe customer support bot still claims that Windflix servers exist, which can cause unnecessary confusion. The reality, however, is much easier to understand. If you want to stream, look for servers in the app that have a little 10Gbps symbol next to them:

These are fast servers specifically designed for data-intensive tasks like streaming. During my tests, I found that these were the best options for watching Netflix and other international services.

Finally, it is important to remember that the free version of Windscribe does not include any streaming-optimized servers and it will not work to watch Netflix, the BBC, or other popular streams. Windscribe reserves its streaming servers for paid users.

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Security

I looked under the VPN’s hood to check Windscribe encryption and protocols. I tested the Windows client for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks to be sure that the VPN isn’t exposing your IP address or any other data outside of the VPN tunnel.

Windscribe provides a choice of protocols for users to use to connect to its servers. Users can pick from UDP (OpenVPN UDP), TCP (OpenVPN TCP), IKEv2, WireGuard, Stealth, and Stunnel. WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN are widely recognized and respected VPN protocols, which makes them trustworthy options for gaining online privacy and data security whether at home, at work, or using public WiFi hotspots. Stealth and Stunnel are obfuscated protocols that add an additional layer of privacy to the OpenVPN protocol. 

WireGuard

The WireGuard protocol uses ChaCha20 as its encryption cipher. This is a highly secure modern protocol that provides robust security. Curve25519 is used for ECDH, which provides perfect forward secrecy. And BLAKE2s is used for hashing and keyed hashing. 

These are the official cryptographic primitives for the WireGuard protocol, which are currently in use by all VPNs that provide the option to connect using this protocol. The standardized nature of the protocol, and the robust security and fast speeds it provides, are one of the reasons that it has quickly become popular both with VPN providers and consumers.

AES encryption

Windscibe’s IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocols both use AES-256 as the cipher. This is a highly robust and future-proof cipher that is trustworthy for gaining online privacy and security. 

For added transparency, we have included the rest of the OpenVPN implementation details below. 

• Cipher: AES-256-CBC
• Authentication: SHA512
• Handshake: 4096-bit RSA key 
• Perfect Forward Secrecy: Diffie Hellman (DHE).

This is a robust implementation of the OpenVPN protocol, thanks to its reliable cipher and robust authentication standards.

Obfuscation

You can stack additional privacy to the OpenVPN protocol by picking either the Stealth or Stunnel options. These obfuscate the OpenVPN protocol to conceal VPN use from your ISP and to enable you to bypass firewalls imposed by some networks or regions (such as China).

Port selection

As mentioned in the features section of this review, users can also manually pick which port each protocol uses to connect. This feature can be used alongside the stealth protocols to help connect to Windscribe on networks where common VPN ports have been purposefully blocked. 

Port options ensure that users can maintain a reliable connection to the VPN even in diverse network conditions and navigate around obstacles in regions where VPN scanning and blocking techniques are employed.

Leak tests

As part of our VPN testing methodology, we always check for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks.

Windscribe provides WebRTC leak prevention in its Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions. Install and activate the browser extensions to guarantee that the VPN connection is always as secure as possible.

We tested the VPN both with and without the extension and did not suffer any WebRTC leaks. The VPN works effectively on its own, but for an added layer of security, it's advisable to use it in conjunction with the browser extension to further prevent any potential leaks.

Below, you can see the results of my leak tests when connected to the New York VPN server:

As you can see, the VPN did not leak my real IP address (in Canada) in any of the results. It did not suffer from any DNS or WebRTC leaks, which means that all my requests and data were being safely proxied to Windscribe’s servers inside of the VPN tunnel. 

While you have the option to use a third-party DNS resolver, such as OpenNIC, proxying requests to Windscribe’s DNS nameservers is considered the safest approach for most users. It ensures that all your DNS queries are encrypted and routed through the VPN server, minimizing the chances of any potential data leakage or snooping by third parties.

