Getflix is one of those VPN services that come with a highly suggestive name so that you can know exactly what to expect even before downloading it on your computer. It’s pretty obvious that Getflix stands for something like “Get Netflix” and if you’re familiar with VPNs, you see where we’re getting with this.
But wait, there’s more: you know how VPNs are generally used for anonymizing your connection, right? Well, sometimes VPNs are simply not enough if your goal is to unblock restricted content. So here’s the kicker: Getflix is a two-in-one solution, one that encompasses both VPN and Smart DNS functionality.
During this review, we’ll put Getflix to various check-ups, ones that will scan for leaks and speed, but we’re also going to take the Windows app to a test-run and see what’s capable of. I know it sounds lengthy and boring, but we’ve at least got a plan to save you some time: a table of content.
- Company information
- Seychelles Jurisdiction
- Terms of Use analysis
- Privacy Policy rundown
- A quick introduction to Getflix
- Creating an account
- Downloading the app on your devices
- Setting up the VPN
- Setting up the Smart DNS
- Running Getflix on your computer
- Complete lists of servers (both VPN and Smart DNS)
- Services unlocked
- TOR and torrenting support
- Customer support
- Security check-up results
- Speed test results
- Pricing plans
- Conclusion
Company information
The company behind the Getflix project is called Global Stealth, Inc. and is located in Victoria, Seychelles. When we saw the company name, we immediately had a flashback, since it’s not our first encounter with them. If you’ve been keeping up with our reviews, you probably remember Smart DNS Proxy.
Well, it’s the same team that runs the Smart DNS Proxy and has a few other projects on the side, as well, such as TrickByte (VPN & Smart DNS), Fatdisco (online backup service), uFlix (online movie and streaming library) as well as a VPN review website.
Seychelles Jurisdiction
It’s well-known that Seychelles is amongst one of the most desirable locations to set up camp for running a VPN company. Why? It’s easy, for once, VPN usage is perfectly legal in this country and it’s not a member of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliances. This means that, in case some other country comes knocking at Global Stealth’s door, asking for your personal data, they can simply refuse, since they’re not a member and have no obligation to do so. Additionally, Internet access is generally not disturbed by the Government.
However, that doesn’t mean that Seychelles is paradise-like since it also has some downsides. For instance, they’re facing some issues regarding unequal wealth distribution, drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption. More so, their otherwise unhampered Internet access might occasionally be restricted due to political parties and some strict defamation laws are enforced.
Terms of Use analysis
Although you can take a look for yourself at Getflix’s Terms of Use document, given that it’s quite a short one (as opposed to most of the VPN providers’ documentation), we’ll give you a quick rundown on the most important aspects that you need to take into account.
- As usual, by using the Getflix service and their website, you automatically consent to all of the terms, conditions, and clauses in the Terms of Use document;
- If you don’t agree with any of the terms and conditions in the Terms of Use document, you must cease using the website and/or service immediately;
- You are not allowed to use the service in any unlawful manner or in such a way that you violate the company’s policies;
- You shouldn’t take advices from the Getflix website and/or its service and you shouldn’t rely on it/them whenever you’re making or refraining from making a decision. Their words, not mine;
- Global Stealth, Inc. reserves their right to change or remove the service, temporarily or permanently, as well as any part of it, without any prior notice and you must agree that they’re not to be held responsible if any of this happens;
- Global Stealth, Inc. reserves their right to change the content of the Terms of Use document at any time, and if you continue to use their service after such a change has been made, it will be deemed as your acceptance of the modification(s);
- Although they do have a refund policy, it doesn’t apply if you just change your mind about the service or if the issues you’re having with the service are beyond Global Stealth’s control;
- Therefore, the only way you could receive a refund is if you’ve made a duplicate payment, have been a victim of fraudulent transactions or at the discretion of the company’s management;
- Global Stealth, Inc. won’t respond to billing queries that you make public (e.g. via social media websites) for the sake of your privacy and/or security;
- Global Stealth, Inc. is not to be held responsible for the content of any third-party website that you might find on their website (links to third-parties);
- You are not allowed to use the service for any purpose other than your personal one. In other words, using Getflix for commercial purposes is forbidden;
- Getflix is a service that’s offered on an AS IS and AS AVAILABLE basis, so they don’t offer you any warranty of any kind regarding their service and its quality, availability, compatibility, security, accuracy, and fitness for a specific purpose;
- Global Stealth, Inc. won’t be liable for any losses or damages arising as a consequence of using the service;
- Global Stealth, Inc. doesn’t guarantee that the service will be available, error-free or uninterrupted, that the service and/or their servers will be harm-free (virus-free, malware-free, etc) or that potential errors/issues that might occur will be fixed;
- Global Stealth, Inc. reserves their right to cancel your service without a refund if they decide that you had inappropriate conduct (misusing their service, hacking, spamming, aggressive behavior, etc);
Well, it seems like most of the terms in the Terms of Use documentation have a clear purpose: to save Global Stealth, Inc. from a sticky situation in case something goes bad with their service. Did you find a virus in the installer? Not their problem. Does the service run bad or has become unavailable or has errors? They might fix it, or they might not. Either way, they’re not liable for anything.
