Google One VPN Review 2024: Cheap and Secure but Bare Bones (2024)

Subscribers to Google One get several options, including photo editing, dark web monitoring, and increased data storage. Subscriptions previously included a virtual private network (VPN).

While Google One’s VPN would encrypt your internet traffic, it did little else. Most free VPNs have at least two VPN servers, but Google One VPN, which wasn't free, didn’t give you an option for anything other than a connection.

We'll go over Google One VPN as well as alternatives you can use once the service is discontinued.

Google One VPN overview

Google One VPN alternatives

For something more robust than Google One VPN, then you’ll need to purchase a separate product from another VPN provider. We recommend Surfshark, CyberGhost, or NordVPN, which are some of the best VPN services available.

Each VPN offers different security features and pricing plans, but they all provide top performance and protection.

What happened to Google One VPN?

Google announced that VPN by Google One would be discontinued starting June 20, 2024. Google's explanation is that it plans to focus only on the most in-demand features and it found that people simply weren't using it.

After the VPN is removed from the Google One app, Pixel 7, 7 Pro, 7a, and Fold device users can continue to use VPN functionality when they update their system software.

Our experience with Google One VPN

The Google One VPN was wrapped into the Google One subscription, so you couldn't purchase just the VPN. You needed to have a personal, not business, Google account to access this service.

After we activated the service, we tried downloading Google One onto our iPhone 12 Pro Max. The app downloaded fine, but we couldn’t get the VPN to connect. Even after we disabled all of our other protections on our phones, it wouldn’t work.

We ended up switching to our Windows 10 PC instead of our Mac, so we could navigate between our personal Google account and our work Google account without causing too much confusion.

Once we installed the VPN on our Windows PC, it was a fairly easy experience. Since Google isn’t super forthcoming with a description of the VPN features, we started exploring, only to find out there were almost no features available.

The extent of the customization we found was whether or not to launch the VPN when your computer starts and the ability to toggle between a precise or broad location. Other than that, you’re basically just using this for security purposes.

Who was Google One VPN best for?

• Recommended for someone wanting basic protection bundled into their Google account

Google One VPN was for the person looking to benefit from a VPN included in their Google One account. You could turn on the VPN and encrypt your network traffic. You also had the ability to toggle between a precise or broad region.

And that’s it. There weren’t many features, and you couldn't even choose your country or even city. It was truly a security-only product.

Google One VPN prices and subscriptions

With Google One VPN, there were three plans: Basic, Premium, and AI Premium. Beyond the VPN, features include dark web monitoring, enhanced photo editing, and cloud storage.

The most notable is the amount of storage you receive with the Premium and AI Premium, which offer 2 TB of storage. The AI Premium plan also includes Google's AI model, Gemini.

Unfortunately, the higher-tier plans didn’t get you a better VPN. Since the VPN is part of the bundle, it’s pretty basic, but it’s still a good, solid VPN for security, you just didn’t get any other features found in independent VPNs.

Google One VPN features

There were almost no features available with Google One VPN. This was very much a security-forward product with the singular goal of keeping your data encrypted online.

For features like a kill switch, multiple countries you can toggle between, split tunneling, or obfuscated servers, you would have to look elsewhere.

Server count and countries

• Unspecified number of servers in 22 countries

The country count told us only that Google One VPN was available in those countries. You weren’t able to actually switch your server location manually or otherwise. The most you could do was use a precise or broad location, which was controlled by only a single toggle.

The countries where Google One VPN is available are:

• Austria
• Australia
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Norway
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States

No-logs policy and headquarters

• Google One VPN logs policy: No logs
• Google One VPN headquarters: Mountain View, California

Oh, Google, you slippery slope, you. Google One’s VPN had a no-logs policy; however, Google’s overall policy is a little less secure.

Google is notorious for following users around the internet and creating deeply personal and varied profiles that it then uses for marketing purposes. Since Google One VPN promised it wasn’t logging your data or activity, we’re going to be optimists and say it has a no-logs policy.

