Betternet VPN Review: One of the Worst Free VPNs

In the free VPN marketplace, there are very few providers that enjoy the popularity of Betternet. Despite its millions of downloads on mobile and desktop platforms, we’re talking about a very problematic provider with a downright troublesome past.

Betternet VPN is notorious for intrusive logging practices, poor characteristics, and a shady background that emerged. Even worse is the fact that people reported numerous issues with this provider, ranging from failing to connect to extreme connection losses.

Moreover, the provider offers a set of premium plans that are way too expensive, yet, they do very little to improve upon its “free” formula. I know – this Betternet VPN review and test for 2024 already got a pretty dark and grim tone, but I must be honest about each provider.

If you don’t want to read further, I can just conclude this review of Betternet VPN and say it’s a provider that you should avoid at all costs. But if you’re interested in finding out more about it, I’d say stay along for the ride as I fully analyze and test this provider in many categories.

Who knows? I might dig out something great about Betternet! Let’s see…

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The 3 best alternatives to Betternet VPN:

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Betternet User Experience & Device Support

To start this Betternet review and test, I’ll talk about its device compatibility and the overall user experience. This provider isn’t known for providing a lot of applications for different devices. As this is primarily a free provider, that is expected, having in mind its probably low budget.

Furthermore, it allows for only one connection per account. This means that you can’t protect multiple devices simultaneously as you can do with a VPN like Surfshark which offers unlimited connections or, for example, ExpressVPN, which offers 8 of them.

Nevertheless, on its site, you’ll see that you don’t need to register an account to connect to Betternet VPN, but that’s a lie. When you open the app, you WILL be forced to sign up or sign in using your email. That’s how it’ll limit your simultaneous connections.

Device support is, as said, basic, and consists of 5 apps, out of which one is a Chrome VPN extension. Or should I add – a poor Chrome extension that often disconnects without a noticeable reason or simply won’t connect due to its poor optimization.

Desktop and Mobile Apps

But what about desktop and mobile apps? Besides, this is where Betternet VPN shines if we take a look at its downloads on Google Play and Apple Store.

Well, its applications do look okay and they’re fairly simple to use. You can download Betternet on these systems:

• Windows
• iOS
• macOS
• Android

As you can see, the Linux VPN application isn’t on the list, so if you need a provider for Ubuntu, Fedora, or any other system, you can try ExpressVPN instead. In this Betternet VPN review, I mostly used the provider on Windows, and here, the application looks like this:

I mean, it’s a fairly simple look with a connection button on the home screen and the server list right underneath. The server list is organized quite well, as the server locations are listed from A to Z and you can choose custom locations in particular countries.

However, when you click on the server list, you can see this “Virtual locations” title above, which makes me wonder if Betternet VPN has physical servers at all. To open the Settings menu, you click on the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner and select Settings.

The Settings menu is fairly simple and that’s because it offers very few features that I’ll talk about later on in this Betternet VPN test. Nevertheless, I have zero complaints about how easy Betternet VPN is to use. Is it always working perfectly, though?

To be honest – not really. I frequently experienced its inability to connect to the server no matter what I tried. And from what I’m seeing online, it looks like I’m not the only one. The mobile app is a  bit better, though, and it has 50M+ downloads which is INSANE.

As you can expect from a free provider, the app is littered with ads that often make it unpleasant to use and the app just becomes an annoyance rather than a utility.

TV Apps

Are you looking to install Betternet on your Smart TV? Well, you’re in for a rude awakening – it doesn’t support Smart TV at all! The good thing is that there’s a native Android app, which should make it usable if your TV uses an Android operating system.

At the moment, all “better” TV brands use their proprietary systems, such as Samsung’s Tyzen or LG’s WebOS. Perhaps, if you have a Philips TV or Sony TV, you can install Betternet from Google Play, but let me tell you that its usefulness will not be great.

As you’ll see later in my Betternet VPN test for 2024, it’s a poor option for streaming and it offers subpar performance. That’s why I recommend ExpressVPN or CyberGhost if you want a VPN for Smart TV.

