Planet VPN Review 2026: Is the free VPN actually any good?

The Bottom Line

We’ll be honest, we hadn’t actually heard of PlanetVPN before. It’s better known for offering a free service, but behind that is a paid service. Is it any good? Well, we aimed to find out.

Overall it is a competent budget VPN with one genuinely standout feature, an unlimited free tier, wrapped around a premium product that is cheap, secure on paper, but held back by reliability and transparency gaps.

The single most important thing to know is the heritage. Planet VPN has been closely associated with RusVPN, a service that launched in 2017, though the provider told us the two are in fact separate companies rather than one rebranded under a new name.

It is operated by Free VPN Planet S.R.L., a company registered in Romania, and only a small number of staff carried across between the two companies, according to Planet VPN.

The honest verdict: if you want a free VPN with no data limits for light browsing and the odd geo-unblock, Planet VPN is one of the better options out there.

If you are paying, the $1.99 premium price is genuinely tempting, and on its StarGuard protocol the speeds are far better than we expected, holding 86 per cent of our base speed to the UK.

But you are still buying a service with no independent audit, an oddly limited Windows app, and some real gaps: it would not unblock BBC iPlayer for us, and StarGuard fell apart on the long haul to Australia.

For anything where audited privacy or guaranteed streaming genuinely matters, the providers in our best VPN services list are a safer bet.

Planet VPN at a Glance

How Planet VPN Compares

Who is Planet VPN Best For?

Planet VPN suits you if: you want a free VPN with no data caps for light everyday use, you are on a tight budget and want a cheap premium plan, you want a no-signup VPN you can install and use in seconds, you want a provider based outside the Eyes alliances, or you want obfuscation to get a VPN working on a restrictive network.

Planet VPN may not be right for you if: you need a fully audited no-logs VPN, you need BBC iPlayer (it would not unblock for us), you connect to Australia or Oceania often (StarGuard struggled badly there), or you want native apps for Linux, a Smart TV, or a games console.

1. Price & Plans

Planet VPN runs the now-standard model: one product, three subscription lengths, and the longer you commit the cheaper the monthly cost. The headline difference from most rivals is the free tier sitting underneath all of it.

Current pricing (updated 2026):

At $1.99 per month on the long plan, Planet VPN is priced right down with the cheapest providers on the market, comparable to CyberGhost and Surfshark.

The difference is what you get for the money. Those providers back their low prices with independent audits and far larger networks. Planet VPN is competing purely on price and the free tier.

One honest note on the free plan, because it is the real reason to look at this provider. Unlike most “free” VPNs, there are no bandwidth limits and no time limits, and you do not even need to create an account.

That is rare, and it is genuinely useful. If you want the wider context on why most free VPNs are a bad idea, our guide on reasons to avoid free VPNs is worth a read, but Planet VPN sits at the more reputable end of that category.

Payment is by credit card or cryptocurrency, with crypto being the better choice if anonymity matters to you. We would flag that PayPal support appears inconsistent, and several user reports describe difficulty cancelling recurring payments, so keep an eye on your renewals.

2. Speed

Speed was the biggest surprise of this review, and it is worth reading the detail rather than the headline.

On Planet VPN’s own StarGuard protocol, the speeds are genuinely good and far more competitive than the budget price suggests. On IKEv2 they are roughly half that. The protocol you choose matters more here than on almost any VPN we have tested.

How we tested: Speed tests were run from a residential UK connection on the Windows app. Our headline figures use the StarGuard protocol, which was comfortably the fastest.

We also ran the same routes on IKEv2, the Windows app’s other protocol, for comparison. The same locations were tested at multiple times of day. Results are a snapshot and will vary with your connection, device, server load, and time of day.

On StarGuard, the European results are strong.

The UK held 402.86 Mbps, around 86 per cent of our base speed, which is right alongside what the premium providers manage and a long way clear of what we expected from a budget VPN.

