Obscura launches as a VPN that claims it cannot log your activity

Obscura is a new VPN that says it cannot log your activity. The company behind it is spending a lot of time telling you why its own logs are impossible, rather than showing you a price or a feature list. That is the whole pitch.

The claim is simple: most VPNs see both who you are and what you do. Obscura says it only sees your IP address and never your browsing history. It is built so the company cannot see your traffic in the first place.

How Obscura Says It Works

Traditional VPNs know your identity and your browsing history. Obscura says it only sees your connecting IP address and necessary payment info. The company physically cannot decrypt your internet traffic, and it never logs your connecting IP address.

The stealth protocol is the core of the pitch. It blends in with regular internet traffic, using QUIC, the same technology that powers HTTP/3. The idea is that censors or network filters cannot detect or block it easily.

The company says you can verify this yourself. Its app’s entire source code is on GitHub, and it plans to provide reproducible builds so anyone can confirm the app downloaded matches the code published. The app also shows your current exit hop’s WireGuard public key on its Location page, which you can check against what Mullvad publishes.

What Obscura Can See

Obscura only sees your connecting IP address and necessary payment info. It never sees your actual internet traffic. Payment methods include credit card via Stripe, Bitcoin over Lightning, and Monero. The company actively supports these privacy-friendly methods.

For even more privacy, you can pay with Bitcoin over Lightning or Monero. The company notes that Stripe may need your email for subscriptions, but Obscura never stores it.

How Much It Costs

Obscura costs $8 per month. You can top up using credit card via Stripe, Bitcoin over Lightning, or Monero. Subscriptions with credit card are also available.

Each account has five simultaneous connection slots. That is different from five devices. You can log in on as many devices as you like with the Obscura app, and a device only uses one slot while it is connected. With WireGuard configs, each config reserves one slot as long as it exists, even when the device is not connected. To free a slot, you delete the config from your account.

A mix works like this:

1. Only using the Obscura app: unlimited sign-ins, up to five devices connected at the same time.
2. Only using WireGuard configs: you can keep up to five configs total.
3. A mix: if you have one WireGuard config, it uses one of five slots, leaving four open for the Obscura app to connect from any signed-in device.

How It Compares to Tor and Multihop

Obscura says it respects the Tor project but notes that its volunteer-run network can be slow and susceptible to DDoS issues, making it infeasible for everyday use. Obscura uses two dedicated, high-performance hops for maximum speed and reliability, offering many of Tor’s privacy benefits without sacrificing everyday usability.

A typical multihop VPN controlled by the same provider can still link your identity to your traffic. Obscura solves this by using a fully-independent exit hop, currently Mullvad, so its servers never see your actual traffic and the exit hop never sees your identity.

The Server List

Obscura has servers across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The full list includes Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Ashburn, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Jose, and Seattle in the United States. It also covers São Paulo, Brazil, Santiago, Chile, Bogotá, Colombia, and Querétaro, Mexico in Latin America.

In Europe, the list runs through Prague, Czech Republic; Paris, France; Frankfurt, Germany; Milan, Italy; Palermo, Italy; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Warsaw, Poland; Madrid, Spain; Stockholm, Sweden; Zurich, Switzerland; Kyiv, Ukraine; and London, United Kingdom. Asia includes Hong Kong, Tokyo, Japan, and Singapore. Istanbul is listed separately. Africa has Johannesburg, South Africa. Oceania covers Auckland, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia.

The relay (first-hop) servers are also expanding. The current list includes Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; and Miami, FL in the United States.

The Bottom Line

Obscura is betting that transparency wins over trust. Rather than promising not to log your data, it says logging is physically impossible. That is a bold claim, and the company backs it with source code, reproducible builds, and public keys.

Whether it holds up depends on the details. The verification steps are real, but the company has not yet faced a compromise test. The independent exit hop with Mullvad is a real design choice, though it raises questions about how much control Obscura has over its own path.

For users who want a no-logs promise that is not just a promise, Obscura offers a different kind of assurance. It is a company saying its product cannot lie, even if it wanted to.

The pitch is clever. The question is whether it is enough.

Key Facts Box

• Price: $8 per month
• Connection slots: 5 simultaneous
• Payment methods: credit card via Stripe, Bitcoin over Lightning, Monero
• Exit hop: independent, currently Mullvad
• Servers: Toronto, Vancouver, Ashburn, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Jose, Seattle, São Paulo, Santiago, Bogotá, Querétaro, Prague, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Palermo, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Madrid, Stockholm, Zurich, Kyiv, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Auckland, Sydney

Comparison Summary

Obscura is a company that knows it cannot sell you privacy by asking you to trust its word. Instead, it asks you to look at the code and the keys. That is a refreshing approach, even if the product itself remains untested in the wild.

Source material: “Obscura: VPN that can't log your activity,” obscura.com.

crypto · encryption · privacy · Tor · VPN