Psiphon VPN review (2026): unblocks sites, but leaks data
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Psiphon VPN is not a safe choice of VPN, as it lacks basic and essential security features, logs customer data, and leaks your true location. If you want a secure VPN that won’t risk your privacy, I recommend NordVPN, as it comes with the best security and privacy features in the industry.
Psiphon VPN is a virtual private network developed by the Canadian company Psiphon Inc. It was created back in 2006 and is completely open source. Psiphon VPN started out as an anti-censorship project in the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. While the provider claims that it can work to unblock content in restrictive regions, I recommend choosing a more secure VPN service.
In regions where content blocks or government censorship exist, it’s crucial to remain undetected if you choose to use a VPN. While Psiphon claims to use encryption, it doesn’t qualify whether this is industry-standard AES-256 encryption or something else. There’s also no kill switch, and during tests, Psiphon leaked my IP address. What’s more, it logs user data, all of which could expose you to tracking by your ISP or the authorities.
| VPN: | Psiphon VPN |
| Rating: | 4.9 ⭐⭐ |
| Number of servers: | Unlisted number of servers in 26 countries |
| Price: | $0.73 (1,000 PsiCash) – $73.25 (100,000 PsiCash) |
| Free version: | ✅ Yes |
For a more detailed look at Psiphon VPN and the result of my in-depth tests, continue reading. Make sure you understand how this VPN performed before deciding on a VPN service to use.
NordVPN is our #1 VPN and the best alternative to Psiphon VPN. It offers proven AES-256 encryption, a strict audited no-logs policy, and advanced privacy features that Psiphon lacks. Overall, NordVPN delivers far superior security, reliability, and privacy protection.
Is Psiphon safe?
Psiphon is not safe to use if you value your privacy and security. Our tests revealed that essential security features are missing, such as a kill switch and leak protection. Psiphon also doesn’t safeguard your privacy because it logs sensitive data like your IP address. In summary, it’s designed to bypass restrictions, but it places no emphasis on device or data security.
- ⚠️ You can use the L2TP/IPSec protocol, but Psiphon’s standard settings provide you with SSH encryption.
- ✅ Psiphon offers HTTP(S) and SOCKS5 proxy servers.
- ✅ The VPN logs certain browser data.
- ❗ There is no kill-switch.
- ❗ Split tunneling isn’t always consistent.
- ❗ You can use Psiphon without having to create an account.
- ❗ To purchase PsiCash, you have to submit payment details and an email address.
- ❗ WebRTC leaks pose a serious risk, exposing your IP address.
Protocols
Unless you change the Psiphon VPN settings, you won’t be able to run the VPN on regular VPN protocols. The default settings only let you use Secure Shell encryption with an obfuscation layer.
Obfuscation is meant to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN, which makes it easier to bypass government censorship. Indeed, Psiphon was able to let us access RT.com, a Russian state-controlled website that’s blocked in Europe.
Psiphon uses the L2TP/IPSec protocol, if you enable Transport mode. Although this protocol is fast, it doesn’t offer any encryption. From a security standpoint, the VPN is unsafe to use. The best VPN services offer several protocols and also include AES-256 encryption.
L2TP/IPSec is generally a slower protocol that’s often blocked by firewalls. For comparison, the top VPNs now offer faster, more secure protocols like OpenVPN or WireGuard.
The third option is to use a HTTP(S) or SOCKS5 proxy server. Using this option won’t encrypt your data, but you’ll be rerouted via a proxy. Again, this is quite slow, and poses security risks.
For excellent protection and high speeds, you need a VPN that offers faster protocols like WireGuard or OpenVPN. Therefore, we recommend using one of the top 5 best VPNs, instead of Psiphon VPN. Even free versions of VPNs such as PrivadoVPN and Proton VPN use these faster protocols.
Logging and privacy
The Psiphon Inc. headquarters are located in Canada, which is part of the 5, 9, and 14 Eyes alliance of countries that exchange citizen data. This is not ideal when it comes to online privacy.
