VPN Client for macOS Review 2024: Is It Worth Buying?

Excellent Performance Across All Servers

I was quite satisfied with what VPN Client for Mac has to offer in terms of speeds. The speed of this VPN has been consistently impressive over the duration of my use, so I have no hesitation recommending it in terms of connectivity, download, and upload speeds. There were no noticeable speed drops either for short or long-distance connections.

Speed Test Results

VPN Client for Mac doesn’t have a large network, but it will meet your needs if you are looking for a fast internet connection. After connecting to VPN Client and testing a variety of servers, I observed an average speed degradation of 27% to 38%. While the average upload speed was also satisfactory, the latency was disappointingly high.

My home network measured 37.49Mbps prior to testing the VPN. After that, I connected to a server in Denver to determine the performance impact a small distance would have on my connection speeds. However, my local connection speed only declined by 27%.

I then connected to an Australian server, which was the most distant server from where I was located. Compared to the speed of my network, the speed drop was quite small. I also noticed that the speed was slightly below what I got while connected to the Denver server. This is impressive as many VPNs often see performance impacts of over 50% on distant connections.

As far as performance is concerned, the US server came out on top, followed by one in Australia. Spain and the UK retained 62% and 70% of my benchmark speed, respectively. Despite these high speeds, I wouldn’t recommend this VPN for intensive tasks where reaction time matters, such as in an online game. This is because VPN Client had poor latency across the board with distant connections seeing ping of over 400ms in some instances.

VPNs with more powerful and extensive server networks have faster speeds and low ping regardless of the servers’ location. That’s why I prefer using ExpressVPN if I’m streaming, gaming, or video chatting. In my experience, ExpressVPN has one of the speediest server networks and very low ping.

Server Network — Small Provider, Small Network

VPN Client for Mac maintains a small network of servers with a little over 90 servers spread out over 58 countries around the world. Considering other top VPNs have thousands of servers around the globe, this is an extremely limited network. It is likely that individual servers will be congested during times of high-volume traffic given the company’s small server network.

Fortunately, a helpful icon displayed next to each server shows how close it is to get overcrowded. This feature helped me avoid network slowdowns by staying away from servers that were already full of users.

VPN Client offers a “Personal VPN” option, allowing you to rent a server for an additional fee. Data limits range from 1TB to unlimited depending on your price plan, and you set up your location and features through the VPN Client website. Being able to rent a dedicated server has lots of advantages. For one, you know that it will never get crowded and slow down because you’ll be the only one using it. You also avoid the potential “bad neighbor effect” — when other subscribers utilize the same server as you for illegal activities. However, many reputable VPNs offer dedicated servers along with a host of features that VPN Client lacks — and they’re not limited to macOS devices. In addition to this, the provider offers servers that are optimized for P2P file sharing.

What struck me as odd about VPN Client’s server menu is the approach to displaying individual cities rather than countries. Most VPNs will only let you select a region, while the exact location is chosen at random for you. This is a nice feature if you’re interested in specifics, but it can be annoying to sift through such a long list of options.

In my tests, I had difficulty changing locations when I used the IPSEC iKEv2 protocol. Every time I tried to connect to an alternate server, I was automatically reconnected to the server I was originally connected to. The issue was resolved after switching to OpenVPN, as I was able to change servers quickly and without difficulty. That said, I liked that you don’t have to scroll through the entire list to find a fast server — VPN Client connects you to the fastest location automatically using the “Optimal VPN” function.

Security — Disappointing Lack of Features

Sadly, VPN Client has a minuscule selection of security features. There is no information available that confirms what level of encryption this app uses. It offers 2 tunneling protocol: IPSec iKEv2 and OpenVPN. OpenVPN is an industry-standard protocol that ensures your data stays secure. But having that protocol isn’t enough to call a VPN safe. While it is likely that VPN Client makes use of military-grade AES-256 bit encryption, not being able to say so for certain is a big downside.

