VPN Like ZenMate + Alternatives + Competitors + Similar VPNs

Zenmate VPN is one of many VPN service providers in the market promising to give online security and privacy. Zenmate VPN says that online security should be an absolute priority for you; because your personal information and online activities could be exposed. I would add that such exposure could have very damaging consequences (think of a cyber fraudster getting your credit card details). There are many other VPN like Zenmate that offer similar and also your desired security and privacy features. These similar VPNs are known as the best Zenmate alternatives and competitors available. In this article, we shall explore all the Zenmate competitors and alternatives to help you choose the most suitable option.

Zenmate VPN market itself with the three words: Fast. Secure. Easy. Do they deliver on those terms? This review will answer that question.

Zenmate is a very simple VPN right from setting up the app to actual use. They allow 5 simultaneous connections. It also effectively unblocks streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer.

Zenmate offers the popular VPN protocols including the OpenVPN, and employ high industry standard encryption. Zenmate VPN comes handy with a kill switch and DNS leaks protection.

Now to score Zenmate VPN on their very own words:

Fast: Just about average

Secure: Good

Easy: Excellent (in fact, easy to a fault)

What isn’t great about Zenmate VPN would be:

Zenmate VPN claims not to keep logs, but their privacy policies seem to suggest otherwise plus it is based in a 14 – eyes country (Germany). Zenmate recorded average speed; especially on the download and upload front.

Zenmate offers only few advanced features (for example, no IPv6 leaks protection); and for the few it does offer, there is little in the way of advanced configurations. Their support service needs some serious improvement; the contact form can be made more visible, the timeliness and quality of responses can be improved upon, and a live chat feature is badly needed. Zenmate is one of the top VPN services, but if you are not satisfied with privacy and security features, you may try out other alternatives that strongly compete with Zenmate. Below are other VPN like Zenmate:

VPN LIke Zenmate + Alternatives:

• NordVPN
• Surfshark
• ExpressVPN
• Proton VPN
• CyberGhost VPN
• PureVPN
• Private Internet Access
• IPVanish
• TorGuard
• Hotspot Shield

Zenmate Features Review

Supported devices:

Zenmate supports the desktop platforms (Windows, Mac OS), the mobile platforms (iOS and Android), as well as browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. There are also no built-in configurations for routers. Other VPNs have gone ahead of Zenmate by offering clients that are compatible with devices such as smart TVs and gaming consoles.

Simultaneous connections:

ZenMate allows the simultaneous connection of 5 devices under one VPN account. This allows a user of the Zenmate VPN to use his one account to provide VPN protection for at most five devices. Persons who have multiple devices to secure or who wish to also secure the devices of his family members will like this. Only a few VPNs will give more simultaneous connections.

Ease of use:

Getting started with zenmate is three simple steps that include choosing your subscription, providing your email address and choosing a payment method.

After making payment, the website reveals links to download the VPN various clients. You simply choose the platform and click download. The app does the rest – download, installs and minimize to the system tray. You can then fetch it from there and log in with details received via email when signing up.

ZenMate VPN is so simple, you get the feeling that is was designed for non-technical users who want an easier way to protect their online privacy.

A large shield symbol in the centre of the app is used for connection and disconnection. Below the connection shield is a bar that shows the location you are connected to; you can change your location by clicking on this bar to reveal a server list and selecting a flag.

As said earlier, the interface is so simple; in fact, its simple to a fault. Simply selecting a country connects you to a server. But you can’t narrow down server selection and choose servers by cities; there is also no information about server availability or pings, and you cannot tell which of the servers is fastest.

The minimalist interface has four icons below the servers’ bar. First time users might be left frustrated because of not knowing what the icons represent. Again Zenmate VPN was simple to a fault by stripping the interface bare of texts. They could have made life easier by putting simple defining texts below each icon (such as Accounts, Settings, Bandwidth stats, and notifications respectively).

The account and settings page reveal some fine features such as VPN protocol, DNS leak protection and kill switch (all to be discussed later); but there is nothing in the way of configurations. Advanced users will find nothing exciting in Zenmate; there is no way to change your protocol, customize your encryption, or configure the kill switch.

Streaming:

Zenmate unblocks popular streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. These particular two streaming services are notorious in blocking VPNs, and it is rare to see VPNs with which you can still access their contents. Even some of the highly rated VPNs have been successfully blocked by one or both of Netflix and BBC iPlayer; Zenmate PVN here outperforms some of the very best VPNs. Add this to the fact that Zenmate VPN offer unlimited bandwidth; and they  makes an VPN ideal for streaming.  

