VPN Unlimited Review 2022

VPN Unlimited Review (2022) – Great Service With a Few Flaws

VPN Unlimited is a well-known service launched back in 2013 by a US company called KeepSolid, Inc. With top-notch security features and more than 10 million users worldwide, it’s definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Security is where this VPN truly shines. Its protocols can tackle anything from heavy censorship to geo-restrictions. The server network, although modest, still manages to provide enough speed for streaming, torrenting, and online gaming. There are also plenty of unique nice-to-haves, such as being able to rent a private personal VPN server. All this is tempered with user-friendly apps and stellar customer support.

Having said that, we didn’t like some of its logging practices. Airtight privacy is essential when talking about a US-based VPN. Furthermore, connecting to distant servers can take up to a couple of minutes. We were also confused by some of the steps during the installation process.

VPN Unlimited can also be purchased bundled with a firewall, a SmartDNS, and a password manager. But how does it perform when tested on its own?

Find out in our full VPN Unlimited review below.

VPN Unlimited: Review Summary

VPN Unlimited has a lot of things going for it. It supports an impressive list of solid VPN protocols and allows for up to five simultaneous connections. Paired with an optional firewall, SmartDNS, and password manager, you have an impressive array of security features. VPN Unlimited uses top-notch encryption (AES-256 and ChaCha20), and it dishes out good speeds — though some servers can take a while to connect.

VPN Unlimited’s network features only 500+ servers across 80 locations, which is quite modest by today’s standards. You can also purchase a personal server with a dedicated IP address. The company doesn’t monitor your online activity, but it does record some data that can be used against you if their servers get hacked.

This service works with Netflix and allows torrenting on three dedicated servers. As for user-friendliness: the apps are easy to use — but the setup process does have some confusing steps.

Specifications VPN Unlimited

Price

From $4.99 a month

Operating systems

• Windows
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• Mac
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• iOS
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• Android
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• Linux

Simultaneous connections

• 10

Torrents

• Torrenting allowed

Netflix

• Works with Netflix

Protocols

• OpenVPN
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• IKEv2
• ,
• Wireguard
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• L2TP/IPsec

Payment methods

• Paypal
• ,
• Other
• ,
• Credit card
• ,
• Cryptocurrency

Money-back guarantee

• Yes

Works with

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Visit VPN Unlimited

Speed – How Fast is VPN Unlimited?

The best VPNs are built for speed and security. These two factors may seem at odds, but they’re also meaningless without each other. Good encryption will always affect your speed — but a top VPN provider mitigates speed drops as much as possible.

This problem becomes much worse on slow connections, especially when you pick faraway servers. That’s why our VPN speed test covers multiple servers across the globe. It lets us compare performances on both local and distant options.

We start out by setting our benchmark speed (a.k.a. speed without using a VPN) and compare it to the results we got on different servers. We also pay attention to daily fluctuations to spot potential throttling due to server crowding.

Here’s what we found with VPN Unlimited:

• We maintained a decent part of our original speed (even on distant servers).
• Connection times ranged from a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes.
• Some servers wouldn’t connect on our first try.
• We haven’t experienced any disconnects.
• Some servers didn’t connect us to the stated location.
• We saw no major oscillations during daily use.

Speed test results for VPN Unlimited

We did the VPN Unlimited speed testing in our corporate headquarter in the Netherlands. The values in the table below can be viewed as good indicators of potential results.

Having said that, your speeds might be different, depending on your connection and physical location. Still, this is the best way to gauge how encryption affects the performance of KeepSolid’s VPN.

VPN Unlimited is very fast, which makes it a great VPN for gaming, streaming, and torrenting. The connection times are variable, though. They can reach a couple of minutes, which can be quite tedious when you’re frequently switching between servers.

Some servers also wouldn’t connect on our first try (US – California, for example). Furthermore, a torrenting server in Paris actually connected us to Chicago. So, if you need to appear like you’re in a specific location (like when you’re accessing a Netflix library), we recommend using our “What’s My IP” tool to make sure you’re “in the right place.”

