VSVPNScorecard
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Windscribe

Flexible Canadian VPN with a real free tier and open-source apps.

windscribe.com ↗
90/100Overall score
Jurisdiction
Canada (five eyes)
Founded
2016
Owner
Windscribe Limited
Best price
$5.75/mo
Devices
unlimited
Free tier
Yes
Privacy69
Security100
Transparency100
Ethics100

Best for

  • · Free-tier users
  • · Tinkerers (Build-a-Plan, custom configs)
  • · Open-source advocates on a budget

Not ideal for

  • · Those needing a privacy-friendly jurisdiction (Canada is 5 Eyes)
  • · Anyone wanting a long refund window

Strengths

  • ✓Genuine free tier (10GB/mo with email)
  • ✓Fully open-source apps on GitHub
  • ✓Independently audited VPN stack (Packetlabs 2024)
  • ✓Flexible 'Build a Plan' pricing and unlimited devices

Weaknesses

  • ✗Canada is a core 5 Eyes member
  • ✗Only a 3-day refund window
  • ✗Retains monthly bandwidth totals to enforce data caps

Protocols & encryption

The tunnelling protocols this service offers and the cryptography behind them.

WireGuard

Modern

A modern, lean protocol (~4,000 lines of code) that is fast and easy to audit. Its cryptography is fixed and state-of-the-art, with no weak options to misconfigure.

Data cipher
ChaCha20-Poly1305
Key exchange
Curve25519 (ECDH)
Integrity
BLAKE2s

OpenVPN

Trusted

The mature, widely-trusted open-source standard. Flexible and heavily audited over two decades, though slower than WireGuard.

Data cipher
AES-256-GCM
Key exchange
RSA-4096 / ECDH
Integrity
SHA-256 / SHA-512 HMAC

IKEv2 / IPsec

Trusted

A fast, stable protocol that reconnects quickly when you change networks, so it is popular on mobile. Built natively into most operating systems.

Data cipher
AES-256-GCM
Key exchange
Diffie-Hellman (ECP)
Integrity
SHA-256 / SHA-384
This provider's setup
Stated data cipher
ChaCha20 / AES-256
Stated handshake
Curve25519 / RSA-4096
Perfect forward secrecy
Yes
Post-quantum resistant
Yes
RAM-only servers
Unknown
Kill switch
Yes
First-party DNS (leak protection)
Yes
IPv6
Unknown

Post-quantum: WireGuard connections are post-quantum resistant: the WireGuard pre-shared key is delivered over TLS 1.3 using the hybrid X25519MLKEM768 key exchange (ML-KEM-768). Rolled out Oct 2025 (Desktop 2.17.9, Android 3.93.1835, iOS 3.9.4); enabled per-device after logging out/in on the WireGuard protocol.

Full data sheet

Every attribute we track, coloured by whether it helps or hurts your privacy.

Company & jurisdiction
Based inCanada
Eyes alliance5 Eyes
Enemy of the InternetNo
OwnerWindscribe Limited
Conglomeraten/a
Founded2016
Logging
Traffic / activityNone kept
DNS requestsNone kept
TimestampsSome
BandwidthSome
Source IP addressNone kept

Keeps no IP or traffic logs; retains total monthly bandwidth (to enforce data caps) and a timestamp of last activity.

Payment & anonymity
Anonymous signupYes
Accepts cashNo
Accepts cryptoYes
PGP keyUnknown
Protocols & features
OpenVPNYes
WireGuardYes
Proprietary protocoln/a
Multi-hopUnknown
ObfuscationYes
Kill switchYes
First-party DNSYes
RAM-only serversUnknown
Port forwardingUnknown
P2P / torrentingUnknown
IPv6Unknown
Encryption
Data cipherChaCha20 / AES-256
HandshakeCurve25519 / RSA-4096
Transparency
Open-source clientsYes, all apps
Independent audits3
Transparency reportYes
Court / seizure-testedUnknown
Infrastructure
Simultaneous devicesUnlimited
Countries69
Serversn/a
Linux supportGUI app
Pricing
Month-to-month$9.00
Best $/mo$5.75
On planannual (Pro)
Free trialn/a
Refund window3 days
Free tierYes
Ethics
Logging policyConsistent
Marketing honestyNo overclaiming

Independent audits

  • Packetlabs· 2024 · FreshScribe VPN stack
  • Leviathan Security· 2022 · Android + iOS apps
  • Leviathan Security· 2021 · desktop app

A 2021 incident saw two servers seized in Ukraine; Windscribe responded by hardening server security and rolling out its FreshScribe stack.

Sources

Last verified 2026-06-17. Point-in-time data, so always confirm on the provider's own site.

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