WARP VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

WARP’s Speed Isn’t as Fast as Advertised

I was disappointed with WARP’s speeds during my tests. WARP was slow, but the premium WARP+ registered better speeds. I tested WARP and WARP+ over my cellular network and WiFi and found the results between the two plans to be similarly slow, with just a slight improvement while using WARP+. That said, the speeds were okay enough for streaming and surfing the web securely.

Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 application provides an alternative to the DNS service provided by your internet service provider. The WARP and WARP+ functions are part of the Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 program. The service uses its DNS resolution servers rather than your ISP’s DNS resolution servers for the purpose of keeping your browsing activity private. The company claims DNS lookups take around 13.66 ms ping, two times faster than Google DNS, which results in smoother website loading times.

Speed Test Results

My initial internet speed was 28.20Mbps during the tests. Upon connecting with WARP, the speed decreased to 13.69Mbps, which represents a significant 51% drop. Seeking potential improvements, I decided to upgrade to WARP+ and reevaluate my base internet speed of 38.76Mbps. However, even with the premium plan, the speed only reached 24.31Mbps, resulting in a 31% reduction. I must admit that I found this outcome disappointing, especially considering the additional cost associated with the premium plan

The upload speeds didn’t perform any better. On a base upload speed of 6Mbps, WARP produced 2.76Mbps and WARP+ saw 2.82Mbps. The latency was also high at 260ms from slightly above 40ms with my base connection. Moreover, the speeds weren’t steady during my tests. Sometimes, the speeds dropped significantly. Other times, there were slight improvements. These inconsistencies go against Cloudflare’s claims of better, more reliable internet speeds.

Except for the basic connection without any adjustments, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 without WARP provides the swiftest performance, which aligns with my initial speed. In this setup, only your DNS queries are encrypted and directed through Cloudflare.

ExpressVPN offers one of the fastest VPN speeds of any VPN provider out there. While many VPN providers jumped on the Wireguard bandwagon in an effort to improve their speeds, ExpressVPN aimed to achieve even better results. It developed a proprietary protocol named Lightway, which achieved two to three times the bandwidth of OpenVPN without compromising security.

Server Network — Servers in 275+ Cities in 100+ Countries

WARP is based on Cloudflare’s fast global network in 275 cities and over 100 countries. This is an impressive built-in infrastructure that many other VPNs lack. WARP+ uses Argo Smart Routing to devise the shortest path through its global network of data centers for faster speeds.

Unfortunately, you can’t take full advantage of WARP’s extensive network as you’re always auto-connected to the closest server. You also can’t use WARP to access geo-blocked content since it wasn’t designed with geolocation spoofing in mind (unlike most other VPNs). Having access to such an extensive network means that you should have a reliable local connection from anywhere.

As an alternative to WARP VPN, CyberGhost provides a more extensive server network with over 11,670 servers located in over 100 countries. The wide and expansive network of CyberGhost makes it a great choice for individuals seeking to access content from restricted areas. Those who travel frequently and wish to protect their data and have access to their content from any location will find this service extremely useful.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Security — Bare-Minimum Security Features

WARP VPN offers basic security features. The VPN is an extension of the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver service and allows you to get an encrypted tunnel in addition to its encrypted DNS. You can switch between DNS over HTTPS or DNS over TLS encryption. WARP’s VPN encryption is built on Wireguard, and WARP calls this custom implementation BoringTun.

WARP VPN hides your traffic from your ISP and anyone locally sharing your network, giving you increased privacy and preventing third-party spying when you use public WiFi. This is a great first step, but it doesn’t hide your identity from websites you visit — if you want complete privacy, this isn’t the best solution.

You can integrate Cloudflare’s Gateway service into WARP for free by signing up and entering your unique ID in the app. This gives you another layer of security by blocking dangerous DNS requests by matching them against its threat database (which monitors new and evolving threats, including malware and spyware across over 25 million websites). The “Custom Endpoint” feature also allows you to select how your data is routed.