As usual, our upload speed was generally affected more than our download speed (except in Japan). However, it remained perfectly serviceable, even for bandwidth-heavy tasks like streaming Netflix in full HD.

With all this in mind, we can recommend VPN Unlimited for all gamers and streamers out there. It might take a while to connect on occasion, but the speeds are excellent without any sudden disconnects or similar problems.

Speed during daily use

We didn’t notice any severe fluctuations during daily use. We used VPN Unlimited for some anonymous browsing, watched a couple of movies, and gave it a go with uTorrent. It performed pretty well without any lag or buffering.

If you’re experiencing lag and severe speed drops, we recommend picking local servers with lower pings.

Safety – How Secure is VPN Unlimited?

Online security is the second essential part of the VPN puzzle. Your VPN should keep you anonymous while hiding your traffic from any prying eyes. So, let’s check VPN Unlimited’s VPN protocols, logging practices, and the information required for registration.

Here are the most important facts to keep in mind:

• VPN Unlimited supports a variety of solid protocols (OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, Keepsolid Wise, and L2TP/IPSec).
• It uses AES-256 encryption.
• It doesn’t log any information that could harm you.
• It comes with an automatic kill switch.
• You only need an email and a password to create an account.

Protocols

We can’t have a versatile VPN without a variety of connection protocols. Your VPN has to be flexible enough to tackle everything from demanding streams sessions to online censorship.

VPN Unlimited definitely doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Its connection arsenal includes:

• OpenVPN (TCP/UDP): TCP connection is fast but blocked quite easily. UDP is more resilient but slower.
• WireGuard: This youngest protocol on the list quickly became famous for its speed and security. Even NordVPN and ExpressVPN have proprietary protocols based on WireGuard.
• IKEv2: This protocol provides excellent speeds but is easily blocked.
• KeepSolid Wise (TCP/UDP/TLS): KeepSolid’s stealth protocol is based on OpenVPN. It disguises your VPN traffic to look like regular browsing. It uses the TCP 443 and UDP 33434 ports, which makes it very difficult to block. Excellent for dealing with Netflix VPN filters or Chinese censorship, for example.
• L2TP/IPSec: This combination is relatively fast and secure, but inferior to the likes of OpenVPN and WireGuard.

You can find the protocols on your VPN Unlimited client in the menu under “Settings.” If you’re not overly tech-savvy, the VPN client can pick the best protocol for you. Note that not all protocols are available on all devices. Check the available options in the image below.

VPN Unlimited supports solid encryption options, depending on your chosen protocol:

• WireGuard: ChaCha20
• OpenVPN/KeepSolid Wise: AES-256
• IKEv2: AES-256, Camelia 256-bit, and ChaCha20

These are the best encryption ciphers out there that’ll protect you from hackers, the government, and even your ISP.

Logging and privacy

KeepSolid claims that they provide a zero-logging VPN. As we’ll see, that’s not exactly true, but at least they don’t record any data that could establish a link between you and your online traffic.

Here’s what VPN Unlimited doesn’t collect:

• Activity logs: Your browsing history, metadata, timestamps, server usage, downloads.
• Your IP address: The software does collect your IP for the duration of the VPN session. It is discarded immediately after you disconnect.
• Your full name: Unlike many VPN providers, KeepSolid doesn’t require your full name to provide the service.

This is quite the list, and we like every single item on it. It’s especially important that the company doesn’t store your IP or online activity. Your address and timestamps can be used to mount an attack against you. Your private info could be handed over to the authorities if KeepSolid were forced to do so.

Let’s not forget that KeepSolid is an American company, which means it falls under the 5 Eyes jurisdiction. The only way for VPN Unlimited to remain safe for its users is to log nothing of substance.

