- Editor Rating
- Rated 3.5 stars
- Very Good
- Proxy.sh
- Reviewed by:
- Published on:
- Last modified:
- Price / Packages
- Software
- Speed
- Servers
- Reliability
- Level of Privacy
- Support
Proxy.sh is flexible and serious about your privacy. Nothing is logged, secure and anonymous payments are possible. All in all they provide a terrific service and support. If the level of privacy is very important to you, Proxy.sh is a great choice.
Table of Contents
Who are they? Where are they from?
According to Proxy.sh:
Price / Packages
The Ordering Process
According to Proxy.sh:
After putting this to the test and ordering the $5 package, I’m glad to report that their claim is valid. Check out process is simple and quick. After submitting your e-mail and making the payment, your VPN access details are e-mailed. This process is shown below.
Congratulations Page
Your order and invoice will look like this if you selected Bitcoin as payment
Payment Options
They support more than 85 different payment methods. Some of them are really convenient and secure. A few of them are: Bitcoin, SMS, Phone, Paypal
Package Configuration
Four packages are currently offered.
Quick: $2 / 72 hours
Basic: $5 / month – $40 / year
Solid: $10 / month – $90 / year
Dedicated: $25 / month – The custom tailored solution is a dedicated VPN hand crafted with love by their engineers. It requires a pre-payment of 6 months to 1 year. The “basic” one year package is the best value for most users. Go with the “solid” package if your country is not listed in the “basic” package.
Software & Connectivity
Nowadays, many devices have built-in VPN support. From PC to smartphones all the way up to routers. However, most VPN providers offer their own VPN clients. The VPN clients make it easy to connect, since you don’t have to configure much. But the biggest advantage I see is that you can easily switch between servers.
Proxy.sh currently offers Windows, Linux and Mac OS X GUI clients. For smartphones they recently added Android and Apple iOS apps. As I use both Windows and Kubuntu Linux, you get to see how they both perform.
Windows Client
I will spare you the boring installation screenshots, as it’s all pretty straightforward. Once you open the Safejumper client and log in, you get to choose from a list of servers.
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- Main settings screen
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- Safejumper taskbar
The client is easy to use, stable and has a clear interface. It uses the OpenVPN protocol and you can choose between numerous TCP and UDP ports. It’s a shame that selecting a location happens through a drop-down menu. I would prefer a collapsible list of hubs for a better overview. It would be also nice if the city was shown.
When you click on Status from the tastkbar icon, you will see the connection details like IP address and data transfers. Would be nice to see the IP from the main screen or in the taskbar icon. It would also be handy if the settings screen is opened when you (double) left-click the taskbar icon.
Linux Client
As you can see below the Linux client is pretty much the same as the Windows version. A noticeable difference is the drop-down menu which is much longer compared to the Windows version, it gives you a better overview.
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- Main settings screen
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- Safejumper taskbar
Android App
Android app when connected
Safejumper offers Android and Apple iOS apps. I have tested the Android app and when looking at the iOS Safejumper screenshots, it can be assumed that both are very similar in terms of looks and functionality.
The app interface is very clean and straightforward. In my opinion it’s better than the Windows/Linux/OSX client so maybe they could port some ideas from the Android app.
Download Safejumper for Android 4.0+ and see more screenshots.
Download Safejumper for iOS 5.0+ and see more screenshots.
Connectivity Options
According to Proxy.sh:
It’s worth mentioning that every package offers extras (DNS, TOR, SOCKS, etc.)
Speed
I have tried many speed test sites like speedtest.net but they are very unreliable when used with a VPN or proxy. Most of the time the download/upload speed is wrong. Therefor, results of reviews using sites like speedtest.net can not be trusted. That’s why I have tested the old-school way by downloading from a fast http link and uploading to a remote FTP server. This method is reliable because it’s a real world scenario.
Speed Testing
The test is performed with a 150 / 15 Mbps cable connection in Amsterdam area. For the download speed test a Ubuntu ISO is downloaded from University of Twente, The Netherlands. For the upload test a file is uploaded to a server in the Netherlands. Keep in mind that my max upload speed is only 15 Mbps so it does not mean the VPN can’t go faster if it reaches it.
Ping is performed on the download server, University of Twente, The Netherlands. NetWorx Speed Meter is used for monitoring. Download link used for test: http://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/os/linux/ubuntu-releases/13.10/ubuntu-13.10-desktop-amd64.iso
Results without VPN:
Downloading @ 150 Mbps
Uploading @ 15 Mbps
Ping statistics for 130.89.149.20: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 9ms, Maximum = 10ms, Average = 9ms
Results Proxy.sh node: Netherlands 1
Downloading @ Average Transfer Rate 28 Mbps – Maximum Transfer Rate 42 Mbps
Uploading @ 15 Mbps
Ping statistics for 130.89.149.20: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 17ms, Average = 17ms
Servers
The $10 Solid & $25 Dedicated packages currently offers the following locations and in total 200+ nodes.