However, if you use a VPN that doesn’t keep any logs, there will be no information to exchange in the first place. Unfortunately, Psiphon does keep logs. According to its privacy statement, Psiphon collects the following data:
- Chosen protocol connection
- Session duration
- Connection timestamps
- Your ISP
- Aggregated server data
- Total bytes transferred
- Region codes
Psiphon states that it stores this data for a maximum of 90 days. After, the data will be gathered, together with other users’ data, and stored in back-up for “a reasonable time.”
Psiphon reserves the right to share this aggregated data with third parties, since it doesn’t include personally identifiable information. To exemplify, Psiphon suggests that it won’t share aggregated data if there’s only a couple of Psiphon users in a certain country.
Domain-related information is also not shared with other parties. However, Psiphon’s privacy policy states that if required, it may share information with third parties, including sponsors or certain organizations that it collaborates with.
PsiCash privacy
If you go with PsiCash and create an account, you’ll have to provide even more information. You do have the option to buy the tokens without an account. In that case, Psiphon only logs the following details:
- An automatically generated user token
- Your PsiCash reserves
- Time stamps of your most recent activity
- PsiCash purchases
Creating an account does allow you to use PsiCash on multiple devices. If you choose to do so, Psiphon will store your username, password, and email address on its servers. On top of that, Psiphon stores aggregated data, including:
- Users’ countries of residence
- How much PsiCash exists, as well as the flow of tokens
- User names
- Which version of the app people use
Psiphon claims that this data is never shared with third parties, except for when it’s aggregated and pooled. However, users should keep in mind that Amazon will automatically get access to all data, since Psiphon’s servers belong to Amazon.
Kill switch
Psiphon VPN does not have a kill switch. This makes it risky to use the VPN in sensitive situations, since your connection will be exposed in case the VPN fails.
All the top VPNs have a kill switch, automatically terminating your connection in case the VPN fails. . This means you’ll be protected, even when starting your PC or switching between servers. Even free VPNs like Proton VPN offer a permanent kill switch.
Split tunneling
Split tunneling is another common feature that you’d expect from any good VPN. The Psiphon VPN mobile app, also known as “Psiphon 3,” does offer offer split tunneling.
If you’re using the Psiphon Windows client, the feature works differently. The split tunneling option doesn’t differentiate between apps but between domain servers.
Essentially, you can adapt the settings so that your normal HTTPS traffic won’t get rerouted via Psiphon’s proxy servers unless you’re trying to access foreign websites.
This is because Psiphon is specifically designed to circumvent censorship. If a webpage is already available in the country you’re located in, the VPN will recommend you view it without the VPN tunnel to improve speeds.
Additionally, you’ve got the option to visit Chinese websites without using a proxy. This is because the Great Firewall of China specifically blocks proxy servers. Psiphon states that the chances of viewing a Chinese website are higher if you use your own network, rather than the Psiphon servers.
MalAware
In the Android app, Psiphon 3 offers a feature called MalAware. This feature is enabled by default and notifies you whenever Psiphon 3 detects data traffic that could potentially be malware. MalAware is able to detect specific forms of malware, including the Mirai botnet virus and Kraken ransomware.
Keep in mind that detecting the threat is the only thing Psiphon 3 can do. If you want to actually get rid of malware, you’ll need to use good antivirus software.
Does Psiphon VPN leak your data?
A secure VPN reroutes your internet traffic so your own IP address remains hidden. Unfortunately, not every VPN is actually able to hide the new IP address version known as IPv6.
Unfortunately, Psiphon did leak our real IP address. In other words, it shows your original location.
Psiphon also suffers from WebRTC leaks. You’ll notice from the image below that our public IP address is available for all to see.
There were no DNS leaks however, based on our testing.
What information does Psiphon VPN need?
It’s entirely possible to use Psiphon VPN without creating an account. In that case, you won’t need to submit any personal information. However, if you go with PsiCash, it will “strongly encourage” you to create an account.
If you choose to use PsiCash, you’ll need to submit payment details. On the plus side, Psiphon offers you the option to pay anonymously for your VPN by using cryptocurrency. Do keep in mind that this transaction is processed by Coinbase, which means that Psiphon will know your Coinbase account details.
Moreover, if you want to use your PsiCash speed boosts on multiple devices, you will need to create an account. Psiphon only requests your username and password. You have the option to submit an email address, but this is not a necessity.
