OverPlay VPN Review 2020

OverPlay VPN looks pretty decent on paper, but does it justify the $8.33/mo price? Is it better than NordVPN or PureVPN? Find out if I recommend this service in this updated review of OverPlay.

OverPlay VPN – Although less renowned compared to some of the other VPNs covered in our VPN reviews 2020 guide, it is still a pretty decent VPN service worth giving a try. After giving it a try at the time of writing this OverPlay VPN review, I was impressed to see that it came with military-grade encryption and industry benchmark protocols.

I also love the fact that it offers apps for almost all mainstream devices and works surprisingly well with streaming services like Netflix. Sure it only offers 650+ servers, which is considerably less than PureVPN or NordVPN, but it makes up for it with its speed and its SmartDNS feature.

That being said, there are still a few things you should keep in mind before getting this VPN. For one, it lacks features like Split tunneling, live chat support and is headquartered in the UK which I found to be quiet disappointing. Overall, after weighing in all the pros and cons of OverPlay, I’ve given it 3.0/5.0 stars in this review.

My Rating Criteria

To thoroughly test the OverPlay VPN for its pros and cons, I used my 9 step rating criteria:

Jurisdiction – Where is OverPlay located? Security – Does OverPlay keep logs? Leaks – Does OverPlay leak IP, DNS, WebRTC? Servers – Is OverPlay P2P compatible? Speed – How fast is OverPlay? Streaming – Does OverPlay work with Netflix? Compatibility – Which devices can I use OverPlay with? Pricing – How much does OverPlay cost? Trustworthiness – Is OverPlay safe to use?

Jurisdiction – Where is OverPlay located?

OverPlay is located in Germany, which as you should already know, is a part of the infamous 5 Eyes alliance. Considering this, OverPlay should be obligated to comply with the authorities in any request of user data. This is something that seriously bothers me about this VPN.

However, since OverPlay VPN claims to keep no activity logs, I don’t think its something to worry about too much. But we’ll look over its logging policy a bit later on to see if it can be trusted with our privacy. However, if you’re not too sure about using OverPlay, then you might want to try Surfshark which is based in the BVI.

Security – Does OverPlay keep logs?

As I already mentioned, OverPlay keeps no logs. Despite being headquartered in the UK, it still offers a legit no logs policy. If you go through their privacy policy, you’ll see that they claim to keep no traffic logs. They also state that do not sell or share personal information about their users to third parties.

The only information they collect at the time of signups is an email address and a valid payment method. Do keep in mind that if you choose to pay through credit cards, you will have to provide your first and last name. But overall, OverPlay is a legit no-log VPN service.

Encryption & Other Features

As for security features, OverPlay VPN supports L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, and OpenVPN to securely tunnel your data. In addition, OverPlay VPN supports 128-bit to 256-bit encryption, which is the industry standard nowadays. Aside from that, one of the most notable features of OverPlay has to be its SmartDNS.

Powered by JetSwitch technology, the OverPlay Smart DNS feature is advertised to unblock over 200 streaming sites from anywhere in the world. I personally managed to unblock Bilibili and Netflix without much effort. While it lacks the Split tunneling feature and 24/7 live chat support, it does come with a built-in Kill Switch. I also love the fact that it comes with built-in leak protection as well.

Leaks – Does OverPlay leak IP, DNS, WebRTC?

Thanks to the built-in leak protection option for both IPv6 and DNS, OverPlay is actually leak proof. Even after conducting multiple tests, OverPlay managed to not leak my IP, WebRTC or DNS.

IP Leak Test:

First, I tested for IP leaks. To do that, I connected to a Belgium server of OverPlay and ran the test. As you can see from the screenshot below, OverPlay didn’t leak my original IP address.

DNS Leak Test:

Next, to check for DNS leaks, I connected to the same server and found no signs of DNS leaks. Check out the screenshot below and you’ll see that I’m only connected to a Belgium DNS servers.

WebRTC Leak Test:

As for WebRTC leaks, again, OverPlay passed this test too without any issues at all. I must say, it performed better than I expected. Even after multiple tests, OverPlay showed no signs of WebRTC leaks.

Virus Test:

Last but not least, I ran its setup file through Virustotal.com to be extra sure. Surprisingly, I didn’t found any hidden or malicious viruses at all. Overall, highly impressed by OverPlay VPN so far.

