FinchVPN Full Review 2023: Read This Before Buying

FinchVPN is a bad VPN and I don’t recommend it. There are many other VPNs that have better security, provide better streaming support, and offer a better value, including ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and CyberGhost VPN.

While FinchVPN has good encryption, a decent ad blocker, and fast speeds, it has a ton of flaws. To begin with, it lacks a kill switch and logs your IP address — these two issues are enough for me to never purchase this VPN. Every VPN should have a kill switch, which is an essential security feature, and I don’t trust any VPN that stores my IP address.

In addition, FinchVPN is missing advanced security features like RAM-only servers and full leak protection. Plus, it can’t access any of the top streaming services, including Netflix, and it only allows torrenting in 1 server location — but FinchVPN isn’t safe for torrenting anyway because there’s no kill switch and it logs your IP address. There are no native apps, its mobile apps aren’t functional, its server network is really small, you only get one simultaneous connection, and its customer support is unresponsive.

FinchVPN has a free plan and offers 2 paid tiered plans, which don’t come with a money-back guarantee.

FinchVPN Full Review

I spent the last couple of weeks testing and researching FinchVPN to see how it compares to the top VPNs on the market in 2023. However, it didn’t take me long to realize FinchVPN is a pretty bad VPN.

It’s missing important security features like a kill switch and it logs your IP address, so I’d never recommend it for any online activity — even basic browsing, which could expose your data like the websites you visit. What’s more, you have to manually configure all of the apps, and if you’re looking to use FinchVPN on the go, forget about it as the mobile apps don’t work. It’s terrible for streaming and torrenting and you’re basically out of luck if you don’t live in or near one of the 5 countries where it has a server.

Basically, stay away from FinchVPN. Instead, I recommend that you purchase a quality VPN like ExpressVPN, which is the best VPN for security, speeds, streaming, torrenting, and gaming.

FinchVPN Features

FinchVPN has the following industry-standard VPN secuirty features:

• 128-bit AES encryption — While I prefer 256-bit AES encryption, which is used by banks and militaries, 128-bit AES is still very secure.
• No-logs policy — FinchVPN doesn’t log the websites your visit or the files that you download. However, it logs your IP address, which means it can keep track of your location (like the city you live in).

As I’ve already pointed out, I really hate that FinchVPN is missing a kill switch, which automatically shuts down your internet access if you’re disconnected from the VPN server to protect your data from leaking onto the internet. If you’re disconnected from the server without your knowledge, you will continue to use the internet unaware that you’re no longer protected. All of the VPNs in our top 10 list for 2023 include a kill switch.

I also don’t like how FinchVPN lacks IPv6 or WebRTC leak protection. I ran DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak tests on each of FinchVPN’s servers, and my IPv6 data leaked each time — this is obviously a major issue if you use IPv6 traffic. Top VPNs like ExpressVPN and ProtonVPN offer full leak protection.

FinchVPN uses OpenVPN and PPTP protocols. PPTP is an outdated and unsafe protocol, and I highly suggest you don’t ever use it. OpenVPN is a secure and pretty fast protocol, but I prefer WireGuard. In my speed tests, VPNs that have WireGuard, like Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, and CyberGhost VPN, always had faster speeds than competitors that don’t offer WireGuard.

FinchVPN has perfect forward secrecy via OpenVPN. This advanced security feature changes your encryption key for each connection to prevent hackers from accessing past or future keys.

FinchVPN doesn’t have extra features like split-tunneling, a built-in speed test, or double VPN, but it has:

• Ad Blocker. This built-in feature blocks ads while browsing online. I tested the ad blocker on ad-heavy sites like WhatCulture and social media sites, and it prevented most ads on the web page from loading. On the other hand, Private Internet Access and ProtonVPN come with ad blockers that block almost every single ad, and they also block trackers and prevent you from visiting malicious sites.
• Server Status. This is a useful feature that displays the server status for all of FinchVPN’s servers. It includes if the server is online/offline, the protocol that is available, if the server supports torrenting, and the number of users on each server. It’s available on the app and the FinchVPN website.
• Flush DNS. This feature deletes all DNS requests that you generate.
• Clear App Data. FinchVPN allows you to clear all app data and return it to default status. I took advantage of this feature after I was done using the VPN to prevent FinchVPN from storing any more of my personal data.