Additional security features

To help keep you safer online, Windscribe offers a few additional features:

• The Auto-connect feature helps to ensure you don’t accidentally forget to connect to the VPN when you encounter an unknown or untrusted network. This is a useful addition for anybody who regularly connects to public WiFi hotspots, or travels regularly. 
• Ad and tracker blocking helps to save data, improve page load times, and protect you against websites known to contain phishing or malware. You can use this feature to block websites that contain pornography, gambling, and a variety of other things – allowing it to double up as a child protection feature for parents.
• The Firewall feature provides a system-wide kill switch that completely blocks any traffic from leaving your devices outside of the VPN tunnel. 
• The proxy feature (HTTP or SOCKS5) can be used to provide location spoofing to devices like consoles and smart TVs. This is useful for concealing your IP address on those types of devices.
• Circumvent censorship. Besides providing port selection and obfuscation, Windscribe helps to bypass censorship in countries that impose restrictions. You can toggle this feature on by heading to Settings > Connection.
• Mac Spoofing helps to spoof your device’s physical address.

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Privacy

Jurisdiction 

The location where a VPN provider is headquartered significantly influences how it handles user data. This is because VPN services must adhere to the legal requirements and laws applicable to businesses in their respective regions.

Windscribe is headquartered in Canada, a country that does not impose mandatory data retention directives on its Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or other communication providers. This means that Windscribe is legally allowed to enforce a strict no-logging policy.

While a no-logging policy and the absence of mandatory data retention directives are crucial, it's important to note that Canada is part of the Five Eyes alliance. This alliance involves close collaboration with countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to carry out surveillance and share data.

The Canadian government can also issue "sealing orders", also known as gag orders, to prevent companies from disclosing that they have been served a warrant. In theory, this means that Windscribe could be compelled to provide logs through a court order and be prohibited from publicly acknowledging that it has shared this user data.

The silver lining is that Canada's sealing orders are usually subject to a sunset clause. This means that, eventually, the company served the warrant is permitted to reveal that it was compelled to provide information to the government as part of an investigation.

Privacy policy

I conducted a thorough evaluation of Windscribe's policy and found it to be a well-written document that promises never to retain records of users' home IP addresses, the servers they connect to, the contents of their data, or the websites they visit (usage logs).

Unlike many other VPN companies, Windscribe does not employ third-party tracking and traffic analysis services on its website. Instead, it handles website tracking internally using Piwik Web Analytics (now known as Matomo) on its own servers. This in-house approach enhances privacy for its users and avoids data sharing with companies like Google through Google Analytics.

Windscribe’s policy acknowledges the storage of minimal connection logs necessary to maintain smooth service operations. Specifically, it retains the "Total amount of bytes transferred in a 30-day period" and the "Timestamp of your last activity on the Windscribe network." These logs help Windscribe track when you last used the VPN and the volume of data passing through its network.

The VPN monitors the number of parallel connections used by each account holder. This not only prevents account abuse but also safeguards users against any potential compromise of their account. 

The minimal data collected by WIndscribe does not allow the VPN to track or identify users. The privacy policy explicitly states that it never stores:

• Historical record of VPN sessions
• Source IP
• Sites you visited

The privacy policy also clarifies that each Windscribe's IP address is shared among multiple users. This enhances user privacy by mixing the activities of multiple users, making it difficult for third parties to identify which user is accessing which websites.

The VPN publishes a transparency report that details the number of DMCA and legal data requests it has received each year. According to the report, Windscribe was unable to comply with any of the requests due to its no-logging practices. "Zero requests were complied with due to a lack of relevant data."

Overall, we found the Windscribe privacy policy to be concise, well-written, and excellent in terms of the privacy protections it offers. However, it is worth noting that the policy does not explicitly mention GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance, which is technically a requirement for all privacy policies under the EU's GDPR. 

