BlackVPN Subscription Plans & Cost

While I would recommend BlackVPN overall, I think it would be good for some but not all people. Let me explain.

BlackVPN Review

This Hong Kong-based VPN has 31 servers in 18 countries.

All of our content is written by humans, not robots. Learn More

By Aliza Vigderman , Senior Editor, Industry Analyst & Gabe Turner , Chief Editor Last Updated on Mar 09, 2023

Contents: Pros and Cons About Testing Subscriptions App BlackVPN vs. ExpressVPN

If you’re not a tech nerd like me, then the prospect of choosing a VPN could seem daunting. What qualities do you look for in a VPN, and how do you know if one meets those qualities before you buy it? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m taking a look at BlackVPN, a VPN inspired by the torrenting site Pirate Bay and founded in 2009. Of course, I’m looking for security in a VPN, but I’m also looking for speed, among other factors. I’ll be reviewing BlackVPN’s pros and cons, its company background, features, subscription options, and app. I’ll also be putting BlackVPN through multiple tests to measure its speed and security because when it comes to my data, I’m not taking any chances. Let’s take a closer look and see if BlackVPN is a good option for you.

Features

Log web activity?	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split tunneling	No
Netflix	No
IP addressesDynamic

Editor’s Rating

Overall Rating

• Kill switch available with all subscription offerings.
• Located in Hong Kong, which is outside of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes.
• Standard privacy policy; only saves account and payment information which is common for VPNs.

BlackVPN Verses Other VPN Providers

Overall, BlackVPN did ok in our testing. Some key features that knocked down their score were no split-tunneling, you could not use Netflix at all, commercial content cannot be downloaded on U.S. or U.K. servers, and the speed tests on our Mac were pretty slow. See our list below for three VPN providers with top scores in our testing.

Editor’s Rating:

9.7 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.5 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.4 /10

Pros and Cons of BlackVPN

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I want to tell you an overview of my favorite and least favorite things about BlackVPN. I’m feeling good today, so let’s start with the positive:

What We Like

• Not part of any international surveillance alliances: With headquarters in China, you won’t be forced to hand over your data to another country.
• Does not log files: Only essential account and payment information will be saved.
• Kill-switch: You’re protected if the VPN fails for whatever reason.
• Good customer support ratings: People said customer support responded quickly and with know-how.
• Speed on Windows: BlackVPN performed pretty well on my Windows Vivobook in terms of download speed, upload speed, and latency.

And the not-so-positive?

What We Don’t Like

• Located in Hong Kong where VPNs are illegal: If you get caught using a VPN in China, you could be apprehended up to a few thousand dollars.
• Can’t download commercial content on U.S or U.K servers: If you’re looking to torrent movies or TV shows, BlackVPN may not be the best option for you.
• No split-tunneling: You won’t be able to access public and private networks simultaneously while using BlackVPN.
• No access to Netflix: Bingers beware: Netflix will not work with BlackVPN.
• Speed on Mac: I wasn’t impressed with BlackVPN’s speed on my Macbook Air.

If that’s all okay with you, then let’s learn a little bit more about BlackVPN as a company itself.

About BlackVPN

BlackVPN was founded in 2009, a thought child of things like Pirate Bay and Edward Snowden. Based in Hong Kong, BlackVPN’s founders believe strongly in internet freedom and net neutrality, so much so that they’re willing to risk being fined thousands for creating and using their VPN. Plus, they’ve had the exact same founders since their launch in 2009, and in their words, “we are IT geeks who are passionate about Privacy and Digital Rights.” Sounds good to me!

The good news? China isn’t in any international security alliances, so there’s no legal way for another country to demand your data. Hong Kong itself has no mandatory data retention policy, which is a good sign. Basically, BlackVPN is super secure, but if you’re using it in China or any other country where VPNs are illegal, just know that you’re taking a risk.

Now let’s download BlackVPN and see how it actually works.

Will BlackVPN Log My Data?

BlackVPN will not log your traffic, connection, DNS, or IP address. The only information that they keep is your account info, like your username and password, your email, and your payment info. These are all standard things for a VPN company to keep, as you have to log into your account.

