ShadeYou VPN Review
Most of the comments were, to a great extent, positive with many users complementing its stable performance.
ShadeYou VPN Review – Best VPN for 100% Anonymity
ShadeYou VPN Review: Identity theft, content restrictions, and privacy exposure aren’t a novelty in today’s web-sphere. That’s where this ShadeYou VPN review comes in.
VPNs aren’t a choice anymore. They’re a necessity; I’m not saying that just because this is a ShadeYou VPN review, instead I’ll be backing up my claims in the next section.
Nothing on the Internet is really private, and you’d be amazed how little knowledge is actually required to decipher information about you.
We all have come across the term VPN and might have even used it, but the general public conception of a VPN, and what a VPN can actually do are two very different things.
So before divulging you the facts and features that ShadeYou VPN offers us, let’s have a closer look at why exactly you might need ShadeYou VPN!
Why do you need ShadeYou VPN?
There are some reasons why you might be searching for a VPN and why ShadeYou VPN might be a weapon of choice for you.
Privacy
First and the foremost reason most people take aid from a VPN is to protect their privacy.
If you’re on the internet and you do not want the Internet or the webpage you’re on to know where you’re from, a VPN is the simplest and best solution.
Once you install and employ a VPN to access the Internet, your real IP address is masked with an alternative IP address provided to you by the VPN.
And if your real IP address isn’t disclosed, your real location and identity aren’t exposed anymore.
Access Restricted Content
If you’re from a “not so digitally democratic” country or school where not every website is accessible due to several reasons, Mr. VPN will be your savior there as well.
In a lot of countries, simple websites like Google and Youtube are banned. Well for me, those are just as important as the oxygen I’m breathing.
Now, these websites are “Geographically” restricted, meaning the visitors from a certain country or city aren’t allowed to visit them.
Again when you use a VPN, your IP address is altered, and you can virtually choose any other country of your choice to connect to the Internet from, hence unlocking every nook and corner of the internet.
Protection against Hackers and Government
On a simple level, hackers can break into your system and wreak havoc if they gain access to your real IP address.
They use your IP address and port to connect to a backdoor on your system and hence gain access to it.
On a larger scale, some governments are allegedly conceived to monitor and track the activities of Internet users from their country or a specific area.
But when using a VPN, you chose to be in a different country and location and hence you fall off the radar of your govt. Not to mention that the alternative IP address can’t be used to hack into your system by individual hackers either.
Strengthen Third-Party Connections
Third party connections like the Wi-Fi from a pizza shop or a bus-stand are one of them most vulnerable connections on the planet.
They naturally are the favorite hit spots for hackers and digital thieves looking to get into your cell phones, laptops or even real-life.
Having a VPN while connecting to an unsecured network helps you protect your system and makes it impossible for anyone to cause any kind of harm, while letting you browse the Internet without hindrance.
Encrypt Internet Traffic
ShadeYou VPN doesn’t only change your IP address but also encrypts your internet traffic with some of the strongest connection protocols in the industry.
That acts as an additional layer of security to your Internet connection. The military grade 2048-bit encryption will take billions of years for even the most sophisticated hardware to crack.
ShadeYou VPN Review: Detailed Features Insight
So the points above should’ve painted a clear picture regarding why ShadeYou VPN is important, right?
But just because it’s important and needed doesn’t mean you should get it with your eyes closed.
So here’s a ShadeYou VPN review for you which we’re documenting after spending considerable time with the VPN, and let me tell you we compared and analyzed three different VPNs at the same time, and ShadeYOU came out as the winner, that’s why this is a ShadeYou VPN review you’re reading and not of those other two products.
Easy Interface
The first and foremost point worth being mentioned in this ShadeYou VPN review is its extremely easy user interface.
Even if it’s your first day with a VPN, you won’t have to hunt for options and features. The most important buttons and features have been laid out right there in front of you.
There’s a simple on-off switch, a slide-down chart for country selection and everything else. So well yeah it’s newbie friendly.
