CactusVPN Review 2023: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Fast on Nearby Servers but Not With Distant Servers

CactusVPN maintained fast speeds on nearby servers, but this wasn’t the case with servers further away. Even then, the speeds on all the servers I tested were fast enough for streaming in HD, torrenting speedily, and playing online games.

Speed Test Results

With a base internet speed of 23.58Mbps, I began my tests. During testing, CactusVPN servers gave me an average speed of 12.21Mbps — a 48% drop in internet speed. My download speed was 21.16Mbps with the US server, 18.04Mbps with the UK server, and 14.81Mbps with the Canadian server. Given the small network, these speeds were pretty good.

Japan was the farthest server from my location and saw a speed of about 7Mbps — a 70% drop in my speed. This didn’t surprise me as it’s not unusual for a server so far away to have such a significant drop in speed.

The upload speeds dropped significantly during my tests. I got an average of 1Mbps on a 14Mbps base internet upload speed. While my overall speeds were good, it is worth noting that I experienced significantly high ping on just about every connection, which means that you can expect a decent bit of latency.

Is CactusVPN Fast Enough for Gaming? Yes!

CactusVPN is fast for gaming if you’re using nearby servers. I got upload speeds roughly above 2Mbps on most servers except for the server in Japan, which was around 1Mbps. These speeds are enough for playing most online multiplayer games. But latency also matters. Only the nearby servers provided latency close to the acceptable requirement of 100ms or less for online games.

When I connected to nearby servers in the Netherlands and the UK, I was able to play Mini Royale on my PC, and I didn’t experience any lags while I played the game. Keep in mind that the recommended requirements for playing online multiplayer games are upload speeds of 3Mbps and an optimum latency between 20ms and 40ms. Unfortunately, CactusVPN doesn’t come anywhere near these figures. While my experience was free from lag, that may not be the case for everyone, as I saw latency ranging from 100-400ms while connected to the VPN.

For a VPN that can deliver stellar online gaming performance with low latency, I suggest you check out ExpressVPN. Its upload speeds and ping match or even come in better than the recommended figures and make it the best for online multiplayer games.

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Server Network — 35+ Servers in 20+ Countries

CactusVPN offers a small network of 39 VPN servers in 22 countries. The servers are currently only available in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Europe has the largest coverage with 13 server locations. North America follows with 9 server locations, while Asia-Pacific has just 6 server locations. There are no servers in Africa and the Middle East.

Connections to the servers are steady and usually take about 5 seconds. Also, a tab on the app allows you to sort out the server locations with the fastest speeds depending on the proximity to your location.

CactusVPN makes use of leased servers from the likes of Digital Ocean and Choopa. The servers provide shared IP addresses from data centers around the world. But using leased servers means lesser security compared to fully-owned servers. This is because the data center providers may install trackers without the knowledge of the VPN that could potentially log users’ information.

CactusVPN makes use of a mix of geo-located and virtual servers. For instance, the server in France is a virtual server (the actual server is a server in the UK). The VPN offers specialized servers for P2P but none optimized for streaming. Each server in the network doubles as a free proxy server that you can use for any purpose.

In comparison to CactusVPN, Cyberghost offers a larger geographical range. There are over 9736 VPN servers located in 91+ countries, so nearly everyone will be able to find an option that is convenient for them.

Security — Offers Military-Grade Security

As with most VPN providers, CactusVPN also guarantees the highest level of security and protection. The following features make it a promising security product:

• Multiple protocol options – CactusVPN comes with 7 different VPN protocols: OpenVPN (TCP & UDP), Wireguard, SSTP, SoftEther, IKEv2, L2TP/IPSec, and PPTP. For iOS and macOS, OpenVPN isn’t supported. So, you’ll have to make do with the similarly secure IKEv2 protocol.
• Industry-Standard Protection – For most protocols, CactusVPN uses AES 256-bit encryption with SHA512 HMAC authentication, providing a secure means of data exchange. You are also able to select encryption levels between 128 bits to 256 bits for L2TP/IPsec.
• Perfect Forward Secrecy – This technique involves periodically changing the private key for data encryption. This way, even if a hacker somehow gets hold of your private key, they won’t have access to other sessions of your communication, thereby keeping your data safe.
• SmartDNS – Smart DNS allows you to change your geolocation in order to access content that isn’t available in your country. You will be able to enjoy streaming media at a faster speed because the data is not encrypted.
• Internet Kill Switch – This feature keeps your online activity secure if your VPN connection is suddenly interrupted. It doesn’t come pre-activated so you have to go to settings to activate it.
• App Killer – It prevents access to certain applications that use internet service in the background when the VPN connection is interrupted.
• DNS leak protection. CactusVPN’s DNS leak protection ensures that your internet activities are protected at all times. The feature is enabled by default, with the option to use Cloudflare, OpenDNS, Google, or CactusVPN servers.

Moreover, I was pleased that CactusVPN completely masked my IP address and DNS information during my tests. Also, no viruses or malware were detected on the VPN’s app when I ran it through VirusTotal and Exodus.

CactusVPN also supports routing your data through TCP Port 443. This is the port used for HTTPS traffic. With this, your data is protected from governments, censors, and hackers. Using this port means that your traffic won’t appear as a VPN connection.

Privacy — No Logs but No Third-Party Audits

CactusVPN boasts a no-logs guaranteed policy, putting them on par with big-name VPN providers. According to the company, it doesn’t log IP addresses, traffic logs, connection timestamps, used bandwidth, or session duration information that could be linked to an individual.