Does BlackVPN Have A Kill Switch?

BlackVPN includes a kill switch or network lock feature. That means that if your VPN fails for any reason, it’ll take your websites and applications with it so you’ll stay protected. Not only will your applications quit, but your Internet will be disconnected completely so you’re never on the public network. This is a standard feature of VPNs, so I’m happy BlackVPN is following suit.

What Kind of Tunneling does Offer?

Split tunneling allows you to access private and public servers at the exact same time. It’s great if you need both at once, or if you just want to reduce bandwidth. Unfortunately, BlackVPN does not offer split tunneling, so if you’re using a VPN, you will automatically be off the public server.

Can I Use Netflix with BlackVPN?

Another womp womp moment: you won’t be able to access Netflix with BlackVPN. On the same note, you won’t be able to torrent commercial content on U.S and U.K servers.

That doesn’t completely discount BlackVPN, although it’s fair to say that it probably isn’t the best VPN if you’re trying to download or stream media. It might be better for someone who is more focused on security rather than entertainment.

BlackVPN Encryption

Encryption basically turns your written data into inscrutable code so it can’t be understood by a third party. Let’s see how BlackVPN encrypts your data.

IPSec/L2TP

IPSec, short for Internet Protocol Security, either encrypts the data packet message itself or the entire data packet. It works in tandem with Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, which makes the encrypted tunnel that the data will travel through. Together, the two create a super-secure VPN client.

BlackVPN Protocols

Once the data is encrypted, it must be transmitted across a network. Internet protocols are the different ways that data can be transported. Let’s see what protocols BlackVPN uses.

DHE

The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange is a way of exchanging keys that use the same “shared secret” for every connection. Since the same key is never used more than once, even if the private key of a server gets leaked, past communication is still secure.

SSL Tunnels

SSL tunnels, which stands for Secure Socket layer, are used a lot by online retailers to authenticate sessions. Basically, the two systems exchange encryption keys before creating a secure connection. Think of it like a secret handshake that gets you into a club, if that existed IRL.

PPTP

PPTP stands for Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, and it helps create the tunnel. It’s not the most secure method around, which is why it’s used with other protocols for encryption.

UDP

UDP, otherwise known as User Datagram Protocol, is what sends the data packet itself. However, it’s not responsible for making sure it gets to its destination in one piece, so packets may be received out of order— which brings me to my next point.

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol is what’s responsible for making sure that the data packets are in order once they reach their destination. Its first task is to test the connection between the source and the destination, making sure that it’s active. Next, TCP breaks the data into smaller packets. Once it’s transmitted to its destination, TCP will check to make sure that everything is in place, sort of a housekeeper for your VPN.

Now, SSL, UDP, and TCP are all protocols that are used “on top of” the VPN itself, and most web apps run over UDP or TCP, so they should all work fine with VPN (unless the application’s server blocks the VPN, which is why things like Netflix don’t always work).

Interested in other VPN services? Read our reviews for:

Testing BlackVPN

Now that I’ve told you everything you need to know about BlackVPN, I’m going to put it through several tests to measure its speed and security. I do all my tests from my apartment in Brooklyn using Internet from Optimum. To better accommodate my readers, I test everything on both a Macbook Air and a Windows Vivobook. Let’s get started with the speed tests.

Speed Test

The first thing I test is the speed of my Internet with and without BlackVPN. Download and upload speed have to do with everyday browsing, while latency is more relevant to real-time applications like online gaming or Skype. I performed my speed tests using Google’s speed test.

Download Speed Tests

Regarding download speed, I had a difference of about 54% on my Mac and about 29% on my Windows computer— clearly, Windows performed better in this category.

Mac
Without VPN	37.05 mbps
With VPN	17.16 mbps

Windows
Without VPN	72.95 mbps
With VPN	51.61 mbps

Upload Speed Tests

For upload speed, the trend continued: my Windows computer was only slowed down by 34%, while my Mac was slowed by about 75%. So far, BlackVPN is getting good results on the Vivobook and not such good results on my Mac.

