Calyx VPN review: score, privacy and prices
1.59
out of 10not in the main ranking (too little published data)
Free / mobile app median 2.3
- Free / mobile app
- Jurisdiction:USA, 5 Eyes
- Owner:none
- Data completeness53%
- Checked2026-10-15
- No email to sign up
- Free plan
- Open-source apps
Red flag: Stores connection IP addresses. A red flag caps the score at 6.0.
In 10 seconds
Strongest against its segment
- Security and protocols3.6 vs 1.2
- Censorship bypass1.9 vs 0.5
- Platforms and support2.1 vs 2.8
Weakest against its segment
- Privacy and jurisdiction0.0 vs 2.7
- Network and streaming0.1 vs 1.7
- Price and fair terms2.5 vs 3.4
- Jurisdiction in the 5 Eyes alliance
- Stores connection IP addresses
How the score adds up
Six sub-scores, each against the median of Free / mobile app services in the main ranking (80 services). Open a line to see which published facts earned points and which were missing or not disclosed.
Calyx VPNsegment median
-
Privacy and jurisdiction30% of the score · segment median 2.70.0
What earned points
- No-logs policy +2
- Independent no-logs audit +3
- No-logs confirmed in court +1
- Warrant canary +1
- Transparency report +1
- Sign-up without email +1.5
- Account number sign-up +0.5
- Stores connection IP (penalty) −3
- Public incident (penalty) −2
-
Security and protocols20% of the score · segment median 1.23.6
What earned points
- Kill switch +2
- DNS leak protection +1.5
- RAM-only servers +1
- Post-quantum encryption +1
- Perfect forward secrecy +0.5
- Security audit +2
- Open-source clients +1.5
- 2FA +1
- Multi-hop +1
- Bug bounty +1
- Only PPTP / L2TP (penalty) −2
-
Price and fair terms15% of the score · segment median 3.42.5
What earned points
- Free plan +1.5
- Free trial +1
- Trial without a card +1
- Crypto payments +1
- Cash payments +0.5
-
Censorship bypass15% of the score · segment median 0.51.9
What earned points
- Stealth / obfuscation +2
- VLESS / Reality +1.5
- Trojan +1
- Hysteria2 +1
- Shadowsocks +1
- AmneziaWG +1
- obfs4 +0.5
- TUIC +0.5
- NaiveProxy +0.5
- Mirrors or Telegram channel +0.5
- VoIP in the UAE (claimed) +0.5
- Manual configs +0.5
-
Network and streaming10% of the score · segment median 1.70.1
What earned points
- 10 Gbps servers +1
- Dedicated IP +0.5
- Port forwarding +0.5
- MENA locations +0.5
- Torrenting allowed +1
-
Platforms and support10% of the score · segment median 2.82.1
What earned points
- Routers +1
- Browser extensions +0.5
- Split tunneling +1
- Ad / tracker blocker +1
- 24/7 live chat +2
- live chat +0.5
- Support on Telegram +0.5
- Status page +0.5
Calyx VPN pricing
Calyx VPN does not publish a paid price we could read. Free plan: Yes VPN free. Market median across the main ranking: €3.13 a month.
Refunds, trial and payment
- Refund window
- Not stated
- Free trial
- Not stated
- Auto-renewal
- Not stated
- Payment methods
- membership: Visa/MC/Amex/Discover; PayPal; checks; money orders; cash/Bitcoin mentioned in privacy policy
Everything Calyx VPN publishes
Every fact we collected about Calyx VPN, as the provider and reviewers state it. Empty fields are left out; key fields we could not find say “Not stated”. “Partial”: only on some platforms, servers or plans.
