Turbo VPN Review – is it Safe in 2024

VPN services are designed to provide security and the ability to get freedom on the web space. The Internet environment is not very simple: we can meet some restrictions to get the desirable content or become victims of criminals who want to intercept users sensitive data.

Various providers possess distinctive security architectures, connection speeds, and other characteristics, which impact on the overall performance of the VPN. 

Many vendors offer free and paid versions of their products, and the gap in opportunities between these distributions differs individually for each provider. Our team is here with the main goal of providing a clear and meticulous representation of VPN’s free edition.

Our investigation is based on a thorough examination of the software, including aspects of security, anonymity, speed check, and other features. You will see on your own all the strong points and pitfalls of the current provider, and we hope this knowledge will help you.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Easy to launch
• Expanded ISO range
• User friendly interface
• Android and iOS apps have an ability to choose the protocol
• More flexible security options for the paid version
• Insignificant speed losses for Chrome extension

Cons

• MacOS app has only one default location for the free version
• Only two available locations for Windows
• IOS app has only one default location for the free version
• On Chrome works only one location from four available for the free version
• On Chrome works only one location from four available for the free version
• Little total amount of locations for iOS app
• 300 mb limitation of free daily traffic for macOS
• Collecting of the data
• The majority of features works only with paid subscription
• Any information about accessibility for countries with high restrictions on the web usage

Turbo VPN Features

As promoted on the official website, Turbo VPN is an enterprise with more than 21,000 servers in 50 countries. It assures a strict no-log policy, can keep connected up to five devices linked to one account, and promises private DNS and leak protection. 

AES-256 encryption, the IKEv1 and OpenVPN protocols, which are considered reliable technologies nowadays, accompany the workflow. The presence of a kill switch strengthens the safety capabilities, as does split tunneling technology. In addition, they affirm that will save you from ISP throttling.

Their applications have been issued for different platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, Android Lite, Chrome, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch.

The powers of the VPN described above are reserved for the paid version only. The free proposal from Turbo VPN is quite limited. Our examination will show the true state of affairs, and we will check all the specific features of the free version. 

Privacy and Logging

Their privacy policy page does not reject the fact that they collect some data. Here is the screenshot with the explanation.

Only one concern has appeared: what exact required data is collected? It is a too general sentence formulation for a privacy topic.

In contrast to the previous example, we found a clear piece of information about the data they do not assemble.

Clients can expect that names (including subscriber names, user names, and screen names), addresses (including residential addresses and business addresses), telephone numbers, and payment details are not collected.

In the description going further, there is structured information about the data being gathered.

During registration, your email will be collected for the purpose of communicating with you, sending updates and marketing ads.

As well, they collect the VPN locations you connected to, your country, and your internet service provider.

Under some specific conditions, your data may be disclosed to third parties.

Such operations often entail threats because you will never know when and to which organization your data will be transferred. Perhaps it will not cause any problems if the company wants to merge with another enterprise to conduct business on a larger scale. But in case of bankruptcy, who will guarantee that the customer database will not be sold to another company that does not have an attitude toward VPN but just needs to receive new clients’ details for its own interests?

However, the provider convinces that they do not share the data without your prior consent. But they did not mention if the application would function at all without consent.

Privacy policy page includes a children’s privacy section, which is an important aspect in terms of security.

We have a comment on this point. While we tested applications, we did not encounter any pop-up or other notification with the purpose of checking the customer’s age. We cannot formulate how they do the user’s age check. We would like to suggest them to make age validation clear and obvious. Now there is a feeling that the children’s privacy is only in the documentation and not implemented into applications.

It was a squiz of the most important messages from the Turbo VPN privacy policy page. The next sections contain technical aspects and the results of testing the software. 

Speed Tests – How Fast is Turbo VPN

We have conducted speed tests with the purpose of verifying the effect of the free Turbo VPN on the connection speed for various locations and exploring the available features for the unpaid plan. In our test, we generally take the USA location and a randomly selected country from the European region. 