France (336 Mbps), the Netherlands (311 Mbps), Switzerland (292 Mbps) and Sweden (281 Mbps) all stayed comfortably usable for 4K streaming, calls and large downloads. Even New York at 271 Mbps was solid, beating ExpressVPN’s 185 Mbps result on the same route.

Then there is Australia. On StarGuard, the Australian server collapsed to just 70.15 Mbps, around 15 per cent of base and easily the worst single result in this review.

Curiously, when we ran the same route on IKEv2 it returned a healthy 180 Mbps. So the slowdown is specific to StarGuard on that long-haul route, not the server itself.

If you connect to Australia or the wider Asia-Pacific region regularly, switch to IKEv2, which is available right there in the Windows app.

StarGuard versus IKEv2

Because the gap is so large, it is worth seeing both Windows protocols side by side.

These were separate test runs (StarGuard on a 467.86 Mbps base, IKEv2 on a 434.08 Mbps base), so treat them as indicative rather than a perfectly controlled head-to-head.

The takeaway is clear: StarGuard is roughly twice as fast as IKEv2 on every route except Australia, where the situation flips entirely. For most users on most servers, StarGuard is the protocol to use, with IKEv2 as the long-haul fallback.

The Windows app does also offer OpenVPN alongside these two, so privacy purists who prefer the open-source, independently scrutinised standard aren’t left out on desktop. It simply wasn’t part of our head-to-head here, since StarGuard and IKEv2 were the two protocols worth comparing on raw speed. The more modern WireGuard still isn’t available on Windows, or on Android for that matter.

How Planet VPN compares against the top providers

Server	Planet VPN	NordVPN	ExpressVPN	CyberGhost	Surfshark
UK	403 Mbps	473 Mbps	410 Mbps	434 Mbps	493 Mbps
Netherlands	311 Mbps	477 Mbps	413 Mbps	489 Mbps	486 Mbps
France	336 Mbps	484 Mbps	379 Mbps	486 Mbps	285 Mbps
Switzerland	292 Mbps	484 Mbps	416 Mbps	352 Mbps	483 Mbps
Sweden	281 Mbps	483 Mbps	361 Mbps	320 Mbps	485 Mbps
New York, US	271 Mbps	442 Mbps	185 Mbps	378 Mbps	304 Mbps
Australia	70 Mbps	307 Mbps	163 Mbps	261 Mbps	311 Mbps

A fair caveat before drawing conclusions. Planet VPN’s StarGuard figures were taken on a 467.86 Mbps base, broadly in line with the 466 to 520 Mbps base connections used for the competitor numbers in our project tests, so this comparison is reasonably like-for-like.

On that basis, StarGuard is competitive. In Europe it lands in the very good to moderate bands, behind NordVPN and Surfshark but in the same territory as ExpressVPN and CyberGhost, and it actually beats ExpressVPN to New York.

For a VPN costing $1.99 a month, that is a strong showing. The glaring exception is Australia, where StarGuard’s 70 Mbps is comfortably the worst result on the board and the one route where you would want to switch protocols.

Bottom line on speed

Planet VPN is faster than its price tag implies, as long as you use StarGuard. For browsing, HD and 4K streaming, calls and downloads on UK and European servers, it is more than quick enough and noticeably better than most budget rivals.

The two things to keep in mind are that the fastest protocol is the proprietary one rather than open-source OpenVPN, and that the long haul to Australia is a genuine weak spot on StarGuard.

NordVPN and Surfshark were still the outright speed leaders in our tests, but Planet VPN is closer to the pack here than we expected.

3. Privacy & Logging

The RusVPN question

Let us deal with the elephant in the room first, because it is the thing you came here worried about.

Planet VPN has been closely associated with RusVPN, a service that launched in 2017, and that name understandably makes privacy-conscious users nervous.

Planet VPN’s operator, Free VPN Planet S.R.L., registered in Romania, told us that Planet VPN and RusVPN are in fact separate companies rather than one rebranded under a new name, and that only a small number of staff carried across between the two.