Company
- Legal entity
- The Calyx Institute (nonprofit)
- Registered in
- USA
- Address
- 254 36th Street, Suite C660, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
- Parent company
- none
- Related brands
- CalyxOS
- Calyx Meet
- Calyx XMPP
- Bitmask/LEAP (provider)
- Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
- 5
- Website languages
- EN
- Right-to-left languages
- No
- Currencies on the site
- USD (membership)
- Prices depend on country
- No
Plans, prices and add-ons
- Plans
- Calyx VPN free; memberships Sustainer/Contributor/Sprout (hotspot)
- Cheapest price a month
- 0 (VPN free)
- Monthly plan
- Not stated
- Lifetime plan
- Not stated
- Family plan
- Not stated
Discounts and programmes
- Student discount
- Not stated
- Affiliate programme
- No
Limits and restrictions
- Devices at once
- Not stated
- Data limit
- No review 2021
Free plan
- Free plan
- Yes VPN free
- Free data
- Not stated
- Ads in the free plan
- No
Payment and subscription
- Payment methods
- membership: Visa/MC/Amex/Discover
- PayPal
- checks
- money orders
- cash/Bitcoin mentioned in privacy policy
- Bank card
- Yes membership
- PayPal
- Yes membership
- Cryptocurrency
- Yes Bitcoin mentioned in privacy policy
- Cash
- Yes membership
- Gift cards
- Not stated
- Auto-renewal by default
- Not stated
- Email needed to sign up
- Not stated
- Account-number login
- Not stated
- Identity check (KYC)
- No
- Money-back guarantee, days
- Not stated
Free trial terms
- Trial length
- Not stated
- Card needed for the trial
- Not stated
Server locations
- Countries
- 1 (New York only) (review 2021)
- Servers
- Not stated
- Server countries
- Not stated
- Middle East and North Africa
- none (review 2021)
- Virtual locations
- Not stated
- P2P servers
- Not stated
- Obfuscated servers
- Not stated
Network features
- RAM-only servers
- Not stated
- IPv6
- Not stated
- Dedicated IP
- Not stated
- Static IP
- Not stated
- Residential IP
- Not stated
- Double VPN / multi-hop
- Not stated
- Tor over VPN
- Not stated
- SOCKS5 proxy
- Not stated
- Smart DNS
- Not stated
Protocols and encryption
- WireGuardNot stated
- OpenVPNBitmask/LEAP-based client✓ Yes
- IKEv2Not stated
- L2TP/IPsecNot stated
- SSTPNot stated
- SoftEtherNot stated
- Own protocolNot stated
- VLESS / RealityNot stated
- VMessNot stated
- TrojanNot stated
- ShadowsocksNot stated
- Hysteria2Not stated
- TUICNot stated
- NaiveProxyNot stated
- obfs4Not stated
- AmneziaWGNot stated
- Perfect forward secrecy
- Not stated
- Post-quantum encryption
- Not stated
- Manual configuration files
- Not stated
- Open-source apps
- Yes via LEAP/Bitmask; CalyxOS at review.calyxos.org
Censorship and blocking
- Obfuscation (stealth mode)
- Yes Use Bridges hides traffic as normal web traffic
- Countries it claims to work in
- Not stated
- Mirror sites or Telegram channel
- Not stated
- Calls in the UAE
- Not stated
Security
- Kill switch
- Yes (Android Always-On VPN) (review 2021)
- DNS leak protection
- Yes client+server, DNS handled by Calyx
- Split tunnelling
- Yes (Exclude apps from VPN) (review 2021)
- Ad and malware blocker
- Not stated
- Two-factor sign-in
- Not stated
- Security audits
- Not stated
- Bug bounty
- Not stated
Privacy
- No-logs policy
- No explicit no-logs; minimal logs deleted after resolving issues
- Independent no-logs audit
- No
- Data retention
- limited period; minimal logs deleted after troubleshooting
- Shared with third parties
- not sold/shared except maintenance contractors; Vultr hosting for member data
- Trackers on the website
- session cookies only, no third-party cookies (claimed)
- Transparency report
- No
- Warrant canary
- No
- Law enforcement requests
- discloses on warrant/subpoena/court order
- challenged an NSL
- tries to notify users
- Anonymous sign-up
- Yes no user accounts
- Privacy policy updated
- 2025-10-30
What the privacy policy says is collected
Yes: collected. No: not collected. Partial: kept briefly or only in part. Not stated: the policy does not say.