With that in mind, here’s the information the company does collect:

• User info: Your email and social networks ID (only if you log in through social networks, which we don’t recommend).
• Device info: Device name/ID, OS, number of connected devices, browser type, the language of the device, app usage, time zone, activation date, app version, and installed updates.
• Location info: IP address (temporary) and geographic location.
• Cookies: KeepSolid uses cookies and pixel tags to gauge your usage of their website and services.

If KeepSolid hands over your data to the authorities, they’ll be able to figure out who you are but not what you’ve been doing online. So, if the government orders KeepSolid to release user data, the company will have nothing damaging to give.

However, if their servers get hacked, the attackers will have a lot of info they could use to mount an attack against you. They’ll have your email, device ID, geographic location, and potentially even your social media handles. The chances of KeepSolid’s servers getting hackedare low but never zero. So, we hope the company tightens up its logging practices in the future and stops recording info that could be used against its users.

We also noticed that their device IDs weren’t exactly as anonymous as they should be. They’re just a combination of your account name and the name of your device. Fortunately, without activity logs, this info can’t be used to tie your KeepSolid account to your traffic. Nevertheless, it’s not something we’re terribly comfortable with.

Kill switch

The description of VPN Unlimited’s kill switch can cause some confusion. The client states that
this option won’t “let you go online without an active VPN,” which is not the case. From its description, we thought that it had a “permanent” kill switch, like the one provided by ProtonVPN.

VPN Unlimited comes with a regular automatic kill switch (not a permanent one). A “regular” kill switches kick in when your VPN falters. It cuts your connection to prevent data leaks. However, they still let you access the internet when you turn your VPN off.

Meanwhile, a permanent kill switch won’t let you go online without a VPN connection, period. So, in other words: a standard kill switch is reactive, and a permanent one is preventive.

On macOS and iOS, the kill switch is only available with the IKEv2 protocol. On Android, VPN Unlimited uses a system kill switch, and it’s only available on Android 8.0 Oreo and higher.

What information does VPN Unlimited need?

When it comes to sign-up data, we prefer providing as little as possible. VPN Unlimited is one of those great VPNs that only require your email and password to generate an account.

However, providers like Windscribe have proven that companies don’t even need your email. We’d like to see more VPNs following in their footsteps. There will always be some VPN services asking for weird info (Mozilla VPN asks for your age, for example), but VPN Unlimited is not one of them.

Usability – How User-Friendly is VPN Unlimited?

VPN Unlimited comes with a pretty beginner-friendly client. However, you first have to go through the setup process, which requires some tinkering.

Let’s gauge its overall user-friendliness by first taking a look at its official website, installation, clients, prices, and customer support.

Here are some key points:

• The VPN Unlimited website is easy to navigate.
• The setup process could be simplified.
• The clients are intuitive and beginner-friendly.
• Crypto payments are accepted.
• VPN Unlimited has excellent customer support.

Website interface and installing VPN Unlimited

VPN Unlimited’s site is very easy to navigate. All the options are right there, so you won’t have to click through countless cryptic options and endless menus. Even beginners should have no problems finding their way around.

Here’s the entire installation process for Windows 10:

1. Go to the official website.
2. Click on “Windows” under the “Downloads” tab at the top of the page.
3. Click “Download from Website.”
4. Disable any antivirus programs to ensure proper installation.
5. Launch the downloaded installer and follow the instructions.
6. Check the “Always trust software from OpenVPN Technologies, Inc..” box.
7. Click “Install” to set up the TAP adapter.
8. Click “Finish.”

When it comes to actually starting up VPN Unlimited, the website gets a bit confusing. The privacy policy states that you can use the VPN without registration, but you actually can’t.

To use any KeepSolid product, you need the so-called “KeepSolid ID.” You can continue with your Google, Facebook, or Apple account — but we strongly advise against doing so.