You can even choose the connection protocols and port as well as get information related to your account without having to click a single time!
Extensive OS and Device Support
The second factor that lured us in was the fact that regardless of which kind of system we were using, like a cell phone, a tablet, a PC or a MAC, ShadeYou VPN universally supported our devices.
The same holds true for its OS support as well. It doesn’t discriminate on your choice of operating system and supports most major operating systems in the world, including:-
I believe that sums up all the OS(s) which are used across the globe on a large scale.
Although unfortunately, it doesn’t offer “Apps” for any other system except Windows. For all other options (Mac, Android, iOS etc). the user either has to use OpenVPN client or the in-built settings to connect to the VPN.
On Android for example, OpenVPN needs to be downloaded if you wish to use the same protocol. If L2TP or PPTP are to be connected, a user would need to go to Settings > Network > VPN (may vary based on devices) and need to enter the server details manually.
While it’s no rocket-science and can be completed easily by anyone using the detailed “How To(s)” provided on the site, it would just be much easier and simpler if there were native apps for the platforms.
25+ Countries
The most important part about any VPN, after its security and privacy, is the availability of locations to choose from.
That’s one aspect where ShadeYou VPN won’t disappoint you. It lets you choose from a list of over 15 countries!
You can choose from some of the most popular and digitally democratic countries on the planet, including:-
- USA
- UK
- Netherlands
- Finland
- Germany
- Ukraine
- Canada
- Spain
- Hong Kong
- France
- Sweden
- Russia
- Romania
- Australia
- Singapore
And the best part is, the list isn’t where ShadeYou VPN stops! You can also choose from a number of different “servers” from the same countries, which guarantees that you won’t have to face a server overload or speed issues even if that specific country is experiencing a heavy load.
ShadeYou is one of the very few VPNs in the industry which has a variation in its “number of available servers” based on a user’s plans. It allows only 18 VPN Servers and 12 Locations on its Standard plan.
In order to unlock and access the entire list of 25 Servers and 15 Locations, a user has to get the Standard plan.
3 Different Connection Protocols
We need different connection protocols for different purposes. ShadeYou understands that and gets us three different connection protocols to choose from.
OpenVPN is by far the most secure and expandable connection protocol being used in the VPN industry, and it’s completely open-source.
Unlimited Usage
Most VPNs limit our connectivity after a specific amount of data being used up. The limit might be monthly, weekly, or even daily.
There’s no such bandwidth or traffic limit with ShadeYou VPN. You can use ShadeYou VPN as much as you wish, download as many videos, data and other stuff as you want, stream, browse, do whatever you wish for, they don’t mind.
ShadeYou believes in complete control and access to the user after you’ve paid for it. So they don’t interfere, in fact I downloaded over 20gigs of video couple days ago, and expected my speed to be capped in the least, but nothing of that sort happened.
So I must say this right here is an example of value for money.
Military Grade 2048-bit Encryption
Most VPNs I crossed paths with before being introduced to ShadeYou VPN used 256-bit encryption. Well, probably that’s why most VPNs didn’t make it out this far while this ShadeYou VPN review did.
ShadeYou offers 2048-bit encryption. The technicalities are quite complicated and would only confuse you, but feel free to Google it up.
In the simplest possible words, it’s an extremely strong encryption, and it’s next to impossible for someone, anyone, even with govt. Grade hardware to break into your system or intercept your online activity.
No-Speed Capping
One of the common misconceptions revolving around any VPN is that a VPN slows your internet connection down. And that’s also true to most VPNs.
But not ShadeYou. In fact it was one of the primary driving forces behind me scribbling this ShadeYou VPN review down.
I measured the browsing speed with Ookla, and being honest; there was speed loss. But then again, it was in KBs. Meaning if I hadn’t been using Ookla, I would’ve never noticed that it existed.
So in the real-world where it matters, I can claim that compared to all the other VPNs, ShadeYou is arguably one of the fastest.
