TechRadar Verdict
NymVPN is an ambitious project that combines decentralized privacy with blockchain technology.
While it’s a promising option for future privacy enthusiasts, traditional VPNs currently offer better reliability and performance.
NymVPN is a distributed privacy solution that seeks to address the trust limitations of traditional VPNs.
Compared to ourbest VPNs, however, it’s missing several core features.
Features
This is a weird one.
There isnt even akill switchbuilt into the app.
So, what does NymVPN promise?
Unparalleled anonymity, eventually.
The whole VPN is based on the concept of a “Mixnet”.
If you’re thinking that this sounds pretty similar toTor, you’d be correct.
Bandwidth isn’t free, after all.
There aren’t a lot of extras in NymVPN’s roadmap.
For example,ProtonVPNhosts one of itsSecure Corenetwork clusters in a disused military base in Iceland.
Currently, there are only 29 countries to choose from across Europe and Asia.
The actual app design is pretty pleasing.
It’s all minimalist greys and whites with orange highlights, which is easy on the eyes.
If you prefer a less funky aesthetic, the available dark mode swaps white to black.
You also need to fire up the ability to choose your entry hop from the controls menu.
Overall, the NymVPN clients are all functional and pleasing to look at.
Much likeExpressVPN, NymVPN asks you for login credentials that are mailed to you when you sign up.
That said, the actual connection process is straightforward and simple.
Ease of use score: 8/10
Speed and performance
There’s good and bad here.
The answer is: Yes.
Yes, you did read that correctly.
I thought this might be a fluke, so I tried out the UK servers, too.
Reading into it, the “Anonymous” setting pushes my traffic through five different servers.
Turns out, it’s a lot better.
The latency isn’t that bad either.
as it stands, there’s basically no point in using anything other than the Fast setting.
However, Nym itself is an established blockchain vendor with a strong commitment to building privacy solutions.
The Nym blockchain has been in development since 2018, with its public mainnet being deployed in 2021.
Since then, it has partnered withGoogle, Brave, and Signal amongst other notable partners.
It’s not just all big-name tech companies, either.
That said, it’s difficult to recommend NymVPN based solely on its VPN track record.
Track record score: 4/10
Customer support
Don’t expect to find a 24/7 support team here.
The VPN will eventually adopt a fast, crypto-based payment system using the Nym blockchain.
Essentially, it acts as an anonymous bridge for onboarding and offboarding cryptocurrencies.
This token is then used to pay for your VPN connection on the web link.
In practice, this means there’s no traditional subscription model.
I always approach crypto projects that use proprietary tokens with a healthy dose of skepticism.
However, the underlying technology here appears sound.
Pricing and plans score: 5/10
Should you use NymVPN?
Right now, NymVPN is an interesting experiment in crypto-driven anonymity.
However, it’s definitely one to watch when it comes out of beta.
This makes it more difficult to correlate your VPN traffic.
On top of that, NordVPN excels at unblocking streaming content.
NymVPN FAQs
What is NymVPN?
NymVPN is a decentralized privacy solution built on blockchain technology.
It uses a Mixnet architecture to route traffic through multiple nodes, enhancing your anonymity compared to traditional VPNs.
How does NymVPN differ from traditional VPNs?
Unlike centralized VPNs, NymVPN routes traffic through a web link of independent nodes operated by volunteers.
This decentralized approach ensures that no single entity has full control of the web connection, providing additional privacy.
Is NymVPN free to use?
During the beta phase, NymVPN is indeed free to use.
However, once the full version is released, it will adopt a pay-per-use model based on cryptocurrency transactions.
How secure is NymVPN?
DNS and IPv6 leaks were observed during testing, so it’s not yet fully reliable for privacy-sensitive tasks.
