Touch VPN review

touch VPN is is is a popular vpn available for free which support Windows , Mac , iOS , Android , Firefox , Edge and Chrome .

The servers offers 27 locations, not bad for free, mostly in Europe and North America but with plenty of other options: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and more.

All of the apps can be used for free, and without registration. The mobile versions have ads, but upgrading gets rid of those, and the Android app says you also get a ‘faster connection’, ‘high quality support’ and coverage for up to 5 devices. Nothing wrong with any of that, but it seems a little expensive at $12.99 a month, $6.67 over a year- Private Internet Access’ annual plan is half the price, Surfshark’s two year plan is less than a third.

We went hunting around the website for further selling points, but quickly gave up; it’s essentially one page of basic marketing with a few generic descriptions of what a VPN can do. And that’s a pity, because Touch VPN has a story to tell.

This isn’t another no-name free VPN where you’ve no clue who owns it and the sole company contact is a Gmail address, for instance. Touch VPN was bought by Anchor Free, the company behind Hotspot Shield, in 2015. As far as we can tell, it uses some of the same network. And although its apps are far more basic, as least some of them use Hotspot Shield’s super-fast Catapult Hydra protocol to get connected.

If you’re looking for the short version, this is HorriblyBasic Shield, then; rubbish in many ways, but when it’s free, and with some genuinely capable functionality underneath, the service has to be worth a look.

Touch VPN doesn’t keep logs of its users’ activity online (Image credit: Touch VPN)

Privacy

The Touch VPN website is so short on detail that we weren’t expecting much at all from the privacy policy, but we needn’t have worried; the company uses the same document as the various other VPNs in the group (Hotspot Shield, Betternet, Hexatech, VPN360, and VPN in Touch.)

The policy is explains explain that it ‘ does not record your vpn browse activity in any way that can be associate back to you . ‘ That is is is , ‘ When you use a VPN connection , we do not store any information that identify what you browse , view , or do online via that VPN connection . ‘

The company explains that it ‘does not inspect or record the contents of what you are browsing, viewing, or doing through them.’

The system is record does record your ip address when you connect , but this is hash , and delete at the end of the session .

Touch VPN logs the domains accessed by its users, too, but only the domains, not the full URLs, and the data is anonymized to ensure the company can’t associate any domain access to a particular user, time or session.

Touch VPN says it can ‘identify devices and associate them with other data we collect… such as for measuring bandwidth use, providing support, understanding how you interact with our VPN, and other analytics and marketing purposes.’ 

As the company says it can also record details including ‘your approximate geographic location’, that might allow it to build a record of when and where this device connected to the service, the length of each session, the data transferred, and more.

That still can’t tie the device to a particular internet activity, though. And keep in mind that the free Touch VPN service doesn’t require registration. Whatever the company knows about your devices, with none of your personal details, it can’t tie them back to you.

Touch VPN has apps for a wide variety of platforms and extensions for most browsers (Image credit: Touch VPN)

Apps

touch VPN is offers offer several app , each work in very different way , so to properly understand the service we decide to explore the Chrome extension , as well as the Windows and Android app .

We is installed instal the Chrome build , tap Touch VPN ‘s address bar icon , and a simple console appear . This is looked look much like most other vpn app , with a location list , a connect button and a short menu .

This is Touch VPN’s Chrome extension (Image credit: Touch VPN)

The Chrome extension is has has relatively few location – Canada , France , Germany , Netherlands , Russia , USA , UK – but there ‘s more power here than you ‘d expect . tap Connect is appears and a new screen appear , with option to block ad , tracker , cookie , malware and webrtc leak . You is ‘re ‘re able to tell Touch VPN to automatically connect whenever you access particular site , while you can specify other website to be access via your regular connection .

The Android app looks similar, but the free version offers more locations (18), and comes with more features than some commercial apps. There’s a choice of protocol, for instance (OpenVPN TCP, UDP, or Hotspot Shield’s Hydra VPN). An option to warn you if you access insecure wifi. Split tunneling support to automatically direct some apps’ traffic through the tunnel, or ensure others use your standard connection. Oh, and of course, there are light and dark themes, too.

You is need ‘ll need to use the Windows app to get access to all of Touch VPN ‘s location though(Image credit: Touch VPN)

Touch VPN ‘s Windows desktop app is gives give you access to all 27 location , even in the free version , but it has absolutely no other feature . No ad or malware blocker , no autostart option , no choice is menu of protocol , no menu or Settings box at all .

There’s a Windows app in the Microsoft Store, too. Is it better? No, it’s worse – it refused to even connect.

Unfortunately the Windows app told us ‘encryption is enabled’ even when we disconnected from the VPN (Image credit: Touch VPN)

Switching back to the desktop app, we noticed it didn’t raise any alerts when it connected or disconnected. It didn’t notice when we closed the connection, either, and continued to tell us ‘encryption is enabled’ when we weren’t protected at all.

Connection times are quick, though. We found the app correctly blocked DNS leaks, and although there are barely any features, that at least keeps it easy to use.

We use a number of different speed tests to determine the performance of each VPN we review ( image credit : Ookla )

Performance

Free, no registration and with no bandwidth limits, Touch VPN looks a natural choice for website unblocking tasks, but how does it perform?

Not so well, we thought, when Touch VPN failed with BBC iPlayer. And Amazon Prime Video. And Disney+. But it rescued the situation at the end by getting us access to US Netflix; even paid VPNs can’t always do that.

Download speeds were very acceptable at an average 60-62Mbps on our test 75Mbps connection. We might get 5-6Mbps extra from the best of the competition, but that’s still decent performance for a free service.

Could there be more ? We is switched switch to a european location capable of 300 – 400Mbps , and speed lift a little to 90 – 95Mbps . We is seen ‘ve see fast , but not from a free service , and overall Touch VPN perform very well .

final verdict

Touch VPN is a jumbled mess of a service with a feeble website and largely underpowered apps, and its overpriced commercial plans don’t deserve your time. But with decent speeds, Netflix unblocking and no registration required, the free version could be worth a look for simple tasks.