Planet VPN

A free VPN with a paid upgrade

Planet VPN is a standalone VPN brand whose site leads with its free tier: "Free VPN for Fast, Private and Unlimited Browsing", with "no limits on traffic, bandwidth, or time" and "No sign-up or personal data required." The about page says the company created Planet VPN in 2017, and the homepage says it is used by "More Than 15M Users Worldwide". The free plan is the entry point, and a Premium subscription adds more locations, streaming and torrent support and extra features. The site also says how the free tier pays for itself: its FAQ says "The free version is funded by short ads, not by selling your data."

Who can buy it: the site is published in English and many other languages, from Arabic, Czech and German to Russian, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Japanese and Korean. The pricing page has a currency selector for USD, EUR and GBP, and the prices written out in its FAQ are in euros. The free version needs "No credit card required". The about page says the company offers "anonymous payment options" but does not say which, and the pricing FAQ says "All payments are processed via third parties". Apps are listed for Windows, macOS, Linux and Chromebook, Android and iOS (with separate pages for Samsung and Huawei), browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera, Android TV, routers and custom OpenVPN configs. The homepage shows Google Play figures of 10M+ installs and a rating of 4.6 out of 5. The site does not name any country where the service is not sold.

What the provider says about logging, ownership and audits

The site does not name an independent audit of its logging policy. Its no-logs page ends with the line "You can confirm our no-logs policy through independent audit or by reviewing the privacy policy", so the site refers to an audit but does not name the firm that carried it out, or link a report or a date.

The logging claims themselves are the provider's, and they are sweeping. The no-logs page states "We don't collect, store, or share any logs or your internet activity," and the homepage FAQ says the provider does not record browsing history, connection timestamps, IP addresses or session activity. The provider says its servers run on "diskless, RAM-based infrastructure" with encrypted drives. On what it does keep, the pricing FAQ says "Planet VPN only saves user email addresses, since they are directly tied to your subscription plan, if you purchase one." One wrinkle: the no-logs page's setup steps begin "Free account with just an email address", while the homepage says no sign-up is needed at all. The site does not reconcile the two.

On jurisdiction, the no-logs page says Planet VPN is "Registered in Romania and outside international surveillance alliances", and the homepage FAQ describes its policy as "backed by a Romanian (non-14-Eyes) jurisdiction". Those are the provider's own framing. The site does not name the company that runs the service, give a registered address, or mention a parent company or sister brands.

Apps, protocols and features

The homepage says the service "Supports OpenVPN, StarGuard, and IKEv2 protocols", and the FAQ calls StarGuard "our own StarGuard protocol", built for speed and "avoiding restrictive networks". The about page adds OpenVPN "with 256-bit encryption and RSA-2048 keys", IPSec with IKEv1 and IKEv2, and PPTP and L2TP. The homepage speaks of 256-bit encryption on every connection, DNS and IP leak protection, and a kill switch that "immediately blocks the Internet connection when the VPN session is terminated".

The network figures are the provider's: 1260+ servers in 100+ countries on the homepage, and "100+ locations, 1260+ VPN servers" on the pricing page. The free plan gets "6 servers across 5 countries", which the menu names as the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Premium adds most of the features. The pricing page lists split tunneling and "Smart filters", which block ads and threats in the browser extensions, plus "Double VPN or Onion-over-VPN", low-ping gaming servers, router support and third-party VPN apps. On streaming, the pricing page says Premium lets users "Watch Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ and more", and the site's menu has pages for Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO Max; those are the provider's claims. Torrenting is listed as "Torrents & streaming supported" on Premium, and the homepage comparison table puts P2P, streaming and Double VPN in the Premium column only.

Plans, prices and devices

The pricing FAQ gives the euro prices. The monthly Premium plan is €9.99 a month. The 12-month plan is €3.99 a month, "billed once at €47.88", with the page claiming a 60% saving. The 48-month plan is €1.99 a month, billed once at €95.52, with an 80% saving claimed. The site does not state what those plans renew at after the first term.

The device limit is the same on both tiers. The homepage FAQ says "Up to 10 devices simultaneously, on both Free and Premium", and the pricing page repeats "Up to 10 devices per subscription" for Premium. The refund rule is plain: a subscriber who cancels "within the first 14 days of your purchase" is "refunded the full amount." Cancellation is "within just a few clicks". The homepage table lists "24/7 Support" as a Premium benefit, and the about page says "We work 24/7 to keep your privacy," but the site does not describe the support channels.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

The main gaps are corporate and contractual. The site says it is registered in Romania but never names the company, and it mentions an audit without naming an auditor. The renewal price after the 12-month and 48-month terms is not stated, and neither are the "anonymous payment options". The claim that no sign-up is needed sits next to setup steps that ask for an email address. The protocol list also varies between pages, from StarGuard on the homepage to PPTP and L2TP on the about page.

Planet VPN suits someone who wants a free VPN on several devices at once, with no data cap and a stated funding model of short ads, and who is happy with 5 free countries. The euro Premium plans, with a 14-day full refund, suit budget buyers who want streaming and torrent support on up to 10 devices. It suits less well a reader who wants a named operating company, a named no-logs auditor or a published renewal price before paying.