Cargo VPN is a new VPN service offered by a well-known software producer that you may use on your iOS and MacOS devices. Keep reading the Cargo VPN review to find out what are the pros and cons of CargoVPN.
Cargo VPN review in a nutshell
Headquarters & jurisdiction | Germany |
Website | Eltima.com |
Log policy | No logging of user activity, logs number of devices used, some aggregated logs. |
Servers & locations | 1000+ servers, 52 countries. |
Dynamic & static IPs | Dynamic IPs. |
Dedicated IPs | Yes, Personal IP and Personal Server packages. |
VPN protocols & security | OpenVPN, IPSec, KeepSolid Wise. |
P2P & torrent policy | Yes, on certain servers. |
VPN applications | MacOS, iOS. |
Other devices (manual setup) | No. |
Kill Switch | No. |
Simultaneous connections / devices | 5 devices. |
Free trial | Yes, 24 hours. |
Pricing | From $9.95/month, $99.99 for three years. |
Payment methods | App Store (iOS and MacOS). |
Moneyback | AppStore refund policy. |
Support | 24/7 ticket and live chat. |
Multilanguage | Yes (English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Turkish). |
Pros/What I like | Nice apps, OpenVPN available, dedicated IPs/servers packages. |
Cons/What could be improved | No Windows and Android apps, no KillSwitch. |
Headquarters & jurisdiction
The company that offers Cargo VPN, Eltima Software, is based in Germany. As a member of the Fourteen Eyes group of countries, Germany shares intelligence to avoid breaking domestic laws. Thus, a VPN provider located in one of these countries might (not necessarily would) share user data with intelligence services in some instances. You should keep this in mind when using a VPN service located in Germany.
Log policy
According to Eltima Software, Cargo VPN has the following logging policy:
Eltima does NOT collect and log any user activities while using any of their VPN services, except the total amount of web traffic for each session and session dates, for displaying them in the user’s web cabinet and within the VPN client apps. Eltima also stores the encrypted information about the number of connected devices for each account, as the maximum permitted amount is limited. This information can be assessed in the User Office, where any user can delete their devices from their account.
Servers & locations
Cargo VPN offers access to more than 1000+ servers in 52 countries: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, United States.
Dynamic & static IPs
Cargo VPN servers have dynamic IPs, meaning that every time you connect, you will (most probably) get a different IP. However, you may get a static IP on a location of your choice by subscribing to a Personal IP package.
Dedicated IPs
A strong point of Cargo VPN is that it offers Personal static IP or Personal Server packages. By subscribing to a Personal IP package, you get access to a dedicated IP from an existing VPN server. However, you can buy your Personal Server with dedicated IPs and resources (CPU, bandwidth, connection port).
VPN protocols and security
The available VPN protocols available in the CargoVPN apps are IPSec, OpenVPN, KeepSolid Wise UDP, and KeepSolid Wise TCP. The KeepSolid Wise (proprietary to KeepSolid) is a Stealth VPN protocol that provides higher anonymity (more difficult to detect and block), but medium performance.
It uses the TCP 443 and UDP 33434 ports, and with the OpenVPN protocol forming its backbone. The KeepSolid Wise is handy for those living or traveling to China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Indonesia, India, Turkey, Syria, Iran.
P2P & torrent policy
Downloading torrents is allowed on specific Cargo VPN servers located in Canada, France, Luxembourg, Romania, United States (California 1). Cargo VPN marks these servers with the “torrents” to the right of the server name.
Must read: Learn how to torrent safely!
Cargo VPN review – VPN applications
Cargo VPN MacOS app
The CargoVPN MacOS application (you may download it from Mac App Store) is simple and does what is supposed to do, plus something extra.
To connect to VPN for Mac, you need to select the desired location from the Servers screen. The app shows the workload for every location/server. Also, you may go for the Optimal server that provides the best performance (usually the closest server from your location), Streaming Netflix, Hulu that unblocks the desired US channels or UK-South BBC iPlayer to unblock BBC. A very nice feature is that you may select the servers from the Touch Bar on MacBook Pros! 🙂
To use CargoVPN for torrenting, search the servers marked with the torrents text to the right of server location.