We could not independently verify the corporate relationship between the two brands, so beyond the company’s own explanation, this is not something we can confirm ourselves.

Given the lack of independent verification generally (more on that below), you are relying on the company’s own account of its own history here, in much the same way you are with its no-logs claims.

No-logs policy

Planet VPN states it keeps no logs of your activity or the websites you visit. Its Romanian base genuinely helps here.

Romania is outside the 5, 9 and 14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances and has historically rejected mandatory EU data-retention rules, which is one of the reasons several reputable VPNs are based there.

No independent audit

This is the single biggest weakness in Planet VPN’s privacy story. As of 2026, the no-logs policy has not been independently audited, and there has been no court case or seizure that has tested it in the real world.

That puts Planet VPN well behind the field. PIA, NordVPN, ExpressVPN and CyberGhost have all been through repeated independent audits, and in PIA’s case the no-logs claim has been tested in actual US court proceedings.

An audit is not a magic wand, but it is the difference between “trust us” and “a Big Four firm checked and agrees”. Until Planet VPN commissions one, its privacy claims remain exactly that: claims.

One caveat is, most smaller VPN providers haven’t had audits carried out and it’s not unusual to find a provider that hasn’t. Those that have, are usually large time-worn VPN services. However, this is no excuse and if you choose to trust or not is down to your own judgement.

Leak protection

We ran our own leak tests rather than take Planet VPN’s word for it, and the results came back clean.

Connected to a UK server, an extended DNS leak test returned just a single DNS server, belonging to OVHcloud in London, with no sign of our own broadband provider anywhere in the results.

The public IP on show was the VPN’s London address rather than our real one, so there was no IP leak either.

A VPN that quietly leaks your DNS lookups or true IP defeats the whole purpose, so it is reassuring to see Planet VPN keep both sealed in our testing.

Trust signals

One thing we would flag honestly: a notable share of public user reviews describe difficulty cancelling subscriptions and slow or unresponsive handling of refund requests.

Some were resolved eventually, but it is a pattern worth knowing before you hand over card details. Paying by a method you can cancel yourself is sensible insurance.

We didn’t try to cancel our account so these are third party reports.

4. Security Features

Protocols

This is where Planet VPN gets genuinely odd, and where hands-on testing tells a different story to the marketing. The provider advertises a broad protocol lineup including OpenVPN, IKEv2 and the older L2TP and PPTP, plus its own StarGuard protocol.

In practice, what you get depends heavily on the platform.

On the Windows app we found three protocols available: StarGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2. There is no WireGuard, which is a limitation, since it has become the modern standard for fast, low-overhead connections. OpenVPN itself, the open-source, battle-tested standard security-conscious users expect, is present and worth having, even though StarGuard proved by far the faster option in our tests.

We also missed WireGuard as it has become the defacto standard these days for modern and quick connecting VPN protocols.

The Android app offers the same lineup, StarGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2, and lets you switch between them quickly from the main screen, which we liked. Windows matches it on protocol choice, even if the interface for doing so is less slick.

StarGuard is the interesting addition. It is Planet VPN’s proprietary protocol, it was the fastest in our speed tests, and it doubles as an obfuscation tool, disguising your VPN traffic as ordinary HTTPS.

That makes it useful on networks that actively block VPNs, such as some workplaces, schools, or restrictive countries.

However, Starguard isn’t open source and we haven’t seen it available at any provider. Not being open source is slightly concerning because it doesn’t allow third parties to scrutinise the code to check for bugs or other security lapses. If PlanetVPN insists on using their own in-house protocol over tested ones, we recommend they should make it open source at minimum.

Encryption

Planet VPN uses AES-256 encryption, the same standard used by banks and the wider VPN industry. There is nothing to fault here, it is strong and uncrackable in any practical sense.

Kill switch

The picture is, again, platform-dependent. The Windows app has a kill switch, which cuts your internet if the VPN drops so your real IP is not exposed.

