Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Freenet VS ZenMate

Compare Freenet VS ZenMate and see what are their differences

Freenet logo Freenet

Mae-enjoy mo na ang LIBRENG INTERNET ACCESS mula sa freenet! Ang libreng net na bet! freenet is an app where you can access the internet for free. Get 24/7 free access to our partner apps and sites. FREE INTERNET!

ZenMate logo ZenMate

At ZenMate VPN we strive towards providing users around the world with a free and anonymous Internet experience.
  • Freenet Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • ZenMate Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-03

Freenet features and specs

  • Privacy and Anonymity
    Freenet is designed to allow users to publish and retrieve information with strong privacy guarantees. This is achieved through decentralized data storage and routing, which makes it difficult to trace the source or destination of data.
  • Censorship Resistance
    Due to its decentralized nature, Freenet is built to resist censorship. Data is spread across various nodes, making it hard for any single entity to control or block access to information.
  • Decentralized Network
    Freenet does not rely on centralized servers; instead, data is distributed across a network of volunteers. This reduces single points of failure and lowers the risk of network shutdown.
  • Self-Healing Technology
    Freenet incorporates self-healing algorithms to ensure data redundancy and resilience. If a node goes offline, the network automatically redistributes the data, maintaining availability.
  • Free Software
    Freenet is open-source software, meaning its code is freely available for anyone to inspect, modify, and distribute. This openness fosters transparency and collaboration among developers around the world.

Possible disadvantages of Freenet

  • Performance Issues
    Due to the encryption and decentralization methods used, Freenet can be slower than traditional internet services. Users may experience longer wait times for data retrieval and downloads.
  • Complexity
    Setting up and using Freenet can be more complex compared to conventional internet applications. Users may need to invest time to understand the system and properly configure it.
  • Limited Content Availability
    Freenet's user base is smaller compared to the traditional internet, leading to less content being available. Additionally, because it's decentralized, finding specific content can be more challenging.
  • Storage Load
    As a node in the Freenet network, users contribute storage space to help host distributed data. This can consume significant disk space, affecting the performance of the host machine.
  • Potential for Malicious Content
    The anonymity and decentralization that protect privacy and resist censorship can also be exploited to distribute illegal or harmful content. This raises ethical and legal concerns.

ZenMate features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    ZenMate offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible for users of all technical levels.
  • Multiple Device Support
    ZenMate supports a wide range of devices and platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera.
  • Affordable Pricing
    ZenMate is often considered a budget-friendly VPN service with competitive pricing plans, especially when opting for long-term subscriptions.
  • Unlimited Bandwidth
    ZenMate provides unlimited bandwidth, allowing users to browse, stream, and download without worrying about data caps.
  • Decent Server Network
    ZenMate has a reasonably large server network, with over 3500 servers in more than 79 countries, ensuring good global coverage for unblocking content.

Possible disadvantages of ZenMate

  • Inconsistent Speeds
    Although ZenMate offers unlimited bandwidth, users may experience varying speeds depending on the server and time of day.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to other VPNs, ZenMate lacks some advanced features like split tunneling, multi-hop, and advanced customization options.
  • Questionable Privacy Policies
    ZenMate is headquartered in Germany, which is part of the 14 Eyes alliance, raising concerns about data privacy and logging policies.
  • Mixed Performance with Streaming Services
    While ZenMate can unblock various streaming services, users have reported mixed results with some popular platforms like Netflix and Hulu.
  • No Free Plan
    ZenMate does not offer a completely free plan. Instead, it provides a limited 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, which may not be sufficient for some users to fully evaluate the service.

Freenet videos

Aaron Jones: Introduction To Freenet

More videos:

  • Review - Internet Security: TOR and Freenet

ZenMate videos

Zenmate VPN Review - Which Tier is It?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - ZenMate Review & Tutorial
  • Review - Cómo VER SERIES ONLINE de todo el mundo con ZenMate VPN | ChicaGeek

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Freenet and ZenMate)
VPN
57 57%
43% 43
Security
63 63%
37% 37
Cloud VPN
48 48%
52% 52
Security & Privacy
51 51%
49% 49

User comments

Share your experience with using Freenet and ZenMate. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Freenet and ZenMate

Freenet Reviews

The 10 Best Open Source VPN Apps
Although you can get this VPN free of cost, the creators recommend making donations so that the software can be updated more frequently. Lastly, you can install this application on Windows, Linux, and macOS, but Freenet is not available on mobile platforms like some of the other entries on our list.

ZenMate Reviews

8 Similar Apps like Psiphon that are Actually Better
ZenMate VPN is a popular choice for professional hackers (at least for the ones I met with). While the consumer base isn’t too big. But, hackers know their way of tracking information, and hence they recommend this to keep yourself in check.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Freenet seems to be a lot more popular than ZenMate. While we know about 33 links to Freenet, we've tracked only 1 mention of ZenMate. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Freenet mentions (33)

  • We're getting some positive attention on HN right now
    You are linking "original Freenet" to a PDF on freenet.org instead of linking to freenetproject.org ? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Freenet 2023: A drop-in decentralized replacement for the world wide web
    It clashes with the Freenet project https://freenetproject.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What Are Alternatives to the Internet?
    There's a few abstractions of the web you can use today. https://freenetproject.org/ https://geti2p.net/en/ https://www.gnunet.org/en/ https://www.ipfs.tech/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • A player-owned RPG - would you want to participate in such a game?
    Instead of use of Blockchain you could also use Freenet . The only bad thing here data could be lost, but mostly only data is lost when not used. This could be used to auto purge forks that most people dislike. If for example some reason there are multiple alternatives how the story goes some of them will die after a while and removed from system. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Internet Archive Takes Down BBC’s Documentary on PM Modi: Report
    An automatically space balancing solution would be Freenet. Given that it's content addressing, it's possible to push data into it and have it deduplicate automatically. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

ZenMate mentions (1)

  • Premium Browser Extension
    You can also try https://zenmate.com/. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Freenet and ZenMate, you can also consider the following products

I2P - The I2P network provides strong privacy protections for communication over the Internet.

Psiphon - Psiphon is circumvention software for Windows and Mobile platforms that provides uncensored access to Internet content. Read more about Psiphon.

Tor Browser - Tor is free software for enabling anonymous communication.

Hotspot Shield - Hotspot Shield is a software application developed by AnchorFree, Inc.

ProtonVPN - ProtonVPN is a security focused FREE VPN service, developed by CERN and MIT scientists. Use the web anonymously, unblock websites & encrypt your connection.

Yggdrasil - A proof-of-concept scalable IPv6 meshnet, featuring end-to-end encryption, a unique spanning tree...