FinchVPN Privacy & Security

FinchVPN has a terrible privacy policy — it logs your IP address, bandwidth, and timestamps. FinchVPN claims to collect your IP to prevent spam, fraud, or abuse of its services, which includes making sure that just one IP address is assigned to your account so you don’t share the service with anyone. These reasons are mostly unacceptable, especially because the majority of VPNs don’t log your IP at all!

FinchVPN is based in Malaysia, which isn’t a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance (a group of countries that share surveillance data with each other). However, FinchVPN isn’t very clear if it will turn user info over if requested by the Malaysian government.

Overall, FinchVPN stores way too much of your personal information. If requested, FinchVPN would be able to turn over data like your IP address, when you logged on and off of the server, and how much data you used while connected to the server.

I would never trust this provider and recommend that you choose a VPN like ExpressVPN, which doesn’t collect any of your data (its no-logs policy has been independently audited and confirmed).

FinchVPN Speed & Performance

I conducted speed tests on a server in all 5 countries where FinchVPN has a server to determine its average speeds. 

First, I ran a speed test without being connected to the VPN to get a baseline for my internet connection speeds.

Next, I connected to a local server in the US. Here are my speeds.

Now, here are my speeds when connected to a distant server in the Netherlands.

When connected to a local server in the US, my speeds decreased by only 17%. Websites and HD videos on YouTube loaded instantly and there were no buffering or interruptions.

When connected to distant servers in Europe and Asia, I had an average slowdown of 49%, which is decent. Websites and HD videos took 2-3 seconds to load, and I experienced little to no lag or buffering while streaming and web browsing.

Overall, FinchVPN has fast speeds on all servers. That being said, I strongly recommend that you to check out our list of the fastest VPNs in 2023.  

FinchVPN Servers & IP Addresses

FinchVPN has 10+ servers in 5 countries, including the US, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Singapore. It’s one of the smallest server networks you’ll find on the market. I don’t like VPNs with a small server network because many users around the world aren’t able to access a server in their country or a nearby country, which causes them to have slower speeds. Other top VPNs have much larger server networks — for example, CyberGhost VPN has 9,400+ servers in 90+ countries and ExpressVPN has 3,000+ servers in 90+ countries.

I also don’t like how FinchVPN only allows torrenting in one server location (the Netherlands). Top VPNs like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access allow P2P sharing on all servers. To be honest, though, it’s not safe to torrent with FinchVPN — it doesnt have a kill switch and it logs your IP address.

FinchVPN Streaming & Torrenting

FinchVPN is a terrible VPN for streaming — it doesn’t work with any top sites including Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. It also didn’t work with most of the lesser-known sites I tested.

As stated several times throughout this review, I simply don’t trust FinchVPN for torrenting because it lacks a kill switch and logs your IP address. Also, it only allows P2P traffic on the Netherlands server, which means most users outside of Europe will have slower speeds. For example, it took me around 30 minutes to download a 20 GB file, which isn’t impressive at all.

Overall, FinchVPN doesn’t work with most streaming services and it’s unsafe for torrenting. If you’re looking for the best VPN for streaming and torrenting, I recommend ExpressVPN — it works with 65+ streaming sites, including all of the most popular ones, and it allows torrenting on all of its servers in 90+ countries. In addition, it has lightning-fast speeds, a kill switch, and a strict no-logs policy that’s been independently audited and confirmed multiple times.

FinchVPN Plans & Pricing

FinchVPN offers a free plan and 2 tiered-premium plans (Pro and Premier). All of the plans only allow 1 simultaneous connection, which is pretty laughable considering the industry standard is 5-7 connections. Private Internet Access, for example, allows up to 10 connections while IPVanish has unlimited connections.

The free plan comes with a limited data cap, access to only 3 servers in the US and Luxembourg, and email and live chat customer support platforms.

The Pro plan costs $1.61 / month and comes with a 25GB/month data cap, access to all of the servers, and adds support tickets to the customer support platforms.

The Premier plan is priced at $3.21 / month and comes with unlimited data.

However, don’t even waste your time with the free plan, and neither of FinchVPN’s paid plans are worth it. ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and ProtonVPN all provide significantly better value.

FinchVPN accepts credit cards, PayPal, and Bitcoin, but doesn’t have a money-back guarantee.

FinchVPN Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps

FinchVPN doesn’t have any native apps and its iOS and Android apps don’t work. You have to use OpenVPN on Windows and macOS in order to access any of the VPN’s servers.