On the Android app we could not find a kill switch at all, which is a meaningful gap given how often people rely on mobile VPNs over public Wi-Fi. If a hidden kill switch exists on Android, Planet VPN has buried it well.

It’s frustrating to see some features available on some platforms and some on others, but nothing as standard. We hope PlanetVPN is working on the missing features and we’ll update this review when we confirm that.

Split tunneling

The Android app does include split tunneling, which lets you route specific apps outside the VPN tunnel, handy for banking apps that can flag VPN use. This is a nice inclusion on mobile, though it does not make up for the missing kill switch.

The missing double-hop

Planet VPN’s website references a double-hop or multi-hop feature, which routes your traffic through two servers for extra privacy. We went looking for it in both the Windows and Android apps and could not find it anywhere.

Either it is hidden, premium-gated in a way that is not clearly signposted, or it is a marketing claim that has outrun the product. Whichever it is, we could not test it.

5. Server Network

Planet VPN operates 1,260+ servers across more than 60 countries. That is a modest network by the standards of the big providers, but more than enough geographic spread for most use cases, with good coverage across Europe, Asia and the Americas and lighter coverage in Africa and Oceania.

The provider says it owns its servers rather than renting them, which is a positive for privacy if true, though we could not independently verify it.

Questions about whether the network uses RAM-only servers or virtual locations are not clearly answered anywhere we could find, which is the kind of transparency gap a future audit would help close.

The free server locations

The free tier gives you five countries: the US, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

For a free product that is a sensible spread, and crucially the UK and US presence means free users have something genuinely useful to work with rather than a token list of obscure locations.

The free service offers 6 locations across 5 countries.

The mystery gold cup servers

Here is an oddity we couldn’t figure out. On both the Windows and Android server lists, some servers are marked with a small gold cup icon.

There is no key or tooltip in either app explaining what it means, and we could not find an explanation on Planet VPN’s website either. Our best guess is that it marks recommended or premium-optimised servers, but the fact that we are guessing is the point.

A VPN should not leave you puzzling over its own interface.

Again, a UI issue that needs a quick fix to stop users from guessing.

6. Streaming

We tested streaming directly, and the results were a mix of good news and one clear miss. Netflix and Disney+ both worked without fuss, but BBC iPlayer would not budge, which is a real problem for a UK audience.

If you’re a Netflix fan then you’ll be pleased to know we found the two most popular regions, the US and UK work extremely well.

Both the US and UK libraries loaded and played without us having to cycle through servers, which is more than some bigger names manage consistently. Disney+ was equally cooperative on both US and UK servers.

BBC iPlayer is the sticking point. We could not get it working on either of Planet VPN’s UK server options.

We tried requesting a fresh IP and we switched protocol, and iPlayer still detected and blocked the connection every time.

You could claim iPlayer is one of the harder platforms to unblock and many VPNs struggle with it, but, that’s not the case. Most larger VPN services allow the streaming of BBC iPlayer without issue.

In fact, it’s been so long that we’ve been blocked by iPlayer that PlanetVPN not working actually shocked us a little.

So Planet VPN is a reasonable streaming option for Netflix and Disney+, but a poor one for British TV.

If reliable access to BBC iPlayer and the widest spread of platforms is your priority, a dedicated streaming VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN is the more dependable choice.

7. Torrenting & P2P

Planet VPN allows torrenting, but with two important limits. First, P2P is supported on premium servers only. The free servers block torrenting outright, and the app will trigger its block if you try, so the free tier is a non-starter for file sharing.

Second, speeds are unremarkable. Published testing describes torrent downloads that are safe but slower than you would get from a P2P-optimised provider, and there is no port forwarding to improve seeding performance.

The AES-256 encryption and Windows kill switch mean your real IP stays protected while you download, which is the most important thing, but Planet VPN is not a tool we would pick for heavy torrenting.

If that is your priority, our best VPN for torrenting guide covers faster options.