- Connection IPIP may be kept for a limited period for internet services✕ Yes
- Session timesNot stated
Apps and devices
- WindowsNot stated
- macOSreview 2021✓ Yes
- Linuxreview 2021✓ Yes
- iOSNot stated
- AndroidF-Droid Calyx VPN org.calyxinstitute.vpn, v1.5.1 beta 2025-04-13; based on Bitmask◐ Partial
- Android TVNot stated
- Fire TVNot stated
- Apple TVNot stated
- ChromebookNot stated
- Smart TVNot stated
- RoutersNot stated
- NASNot stated
- Raspberry PiNot stated
- Game consolesNot stated
- Browser extensions
- Not stated
Speed, streaming and gaming
- 10 Gbps servers
- Not stated
- Netflix
- Not stated
- BBC iPlayer
- Not stated
- Disney+
- Not stated
- Prime Video
- Not stated
- Gaming features
- Not stated
- Torrenting
- Not stated
Support
- Live chat
- No
- Live chat 24/7
- No
- Email / tickets
- Yes help@calyx.org
- Phone
- Not stated
- Telegram
- Not stated
- Not stated
- Discord or forum
- Matrix #calyx:matrix.org; Reddit r/calyxinstitute
- Help articles
- helpdesk https://calyx.org/helpdesk
- Server status page
- Not stated
For teams and business
- SSO / SAML
- Not stated
- Admin panel
- Not stated
- Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
- Not stated
What users say
Reviews never change our score. Ratings are smoothed: a source’s average across all VPNs counts as 50 extra reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank thousands.
-
Trustpilot
3.51 of 5, smoothed
From 3 collected reviews (raw average 1.00; all VPNs 3.66). Last 90 days: 1.00 from 1.
The company replied to 0 of 3 negative reviews (1–2 stars).
Ratings shown on the platforms themselves: Trustpilot TrustScore 2.8 (3 reviews).
Reviews per month, last 12 months
36 Reddit and forum threads mention Calyx VPN (titles and search snippets only).
Latest reviews and related rankings
Latest reviews
Short excerpts with a link to the original. We do not reproduce reviews in full.
Trustpilot · 1★ · 31 Jul 2026 · US
Forget Social Media And YouTube
Original reviewTrustpilot · 1★ · 30 Nov 2025 · US
Buyer Beware!
Original reviewTrustpilot · 1★ · 29 May 2025 · US
Unacceptable conduct
Original review
Rankings by user reviews
Questions about Calyx VPN
Answers built from what Calyx VPN publishes. Open a question to read the details.
Calyx VPN alternatives: similar VPNs ranked by our score
6 alternatives to Calyx VPN (1.59) from the same segment, by features, price and owner. Highest: LightningX VPN (4.96).
Alternatives to Calyx VPN
| # | Service | Score | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LightningX VPN | 4.96 | €4.30per month |
| 2 | VPN Proxy Master | 3.68 | €3.18per month |
| 3 | Cool VPN Pro | 3.20 | €2.07per month |
| 4 | VpnHood! | 2.84 | €3.35per month |
| 5 | Riseup VPN | 2.82 | — |
| 6 | Bitmask | 2.00 | — |
Alternatives of similar VPNs
Who owns Calyx VPN? Company, jurisdiction and related brands
Calyx VPN is run by The Calyx Institute (nonprofit), registered in USA; parent company: none.
