VPN.AC 2024 Review: 4 Cons and 2 Pros

by Petr Lippert
updated January 1, 2024 (Report a bug)

1. ▼ Table of Contents

   1. VPN.AC: Why Did It Get A 6.8/10 On the Test?
   2. VPN.AC Subscription: Discount Code, Free Trial, Money Back Guarantee…
   3. VPN.AC and Supported Devices: Android, iOS, macOS…
   4. VPN.AC App: User-friendliness, whitelist, server selection…
   6. VPN.AC Server Locations
   7. VPN.AC Security Features: DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch…
   9. Features of VPN.AC: AdBlock, Static IP…
   10. VPN.AC‘s CPU usage and App Performance
   11. VPN.AC Torrenting Servers
   12. What is the country of origin of VPN.AC?
   13. VPN.AC and Privacy: Logging Policy, Security Issues…
   14. VPN.AC Support: Chat, e-mail…
   15. VPN.AC FAQ

   VPN.AC: Why Did It Get A 6.8/10 On the Test?

   • Only 130 servers in 25 countries are in use
   • Only 6 simultaneously connectable devices
   • Unblocked video from Amazon Prime
   • Missing option to automatically connect to the fastest server

   • Subscriptions can be paid with cryptocurrency
   • Can be used via browser extensions

   VPN.AC is a service operated by Cryptolayer SRL, a Romanian company based in Sibiu. In a comprehensive VPN wiki test, it scored 6.8/10, ranking 47 10th among 90 reviewed VPNs.

   It lost points in the VPN.AC test mainly due to its inferior infrastructure, 130 servers in 25 countries are very few compared to competing VPNs. The VPN.AC also lacks a whitelist, an over-the-top ad or malware blocking feature, and fails to unblock video from the Amazon Prime Video platform.

   The 6 of devices simultaneously connectable under a single subscription can also be considered subpar.

   The advantage of VPN.AC is the ability to pay for the subscription with cryptocurrencies, which increases the level of anonymity. The operator VPN.AC is based in Romania, which is not a member of the 14 Eyes group that monitors Internet traffic.

   The VPN.AC places a high emphasis on security levels, giving users a choice of WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, L2TP/IPSeC and PPTP protocols. Transmitted data is protected by 256-bit AES encryption.

2. VPN.AC Subscription: Discount Code, Free Trial, Money Back Guarantee…

   • Your Price: $9.00​58% off  $3.75 /mo (6 devices)
   • Money Back Guarantee: Yes (7 days)
   • Free Trial: No
   • Cryptocurrency payments:
     Yes

     Bitcoin :Yes
     Dash :Yes
     Ethereum :Yes
     Ripple :Yes

   

   6.8

   ★★★

   Average VPN with a cost-effective lifetime subscription and wide support for various platforms. The downsides are low speed and poor support for streaming video.

   $3.75 /mo  ​7-day money back guarantee

   Get this VPN 58% cheaper

   Subscriptions VPN.AC are available in four options: monthly with ongoing payment and three-month, annual and two-year with full payment upfront. In terms of included features and service parameters, all variants are identical. The only difference is the price.

   While the pay-as-you-go monthly subscription sells for $9.00, if you order for two years, the price drops to just $3.75 per month.

   Subscriptions can be ordered at VPN.AC, and from time to time a discount code is available to get an even lower price. When creating the necessary user account, the country of origin, email address and password are filled in. Debit or credit card, PayPal, Giropay, iDEAL, gift cards or the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash and Monero can be used for payment.

   A trial version VPN.AC is not available as well as a free alternative with limited features. However, you can take advantage of a money-back guarantee of 7 days from the time you pay for your order. Just contact customer support and state the reason for dissatisfaction. However, this is just information gathering for the purpose of improving the service, the money back guarantee has no set terms.

