Cactus VPN Reviews

CactusVPN – Features,Pricing & Advantages

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp

CactusVPN

Want to get a reliable VPN service? I know it isn’t easy, but it is also possible. You probably have not heard about CactusVPN, and even if you did, you must be unsure of coming here. But worry not, we are reviewed the CactusVPN, and here is what we have found. 

Cactus VPN

What is CactusVPN?

CactusVPN is a fast VPN provider that sets a secure internet connection on your device and encrypts your data to protect your online identity and privacy.

Here is what CactusVPN offers –
  • Hide IP address
  • Secure your data on Private and Public Wi-Fi network
  • Stop intruders from sniffing your sensitive data
  • Torrent worry-free

The users less know CactusVPN due to its small server network and popularity.

Features of CactusVPN

Privacy

CactusVPN supports AES-256 encryption on all the plans, and you need not worry about privacy because AES-256 encryption is an industry standard used by almost all the top VPN apps. The AES-256 encryption is not only difficult but impossible to break by the government or any intruders.
Adding more to privacy, CactusVPN also has a kill switch that cut-off the internet connection when the connection with VPN has been abruptly lost. This is because a VPN acts as a shield and protects your real identity from the online world. But if the connection with VPN is lost abruptly, the shield no longer protects your online identity, and it is revealed online. This is not a good case when you are torrenting or doing secret anonymously. To avoid this, the kills switch suspends the internet itself and protects your real identity.
CactusVPN also achieves privacy by hiding your IP address or masking it with a new one. This avoids tracing, and your IP address is also the identity of your network, which can later be used to identify your real identity. By masking your IP address, CactusVPN also allows you to access geo-restricted content while your real identity is protected.

Logging Policy

CactusVPN does not log any of your information or data that can be shared with third-parties. They have a strict no-logging policy making it one of the friendly VPN apps. As a user, you need to be concerned about what data is being stored at which server and how it is being utilized.
We dug the privacy policy to know what type of data is stored or managed by the CactusVPN server that belongs to the user.

The privacy policy/terms of service guarantee that they strictly follow a no-logging policy. In addition to this statement, they notify users about not storing any personally identifiable information or any other data other than the account details. 

Here is what they do not store –

  • IP addresses
  • Traffic logs
  • Connection timestamps
  • Used bandwidth
  • Session duration information

You can be assured with CactusVPN not storing any of your personal information or data. But, they still keep your Email id in an encrypted format for login, account management, and promotional offer purposes. 

Support

We love CactusVPN’s support section, and several reasons will make you feel the same too.

At first, we have the Setup tutorials; these are the visual guides made explicitly for the user to understand how to set up the VPN on multiple devices. 

You will find here visual guides for, 

  • Windows
  • mac OS
  • IOS
  • Android
  • Android TV
  • Fire TV
  • Chrome Browser
  • Firefox Browser

These visual setup guides discuss how to set up CactusVPN on your devices and discuss how to install VPN, Smart DNS, Proxy, and how to set up your account. The guides also include additional devices such as PlayStation, Linux, Smart TVs, Routers, and many more. 

Secondly, we have the FAQ section that answers simple questions among the users and affiliate clients. These include questions like what is CactusVPN, Am I eligible for a refund policy, and more. 

We then have the learning section on the support page that helps you with detailed articles about online security, privacy, and Smart DNS. The Smart DNS feature is used to access restricted websites by overriding geo-restrictions. 

You can also use the How-to start guides to know what a VPN is and how to get started with the CactusVPN app. If your queries are unanswered, you can mail them to the support team using the contact form, and they will get back to you shortly. 

Streaming

Yes, you can stream on CactusVPN, and they claim to have unblocked 340+ geo-restricted websites, and they do. But the problem is that this is limited, and you cannot stream every time you connect. This is because there are fewer servers, and most of the time, they are pre-occupied by the premium members or already loaded. We planned to test a few servers and check if we could stream geo-restricted content or they are just false-claiming. At first, we experienced many throttles and were not able to connect to any of the servers in Europe or the united states of America. But after several attempts in off-peak duration, we were able to connect to one of the servers, but it failed to load a few streaming websites that include Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Fortunately, Amazon Prime Video was accessible and went smooth for some time, and then the buffering begins. You can stream, but it also depends on the server load; if the server is not busy, you will stream smoothly.

Fast Speed

Is CactusVPN fast enough? We wanted to know it too, and so, we conducted a few tests. After performing the tests, we were sure that it works on average speed and cuts-off 50% of the original speed. Before conducting the test, the average speed of my internet connection was 15Mbps. We tested a few servers in the United Kingdom, the USA, and Asia as they were the significant regions that would make a VPN connection. After the test, we saw a decline in our speed as the united kingdom server showed up a 5Mbps of download speed on average and the USA server gave us a download speed of 7Mbps. We had trouble connecting to the server in Asia, so we had to shift multiple times. But ultimately, we got connected to one of the servers in India, and the download speed was 5.5Mbps on average. Though the internet speed is cut-off and a huge proportion is lost. But the speed we obtained was enough to browse, stream, and torrent. By the way, is torrenting possible on CactusVPN? Let’s see it in our next section.