Company
- Registered in
- USA
- Address
- 254 36th Street, Suite C660, Brooklyn, NY 11232, USA
- Related brands
- CalyxOS; Calyx Meet; Calyx XMPP; Bitmask/LEAP (provider)
Jurisdiction
Owners of similar VPNs
In our rankings
Calyx VPN appears on 80 topic pages. Its place on each:
- Pay in cash#17 of 17
- Free Linux VPNs without ads#17 of 18
- Open-source VPNs with OpenVPN support#18 of 19
- Free VPNs with no ads#22 of 36
- Ad-free free VPNs for Mac#22 of 27
- Open-source VPNs with a kill switch#23 of 23
- Free open-source VPNs#27 of 35
- Open-source VPNs with obfuscated servers#36 of 38
- Open-source VPNs, no email#36 of 37
- Open-source crypto VPNs#39 of 41
- Kill switch VPNs, no email#46 of 47
- Anonymous VPNs#50 of 51
Show all 80
- Crypto VPNs with no email#50 of 51
- Linux VPNs without email#54 of 55
- OpenVPN services, no email#54 of 56
- Open-source VPNs#56 of 59
- Free VPNs that accept crypto#61 of 64
- Free VPNs for Linux#61 of 65
- Split tunneling VPNs for Linux#62 of 62
- Free OpenVPN VPNs#75 of 97
- Obfuscated VPNs, no email#77 of 81
- Free VPNs with a kill switch#79 of 82
- Kill switch crypto VPNs#84 of 84
- Mac VPNs without email#84 of 93
- Free obfuscated VPNs#86 of 111
- US-based VPNs#87 of 107
- Free VPNs without email#89 of 142
- Kill switch VPNs with obfuscated servers#90 of 92
- Obfuscated crypto VPNs#93 of 96
- Obfuscated VPNs for Linux#93 of 97
- Mobile VPN apps#95 of 178
- Linux VPNs with a kill switch#95 of 95
- OpenVPN crypto VPNs#96 of 103
- DNS leak protection#98 of 124
- Free VPNs for Egypt#98 of 111
- Free VPNs for India#98 of 111
- Free VPNs for Pakistan#98 of 111
- Free VPNs for Bahrain#99 of 115
- Free VPNs for China#99 of 114
- Free VPNs for Kuwait#99 of 115
- Free VPNs for Oman#99 of 115
- Free VPNs for Qatar#99 of 115
- Free VPNs for Saudi Arabia#99 of 115
- Free VPNs for Turkey#99 of 113
- OpenVPN + obfuscated servers#100 of 104
- Free VPNs for the UAE#100 of 118
- Split tunneling#107 of 154
- Kill switch VPNs with OpenVPN support#111 of 133
- Mac VPNs with split tunneling#112 of 113
- Linux VPNs with crypto#113 of 119
- Linux VPNs with OpenVPN#118 of 125
- Free VPNs for Mac#121 of 141
- Obfuscated VPNs for Mac#138 of 148
- Mac VPNs with crypto#147 of 156
- OpenVPN#151 of 242
- No sign-up VPNs#153 of 179
- Mac VPNs with a kill switch#160 of 162
- Kill switch#160 of 193
- Pay with crypto#164 of 181
- Pay with PayPal#164 of 211
- Free VPNs#170 of 282
- Obfuscated VPNs#177 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Egypt#177 of 192
- VPNs for travel to India#177 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Pakistan#177 of 192
- VPNs for travel to Bahrain#178 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Kuwait#178 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Oman#178 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Qatar#178 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Saudi Arabia#178 of 200
- VPNs for travel to Turkey#178 of 196
- VPNs for travel to the UAE#179 of 204
- VPNs for travel to China#181 of 209
- Mac VPNs with OpenVPN#182 of 198
- VPNs for Linux#188 of 203
- VPNs for Mac#316 of 361
- Top VPNs on the App Store543 listed
- Top VPNs on Google Play543 listed
- Top VPNs on Trustpilot543 listed
- Worst VPNs543 listed
Similar VPNs
- Riseup VPN2.82
- Bitmask2.00
- VpnHood!2.84
- Cool VPN Pro3.20
- VPN Proxy Master3.68
- LightningX VPN4.96
Owner and jurisdiction
Sources and changes
Collected 2026-10-15. No changes recorded since the first import.
- Website
- https://calyxinstitute.org
- Pages checked
- https://calyxinstitute.org; https://calyxinstitute.org/projects; https://calyxinstitute.org/projects/digital-services; https://calyx.org/legal; https://calyx.org/legal/privacy-policy; https://calyxinstitute.org/membership
- Other sources used
- macos/linux/kill_switch/split_tunneling/countries_count/mena_locations/traffic_limit/nologs_audit: https://www.techradar.com/news/calyx-is-this-free-and-unlimited-vpn-worth-downloading (2021-07-30); live_chat_247: existing live_chat=no
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