Psiphon VPN speed test results
Psiphon limits free users’ speeds to 2 Mbps, making it painfully slow. This rules it out as an option for streaming or gaming. For instance, you won’t be able to stream in HD or 4K without interruptions. It gets better when you purchase a speed boost with PsiCash, but still falls way short when you compare it with other VPN providers.
We conducted our speed tests from The Netherlands, starting with Psiphon’s free service, before using PsiCash to run more tests.
We first checked our speeds without a VPN. This gave us baseline figures to compare speed drop-offs.
We connected to servers in countries on different continents to test speeds, using the same protocol where possible (SSH). Psiphon lacks servers in South America, Africa and Oceania, so we don’t have results for those locations.
Your actual speeds might differ depending on your internet connection and location. However, the values below are helpful indicators of how Psiphon performs.
Here’s what we found:
| Psiphon servers | Download | Upload | Ping |
|---|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 93.76 Mbps | 93.84 Mbps | 3 ms |
| Fastest server (UK) | 1.08 Mbps | 1.05 Mbps | 15 ms |
| The Netherlands | 1.10 Mbps | 1.07 Mbps | 8 ms |
| Germany (Kassel) | 1.06 Mbps | 1.05 Mbps | 22 ms |
| United Kingdom (London) | 1.08 Mbps | 1.04 Mbps | 13 ms |
| United States (Philadelphia) | 1.08 Mbps | 1.06 Mbps | 122 ms |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 1.03 Mbps | 0.76 Mbps | 942 ms |
Based on our tests, Psiphon is very slow. Speeds barely go above 1 Mbps regardless of your server location.
The fastest VPN you can get in 2026 is NordVPN, which achieved speeds of up to 900 Mbps in my speed tests. It’s consistent on both nearby and faraway servers, making it well-suited to torrenting, gaming, and streaming in HD and 4K without lag or buffering.
Speed test results with speed boost (PsiCash)
| Psiphon servers | Download | Upload | Ping |
|---|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 94.09 Mbps | 94.69 Mbps | 3 ms |
| Fastest server (Netherlands) | 92.34 Mbps | 92.80 Mbps | 4 ms |
| The Netherlands | 91.10 Mbps | 92.88 Mbps | 5 ms |
| Germany (Berlin) | 93.58 Mbps | 94.46 Mbps | 20 ms |
| United Kingdom (London) | 82.75 Mbps | 91.51 Mbps | 14 ms |
| United States (Pennsylvania) | 16.31 Mbps | 44.50 Mbps | 122 ms |
| Japan (Tokyo) | 5.45 Mbps | 0.70 Mbps | 745 ms |
Psiphon PsiCash is the paid version of Psiphon, so its speeds must measure up to the best VPN services. In Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, Psiphon maintains at least 80% of its speeds.
However, it loses significant speeds in the US and Canada. In Japan, the ping jumps significantly, and the upload and download speeds are nearly wiped out.
Usability – how user-friendly is Psiphon VPN?
Psiphon VPN isn’t the most user-friendly VPN we’ve seen. The VPN client is quite clunky and simple features are hard to access. Therefore, we give this online security tool a 5 out of 10 for usability. This is based on the following conclusions:
- The installation process is straightforward.
- The Psiphon website and software are available in other (automated) languages.
- Every time you connect, the software opens your browser automatically.
- There’s no customer service available; only a FAQ section.
Psiphon VPN’s app interface
Psiphon VPN’s website is easy to navigate and available in many different languages. It has apps for Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. However, there’s no client for Linux. Read our best VPN for Linux guide for VPNs that support the operating system. Psiphon also lacks native apps for macOS, smart TVs, or routers.
Psiphon’s apps are at least straightforward and minimalist. The app has a clean layout with a single Connect button, letting you quickly establish a connection with one click or tap. There are few settings to adjust, but the simplicity also means there are limited customization options compared to premium VPNs.
Psiphon VPN price
Generally speaking, Psiphon VPN is a free service. However, if you want a fast connection, you’ll have to buy speed boosts with PsiCash. The mobile Psiphon 3 app calls this “upgrading your account.”
