Potato VPN Review – Is It Safe in 2024

Launched in 2020, PotatoVPN is among the most recent premium VPNs. The number of servers owned by the Singaporean provider, which operates in over 55 countries, is constantly increasing.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Have a no-logs policy
• 7 servers available to free users
• UDP, TLS, HTTP, TLS+ available
• AES-256 encryption

Cons

• Free version available only for mobile devices
• No Kill Switch
• No Split tunneling

You can quickly and simply choose a location to mask your online identity and encrypt all of your data using its intuitive interface, which is compatible with both desktop computers and mobile phones. Why don’t we go further into it?

VPN Features

PotatoVPN is simple and uncomplicated, with just the most essential functionality. But the ones it does include are functional, so it may be attractive to newcomers who aren’t yet familiar with all the options. Yet, let’s discuss what PotatoVPN has to offer.

PotatoVPN encrypts all internet requests through its servers, utilizing AES-256 encryption, a highly secure method used by the military and banking industry. This block cipher encrypts data in fixed-size blocks, combining substitution, permutation, and XOR operations to safeguard your online activities. While PotatoVPN’s encryption is robust, it lacks a kill switch, a feature that would temporarily halt all internet requests in case the VPN connection drops. This means users must remain vigilant about their connection status.

One notable feature is the private browser, accessible to premium users. This scaled-back solution eliminates cookies, history, and tracking, but its utility is somewhat diminished by the VPN’s own ability to prevent tracking.

PotatoVPN offers an impressive range of user-friendly apps for various platforms, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Amazon Fire TV. These apps allow users to easily connect to the fastest server based on their location or choose from a list of available servers. Yet for free users only mobile platform is available.

The server network has grown from 20 countries at launch to over 55, providing access to most geo-blocked content. Free users can access 7 servers in Singapore, the US, Canada, the UK, India, and Germany, although these servers do not include the dedicated streaming and gaming options.

Privacy and Logging

As one would expect from a VPN service, PotatoVPN claims that it does not keep any records. Nothing about your VPN use, including your actual IP address, is shared or sold to any parties.

There is no need to submit an email address while using the free mobile version. Plus, you may use its mobile applications without worrying about accepting permissions.

You still need to provide some basic information about yourself and your account, including payment details and non-personally identifiable device information, when you first sign up. This is used inside the company to enhance technological aspects.

Moreover, cryptocurrency isn’t a choice for payment; currently, PayPal is the most secure method. Users in countries with firewalls, such as China, will find it less helpful because of this.

While not officially a member of the 14 Eyes surveillance countries, Singapore is one of four that are linked. This implies that it may, in the worst-case scenario, comply with government demands for data.

In terms of privacy, this places PotatoVPN in the center. No actual incidents of data leakage or illegal sharing with governments or law enforcement agencies have been reported. The fact that it can do this, however, is a little worrying.

Speed Tests – How Fast is VPN

The speed tests we ran as part of our evaluation indicated that PotatoVPN isn’t up to snuff when it comes to streaming, gaming, and file sharing. This virtual private network is quite sluggish.

We conducted before-and-after testing and assessed the speed decline to determine the extent to which PotatoVPN affects baseline speeds. However, we were only able to run the speed test on a mobile device, as other devices require a premium subscription.

Mobile Test

Here are the details from the internet speed test without the use of PotatoVPN:

• Download Speed: 66.3 Mbps
• Upload Speed: 95.2 Mbps
• Ping: 3 ms
• Jitter: 1 ms

This setup demonstrates a high-performance and stable mobile internet connection, suitable for various demanding online activities.

Here are the details from the internet speed test conducted while using PotatoVPN:

• Download Speed: 9.76 Mbps
• Upload Speed: 15.1 Mbps
• Ping: 323 ms
• Jitter: 25 ms

The performance of the internet connection was greatly impacted by using PotatoVPN. In comparison to the earlier test results obtained without a VPN, there was a significant drop in both the download and upload speeds. Moreover, the ping went up significantly, which means the response time is much slower. An even less reliable connection would be indicated by a larger jitter score, which indicates more delay fluctuation. Activities like streaming, gaming, and live video conversations that need a lot of bandwidth and minimal latency could be affected by this configuration with PotatoVPN enabled.