Gaming Apps

Gaming with Betternet VPN is an impossible task. Sure, you can use it for gaming on your iOS/Android phone or Windows computer but I can assure you that’ll be impossible. As a free VPN, Betternet VPN has just 500 MB of data a month, which isn’t enough for pretty much anything.

Besides, it has no gaming VPN apps, which means it won’t work on gaming consoles like PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. It doesn’t even have a Smart DNS feature like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, or CyberGhost, making it impossible to connect it to your gaming console.

Router Support

And finally, Betternet VPN will not work with any router. Its router support is non-existent as it’s limited to just a few applications for four operating systems – iOS, Windows, macOS, and Android.

Therefore, people who need a VPN for routers should seek other premium options I already talked about. Betternet VPN simply isn’t up to par even if we talk about its free competitors like ProtonVPN and Hide.me that will work with more than a few routers.

Is Betternet VPN Safe & Secure? All Security Features Examined!

The most interesting part of this Betternet VPN review will surely be this one. I already said that its logging practices are very intrusive, but what about its security? Does it have anything to offer that could redeem it somehow?

Let’s check its security features together, shall we?

AES-256 Encryption

Betternet claims to use 256-bit encryption, which, if true, is a good thing. You already know that pretty much every VPN uses 256-bit encryption to secure your connection, and so far, this is the highest level of encryption one can get.

Once connected to a VPN, this type of encryption will make your traffic untraceable by your ISP, rendering you anonymous online. Even a skilled hacker won’t be able to breach it, as it requires millions of attempts which will take hundreds of years and still might not be successful.

So, after all, I managed to find one positive in this Betternet VPN review.

Automatic Kill Switch With IP Leak Protection

Another good thing about Betternet is the presence of a kill switch. I know it wasn’t here a few years ago and that was my main criticism about this provider. However, it looks like Pango – the company behind this provider – finally managed to get its bearings.

Now, we have an automatic kill switch that works well and is joined by this feature called “Prevent IP leak” which is an IP leak protection. I’m not sure if DNS leak protection is included, to be honest, and I think Betternet VPN doesn’t provide IPv6 leak protection but just IPv4.

Nevertheless, that’s what you can expect from a free VPN for iPad, Windows, or any other system and platform.

Anti-Phishing Protection

Betternet VPN has a feature called anti-phishing protection in both versions. When using the VPN, it will notice when you’re trying to visit a site known for phishing attempts and malware. It’ll then notify you of that, letting you take action and close the website.

The good thing is that free users can also enjoy this handy addition. However, it’s not as handy as Surfshark’s option which works similarly and is available within its browser extension. Surfshark’s option will always inform you if the site is considered dangerous due to security breaches.

Anti-phishing protection in Betternet VPN feels a bit… weaker, so to speak. But a few times we visited more “obscure” sites related to torrenting and adultery, we did get a notification from the VPN. On a grand scale, the feature doesn’t add too much to the VPN’s quality, though.

Split Tunneling

Split tunneling, for those who don’t know, is a feature that lets you exclude certain domains and apps from using a VPN tunnel. Simply put, you can eliminate the effect of the VPN when visiting some sites or using some apps, which is useful for online banks and shopping in local online stores.

Betternet VPN allows you to exclude only domains and not apps, which isn’t all that bad. After all, this feature called “Exclude domains” is easy to use and I have no complaints there. Once you click the button to enable it, you need to click on “+ add domain” and enter the name of that domain.

You can add as many domains as you want even in the free version, which I found rather useful for adding my bank’s website and other similar domains.

Hydra VPN Protocol

Last but not least, let’s talk about protocol selection in this Betternet VPN review. You see, similar to Hotspot Shield (also under the ownership of Pango), Betternet has no OpenVPN support. Instead, you get IKEv2/IPsec and something called Hydra.

This Hydra protocol is used by every Pango service, including Ultra VPN and VPN 360. Why? Well, the company claims that Hydra is much better than OpenVPN in terms of speeds and security, even going as far as saying it’s “fastest in the industry.”