Unlike some of its competitors, Windscribe has not invested in third-party audits of its apps, network infrastructure, and policies. You must take the VPN’s claims at its word. A full third-party security audit would provide additional transparency and ensure that the VPN has been fully checked for potential vulnerabilities.

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Customer support

At BleepingComputer we favor VPNs that take customer service seriously. Unfortunately, despite the relatively expensive cost of a subscription, Windscribe does not provide live chat support on its website. Instead, the live chat window is manned by a bot. 

Although live chat support provided by a bot can allow users to get some help, it cannot compete with the many VPNs that have real live chat staffed by human agents. 

You can ask questions via email. Windscribe usually got back to us within the same day.

On the plus side, Windscribe’s website is well organized. It has plenty of setup guides and FAQs that can address many common issues, and it provides explanations clearly in order to help you get set up and use the VPN across various devices and operating systems.

Overall, I felt that support with Windscribe was a bit lacking when compared to market-leading services like Surfshark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost VPN, and PrivateVPN, all of which include 24/7 live chat on their websites.

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Is Windscribe easy to use?

During my time using Windscribe VPN on iOS, Android, and Windows, I found the VPN to be pretty straightforward. It is well-designed, comes ready to work right out of the box, and provides access to a wide variety of restricted or region-blocked services from around the world.

Admittedly, anybody new to VPNs who opens the settings menu may find it a little overwhelming. The reality, however, is that unless you specifically want to tinker with these additional features, the VPN will work just fine in its default state. 

All of the primary features required by normal home users can be accessed on the main screen of the app, meaning that beginners need not leave the front page of the app to get started.

If you want to change the protocol to OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, or one of the obfuscation options, then click on the arrow next to the protocol option that is currently set. This will open the other protocol options for you to pick from:

To change the server location click the down arrow next to Locations, and to turn on the kill switch toggle the slider under Firewall. You can also keep an eye on how many devices are connected to the HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy at the bottom of the app’s main screen.

Windcribe does its best to provide explanations for each of its features within the app. The company rightly doesn't expect all users to instantly understand what each switch, slider, button, and feature is for. If you don't understand what a specific feature is for, then hover over it to read a tip that explains it. Often there will also be an information link to the Windscribe website where you can read an in-depth explainer about the feature.

All things considered, I think Windscribe does a decent job of making its app accessible to people with different levels of VPN experience and a wide variety of user needs. Although it does have some confusing features, these are useful for advanced users and can be ignored by people who don’t need them.

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Our verdict

Windscribe is a well-rounded VPN that offers strong encryption, a choice of reliable VPN protocols, and apps that cater to the vast majority of home internet users. Its security and privacy features, alongside its no-logs policy, mean that you can rely on Windscribe to gain privacy at home, at work, and when connected to public WiFi.

Despite being based in Canada, Windscribe maintains a solid track record of not sharing user data with authorities and provides an annual transparency report. However, commissioning a third-party audit would enhance transparency and allow the VPN to better compete with the likes of NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark.

Windscribe has a large network of Tier-1 servers capable of providing decent speeds for gaming, torrenting, and streaming. Users in China and other places that censor the web can leverage customizable port settings, stealth VPN protocols, and the “circumvent censorship” feature to gain access to Windscribe’s servers.

Perhaps the biggest issue we encountered was with consistency. Our tests revealed that some servers were far faster than others, and that download speeds varied a lot. You may want to test the server location you plan to use most by making use of Windscribe’s money-back guarantee. Remember that the refund guarantee only lasts for three days and is limited to 10GB of data.

The lack of real 24/7 live chat support is disappointing, especially considering the cost of this VPN. For this reason, we favor some of Windscribe’s competitors for home use. However, if you want a VPN with a static IP and port forwarding, Windscribe is one of the few that offers both. 

Overall, Windscribe is a solid VPN that has improved greatly in recent years and can now access the most popular streaming options, including Netflix US. Just bear in mind that there are similar VPNs on the market that cost less.