To create your KeepSolid ID, follow these steps:

1. Click the “Sign In” button at the top of the homepage. Once you do, you’ll see this screen:
2. 
3. Click on the “Sign Up” link in the bottom-right corner. The placement of this link is quite unfortunate as it’s so easy to miss (we did, the first time).
4. Provide your email and password, and you’re good to go.

The official setup manual mentions a “Create KeepSolid ID” button, but we couldn’t find said button anywhere.

You can use your KeepSolid ID with all of KeepStrong’s products (such as VPN Unlimited, SmartDNS, Private Browser, and Passwarden).

VPN Unlimited’s appearance and ease of use

KeepSolid’s VPN comes with a pretty minimalistic client. If you’re looking for an intuitive and beginner-friendly VPN app, this is the right tool for you.

The main window features a world map with your current location and a big “on/off” button at the bottom. There’s also a shortcut that lets you open a list of available servers. You can see your subscription info at the top of the window with a link to some purchasable extras.

The hamburger menu in the top-left features the following tabs and options:

• My Account: Access your personal dashboard (called “User Office”), prolong your subscription and purchase extras, change your password, redeem a code, and explore other KeepSolid products
• Settings: Manage protocols and DNS Firewall (if bought), enable/disable kill switch and DNS leak prevention, whitelist networks, and enable VPN to run on startup
• Information: Leave feedback, read about VPN Unlimited, and check for updates
• Support: Access the FAQs, constant customer support, and rate your VN connection

Everything is simple and easy to find. We believe that VPN Unlimited is an excellent service if you’ve never used a VPN before. At the same time, it also offers plenty of interesting features for power users.

Pricing and payment methods

KeepSolid has a lot of different products and a whole slew of extras for every one of them. When it comes to VPN subscription options, we have:

• 1 month: $9.99 per month (billed $9.99 monthly)
• 1 year: $4.99 per month (billed $59.99 yearly)
• 3 years: $79.99 (billed once)
• Lifetime subscription: $199.99 (billed once)

KeepSolid’s “MonoDefense” costs $11.99 per month. This is a bundle containing their VPN, password manager, DNS firewall, and SmartDNS. The firewall used to be a part of VPN Unlimited. In July 2021, however, it became a separate tool that costs extra.

You can also purchase MonoDefense with your VPN subscription as an add-on, with the following additional payments:

• 1-month plan: +$2.00 per month
• 1-year plan: +$1.66 per month
• 3-year plan: +$40 (once)
• Lifetime subscription: +$100 (once)

As we mentioned, KeepSolid has a lot of extras to go with its VPN. Here are some neat nice-to-haves you can purchase:

• Personal server: A server only you can use. The prices depend on your chosen location, bandwidth, and subscription period. You also get a free VPN subscription of the same duration, a clean personal IP, and the best possible connection speeds. Since you’re the only entity on the server, you’ll also enjoy quicker connection times and minimal server loads.

• Personal (dedicated) IP: If you don’t want to rent an entire server but still need a personal IP, this is the option for you. For $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year, you can forget about CAPTCHA popups and getting blacklisted by sites and services. A Dedicated IP also makes online banking easier since banks don’t look too kindly on having a different IP every time you log in.
• Additional slots: If you need more than five VPN slots, you can purchase one more for $0.99 per month ($9.99 per year), five more for $2.99 per month ($29.99 per year), and ten more for $5.99 per month ($59.99 per year). You can also buy more than five lifetime subscription slots for a flat fee of $99.99.

The accepted payment methods include:

• Credit cards (VISA, MasterCard)
• Bitcoin
• PayPal
• Amazon Pay (in select countries)
• Paymentwall (in select countries)

Important note: Only subscriptions purchased via PayPal and credit cards will auto-renew. If you wish to cancel them, you’ll have to do it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. If you buy your VPN with crypto or use other methods, your subscription will NOT auto-renew, and you’ll have to do it manually through your User Office.