3. VPN.AC and Supported Devices: Android, iOS, macOS…

   • Device limit: 6

   Platforms supported

   • Android:
     Yes

     Android is supported by 98 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Android TV:
     Yes

     Android TV is supported by 37 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Apple TV:
     No

     Apple TV is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Fire TV:
     Yes

     Fire TV is supported by 43 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromebook:
     No

     Chromebook is supported by 21 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromecast:
     Yes

     Chromecast is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • iOS:
     Yes

     iOS is supported by 99 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Kodi:
     No

     Kodi is supported by 21 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Linux:
     Yes

     Linux is supported by 61 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Mac:
     Yes

     Mac is supported by 98 % of reviewed VPNs
   • NAS:
     No

     NAS is supported by 24 % of reviewed VPNs
   • nVidia Shield:
     No

     nVidia Shield is supported by 14 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Playstation:
     Yes

     Playstation is supported by 20 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Raspberry Pi:
     No

     Raspberry Pi is supported by 17 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Roku:
     Yes

     Roku is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Router:
     Yes

     Router is supported by 53 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Windows:
     Yes

     Windows is supported by 100 % of reviewed VPNs
   • xBox:
     Yes

     xBox is supported by 20 % of reviewed VPNs

   Browser Extensions

   • Brave :
     Yes

     The Brave browser add-on is offered by 43 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Chrome :
     Yes

     The Chrome browser add-on is offered by 43 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Edge :
     No

     The Edge browser add-on is offered by 21 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Firefox :
     Yes

     The Firefox browser add-on is offered by 34 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Opera :
     Yes

     The Opera browser add-on is offered by 43 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Safari :
     No

     The Safari browser add-on is offered by 0 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Vivaldi :
     Yes

     The Vivaldi browser add-on is offered by 43 % of reviewed VPNs.

   A single subscription to VPN.AC entitles the user to connect a maximum of 6 different devices at the same time, rather below average in the context of other services.

   The VPN.AC is compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux computers, while Android and iOS are supported among mobile devices.

   Among smart TVs, VPN.AC can be used on Android TV, Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku, and Playstation and Xbox game consoles are also supported.

   The advantage of VPN.AC is the ability to use the service on a router, where all devices connected to that network are automatically protected. In terms of the quota allowed, the router counts as one device. Our how to install a VPN on a router guide will help you get started.

   Extensions VPN.AC are available for Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Vivaldi and Brave.

4. VPN.AC App: User-friendliness, whitelist, server selection…

   • App Languages: 🇺🇸 English
   • Whitelisting:
     No

     Whitelisting is supported by 52 % of reviewed VPNs

   To download the Windows app, we used the link on the VPN.AC website. Detailed instructions on installing and operating the application are available at the same location. However, the latter is easy to use and even less experienced users should have no problems with it.

   The app environment is only available in English, and you can switch between light and dark environments. The configuration options of the application VPN.AC are very limited, basically only individual functions can be turned off and on.

   The application is clear and all its elements are intuitively arranged, the weaker side may be the too simple design. When the application is launched, a splash screen is always displayed with a quick connect button, a list of servers and the IP Leak Check function. The latter allows you to see if the current IP address is hidden.

   The rest of the controls are hidden in the control bar on the left side of the screen (bottom on mobile). Missing from the available features is whitelist, which would allow you to select websites and apps that will connect directly to the internet even when the VPN is activated.

   You can use the button in the main window to connect to the VPN. The VPN.AC does not support automatic server selection in this case, it must be selected from the list before connecting. The servers in the list are sorted alphabetically by country. In addition, users can create a list of favorite servers.

   Another method of connection is the auto-connect function, which activates VPN protection whenever the device is switched on.

5. VPN.AC Connection Speed: Upload, Download & Latency

   • Traffic limit: Unlimited

   Download speed

   Higher is better. The average download of all tested VPNs is 115 Mb/s.

   Upload speed

   Higher is better. The average upload of all tested VPNs is 81 Mb/s.

   Server latency

   A lower value is better. The average response rate of all tested VPNs is 48 ms.

   Subscriptions to VPN.AC include unlimited data transfer, which is standard among paid VPNs.

   Connection speed to the VPN.AC servers was average. The service does not support automatic connection to the fastest server at the time, so the connection time cannot be reduced in this way.

   Although VPN.AC offers only 130 servers, this did not have a significant negative impact on the transfer speeds. In repeated tests, we measured an average download 106 Mb/s that was sufficient for downloading bulky files and playing 4k video. For this, a speed of 50 Mbps is specified as necessary.

   While the measured upload speed 59 Mb/s ranks VPN.AC as below average, it does not significantly hinder the sharing of legal torrents.

   The server response 24 ms is sufficient for video calls, computer gaming and other lag-sensitive activities. However, the top services in the rankings performed orders of magnitude better in the tests, For example, Surfshark had a 10 ms and AdGuard VPN we measured an average 7 ms. For response as opposed to transfer rates, lower is better.

6. VPN.AC Server Locations

   • Number of servers:
     130

     The average number of servers for the reviewed VPNs is 1699.
   • Number of countries:
     25

     The average number of countries available for the reviewed VPNs is 41.