When you download the Psiphon app, you receive 90 free PsiCash tokens. However, to use speed boost for an hour, you need 100 PsiCash. Here’s how much PsiCash you’ll need to use the VPN for different time periods:
- One hour for 100 PsiCash
- One day for 800 PsiCash
- One week for 4,000 PsiCash
- One month for 13,000 PsiCash
Note: you can’t use your speed boosts for Transport Mode.
You can only purchase PsiCash in the following (approximate) amounts:
- 1,000 PsiCash for $0.73
- 5,000 PsiCash for $3.66
- 10,000 PsiCash for $7.32
- 30,000 PsiCash for $21.97
- 100,000 PsiCash for $73.25
Say you want to use Psiphon’s speed boosts for about a month, you’ll have to buy 10,000 PsiCash for $7.31, plus three times $0.73. This totals to $9.50 (USD).
Unfortunately, this is the price without tax. Add in the tax you’ll need to pay in some countries (approximately 30%) and you end up with a total of $12.35 for one month.
If you purchase the PsiCash via the Psiphon 3 app, you can exchange your tokens for a specific number of hours of speed boost right away. For example, you can upgrade your speed for the duration of 10 hours and 1,000 PsiCash tokens.
Overall, if you want a well-functioning VPN, Psiphon is a pretty expensive service for what it offers. For comparison, our top 5 VPN services cost between $2.00 and $7.00 per month.
On the Android app, Psiphon’s pricing is a little different. It has a subscription-based plan and a time-bound plan. Here’s a breakdown of the plans.
Subscription:
- Basic: $2 per month
- Unlimited: $6 per month
Each of these plans has a seven-day free trial. If you don’t like the VPN, be sure to cancel your subscription before the trial period ends.
Time Pass:
- Seven-day pass: $1.50
- 30-day pass: $6
- 360-day pass: $42
In terms of payment options, you can pay with credit card, PayPal, and cryptocurrency (Coinbase).
Customer service
On Psiphon’s website, you can find an installation guide. The information in this guide is a bit dated and doesn’t always flow very well. Besides this guide, there’s a FAQ section with over 40 questions.
Many of the answers aren’t quite helpful either. For instance, to the question: “I can connect to Psiphon for Windows in the VPN mode, but why is it so slow? Sometimes web pages don’t load at all,” the VPN company simply suggests disabling VPN mode, which defeats the entire purpose.
If you’ve got a question that’s not answered on the website, you’re out of luck. There’s no real customer support available. You can send feedback via the Psiphon app, in the hope that you might receive a response. The automatically generated response, however, states that Psiphon receive many messages each day and won’t get back to each and every one.
You can also send an email to [email protected], which leads to an automatic reply that informs you where to download Psiphon and to submit any feedback via the app. Till the time of writing, we didn’t receive any response.
Finally, you might try the Psiphon Chatbox on Facebook. Since Facebook has a lot of privacy issues, though, we don’t recommend this option. Moreover, linking Psiphon to your Facebook account, gives the VPN service access to your profile information, including your contacts and location.
There’s no live chat feature or phone support, which are essential if you need real-time support. Plus, the guides do not come with tutorial videos, which would make them a lot easier to follow.
Psiphon VPN servers list
A VPN with a large server network is useful if you’re looking to get around geographical restrictions online. Special servers, such as P2P servers, also offer extra advantages.
Psiphon VPN has only 26 server locations, most of which are in Europe and North America, with a few in Asia. There’s none in South America, Oceania, and Africa. Based on testing, Psiphon auto-selects a server location, which makes it hard to unblock specific streaming services, and these servers often fail to unblock Netflix and other major streaming services. Even when it works, speeds are usually too low for effective streaming.
| Region | Psiphon VPN server countries |
|---|---|
| Asia | India (Windows only), Japan, Singapore |
| Europe | Austria (mobile only), Belgium (mobile only), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark (mobile only), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway (Windows only), Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
| North America | Canada, United States |
Unfortunately, Psiphon neither has many servers at its disposal, nor any specialized ones. We can only give it a 5 out of 10 for server network. Here’s why:
- There are Psiphon VPN servers in only 26 countries.
