VPN | VPN 360 |
Based In | United States |
Logs | Some |
Speed | 119.21 |
Network | 10 countries |
Refund | No |
Price | $2.99 a month |
Website | Google Play Store |
VPN 360 is a “freemium” VPN product. That means you can use the ad-supported version for free, but the company also offers a premium version. It is one of two products operated by TouchVPN Inc (as stated by the store) and is designed for the iOS and Android operating systems. While you can use it on desktop computers by using Android emulators like BlueStacks, that method won’t work as well as other VPNs that offer native desktop support.
Like many of the mobile-only services, VPN 360 does not offer a website. However, the Google Play Store shows it has an average user rating of 4.1 stars with more than 28k reviews. While that may sound good, we have some concerns about this VPN. In this review, we will go over those concerns and address some of the claims the company makes. Keep in mind that you should be wary of most VPN companies that offer free service. In this case, VPN 360 gives you an option between ad-supported VPN and their paid premium service. That makes it clear how they make a profit. We will test both options in our review.
VPN 360 Pricing and Payment Options
You can use the free version of VPN 360 if constant ads don’t both you. The premium plan is expensive if paid monthly. This is especially true when you consider that even the premium version only gives you access to VPN servers in 10 countries. There is a 7-day free trial of the premium service so you can see if it meets your needs.
As you can see in this image below, a month of VPN 360 costs $11.99. That said, a year of service is $35.99 which works out to roughly $3 a month. We find it unusual that the price per month is higher than their sister company, TouchVPN, and offers fewer servers. Since it is a mobile app, payment types are limited to Google Pay and Apple Pay. Advantages to getting the premium account include access to more server locations, VIP support, multiple device support, and faster speeds.
About the Company and the Privacy Policy
The Google Play Store shows that TouchVPN Inc. is the software developer of this VPN. The parent company for both products is an American business named Pango. They also own Hotspot Shield and are behind other apps like Spy Shield, Fire Shield, Robo Shield, Betternet, and Hexatech VPN. The parent company is located in America and falls under US jurisdiction.
Since the US is part of the 14-Eyes alliance, your information may be shared with 13 other countries. You can see the full privacy policy if you want to take a closer look. If you look inside the Android app, though, it still shows the original creator, Infinity Software. It also shows the original privacy policy in 2017. Clearly, Pango has not taken the time to either update the policy or change the information in the app. That makes us question the state of this VPN. Even though they state they do not log information or browser activities, remember that the company makes its money by subscriptions and ads. They collect device hashes and sell them to 3rd parties for ad purposes. If you are planning on using the free version of VPN 360, you will have to deal with quite a few ads.
What Does VPN 360 Have to Offer?
The operation for VPN 360 is very simple and straight forward. Once you open the app, it’s time to connect. Since there is only one option to choose from, you need to hit the connect button. What is more noticeable is VPN 360’s lack of information and features. We like to see features like a kill switch, auto start, the ability to change VPN protocols, or even to know what those protocols are. Unfortunately, this simplistic VPN has no features to speak of.
Where are the VPN 360 Servers?
As we mentioned, there is only one server you can choose from on the free version. VPN 360 does not state where it is, but based on our leak test, the server is in the United States. If you decide to get the premium version, here are the server locations you can choose from.
- Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States
DNS Leak Test
DNS leaks can reveal your real location. Since one of the big reasons to connect to a VPN is to protect your privacy, VPNs that don’t prevent DNS leaks are useless. In this leak test, VPN 360 did not reveal our IP address. One of the two requests it does show is from Google. That is generally thought to be a secure DNS provider.
VPN 360 Speed Test
Speed is another big factor to consider when selecting the right VPN. We tested 4 of the premium servers and the free server. Our baseline was a speed of 439.58 Mbps. Here is the test with the only non-premium option VPN 360 offers. As you can see, we got a speed of 4.20 Mbps on the free server. That is effectively a 100% speed loss.
If you choose the premium plan, the speeds are much better. Here is the US server with the premium option. This time, we got a speed of 119.51 Mbps. While the speed is much better, it is still a 73% speed loss. That is more of a speed loss than we like to see, but you should be able to stream content successfully. Of course, that depends on your base speed.
Other speed tests using the premium version include:
- Germany – 113.21 Mbps
- UK – 111.19 Mbps
- Australia – 114.07 Mbps
As you can see, the premium speeds should be ok for streaming, depending on your base speed.
Netflix Test
Speaking of streaming, one of our favorite tests to do is to check out different regions of Netflix. Since it is worldwide, it is easy to quickly see if the VPN can get past the regional restrictions. Because we are already in the US, we used an exclusive content list to see if we could find content in other regions and access it. In this case, we chose the UK to test. As you can see in the image to the right, we got it to work. That means you will also be able to use VPN 360 for the other regions including the US.
BBC iPlayer Test
Another test we use is for BBC iPlayer. If you are not familiar, the BBC offers its free streaming service of movies, shows, sports, and other content they have from several different channels. However, you typically need a free account for the service and you must be in the UK. While there are several providers that fail the Netflix test, the iPlayer test, or both, we would expect a premium service to work. As you can see, VPN 360 passed our test.
Customer Service
If you need help, customer service is important. Not surprisingly, VPN 360 is limited in what it offers. To access it, you tap on the menu option from the main screen and select the option that says “Need Help?”. There you see a single category they call “General”. Under that heading, they offer legal, terms, privacy policy, and 2 troubleshooting questions. Though it is not obvious, the way you contact them is to tap the icon of the white pencil in the teal circle located in the lower right hand of the screen.
Our Verdict on VPN 360
If you are looking for a basic and easy solution to access content, the premium version of VPN 360 is ok. In comparison, the free version is annoying with all the ads and access to only one server location. There are better options either way. Let’s take a look at the good points and the improvements the company could make, so their product is more in line with competitors.
Good Points
- Able to get past geo-restrictions for Netflix and BBC iPlayer
- Easy to use
- DNS does not leak
Improvements
- Lower monthly cost
- Expand network and improve performance
- Add features like a VPN kill switch
- Add and identify encryption protocols
- Go to a no-logs structure
- Stop selling advertising data
- Add desktop applications
- Add more ways to contact support
In conclusion, VPN 360 is ok if you want to unblock content occasionally or get around some basic censorship in some countries. If you are looking for privacy, good speeds, or any advanced features like kill switch or port forwarding, VPN 360 misses the mark entirely. Add the fact that the monthly price is quite high, the long list of improvements, and the logging policy to the equation, you will see that it comes out poorly when you compare it to our top providers. Again, it has some good points, but there are much better options available.