   Europe	🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇮 Finland 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇹 Italy 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇵🇱 Poland 🇵🇹 Portugal 🇷🇴 Romania 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden
   North America	🇨🇦 Canada 🇲🇽 Mexico 🇺🇸 USA
   South America	🇧🇷 Brazil
   Asia	🇭🇰 Hong Kong 🇯🇵 Japan 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇹🇼 Taiwan
   Africa
   Oceania	🇦🇺 Australia

   The VPN.AC menu includes 130 servers in 25 countries around the world. Compared to competitors, these are below average, for example NordVPN has servers in 59 countries, ExpressVPN offers 94 different sites.

   Servers VPN.AC are available on all continents except Africa. Traditionally, Europe has the largest representation, but servers are also allocated in Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia. The VPN.AC also has servers in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

   The VPN.AC does not operate any servers optimized for certain types of traffic, such as gaming or streamed video.

7. VPN.AC Security Features: DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch…

   • DNS leak protection :
     Yes

     DNS leak protection is offered by 92% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Kill Switch:
     Yes

     Kill Switch is supported by 87% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Multi-Hop:
     No

     Multi-Hop connection is offered by 20 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Tor:
     No

     Tor support is offered by 19 % of the reviewed VPNs.

   The basic security feature of VPN.AC is DNS request leak protection, we have successfully verified its functionality during testing.

   An important feature of all VPNs is the kill switch, which disconnects the device from the Internet if the connection to the VPN server fails. This prevents the possible discovery of the user’s IP address and actual location. The VPN.AC has a kill switch implemented in all applications, and can be combined with the On Demand feature, which automatically restores the broken connection.

   Users can choose the protocol used in the settings of each application. WireGuard, OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPSeC and IKEv2/IPSeC are available. Like most other networks, VPN.AC uses 256-bit AES encryption. This is considered secure, used to protect banking and military systems, among others.

   The VPN.AC cannot be used to anonymize movement on the Tor network. Multi-hop connections (Double VPN), where a device connects through two different VPN servers at the same time, are also not supported, increasing the level of privacy.

   Overall, the security level of VPN.AC can be considered sufficient for most users. However, Proton VPN Plus and some other services offer even more security features to provide better privacy.

8. VPN.AC & Streaming: Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime…

   • Amazon Prime:
     No

     Amazon Prime streaming is supported by 52 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Disney+:
     Yes

     Disney+ streaming is supported by 53 % of reviewed VPNs
   • HBO:
     Yes

     HBO streaming is supported by 57 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Hulu:
     No

     Hulu streaming is supported by 50 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Netflix:
     Yes

     Netflix streaming is supported by 67 % of reviewed VPNs
   • YouTube:
     Yes

     YouTube streaming is supported by 97 % of reviewed VPNs

   In a test of unblocking streaming platform content, VPN.AC performed relatively well. We were able to unblock geoblocked videos on YouTube, Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max. We were unable to unblock Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.

   Video playback was relatively smooth, but in some cases we had to wait a while for it to load. The average download speed achieved (106 Mb/s) is sufficient for 4k video playback. For this, a speed of 50 Mbps is stated as the minimum required.

   Some streaming platforms block the use of VPNs due to the broadcast rights of published content. In such cases, it may help to disconnect from the VPN and reconnect again. This will change the IP address to a different one that may no longer be on the block list.

   While VPN.AC is useful for these purposes, the best VPNs for streaming offer even better support. The NordVPN, Surfshark or CyberGhost VPN unblock all platforms, the download speeds allow seamless viewing of ultra-high definition video, and on top of that, superior security features are available.

9. Features of VPN.AC: AdBlock, Static IP…

   • Blocks Ads:
     No

     Ad blocking is offered by 44 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Malware:
     No

     Malware blocking is offered by 33 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Trackers:
     No

     Trackers blocking is offered by 38 % of the VPNs reviewed.

   The VPN.AC offers a minimum of extra features. Relatively common ad blocking, malware and tracker blocking is not available in any of the applications.

   Neither is split tunneling available, which allows you to create a list of apps that will connect directly to the Internet while others are protected by an activated VPN. Port forwarding, multi-hop connections or monitoring for leaks to the dark web VPN.AC are also not possible.

   It does not offer a static IP address VPN.AC for free or for an additional fee.

   For example, Surfshark has a very good range of extra features. As part of a discounted package, you can install, for example, the well-rated Surfshark Antivirus on your device.

