Encrypt.me VPN Review

Encrypt.me VPN Pros and Cons

Purchasing and Setting Up Encrypt.me

One of the first unique things you’ll notice about Encrypt.me is that they offer a free two-week trial period. Not a “we’ll give your money back if you don’t like the service” trial, either. You can just use Encrypt.me for free, and ultimately purchase it if you like what you see. This level of confidence on their part inspired confidence in me as well — if they thought I’d like the service enough to buy it after using it for a period of time, it has to be pretty solid, right?

Well, before we get into that, let’s talk about what you’re going to be paying after those two weeks are up.

True to form, Encrypt.me makes their payment plan super simple. I break this down more in our guide to Encrypt.me costs and plans, but all you really need to know is that there’s a month-to-month plan as well as an annual plan. Here’s the real quick breakdown:

Encrypt.me Subscription Plans

Both plans offer unlimited data, and there’s no limit to the number of devices you can connect under one subscription — pretty generous on their part. If that price is looking a little steep, though, Encrypt.me does offer a monthly mini plan for $2.99 that lets you secure up to 5 GB of data.

Encrypt.me also offers what they refer to as “passes.” These are similar to their subscription plans, but they don’t automatically renew. Kind of a novel approach, and good for short-term travelers who’d like to be protected abroad. Here’s the breakdown:

Encrypt.me Pass Plans

Similar to subscriptions, Encrypt.me passes have no data limits, and you can secure as many devices as you please.

One thing to point out here — Encrypt.me VPN doesn’t offer a lot of ways to pay. More specifically, you can only use a credit card. That’s not a huge deal for most folks, but a lot of VPN services out there will let you use cryptocurrencies to set up subscriptions. Many privacy-minded folks prefer this method because it adds a layer of anonymity to things, but I’ve never considered it essential. Just something to keep in mind.

Something else to point out, although Encrypt.me does offer a money-back guarantee, you’re going to have to drop some cash up front to put it to the test. (If you’re uncomfortable with this, you might consider checking out Windscribe VPN plans, as they offer a free trial version.)

Once you’ve selected your Encrypt.me plan, it’s simple to create your account. Enter an email and password, and just like that, you’re ready to go. Encrypt.me will send you a verification email, and once you click through that, you’ll be prompted to download the software.

Encrypt.me is available on a variety of different devices.

Once you’ve downloaded and executed the installation package, you’re protected from prying eyes.

Using Encrypt.me Day to Day

Encrypt.me makes no bones about being a simple service. Security is their singular goal, and they do a really good job of it — but that’s really it. There is literally nothing to the dashboard — it’s designed to be a service that you set up and forget about.

Encrypt.me’s dashboard

And during the time I was testing Encrypt.me, that’s exactly what I did. It ran quietly in the background for the most part and rarely gave me issues. Occasionally there would be some hiccups if my computer was coming back online from an idle state, but I wouldn’t say there were any significant reliability issues.

That said, in their quest to be super simple and user-friendly, Encrypt.me might have lost some important functionality. For example, it’s a little difficult to select exactly what server you want to connect to, and while the process is pretty straightforward, it seems like an afterthought.

Encrypt.me’s server options.

We’ll get more into this in the next section, but there aren’t a whole lot of options for customization here. No optimizations for P2P file sharing, and no servers tuned for streaming. Is that a dealbreaker? No, not necessarily. Encrypt.me is pretty clear from the start about what it is and what it isn’t. So if you are looking for advanced features, you might want to look elsewhere.

While we’re on the topic: One thing I didn’t like about my experience with Encrypt.me is that they aren’t exactly forthright with information about the mechanics behind their service. Sure, they’re all about being simple and user-friendly, and prioritize security and all that, but I really had to do some digging to find their privacy policy and information about their server network.

Of the items I uncovered in my research, there were two particularly concerning aspects. One, the Encrypt.me server network is pretty small — they only operate 120 endpoints. That said, those endpoints are all owned and controlled by Encrypt.me, which means they can offer a higher degree of security than other services. Also worth pointing out, Encrypt.me never assigns shared IP addresses, meaning that you won’t be wasting time with CAPTCHAs and other slowdowns associated with known VPN traffic protocols.

The other aspect that gave me pause was Encrypt.me’s data logging policy. They explicitly say they are uninterested in helping users engage in illicit activity, and that data can be logged for up to 16 days.1 They’re also headquartered in America, meaning they’re beholden to data-sharing agreements with international law enforcement agencies. As the saying goes, if you’re not doing anything wrong you have nothing to hide, but this gets a little sticky. If you’re using a VPN for privacy, you might want to consider a no-log service. Check out my SurfShark VPN review if that piques your interest.

If you’re just an average Joe looking to protect himself a little more online, you’re not going to go wrong with Encrypt.me, but if you’re — say — a journalist in a hostile regime, you might think twice about using this service.