Kill Switch
ShadeYou also boasts a Kill Switch. Well, it’s an advanced feature which makes sure that at no moment of your internet connectivity, are you left unprotected.
Meaning if for some reason the VPN connection drops, the internet connection is automatically terminated.
So if you’re browsing the internet, you can be sure that you have the VPN backing you up!
DNS Leak Protection
This isn’t an “exclusive” feature, but it’s not totally common with every VPN either.
DNS leak protection makes sure that not a single bit of your DNS information is being leaked out there on the web.
If you’re not sure what that means, well then I won’t explain that to you in this ShadeYou VPN review; because well it’s complicated.
Just know that with ShadeYou, you’re secure.
ShadeYou VPN Pricing Plans
After throwing all those abundances of features at us, one would expect that ShadeYou might burn a hole in our pockets.
Well let me tell you, it won’t.
They have two simple plans:-
- Standard:- $25.99/year.
- Premium:- $27.99/year.
There are some feature differences among them based on the price, which you can either check on the website or from the below screenshot.
Payment Methods
Talking of anonymity and privacy, ShadeYou is armed to the teeth to get you a really anonymous and private way to pay.
That I’m saying because it accepts payments via Bitcoins! Well yeah, so you can pay them and they won’t ever know who you are.
Apart from Bitcoins, it also supports:-
- Paypal
- Credit/Debit Cards
- WeMoney
- Perfect money
- UKash
- Payeer
- Qiwi
And couple other payment methods.
No Logs
I was saving this for the last!
The final, and most important feature that I’m listing out here in this ShadeYou VPN review is the fact that; ShadeYou doesn’t keep any logs of any kind whatsoever.
Ironically, most other VPNs claiming to protect our identity, actually do keep logs. Well, ShadeYou isn’t like “most other VPNs.”
Doesn’t matter how great your VPN is, if it doesn’t grant you 100% anonymity, it’s basically a waste of your hard-earned money.
Moreover, it doesn’t ask for a user’s personal information either. Such as names, address (region), and the payment too can be secured using Cryptocurrencies. So in the very rare event of some logs being kept or leaked, neither the VPN nor any other party can gain access to a user’s identity anyway.
So for me, features come later, anonymity and privacy are what I place first, and with ShadeYou, you can be confident that your identity is just as anonymous as it can be.
Simultaneous Connections
No person or household is limited to one device only today. Every household has 2-3 devices in the least, while some may even have half or a complete dozen.
That is where the number of allowed simultaneous connections make a difference. This is the number of devices which can use the VPN at the same time in the same account.
ShadeYouVPN has a “dynamic” policy on this unlike most other VPNs we’ve been with. It allows for 3 simultaneous connections on its Standard plan, while as many as 5 are allowed on the Premium plan. These numbers aren’t very impressive but acceptable.
Torrent and P2P Allowed
Not all VPNs are the best VPNs for Torrenting and P2P. They require special servers, at friendly-locations to make that happen.
Fortunately, ShadeYouVPN is one of them. So you can access and use Torrents, as well as share files and data directly with other users without fearing censorship. Its technical security features, as well as the No Logs Policy come to your aid in case of disputes.
Free Anonymizer
Apart from the VPN, the company offers a free anonymizer as well. It is a free Web proxy service which allows users to change their IP addresses and prevent websites from tracking them.
Over 10 countries-choices are available. Additionally, what a user wishes to unblock can be specified individually as well such as Games or apps, Webpage, Hulu/Netflix/Spotify, Video Streaming etc.
Then, there’s the option of further customizing the anonymizer. A user can choose to (or ignore) Encrypt address, Enable/Disable cookies, removing scripts, encrypting pages etc.
ShadeYou VPN Review:- Final Verdict
Is ShadeYou worth it?
Well, it costs less than $3/month regardless of which plan you go with. It still gets us all those super-advanced features and still protects our identity.
ShadeYou VPN does everything you will expect from any other VPN out there, and it still doesn’t cost a fortune.