Our optimism aside, an independent audit from the NCC Groupsuggests that Google’s no-logs policy, at least where its VPN is concerned, was somewhat shaky.^[1] Google has the ability to back door its way into your logs through multiple channels if it really wants.

So the question you should ask yourself is: Would you trust Google to leave your data alone?

Google One VPN test results

We test VPNs for speed, security, and the ability to unblock geo-restricted content on streaming services.

Netflix is our baseline streaming service, as it tends to be the most difficult to crack with a VPN. We use Ookla’s Speedtest website. Also, we run DNS and WebRTC leak tests from verified testing sites that fairly evaluate a VPN’s security. These are all standard across all of our testing.

Speed tests

• Speed test results: Google One VPN passed its speed tests.

Originally, we tried to install Google One VPN on our iPhone 12 Pro Max, but we couldn’t get it to connect. So we shifted to our Windows 10 PC, and we were able to install and connect the VPN with no problems.

We experienced some lag when first connecting to the VPN. For anyone old enough to remember dial-up internet, it’s similar to that idea, where you have to give it a second to “boot up,” and then you’ll be able to use it without issue.

After connecting, however, we didn’t run into any problems or noticeable lag times. We noticed that the speed tests weren’t that vastly different from our normal speed without the VPN. To be honest, because of how bare-bones this VPN is, we expected the speeds to be significantly slower. We were pleasantly surprised by the results.

Test results as of 09/22/2023.

Netflix tests

• Netflix test results: Google One VPN failed its Netflix tests.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to watch Netflix with Google One VPN. Netflix is sophisticated in its VPN detection, and Google One VPN isn’t sophisticated enough to beat it.

We couldn’t even get the Netflix website to load. We tried a few different techniques, but the only solution was to turn off Google One VPN.

Google One VPN Netflix test results

Test results as of 09/21/2023.

DNS and WebRTC leak tests

• DNS leak test results: Google One VPN passed its DNS leak tests.

Domain Name System (DNS) is the internet’s phonebook. It translates the language we speak into computer language and back again, so what we type into our web browsers takes us to the page we’re looking for online. This also means that personal information like your IP address is shared in these online interactions.

When you use a VPN to encrypt your traffic, it hides that personal information so anyone spying can’t see what you’re doing. Google One VPN passed easily and, therefore, will hide your data without you needing to worry.

WebRTC leak tests

• WebRTC leak test results: Google One VPN passed its WebRTC leak tests.

Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) communicates similarly to DNS by trading information, but when you’re establishing a phone or video connection. In this capacity, there’s also the potential that your IP address is leaked, so making sure your VPN masks it is essential for privacy.

Since so much of the internet uses video and audio now, WebRTC is not just for Zoom meetings and Signal calls. Google One VPN was able to successfully encrypt data when tested for WebRTC leaks.

Google One VPN compatibility

Google One VPN was compatible with The Big Four. We’re coining “The Big Four” right now, so if you see it somewhere else, just remember it was our thing first.

In the Our Experience section, we didn’t have any luck using the VPN on our Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max but had no problem using it on our Windows 10 machine. There was troubleshooting available for compatible devices, but Linux users needed another VPN.

The Big Four are:

• Windows
• macOS
• Android
• iOS

Google One VPN customer support

Google handled customer support for Google One VPN. While there was no mention of Google One VPN specifically on the official support site, there was relevant information if you searched within the support center. This isn’t the most ideal situation, as you may have to sort through lots of information to find what you need.

We do suggest only going through verified support. Look at the address bar and make sure the lock symbol is closed next to the site to verify it’s safe. Remember not to give out a credit card or personal information to anyone inquiring about it — it’s likely a scam.

Google One VPN FAQs

Bottom line: Was Google One VPN good?

For security purposes, yes, Google One VPN was good for keeping your traffic encrypted while online, whether at home or on public Wi-Fi. But generally, almost every other VPN has more features and functionality.

If you’re looking to unblock streaming platforms or for torrenting purposes, you’re likely better off with one of our alternatives. These other options are also great at protecting you from Google and its ravenous data mining policies. We aren’t sure if Google One VPN protected you from itself.