It advertises the use of Perfect Forward Secrecy — a process that ensures each new browsing session uses different encryption keys. However, there is no way to test this fact, so I can’t say that it works with certainty.

VPN Client also lacks a kill switch, which is a feature that disconnects your device from the internet if your VPN network connection drops unexpectedly, preventing your private data from leaking. This is an important fail-safe and it’s dissapointing that VPN Client doesn’t have it as it’s another common security measure among competitors.

Split tunneling is another security bonus VPN Client doesn’t offer. With this feature, you can use specific apps over your regular network while masking your other activities with the VPN’s network. Online banking apps, for example, may lock you out of your account if they detect a sign-in from another location. If you don’t want headaches or your IP address compromised, split tunneling is ideal.

Despite these setbacks, VPN Client did pass my DNS leak tests. Utilizing ipleak.net, I tested seven different servers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and Romania. This service checked my connection for faults and leaks but found none.

Even so, I would not recommend using it if you want to secure your personal data while banking, torrenting, or if you want more security measures for your online activities. With no kill-switch, it is entirely possible that your IP address could be leaked in the event of a server outage or break in connection.

Privacy — No-Log Policy but No Third-Party Audits

Nektony Ltd, VPN Client’s parent company, states in their privacy policy that they only log traffic to the website. This is for analytics, marketing, and user statistics. The policy also states that some personal information provided when users register with the service is collected for refund and customer support purposes, but your password is encrypted, so no one but you will have access to your account. No logs are kept regarding user activities while the VPN client software is enabled.

While I was pleased with this approach to privacy, I dug further into VPN Client and discovered that this policy has never been tested, and the servers haven’t been audited by independent third parties. Since this can’t be verified, I’m a tad wary, as VPN services in the past have stated one thing about their practices and done another.

For assured privacy, I look to ExpressVPN as an example that has undergone third party audits, all of which have proven its authenticity. Law enforcement investigations have also confirmed the fact that ExpressVPN doesn’t log any private information on its users.

Torrenting — Supported but Not A Safe Choice

Torrenting is allowed, but it is limited to three servers (Romania, France, and Canada). You may experience slow speeds and server congestion during peak hours due to the limited number of P2P-supporting servers. The absence of a kill switch and other safety measures that allow for safer torrenting is another glaring pitfall.

If you want to torrent anything, research your area and find information that substantiates the content is in the public domain. Make sure you follow your local laws before engaging in P2P file-sharing.

Does VPN Client for MacOS Work in China? Unconfirmed

VPN Client has servers in China and claims that the VPN will work there for all users. I don’t reside in China, so I reached out to customer support to confirm this fact. Despite reaching out more than once, I had a lot of difficulty getting through and I never heard anything back from the company. I can’t verify that the application will work, so I can’t recommend this VPN to Chinese users or those traveling abroad.

ExpressVPN is worth looking into if you need a VPN that will work in China. You’ll have access to fast servers and many top security features. This way, you can still use the streaming services you have paid for and conduct yourself online as normal without internet censorship hindering you.

Please note that the protection of a VPN doesn’t give you license to commit illegal acts, so please exercise a basic level of caution when using a VPN in China.

Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.

The customer support that is available is very disappointing. VPN Client for macOS claims that they respond to inquiries within 2 hours, so I was expecting to have a quick reply. Instead, I did not get a response at all!

I tried several times to contact them via their support tickets on the website, but every time I pressed send an error message popped up stating that there was a problem and to try again later. I later succeeded in resending my messages using the contact feature of the VPN client. Unfortunately, I never received any response to my messages even after a couple of days.

The only form of customer support I was able to get was through the FAQs section and the blog available on the VPN Client website. Some of my questions were answered, but I had no way of confirming these answers, or inquiring further on specific topics. Lack of customer support is discouraging, and it’s this weakness that keeps me from recommending VPN Client for macOS.