Servers – Is OverPlay P2P compatible?

As for torrenting, OverPlay is fully P2P compatible. However, you might encounter slight slow speeds on P2P networks due to its relatively small server network. At the moment, OverPlay only offers some 650+ SmartDNS and VPN servers available across 50+ countries worldwide. Before you start downloading torrents, do make sure to check out their DMCA policy.

The 50+ countries in which OverPlay offers its servers include the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Turkey and so on. But in comparison, PureVPN, and NordVPN offer way more servers.

Does OverPlay work in China?

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, OverPlay works in China. I managed to unblock a bunch of Chinese websites and all of them surprisingly worked. That’s obviously because of its SmartDNS feature which does a great job bypassing strict geo-blocks in countries like China. In addition, it’s also worth noting that OverPlay supports OpenVPN which is known to be great at bypassing firewalls.

Speed – How fast is OverPlay?

As for speeds, OverPlay is decently fast. On my base 35 Mbps test connection, OverPlay performed exceptionally well. First, here’s a screenshot of my default internet speeds without OverPlay connected:

Canada Server:

When connected to the Canadian server of OverPlay, I managed to get around 27.8 Mbps downloading speed. Considering my base internet speed, that’s pretty good.

US Server:

With the US server of OverPlay, I managed to get around 26.51 Mbps downloading speed. Although slightly slower, however, nothing that I would complain about.

UK Server:

Last but not least, I connected to the UK servers and performed the same test. On average, the UK server managed to output around 27.81 Mbps download speed which is pretty impressive if you ask me.

Streaming – Does OverPlay work with Netflix?

In addition to being surprisingly fast, OverPlay VPN also works great with Netflix. I tried playing a bunch shows on American Netflix and didn’t encounter any issues. Overall, really impressed by the fact it works so well with Netflix.

Other Streaming Services that work with OverPlay

Aside from American Netflix, OverPlay also managed to easily unblock Hulu as well. Other than a few buffering issues, I didn’t notice any connectivity issues. That’s quite impressive and not a lot of VPNs can offer such performance.

Compatibility – Which devices can I use OverPlay with?

From a compatibility standpoint, OverPlay is pretty good. You can easily download apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux. OverPlay also offers manual configuration files so you can set it up with BoxeeBox, AppleTV, PlayStation, Xbox, Roku, DD-WRT Routers, and DrayTek Routers. In addition, OverPlay allows you to use one subscription plan on three (3) devices simultaneously. Overall, I love how versatile this VPN is. I just wish it offered more multi logins like Surfshark.

OverPlay for Windows & Mac

If we talk about the Windows and OverPlay macOS apps, they’re both well designed. I found them to be pretty easy to use as well. Everything is nicely laid out and dead easy to find which is perfect for newbies.

Overall, I love the fact that they offer a lot of options in their apps. You can switch between different protocols, encryption and can even enable and disable leak protection and Kill Switch.

OverPlay for iOS & Android

As for their iOS and Android apps, they are also well designed and easy to use. I found them to be pretty snappy to use as well. Overall, both OverPlay iOS and OverPlay Android work great and come with a decent amount of options as well. As for ratings, OverPlay has a 3.5-star rating on Google Play Store and a 3.8-star rating on the iTunes store.

Pricing – How much does OverPlay cost?

As for pricing, OverPlay is not the cheapest option to get. Both their SmartDNS and SmartDNS+VPN packages are quite expensive compared to something like Surfshark. Check out the pricing below for yourself:

As you can see, OverPlay is somewhat expensive. But I do like the fact that they at least allow 3 devices to connect simultaneously. As for payment methods, you’re only going to find limited options. You can only purchase the OverPlay VPN through one of the following options:

PayPal

Credit Card

Now, these are well and good, but it would have been nice to see options for cryptocurrencies. I also don’t like the fact that they only offer a 5 days money-back guarantee. I mean, if they’re charging so much, they should have at least offered 30-day money-back guarantees like PureVPN or NordVPN.

Trustworthiness – Is OverPlay safe to use?

Well, considering that they don’t keep any logs, OverPlay is pretty safe to use. If we talk about their Trustpilot rating, OverPlay has a decent 3.4-star rating. It also has mostly positive reviews as well on Trustpilot. Mostly, 50% of users have rated it as Excellent and only 25% of users have rated it as Bad.