Packages And Pricing

Packages:

Zenmate VPN has three packages with consistent features and different only in their billing. The first package is billed $9.99 every month; the second package is billed $53.99 every 6 months (this equates to $8.99 per month and gives a 10% savings), and the third package is billed $71.99 every year (which equates to $5.99 per month and gives a 40% savings).

This is basically the trend among VPNs; they offer attractive discounts on their longer packages to entice users into making long commitments. The best value package is usually the one with the longest period of service.

Comparing the prices of Zenmate VPN with the competition shows that Zenmate is highly priced. Zenmate VPN’s monthly subscription of $9.99 is there with some of the highest monthly prices. The difference is that some of these VPNs with equally steep single month prices offer larger discounts on their best value deals. Where Zenmate VPN best value deal gives a 40% savings; some of the VPNs offer as much as 60 – 70% discount to make their best value deals as low as $2.8 – $3.5.

Payment Methods:

Zenmate support a variety of payment methods and the one you can use is largely dependent on the country you are located in. These methods include credit and debit cards, and Sofort Banking. These regular payment methods do not do well to keep users anonymous; they entail the submitting of personal information that are stored by the payment processing organization.

Consequently, users have requested VPNs to allow anonymous payment methods to enhance their anonymity; and many VPN providers have responded to those request.

Zenmate recently responded to users’ requests for anonymous payments by introducing bitcoin and paysafe cards transactions. This shows that ZenMate take the security and privacy of users seriously.

Auto Subscription:

Zenmate automatically renew your subscription when it expires and charge you accordingly. You cannot opt out of Zenmate VPN service by simply allowing your current subscription to expire and walking away; you have to take active steps to cancel your subscription before the end of your current billing cycle.

If Zenmate don’t want anybody cancelling their subscription, then they did a good job. The page is kind of hidden; on Windows, you have to go to user dashboard, transactions, cancel subscription, and then follow a list of steps to get the job done. That doesn’t make for a pleasant user experience.

Refund Policy:

It is almost impossible these days to see a VPN that does not do refunds; they all want to appear as standing behind their service, and not just out there to grab your money.

Zenmate offer a 14 days money back guarantee. It allows paid subscribers who are not satisfied with the VPN service to request a refund of their payment. The process of requesting a refund is: cancel the subscription, and send a mail to Zenmate.

The cancellation must be done within 14 days of the paid subscription; and the mail must be sent using support@zenmate.com from the e-mail account that is linked to your ZenMate premium account and should include payment details. However, payments made using the anonymous methods of PaysafeCard, UKash, and BitCoin are non-refundable.

That said, most of the top VPNs give 30-days money back guarantee, which is more than double the period that Zenmate VPN offer.

Free Account and free trial:

ZenMate offers a free account which is called Zenmate Limited. The name is fitting because the free account is very limited; it offers only four servers locations, slow speeds, pop up ads, and no streaming.

Zenmate also offers a 7 days free trial; this is not limited but allows access to the full features of the paid plans for seven days. After signing up for the Zenmate limited free account; you will receive an e-mail with a verification link; verifying your account will automatically start the free trial.

However, the free account/ trial do not have the visibility of the paid accounts; and that evoked the feeling that Zenmate really don’t want people to use the free account/ trial. The three paid packages are emblazoned on their homepage; there is also a ‘buy now’ tab that opens a dedicated page to purchase an account. As for the free account the only mention of it on the homepage is a ‘try for free’ tab which wouldn’t open any page.

It was only a serious and determined search that opened a page where, under the very-visible paid packages, there is an invitation in very small prints to join Zenmate Limited.

Server Network

Zenmate VPN has over 297 servers in 31 countries across the world. Considering that some of the very top VPNs have less than 200 servers; Zenmate has done well in bringing out more connection points. Zenmate VPN server network is impressive for two other reasons. The first is that a server network of that size will get the job done.

A robust network is needed to have more locations for spoofing your real location; it also ensures that too many people will not be connected to a few servers and slowing down connections. Secondly, Zenmate VPN network is impressive because of its growth. Zenmate has literally grown its server network by more than 500% in one year.

Privacy Features

VPN Protocol:

Zenmate support the usual protocol OpenVPN (UDP and TCP), L2TP/ IPsec, PPTP, and SSTP. For encryption, Zenmate use the TLS 1.2 protocol and support different cipher suites with Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). Zenmate only recently added the OpenVPN to their list of VPN protocols. This is a good move that shows a commitment to enhancing users’ online security, as the OpenVPN is easily the most secured protocol.

However, some of the top VPNs are offering more in terms of VPN protocol; for example, the stealth protocol is being offered by many VPNs to help users bypass very tight firewalls.

