# Windscribe privacy rating

VPN service from Canada with a limited free plan, open-source apps and browser extensions, and WireGuard, IKEv2 and OpenVPN support.

## Summary

Windscribe scores 81 out of 100 (grade B) on the VPN providers criteria. It meets 8 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, TLS configuration, audited no-logs policy, anonymous payment, open-source apps and modern protocols. It partly meets open source, no trackers or telemetry and security headers. It does not meet tells users about requests. It is based in Canada: Five Eyes member. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.

- Website: https://windscribe.com
- Source code: https://github.com/Windscribe/Desktop-App
- License: GPL-2.0
- Jurisdiction: Canada. Five Eyes member.
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [VPN providers](https://privacyratings.com/vpns/)
- Grade: B (81/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Partial | Apps are open source. The server side is not. | https://github.com/Windscribe/Desktop-App/blob/master/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Partial | The website uses self-hosted Piwik analytics and no third-party trackers. The Android app has no known trackers on Exodus. | https://windscribe.com/privacy |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | Funded by paid plans. The ethics page rules out targeted advertising and selling user data. | https://windscribe.com/ethics |
| Independent audit | Yes | Full Packetlabs report on the server infrastructure and no-logs configuration. | https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EgNETLVm2oZdGJXZJmFSCDc7Ib72LIOw/view |
| Transparency report | Yes | Live counts of DMCA and law enforcement data requests and how many were complied with. | https://windscribe.com/transparency |
| Tells users about requests | No | No published policy on notifying users about data requests. |  |
| TLS configuration | Yes | Grade A+ | https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=windscribe.com&hideResults=on |
| Security headers | Partial | Grade B+ (80/100+) | https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=windscribe.com |
| Modern web standards | Not tested yet | Not tested yet. |  |
| Audited no-logs policy | Yes | Packetlabs reviewed the no-logs policy on the VPN servers and confirmed the logging issues it found were fixed. | https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EgNETLVm2oZdGJXZJmFSCDc7Ib72LIOw/view |
| Anonymous payment | Yes | Sign-up needs only a username and password. Monero and cash are accepted. | https://windscribe.com/knowledge-base/articles/which-cryptocurrencies-do-you-support |
| Open-source apps | Yes | Desktop, Android, iOS and browser extension source code is published. | https://github.com/Windscribe |
| Modern protocols | Yes | WireGuard is supported alongside IKEv2, OpenVPN and Stealth. | https://windscribe.com/features/flexible-connectivity |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/vpns/windscribe/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/vpns/windscribe.md