The usual reminder applies: a VPN does not make illegal downloading legal. Downloading copyrighted material is against the law whether or not you use a VPN.

8. Apps

Windows app

The Windows experience got off to an odd start. On our first attempt, we could not install the standard desktop application the way we normally would. We tried multiple times with the same issue. In the end we had to install it through the Microsoft Store instead, with no clear reason given for why the direct installer wouldn’t run.

On a later attempt weeks later, the standard installer worked without any issue at all, so this may simply have been a one-off. Still, in over 13 years of testing VPN services, we cannot recall this happening with any other provider.

Once running, the app is functional but the design feels non-standard. The layout is a little unconventional, the fonts seem small, and while everything works, it is not an interface we warmed to.

We also hit one genuine bug: after disconnecting from a server, we could search for other countries in the list but could not click on them.

Quitting and restarting the app fixed it, and it did not recur, so we are filing it as an odd one-off rather than a dealbreaker, but it is the kind of rough edge a more polished app would not have.

As covered in the security section, the Windows app does include OpenVPN alongside StarGuard and IKEv2, and it also has a working kill switch, which the Android app lacks.

Overall we found the Windows app to be functional but it could be better in terms of user-friendliness.

Android app

The Android app is the better of the two by some margin. It is cleaner, more modern and more pleasant to use than the Windows client.

It carries the same protocol set (StarGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2) and lets you switch protocol quickly straight from the main screen, which we liked. It also includes split tunneling.

The catch, as noted earlier, is that we could not find a kill switch in the Android app.

For a mobile app that is a real omission, since mobile is exactly where you are most likely to be on untrusted networks or switching between mobile internet and Wi-Fi regularly.

Other platforms

Planet VPN covers macOS and iOS with native apps, and offers browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera and Yandex. There’s also an Android TV app, but beyond that, support thins out.

There is no native Linux app (Linux is manual configuration only, and requires a paid plan), no Smart DNS, and no dedicated apps for Smart TVs or games consoles.

To cover those devices you would need to set Planet VPN up on a compatible router, which premium plans support.

We really missed an Amazon Fire TV app that many of the larger providers offer. Some of our team make use of these on a regular basis to switch Netflix regions or access content from home and an Amazon Fire TV app makes that much easier.

9. Customer Support

We tested support directly by opening a ticket, and the experience was better than Planet VPN’s reputation suggested, with one honest caveat about the “24/7” claim.

We opened a ticket at 14:44 and had a first response at 15:01, just 17 minutes later, asking for a few more details.

We replied at 16:28, and the follow-up came back at 06:48 the next morning. So the pattern is clear: ask during working hours and you will get a quick, helpful reply, but a question sent later in the day may not be answered until the following morning.

Our take is that the support is genuinely good in quality, the responses were prompt and useful, but the round-the-clock claim is optimistic. Treat it as responsive business-hours support rather than true 24-hour cover, and time your questions accordingly.

That is a step up from the slow, email-only experience some earlier reviews describe, though it is worth noting that a number of public user reviews still report friction around cancellations and refunds, so keep an eye on your renewal dates.

10. Who Planet VPN Is Not For

Planet VPN has a clear niche, but it is not for everyone. Here is who we would point elsewhere.

📺 You need BBC iPlayer or British TV. Planet VPN unblocked Netflix and Disney+ for us but would not touch iPlayer on either UK server. For UK streaming, ExpressVPN is the reliable pick.

🌏 You connect to Australia or Asia-Pacific a lot. StarGuard collapsed to 70 Mbps on the Australian route. IKEv2 was far better there, and it is available in the Windows app, so it is an easy switch.

🔒 You want a proven no-logs VPN. With no independent audit and no court test, Planet VPN’s privacy claims are unverified. If verifiable privacy matters to you, an audited provider is the safer choice.

🖥 You need WireGuard on desktop. Windows offers StarGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2, but not WireGuard. If that specific protocol matters to you, look elsewhere.