With that in mind, though, let’s take a second to pop the hood and explore what really makes Encrypt.me tick.

Encrypt.me’s Features

Again, you’re not going to find much by way of advanced functionality with Encrypt.me, but there are still a few things to discuss.

If you open up the preferences menu, you’ll have some general options regarding notifications and sounds, and if you select the “transporter” option, you’ll be able to set your server preference.

Encrypt.me’s settings.

If you go to your advanced settings, you’ll be able to select which version of the OpenVPN protocol you’ll be using — UDP or TCP. Generally speaking, UDP will give you faster speeds, while TCP is a little more secure.2

And… well… that’s about it. There’s not a whole lot of options with Encrypt.me that you can fiddle with. For some people this is going to be a solid checkmark in the pros category — the service is nothing if not user- friendly — but for other, more advanced users, the lack of customizability could be an issue.

One final point to mention here, though, is that Encrypt.me has a built-in kill switch, meaning that if your VPN service is ever interrupted, your internet connection will be terminated. In my personal experience I never had to experience this, but in my research I did notice other folks complaining that the kill switch functionality was a little faulty. Just something to keep in mind if you’re going to be engaging in activities you might want to keep private.

So now that we’ve run through the day-to-day functionality and advanced features of Encrypt.me, let’s put it to the test. How fast is Encrypt.me?

Encrypt.me’s VPN Performance

Given Encrypt.me’s small server footprint, I didn’t have high expectations for their speeds. That said, I never really noticed significant slowdowns during the test period. Whenever you use a VPN, you should expect to see some decreases in your performance, but with most, these decreases are imperceptible. I’m happy to report that was my experience with Encrypt.me as well.

Without running the VPN, my speeds were looking pretty decent at the time of my test — a little over 86 Mbps on download, and 103 Mps on upload.

Encrypt.me’s speed test baseline.

Once I flipped Encrypt.me on, I did see a downtick. Through their network I was running about 56 Mbps on download and 60 Mbps on upload. Keep in mind, too, that I was using Encrypt.me’s “fastest connection” setting, too.

Encrypt.me’s speed test revealed slight slowdowns.

So — not the greatest speeds I’ve seen, but the decreases weren’t really enough to hurt. If this is the trade-off for securing my internet connection, I’ll take it.

And speaking of that, I put Encrypt.me’s security to the test as well.

Encrypt.me Security

Thankfully, in my test, nothing indicated that the VPN wasn’t functioning properly, and I was reasonably confident that my data was secure.

Encrypt.me’s security test

For context, this test looks for what’s known as a DNS leak. This is a security flaw with some VPNs that allow DNS requests — how your computer looks up web addresses, essentially — to go over the traditional ISP network.3 These leaks can reveal your location and browsing history to prying eyes, so it’s important to make sure whatever VPN you’re using is secure.

So let’s recap so far: reasonable speeds, tight security, and a user-friendly, utterly uncomplicated interface. Encrypt.me is looking pretty good on most criteria, but there’s one final thing to discuss before we wrap up — the Encrypt.me mobile app.

Encrypt.me On the Go

This is where Encrypt.me really shines. One of the things they really pride themselves on is their ability to secure devices while on unsecured networks, and their mobile app is an extension of that prioritization. A kill switch is automatically deployed so that if you connect to an unsecured network the VPN will engage, and if it’s interrupted, your connectivity will be terminated.

Again — true to their word — the app is extremely simple. Flick a switch to “on,” and your data is secure.

Encrypt.me’s mobile app

There are no settings to mess with, nothing to configure, and no instances of obtuse jargon. Everything is clearly laid out and the (very limited) features are exactly where you’d expect them to be.

Encrypt.me’s app settings are similar to the desktop version.

In this sense, Encrypt.me’s mobile experience is very similar to the desktop version. Simplicity is paramount, and ease of use is prioritized over customizability.

So that about covers the critical aspects of Encrypt.me. With all this in mind, what’s the final verdict?

Overall Value of Encrypt.me VPN

At the end of the day, Encrypt.me is refreshingly transparent about what the service is and isn’t. Their primary goal is to secure your data, and they do a fine job of it. No, you won’t be able to stream Netflix from other countries. And no, you’re not going to find high-tech frills. But you will have access to set-it-and-forget-it protection that doesn’t take a Ph.D. in computer science to figure out.

For the average internet user, Encrypt.me is all you’ll ever need. However, if you’re the type who likes to have the flashiest new tech and needs to customize and optimize everything, you’re likely going to be disappointed.

Simply put, Encrypt.me is an extremely basic VPN, but there is utility in its simplicity. What it does, it does right, and I can definitely appreciate it in that regard.

If you’re not convinced that Encrypt.me is right for you, you might consider checking out our list of the top 10 best VPN services on the market today. There are plenty of options to pick from, and several standouts you’ll be interested to learn more about.

Encrypt.me FAQs