Mac
Without VPN	25.9 mbps
With VPN	6.54 mbps

Windows
Without VPN	41.28 mbps
With VPN	39.86 mbps

Ping Speed Tests

Finally, I test ping or latency. In this category, the trend was reversed.

Mac
Without VPN	14 ms
With VPN	16 ms

Windows
Without VPN	12 ms
With VPN	16 ms

While BlackVPN only caused a 14% increase in latency on the Mac, it caused a 33% increase on the Vivobook. Both of these are pretty impressive stats, but I’m surprised that Mac had a small difference in latency. Overall, however, BlackVPN performed better on my Windows computer rather than on my Macbook, where it had mediocre results.

DNS Leak Test

Now that I’ve seen how fast the BlackVPN is, I want to make sure it’s secure as well. If you’re using a VPN, it’s probably because you want to keep your domain name servers a secret. Basically, a domain name server is what you type in when you want to get to a website, like Security.org for example. Each DNS stands for an IP address that actually tells your computer where to go. Of course, I want to make sure that these IP addresses stay private, so I tested BlackVPN for DNS leaks. The verdict? No DNS leaks, so my web traffic is protected. Booya!

WebRTC Leak Test

The last thing I want to check for is WebRTC leaks. Rather than going through an intermediate server, WebRTC allows users to connect directly with each other, creating faster speeds for video chatting, livestreaming, and transferring files. In order to connect directly, however, the users have to know each other’s private IP addresses, clearly the information you don’t want to get out. When I tested BlackVPN, there were no WebRTC leaks whatsoever, so I feel really confident about my web security. To check out WebRTC leaks for any VPN, you can use the leak checker on the ExpressVPN website.

All in all, BlackVPN passed my tests with flying colors, although I wasn’t thrilled about it’s speed on my Macbook. Let’s move on and see what your pricing options are.

Video Review

BlackVPN Subscriptions

BlackVPN’s subscriptions work pretty differently than other VPN companies. Let me explain a little bit more.

Options

Locations

Privacy	TV	Global
Australia	Yes	No	Yes
Brazil	Yes	No	Yes
Canada	Yes	No	Yes
Czech Republic	Yes	No	Yes
Estonia	Yes	No	Yes
France	Yes	No	Yes
Germany	Yes	No	Yes
Japan	Yes	No	Yes
Lithuania	Yes	No	Yes
Luxembourg	Yes	No	Yes
Netherlands	Yes	No	Yes
Norway	Yes	No	Yes
Romania	Yes	No	Yes
Spain	Yes	No	Yes
Switzerland	Yes	No	Yes
UK London	No	Yes	Yes
Ukraine	Yes	No	Yes
USA (East, West, Central)	No	Yes	Yes

Features

Privacy	TV	Global
Unrestricted P2P/Bittorent (Not Allowed in USA & UK Locations)	Yes	No	Yes
USA (East, West, Central)	No	Yes	Yes

Billing Information

Privacy	TV	Global
Term Length	1 Year	1 Year	1 Year
Price	$56.26	$86.11	$113.66

BlackVPN’s subscription model looks pretty different than that of its competitors. Basically, you choose your plan based on the server you want to go on and what features you want. You can either pay for unrestricted P2P/ Bittorent, used in software piracy but not available in the U.S or U.K, pay to stream TV from the U.S and U.K, or both with the Global Package.

Unfortunately, BlackVPN only allows you to buy a year of service at once. The lowest cost option is $56.26, or a little over four dollars a month, while the highest cost option is $113.66, a bit less than $10 a month. While I’m not thrilled that there’s no month-to-month option, BlackVPN’s prices are very reasonable.

One subscription gets you an unlimited amount of server switches, seven simultaneous connections from a maximum of seven devices. Again, this subscription is pretty generous— I’ve seen some that only let you use three devices at the same time!

Manual Configurations

You can use BlackVPN on a Windows, Apple, Android, iOS, or Linux device.

Browser Extensions

BlackVPN will work on Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome.

BlackVPN Customer Support

Need help with BlackVPN? Before you buy it, I want to make sure that BlackVPN’s customer support is actually supportive. This can really go either way with VPNs, so let’s get into more detail.