The Cargo VPN MacOS app uses the IPSec VPN protocol by default, but you may switch it to OpenVPN or Stealth VPN (KeepSolid UDP or TCP) from Account -> Network Settings. Be aware that, by using the KeepSolid protocols, the connection performance may decrease.
Further, to increase the protection while connected to a VPN service, Cargo VPN app offers access to the Eltima/KeepSolid DNS firewall (select Protection from the left menu) with two levels of Internet traffic filtering:
- None – You may access all websites, but the VPN traffic encryption protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Low – Anti-malware protection: the DNS firewall blocks websites that present Internet security risks.
Also, users can define their black/white lists.
To sum up, the Cargo VPN software works smoothly and offers nice speed. The DNS filtering adds an extra layer of protection.
Cargo VPN iOS app
The Cargo VPN iOS app easily connects to a VPN location seconds after installing the application. The 24-trial is rightly implemented, and it does not require any registration. However, if you already created an account on MacOS, you can sign in with it.
From the home screen, you can turn the VPN on/off and select the desired location. If you choose Optimal the mobile app tries to find the server that provides you the optimal speed. Usually, a server close to your location. Also, you may take a look at the Recommended servers to choose a server that provides a fast connection.
The Cargo VPN mobile app uses the IPSec VPN protocol by default, but OpenVPN and Stealth VPN/KeepSolid are also available. In-app purchases are available if you don’t already have an account.
And … yes, you may control the Cargo VPN iOS app from your Apple Watch. Nice!
Simultaneous connections/devices
The Cargo VPN applications can be used on five devices (iOS and macOS) simultaneously. It should be enough for a medium-sized family, but you may purchase additional slots if you need to.
Free trial
You may try Cargo VPN with a 24-h trial. The trial is beautifully implemented. For the iOS app merely install the app, and you may get connected. For the macOS app, you need to create an account (Eltima ID).
Pricing
Cargo VPN offers the main VPN plans plus additional packages for extra devices, dedicated IPs, and dedicated servers. Take a look below at the available Cargo VPN packages:
Package | Main features | Pricing |
VPN Plans | Access to all servers on five devices. | $9.99/month, $49.99/year, $99.99/3 years |
Additional Slots | Add devices to your subscription. | from $0.99/month/device |
Personal IP | Get a static, dedicated IP address | from $24.99/month depends on location |
Personal Server | Get your own VPN server | depends on location |
You may subscribe directly from the Cargo VPN iOS and MacOS apps.
Payment methods
As Cargo VPN is only available (at this time) for iOS and macOS, the payments are only accepted through App Store (iOS and macOS).
Moneyback
Cargo VPN is distributed through iOS and Mac AppStore. The AppStore refund policy is applied, and you need to contact the contact Apple Store support directly.
Support
The Cargo VPN team offers 24/7/365 ticket and live chat support. I have tried the live chat, and I received an informative and friendly reply.
Website
The Cargo VPN presentation page (visit site here) looks very nice, and it’s simple and informative.
User reviews
As the service is relatively new, there are not many reviews from the users. Feel free to add your Cargo VPN review to the end of this article.
Cargo VPN review – Pros – What I like about CargoVPN
Cargo VPN looks like a reliable VPN service for the iOS devices and Mac OS. Here are some of the things I love the most about Cargo VPN:
- The apps seem very good;
- It is an excellent VPN for beginners;
- It exposes dedicated servers for unblocking Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer;
- It offers access to dedicated IPs and dedicated VPN servers;
- OpenVPN is available for both iOS and Mac OS apps;
- Good connection speeds.
Cargo VPN review – Cons – What could be improved
Several things could be improved:
- Cargo VPN website does not clearly explain the logging policy;
- KillSwitch for the macOS app is a must;
- There are no Windows and Android apps (yet).
Cargo VPN review – Conclusion
To sum up, Cargo VPN offers very good macOS and iOS VPN apps with a large number of locations and good speed. Further, it can be used to unblock Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Plus, you may get your dedicated IP address or dedicated VPN server.
What do you think of CargoVPN? Have you tried it? What features should Cargo VPN add? Would you recommend it? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Cargo looks like a clone of VPN unlimited. KeepSolid is the company that runs VPN Unlimited. They are probably using KeepSolid reseller program.