Exploring ZoogVPN: A Review of Privacy and Performance ZoogVPN is a stable mid-tier VPN that started in May 2013 and has independently operated in Greece and Ukraine.
ZoogVPN offers both free and paid versions. For a comprehensive VPN review, we conducted a rigorous VPN testing process on both versions to see how well this VPN works compared to its competitors.
To find out the full results of our testing, continue reading this review or see the main ZoogVPN specifications in the table below. You can also see a comparison of ZoogVPN with other VPNs in another part of this article.
1. Who is ZoogVPN suitable for?
If: Use ZoogVPN:
- If you want a truly free VPN, ZoogVPN Free offers 10 GB of monthly data quota that can be used in five server locations.
- You want a cheap VPN. ZoogVPN’s two-year package is very affordable and meets high-speed connection requirements.
- Both the free and premium versions of ZoogVPN are very fast.
Don’t use ZoogVPN in the following cases:
- You want a VPN with the best security level. ZoogVPN’s Kill Switch leaks your IP address on macOS and sometimes doesn’t work with OpenVPN. This is something that VPNs with advanced features would want.
- ZoogVPN lacks disk-less servers, a double VPN, or a dedicated IP address, so you need another VPN for streaming Netflix.
- Netflix blocks all ZoogVPN servers, so you can’t watch any international books. You can also compare ZoogVPN with other VPNs in another part of this review.
2. Is ZoogVPN safe?
ZoogVPN does not store your personal information, like your IP address, DNS requests, or timestamps. Instead, this VPN collects bandwidth usage and your account information. More worryingly, ZoogVPN uses third-party DNS servers, does not provide independent audits, and its log recording policy has not been accurately tested. While ZoogVPN is not the best VPN, we do not recommend it if your privacy is important.
Although ZoogVPN claims to be a no-logging VPN, the reality is that it gathers your bandwidth and account data, including your email address.
The practice of storing email addresses is common for most VPNs, implying that ZoogVPN can inform the authorities that you have an account. To keep your identity hidden, use a fake email address without personal information.
Most importantly, ZoogVPN does not collect data such as your original IP address, DNS requests, timestamps, assigned IP address, or ISP. Without this data, ZoogVPN cannot assist the government in finding a specific user’s browsing history.
Our recommendation is that ZoogVPN uses a true no-logs policy, like private internet access and perfect privacy.
3. Who is the founder of ZoogVPN?
The founding of ZoogVPN is quite puzzling. Zoog Services, a private company based in Greece but headquartered in Ukraine, owns this VPN. Additionally, most of its employees are from Ukraine.
ZoogVPN is also advertised as a product by Softoria, a company registered in Ukraine. Softoria has business relationships with DataForSeo, RankActive, Traffmonetizer, and Dataimpulse, among others.
We contacted them by email to ask for clarification about employee and ownership structures. ZoogVPN said that Softoria and ZoogVPN are owned by the same person, but they could not confirm who owned it.
We were disappointed because the organization and staff of ZoogVPN are not explained on its website, leading us to choose a VPN with open ownership. When a VPN’s parent company is engaged in advertising or data mining businesses, it’s always somewhat suspicious.
4. There are no independent audits, and the Canary permission letter has expired.
ZoogVPN, unlike the best VPNs, does not regularly publish third-party audits to ensure its privacy policies are complied with. ZoogVPN has never faced real cases, such as server seizures or court cases, to prove that this VPN does not collect your browsing history or your IP address logs.
Even worse, ZoogVPN has not updated its warrant canary since March 2022. This was the last time we contacted them by email and asked them to do so. Also, this VPN rents all its servers and does not use disk-less servers like ExpressVPN.
5. Choosing a Third-Party DNS Server
We found that ZoogVPN passed the IPv4, IPv6, and WebRTC leak tests with our special IP and DNS leak testing tools. However, this VPN failed to disguise our location and used third-party DNS servers.
ZoogVPN does not support first-party DNS servers but routes all your traffic through Google DNS servers, as shown in the image above.
As there are thousands of other people requesting it, this method does not completely break anonymity. However, if your goal of using a VPN is to maintain your online privacy, this method remains ineffective.
Although depending on third-party DNS servers is a habit for low- to mid-range VPNs, ZoogVPN needs to address this issue to get a better ranking in this category.