Oh, and here’s another thing. We’ve talked a bit about the Seychelles jurisdiction and just before we put this Terms of Use section to an end we notice this:
“This Agreement shall in all respects be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein.”
Uhm, I’m sorry, what? So they’re located in Seychelles but for some reason, everything you do shall be subjected to Canadian laws? Canada, which is a 5 Eyes Alliance member?
On a side note, you might want to check the bottom of the Terms of Use document, since it holds the date when the document was last modified. Currently, it shows August 2014, but if this date changes, then you should see it as a sign that the content of the document also changed.
Privacy Policy rundown
Right from the start, you’re informed that Global Stealth, Inc. will collect some personally-identifiable data about you whenever you visit their site, register an account, place your order, subscribe to their newsletter and also when you perform other similar activities.
Personal data they collect
- Your name;
- Your email address;
- Your mailing address;
- Your credit card information;
Note: you can also browse the Getflix website anonymously. Data mentioned above is transmitted to Getflix only if you want to do so voluntarily.
Non-personal data they collect
- Your browser name;
- The type of computer (I think they meant device) you’re accessing the website from;
- Your operating system;
- Your Internet Service Provider (ISP);
- Other similar information (?);
Why do they need this data
- To improve their customer service;
- To personalize each users’ experience;
- To process payments;
- To send emails periodically;
The Privacy Policy also has the date when it was last modified at the bottom of the document. Currently the last updated date is July 1, 2013, but you might want to check it every now and then for changes.
A quick introduction to Getflix
If you take a look at Getflix’s main page on their website, you’ll notice that it’s advertised as a solution for users from Australia, New Zealand and all over the world. Also, if you look the service’s name up on any search engine, the first result will direct you to a “.com.au” domain. So they’re in Seychelles, under Canadian law, providing their services for Australian folks (not only for them, but you get the point).
More so, it’s being showcased as a two-in-one solution, one that can provide you with the security of a VPN connection, but also the unblocking capabilities of Smart DNS. Among the feature list that’s displayed on the website, you can also find the 200+ channel support, accessibility (multiple devices) and a 14-day trial. Did we not tell you about the trial? Well, the trial can (and should) be used to determine if the service works the way it should for you since, you know, there’s little chance that you’ll receive a refund if it doesn’t.
Creating an account
Not too many steps need to be taken if you want to register a Getflix account, but creating an account is mandatory since it serves as fraud prevention and the such (for instance if you try abusing the trial system). So, in order to create an account, you must:
- Navigate to the product’s page;
- Click the “Signup” button on the top-right part of the screen;
- Input your email address in the designated field;
- Check your email inbox and follow the instructions provided there;
The email you receive after sending your email address to Getflix contains a login address, the email address you’ve used to register your account and a password (you don’t get to choose it, they generate a strong one for you and send it to you).
The email message also comes with links pointing to guides on how to set up the service on your devices, the customer support section, and a subscription management section.
Downloading the app on your devices
As you’ve probably noticed already, there’s no stand-alone download section for Getflix, so, naturally, we went ahead and checked the account’s dashboard for such a menu. Apparently, there’s no way that you can download the app on a Windows computer since there’s no such thing. The only devices that have apps are iOS, Mac OS and Android devices.
