Secure VPN Review 2024: Read This Before Buying

Secure VPN promises to balance performance, online safety, and affordability. These claims make it attractive for budget-conscious users who don't want to compromise on security or speed. But can it really live up to its promises?

Overall, Secure VPN fell short of our expectations. It lacks advanced security features and offers only a handful of servers, likely impacting your speed. To make matters worse, we could never reach customer support. If you’re looking for reliable speeds for streaming and robust security, I recommend you check out this list of the top VPNs around.

Secure VPN’s website doesn’t mention streaming. The site provides minimal information, so it's not clear whether it can securely access services like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+. I contacted customer support to get more information but never received a reply.

Usually, VPNs designed for streaming clearly state their ability to access different streaming platforms in HD. So, Secure VPN’s lack of information suggests it might not be able to stream reliably. This isn’t surprising, as smaller VPNs often struggle with streaming services.

The VPN doesn’t provide special streaming servers, which can help cut down on buffering and long load times. You’ll want to look for these servers when shopping for the right streaming VPN.

It’s also important that it provides fast speeds, so you can get the best video quality . Since Secure VPN doesn’t promote these features, it might not be reliable for streaming. Plus, it only offers a handful of servers, which can affect your speeds since you might experience overcrowding or have trouble finding nearby servers (distant locations lower your speeds more).

The best VPNs make it possible to safely access the top streaming platforms from anywhere. If you want to watch Max, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and more in high quality, check out this list of the best VPNs for secure streaming.

Secure VPN has a chance to drop your speeds significantly. As with all VPNs, your actual speed will depend on how close you are to the server. If there aren’t any nearby connections, your speeds will usually be slower. This happens because the data needs to travel a longer distance between your device and the VPN server, causing delays and a drop in performance.

Server load might also lower your speeds because of its small server count. When a server is handling high levels of traffic, it can become congested, leading to slower connections. There’s a good chance your speeds will plummet during periods of heavy usage since the traffic can’t be distributed across a wide network of servers.

The VPN also doesn’t disclose which protocol it uses, which can affect speeds. I reached out to Secure VPN's customer support about this issue, but they never responded. The top VPNs let you connect to reliably fast protocols like the popular WireGuard option.

We’ve reviewed 100s of VPNs, and regularly do speed tests on the best ones. To find the most consistent choices, take a look at this list of the fastest VPNs.

Secure VPN has no information on its site about gaming, so I wouldn’t rely on it for smooth online play. The most important factor for seamless gameplay is your ping rate. It’s what determines how fast your character responds to your commands. A ping under 85ms is ideal for competitive play.

Its small network could be a big problem when it comes to getting good ping rates for gaming. This is because these rates fall to an even larger degree than download or upload speeds on distant servers. In fact, we’ve never found a VPN that works well for gaming on far off locations. So, once again, its tiny network of servers will probably make it a bad choice.

If you need a VPN with a vast network that’s actually optimized for safe online play, check out our top picks for gaming.

The premium version of Secure VPN has servers in a few countries worldwide; the exact number is unavailable. With a free plan, you can only connect to 5 locations — 2 in the US and one each in the UK, Germany, and Italy. As you already know, this makes it vulnerable to server overcrowding.

The company also doesn't reveal how many servers it actually uses. This is a little suspicious because most VPNs use their server count as a big selling point. It also doesn’t disclose how many servers are in each country.

We couldn’t confirm if Secure VPN owns all its servers. We reached out to customer support for clarification but didn’t get an answer. Personally, I prefer when a VPN owns its servers because it means no third party can interfere with them, which helps protect data privacy.

Plus, we couldn’t find any details on whether Secure VPN offers dedicated IP addresses. Dedicated IPs are useful for providing a stable and unique online identity, which is great for tasks like hosting websites. Many popular VPNs offer this feature for an additional cost.

If you're looking for VPNs with a larger server selection, read this list of providers well-known for their sizable networks.

Secure VPN doesn’t come with a kill switch, so I can’t consider it a safe option. This feature blocks your internet connection if the VPN ever disconnects, preventing your sensitive information from being exposed. Even though Secure VPN claims to provide military-grade encryption, it’s not truly “secure” without this necessary fail-safe in place.

