Review of Star VPN – Is it the Best VPN for Connectivity?

There are many popular VPN companies available in the market. However, none of these apps will not work in countries like China. For example, popular services like Astrill and ExpressVPN are targeted and blocked in China during recent years. We are using Star VPN for the past 3 years on Mac, Windows, and iPhone. Based on our usage, here is a genuine review of Star VPN for you to check before purchasing the premium plan.

About Star VPN

The service is owned by Senight LLC and offered on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android platforms. This is a free app and downloaded more than million times with top rating in Google Play Store. It is also popular on other app stores indicating the service is good. The app offers zero-log connectivity to unblock any website and you can start using the app without any registration.

Installing Star VPN App

Go to the app store on your device and download the app. As mentioned, the app will not be available in stores like China where you need to switch the store and download it from US or other country where the app is available. Open the app and click on the shield or switch to connect to the server. If it is a first time, the app will prompt you to confirm installation of VPN profile on your device. Once connected, you can see the timer running showing the duration of the connection.

Purchasing Premium Version

Free version limits the server to optimal connection from US and you can’t change the server from the list. Click on the “Premium” link showing at the bottom of the app and you will see the current pricing plans. You can either purchase a monthly plan for $9.99 per month with 7 days free trial or purchase a yearly plan for $35.pp with 75% savings. With premium app, you can use the VPN on 6 devices simultaneously on different devices.

When you install the app on another device, simply click on the three dots icon and select “Sign in” option. Enter you email id used for purchase and get the verification code in your email to activate the service.

Connecting Different Servers

Click or tap the server country name showing on the top of the app and you will see a list of countries where Star VPN servers are available. Select the country you want to connect, and the app will automatically try to connect to that server. Sometimes, you may need to tap on the shield / switch multiple times to star the connection. Though they claim 800 servers are available for premium plan, you will find less than 100 servers in the list. In addition, most of the servers will never connect and there will be no indication about currently working servers.

App Settings and Protocols

The app comes with super simple interface, and you can click on the three dots icon to view the menu items. If you have any problems with the service, select “Contact us” option and send an email to the developer. Enable “Run on startup” option if you want to launch the app on system boot.

For selecting protocol, click on the gear icon showing in the app’s main interface. You will see the available protocols with the explanations. We recommend using “Auto” option so that the protocol is automatically selected based on the server you select.

If the app does not work properly, click “Delete VPN configuration” link and reinstall the profile. In addition, you can enable “Connect on demand” option (called Kill Switch) to automatically reconnect to the VPN server if the connection is interrupted. This will help you to always connect to the selected server when you wake up the device from sleep.

Contacting Support

As mentioned, you can directly send an email to the developer to get a support for premium plan. You can also go to the Zendesk support from the developer’s website and create a ticket to resolve your problems. The biggest problem with Star VPN is that you will not find any “About Us” page on their website. This means you do not know who the developer is and how reliable is the zero-log policy.

Star VPN – Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of using Star VPN:

Summary

As mentioned, we use the app for the past 3 years without any problem in iPhone, MacBook laptop, Windows 11 laptop and iMac desktop devices. Since the premium version allows to connect 6 devices simultaneously, it was a good choice for us. Though the connection is unstable sometime, it works most of the time. The only problem is that the developer information is not transparently visible on their website like ExpressVPN or VyprVPN. Since privacy and data collection is more important than unblocking websites, we recommend using Star VPN only if you are stuck with other frustrating VPN apps.