Jayden Hanson 
Speedify was launched back in 2014, and, over the years, it has changed significantly. The company (based in Philadelphia) started small; now, in 2020, they have servers in 35 countries. Channel Bonding, Speedify’s unique encryption protocol, is also one of its most interesting features. It allows the user to enable multiple Internet connections simultaneously.
Yes, that means combining the powers of wired connections, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and even the mobile Internet to achieve an optimal connection speed. At least, that’s what the official statement claims.
In this Speedify review, we’ll take a close look at this VPN’s speed test results and check the its security standards. Plus, we’ll discuss the price, support, streaming-torrenting capabilities, the free and premium editions, and more. Features
- Top-notch security
- Exclusive encryption protocol
- Modest, yet stable server network
- User-friendly, easy to use
- Works with the Tor browser
- Protection for up to five devices
- Supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android
- The free plan (starter) offers 5GB of monthly data
- The family plan is highly affordable
- Kill switch
- The company keeps some minor logs
- The HQ is located in the US
- Limited list of payment options (no cryptocurrency)
- No DNS leaks protection
- Not the best pick for torrenting
- Doesn’t unblock access to Netflix
- Below-average speed on long-range connections
What Do You Get With Speedify VPN?
As most reviews claim, security is one of the reasons to pick Speedify as your VPN. Channel Bonding, in combination with Kill Switch and the TOR browser, will make sure your OS is safe and sound. And while the server network is modest, the company is doing a decent job of keeping them up and running. It can’t compete with the likes of NordVPN, but, you won’t be disappointed by the performance.
Owners of desktop computers and mobile devices can protect up to five connections simultaneously.
The bad news is – Speedify belongs to the US jurisdiction (a member of the Five Eyes alliance) and keeps minor logs. DNS leaks, lack of P2P support, and difficulties with unblocking streaming services are even more reasons to start looking at other options on the market.
Speedify Servers
Overall, Speedify has a server network of 200+ units, and they’re located in 35 countries across the world. Currently, the company grants access to servers in:
- 14 American cities, including LA, San Francisco, Chicago, NY, Miami, and more;
- In Europe, you’ll find servers in 26 cities. The list includes Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Moscow, and Madrid, to name a few.
- The rest are located in Asia (Hong Kong, Jakarta, Tokyo, Dubai), Africa, Oceania, and South America. So, even though the network is very modest and can’t compare to, say, Express VPN (3000+ servers), it is well spread around the globe.
Speedify Supported Platforms
As for the supported platforms, Speedify is fully compatible with all of main operation systems. The provider promises to add Linux, routers, and gaming consoles support in the nearest future.
Now Speedify supports:
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10
- MacOS 10.10 or later
- iOS 10+
- Android 5.0+
Privacy and Security
When it comes to security, Speedify isn’t a regular VPN. First of all, it doesn’t support any of the popular encryption protocols (including OpenVPN and IKEv2). Secondly, it has its own, trademark technology, called Channel Bonding, and works in combination with ChaCha 256-bit encryption, another exclusive technology. As mentioned in the intro, Channel Bonding allows you to put every single Internet connection in the vicinity to good use.
This protocol keeps your downloads/uploads going even when one of the connections fails. And what about ChaCha 256 – is it as good as AES 256-bit encryption? According to the experts, it is actually harder to crack. The list of additional features includes Redundant Mode and Automatic Failover.
Redundant Mode is excellent at fixing any pocket loss issues that may occur during your online session. For browsing, it isn’t crucial, but for streaming or taking live (video) calls, this tool does make a difference. The Failover feature, in turn, makes sure your active connection is intact even when one of the networks (be it Wi-Fi, wired, or Bluetooth) goes offline.
Speedify VPN Logging Policy
A quick note: 90% of the VPNs on the market claim they follow the no-logs policy, but that’s not true. Most of them do keep tabs; it’s just a matter of what they log and how that can hurt the users. And while Speedify doesn’t keep any major logs, the company still collects some information. The list includes the amount of transferred data, connection duration, bandwidth info, and time/network location from which you connected to the VPN.
Furthermore, when you contact customer support, they ask to share your name, email and mailing addresses, credit card info, and phone number. It’s also important to note that Speedify is located in the United States, a member of the Five Eyes alliance group. That means the company is obligated to share any user info it has with the government.
For most users, this isn’t a big deal, since, again, nothing critical is being logged by the VPN. Regardless, we had to warn you that all the information that you share with Speedify can end up in the wrong hands.
Performance
To test the performance of any VPN, we measure the “original” speed of our connection and then test it with the VPN switched on. This is the easiest and most effective way to check how the Virtual Private Network affects connection speed and stability. Our initial speed was 90Mbps, while the upload reached 34Mbps. All testing was done from the EU, and that’s why the European servers showed better results.
Speedify Speed
Speedify SpeedLet’s take a quick look at how the US and the EU servers performed. In the US, we connected to a server located in Miami. In Europe, our team picked one in the Netherlands, which was located relatively close to us. The combined connection speed and stability were pretty decent and landed Speedify right in the middle of our VPN list.
As you can see, with the EU server there was no significant negative effect on the connection speed. Sadly, the US server results were not nearly as impressive. Still, without the Channel Bonding feature, we are confident that both the download and upload speeds would’ve been much worse. Here are the results of our tests:
US Servers:
- Ping: 130 ms;
- Download: 40 MB (55% slower);
- Upload: 7 MB (80% slower).
EU Servers:
- Ping: 30 ms;
- Download: 60 MB (28% slower);
- Upload: 27 MB (20% slower).
DNS Leaks Detected
As the experts say, when there are DNS leaks, they render the VPN useless, as they create security “holes” in the encryption. Most modern-day VPNs come with DNS leaks protection; sadly, that’s not the case with Speedify.