I’m not sure if this is the case, especially with protocols like Lightway from ExpressVPN or NordLynx from NordVPN that have shown massive performance boosts in the last few years. Hydra doesn’t even have an external audit, so it’s a “self-proclaimed” best protocol.

And while I don’t doubt that a lot of effort went into the development of this protocol, saying that it’s the best one would be a lie – sorry Pango. Do I miss OpenVPN or WireGuard support in Betternet VPN? Yes, I do, especially WireGuard, which would make this VPN so much faster.

Betternet VPN IP and DNS Leak Test: No IP/DNS Leaks Found

To make sure the aforementioned features in this review of Betternet have an effect on your privacy, I decided to do some practical testing. This testing involves using two websites to check for IP and DNS leaks when connected to a server from Betternet VPN.

I first connected to a server in the US and used the website called ipleak.net to check out the results. As you can clearly see, I found no IP or DNS leaks.

Next, I used a website called browserleaks.com, and here, Betternet VPN showed the same great results with no leaks – so far, so good.

Does It Have a No-Logging Policy?

And now, we’ve come to a crucial part of my Betternet VPN test where I talk about its privacy policy. Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that this isn’t a no-logging policy. Somehow, Pango services are notorious for their intrusive logging, so much so that I can’t recommend using them.

For example, Hotspot Shield stores logs and has a troublesome past, which also applies to this provider. Besides, it’s a FREE provider, so expecting it to store no logs like ExpressVPN would be foolish. But still, let’s check out what the provider has to say.

Which Information Isn’t Stored?

If you check the privacy policy on its site, you’ll see that the provider won’t store logs of your VPN browsing activities. This means it doesn’t know what you’re doing online when connected to one of its servers. Is it really true? Not really – I’ll talk about it in a minute.

Which Information Is Stored?

The previous paragraph is way too short but that’s because Betternet VPN stores more than it doesn’t store. Once you install its application, you’ll see this message:

At first, it says it doesn’t collect your IP address and info about your device. But just two sentences later, it says it collects information “like OS version, hardware model, and IP address” to allegedly optimize the network connection.

Allegedly, this information is deleted after you disconnect from a VPN. Even if this is the case, a VPN must NOT store your IP address under ANY circumstances! Take a look further – there’s aggregated anonymous website data, which, although anonymized, isn’t great either.

On its site, the privacy policy tells us even more. For instance, they don’t store the full URLs of the websites you visit but they store domain names, which are almost the same. They even say that they’ll block some websites for you if they think they’re malicious – to make sure you’re protected (duh!).

That’s not all, as Betternet also knows the duration of your VPN session, consumed bandwidth, accessed domains, device hashes, device identifiers, etc, etc. The provider explains everything is in an anonymized form and states the benign purposes but still, this amount of logging is ridiculous.

And you know what? I don’t believe their benign reasons for storing this amount of logs. Just take a look at the free version riddled with ads. They say that third-party advertisers who pay for these ads HAVE access to your VPN browsing information and know which websites you visit.

These third-party advertisers will know your IP address, approximate location, device information and so much more. I can go on like this forever but I think it’s clear that you want to stay as far away from this provider as possible.

Betternet VPN Reported as a Malware-Infested App

To make things worse, Betternet will take advantage of your privacy with malware and tracking libraries. A company called SCIRO did a scientific analysis of Betternet VPN’s Android application and found it to be among the most malware-infested VPN apps on the Google Play Store.

At the time of doing this research, they found that 13 antivirus programs detected the presence of malware with 14 tracking libraries that the Android app had. Do you still think malware and trackers are used for benign purposes?

Do you know the meaning of the word “malware?” Can you assume what tracking is used for? Well, if not, you’ll need to take a broader look at Betternet again, especially if you think this is a safe and secure VPN. Run away and turn to the best VPN on Android instead.

Is Iran Behind Betternet VPN?

A piece of new information related to Betternet emerged in late 2024. On the website called Rocketreach, people found a person called Hamid Rezazadeh who presents himself as a founder of Betternet VPN.

