ClearVPN review

ClearVPN is another service vying to become the best VPN service on the market. The provider claims to be for anyone who wants to expand and protect their online experience, and was made for both VPN enthusiasts and casual users. It also claims to provide fast speeds and make your digital life safe, private, and comfortable. We tested this VPN provider's security capabilities, cost, jurisdiction, and other factors in this review to determine whether it is worthy of your attention.

The VPN is run by MacPaw, a software company specializing in developing popular software for Mac and iOS devices. MacPaw’s other creations include a PC optimizer, drive manager, duplicate file finder, photo organizer, RAR opener, file encryption, and more. 

For its privacy tool, you can access more than 70 servers in 40 countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Although the VPN server pool is quite small, the company says it’s concentrated on those areas where it can provide the best speed/security balance rather than having a large network of medium-speed servers. 

ClearVPN has user-friendly desktop programs for Mac and Windows, with mobile VPN apps for iOS and Android. All the apps were easy to download, use and were user-friendly, intuitive, and beautifully designed.

Pricing & plans 

ClearVPN offers a free VPN service, as well as monthly and annual subscriptions. 

The free version offers unlimited bandwidth but only a few servers and does not include the quick connect features for gaming or streaming; those and the rest of the shortcuts are only available with a paid subscription. Although whether it’s the best free VPN choice for you will depend on a number of factors.

The paid version costs $5 a month and $21 every six months. Subscribing to the paid plan gives you unlimited secure browsing, built-in shortcuts, IP masking, DDoS protection, and six devices per subscription. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Payments can be made via Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Google Pay via the Google Play Store, and Apple Pay via the App Store. However, there’s no support for cryptocurrency. 

Privacy & encryption 

ClearVPN claims to have a strict no-log policy, claiming that they do not collect, store, or share any information about your online activities, nor do they collect and save your IP address. 

Looking into the privacy policy document, we saw that ClearVPN collects some information with your permission. This includes device information (operating system, device name, and language), your country (using IP), how much data you send or receive, connection type, and cellular network information. There’s also anonymous VPN connection diagnostics and crash reports, which include diagnostic information about if and how a VPN connection attempt failed; speed test data; and crash reports, all without any personally identifiable information. They assert that all of these details are utilized to select the best servers for VPN connections and to uphold the caliber of their service. 

For security, ClearVPN employs PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy) to route your internet traffic simultaneously through several servers while encrypting it with AES-256 and hashing the exchange of data with SHA2-384 to ensure data integrity. The VPN also supports a range of VPN protocols, such as IPSec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.

Behind the scenes, there’s an innovative VPN technology called DynamicFlow. This feature finds the fastest idle server that suits your needs based on your current location and connects you to it so you can take advantage of a seamless, low-ping, and secure VPN connection. You’ll also find an auto-connect feature, a VPN kill switch, ad blockers, malware blockers, and multihop servers, letting you route your internet traffic through multiple VPN servers at the same time. And yes, this is a VPN for torrenting and P2P.  

Streaming 

Some VPN providers can provide their users with access to popular streaming content that may not be available in all parts of the world. Fortunately, ClearVPN unblocks Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. However, this might not be one of the best Netflix VPNs since, unlike ExpressVPN and other top-rated services, we struggled to access geo-restricted content on the platform. If that’s not a deal-breaker for you, this is a fine VPN for streaming. 

Support 

If you require assistance, it is available via the support page, where you can access an FAQ, about the service, apps, and connectivity. You can also manage your ClearVPN account and subscription and contact customer support directly via email or through a live chat. 

We tested the live chat feature and our message was responded to in less than a minute, first by a bot telling us that "ClearVPN typically replies in under 2 minutes," then by a customer care representative, whose response was courteous and clear.

Speed & experience 

After privacy and security, VPN speeds are one of the most important criteria for a top-notch VPN provider because it’s essential for using the VPN for its basic functions. 

That said, before testing the speed of the servers, we first tested our baseline speed, which gave us a speed of 100 Mbps. We tested a server in the United States, which gave us a speed of 30.22 Mbps. A server in Canada outperformed the others, with a speed of 50.23 Mbps. A server in the United Kingdom gave us a speed of 20.21. 

Finally, we also wanted to see how a server in a faraway location would fare, so we picked the Hong Kong server, which gave us a speed of 12.1 Mbps. All told, it might not be the fastest VPN in the world, but it’s no slouch either. 

Alternatives to ClearVPN 

While it has fast speeds and useful security and privacy features, Clear VPN does not provide anything that the market leaders do not. For instance, ExpressVPN would give you access to tens of thousands of servers and provide you with astonishingly advanced security features that would safeguard your privacy. 

If you want something well-known that would offer you advanced functionality, a wide range of protocol options, and support for different devices, especially major platforms as well as support for a few minor ones, we advise checking out NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost. Unlike ClearVPN, all four VPN services have been examined and verified by a third-party auditor in VPN audits. 

Verdict

It’s fair to say, in some areas, ClearVPN didn’t impress. The service didn’t unblock regional Netflix content during our tests, doesn’t have thousands of servers, and doesn’t have independent verification of its no-log claims. 

But it’s not all bad - in fact, there’s a lot worth recommending here, with many outstanding features, including lightning-fast speeds, reasonable costs, and user-friendly apps. However, if you value your privacy and want a VPN that is secure on all ends and has proven its no-log claims, other options, like ExpressVPN, are worth exploring.