nostr-vpn review: score, privacy and prices

1.40

out of 10not in the main ranking (too little published data)
Mesh / self-hosted median 2.5

  • Mesh / self-hosted
  • Jurisdiction:not stated, alliance not disclosed
  • Owner:none
  • Data completeness40%
  • Checked2026-10-15
  • No email to sign up
  • Free plan
  • Open-source apps

In 10 seconds

Strongest against its segment

  • Security and protocols2.1 vs 1.8
  • Censorship bypass0.5 vs 0.5
  • Platforms and support2.9 vs 3.9

Weakest against its segment

  • Network and streaming0.0 vs 2.8
  • Privacy and jurisdiction1.0 vs 2.3
  • Price and fair terms2.1 vs 3.4

Compare nostr-vpn side by side with other VPNs

How the score adds up

Six sub-scores, each against the median of Mesh / self-hosted services in the main ranking (None services). Open a line to see which published facts earned points and which were missing or not disclosed.

nostr-vpnsegment median

  • Privacy and jurisdiction30% of the score · segment median 2.31.0
    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 1.82.1
    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 3.42.1
    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 0.50.5
    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 2.80.0
    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 3.92.9
    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

nostr-vpn pricing

nostr-vpn does not publish a paid price we could read. Free plan: Yes fully free, MIT. 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
Bitcoin via Cashu Spilman channels (paid exits only)

Everything nostr-vpn publishes

Every fact we collected about nostr-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
Not stated
Registered in
Not stated
Parent company
none
Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
Not stated
Website languages
EN
Right-to-left languages
No
Currencies on the site
BTC, per byte exit pricing

Plans, prices and add-ons
Plans
free open source; paid exits (marketplace)
Cheapest price a month
0
Monthly plan
0
1-year plan, total
0
1-year plan, a month
0
2-year plan, total
0
2-year plan, a month
0
Lifetime plan
Not stated
Family plan
Not stated
Other add-ons
paid exit nodes (experimental)

Discounts and programmes
Student discount
Not stated
Referral programme
No
Affiliate programme
No

Limits and restrictions
Devices at once
Not stated

Free plan
Free plan
Yes fully free, MIT
Free data
Yes unlimited (own mesh)
Free devices
unlimited
Ads in the free plan
No
Other free plan terms
paid exits per-byte BTC

Payment and subscription
Payment methods
Bitcoin via Cashu Spilman channels (paid exits only)
Bank card
No
PayPal
No
Cryptocurrency
Yes paid exits
Coins accepted
BTC (Cashu ecash)
Cash
Not stated
Gift cards
Not stated
Auto-renewal by default
Not stated
Email needed to sign up
No Nostr identity
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
Not stated
Servers
Not stated
Server countries
Not stated
Middle East and North Africa
Not stated
Virtual locations
Not stated
Own servers
No P2P mesh + community exits
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
  • WireGuardupstream egress / paid exit uplink✓ Yes
  • OpenVPN✕ No
  • IKEv2✕ No
  • L2TP/IPsecNo
  • SSTPNot stated
  • SoftEtherNot stated
  • Own protocolFIPS-based mesh over UDP with Nostr signaling✓ Yes
  • VLESS / Reality✕ No
  • VMess✕ No
  • Trojan✕ No
  • Shadowsocks✕ No
  • Hysteria2✕ No
  • TUIC✕ No
  • NaiveProxy✕ No
  • obfs4✕ No
  • AmneziaWG✕ No
  • PPTP✓ No
Perfect forward secrecy
Not stated
Post-quantum encryption
Not stated
Manual configuration files
Yes CLI nvpn; self-hosted
Open-source apps
Yes https://github.com/mmalmi/nostr-vpn (MIT)

Censorship and blocking
Obfuscation (stealth mode)
Not stated
Countries it claims to work in
Not stated
Mirror sites or Telegram channel
Not stated
Calls in the UAE
Not stated

Security
Kill switch
Not stated
DNS leak protection
Not stated
Own DNS servers
Yes MagicDNS
Split tunnelling
Not stated
Ad and malware blocker
Not stated
Two-factor sign-in
Not stated
Security audits
Not stated
Bug bounty
Not stated

Privacy
No-logs policy
Not stated
Independent no-logs audit
Not stated
Transparency report
Not stated
Warrant canary
Not stated
Anonymous sign-up
Yes Nostr keys

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 IPNot stated
  • Session timesNot stated

Apps and devices
  • Windows✓ Yes
  • macOSApple Silicon✓ Yes
  • Linux✓ Yes
  • iOSApp Store/TestFlight✓ Yes
  • AndroidAPK/Zapstore✓ Yes
  • Android TVNot stated
  • Fire TVNot stated
  • Apple TVNot stated
  • ChromebookNot stated
  • Smart TVNot stated
  • RoutersNot stated
  • NASStartOS, Umbrel packages✓ Yes
  • 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
Not stated
Live chat 24/7
Not stated
Phone
Not stated
Telegram
Not stated
WhatsApp
Not stated
Discord or forum
GitHub issues
Help articles
README
Server status page
Not stated

For teams and business
SSO / SAML
Not stated
Admin panel
Not stated
Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
Not stated
Identity providers
Nostr identities

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.

  • App Store

    3.53 of 5, smoothed

    From 1 collected reviews (raw average 3.00; all VPNs 3.54). Last 90 days: 3.00 from 1.

Ratings shown on the platforms themselves: App Store (US) 3.00 (1 ratings).

Reviews per month, last 12 months

  1. Aug ’261 reviews, average 3.0
Bar height: number of reviews collected that month. Full-colour bars: months with an average of 4 stars or more; pale bars: below 4.

32 Reddit and forum threads mention nostr-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.

  • App Store · 3★ · 06 Aug 2026 · US

    Feedback

Rankings by user reviews

Reviews of similar VPNs

In our rankings

nostr-vpn appears on 1 topic pages. Its place on each:

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Tools for nostr-vpn

Sources and changes

Collected 2026-10-15. No changes recorded since the first import.

Website
https://github.com/mmalmi/nostr-vpn

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