BolehVPN Review 2024: Are Its Features and Functionality Lacking?

BolehVPN might be an intriguing option for a virtual private network (VPN). However, we would suggest purchasing a different service due to the lack of compatibility, connection issues, and limited features during testing.

We were pleased that BolehVPN offered fast speeds and Netflix U.S. access. Unfortunately, the connection dropped after a minute of use, and its promised compatibility did not work.

We break down the pros, cons, frustrations, and surprises we found while testing out this lightweight VPN.

3.1

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On BolehVPN's website

VPN

BolehVPN

• Offers multiple pricing plans including daily, monthly, and yearly
• Maintained fast speeds while connected to Canada and Singapore servers
• Offers few operational options, like auto reconnecting, but little else in the way of features
• Mac integration was completely unusable

Overview

Who is BolehVPN best for?

• Recommended for someone with technical knowledge who doesn’t care about features

BolehVPN isn’t for everyone. If you want many features or need a user-friendly VPN option, this isn’t the VPN for you. If you’re a little more technical and looking for something simple to mask your IP, BolehVPN could be a solution.

We don’t suggest relying on it as your go-to option.

BolehVPN pros and cons

Prices and subscriptions

BolehVPN doesn’t offer a traditional subscription model. Instead of purchasing the VPN monthly or annually, you can select subscription lengths. The shortest term is a week, while the longest term is a year. Purchasing a week could be a way to save money on a VPN, but it’s not economical in the long run. The monthly pricing is on par or slightly cheaper than top-tier competitors. But in our opinion, it’s too much for what BolehVPN offers.

Main features

If you’re looking for a feature-rich VPN, BolehVPN is not for you.

We applaud BolehVPN for its security, but when we tested it, there was almost nothing extra save a choice between VPN protocols and a proxy setting. It has a few operational options, like running at startup and auto reconnecting (necessary), but there’s little else.

Server count and countries

• Unlisted servers in unlisted countries

Since the trial offered the same functionality as the full product, we decided to test BolehVPN that way. Because we had the trial, we were only provided access to four servers: one in Canada, two in Japan, and one in Singapore.

BolehVPN doesn’t list on its site how many servers it has or in how many countries, but it does say they’re “strategically placed.” Whatever “strategically placed” means, we can attest that all four worked without issue.

No-logs policy and headquarters

• BolehVPN logs policy: Some logs
• BolehVPN headquarters: Seychelles

Boleh’s website mentions that it’s outside the Eyes alliance countries and, therefore, isn’t required to hand over any data. It also claims it operates with a no-logs policy. However, when you open the dashboard or check the privacy policy, there are some discrepancies.

BolehVPN does have a logs section on the VPN agent where you can see running session information. What we found alarming, however, was the mention in the privacy policy about how BolehVPN can turn logs on if necessary.

The company mentions that it’s only turned logs on to remove people violating Boleh’s terms and conditions, and that’s only happened a few times. We’re still not in love with the fact that logs can be turned on from Boleh’s end.

Security features

A kill switch is a pretty important feature offered by even the most basic VPN providers, but we didn’t have that option with BolehVPN. We also didn’t have a split tunneling option.

You can choose between two different VPN protocols, and Boleh advertises that it uses obfuscation technology to hide VPN usage.

• Split tunneling: Split tunneling allows you to route some internet traffic through a VPN connection and some without it. BolehVPN doesn’t have this feature.
• Kill switch: A kill switch terminates your internet connection if your VPN connection drops, which is key to keeping your information private. BolehVPN doesn’t offer this feature either.
• VPN protocols: BolehVPN uses OpenVPN and L2TP protocols. OpenVPN is the default; you should stick with it unless you need faster speeds. L2TP can deliver a faster speed but may compromise your security more than OpenVPN.
• Obfuscated servers: A VPN encrypts your internet traffic through a secure tunnel that can look like a regular internet connection. Obfuscated servers hide the fact that you’re using a VPN by making that tunnel look like a regular internet connection.

Our experience

We started by downloading BolehVPN onto our MacBook Pro, which runs an M2 chip. The download wasn’t an issue, but when we tried to install the VPN, it prompted us for our credentials.

We input our username and password and were told the credentials were incorrect. That happens. So we went to the website and logged in without issue.

We changed the password anyway and tried logging in again with the new password—same issue. The customer support page threw us an error message, and we couldn’t find anything helpful in the forums. We ended up having to pull out our seven-year-old PC laptop, where we were finally able to download and install BolehVPN.

The rest of our testing was on the PC, as the Mac integration simply didn’t work. We found the dashboard to be basic but functional.

Since we were testing with the trial, we only had access to one Canadian server, two Japanese servers, and one server in Singapore. All of these worked relatively well with minimal slowdown and no DNS or WebRTC leaks.

There weren’t any features really for us to try, and the only Netflix catalog we could access was in the U.S.

Our biggest issue was that the VPN connection dropped every minute and had to be reconnected. There’s a box you can check to reconnect automatically, but we found this extremely annoying.

BolehVPN does everything it says, except work on a Mac and provide true 24/7 customer support. It’s secure, but it might be too technical for the average internet user to get the full benefit of the product.

Overall, we’d recommend using a more user-friendly product offering more features.

BolehVPN’s test results

Because different people have different reasons for using a VPN, we test a variety of areas.