- Navigate to the product’s page;
- Log into your account by using the top-right “login” button;
- Navigate to the “Apps” section of your dashboard;
- Choose the desired app based on the device you want to install it on;
As we’ve previously mentioned, Windows computers don’t have a dedicated app, so we’re going to learn together how to configure both the VPN and the Smart DNS components with minimum effort.
Setting up the VPN
Alright, so we’re quite on our own now, we have to configure the VPN service manually on our Windows computer, if we’re not using the other apps, the ones for the supported devices, that is. That being said, let’s begin.
- Navigate to the dashboard (assuming you’re still logged into your account);
- Go to the “VPN” category;
- In the “Full VPN” section, make sure that the “Full VPN On” button is active;
- Take note of the VPN Username and VPN Password credentials on the screen;
- Download OpenVPN to your computer;
- Install OpenVPN on your computer and make sure to install its TAP driver adapter as well, when prompted;
- Launch the OpenVPN GUI executable (don’t worry about the error);
- Download the Getflix configuration files for OpenVPN from here;
- Extract the archive you just downloaded somewhere on your PC;
- Right-click the OpenVPN icon in your system tray (1.);
- Select the “Import file…” option in the combo menu (2.);
- Navigate to the folder where you extracted the archive earlier;
- Select a protocol and a port by opening the right folder;
- Choose a server by double-clicking the corresponding OVPN file;
- Right-click the OpenVPN icon in your system tray again;
- Choose “Connect” from the menu;
- Type your credentials that you took note of in your dashboard above (step 4);
- You should be connected to the VPN;
There are other protocols that you can use as well, such as PPTP, L2TP, IKEv2 and SSTP and configuring them is the same, more or less, with minor differences. I mean that configuring PPTP is similar to L2TP, IKEv2, and SSTP, not to OpenVPN. But you can find more about it here.
The reason we chose OpenVPN is that it has a graphical user interface (GUI) and users find it more convenient to switch servers this way. Although it’s more difficult to configure OpenVPN, it pays off in the long run, since it’s the fastest protocol, and lets you switch countries just by importing a different file during step 14 in our guide above. Simple as that.
Setting up the Smart DNS
Again, we have to do it ourselves, since there’s no automation option that could save us from this “mess”. It’s not exactly a mess per se, but it forces you to struggle for a while until you figure it out. But it’s good practice, right? That being said, let’s see how to configure Smart DNS on our computer.
- In your system tray, locate the network icon and right-click it (1.);
- Select the “Open Network & Internet Settings” option from the menu (2.);
- Click the “Change adapter options” button;
- Locate your active Internet connection interface, right-click it and access the “Properties” menu;
- Select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” from the list (make sure it’s highlighted);
- Click the “Properties” button;
- Click the “Use the following DNS server addresses” radio button;
- Fill the designated fields with the Getflix-provided DNS addresses;
- Click “Ok”;
Running Getflix on your computer
You’ve already configured the VPN service, now you have access to the Smart DNS features as well, so there’s nothing more you need to do to enjoy Getflix on your Windows computer.
You could change the server you’re connected to or modify the DNS servers if your access to certain websites is still being blocked, but that’s all. Changing the VPN country can be done by importing a different OVPN file (if you went with OpenVPN, that is) and for the Smart DNS service, it’s enough to just put another address in the fields. We’ll give you all the info in the following sections.
Complete lists of servers (both VPN and Smart DNS)
Since Windows doesn’t have a standalone app and you have to configure everything manually, there are a lot of parameters that need to be taken into consideration. Servers and locations are of the essence, especially since you can’t quickly switch from one another in a controlled environment and we’ve decided to provide you with full lists of these servers, along with their addresses and additional features.
There’s one more thing you need to know. You can quickly switch from one server to another without importing the configuration file over and over again. After you successfully import a configuration file, OpenVPN will store it and will let you access it quickly each time after that, but that’s not the trick.
You see, after you unpack Getflix’s OpenVPN configuration archive and open its folder, you will see several folders, each of which holding a protocol and a port. If you move all of these folders into OpenVPN’s “config” folder (usually found at “C:Program FilesOpenVPNconfig“), the app will let you access the whole collection of OVPN files within the app, from the “System Profiles” menu (check the screenshot below).