Features

To get help, you can either check out BlackVPN’s FAQs on their website, live chat a representative or fill out a support ticket. In my experience filling out a ticket, it took BlackVPN a day to respond, and the answer satisfied me, so I’m pretty happy with their customer support.

Customer Support Ratings

Of course, I’m just one person— what did other BlackVPN customers think of the support? I checked Trustpilot, a review site where 55 customers have reviewed BlackVPN. Out of 13 reviews mentioning customer support, 10 were positive— that seems like a really good ratio to me!

“At first, when I was setting up the VPN I could not find too much information to fix some issues on Linux. So, I contacted the BlackVPN support team and they replied after a few minutes with the correct answer to fix the issues,”

wrote a user in a five-star review.

The BlackVPN App

By now, you know a lot about BlackVPN, but all of it could be irrelevant if the app doesn’t work well. BlackVPN’s app works on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and routers.

I was surprised to see that their app is not currently available on the Apple store— at the time of writing, they are still waiting for Apple to approve it. On the Google Play store, BlackVPN has a 3.6 out of five-star rating, which is pretty middle of the road. Many people complained about the app constantly popping up, or the server not connecting during their free trial. I was also surprised to see that BlackVPN was responding pretty rudely to some reviews, which certainly gives me pause.

I don’t think denying your customers’ experiences is a great strategy, but maybe that’s just me!

BlackVPN vs. ExpressVPN

On the surface, BlackVPN and ExpressVPN seem pretty similar; they both have kill switches, they both allow torrenting, and they both offer anonymous IP addresses, standards of any VPN. If you look a little deeper, though, you start to see that there are some important fundamental differences between these two VPNs. For example, when I tested the two for speed, I quickly realized ExpressVPN far outpaces BlackVPN. That’s particularly true on Mac computers. My normal download speeds more than doubled when I turned BlackVPN on, and upload speeds increased almost four-fold. Of course, ExpressVPN slowed down my Mac too–all VPNs do. But the increases were far more modest. Download speeds increased by just 63 percent, while uploads increased by just 17 percent. In addition, ExpressVPN allows torrenting on all its 2,000 servers. BlackVPN only allows torrenting on a handful of its servers.

I do have to give it to BlackVPN when it comes to price. While a single month of ExpressVPN costs a whopping $12.95, you can get a month of BlackVPN for only $5.93. ExpressVPN’s price does fall if you sign up for a full year of the service. In that case, you’ll pay $8.32 per month. BlackVPN still wins out, though. With a one-year contract, you pay just $4.84 per month.

In the end, then, the old truism turns out to be true: you get what you pay for. Looking to cut some corners and save a little money? BlackVPN may be just what you’re looking for. For a faster experience, though, you’ll want to shell out a little extra money for ExpressVPN.

For more information, check our full ExpressVPN review.

Recap of BlackVPN

While I would recommend BlackVPN overall, I think it would be good for some but not all people. Let me explain.

BlackVPN would be good for someone who wants…

• No international surveillance alliances: As BlackVPN is headquartered in China, they’ll never be forced to hand over your data to another country.
• Fast speed on Windows: If you’re a Windows person, BlackVPN should work well on your computer.
• Good customer support ratings: Customers from Trustpilot had great things to say about BlackVPN’s customer support.
• Kill switch: If BlackVPN fails for whatever reason, your data will remain protected.
• Does not log data: BlackVPN will only keep your account information, but nothing about your web traffic, IP address, etc.

However, I’d avoid it if you don’t like…

• Disappointing speed on Mac: While BlackVPN didn’t perform horribly on my Mac, it wasn’t as fast as on my Vivobook.
• Limited torrenting abilities: For those looking to torrent commercial content on servers int he U.S or U.K, BlackVPN is definitely not the VPN for you.
• No split tunneling: You won’t be able to access public and private servers at the same time.
• No Netflix: BlackVPN isn’t the best app for streaming television or movies.
• Long-term contracting: You have to sign up for a year of BlackVPN.

There you have it! To explore more great options, check out the best VPNs of 2023. I’m looking forward to hearing your questions and hope this was helpful to make your buying decision.

