Founded in 2012, VPNArea is on the small side of VPN providers. This Bulgarian-based company still boasts a large network of more than 212 servers across 70 countries. First and foremost, it prides itself on its speed, and claims to be one of the fastest VPN solutions available. So, is VPNArea a worthy underdog, or is it a case of all bark and no bite? We take an in-depth look to find out.
Key Features
VPNArea has a list of secure features, all optimised for use across a variety of operating systems. It’s been built with a kill switch, so if your service connection drops you’re automatically disconnected, preventing your IP address from becoming visible. As standard, VPNArea allows users to connect up to five devices simultaneously, which is pretty high compared to some of the competition.
It’s possible to connect an unlimited number of devices when connecting to the service through one of the partner FlashRouter set-ups. VPNArea also includes an Auto IP Changer which can be customised to change your IP address at an interval of your choice.
Pros
Network Size
VPNArea has a network of more than 200 servers with locations in 70 countries. Most of these are located within Europe and the US. There are more in Asia, South America and beyond. For a relatively small company, this is an impressive feat – in fact, some front-running VPN services operate networks on far less than this.
Customer-to-Server Ratio
Being a relatively small service has its perks. VPNArea has a respectable customer-to-server ratio, and it’s rated as one of the best in the industry. It currently stands at around 250 customers per server, which is 13 times better than its competitors. By keeping its servers at these easily managed numbers, it isn’t risking any network faults – although should its customer base increase, this could well change.
Apps
VPNArea has an app available for every mainstream device. This ranges from Windows and Android to Mac/iOS. These apps have been thoughtfully created with a chic, easy-to-use interface.
No Logging
This is fairly common among VPN providers and is becoming fundamental in the world of privacy. VPNArea is actually based in Bulgaria which isn’t part of any Eyes alliances. Bulgaria has very strict data-retention laws which means that it would be completely illegal for VPNArea to keep logs in any scenario.
Price (in general)
VPNArea is by no means the cheapest solution on the market, but it’s still affordable. If you opt for a 3-year plan, the monthly cost is $2.99, whereas a 12-month subscription is a little higher at $4.92. Unfortunately, the monthly rolling cost skyrockets to a hefty $9.90 per month!
Cons
Speed
Despite having a huge network and one of the highest customer-to-server ratios, the speed provided by VPNArea is a third slower than its competitors. While the speeds are significantly higher in Europe, download speeds are still reportedly slow elsewhere.
Conclusion
VPNArea has plenty of interesting and secure features, from the kill switch to easy app interfaces and full customer support. Despite this, however, without the guaranteed speed to ensure flawless delivery, its foundations seem flawed. VPNArea is a great VPN to start with, and get a grip with jargon and customisation over the app. It’s fine for occasional light use but until the speed issues are fixed, it probably isn’t best for serious usage. There are many VPN solutions around this price point where both speed and security are a given.