We checked the VPN applications for distinctive platforms:

• Microsoft Windows;
• IOS
• MacOS;
• Android;
• Google Chrome extension.

The test is separated into three division:

• PC tests;
• Browsers’ extensions tests;
• Mobile tests.

PC Tests

The speed tests were run with a single ISP (internet service provider) both for macOS and Windows. We persistently do our job to provide you with the best and freshest news in the VPN area. Take advantage of the opportunity to use our experience with easy efforts and time wasting.

Windows
We chose locations of the United States and Germany for the current test. The first screenshot represents the initial ISP speed.

The indexes are:

• download speed is 88.7 mbps;
• upload speed is 71.44 mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms.

As it turned out, the speed limitation for a free version is too high. The peak speed is not bigger than 2 mbps either for the United States or Germany; therefore, the speed checker could not even measure the outcome.

It is an uncommon case in our testing practice when the application brings such low results. This speed is hardly suitable even for textual data. You can write down a request in a Google search and nothing more. Nevertheless, the page loading latency will be boring and long.

MacOS
The next test was processed on macOS, and this time we encountered another obstacle. 

The top image reflects the initial ISP speed. The indexes are:

• download speed is 77.4 mbps;
• upload speed is 89.2 mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms. 

The bottom image displays the VPN’s speed connected to the UK server.
The indexes are:

• download speed is 38.0 mbps;
• upload speed is 26.4 mbps;
• ping time is 43 ms.

We can not demonstrate the speed test for the US location because the macOS application has an extreme constraint on available locations for the free version. From the whole quantity of geos, you can not manually select any of them. Only the connection button is active, and it always attaches you to the UK server.

Browsers Extensions Test

Extension from Turbo VPN was issued only for the Google Chrome browser. The screenshot below shows the difference between the initial ISP speed and the speed with Turbo VPN connected to the US server.

The top image of the screenshot displays the pure ISP speed.

The indexes are:

• download speed is 74.99 mbps;
• upload speed is 77.85. mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms.

The bottom image displays the VPN’s speed connected to the US geo.
The indexes are:

• download speed is 66.35 mbps;
• upload speed is 56.29 mbps;
• ping time is 203 ms.

The US location shows insignificant losses: approximately 12% of the download speed and near 28% of the upload speed. Ping time has increased from 4 ms to 203 ms.

 We are not able to depict the achievements of the current VPN for another location because the extension has a serious bug. From four accessible locations in the free version, only one works. Each attempt to connect to another server fails every time. More verbose explication you may observe down in Browsers Extensions section. 

Mobile Test

The speed measurement was made on Android and iOS mobile devices. In the first order, we will show you Android’s achievements, then iOS’s.

Android

The indexes are:

• download speed is 81.1 mbps;
• upload speed is 83.8mbps;
• ping time is 2 ms.

The next image describes the speed stats for the UK and Germany locations

The first pair on the left shows the speed indexes for the UK location. The results are:

• download speed is 60.2 mbps;
• upload speed is 60 mbps;
• ping time is 42 ms.

The pair of images on the right displays the VPN’s speed connected to the German server.
The indexes are:

• download speed is 57.1 mbps;
• upload speed is 69.4 mbps;
• ping time is 41 ms. 

The UK server copes with the task with such losses: the download speed is about 26% lower, the upload speed is also about 26% lower, the ping time increased from 2 ms to 42 ms.

The German server also demonstrated similar losses: the download speed is about 30% lower, the upload speed is also about 15% lower, the ping time increased from 2 ms to 41 ms.

We would prefer to process one of the tests for the US location, however this geo is not available for the free version.

IOS
The first screenshot represents the pure ISP speed

The indexes are:

• download speed is 45.4 mbps;
• upload speed is 47.6 mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms.

We have planned to test two locations, but the app’s restrictions makes available only one auto location without a possibility to select it manually. Each time you connect, the server is always Germany’s. Hence the speed test is only one.