So as far as my personal experience goes, I’d say yes it is worth every penny. But hey, don’t take my word for it, go out and try it out for yourselves to be the better judge.
ShadeYou VPN Review
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NOT RECOMMENDED
Overall Score:
Attention! ShadeYou VPN is no longer operational. But don’t worry – you can still protect your online privacy and enjoy even faster speeds with NordVPN.
ShadeYou VPN promises complete anonymity and access to content from any country at a budget-friendly price.
But that’s not all.
On their homepage, they also claim to offer impregnable encryption and secure connections to public Wi-Fi hotspots.
In other words, ShadeYou promises to make you invulnerable on the internet.
But does the service deliver what it claims on the tin?
Or are they too “cheap” to be secure?
What about speed and Netflix compatibility?
Well, I’ll be answering those questions and more in this ShadeYou VPN review.
I will also outline its test results and let you know whether I recommend the service or not.
| vpnAlert Rating: | 7.1 of 10 ⭐ |
| Better alternative: | Click here to find out more |
| Jurisdiction: | UK |
| Encryption: | AES 256-bit, RSA 2048-bit, RSA 4096-bit |
| Servers & Locations: | 26 servers, 16 countries |
| Logging policy: | No-logs |
| Live chat: | Yes |
| Netflix compatibility: | Yes |
| P2P & Torrenting: | Allowed |
| Payment options: | PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, WebMoney, Bitcoin, and many more. |
| Platforms: | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, routers |
| Simultaneous Connections: | 3-5 |
Overview of ShadeYou VPN
Founded in 2016, ShadeYou is a relatively young VPN service that is owned by Data Accents LP.
The company was initially based in Ukraine but has since relocated to Scotland UK.
ShadeYou’s website is well-designed and they have a fantastic diagram on their homepage illustrating how the service can keep you safe.
Overall, I found the site to be quite navigable.
Here is what the homepage looks like.
ShadeYou provides access to 26 servers in 16 countries, including strategic locations like the US, UK, Russia, and Australia.
The company puts the security front and center.
They claim to offer bank-level AES 256-bit encryption as well as RSA 2048-bit and RSA 4096-bit encryption standards.
They state this about their service:
“100% Anonymity… We DON’T KEEP LOGS of your activity and don’t request your personal information.”
– ShadeYou VPN
While all these assertions are a step in the right direction, we can’t afford to take them at face value.
Before we take an in-depth look at ShadeYou VPN, let’s have a quick look at the main pros and cons of the service.
Pros
Cons
What Are The Prices of ShadeYou VPN Plans?
ShadeYou VPN is hands down one of the most affordable VPNs around.
They don’t offer two or three-year plans, but the price you are paying for a one-year package is the cheapest I’ve found.
Currently, the provider has two subscription plans:
Standard plan:
- $2.16/month ($25.99 billed yearly)
- $2.83/month ($16.98 billed every 6 months)
- $3.95/month billed every month
Premium plan:
- $2.33/month ($27.99 billed yearly)
- $3.50/month ($20.98 billed every 6 months)
- $7.95/month billed every month
The difference between the two isn’t that much pronounced.
The billing cycles are similar (1 month, 6 months, and 12 months), and, with the exception of security encryption and number of simultaneous connections, all other features are identical.
As usual, the longer the pricing plan the more you’ll save.
You can be able to tell the exact cost of your subscription by toggling the different pricing options on ShadeYou’s website.
On Google Chrome, the prices will change right away to reflect the package you’ve chosen.
However, Mozilla seems to have a bug and as such Firefox users should express caution before committing to any plan.
While the Standard package comes with RSA 2048-bit cipher, the Premium option gives users the robust RSA 4096-bit encryption (more on this later).
With the premium plan, you can also cover up to 5 devices at a go.
What a difference $2.00 can make!
However, if you are on a month to month subscriptions, the premium package will set you back some $4.00.
All in all, the pricing is pocket-friendly.
Nevertheless, I was gutted to find out that the packages do not include a money-back guarantee.