However, after reaching out to customer support, I learned that CactusVPN has never had an official audit of its no-logs guarantee. Without an official audit, there isn’t a guarantee that CactusVPN is upholding its no-logs policy.

CactusVPN is based in Moldova — a privacy-friendly jurisdiction. Moldova isn’t part of the EU or any of the 5/9/14 Eyes data-sharing alliances or groups like SIGINT that compel VPN providers to share data with governments for surveillance. Moldova also has data protection legislation (similar to GDPR) that ensures that the data of its citizens are protected.

As I read further into CactusVPN’s policy, I found a disturbing provision that allows CactusVPN to cooperate with the government to share your personal (not VPN activity) data during any legal processes, court orders, and subpoenas. Further complicating matters, the service moved its legal jurisdiction to Canada in 2016, known for its extensive surveillance policies.

When I asked customer support about this, an employee told me CactusVPN does not maintain logs and that if anyone wanted to access its data legally, the service would have little to disclose. Even so, I found the wording here to be worrying. Independent privacy audits would make the service’s claims more verifiable.

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Torrenting — Torrenting Supported on a Few Servers

Torrenting is possible on limited servers indicated as P2P on the server drop-down menu. These servers are in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Latvia, Romania, and Malaysia.

With most P2P servers located in Europe and only 1 in Asia, you may experience slow speeds if you’re far from these locations. Also, since CactusVPN offers only a handful of P2P servers, speeds could drop during peak hours as the servers get overcrowded. For testing purposes, I downloaded a 700MB public domain torrent in less than 20 minutes.

CactusVPN offers the necessary features for safe torrenting. Its no-logs policy, automatic kill-switch, fast speeds, and DNS leak protection make it a torrent-friendly VPN. Remember that torrenting with the Smart DNS feature will expose your identity. So, always use the VPN servers if you want to torrent safely.

My team and I don’t condone illegal torrenting, so check the rules and regulations in your country and ensure the torrents you download are copyright-free.

Does CactusVPN Work in China? Yes!

I was pleased to learn that CactusVPN works in China. Since I don’t live in China, I couldn’t personally test the VPN there. However, CactusVPN support confirmed to me that its VPN works there.

The VPN has technologies in place for its VPN to work in China. Firstly, the TCP 443 port encrypts your VPN traffic, and with its obfuscation technology, you can connect with inaccessible content you’ve paid for when visiting the country. Also, the VPN provides a detailed setup guide for OpenVPN and SoftEther protocol that works efficiently in China.

While you should exercise caution when using a VPN within China’s borders, you are unlikely to face prosecution. So far, there have been no cases of the Chinese government going after foreigners because they use VPNs. The Chinese government typically blocks VPNs through technology rather than pursuing users.

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Simultaneous Device Connections — Unlimited Connections

CactusVPN allows you to use its services on any number of devices simultaneously. This was great news since most smaller, and even top-name VPNs, have limits on how many devices you can connect.

However, if you’re connecting with some protocols like PPTP, L2TP, IKEv2, and WireGuard, the limit is one connection per subscription per VPN server. To bypass this, you can choose other protocols like OpenVPN and SoftEther on your other devices if you exceed the number of server connections. I connected my Android phone, 2 Windows PCs, an iPhone, and a smart TV during my tests.

CactusVPN frowns upon sharing your subscription with people outside of your household. So, you would be infringing on its terms of use if you share your account with friends.

Device Compatibility — Works on Multiple Platforms

CactusVPN works with most popular devices. It has VPN apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV. It also supports browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

Additionally, the VPN offers manual configurations using OpenVPN, SoftEther, Wireguard, and more. You can use this setup for Linux (Ubuntu), Roku, Chromebook, Boxee Box, and Routers. In addition, you can configure the Smart DNS service on more devices like PlayStation, Xbox, Samsung TV, Apple TV, NOW TV Box, and LG TV.

CactusVPN supports DD-WRT, ASUS, Mikrotik, D-Link, TP-Link, Linksys, Tomato, Tenda, and OpenWRT routers. With a wide array of device compatibility, CactusVPN offers you flexibility in using its features.

Ease of Setup & Installation — Easy and User-Friendly

CactusVPN has a straightforward installation and uninstallation process. It has detailed setup guides for all types of devices on the website support page. CactusVPN features an intuitive, user-friendly app that’s similar across popular operating systems.

There are 4 tabs within the CactusVPN app — VPN service, smart DNS, Settings, and App Killer. The VPN service features the server list in a drop-down list which you can scroll through and connect with, while the Smart DNS tab allows you to enable and disable the Smart DNS service. The settings tab allows you to make flexible changes to how the service should work, and the app killer allows you to select which apps to close when the VPN connection drops.

The Windows app has its default protocol set to SSTP, while the iOS and Mac apps use IKEv2. One flaw with the app is that it lacks a search bar where you can search for a server. That said, CactusVPN features a really neat interface that I found easy to use.

Steps to Installing CactusVPN on Windows

CactusVPN offers a wide range of support options that are helpful and informative. The VPN has efficient live chat support, a ticketing system, messenger, email support, FAQs, a learning center, and a setup tutorials page.

The live chat option is only available on weekdays. The typical wait time for your turn is less than a minute. The wait time during peak European hours can sometimes be as long as two minutes.

If you submit a support ticket outside of office hours, it will take 8-10 hours to get a reply. You can expect a response from customer service within an hour during business hours. Ticket statuses are displayed on the My Account dashboard in the dedicated tickets section.

The learning center, setup guides, and FAQs are pretty detailed and offer helpful step-by-step guides to help you resolve issues smoothly. That’s especially true when you use manual protocol setups.

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