Kill Switch:

Current technology cannot give VPNs a 100% uptime; there are still downtimes (times when the VPN loses connection). Given that a VPN provides privacy and security by encrypting your traffic and replacing your IP address with one of their own; In such downtimes, your IP address as well as your unencrypted traffic is exposed. The remedy of such accidental exposure of identifiable information when a VPN disconnect is to cut off internet connection. That is where a kill switch comes in; it stops internet connection when the VPN losses connection. A VPN which does not have a kill switch function should be prepared to have a 100% uptime, and since that is currently impossible, a kill switch is invaluable.

Zenmate VPN comes with a kill switch feature, which can be found in the settings menu. However, because of the over simplicity of the zenmate client, the kill switch can only be switched on and off. Some VPNs are offering configuration options for the kill switch; instead of simply cutting off all internet connections when the VPN disconnects, it can be configured to stop only certain apps. Unfortunately, Zenmate does not support such advanced settings.

DNS leak protection:

A DNS leak occurs when a systems failure causes the VPN tunnel to be bypassed, and your ISP DNS servers are used to search and connect you to the website your are visiting. It  effectively means that all your online activity can be seen by your ISP. When that happens, your privacy is equals to zero.

Zenmate comes with a DNS leak protection, which can also be found in the settings menu. When enabled it prevent DNS leaks by ensuring that DNS request cannot be performed by the native platform (your ISP) but only by ZenMate.

Logging Policy:

Zenmate VPN says they do not store or log personal data which can be used to identify users or define users’ online activities.

It is not safe to rely on advertised no-log claims of VPNs, so I dived into the privacy policy to see what it would reveal about the VPN’s no log claims. ZenMate VPN privacy policy caused me to raise an eyebrow. In the fine prints of their privacy policy, they state that their website collects and stores a series of general data and information when a data subject or automated system calls up the website. This general data and information include; the website from which an accessing system reaches their website, the date and time of access to the Internet site, an Internet protocol address (IP address), and the Internet service provider of the accessing system.

In another place, Zenmate state that when anyone registers on their website, they collect and store the IP address (assigned by the individual’s Internet service provider) used, as well as the date, and time of the registration. They also state that they will pass the data on to third parties if there is a statutory obligation to pass on the data.

If you are wondering why storing this data is necessary; Zenmate explains that it is to prevent the misuse of their services, to make it possible to investigate committed offenses; and for their own security.

That said, Zenmate do collect identifiable information (IP addresses), and time stamps. No privacy concerned VPN user wants to hear that.

Jurisdiction:

Zenmate VPN is located in Berlin, Germany. This raise concerns about the VPN’s privacy and security promises, and for many reasons. Germany have passed a spat of surveillance laws; and in recent times German states have given police increased surveillance powers.

Germany is a member of the 14 Eyes (a surveillance alliance that work together to collect and share intelligence). Because of this intelligence alliance which includes the US, it was not surprising when it came to light that the German intelligence Agency (the BND) cooperates closely with the American NSA. The BND has a checkered history of spying; and has been called one of the most invasive intelligence agencies in the world.

Performance

Zenmate speed tests came out as average. On the average, Zenmate reduced download speed and upload speed by about 60% and 52% respectively. As expected, speed as significantly dropped when connecting to distant locations. On the latency front, Zenmate was an above average performer, as the VPN increased latency by just about 42%.

Customer Support

Zenmate support page starts with a prominent search window. What follows are links to helpful articles on several topics ranging from basic questions about the ZenMate client, to questions about account, subscription, payments, and setting up the client on the various platforms, to more technical questions about privacy and security. Basically, everything is covered.

For direct contact, Zenmate has the ticketing system where you submit an online contact form; and this is where they are found wanting. I’ve heard it said (though jokingly) that ZenMate designed its app to be simple so that you wouldn’t need to reach out to support for assistance.

It is safe to say that ZenMate want you to use the ticket support service only as a last resort. On the ZenMate support page, you will see series of links to self help articles, and at the very bottom of the page, you will see the link to the contact form. I actually missed it the first time, and only got around to it via a Google search. I couldn’t help but remember the joke about why the Zenmate app was so simple. If Zenmate don’t want users contacting them, then they did a good job with the positioning of the contact form.

Response time is ± 24 hours; which is not very bad considering that I have been kept waiting for significantly longer time by some of the highly rated VPNs. However, the expert, knowledgeable response that one should expect after such a wait was lacking. To summarize, their response was detailed (lengthy) but without depth; more copy-and-paste and generic than well-thought and personalized.

The customer support also lacks the live chat resource; this is being made available by many VPN service providers.