Services unlocked
Since Getflix’s Smart DNS support makes it able to bypass geo-blocking with ease, you’ll be glad to know that it can unblock a huge amount of content. It’s in its name, right? That being said, we’ll provide you with a bunch of lists encompassing the full range of content that Getflix can unblock for you to enjoy at your leisure.
There’s no sign of Spotify as of yet, but we put it to test by using a random U.S. server and it worked flawlessly. As you can see, the list of unblockable services is pretty impressive.
TOR and torrenting support
You may have noticed that some of the servers in the VPN server list section had a Torrenting/P2P support mention, stating if the server you were looking at encompasses P2P file sharing support. So we’ve decided to give it a try and see exactly how good it is.
During our tests we’ve connected to a P2P-friendly Getflix VPN server, launched our torrenting client and downloaded a file from the Internet (legally, of course). During our test we’ve noticed no slowdown on our initial speed (the one we got without the VPN), so we’re gonna say that Getflix works well with torrenting, just as long as you remember to use a P2P-friendly server.
TOR, on the other hand, although it works in conjunction with Getflix, we wouldn’t recommend it. Actually, we advise against using TOR with any VPN service, for that matter, since the risks of doing so heavily outweigh the benefits (malicious TOR exit nodes, slow speed).
Customer support
Although Getflix provides you with several ways to contact them or solve the issue by yourself, some of the guides that they showcase on their website are simply out of date. Judging by the last officially supported system, they’re 5-6 years behind (the release year of Windows 8 was 2013) and this info seems to match the “last updated” dates in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use documentation.
We’ve tried contacting them via live chat, and although their chat systems are advertised as being 24/7, we received an answer only after a day has passed. Granted, the reply was not the one we were looking for, instead, their customer support crew pointed us at some of their guides, which we also previously find and weren’t of much help. Pretty disappointing experience, altogether.
Security check-up results
Well, it’s time to perform the dreaded security check-ups for Getflix. They’re not dreaded by us, don’t get me wrong. For these tests we’ll select a server in the U.S.A. and run it through three different tools, as described in this article, looking for potential security flaws, such as leaks.
| Data |
(Using IPX) |
Test 2 (Using ipleak) |
Test 3 (Using BrowserLeaks) |
|---|---|---|---|
| IP Address | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| PTR | ? | Passed | Passed |
| Country | ? | Passed | Passed |
| City | ? | Passed | Passed |
| Lat/Long | ? | Passed | Passed |
| ASN | ? | Passed | Passed |
| ISP | ? | Passed | Passed |
| Domain Name | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| IP type | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| IPv6 Geolocation | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| DNS | Passed | Passed | LEAKED |
| WebRTC | Passed | Passed | Passed |
| Flash IP | Passed | Passed | Passed |
Conclusion: After performing our series of security tests, we have noticed that DNS requests leak and there are some inconsistencies regarding location, maybe as a result of using virtual servers instead of physical ones. Security-wise, Getflix is not what you’d wish for.
Speed test results
Now that we’re aware of the security test results, we can start running our speed tests, to determine just how fast Getflix can get whenever you’re using it.
However, this time we won’t be using a single server for our tests, as we also want to check and see how different locations (servers) can affect speed (negatively or positively). The results are as follows:
| Location | Internet Speed | Latency | Upload Speed | Downloaded | Uploaded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unloaded | Loaded | |||||
| U.S.A. | 2 Mbps | 261 ms | 664 ms | 3.5 Mbps | 6.9 MB | 10 MB |
| Germany | 5.4 Mbps | 400 ms | 657 ms | 34 Mbps | 20 MB | 130 MB |
| Brazil | 830 Kbps | 736 ms | 1.2 s | 2.2 Mbps | 2.8 MB | 10 MB |
| Hong Kong | 180 Kbps | 450 ms | 535 ms | 110 Kbps | 0.66 MB | 0.38 MB |
| South Africa | 860 Kbps | 946 ms | 1.4 s | 2.4 Mbps | 2.5 MB | 10 MB |
| Australia | 560 Kbps | 726 ms | 1.4 s | 1.2 Mbps | 1.7 MB | 5.6 MB |
The speed values are far from being impressive, with even the highest values being very low, not to mention the slowest ones, which are nowhere near ideal.