All purchases come with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test VPN Unlimited for a month completely cost-free. However, we don’t like the fact that you have to submit your refund request to customer support and wait for their response. We prefer the option of getting your refund simply by clicking a button on the site. Going through customer support generally means they’ll try to talk you out of it instead of initiating the money-back procedure right away.

Customer service

Here’s what we’re interested in when talking about good customer service:

• The volume of information available on the official website (FAQs, knowledge bases, etc.)
• The ways you can contact the support team (live chat, email, phone, ticket systems…)
• The expertise and response times of the support team

KeepSolid offers an extensive knowledge base on the VPN Unlimited site. We found a lot of useful FAQs paired with a ton of setup manuals. Having said that, some of the information seems to be outdated.

VPN Unlimited states that it offers 24/7 live chat and email support. However, their “live chat” is not what you might imagine. Namely, you can ask your questions through the live chat-like interface, but they’ll respond via email.

Once you click send, you’ll receive a confirmation email within a couple of minutes. The response came about an hour later, which is quite impressive. The support operator was very knowledgeable and ready to help.

KeepSolid’s customer support was a pleasant surprise. We were also pleased to see professional staff that can tackle VPN-related problems.

Usually, companies with many different products employ a general support team that struggles even with the most basic of issues. Fortunately, KeepSolid is not one of them. Huge thumbs up from us for top-quality customer service.

Server Network for VPN Unlimited

Large VPN server networks increase your chances of “unblocking the internet” without any lag or speed drops. They also help you avoid server crowding when providers amass more VPN users than they can support.

So, whether you’re looking to catch some Netflix shows unavailable in your country or deal with online censorship, having more servers will increase your chance of success.

Things to keep in mind regarding VPN Unlimited:

• It operates 500+ super-fast VPN servers in 80+ locations.
• You can rent personal servers.
• Dedicated IPs are available.

Number of servers and locations

VPN Unlimited offers 500+ servers in 80+ locations. Usually, we would call this network modest at best, but their servers work so well, you won’t even notice it. It can’t compete with the likes of Private Internet Access (30,000+ servers), but it still beats Malwarebytes VPN (400+ servers), for example.

You can access the list of the available locations from the main screen of your VPN Unlimited client. Every server has a signal strength indicator next to it, as well as ping values for your location. Note that you have to click the “Ping Test” button in the top-left corner for these values to show.

The available server locations include:

• “Regular” servers: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada East/West, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, Ukraine, UAE, the US, Vietnam.
• Torrenting servers: Canada (Ontario), France (Paris), Romania (Bucharest),
• Dedicated streaming servers: Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Now, Hotstar, Hulu, Netflix, Popcornflix, Rai.tv, Sony Crackle, and a general streaming server. Dedicated streaming servers are named after the platform they unlock in the client and they’re located either in the UK (BBC iPlayer) or the US (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Now). If you want to unlock other regional versions of Netflix, you’ll have to use regular non-streaming servers.

You can create your list of favorites, which will always appear at the top for easier access. If you’re not sure which server is the best for you, the client can pick one automatically based on your location (the “Optimal” option).

As mentioned, VPN Unlimited also allows you to rent a personal server. The available locations include:

• The Netherlands (Amsterdam)
• Norway (Oslo)
• Poland
• Portugal
• Sweden (Stockholm)
• Spain

Connecting to VPN Unlimited’s server takes between a couple of seconds and a couple of minutes (for distant locations). Allowing the client to pick the protocol automatically can also add to your internet connection times. The app will first take some time to identify the best protocol for you and then start connecting you to a server.

Dedicated IP address

VPN Unlimited offers dedicated IP addresses for a fee. They call them “personal static IPs,” which means they never change and only you can use them. In other words, they’re dedicated IPs.

This option helps you avoid CAPTCHA popups and makes online payments easier. Platforms like Netflix are also far less likely to blacklist a dedicated IP.

Many services will flag your account if you’re constantly accessing it with different IPs. That’s why so many shared VPN IPs get blacklisted. A dedicated address is tied to your VPN Unlimited account and will help you get around this obstacle.