Speed and security are at the top of our lists. If a VPN is lacking in either area, it’s probably unusable. We make sure that turning the protection on from your VPN doesn’t turn your internet connection into the dial-up of the past century. We also check DNS and WebRTC leaks which can both expose your personal information. Finally, we check for Netflix compatibility because we know you need your content available and secure no matter where you are.

Speed tests

• BolehVPN speed test results: BolehVPN had minimal impact on our internet speeds.

There was minimal internet slowdown with BolehVPN. The most we noticed was when we connected to the server in Canada, and even then, it really wasn’t that much. Because we had limited access to Boleh’s servers, we couldn’t test out our normal range of countries, but we do have a breakdown of how the speeds were during our testing.

Our old Windows 10 PC has been through it. She’s clunky and a little persnickety, but she handled BolehVPN without issue. We didn’t see significant slowing while browsing the web or watching streaming. There also wasn’t significant buffering or lag time. Everything ran smoothly.

Before testing BolehVPN.

BolehVPN connected to a Singaporean server.

BolehVPN connected to a Canadian server.

Speed test results

Netflix tests

• BolehVPN Netflix test results: BolehVPN successfully unblocked Netflix U.S.

We were pleasantly surprised with BolehVPN’s Netflix results. Usually, smaller VPNs don’t do a great job with Netflix, but this one was seamless. Honestly, we closed our browser, turned off Boleh, and restarted everything twice to ensure it was smooth. It was.

The only caveat is that Boleh only claims to be able to work on Netflix’s U.S. catalog. We guess that it’s using U.S.-based IP addresses to obfuscate its own VPN servers, so there’s no ability to access other geo-restricted catalogs. Either way, if all you want is U.S. shows, you can watch Netflix easily with BolehVPN.

Netflix test results

DNS and WebRTC leak tests

• BolehVPN DNS leak test results: BolehVPN passed its DNS leak tests.
• BolehVPN WebRTC leak test results: BolehVPN passed its WebRTC leak tests.

You’ve heard of an IP address, the unique identifier for your device, internet service provider, and so on. That’s the language computers use to get from one place to another (like your browser to the Netflix site.)

DNS is the address book that translates human language to computer language and vice versa. A leak can expose your IP address and leave you vulnerable to hackers.

WebRTC is similar, except it relates to video and audio connections. Any time you make a FaceTime call, send a voice message, or log in to a Zoom meeting, you’re using this functionality. Again, leaks within this system can expose your private information to cybercriminals.

We’re happy to report that all of the servers in the BolehVPN trial were secure and kept our data confidential.

Compatibility

BolehVPN claims compatibility with Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. We tested it on a Mac and a Windows PC. However, it only worked for us on Windows.

In the community section, we saw some people were experiencing leaks with the Linux version. If you have one of these systems, we suggest running a leak test during your trial period to ensure the VPN hides your IP address.

BolehVPN’s compatibility and downloads page.

Support topics where Linux DNS leaking was reported.

Customer support

On its main website, BolehVPN claims 24/7 customer support, but we were unable to verify this. We could not access support from the VPN client itself, and when we tried to access some of the support options on the website, we were given an error page.

When we tried to access the support page, it was on our Mac, and no VPN was running. There shouldn’t have been a conflict at all. We aren’t sure why, but 24 hours later, we still cannot access support.

The community forum and the searchable topics were somewhat helpful, but we still couldn’t figure out why the VPN dropped every minute. In the end, we gave up.

Top alternatives

BolehVPN is not for everyone. If you’re looking for a more user-friendly VPN with a variety of features and an easy-to-use dashboard, we have recommendations we’ve pulled from the best VPNs we’ve reviewed. These are all compatible with multiple devices, great for streaming various geo-restricted catalogs, and full of features. We think you’ll like them.

• NordVPN: If you want a lot of features, NordVPN has you covered. It offers extra security with Tor browser compatibility or optimal streaming access through SmartPlay. We find NordVPN to be proactive in constantly maintaining and improving its services for customers.

  Get NordVPN | Read Our NordVPN Review

• Surfshark: You can use Surfshark VPN alone or grab a Surfshark One or One+ subscription to bundle antivirus and identity theft protection. Stacking your security with one product helps keep prices low. No matter what plan you choose, you’ll enjoy a fast VPN and protection from ads, pop-ups, and trackers.

  Get Surfshark | Read Our Surfshark Review

• CyberGhost: With compatibility across a variety of operating systems and devices, you can use CyberGhost for whatever you need to protect. There are servers optimized for streaming, gaming, and torrenting so large data transfers aren’t a problem. Headquartered in a privacy-friendly country, Romania, CyberGhost will keep your data secure.

  Get CyberGhost | Read Our CyberGhost Review

FAQs

Bottom line: Is BolehVPN good?

BolehVPN is secure, but that’s only if it’s working correctly. Because of the connection issues, lack of server transparency, and limited features, we wouldn’t say that BolehVPN is a good service.

It does unblock Netflix and offers fast speeds. It also passes WebRTC and DNS leak tests, but none of that matters if the connection suddenly drops. We suggest skipping it for another, more reliable VPN service like our top alternatives.

3.1

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On BolehVPN's website

VPN

BolehVPN

• Offers multiple pricing plans including daily, monthly, and yearly
• Maintained fast speeds while connected to Canada and Singapore servers
• Offers few operational options, like auto reconnecting, but little else in the way of features
• Mac integration was completely unusable

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary is a seasoned cybersecurity writer with over seven years of experience. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University, she educates audiences on scams, antivirus software, and more. Her passion lies in educating audiences on helpful ways to protect their data.