BlackVPN FAQs

Being the foremost authority on BlackVPN on the internet, we get inundated with a ton of questions about it. Let’s get to it.

Yes, you can try BlackVPN for free for three days.
BlackVPN works on PCs, Macs, Androids, iOS devices, Linux and routers.

In our testing, we got 14 percent more latency and 33 percent more latency on our Mac and Windows computers, respectively.

BlackVPN Subscription Plans & Cost

Pricing is one of the main elements we look at when deciding on any VPN, including BlackVPN, a company located in 189 countries with 31 servers. Since living in Brooklyn is not cheap, we needed to make sure that we can afford necessities like rent and food, meaning that we needed to work within a budget when it came to our devices and security platforms. So does BlackVPN fit into our budget? Keep reading to find out if BlackVPN provides enough bang for your buck.

Plan prices in the U.S.

Plan	Price of one-month contract in U.S.
Privacy	$5.93
TV	$5.93
Global	$11.27

More Security.org Recommendations

Check out more of our favorite VPNs.

Editor’s Rating:

9.7 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.5 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.4 /10

A Glimpse At BlackVPN Subscription Options

BlackVPN takes a different approach when it comes to its subscription options. Unlike NordVPN’s pricing, which is very straightforward, BlackVPN’s pricing is a bit complicated.

The company has three subscription packages: the Privacy package, the TV package, and the Global package. The plan we chose was based on what server we wanted to go on and unfortunately, not all packages are available for all servers. For example, we are located in Brooklyn, so we needed a package compatible with the servers in the United States. The Privacy package is not available in the U.S, so we only had the choices of the TV or Global options. But before we get further into the available features, take a look at the subscription breakdowns by server location and price.

Server Location Subscription Options

While these prices aren’t outrageous, BlackVPN offers less while costing more than some of the other VPNs on the market. For example, Surfshark costs start at just $1.99 with a two-year commitment and allow for split tunneling and Netflix streaming. Neither split tunneling, which gives users access to both private and public networks at the same time, or Netflix is available with BlackVPN. If you’re not looking to spend a ton of money on a VPN software, we recommend checking out the best cheap VPNs.

Money Saving Tip: If you are working within a budget, we recommend purchasing a year-long subscription because it’s the most affordable deal. The one-month and three-month options cost more when you break it down per monthly payment.

BlackVPN Package Plans In Detail

When it comes to feature offerings, not all VPN packages are created equal. It’s important to remember that not all packages are available in all server locations, so we had to determine what server we wanted to connect to prior to picking out our package. Before we get into package specifics of each package, we wanted to take a look into the features included in all three packages. While our BlackVPN review gets into a lot more detail about the software features, below is a glimpse.

First, let’s take a look at some of our favorite features that come with all three subscription packages:

• Kill Switch: The kill switch, or network lock feature, is pretty standard when it comes to VPNs and is something we look for when picking software. It’s also a feature we included as a requirement in our VPN guide. In the event we lost Internet connection, the kill switch automatically shut down any Internet browsers or apps on our screen. Because we used VPNs to protect our identity while surfing the web, having the kill switch was imperative for us.
• Strict Privacy Policy: BlackVPN doesn’t keep track of IP addresses, web activity, connection locations, domain name service, or downloaded files. 1 The only thing the company kept track of was our account information and payment methods, which is standard for most VPN companies. We read the privacy policy closely so we knew that BlackVPN logged our usernames and passwords and we felt comfortable with them having that information.

• Connects Up To Seven Devices: Each subscription works with up to seven devices simultaneously, meaning we could have a private Internet connection on our computer, laptop, smartphone, and Xbox as long as all devices were connected to the same server.
• Unlimited Speed and Bandwidth: When using BlackVPN, we had Internet speeds of 100 Mbps or more. This allowed us to download anything we wanted without having to wait for a buffering signal and provided us with clear video quality when watching Schitts Creek, our favorite television show.
• Performs Well on Windows: For those who are loyal Windows computer users, BlackVPN is a good choice. We found that the speeds, while fast on both Windows and Mac devices were faster on Windows.