🖧 You want native apps on every device. There is no native Linux, Smart TV or games console app. Covering those means a manual router setup on a paid plan.

💳 You want easy self-serve cancellation. Cancellation is email-led and a number of users report friction getting refunds, so it pays to watch your renewal dates.

Verdict

Planet VPN is a better service than its slightly murky RusVPN past might suggest, and a more limited one than its $1.99 price and broad marketing imply. The truth sits in between.

Its genuine strengths are real. The unlimited, no-signup free tier is one of the best in the category and reason enough to keep Planet VPN on your radar.

The premium price is very low, the StarGuard protocol is a smart bit of engineering that is both fast and obfuscated, the speeds on it are far better than the price suggests, the encryption is solid, and the Romanian base is a sensible jurisdiction.

Support, when we tested it, was quick and helpful during working hours.

The limitations are equally real. There is no independent audit, so you are trusting the no-logs policy on faith.

The Windows app feels dated and doesn’t offer WireGuard, and the Android app has no visible kill switch. Installation was also inconsistent for us, requiring the Microsoft Store on one attempt but installing normally the next, which may be a one-off but is not something we have encountered with any other provider in over 13 years of testing.

It would not unblock BBC iPlayer for us, which matters for a UK audience, and StarGuard fell apart on the long haul to Australia.

Cancellation and refunds also draw recurring complaints. We also dislike that the proprietary VPN protocol, Starguard is not open source.

Our conclusion: Planet VPN is an excellent free VPN and a surprisingly capable cheap one, let down mainly by the missing audit and a few specific gaps rather than by raw performance.

If you want a no-cost VPN with real speeds for everyday browsing and Netflix, the free tier is one of the best around. At $1.99 the premium plan is fair value too, as long as you do not need iPlayer, audited privacy, or reliable Australian servers.

PlanetVPN certainly isn’t the best VPN provider we’ve tested, but neither are they the worse. They sit somewhere in the middle. The price is genuinely cheap enough to give them a whirl if you’ve been considering them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Planet VPN safe to use?

Planet VPN uses AES-256 encryption, offers a kill switch on Windows, and independent leak testing has found no IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks. It is based in Romania, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances. The main caveat is that its no-logs policy has not been independently audited or tested in court, so its privacy claims are unverified compared with audited rivals.

Is Planet VPN the same as RusVPN?

Not according to the provider. Planet VPN has been closely associated with RusVPN, a service that launched in 2017, but Planet VPN’s operator, Free VPN Planet S.R.L. (registered in Romania), told us the two are separate companies rather than one rebranded under a new name, with only a small number of staff carried across between them.

Is Planet VPN’s free version actually free?

Yes. The free tier has no data caps, no speed caps and no time limits, and it does not require you to create an account. It gives access to five locations: the US, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is one of the more genuinely usable free VPNs available, though premium unlocks the full network and faster speeds.

Does Planet VPN work with Netflix?

Yes. In our testing both Netflix US and Netflix UK worked without having to switch servers, and Disney+ worked too on US and UK servers. The exception was BBC iPlayer, which would not unblock on either UK server even after we changed IP and switched protocol. For reliable iPlayer access, a dedicated streaming VPN is a better choice.

Does Planet VPN keep logs?

Planet VPN states it keeps no logs of your activity or browsing. Its Romanian jurisdiction supports this, as Romania sits outside the major intelligence-sharing alliances. However, this claim has not been independently audited, so it relies on the company’s own word.

Does the Planet VPN Windows app support OpenVPN?

Yes. The Windows app offers StarGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2. WireGuard is not available on Windows, though it is also absent from the Android app, so it isn’t a Windows-specific gap.

How much does Planet VPN cost?

Planet VPN costs $9.99 per month on the monthly plan, $3.99 per month on the one-year plan, and $1.99 per month on the three-year plan, which includes an extra year free. There is also a permanently free tier. Premium plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, though some users report difficulty obtaining refunds.