10. VPN.AC‘s CPU usage and App Performance

    VPN applications usually do not have significant performance requirements on the device. The VPN.AC is one of the least demanding services in this regard, and we didn’t notice any negative impact on the performance of our Windows laptop while using it. The application only took up around 15 MB on the hard drive.

    Lower system requirements can be achieved by disabling the auto-connect feature, which ensures that the VPN is automatically connected when the device is turned on, keeping the app running in the background at all times. The VPN.AC can be disabled via an icon in the system tray.

11. VPN.AC Torrenting Servers

    • Torrenting servers:
      Yes

      Torrenting support is offered by 89 % of the reviewed VPNs.

    Torrenting and P2P file sharing is enabled by VPN.AC on all available servers, but none of them are optimized for this type of traffic.

    The measured download (106 Mb/s) and upload (59 Mb/s) speeds are sufficient for torrenting. The kill switch and DNS leak protection protect the user during this activity. Multi-hop connections combining connections through two different VPN servers at the same time are missing.

    The VPN.AC supports all common clients including bitTorrent and Vuze.

    The best VPNs for torrenting have dedicated P2P servers, faster connection speeds, and additional security features. We recommend comparing VPN.AC with CyberGhost VPN, Surfshark and Ivacy VPN.

12. What is the country of origin of VPN.AC?

    • VPN Provider: Cryptolayer SRL
    • Country of origin: 🇷🇴 Romania

    VPN.AC was launched in 2012 and is operated by Cryptolayer SRL, based in Sibiu, Romania. Until 2015, the VPN was also backed by Romanian firm Netsec Interactive Solutions SRL.

    Romania is one of the favourite locations for VPN operators, along with VPN.AC, Free Planet VPN, CyberGhost VPN and Bitdefender VPN Premium come from here.

    The country is not a member of the 14 Eyes Countries alliance, whose police and intelligence services can monitor Internet traffic to ensure security. VPN providers are then obliged to release any information about specific users of the service when presented with a subpoena. At the same time, as a member of the European Union, Romania must comply with the GDPR data protection regulation.

13. VPN.AC and Privacy: Logging Policy, Security Issues…

    • No-Logs Policy:
      Yes

      The No-Logs Policy is followed by 78% of reviewed VPNs.

    VPN.AC, according to its statement, does not store any logs that might be generated when using the service. This means that no data is collected on websites visited, device identifiers or times of VPN usage.

    However, the zero-logging policy does not apply to all data. The VPN.AC stores the information needed to maintain a user account, such as email address, password, payment method used, and IP address. The website VPN.AC uses cookies, which can be blocked in the browser settings.

    No other data is collected according to the available information. At the same time, the provider VPN.AC does not provide personal data of its users to third parties. Exceptions are situations where this is required by law.

    Although the privacy level of VPN.AC is relatively good, some competing services offer a higher level of anonymity. NordVPN, Surfshark and others have undergone independent audits of their security and handling of personal data, and regular publication of Warrant Canary is standard for some VPNs. This assures the user that the VPN operator has not received a subpoena for personal data.

14. VPN.AC Support: Chat, e-mail…

    Customer support is available at VPN.AC, where you can fill out a contact form. A response will be sent via email, live chat is not available. You can also write directly to info@vpn.ac.

    For quick troubleshooting, you can use the FAQs published on the service’s website. Instructions on how to install and use the application are available for each platform separately.

15. VPN.AC FAQ

    Is VPN.AC secure?

    The VPN.AC presents itself as a service with a high emphasis on security. In our test, we successfully tested DNS protection and the kill switch feature, all data is protected by 256-bit AES encryption, and there are several protocols to choose from, including modern WireGuard and OpenVPN.

    The security level can be described as good, however NordVPN, Surfshark or Proton VPN Plus offer even more. Their apps have been independently audited, support multi-hop connections over two servers simultaneously, and other premium features.

    Is VPN.AC free?

    The VPN.AC is a paid service, the price of the most affordable subscription option is $3.75 per month. The subscription is covered by a money-back guarantee of 7 days, cryptocurrencies can be used for payment.

    Is VPN.AC worth it?

    Although VPN.AC may appeal to some users, it loses a little ground in relation to the range of services offered, given the price of the $3.75 subscription per month. For example, NordVPN with a rating of 9.4/10 costs $4.04 per month. Compared to VPN.AC, it offers full support for unblocking streaming platforms, independent auditing and superior security features.