This information came to light thanks to evidence provided by Abdollah Abdi, who is an Iranian journalist working in Switzerland. An interesting thing about Hamid Rezazadeh is that he’s the son of the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs in Iran, linking Betternet VPN directly to Iran’s officials.

That’s quite intriguing knowing Iran’s harsh anti-VPN laws and its rigid stance in regard to Virtual Private Network usage. Betternet is a VPN based in Canada, however. Iran and Canada don’t have a very friendly relationship, with Canada even forbidding visas for many Iranians.

On the other hand, Hamid Rezazadeh owns a VPN based in Canada while the authorities, some of whom are his parents, deeply criticize Western countries for their approach to online freedom. One question remains – can we link its intrusive logging to Hamid Rezazadeh and his Iranian background?

Well, that’s what I hope to find out in the future. Until then, I’ll keep you posted about the new findings in this Betternet VPN review.

Betternet VPN for Streaming: Netflix & Other Platforms TESTED

If, after all, you still want to use Betternet, let’s see if it’s going to be useful for streaming. Free providers are rarely useful for unblocking geo-restricted streaming platforms as they’re always detected and blocked. But let’s see if this provider can do something different.

Does Betternet VPN Work on Netflix?

If you’re interested in unblocking movies and shows on Netflix, will you be satisfied with Betternet VPN? Unfortunately, no. First, the provider lets you connect only to a single server location in the US, which makes it impossible to test out other Netflix libraries aside from this one.

However, even when testing Netflix US, the results were disappointing, to say the least. When I searched for Grey’s Anatomy, which is a series that you can find on Netflix US, I got these search results:

As you can see, I didn’t manage to find the show, even though it’s clearly on this library according to uNoGS.com. This means that you won’t be able to use Betternet VPN to watch Netflix, which is a shame considering that, in my review of Windscribe, I managed to unblock some libraries. That said, this provider is an exception as few free VPNs work on Netflix.

And What About Other Platforms?

Having in mind the fact that the provider can’t connect to other server locations aside from the US, you won’t be able to unblock many foreign streaming services. This means you can’t watch BBC iPlayer or Hotstar abroad, which I found very annoying.

Even the US platforms like Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, and HBO Max didn’t work with Betternet. Thus, the US IP address you get while using it is clearly useless since it:

• doesn’t let you unblock US-based streaming platforms;
• doesn’t let you browse the web anonymously due to the VPN’s logging practices.

If you need a strong and reliable VPN for streaming, I wholeheartedly recommend ExpressVPN or its cheaper alternative CyberGhost.

These VPNs will work with at least 10-15 Netflix catalogs and unblock any streaming service you want. Besides, both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are streaming-optimized, with servers in 100+ countries. That’s not even a fair comparison to Betternet VPN – a self-proclaimed “safe and secure VPN.”

Speed Tests: Here’s How Fast Betternet Really Is

During my Betternet VPN review for 2024, I realized just how slow this provider is – probably for the 100th time so far. I thought Hydra would bring some improvements in this field, but I found that my “hope strategy” wasn’t gonna get me far.

Nevertheless, I decided to test Betternet and see how well it performed. As far as testing parameters go, I should mention that I’m located in Eastern Europe and that my native internet speeds look like this:

You can see that my internet isn’t the fastest around but that doesn’t matter when testing how fast a VPN is. The only thing that matters is how big the speed reduction is. I always test VPNs by using multiple locations in the US, the UK, Australia, and Japan.

This time, however, I’m limited to the US, so we’ll be looking at just a single speed test for this location. Although, I still tested this provider for 3 days in a row, 3 times a day, to make sure I get the most realistic result.

What can I say? I think the image above speaks for itself if you take even a look from afar. The speed reduction is MASSIVE and with speeds so slow, I could barely use the provider for browsing the web, let alone downloading files or watching YouTube videos.

Is Betternet VPN Good for Gaming?

In this Betternet test, I briefly mentioned that it doesn’t support any gaming consoles, so it’s not great for gaming. But what if you use it on your Windows PC and you want to play online games with this application enabled?