The indexes are:

• download speed is 38.0  mbps;
• upload speed is 43.8 mbps;
• ping time is 33 ms.

Speed losses are very moderate: the download speed is nearly 16 % lower, the upload speed is about 8 % lower, ping time has risen from 4 ms to 33ms.

About Safety – How Secure is Turbo VPN

The promo text on the website states that Tubo VPN is equipped with two very secured protocols, and includes a kill switch technology in addition.

But all these bonuses are featured only for the paid version. In a free mode, protocol has been chosen automatically, and there is no information on the website what the protocol is utilized for an unpaid plan. 

The encryption standard 256-bit AES is applied in their system. This type of protection is a very secure protocol among protective technologies.

Relying on former experience with this provider we can not affirm that exactly this encryption is also assigned as well for the free version. The monitoring of the official website did not reveal any information about this point. 

This organization is an adherent of no-log policy and expresses this on their site.

Some VPNs that are not stuck to a no-log policy collect plenty of user’s information. They know your IP address, websites you visit and much more. So we appreciate that current provider concern about clients’ privacy rights. 

In summary, we want to say that Turbo VPN possesses a bunch of terrific security options. Unfortunately the users of the free plan will not be able to use the whole scope of it. Their free products are not armed with top-notch security measures.

Desktop Apps

Applications for Windows and macOS have similar designs with minor differences. On the left part, there is a location bar; on the right, there is a connection status bar with a play/pause button and a timer.

Now let’s monitor applications one by one, and the first will be for macOS.

MacOS

The below screenshot will present you with the interface of the app.

The location bar consists of two tabs: ‘Location’ and ‘Special’. We were curious what this “Special” tab was for, its purpose is very unclear; there is no additional data within this tab to describe its destination. There are 19 locations distributed in 11 regions, and just think what to do with them. We wish the designers of the app would improve some user experience (UX) components to improve the orientation of the functionality. Nevertheless, we found an answer while testing the Android app and will explain it further within the “Mobile Apps” section. 

As it is clearly seen, the daily traffic limit for the free version is 300 mb, which is a very stingy amount for today’s needs. The window has 4 main interactive elements: 

• a play/pause button; 
• a profile icon; 
• a settings icon; 
• a home screen icon.

The settings icon encloses security options where you can select the desired protocol, turn on/off the kill switch, or choose wifi protection status.

As well, all these security add-ons are available only for the premium subscription plan. There is no flexibility in the free version.

In total, the macOS app rings 38 countries with 46 locations. The giant drawback of this app is that you have no option to select any of the geos to connect to in the free version. Only one single case is possible: push the play/pause button, and you will be connected each time to the German server.

To unlock all the locations, it is required to purchase a premium plan. Here is what you will see if you select the location manually.

Summing up the facts, the app provides the tiny benefit of a free version. The premium subscription crucially extends the capabilities of consumers who are ready to pay.

Windows

The application developed for the Microsoft enterprise embodies a more informative interface and a wider range of accessible features for the free version.

On the right bar, the application contains data about the connected server and the speed rates, which does not have the macOS app in its turn. 

28 countries and 38 locations are at the disposal of the Windows’s app. 4 locations are being opened for the free version, but the speed limit is so low that it is no matter how many locations are available. You can see from the screenshot above that the permissible peak speed is 2 mbps. Let us think about what to do with such lightning speed. Shutting down an app will be the best decision.

The settings tab is still filled with flexible security options that are also paid. Windows’s app contains a split tunneling option, unlike macOS, and it is under the paid plan. As a supplementary thing, developers add here a built-in speed tester that shows approximately 40% higher results than our verified tester that we always use.

Mobile Apps

Turbo VPN has produced software for two popular platforms: iOS and Android. How about looking at what we have explored?

Android
Application is simple to install and possesses a clear and intuitive design.

There are four interactive elements: 

• turn-on/off button; 
• burger menu icon; 
• location icon;  
• premium subscription icon. 

The free version imposes third-party ads, and sometimes they are longer than 30 seconds.

