5 mo. ago • 100%

Is CalyxVPN reputable?

I came across CalyxVPN while browsing through F-droid, it seems to be offered by the same people who make CalyxOS. I couldn't find much discourse about it online, is it reputable enough to use?

My use case would be to hide whatever I do online from my ISP (I'm not torrenting, just browsing).

And yes, I know free VPNs are untrustworthy in most cases but this seems to come from a somewhat privacy respecting background so I was curious.

8 comments

calyx are good people. if you're just trying to hide from your ISP i would be totally fine with calyx vpn

10
- I'd second this. The organization behind it (https://calyxinstitute.org/about) is a long established non profit, their portfolio covers various cool projects. The vpn client itself is basically a rebranded version of https://f-droid.org/packages/se.leap.bitmaskclient, it it is nothing special.
  
  6
- Does it allow torrents?
  
  2
Yes, I would say so. It's similar to RiseupVPN, which is also free as a matter of principle rather than as a business model. A common misconception is that free apps and services are inherently less private than paid apps and services, but really it depends on the business model (if there is one) and whether you trust the provider to honour any claims they make. CalyxVPN and RiseupVPN are not any less trustworthy than commercial, paid VPNs simply because they are free.

8
Calyx is a privacy group, they are legitimate. I would suggest using the RiseupVPN.

4
I'm not familiar with it, but proton has a free plan where you can't choose servers yourself but are assigned one at random. If all you care for is browsing protection and not bypassing geoblocked content or torrenting, that's all you need really. And they are very trusted.

4
- I already use proton on PC, I needed one for mobile as well hence Calyx caught my eye.
  
  (ProtonVPN's free plan is limited to one device at a time, that's why)
  
  4
Honestly, yes. I don't personaly used Calyx VPN or Riseup because, in my experience, the download and upload speeds are terrible. Calyx is a reputable group, however.

2

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