Well, you’ll be in for a very unpleasant surprise. It’s bad even for slow-paced games, let alone fast and explosive games like Apex Legends and COD: Warzone. The ping goes through the roof and coupled with limited bandwidth, it’s not too long before you get kicked out of the game.

Needless to say, recommending Betternet VPN for gaming is like saying smoking and drinking are great. They’re not, although they might be better than this provider – just joking. We discussed free gaming VPNs in a separate article. They can be good alternatives to this VPN.

But if you’re looking for the very best service for this purpose, ExpressVPN should be your top priority.

Can I Use Betternet VPN for P2P and Torrenting?

A few years ago when I tested this provider, I found that P2P and torrenting were forbidden. Today, that’s not the case and when connected to the server from this provider, I actually didn’t have any issues initiating a download of Linux from 1337x.

The only issue when downloading torrents with this provider is the performance. It’s not surprising that you’ll get very slow download and upload speeds no matter how many seeds/pers you have. In addition, it’s worth reminding you of its logging practices and poor security.

I think it isn’t very smart to download torrents with Betternet. Knowing that it stores various bits of information that can be traced back to you, torrenting with this provider can prove to be problematic, especially if you accidentally download a copyrighted file.

If you ask if Betternet VPN is P2P-friendly, it obviously is, with the exception of 500 MB a month which isn’t a welcome addition. But if you ask if you should use this provider for this purpose, I would advise you to stay away from it and try ExpressVPN instead.

Is It Working in China & Other Censored Countries?

My Betternet VPN review wouldn’t be complete without talking about China and censored countries. But to save you some time, it fails miserably in bypassing The Great Firewall of China and it can’t unblock a single website in this country.

Our testers who tried using this provider in this country found that it’s immediately detected by The Great Firewall and blocked as a result. Although it will work in Russia and Turkey, you’ll find it hard to use it in Iran, for example, where the provider isn’t working.

Such a strange coincidence having in mind that its alleged owner is a guy from Iran. Yet, this is all but a great Iran VPN because it’s blocked in this country. In its Features list, you’ll see that Betternet VPN has traffic obfuscation in free and paid plans.

Yet, in this review of this VPN, we didn’t see its effect on our connection. The VPN won’t work in China and Iran, and if there’s really obfuscation, that shouldn’t be the case. Someone’s lying here and that “someone” is no other than this provider.

Servers and Server Locations: Here’s How Big Betternet VPN Is

As a free VPN, we already stated that Betternet is very limited and connects you only to one server location, which is the United States. However, for those who plan on buying it for whatever reason, I think it’s vital to mention its other server locations.

So far, we don’t know the exact number of servers that the provider has. It doesn’t have the exact number on the site and it doesn’t want to publicly disclose the number. We do know that the premium version has 110+ locations because it’s stated in the application.

To be honest, 110+ locations sound pretty good given that even some premium VPNs fail to meet this number. What’s more, the premium version offers servers in the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Nepal, Pakistan, and many other countries.

The server distribution, in this case, isn’t bad, and you get some city-level servers in particular countries. There aren’t any dedicated servers, though, and I think they’re not needed because the provider is useless for anything else than browsing, which also applies to the premium version.

Customer Support: How to Contact Betternet for Help?

Encountering issues with Betternet VPN is a pretty common practice among its users. If that happens, you’ll be unhappy knowing that 24/7 live chat support isn’t available to help you out immediately. Instead, you need to rely either on the help center or email support.

The help center has questions and answers to the most typical problems but I found that it isn’t as comprehensive as it’s the case with NordVPN or PIA, for instance. Email support can be great in many cases, but it’s not the case here.

Once you send an email, you’ll wait for 24 hours and sometimes more to get a response. If you have a problem that needs immediate fixing, waiting for an entire day or more can be discouraging. The support team is moderately helpful, however, so that isn’t a big issue.

Betternet VPN Pricing: Is It Affordable?