Server Locations
| Country | Servers | Country | Servers |
|---|---|---|---|
| France * | 9 | Australia | 6 |
| Germany * | 8 | Austria | 3 |
| Netherlands* | 16 | Belgium | 1 |
| United Kingdom * | 8 | Belize | 1 |
| United State * | 66 | Boost - Germany - Softlayer | 1 |
| Boost - Japan - Softlayer | 1 | Boost - Singapore - Softlayer | 1 |
| Boost - United Kingdom - Softlayer | 1 | Boost - US East - Softlayer | 1 |
| Boost - US South - Softlayer | 1 | Boost - US West - Softlayer | 1 |
| Brazil | 2 | Bulgaria | 2 |
| Canada | 8 | Chile | 1 |
| Costa Rica | 1 | Czech Republic | 4 |
| Estonia | 1 | Finland | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | Hungary | 1 |
| Iceland | 2 | India | 2 |
| Ireland | 1 | Isle of Man | 1 |
| Israel | 2 | Italia | 4 |
| Japan | 3 | Kosovo | 1 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1 | Latvia | 1 |
| Lithuania | 2 | Luxembourg | 1 |
| Macau | 1 | Mexico | 1 |
| Moldavia | 2 | New Zeeland | 2 |
| Norway | 1 | Pakistan | 1 |
| Panama | 1 | Poland | 3 |
| Portugal | 2 | Romania | 2 |
| Russia | 5 | Serbia | 1 |
| Singapore | 6 | Slovakia | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 | South Africa | 2 |
| South Korea | 1 | Spain | 5 |
| Sweden | 8 | Switzerland | 7 |
| Taiwan | 1 | Thailand | 1 |
| Turkey | 1 | Ukraine | 6 |
| US - Arizona | 3 | US - California | 14 |
| US - Florida | 4 | US - Georgia | 4 |
| US - Illinois | 8 | US - Iowa | 1 |
| US - Missouri | 2 | US - Nevada | 1 |
| US - New Jersey | 2 | US - New Mexico | 1 |
| US - New York | 6 | US - North Carolina | 4 |
| US - Oregon | 1 | US - Pennsylvania | 1 |
| US - Texas | 7 | US - Utah | 2 |
| US - Washington | 3 | US - Washington D.C. | 2 |
| Vietnam | 1 |
The $5 Basic package currently offers the following locations and in total 50+ nodes.
United States, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, France, Netherlands
Reliability
Connecting to most nodes goes quickly without problems. However, when trying to connect to some nodes, Safejumper does not connect. Sometimes when connected, connection does not work. In both cases, Safejumper should not show those defective nodes as select-able, but it does. 
I checked the nodes on their Network Status page and the one I could not connect to did show as offline (red), but the one I was connected to and had no working connection showed as online (green).
Level of Privacy
This is where Proxy.sh shines. There are not many VPN services which you can order by providing just an email address. No logs are kept. They are not based in the United States.
Proxy.sh is the first VPN provider that introduces the Transparency Report and they are also a member of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.
Proxy.sh VPN can safely be used with BitTorrent and other file-sharing apps, even if you share copyrighted material.
Proxy.sh statement about logging:
Support
The questions I asked were quickly and satisfactorily addressed, within four hours. They have a great and comprehensive knowledge-base which should answer most of your questions. You will also find tutorials, downloads and extra services like Tor and DNS.
Pros
- Flexible packages, good amount of servers
- Nothing is logged, outstanding level of privacy
- Secure and anonymous payments are possible
Cons
- Not recommended for users with 30 Mbit/s + connections, unless you take the Custom package
- A few nodes have fluctuating speed or don’t connect while they show online
Order Proxy.sh
Summary: Proxy.sh is flexible and serious about your privacy. Nothing is logged, secure and anonymous payments are possible. All in all they provide a terrific service and support. If the level of privacy is very important to you, Proxy.sh is a great choice.
As a current user of Proxy.sh I´m qualified to rate them :
The speed is sooo slooow you wouldn´t believe it – at best you will get 8-10 Mbits / sec (1 MB/sec).
I´m sitting behind a 50 Mbit / sec line so this sucks big time 🙁
Also the servers are not very stable, it´s possible to loose the connection without any warnings.
But most of the time you need to be lucky to get one that works for you (Connection reset by peer, Timeout´s and so on).
You will get very fast support answers – but in the end also no good help to solve your problems.
Would I buy my subscriptionpackage again on proxy.sh ?
Nope – I deeply regret my decision to choose them, and still a few month ahead to go with this “service” *sigh*
Thank you for confirming the issues I mentioned in the review. If they could improve on that they would be perfect. So far in terms of speed and stability IPVanish has been the best for me so that will be my next VPN provider to review.