Plus, it’s missing several advanced features commonly found in leading VPN services, such as split tunneling. It also lacks obfuscation, private DNS servers, perfect forward secrecy, and other key security tools. For those seeking more customization options and stronger protection, check out this list of VPNs that offer more comprehensive security features.

Encryption

Secure VPN states that it offers “military-grade” encryption, but doesn’t offer any more specifics. Most VPNs are referring to AES 256-bit encryption when they use this language. This is an encryption level that’s used by banks and militaries around the world, and it’s nearly impossible to break. It’s likely that Secure VPN utilizes this technology, but I really wish they were less vague.

Security Protocols

We didn’t receive answers to our questions about the security protocol Secure VPN uses. Typically, top VPNs allow you to choose between different protocols to customize your experience.

Some popular options include OpenVPN (known as the safest protocol) and WireGuard (the fastest). Since you can’t switch protocols in the Secure VPN app, all we know is that it only offers one. It chooses to leave this a mystery for some reason, which is just one more area where the VPN isn’t transparent about its tech.

WiFi Hotspot Protection

Secure VPN also claims to offer WiFi Hotspot Protection, a feature meant to secure your data when connected to public WiFi networks. It encrypts your internet traffic, protecting vital information like passwords and browsing activity from potential hackers who target unsecured networks.

The feature automatically activates when you connect to a public hotspot, providing a basic level of security.

Secure VPN has an adequate privacy policy, but I wish it wasn’t based in a surveillance-heavy country. It’s also unfortunate that it hasn’t undergone any independent audits, although this is normal for smaller VPNs since it can be an expensive process. Finally, I’m a little concerned by the lack of specifics in its policies.

If privacy is a top priority, I recommend you check out this list of VPNs with independently verified no-logging policies.

Does Secure VPN Keep Logs? No

Secure VPN states that it “doesn’t collect or log any traffic of its Virtual Private Network.” That’s great, but it’s not enough information. For one, it doesn’t specifically claim that it won’t store your IP address.

Most of the policy is about the data its website stores

Just about every VPN also has to store anonymized data, but Secure VPN makes no mention of this either. This usually includes statistics like timestamps, server connected to, how much data was used, etc. Information like this is necessary to keep its infrastructure running, so it’s highly likely Secure VPN stores something like this but isn’t upfront about it.

Was Secure VPN Audited? No

There is no information online about any audits Secure VPN has undergone. If it has had some done, the reports haven’t been published publicly, which would make the audits pointless. Regular audits by third-party firms are crucial to verify a VPN's security claims and privacy practices.

Like many other concerns, I contacted support to get more information but received no feedback. The lack of an audit means you must rely solely on the company’s own statements about its no-logs policy and security measures.

Based in the US

Secure VPN is based in the United States. This is important to note because the US is part of the Five Eyes Alliance — a group of countries that collaborate in intelligence gathering and sharing.

This country has strict data retention laws and could potentially share information with other member countries. While Secure VPN claims to offer privacy protection, its jurisdiction can impact how much privacy you can actually expect. If the government wants Secure VPN to change its policies, the company could be required to comply.

Does Secure VPN Work in China? Probably Not

It’s unlikely that Secure VPN works reliably in China. The Chinese government has strong censorship measures, including the Great Firewall, which blocks many VPN services. Additionally, Secure VPN doesn't provide advanced obfuscation features that would allow it to work on restrictive networks.

The Chinese government has blocked many VPNs, but there have been no publicly reported cases of individuals being targeted for using one. That said, my team and I do not condone any illegal activities. It's important to familiarize yourself with local laws regarding VPN usage before proceeding.

For a reliable and tested option, take a look at our top recommended VPNs for China.

Secure VPN might not be ideal for torrenting. The free plan doesn’t include P2P support, and even with the premium plan, the service lacks the robust infrastructure needed for efficient torrenting. The small server network and potential slow speeds can lead to long download times and interruptions.

Additionally, the lack of clear information on security practices raises safety concerns on P2P networks. If torrenting is important to you, a VPN with dedicated P2P servers and port forwarding (which can increase downloading and seeding speeds) would be a much better option. I recommend you try out one of our recommended VPNs for torrenting.

Remember that while torrenting is legal in many countries, downloading copyrighted material is not. My team and I do not support any form of copyright infringement, so we strongly encourage you to only download torrents that are in the public domain.