- Psiphon doesn’t offer dedicated IP addresses.
- There is no support for streaming.
- Torrenting is not allowed with Psiphon.
- The VPN is able to circumvent government censorship.
Dedicated IP address
Psiphon VPN does not offer dedicated IP addresses. A dedicated IP provides you with a personal, static IP address that’s only for you to use. This is useful if you want to access foreign streaming content. However, since you’re the only person using that IP address, a dedicated IP is less anonymous than a shared server.
If you want a dedicated IP address, your best choice is NordVPN. This provider sells dedicated IP addresses for less than $3.00 a month.
Psiphon VPN and streaming (Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, BBC iPlayer)
Psiphon doesn’t have any streaming features that make it stand out from other VPNs. For example, premium services like NordVPN have optimized streaming servers and smart DNS services to allow devices that don’t support VPNs to connect. Psiphon doesn’t have these and instead takes a simple approach; you simply connect to a server and start streaming. Since Psiphon leaked our real IP address, we didn’t think the VPN service would be able to unblock streaming sites. Regrettably, we were right.
| Platform | Can Psiphon VPN unblock it? |
|---|---|
| Netflix | ❌ No |
| Disney Plus | ❌ No |
| Amazon Prime Video | ❌ No |
| HBO Max | ❌ No |
| BBC iPlayer | ✅ Yes |
Psiphon was not able to give us access to the British or American Netflix library. Disney Plus did not work with Psiphon, and neither did Amazon Prime Video. Finally, we tried HBO Max, which was also unavailable.
Surprisingly, we were able to unblock BBC iPlayer. It’s also good to note that, besides unblocking streaming sites, Psiphon still does what it’s meant to do: getting around state censorship.
Psiphon VPN and torrents
The Psiphon website states that torrenting is not allowed. When testing the VPN, we expected that torrent traffic would be blocked. However, we were still able to download torrents, though the process was so slow that we don’t recommend this VPN service for this purpose.
As soon as we enabled Transport mode, we lost our connection. Indeed, P2P traffic seems to be blocked by the VPN. If you wish to torrent safely, we recommend using a special torrenting VPN.
Final verdict
Psiphon is a VPN service whose primary goal is to bypass censorship, and as such, it falls short on basic security and privacy protections. Speeds on the free tier are also very slow, with paid users getting better speeds but still not as good as premium VPN services.
However, it’s the lack of features like a kill switch, leak protection, no logs policy, and modern and secure VPN protocols that means this VPN falls short in critical areas of privacy and security.
For a secure, faster alternative, I recommend trying NordVPN. You can still test NordVPN free by utilizing the 3-day Android free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee. This will give you the chance to test a VPN that includes all of the above security features by default, in addition to advanced features like multi-hop connections and malware protection.
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FAQ
Do you have any questions about Psiphon VPN? Wondering whether this VPN is worth investing in? Check out our FAQ below to get some answers!
No, Psiphon VPN is generally considered unsafe to use due to WebRTC and IP leaks, user data logging, and a lack of essential security features, all of which puts your security and privacy at risk. For a more robust alternative to Psiphon that will protect your data and device, you can try NordVPN free with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a free trial on Android.
Psiphon VPN is available on Windows, iOS, and Android devices, with mobile apps available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. You can also install a browser proxy, but there’s no support on macOS, Linux, or most smart devices.
To use Psiphon VPN, download the official app from their website or an App Store, then launch the app. Tap or click on the Connect button to have the dashboard automatically choose a VPN server. You can then continue using the internet with your web traffic routed through Psiphon’s servers until you disconnect the VPN.
Based on my tests, the cons of Psiphon VPN include WebRTC and IP leaks, a lack of torrenting and streaming support, data logging, and relatively slow speeds. It also lacks a kill switch, and support is only available via email, though many Reddit users have reported problems getting a response.
Psiphon’s security features include numerous tunneling protocols, such as VPN, SSh, and HTTP Proxy, which help avoid geo-blocks. However, these lack the best modern protocols such as WireGuard. What’s more, Psiphon doesn’t have other security essentials, including no-logs policies, a kill switch, or leak protection that you’d get from a premium service. Its service is more focused on unblocking than on security and privacy.
