Melon VPN is one of the “freemium” mobile-only VPN services available in the mobile marketplace. Of course, that means it is ad-supported. The Google page gives a website address, but that address goes straight to the app developer. In this case, it is a company called Lanpiper PTE. LTD. We are familiar with some of the other VPNs they have developed, but they developed this one and another option called VPN Inf for a company called Inf Security Studio. This VPN has more than 10 million downloads and shows a GPS rating of 4.4 stars out of 5 with more than 200k reviews. We are going to use the free version since that is the most common. In this review, we’ll run it through our tests to see how it holds up and if it is worthy of such high praise. You’ll notice in the app and the play store reviews that the ads can be overwhelming. As with anything free, that is not surprising. That said, you know the ads are going to be there, but we saw more than we expected to.
Privacy
When you read Melon VPN’s privacy policy, they use a generic standard format. The only indication we get about who the policy belongs to is an email address for “gigamanstudio2019”. As you can see, the company makes a huge point that it does not keep logs on you but won’t hesitate to share that information with law enforcement. That action shows they keep logs on you, even if they don’t sell it to 3rd parties.
Pricing
As we mentioned, Melon VPN is a freemium service. If you decide to get the VIP version, though, you don’t have to worry about ads and get unlimited connection time (the service cuts you off every two hours normally), you get more regions and faster speeds. For a week of the service, it is $1.99 with their current discount. A month of the service is $9.99, and a year of the service is $29.99. As with most mobile-only VPNs, the only way the company allows you to pay is by using either GooglePay or ApplePay. We would like to see them offer more payment options.
Melon VPN Features and Usage
Melon VPN does not have much in the way of features, but it is easy to use. When you open the app (after the ads), you can either choose one of the countries or let it choose. If you let it choose, simply click to connect. By tapping the green melon icon at the bottom, you’ll pull up the options. There, the only thing you can choose is the “proxy filter” option. That is the split tunneling feature they offer. We would like to see other features like a kill switch or even change VPN protocols.
Does Melon VPN Leak?
Of course, if a VPN won’t mask your IP address or gives your true location, you won’t want to use it. We used a leak test and a geo-location test. As you see in this image, Melon VPN passed both. It did not show our true IP or our real location.
Is Melon VPN Fast?
Melon VPN does not give us any indication of what protocol they use. However, we were able to test several US servers and others overseas. Our speed when no using a VPN is about 450 Mbps. When we tested a server in NY, we got a speed of 142 Mbps. That is faster than many other free services but is still more than a 66% drop in speed. If you have less bandwidth, that can be an issue.
Here are some of the other speeds we got.
- Miami – 188 Mbps
- Atlanta – 136 Mbps
- London – 130 Mbps
- Netherlands -129 Mbps
How Well Does Melon VPN Unblock Streaming Services?
For this test, we use three services. These are Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, and Netflix. We selected the UK smart location, hoping that would get us past the geo-restrictions. Sadly, we had mixed luck getting past them. In this image, we selected a UK exclusive show on Amazon Prime called Truth Seekers. As you see here, it worked.
We were not so lucky when we tried BBC iPlayer, though. As you see in this image, we tried to watch and got the message that the service is only available in the UK.
The last service we tried was Netflix. As soon as we accessed the app while connected to Melon VPN, we immediately failed (500-1006). Unfortunately, we did not even get to the opening screen. In our experience, that happens only Netflix detects you are using a VPN or proxy.
The bottom line is, out of the three services we tested, only one worked. Even though Melon VPN has servers for several countries, that doesn’t do you any good if you can’t use them to access various streaming services.
Customer Service
Melon VPN has very poor customer service. Luckily, the company makes the interface very simple to use. From inside the app, you can find an FAQ section. Additionally, you can ask a question if you want to. We also found an email address, but only in the Google Play Store submission. That said, if you have a real question or issue and it is not in the FAQ section, you are on your own.
Conclusion
Let’s go over what we have learned about Melon VPN. It is an easy-to-use free VPN service based in Singapore. The speeds are relatively fast when you compare them to other free services, but we can’t tell what level of encryption or the protocols they use. The ads are too numerous and their premium service is priced higher than some of the big name brands. Melon VPN has a split tunneling option but a small network. The DNS does not leak, but that won’t help you watch streaming services from other regions. The bottom line is, this company lacks transparency. Their privacy policy states that they won’t hesitate to turn your information over to law enforcement. Given those discoveries, Melon VPN is not a service we can recommend. There are much better services out there that will protect your privacy and allow you to stream content from different regions.