Read also : 5 Best Web Browser for Mac: How to Choose the Right One for You
6. Main Security and Benefits
ZoogVPN does not offer a high level of security. Although it doesn’t have many additional features, this VPN offers industry-standard encryption and an option to choose between OpenVPN and WireGuard. A major downside is that the Kill Switch is absent in ZoogVPN’s mobile app; our IP address was leaked on macOS. ZoogVPN will protect your information on public Wi-Fi networks. However, other VPNs are better if you want broader security.
While ZoogVPN doesn’t offer additional security features, it has all the essential ones.
We were disappointed that ZoogVPN does not have the safest protocol, WireGuard, on macOS, but this VPN by default connects to OpenVPN, which is one of the safest connection protocols available.
Also, data is encrypted using AES-256 encryption, which is considered unbreakable.
Beyond the basic features, ZoogVPN lacks advanced features like split tunneling or double VPN. However, for regular VPN users, these features might be enough. However, if you are experienced using VPNs, you might feel these options are too good.
This VPN includes a Kill Switch for Windows and Mac, which protects personal data from leaking if the VPN connection suddenly drops. However, in our testing, we found some issues with ZoogVPN’s Kill Switch, which we will explain below.
ZoogVPN does not provide software update logs for any platform, unlike NordVPN, which is very thorough. As a result, you might not notice important bug fixes and new features.
7. ZoogVPN Owns Some of its Servers
Almost all ZoogVPN servers are based at the described location and are physical, bare-metal servers. While this service has several servers, most are leased from trustworthy third-party companies.
While ZoogVPN does not display its physical or virtual servers in its app, they said via email that their servers in “exotic locations” might be virtual.
Compared to ExpressVPN, it does not have its entire physical server network, while PIA clearly sells its virtual servers.
8. Free and Premium Versions Available with Fast Speeds
Free and Premium Versions Available with Fast Speeds
Both ZoogVPN versions offer fast connection speeds at both local and international levels. The results are very good—local connection speeds fell by 12%. Very fast from a distance. Its latency/ping score could be better—average international speeds fell by 18%, but most users won’t notice. As expected, ZoogVPN Free is slow compared to its paid version.
When we connected to the nearest VPN server, uploads and downloads were fast enough for smooth HD streaming and torrenting.
9. Where does ZoogVPN have servers?
ZoogVPN has servers in 42 countries and 38 cities—this is more than average, but still can’t match the best VPNs because some of them have more servers than other VPNs. Some ZoogVPN servers are physically located, but most are owned by third parties. Nevertheless, ZoogVPN Free offers five different server locations: Europe, Asia, and North America.
Like most VPNs, the majority of ZoogVPN’s servers are in Europe. So, if you live in Africa or the Oceania region, you might have a few choices nearby.
All ZoogVPN servers are bare-metal servers, which means they are physically located in the claimed country. This helps prevent speed slowdowns.
ZoogVPN Free has only five IP addresses, half the server locations of Windscribe Free.
ZoogVPN subscriptions have several servers dedicated to streaming, torrenting, and obfuscation. These servers are designed to be faster and more efficient than conventional servers in performing particular activities. In addition, the app has icons showing these servers:
10. Can’t Unblock Netflix, DAZN, or Hulu in the United States
ZoogVPN has many streaming-optimized servers, but some don’t work. We were able to access Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, HBO Max, and ITVX. However, ZoogVPN could not unblock Netflix, Hulu, or DAZN libraries. Its Amazon Fire TV app also can’t unblock geographically restricted content.
ZoogVPN has many streaming-friendly servers, identifiable by the play button symbol.
However, these servers sometimes don’t work properly. Although we were able to unblock geographically restricted content on Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and ITV Hub, we couldn’t access any Netflix resources, including resources in the United States.
ZoogVPN’s network status page shows which servers are intended to work with your streaming service.
ZoogVPN speeds are sufficient for full HD streaming with little buffering.
11. Is ZoogVPN of good quality?
ZoogVPN has many advantages, including fast speeds, strong encryption, and the ability to unblock Disney+ and BBC iPlayer.
However, the security and stability ratings dropped. ZoogVPN often fails to connect to certain servers, which is very disappointing. When used on macOS, this VPN also leaks your IP address and your DNS server information.
Undoubtedly, ZoogVPN’s cheap price is very attractive. However, many other VPNs offer much better quality and security at a nearly similar monthly cost. You can read the best recommendation for free VPN or the Best Premium VPN alternatives to ZoogVPN.
