Zoog's free VPN service can provide you with elevated privacy and security online, but what's its encryption standards like? What encryption cipher does Zoog use, and is it safe enough for you to trust?
What Is Zoog and Its Free Plan?
Zoog was founded in 2013 by a group of tech enthusiasts, and is based in Greece. The service offers premium and paid plans to users, with the former having more features and server accessibility. But we'll be focusing on Zoog's free version today.
Zoog is a no-log VPN service, meaning it doesn't record or share the data it encrypts for you. This is a big plus in terms of security and privacy.
The free Zoog plan offers you six different server locations (with the other 63 available servers only being available to premium members). For a basic, free VPN, six options isn't too bad. You can connect to servers in Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore (of which there are two), London, and Washington. The two Singapore servers technically takes the location choice down to five, so keep this in mind.
The Zoog app is easy to use, and doesn't require much getting used to.
The interface itself is basic, with a simple main screen that allows you to activate or deactivate the VPN, as well as see how much of your monthly data limit you've used. The free Zoog plan gives users 10 GB of data monthly. This isn't an awful lot, but is enough for browsing and the odd video.
You can also switch VPN protocols in Zoog's app settings and enable the auto-reconnect feature, connect-on-start feature, and VPN shadowing (which lets you overcome censored firewalls).
But when it comes to VPNs, it's the security that matters above all else. So, what kind of encryption is Zoog offering its customers to keep their internet traffic safe?
Zoog's Encryption Standards
Many popular VPN providers out there today use AES-256 encryption to secure user data. This is a symmetric key cipher that uses a 256-bit key to encrypt data. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard (or Rijndael), and is used by numerous world governments, security agencies, and, VPN providers to keep data inaccessible to unauthorized parties.
ExpressVPN, SurfShark, NordVPN, Windscribe, ProtonVPN, and Zoog's premium plan all use AES-256. However, Zoog doesn't use AES-256 encryption on its free version. Rather, it uses AES-128 encryption. As you may have guessed, the difference between these two encryption ciphers is the number of bits used in the key. While the former uses 256 bits, the latter uses 128.
But this doesn't mean Zoog is not secure. AES-128 encryption is still very tough to overcome. In fact, AES encryption has never been cracked, be it the 128-bit or 256-bit cipher. There's also a 192-bit AES cipher, which has also never been cracked. Overall, this encryption standard is very good at what it does.
As said on the Zoog website, "If the most powerful computer on the Earth was trying to crack a 128-bit key, it would still take approximately 139 trillion years." So, you've not got much to worry about there.
In fact, AES-128 encryption can outshine AES-256 in some ways. For starters, AES-128 is faster and more efficient.
If you want to use Zoog and enjoy the benefits of AES-256, you'll need to upgrade to the premium plan. You can pay for Zoog monthly, or buy a year or two years' worth of membership in bulk. The pricing for this is as follows:
- $9.99 monthly (no contract).
- $44.88 for two years (equating to $1.87 monthly).
- $35.88 for one year (equating to $2.99 monthly).
Is Zoog's Free VPN Safe to Use?
Though Zoog uses two different encryption ciphers on its free and premium plans, both ciphers are still highly secure, meaning Zoog is safe to use either way.
But if AES-128 encryption isn't for you, don't worry. There are so many free VPN services that use 256-bit encryption (including TunnelBear and PrivadoVPN), you'll have no trouble finding a provider with a more secure encryption cipher.
Zoog's Encryption Standards Meet the Mark
While Zoog's free and premium plans use two different AES encryption ciphers, both are highly secure, meaning your data will be sufficiently encrypted on both versions. So, if you're looking to save money and don't mind missing out on certain features, Zoog's free VPN service could suit you well.