About Safety – How Secure is VPN?

Through its servers, PotatoVPN encrypts every internet request. It employs AES encryption with a key size of 256 bits, as the majority of VPNs do. 

Instead of encrypting data in a continuous stream, AES encrypts it in blocks of predetermined size; this encryption method is known as a block cipher. To secure the information, it employs a mix of XOR, permutation, and replacement procedures.

The fact that it is so safe and utilized by the military and banking sector is essentially all the information you need to know. The unfortunate thing with Potato is that its system isn’t equipped with a kill switch. 

If your VPN connection stops, a kill switch will momentarily stop all requests, protecting your true identity from being recorded. Always keep an eye on your connection while using PotatoVPN.

Even while PotatoVPN offers strong encryption, it lacks some of the protocols that more technically inclined customers would like. Here you may find HTTP, UDP, TLS, and TLS+. But you won’t find OpenVPN, WireGuard, or IKEv2. Nevertheless, this isn’t a major issue since it can’t manually setup the VPN on your device.  

Mobile Apps

Thanks to PotatoVPN’s excellent set of features, you’ll never again need to manually set up a connection to their servers. It works on desktop computers with Windows or macOS, and on mobile devices with iOS or Android. More than that, we wee pleasantly surprised to see that it works with Amazon Fire TV. However, the free servers are only accessible via the iOS and Android mobile devices.

All the applications have familiar, easy-to-use interfaces, and one large button lets you connect to the fastest server based on your location. Conversely, you may choose the server’s location by pressing a button.

With this, you may bypass geo-blocks and access geo-blocked material, such as streaming services from other countries. In the server list, you’ll find a handy part that is unique to streaming. In addition, you may find several ROL and Roblox servers here. 

Performance

In most cases, using PotatoVPN will drastically slow down your internet connection and significantly increase latency. For instance, compared to far faster speeds and lower pings while not using the VPN, test results indicated a decrease in download and upload speeds to 9.76 Mbps and 15.1 Mbps, respectively, with a ping of 323 ms. Streaming, gaming, and video conferencing are just a few examples of activities that rely on fast and dependable internet connections. Unfortunately, with PotatoVPN you may need to sacrifice connection efficiency for security features.

Work in Highly Restricted Countries

The website does not provide information on whether this service can be used in countries with strict restrictions, such as Russia or China. 

Server’s locations

There are 7 servers strategically placed in important areas that even free users may access. India, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, and the United States are all free options. You get a really good-tasting menu if you want to try it out before you subscribe.

What Bonuses Does the Paid Version Offer, and How Much Does It Cost?

When compared to other leading VPN services, PotatoVPN’s pricing is reasonable. If you sign up for a year in advance, you may save money on one of the two pricing plans:

• Free, but limited, plan
• Monthly: $11.99
• Annual: $71.99 ($5.99 per month)

The premium service is available for free for the first seven days with both options.

You may get a refund within 30 days. The absence of several crucial functions makes it far from the most budget-friendly choice.

About Support

For questions about PotatoVPN support, please contact them directly by email at support@potatovpn.com. Their friendly and knowledgeable support team is available to assist you with any issues you may be experiencing. They strive to respond to all inquiries as quickly as possible, usually within a few hours.

VPN Review: Final Statement 

To wrap up our PotatoVPN review, we can only suggest this service to those who value ease of use over advanced features.

If traffic encryption or selecting a location to access geoblocked content is your only concern, it performs impressively. Even if the bandwidth isn’t fast enough for 4K video, it could be enough for streaming on less crowded networks.

Split tunneling and a kill switch are standard tools, although they are missing from this one. Not only is IP and DNS leaking not an issue, but it also does not have the additional protocols and security precautions needed for oppressive regimes, spyware suppliers, and hostile networks. When it comes to VPNs, it’s simple and competent, but it’s not the greatest.