Now that we have an idea of some of the main features, let’s check out a few more specifics of each package.

Privacy Package

As we mentioned above, this package was not available in the United States or in the United Kingdom, which counted us out. That being said, with this package, users could participate in unrestricted peer to peer file sharing, also known as torrenting, as long as they connected to a server outside the U.S or U.K. Torrenting lets users download file shares privately and is one of the most popular reasons to use a VPN because it eliminates the risk of an Internet Service Provider tracking what’s downloaded. BitTorrent is one of the most popular torrenting software and is compatible with this package. 2

TV Package

Unlike the Privacy package, the TV package didn’t allow for torrenting but did allow us to stream TV shows. While BlackVPN doesn’t allow access to Netflix, this package gave us the ability to watch television shows from around the world. That being said, one of our favorite television shows is Ozark, which is a Netflix original, so no Netflix was a bit of a bummer for us.

Global Package

This package provides users access to all of the company’s VPN servers. While this package offers both television streaming and unrestricted torrenting, the torrenting option still isn’t permitted in the U.S. or U.K VPN locations. That means when using BlackVPN, we never had torrenting capabilities, regardless of the package we chose, as we were connected to servers in the U.S.

You Should Know: If you are using a U.S or U.K server, BlackVPN does not permit torrenting and is not compatible with BitTorrent.

Free Trials and Money-Back Guarantees

In our opinion, one of the best ways to know whether or not we like a VPN is to get our hands on the software and test it out for ourselves. BlackVPN gave us that opportunity with its free three-day trial.

If three days isn’t enough to get a good feel for the software, BlackVPN also offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. The 14-day money-back guarantee gave us the confidence we could thoroughly test the software and get 100 percent of our money back if we didn’t love it. While BlackVPN processes refunds within 24-hours of the request, it could take up to 30 days for the money to hit the bank account, so keep that in mind.

FYI: BlackVPN has you pay the entire subscription cost as a one-time fee. Therefore, if you want to cancel the service any time before your pre-determined subscription is up, you will lose the money unless you cancel within the 14-day money-back guarantee window.

Payment Options

Now that we’ve covered the features, free trials, and cancellation policies, all that’s left to explain is how we actually paid for our service. BlackVPN accepts the following forms of payment:

• PayPal: We decided to pay with PayPal since it was easiest for us. We already had a PayPal account, so the purchasing process was simple. All we had to do was click which plan we wanted, enter our email address, choose PayPal, and we were automatically signed into our PayPal account. From there, we had to decide where the money was going to come from; we chose to take it directly from our checking account.
• Paymentwall: This method of payment gave us the option of using credit cards, bank transfers, gift cards, and e-cards. Paymentwall accepts the following credit cards:
  • Visa
  • MasterCard
  • American Express.

  As a reminder, BlackVPN keeps track of account information, including payment choices. Therefore, when deciding on a payment method, keep in mind the company has access to those records.

  Is BlackVPN Worth It?

  

  So, is BlackVPN worth the money? If you live abroad, BlackVPN may be a good choice. But for those of us living in the U.S who are looking for a software compatible with Netflix and torrenting, BlackVPN may not be the right one for you.

  Additionally, compared to CyberGhost, which we reviewed, BlackVPN was a bit expensive for what it offered, which didn’t include split tunneling. We tend to prefer split tunneling options especially when we are doing work at our favorite local coffee shop. Therefore, for us, BlackVPN didn’t fulfill all of our needs, however for those if you’re looking for a VPN to use outside of the U.S, this could be the one for you.

  Frequently Asked Questions

  BlackVPN is a good VPN for what it costs, but you can find others that are more affordable and that offer more features like split tunneling and Netflix. That being said, BlackVPN is reliable when it comes to protecting real IP addresses and online activity, so for those who are just looking for a VPN for business purposes, BlackVPN isn’t a bad choice.

  BlackVPN offers a variety of payment methods including PayPal, Paymentwall, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Bitcoin, and Altcoin.

  BlackVPN does not work with Netflix.

  BlackVPN allows for torrenting in all of their countries’ servers except for the United States and the United Kingdom.