We tested is multiple times through various websites, and found four leaks (both WebRTC and DNS). Channel Bonding and ChaCha 256-bit encryption are a decent layer of security, but not when there are leaks.
That’s one of the biggest reasons for you to reconsider buying this VPN (we’re talking about the paid, full version). Make sure to take a look at the two alternatives that we hand-picked for our readers (just check this page). They don’t have any leaks and are overall better products.
It’s worth mentioning that we also ran a series of malware tests with Speedify, and they all came back negative (meaning there were no viruses in the installation files).
Torrenting And Streaming
Speedify for Torrenting
Most people think of torrenting as a means to illegally download copyrighted material. However, it’s also used around the world to share files with each other and to move data at a fast pace. Officially, Speedify doesn’t support torrenting. At the same time, they do have dedicated P2P servers that you can use to download torrent files.
Sadly, you can’t choose which server to use, and, in most cases, the connection is very unstable. That’s because the list of P2P-friendly servers is very limited, and the more people connect to them, the slower the speed gets. This VPN is far from being ideal for torrenting; still, it is an option, and you won’t be in any trouble with the law.
Speedify for Streaming
The situation with streaming services is worse. Virtual Private Networks used to be the ultimate tool against geo-restrictions, but these days, streaming platforms are deliberately blocking their servers. This means you have to continually switch between dozens of servers until you find the one(s) that can unblock access. This is true for every single VPN on the market, including ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
We tested several servers in the US and even in the UK and the EU, but couldn’t get through. However, the next day, a London server did manage to outsmart Netflix. Yes, in many ways, it’s like a cat-and-mouse game. We had the same luck with HBO, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer and have to say that for torrenting and streaming, Speedify is a bad pick.
How Much Does Speedify Cost?
Speedify Plans & Pricing
With Speedify, you can choose between three pricing plans. And here are all the available paid plans:
Individual. With this plan, you’ll get unlimited data and protection for up to five devices:
- 1-Month plan: $8.99;
- 1-Year plan: $49.99, 50% discount.
Family. The second option will be the right choice for families. But what is the difference between this plan and the previous one? It grants accounts for five individuals – each user can protect five devices simultaneously just as with the Individual plan. You can use the Admin Dashboard to add and remove users:
- 1-Month plan: $14.95 (2.99 dollars per user);
- 1-Year plan: $74.95, (1.25 dollars per user), 50% discount.
Team. If you own a relatively big company and want every single member to be protected by Speedify, the Team plan will be a reasonable pick. Besides, with it, you can rent a dedicated server, which will cost you $120 a month:
- 1-Month plan: $8.99;
- 1-Year plan: $49.99, 50% discount.
Speedify VPN for Free
The free plan (called Starter) comes with the same set of features as the paid Individual plan. The only limitation is the 5GB data cap (monthly). And, it is only available on one device (you can get if for a pc or a mobile device), which makes it perfect for testing the product without paying anything for it.
Speedify Money-Back
No matter which subscription plan you end up choosing, a 30-day Money-Back Guarantee will always be available. It allows requesting a refund within those 30 days and getting your money back. There’s no free trial with Speedify, but, again, the Starter plan with 5GB per month is more than enough to learn your way around this VPN.
Customer Support
Knowledge Base
Just like most rivaling VPNs, Speedify has an extensive knowledge base on the official website. You can use it to try to solve problems on your own. It is quite informative and easy to navigate; everything is cleverly laid out, and there are separate sections for mobile and desktop users. There are articles about using the various apps, troubleshooting; you’ll also learn how to work with multiple connections and more.
Speedify has 2 knowledge bases:
- Speedify Desktop – support.speedify.com;
- Speedify Mobile – msupport.speedify.com.
Support Agents
To get in contact with the support agents, use the old email system. During our Speedify VPN review, we were pleased by how fast the staff works: their professionalism is good enough for a big company, not to mention a smaller one. On average, it took them 1.5-2 hours to respond, which is quite impressive for the email system.
Social Media
Finally, there are social media. Responses are very down-to-Earth and helpful – even novices will be able to understand them. And one more thing: if you send a second email after the first one, you won’t have to wait for hours for a new response. In our case, it took them less than 15 minutes to get back at us.
Do We Recommend Speedify?
No, and the reason is simple: there are more cons than pros. While security is on par with the leaders, the somewhat “shady” privacy policy and the jurisdiction are major drawbacks. Furthermore, on long-range connections, speed and stability leave a lot to be desired. Besides, this service doesn’t fully support P2P traffic (which is used to download torrents), and it can’t unblock Netflix or other streaming platforms.
DNS leaks are probably the weakest link in this VPN, as they make it pretty much useless. The good news is – the Family Plan is highly affordable and offers unlimited bandwidth. If you put security first and aren’t planning on downloading torrents or watching the latest shows on HBO, Netflix, or Hulu, this might be a good pick for you. Still, we don’t recommend Speedify and encourage you to check out some alternative VPNs.
Best Speedify Alternatives
Speaking of the competition, NordVPN and PureVPN are the best affordable Virtual Private Networks on the market right now. They are incredibly secure, private, and give access to significantly larger server networks.
With NordVPN, you get access to 5200+ servers (including Double VPN, P2P, Onion-Over, and Obfuscated servers). It’s considered to be the most secure and reliable service. While the monthly plan is expensive ($11.95), there’s a special 3-year plan that will only cost you $2.99 per month.
As for PureVPN, you can get it for just $1.99 a month if you pick the 2-year plan. This VPN is faster than Nord, and, it has Split Tunneling; plus, it is compatible with routers, streaming devices, and gaming consoles. Both products are much better than Speedify, and, for a single user, they will also cost less.
Speedify VPN Alternatives