WARP has a split-tunneling feature that allows you to select apps that it should exclude from the service. Apps like Netflix, HBO Max, YouTube, and other streaming services are automatically excluded from the service. It also has a malware/adult content blocker which proved very effective during my tests.

As VPNs are designed to protect your privacy against prying eyes, even from your ISP, leaking information is something that you do not want to occur at any cost. I tested for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks using a WARP+ server in the Netherlands and did not find any leaks.

Privacy — Not Recommend for Privacy

WARP simply doesn’t cut it for privacy. Although the VPN promises privacy for everyone, it logs a lot of data. There’s also no ad blocker to protect users from intrusive ads.

Cloudflare only claims to store the absolute minimum necessary logs, including performance data (how much users transfer), anonymized device data, request data (source IP, source port, and destination IP), crash logs, DNS resolver information, and type of operating system.

I was concerned that WARP retains request data for 24 hours — supposedly to respond to emergency law enforcement requests. This could show which websites a user visited, which most premium VPNs aim to avoid with various methods.

WARP’s parent company, Cloudflare, was founded in 2009 and is located in San Francisco within the US — making it part of the 5/9/14 Eyes data-sharing alliance. This means that the government can request your data, and WARP will be obligated to share your browsing activity with them. Cloudflare notes in its privacy policy that it will share data “required to disclose personal information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process” or where it believes that “sharing is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud”.

When Cloudflare hired KPMG to perform an independent audit in 2019, it passed with a couple of minor issues. The auditor found that Cloudflare’s logs were actually wiped after 25 hours, and some anonymized data was stored indefinitely. It updated its privacy policy in line with this.

Cloudflare stores its users’ information in the United States, the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), and the United Kingdom. Upon checking the DNS logs tab on the app, I saw a record of my recent browsing history. I found this quite intrusive. Unlike WARP, CyberGhost doesn’t log your connection data and so doesn’t have any data to share with government requests.

Torrenting — Bad Choice for Torrenting

I don’t recommend torrenting with WARP since it doesn’t hide your identity from the websites you visit. Although you can download torrents, it won’t protect your digital identity.

Additionally, Cloudflare has stated in its privacy policy that it will share your personal data “to respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims.” This means that if you accidentally torrent copyrighted material, it can share your information with the government.

ExpressVPN offers high security and fast connection speeds ideal for torrenting and peer-to-peer downloads. Additionally, it has a no-logs policy, highly secure applications, and a privacy-friendly offshore jurisdiction to ensure the protection of customer data.

My team and I don’t condone illegal torrenting, so be sure to check the rules and regulations in your country. Always make sure the torrents you download are copyright-free, no matter which VPN you decide to use.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Does WARP VPN Work in China? No, Don’t Try!

WARP doesn’t work in China. WARP only encrypts your data using your existing IP address. This means it cannot unblock content that’s blocked inside China. If you want a reliable VPN for secure browsing when traveling to China, I recommend trying ExpressVPN to access the internet in China safely.

Keep in mind that non-government-approved VPNs are illegal in China, but there have been no public cases of tourists being penalized by the Chinese government. The common practice is that China fights VPNs by technologically blocking them and not by chasing after the people who use them.

Cloudflare has made reaching customer support far more difficult than it should be. It even warns users in its forums not to contact support through traditional means (email, live chat, and phone). Instead, you have to submit feedback through a contact form (with a bug report) and wait for a response. I sent a message and asked if Cloudflare could advise me on how to improve speeds. Unfortunately, more than a week later, I still haven’t heard back. This makes me wonder if support is sufficiently managed or just used for bug reports.

On the bright side, WARP does have quite an impressive and detailed FAQ with full troubleshooting and payment guides. To get direct support, you must be a Cloudflare Business or Enterprise customer, where you’ll reach out directly via the dashboard. This, however, isn’t available to basic WARP or WARP+ users.