If the service fails to work, you can claim a refund within 7 days, but that’s just about it.
On the good side, they do provide a 24-hour free premium trial allowing you to try the service risk-free.
ShadeYou accepts a wide range of payment methods, including:
- PayPal
- Credit Cards – Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover
- PerfectMoney
- WebMoney
- QIWI
- PAYEER
- Bitcoin
Security – Protocols, Encryption, & Features
You never know who might be keeping tabs on your internet traffic.
It could be some hawk-eyed hacker at the airport, library, or even in your favorite coffee shop.
It could be anyone, including your trusted ISP.
Fortunately, with a robust VPN, you can stay safe and secure online.
ShadeYou VPN packs all of the security features we’ve come to expect.
In total, it supports three tunneling protocols – L2TP, PPTP, and OpenVPN.
As for encryption, ShadeYou offers military-grade AES 256-bit encryption with the OpenVPN protocol.
Across the board, they use RSA 2048-bit encryption, but premium users get an upgrade to 4096-bit encryption.
Are they all solid?
L2TP and OpenVPN are secure and reliable, but I wouldn’t recommend the third option – PPTP –for sensitive tasks.
And while AES 256-bit is the recommended cipher, RSA 2048-bit and 4096-bit are solid and should be more than sufficient for most tasks.
Besides top-tier encryption and protocols, ShadeYou also comes with DNS leaks protection and an internet kill switch.
Privacy Policy – Do They Keep Logs?
Pretty much every single VPN in the world claims to have a zero-logging policy.
Still, some will log your online activities and go on to sell the data to the highest bidder.
Luckily, ShadeYou is not one of those shady VPNs.
They have a simple privacy policy and keep neither activity nor connection logs.
That said, they do admit to collecting some personal information.
And that’s where one of my biggest problems with this VPN lies.
ShadeYou mentions that they may log personal information, but they don’t bother to specify the type of information they collect.
So, despite their plausible no activity logging stance, ShadeYou certainly isn’t getting any points for their privacy practices.
In the spirit of transparency, they should clearly state what they collect and what they don’t.
Jurisdiction – 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, & 14 Eyes Country
Your provider’s jurisdiction has a significant bearing on your privacy.
ShadeYou VPN is located in the UK, which is a member of the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and 14 Eyes spy alliances.
Any VPN that is based in these jurisdictions is not safe to use.
Use such a VPN, and you risk having your data being spread across half the developed world.
Being a UK-based VPN, unfortunately, ShadeYou falls under this category.
ShadeYou VPN Servers List
ShadeYou’s server network is comprised of 26 servers spread across 16 countries.
That’s quite a small number.
In contrast, premium VPNs like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost offer thousands of servers spread across close to a hundred countries.
Despite ShadeYou’s shortcomings in this category, they have outdone themselves in spreading the servers in strategic locations around the world.
Can Users in China Use ShadeYou VPN?
ShadeYou is a great tool for circumventing censorship and geo-restrictions.
However, if you are located in a country like China where VPN use is contentious, you may want to stay away.
This is because the service doesn’t offer STEALTH VPN (obfuscated servers).
Streaming – Does It Work with Netflix?
Not long ago, you could access Netflix with just about any VPN.
Today, only a handful of providers can unblock the streaming service.
Netflix has put in place some strong security measures and not only blocks but also blacklists any detected VPN IPs.
With its limited number of servers and lack of dedicated IPs, I didn’t expect ShadeYou VPN to stand a chance against Netflix’s firewall.
Well, I was wrong.
ShadeYou does provide access to Netflix US.
It also works with other US based streaming services like HBO and Hulu.
But the VPN couldn’t circumvent BBC iPlayer and Netflix UK.
P2P – Is It a Good Option for Torrenting?
ShadeYou supports torrents.
However, they only do so on less than half (eleven to be exact) of their servers. Locations with P2P compatible servers include:
Security wise, I expect the VPN to offer sufficient protection when connected to a torrent swarm.
