Bitdefender VPN is a service offered by the large cybersecurity company of the same name. It's a straightforward VPN with few additional features, but it does have split tunneling support and an ad blocker. It has servers in over 50 countries. You can connect up to 10 of your devices simultaneously, and it supports Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It's available as part of Bitdefender's All-in-One plans or as a standalone product. Bitdefender runs on Hotspot Shield's VPN infrastructure.
Our Verdict
Bitdefender VPN is okay for torrenting. It doesn't have any data limits, and it lets you download torrents. That said, it has poor security: it leaks DNS queries and leaves some system traffic unencrypted, so it's not a good choice if you care about being protected at all times. Additionally, the kill switch doesn't work correctly, as it allows you to reconnect to the internet outside the VPN tunnel after a system reboot or a software crash. It has no registration options that preserve your anonymity, as you must provide an email address and password to create an account and use a personally identifiable payment method.
Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
No registration options that preserve anonymity.
Kill switch doesn't function reliably.
DNS and IP leaks.
Bitdefender VPN is bad for private browsing. It has poor security, leaking some of your computer's DNS queries, so your ISP or other third party could potentially see your traffic. On top of that, it has bad policies and business practices, largely because it uses Hotspot Shield's infrastructure, which is a VPN with a history of security incidents and an opaque policy structure.
Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
No registration options that preserve anonymity.
Kill switch doesn't function reliably.
DNS and IP leaks.
Bad privacy and data collection policies.
No published independent audits of its policy adherence or security infrastructure.
Bitdefender VPN has bad policies and business practices. Its policies indicate that the service operates on Hotspot Shield's infrastructure, and that you must also agree to their policies as a subscriber. Hotspot Shield has a history of security vulnerabilities, retains user data for marketing, and has opaque communication practices. For more details, read our full review of Hotspot Shield.
Bad privacy and data collection policies.
No published independent audits of its policy adherence or security infrastructure.
Bitdefender VPN has poor security. It leaks some DNS queries, so your DNS provider or another third party could log your traffic and see which sites you connect to. Additionally, the kill switch doesn't function properly, as it allows you to reconnect to the internet outside the VPN tunnel after a system reboot or software crash. Thankfully, it doesn't leave you exposed to man-in-the-middle attacks.
Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
Kill switch doesn't function reliably.
DNS and IP leaks.
We're testing this VPN's speed on an ongoing basis and will update this verdict when we have more data. See the Performance section of the review to look at the data we've collected so far.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Mar 02, 2026:
We've added text throughout the review to correspond with the new privacy tests in Test Bench 0.10.
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Updated Jan 23, 2026:
We've updated the text throughout the review to reflect the changes from test bench 0.10.1.
- Updated Jan 23, 2026: We've updated this review to Test Bench 0.10.1! This is a minor update to how we conduct our speed tests. Read the changelog for more info.
- Updated Jan 15, 2026: We've updated our review to Test Bench 0.10! This update focuses on privacy and evaluates the trustworthiness of a VPN in keeping your personal information private. Read the changelog for more details.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
Bitdefender VPN only has one tier, but it's also included in Bitdefender's all-in-one security plans.
Popular VPN Comparisons
Bitdefender VPN doesn't compare favorably to other VPNs on the market. It has bad security since it leaks your IP address and DNS queries, and its kill switch doesn't work properly. This is problematic if you're concerned with keeping your traffic encrypted at all times. Also, it doesn't have many additional features like multi-hop or obfuscation.
Bitdefender sends DNS calls and initiates a TLS connection to WLVPN, a white-label VPN service that uses IPVanish's infrastructure. WLVPN isn't listed anywhere in Bitdefender's privacy policy, which actually states that Hotspot Shield is the infrastructure provider. This means that they haven't updated their privacy policy since switching providers. This shows a lack of transparency and is a concern if you'd like your VPN provider to be upfront about who they're using to power their service.
To see which services we recommend, check out our articles on the best VPNs, best VPNs for privacy, and best cheap VPNs.
Test Results
This VPN leaks system DNS queries and some traffic outside of the VPN tunnel. This is a concern if you want to keep your IP address and your DNS queries hidden at all times.
The kill switch doesn't work as intended, as network traffic leaks outside the VPN tunnel after both a software crash and a system reboot. This is a concern if you need to keep all of your traffic encrypted at all times.
Like most VPN services, this VPN doesn't implement BGP properly. This means that even if your ISP protects against attacks like route hijacking, your traffic could still be misdirected once it enters the VPN's network. This is only a concern for highly targeted and resource-intensive attacks that are feasible only for governments or large corporations to orchestrate.
Bitdefender VPN's subscription agreement and privacy policy stipulate that its VPN service is provided by Hotspot Shield, and that by accepting Bitdefender's subscription agreement, you also accept Hotspot Shield's terms and privacy policy. See our Hotspot Shield review for more information about its privacy practices.
Bitdefender is a privately held, multinational cybersecurity company that offers an array of digital security products in addition to its VPN service. The company has a history of working with authorities to investigate online criminal activity.
Bitdefender hasn't published any independent third-party audits to verify the integrity of its security infrastructure, leaving the security of your data in question. Also, the terms of service can change without notice, and stipulate that the company will retain user data for five years after the subscription period.
Since you must agree to Hotspot Shield's terms of service and privacy policy to use Bitdefender VPN, it's worth looking into their company practices, which we've evaluated separately.
It's also worth noting that we discovered Bitdefender VPN made calls to WLVPN, a white label VPN service that operates on IPVanish's server network. Bitdefender doesn't mention any sort of relationship with WLVPN, indicating a lack of transparency.
You can pay with a credit card, PayPal, or wire transfer.
We're testing this VPN's performance on an ongoing basis, and will update the text for the download speed, upload speed, and latency tests when we have more data.
The Windows app is fairly buggy, occasionally freezing and minimizing itself. This doesn't impact its core functionality but detracts from the user experience.
This VPN has mobile apps available on iOS and Android.