VPN Unlimited’s Additional Features

VPN Unlimited is a geo-unblocking powerhouse. We had zero problems streaming Netflix from our corporate office. It also provides dedicated torrenting servers for good measure. It doesn’t have a lot of exotic features but the ones it offers work perfectly.

VPN Unlimited’s extra features include:

• Unblocking Netflix
• Anonymous torrenting
• Split-tunneling (Android only)
• Network whitelisting

VPN Unlimited and Netflix

When talking about good VPNs for Netflix, we’re only interested in one thing: can they unblock the US version consistently or not? Having said that, we also tested a number of other regional versions with VPN Unlimited.

Here are the versions of Netflix we tested that worked with VPN Unlimited:

• The US
• The UK
• Japan
• Canada
• Germany
• France

Our Netflix testing went without any blacklisted servers or proxy errors. Also, content on all regional versions always played on our first try.

Apart from Netflix, VPN Unlimited can also unblock Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and other coveted platforms.

VPN Unlimited and torrenting

VPN Unlimited allows anonymous P2P filesharing on more than one dedicated server (Ontario, Paris, and Bucharest).

However, KeepSolid warns that they might resort to speed throttling due to torrenting. They justify this by stating that the main purpose of VPN Unlimited is providing online safety, not downloading torrents. Since they have only three P2P servers, KeepSolid can monitor torrenting bandwidth without resorting to activity logging. If the bandwidth loads on these servers go too far, they will throttle them to ensure proper operation.

With that in mind, VPN Unlimited might not be the perfect P2P tool. If torrenting is important to you, we recommend finding a better option on our list of the best VPNs for torrenting. You also might want to check our guide on the best torrent sites in 2022.

Split tunneling

Simply put, split tunneling allows you to create a list of trusted apps that can access the internet directly (without VPN protection). This feature boosts your connection speed on those apps and conserves bandwidth.

At the moment, VPN Unlimited supports split-tunneling only on Android. They call it “App Exceptions,” and you can find it in the “Settings” menu.

Network whitelister

Network whitelisters allow you to access trusted networks without VPN protection. For example, you can disable your VPN on a closed business network that can only transmit secure data. In other words, you don’t need to burden your traffic with encryption if there’s absolutely zero chance of data leaks or outside attacks.

Using the Whitelister is very simple: just add the name of the trusted network to the list of exceptions. However, mastering this tool means knowing exactly which networks you can trust.

Therefore, we don’t recommend tampering with this option too much unless you absolutely know what you’re doing. Whitelisting an unsecured public network in a cafe, for example, can have disastrous consequences.

During our testing, we were able to whitelist our connection and exempt it from VPN protection without any problems. The client recognized the command and allowed our network to bypass its security measures. VPN Unlimited doesn’t differentiate between dangerous and trusted networks automatically, so you’ll have to create and maintain your whitelist manually.

Conclusion – Closing Out Our VPN Unlimited Review

VPN Unlimited is an excellent service that does a lot of important things right. First off, its security package is beyond impressive, with a lot of solid protocols to choose from. Optional firewall, SmartDNS, and password manager just add to the already tight security lineup.

KeepSolid doesn’t log any information that could potentially harm you. They’re headquartered in the US, but they have little to no data to hand over, even if pressed to do so. Most importantly, the info they do record can’t be used to trace your online activities back to you as a person.

In spite of its modest server network, VPN Unlimited dishes out some amazing speeds. The servers are stable without noticeable daily fluctuations. Pair that with amazing geo-unblocking capabilities, and you get a perfect tool not just for avid streamers and gamers but also for people dealing with heavy censorship.

KeepSolid complements its impressive service with top-notch customer support. The support team can handle any type of problem and their response time is lightning-fast for today’s standards.

All in all, if you’re looking for a secure, fast, and stable VPN service, you won’t be disappointed with VPN Unlimited.