Torrenting

On the internet, everyone wants to share some files with their partners, co-workers, friends, or clients, and the fancy options such as Google Drive and iCloud are not much trusted by tech-savvy. They believe in sharing files through torrent as it keeps them anonymous and it is trustable. But does CactusVPN support this anonymity?

Yes, CactusVPN does support torrenting, and file-sharing P2P is possible. There are several reasons for this –

The first reason is, CactusVPN uses strong encryption and does not log data. Meaning, there is no chance of your data copied on their servers. Secondly, they use high-tech security protocols that were extensively used by the military or bank. Some of these protocols are OpenVPN, IKEv2, and a few more.

Cactus VPN

Compatibility with devices

CactusVPN makes it easy for you to protect your online identity on several devices. These devices are the ones that we use in our daily life such as, Pc and Mobile. But which are these devices? Let me list them out for you.
CactusVPN compatible devices – 
  • Windows
  • Android
  • mac OS
  • IOS
  • Android TV
  • Fire TV
  • Chrome
  • Firefox
But do you need to buy a plan for each of these devices? The answer is, No. CactusVPN allows you to connect an unlimited number of devices to one account. Making it one of the devices friendly.
Several other features make CactusVPN device friendly, they are – 
  • System-level application and switches
  • Reconnect automatically if the connection drops
  • Choose preferred VPN protocols and encryption
  • Hide your VPN traffic
  • DNS protection

Strong Encryption

Are we not going to discuss encryption? Is this possible? CactusVPN gives its users AES-256 encryption. This encryption was earlier used by the military and then by the bank to protect their secret messages and transactions. 

Why is AES-256 encryption given such importance? Is it not decipherable? Technically, yes, it is not decipherable without the actual keys. It would take a million years for a group of supercomputers that scans a billion tickets per day to solve this kind of encryption. This is the strongest industry-known encryption that all the top-grade companies follow to keep your data safe. 

Additionally, CactusVPN implements perfect forwarding secrecy that does symmetric key exchange and makes your data more secure. You need not worry about your data being intercepted by the government or intruders as they will never open it, at least till the Quantum computers are commercial. 

Several other protocols such as OpenVPN, IKEv2, and a few more make your connection much more reliable. OpenVPN is found in almost all the top VPN apps and is known for its secure transmitting channel. 

Server Network

CactusVPN is infamous because they have a small network of servers. There are only 37VPN servers in 22 countries. Why is this an issue? Because less number of servers cannot handle the majority of the traffic, they receive from the users. Additionally, you will not get geo-restricted content from some of your favourite regions. The server locations are divided into three regions –
  • America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
You can find some of the popular regions in this space, but they are limited as the number of users increase

Works with Netflix

Though it is one of the cheap and secure VPN services, we were genuinely disappointed to learn about Netflix not working on the VPN. We conducted a few tests and connected to one of the servers in the United Kingdom; after a few attempts, we got connected but could not load Netflix at all. In another test, the USA server responded positively to Netflix streaming, but it buffered a lot and put us on patience toes. CactusVPN failed on streaming Netflix from two of the most popular regions in the world.

Plans and Pricing

There are four plans available on the CactusVPN service. All of them include some of the standard features and are pricy when compared to competitors. 

Here are the CactusVPN’s Plans along with their pricing – 

  • 1 Month – $9.99/Mo
  • 3 Months – $23.99/Mo
  • 1 Year – $54.99/Mo
  • 2 Years – $94.99/Mo

Pros and Cons of CactusVPN

  • Pros – 
  • No-logs
  • Torrenting is allowed
  • Streaming geo-restricted content (Smart DNS)
  • Good support section

 Cons – 

  • Pricy
  • Small Server Network
  • Failed Netflix streaming

All the plans include some of the standard features – 

 

  • Access to all the servers from all the locations
  • Basic data encryption
  • Torrenting (P2P)
  • Free Smart DNS
  • Free Proxy
  • Unlimited device access on one subscription
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • No-logs policy.

Advantages

CactusVPN can be your choice if you are looking for a secure and reliable VPN service. They have a Smart DNS feature that will mask your IP so you can view the geo-restricted content without any trouble. The kill switch feature automatically suspends the internet connection when the connection with VPN is lost, giving your real identity the best privacy and security. Torrenting is possible with various protocols working together with P2P; we suggest you opt for OpenVPN as it is the most secure channel. A few other advantages are unlimited bandwidth and devices with one single account. So, you can use your VPN on all the devices without having to buy an extra subscription.

Final Verdict

We find CactusVPN as one of the reliable choices. It has a great set of features but fails at some point. You cannot stream popular channels Netflix and BBC iPlayer though CactusVPN claims to unblock 340+ channels for streaming. It is also pricy compared to other competitors who provide similar features but at better and reasonable prices. We loved the support section and the fact that you can connect unlimited devices on a single account without having to pay extra and get unlimited bandwidth alongside.
Darshan Jain
Darshan Jain

Linkedin | Instagram

Hello Readers, Thank you spending out time in reading this blog. I' Darshan Jain writer of Digi Messiah. My hobbies is Coding and Writing, I am also a writer "Who write books :)"

Read My Post
Advertisement
Advertisement

You may also like:

GeForce experience error code 0x0003 and how to fix it
How To Fix ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS On Your WordPress Site_

Sitemap | DigiMessiah | Contact Us | About Us | Privacy Policy | Terms & Condition

Digi Messiah