Pricing plans
Getflix comes with several plan types and a 14-day free trial, but note this: the 14-day trial doesn’t include the VPN service, but only the Smart DNS one. If you want the VPN service, you must purchase a subscription plan.
| Plan type | 1 Month | 3 Months | 6 Months | 12 Months | 24 Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.95 |
$12.95 |
$22.95 |
$39.90 |
$54.90 |
| Discount value | – | 13% | 23% | 33% | 54% |
| Trial | 14 day | 14 day | 14 day | 14 day | 14 day |
Conclusion
To wrap things up, Getflix is not exactly a conventional VPN service, since they seem to focus almost entirely on their Smart DNS system. Even their subscription plans state that the VPN is merely included in the plans, so clearly Getflix was not meant to be a full-fledged VPN solution.
Either way, the company behind Getflix also have some similar projects (Smart DNS Proxy) and also run a VPN review website. The company is reportedly based in Seychelles, but their Terms of Use documentation state that they (and, implicitly you) must comply with Canadian laws (confusing, right?) and their website is somehow directed to Australian and New Zealand customers.
Their Terms of Service holds a lot of conditions that absolve them of any fault whatsoever if something were to go bad, and inform you that they won’t guarantee that any of their services will work as they should, or if that something breaks, they’ll fix it. So personally, I wouldn’t even go anywhere near it.
Getflix’s Privacy Policy only holds the types of data they collect and although they don’t mention that they log your activity or IP addresses, they also failed to mention that they don’t. So you shouldn’t be surprised if they “accidentally” log something sensitive about you since they didn’t say that they won’t. Also, both the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy documents seem pretty much outdated, one being last modified at some point in 2014 and the other back in 2013.
The database of operating systems that they support is outdated as well since the last “officially-supported” Windows operating system available on their website is Windows 8, which was released in 2013, which matches the dates in the policy documentation.
No Windows application was available for trial, so we had to configure the service manually. On the bright side, you could do that in five different ways, but the fact that you needed to perform a lot of steps just to change the server you’re connected to is simply off-putting. Additionally, the lack of a Windows application also means that you can kiss additional features such as kill switches, split tunneling, and leak protection goodbye.
The range of content that they can unblock is quite impressive, but unfortunately, it’s probably the only thing you could get excited about when it comes to Getflix. More so, the list of services they can unlock is most probably outdated as well, since we couldn’t find a trace of Spotify, for instance, which is pretty popular. For your information, Spotify does work with Getflix, but again, there’s no sign of it in the supported services list.
Torrenting works with Getflix, but just as long as you remember to connect to a P2P-friendly server. We don’t know what happens if you don’t but we advise against it. TOR also works, but since malicious TOR exit nodes are still a thing, we beg you not to do it, for the sake of your devices’ security.
Our security tests proved that Getflix has some inconsistencies regarding server locations, but the most critical flaw is that it leaks DNS requests, which it definitely shouldn’t. So, security-wise, it’s far from being fit for you. Same goes for speed since we only reached very low values.
More so, it appears that they’ve blocked our access to their login page after attempting to access it while connected to their VPN. Disconnecting from the VPN also didn’t trigger a positive response, so we don’t know what to make of that.
The customer support experience was disappointing, since members of the support crew were constantly pointing us at articles that we’ve already reached, most of which were outdated (as mentioned above), and their response came pretty late (after a day or so).
Do we recommend Getflix? Absolutely not. There are just too many sketchy things into play and some of which you can’t quite put your finger on (such as the Seychelles headquarters but compliance with Canadian laws). However, if you just want to unlock Netflix, go ahead and give it a try, especially considering that it features a 14-day free trial for its Smart DNS service.
PROs:
+ Supports torrenting; (5)
+ Can unlock Netflix, Hulu, etc; (5)
CONs:
– Logging policy unclear, no mention of logging in the privacy policy; (0)
– Security flaws, leaks DNS requests; (0)
– Seychelles headquarters but complies with Canadian laws; (0)
– Weak customer support; (0)
– Outdated website, articles, databases; (0)
– No dedicated Windows application; (0)
– Slow connection speeds; (0)
– Lack of advanced features; (0)
– Not user-friendly (manual configuration); (0)
– Blocked our access to the login page after accessing it with their VPN; (0)
Getflix receives a 0.83/5 rating.
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