I installed the OpenVPN app on my Android smartphone and iPhone in just 1 minute. However, I was unable to connect to any of FinchVPN’s servers on Android after importing the configuration files. I asked one of my colleagues to try to connect to FinchVPN’s mobile servers, but he had the same issue after importing the files.

FinchVPN’s desktop apps are very minimal and also require the OpenVPN config. The desktop layout is outdated, and you have to search your menu bar in order to just find the app. However, I did like how easily I was able to find and connect to a server, and it was simple to enable the ad blocker.

Overall, FinchVPN has unusable mobile apps and the desktop apps require manual configuration, which isn’t very user-friendly. All of the top VPNs come with native apps for all the major operating systems.

FinchVPN Customer Support

I’m not happy with FinchVPN customer support — it claims to offer Facebook Messenger support, live chat, and email support via a ticketing system.

However, I couldn’t find a live chat feature anywhere on the website and the email support wasn’t functional. Nothing happened when I clicked on the ticketing support banner and the email support banner only took me to an empty webpage. I also tried contacting FinchVPN’s support team via Facebook Messenger, but they never responded to any of my queries. Most top VPNs like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access have knowledgable live chat representatives and responsive email support.

Also, FinchVPN’s support section is very minimal — the website has helpful configuration guides and a short list of FAQs, but there are no troubleshooting guides. Since customer support doesn’t respond to requests, you’re stuck if you run into an issue.

Overall, I was not at all impressed with FinchVPN’s customer support. While there are good setup guides and FAQs, you can’t reach customer support and it’s missing troubleshooting guides.

Is FinchVPN a Good VPN in 2023?

FinchVPN is a bad VPN that’s not at all worth downloading. It has decent encryption, decent speeds, and a decent ad blocker, but that’s about it.

FinchVPN doesn’t have a kill switch, which all VPNs should offer, it logs your IP address, and it doesn’t protect you against IPv6 leaks. Plus, it’s missing advanced features like RAM-only servers and extras like split-tunneling. FinchVPN only has servers in 5 countries, it doesn’t work with any of the top streaming services, and it’s unsafe for torrenting. You only get 1 connection, there are no native apps, and its mobile apps don’t work. Finally, it has unresponsive customer support

FinchVPN offers a free plan and monthly and yearly plans, but the paid plans don’t have a money-back guarantee. If you’re in the market for a VPN, definitely avoid FinchVPN and check out our list of the top 10 VPN providers in 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FinchVPN safe?

No, I don’t feel safe using FinchVPN for any online activity. It doesn’t have a kill switch, it leaks IPv6 traffic, and it logs your IP address.

A kill switch is security feature that every VPN should offer, as it disconnects you from the internet if your VPN connection drops. This prevents you from unknowingly continuing to browse the web without the protection of the VPN. FinchVPN fails to protect your IP address while you surf IPv6 sites, and it logs your IP address, which puts your privacy at risk.

If you’re looking for a VPN with the best security, I recommend ExpressVPN. It has a strict no-logs policy that’s been audited, a kill switch for Android, iOS, Windows, Macs, Linux, and even routers, and full leak protection.

Does FinchVPN offer a free VPN?

Yes, but it’s not very good. FinchVPN’s free plan only comes with a limited data cap and access to 3 servers in the US and Luxembourg. I normally don’t recommend that your use a free VPN because most of them lack basic security features, set a limit on how much data you can use, and have slower speeds.

If you’re only looking for a free VPN, ProtonVPN has the best free plan on the market. It includes unlimited data, fast speeds, and excellent security features.

Ultimately, to get the best value, I recommend purchasing an affordable VPN like ExpressVPN or Private Internet Access.

Does FinchVPN work with Netflix?

No, I was unable to access Netflix in my tests. FinchVPN also doesn’t work with other top streaming sites like Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.

My favorite VPN for streaming Netflix is ExpressVPN — it works with Netflix 100% of the time, has blazing-fast speeds, and offers severs located in 90+ countries. Plus, it’s able to access 65+ other streaming services and has apps for all of the major apps, as well as smart TVs, Amazon Fire Stick, and gaming consoles.

Is FinchVPN good for torrenting?

No, FinchVPN is unsafe for torrenting. It only allows P2P sharing on servers in the Netherlands, which means users outside of Europe will have much slower download speeds. But even worse, FinchVPN doesn’t have a kill switch and it logs your IP address

There are much better options for torrenting — I recommend ExpressVPN or Private Internet Access because both have advanced security, maintain faster speeds, and allow torrenting in 80+ countries.