Its anonymizer is robust enough to ensure your identity stays hidden from ISPs and copyright trolls.
However, the low number of P2P compatible servers is a cause for concern. While good, its speeds are also not the best you can find for torrenting.
If you are a torrenting fan, I recommend you check out our top VPNs for The Pirate Bay. The providers on the list are also perfect for other popular torrent sites like YTS.LT, RARBG, and 1337X.
Performance – Speed Tests
Although every VPN will impact your internet speeds, you don’t have to settle for a service that saps your entire bandwidth.
ShadeYou may not be the fastest VPN I’ve ever tested, but I found their speeds to be very decent.
I conducted speed tests on ShadeYou’s US, UK, and Russia servers to see how the service performed.
The results were as indicated in the table below.
| Location | Ping (ms) | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | 217 | 41.17 | 14.48 |
| UK | 134 | 47.42 | 13.93 |
| AU | 291 | 33.90 | 19.59 |
| HK | 269 | 36.37 | 12.23 |
Baseline: Ping 21 ms / 49.56 Mbps Download / 24.71 Mbps Upload
You should note that online speed tests do not give the full picture of a VPN’s performance.
Variables like the specific server you’re connecting to, distance from the server, and the VPN protocol you’ve selected, can affect the speed results.
In the speed tests above, I was using the OpenVPN protocol.
On the side, I also ran a couple of tests using L2TP and the difference could be any more noticeable.
For instance, the St. Petersburg, Russia server went from 25.24 Mbps (-49.04%) on OpenVPN to 40.46 Mbps (18.35%) on L2TP.
Quite some difference!
Leaks – IP, DNS, and WebRTC Tests
ShadeYou comes with both DNS leak protection and an automatic kill switch to protect you from any IP and DNS leaks.
Remember, connection leaks can greatly compromise your anonymity and expose your online identity.
Luckily, Shade You VPN does not leak your IP, DNS, or WebRTC information.
Here is the snapshot.
Note: I was connected to a Chicago, Illinois US server when conducting the test.
Compatibility – Which Devices Does It Support?
ShadeYou offers good device compatibility for most users.
Supported platforms include:
However, of all the supported devices, ShadeYou only provides a native client for Windows.
I was looking for a MAC installation on their website and when I realized that they don’t offer it – my first feeling was I HATE IT.
To use the VPN on any of the other platforms, you’ll need to download a configuration file and set up the VPN manually.
As for the Windows client, its user-friendliness and advanced customizations make it ideal for beginners and seasoned users alike.
However, if you are a Mac user, it won’t be as much of a smooth sailing.
Unreliable Customer Support
The quality of customer support can make or break a VPN.
Maybe somebody should communicate that to the folks over at ShadeYou.
Because despite advertising 24/7 support, they deliver one of the worst customer service experiences ever.
They have a live chat on their website, so at first, I was optimistic. I tried it.
Hours later, I was still waiting for a response.
I proceeded to try the email option, and the story was no different.
It speaks a lot about ShadeYou if the FAQs and the Knowledge Base are their most reliable support options.
In total, they offer the following customer support choices:
Social Proof – User Comments on ShadeYou VPN
After testing and reviewing ShadeYou VPN, I went online and searched for other user feedback on this VPN.
Most of the comments were, to a great extent, positive with many users complementing its stable performance.
Another thing many users were pleased with was the price tag.
Still, there were some negative feedback mostly revolving around device compatibility. As we’ve seen, ShadeYou has just one native client, so that’s understandable. A few users also complained about the server coverage and lack of money-back -guarantee.
Other than that, users seemed to be pretty pleased.
One user in particular was quick to point out that he hadn’t encountered any performance issues after months of using the VPN.
But that was in 2017. Do let us know if you run into any issues with the VPN and we’ll update our review accordingly.
ShadeYou is a great tool for circumventing censorship and geo-restrictions.
However, if you are located in a country like China where VPN use is contentious, you may want to stay away.
This is because the service doesn’t offer STEALTH VPN (obfuscated servers).