Despite being a free VPN and earning money through selling your data and sharing it with 3rd party advertisers, Betternet includes a premium version that offers:

• Unlimited bandwidth
• 110+ locations
• 5 simultaneous connections
• 24/7 support
• HD quality streaming

How much does it cost, you might ask? Let’s take a look:

The cheapest plan you can get, if you opt for a premium version, is the annual plan that costs $7.99 a month. It’s even more expensive than ExpressVPN which costs just $6.77 for the same plan and gives you 3 free months.

The monthly plan is something I won’t discuss. At $12.99 a month, you can guess it’s not worth it. And finally, you have a 7-day free trial of its premium version but you need to provide credit card information and pay for the monthly plan after the first 7 days expire.

If you’ve made up your mind after this Betternet VPN test and review for 2024 and you don’t want to use its free version, don’t get its premium version either. Instead, try ExpressVPN at $6.67 a month or go for CyberGhost and its longest plan that’s nearly 4 times cheaper than this one.

Both providers are way better than Betternet, and most importantly – they’re SAFER and store NO logs of your personal data. Not to mention that they’re much faster, better for streaming, and offer significantly more servers.

Available Payment Methods

The available payment methods include standard credit/debit cards such as VISA, American Express, Discover, JCB, etc. You don’t have the option to pay with Bitcoin or PayPal, which I dislike.

How to Get a Refund from Betternet VPN?

Getting a refund from this provider is simple. It offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, which lets you get reimbursed in the first 45 days. To do that, simply contact its support through email and they’ll guide you through the process of getting your money back.

One time I bought it before this Betternet VPN review, I, surprisingly, had no problems getting my money back. Therefore, if you don’t like it for any reason, you can always be reimbursed, which allows you to look for other VPNs instead.

What We Don’t Like About Betternet VPN?

If you’ve read my Betternet review carefully, you will see that there are more things I don’t like than things I like about the provider. It has poor device support, slow speeds, no streaming capabilities, and subpar security.

By far the worst thing is that it stores logs and shares your personal data with third-party advertisers, which violates your privacy. This provider represents all that’s wrong with free providers and is a typical representation of a free provider that we don’t recommend.

For example, we can recommend ProtonVPN as a great free VPN instead. It’s the polar opposite of this one, and although not perfect, it’s a much more sensible choice. With this one, the only good thing you get is 256-bit encryption and easy-to-use desktop/mobile apps.

Everything else… well, everything else is exactly what we don’t like about it!

How Do Other People Rate Betternet?

Before wrapping up my Betternet review, let’s see how other people rate this service. On Trustpilot, the provider doesn’t have a very favorable rating and as we speak, it has just 2.4 stars.

The rating has a name: POOR. People complain about the servers that aren’t working, their logging practices, and very slow speeds that make the provider barely usable.

On Google Play, the provider has a 4.2-star rating which actually isn’t that bad. Recent reviews are ruining the rating because many people complain about intrusive ads, unstable connections, and the lack of privacy you have.

iOS users seem to be satisfied with Betternet with a 4.5-star rating in 2024. Once again, those who complain are usually referring to ads and slow speeds – typical for a provider of this caliber and type.

Conclusion: Don’t Even Bother With It

The conclusion of this review of Betternet for 2024 is rather simple. After all of my tests, it’s clear that this provider isn’t worth your time, let alone a price that’s too high if you go for its premium version.

I always prefer paid VPN over free providers but I’m not against free providers if you don’t have the money to buy a subscription. Free services like Atlas VPN, ProtonVPN, and Hide.me have their place and I think they offer the best features in this segment.

That’s mostly because they’re safe and secure. Betternet, on the other hand, doesn’t care about your security or privacy, and for that fact alone, it’s enough not to recommend it. Coupled with other technical downsides that plague this provider, you get a perfect recipe for disaster.

A great alternative to this free service would be Atlas VPN (check my Atlas VPN test here) or even better, ExpressVPN as a premium alternative, which is currently the best VPN your money can get.

Atlas VPN is way more inexpensive, while ExpressVPN, despite not being the cheapest option, is still more affordable than Betternet VPN. So far, we can’t recommend any Pango VPN, even including UltraVPN which we reviewed not long ago.