Tinc VPN review: score, privacy and prices

1.28

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
  • 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
  • Price and fair terms2.1 vs 3.4

Weakest against its segment

  • Network and streaming0.0 vs 2.8
  • Platforms and support1.7 vs 3.9
  • Privacy and jurisdiction1.0 vs 2.3

Compare Tinc 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.

Tinc 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 3.91.7
    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

Tinc VPN pricing

Tinc VPN does not publish a paid price we could read. Free plan: Yes entirely free, GPLv2+. 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
Not stated

Everything Tinc VPN publishes

Every fact we collected about Tinc 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
Surveillance alliance (5/9/14 Eyes)
Not stated
Website languages
EN
Right-to-left languages
No
Currencies on the site
none

Plans, prices and add-ons
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
0
Family plan
Not stated
Dedicated IP add-on
No
Port forwarding add-on
No
Double VPN add-on
No
Antivirus
No
Password manager
No
eSIM
No
Identity protection
No
Cloud storage
No
Other add-ons
No

Discounts and programmes
Student discount
Not stated
Affiliate programme
No

Limits and restrictions
Devices at once
unlimited (self-hosted)
Data limit
none

Free plan
Free plan
Yes entirely free, GPLv2+
Free data
Yes unlimited (self-hosted)
Free speed
no limit (self-hosted)
Free locations
self-hosted
Free devices
unlimited nodes
Ads in the free plan
No

Payment and subscription
PayPal
Not stated
Cryptocurrency
Not stated
Cash
Not stated
Gift cards
Not stated
Auto-renewal by default
Not stated
Email needed to sign up
No
Phone needed to sign up
No
Account-number login
Not stated
Identity check (KYC)
No
Money-back guarantee, days
Not stated

Free trial terms
Trial length
Not stated
Instead of a trial
free software
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
P2P servers
Not stated
Obfuscated servers
Not stated

Network features
RAM-only servers
Not stated
IPv6
Yes tunnels IPv6 and runs over IPv6
Dedicated IP
Not stated
Static IP
Not stated
Residential IP
Not stated
Double VPN / multi-hop
No auto full-mesh direct routing
Tor over VPN
Not stated
SOCKS5 proxy
Not stated
Smart DNS
Not stated

Protocols and encryption
  • WireGuard✕ No
  • OpenVPN✕ No
  • IKEv2✕ No
  • L2TP/IPsecNo
  • SSTPNo
  • SoftEther✕ No
  • Own protocoltinc protocol✓ Yes
  • VLESS / Reality✕ No
  • VMess✕ No
  • Trojan✕ No
  • Shadowsocks✕ No
  • Hysteria2✕ No
  • TUIC✕ No
  • NaiveProxy✕ No
  • obfs4✕ No
  • AmneziaWG✕ No
  • PPTP✓ No
Other protocols
tinc mesh (L2 bridging / L3 routing)
Encryption
  • LibreSSL/OpenSSL
  • MAC + sequence numbers
  • optional zlib/LZO compression
Perfect forward secrecy
Not stated
Post-quantum encryption
Not stated
Manual configuration files
Yes config files per node
Open-source apps
Yes GPLv2+ (https://tinc-vpn.org/repository/)

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
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
Not stated

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
  • macOS✓ Yes
  • Linux✓ Yes
  • iOS✕ No
  • AndroidNot stated
  • 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
Not stated
Email / tickets
Yes contact page
Phone
No
Telegram
Not stated
WhatsApp
Not stated
Discord or forum
mailing lists
Help articles
  • docs
  • FAQ
  • examples
Server status page
Not stated

For teams and business
SSO / SAML
Not stated
Admin panel
No
API
No
Zero-trust access (ZTNA)
No

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.

  • Google Play

    3.94 of 5, smoothed

    From 2 collected reviews (raw average 5.00; all VPNs 3.90). Last 90 days: 5.00 from 1.

Reviews per month, last 12 months

  1. Sep ’261 reviews, average 5.0
Bar height: number of reviews collected that month. Full-colour bars: months with an average of 4 stars or more; pale bars: below 4.

42 Reddit and forum threads mention Tinc 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.

  • Google Play · 5★ · 03 Sep 2026

    how to use it 🤔

  • Google Play · 5★ · 20 Feb 2025

    Thanks for creating this. I didn't even think there would be an app for putting mobile devices on a tinc VPN. So thank you again!

Rankings by user reviews

Reviews of similar VPNs

In our rankings

Tinc VPN appears on 1 topic pages. Its place on each:

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Closed services Tinc VPN replaces

Services that shut down or moved, for which this is one of five live alternatives.

Tools for Tinc VPN

Sources and changes

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

Website
https://tinc-vpn.org

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