45 countries with 64 locations are ready for use in the app. But only two locations are free for the unpaid version: the German and UK.

We have promised to explain the purpose of the “Special” tab inside the location’s bar; the user experience interface here is better than on macOS, and it is evident from the first glance why it’s needed.

Every location is optimized for a specific product. As we can see, most of them are built for games.

Settings menu is decent and filled with flexible security options. It is pleasant to emphasize that you have the ability to select the protocol in the free version.

Split tunnelling option is also available for the Android application.

Turbo VPN managed to create more possibilities for the free Android version. Easy set-up protocols and a split tunneling switcher for free make the app much more attractive than its desktop siblings. The test speed also demonstrated low speed losses. The negative point is that only two locations are useful for free.

IOS

Application for iOS has the same design as for Android and functionality too. You can control the protocols for free, the switch killer option is absent, and the smart DNS function is available in the premium version. The total volume of locations is shortened several times compared to the Android app — only 8 countries and 9 locations. 

By the way, all the locations are disabled for the free version. It realise connection each time to the German server.

Browser Extensions

Google Chrome browser obtained the Turbo VPN extension; other browsers did not receive it.

Visual interface is quite simple and has three interactive elements: 

• burger menu icon; 
• a turn-on/off button; 
• location icon.

The biggest amount of geos among all applications considered in the review are in the extension—124 locations. For free usage, only 4 are available, but only one really works.

When you select another one and try to connect, the turn-on/off button blinks for a second and nothing happens.

Under the burger menu icon, there is no settings page, hence no chance to configure security how you want.

Performance

The overall performance of the free version leaves much to be desired. Windows app has only 4 available and working locations. Only one geolocation is free for iOS and MacOS, and two locations are free for Android.

On Windows’s app the speed was so low that the speed checker even could not measure it. MacOS app showed moderate speed rates; Chrome’s extension went ahead in terms of speed and appears to be the fastest among our experiments. Android app immediately goes after the browser’s extension, and the iOS app demonstrated an average outcome.

Work in Highly Restricted Countries

The website and applications do not contain any information about this query.

Server’s locations

The website represents information about 47 countries divided into 4 regions:

• the USA;
• Europe;
• Asia Pacific;
• Middle East & Africa

The applications have different amounts of locations;

• MasOS app contains 38 countries with 46 locations; 
• Windows’s app includes 28 countries and 38 locations; 
• Android app has 45 countries with 64 locations; 
• iOS encompassess 8 countries and 9 locations;
• Chrome’s extension offers +30 countries with 124 locations.

The variety of servers’ locations is rich enough except for the iOS app, but the free versions of Turbo VPN software for all platforms have very poor location selection. Almost all content around the world is achievable if the premium version is your choice. 

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

Paid version opens all the available locations, keeps 5 devices connected simultaneously, and removes speed restrictions. On the macOS app you may see such a pop-up.

A 7-day free trial period was predefined by the provider of services for the macOS app. To remind you that the free plan for the macOS app has a limitation of 300 mb per day, the premium edition gives you unlimited bandwidth. $59.99 is the price per year.

The iOS free trial period is twice shorter, and the subscription price is the same.

And here is the price list from the website.

There are 4 paid plans with various conditions. If you order the 24-month plan, then the price for a month will be $4.17. They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee that in case you are not satisfied with the service.

About Support

Their website claims that the support service works 24/7. We were not checking them for 24 hours, just sent an email. They answered us in eight hours.

Also, they have a live chat bot on their website with a list of common questions.

Turbo VPN Review: Final verdict

The bottom line for this vendor will not be long and verbose. The aim of our company is to make a clear and true point of view about free VPNs. In this case, it is obviously clear that Turbo VPN is a very unsuitable variant as a free service. There are so many boundaries for all issued apps that their utilization reaches the highest degree of inconvenience. 

If you consider the paid plan, then this provider may give you profound opportunities to access admirable content at a good speed and to protect your privacy with qualified tools.