Brave VPN
Brave's built-in Firewall + VPN, powered by Guardian. WireGuard-based with a privacy-preserving login, but both firms are US-based (Five Eyes).
brave.com/firewall-vpn/ ↗- Jurisdiction
- United States (five eyes)
- Founded
- 2015
- Owner
- Brave Software, Inc. (VPN powered by Guardian)
- Best price
- $8.33/mo
- Devices
- 10
- Free tier
- No
Best for
- · Existing Brave browser users who want a built-in VPN and firewall
- · Blocking trackers and ads across the whole device
- · A simple, integrated VPN without a separate app
Not ideal for
- · Anyone who needs to stay outside US / Five Eyes jurisdiction
- · Users who want a fully open-source, independently run VPN like Proton or Mullvad
- · Desktop or Android users who rely on a kill switch (it is iOS only)
- · People who don't use the Brave browser
Strengths
- ✓WireGuard (ChaCha20) and IKEv2 with a strict no-logs policy
- ✓Privacy-preserving login means Brave can't link your subscription to your VPN usage
- ✓Guardian infrastructure independently audited in 2024, with a public transparency report
- ✓Built into the Brave browser, with a device-wide firewall that blocks ads and trackers
- ✓Covers up to 10 devices, with a 7-day free trial
Weaknesses
- ✗Brave and Guardian are both US-based, placing the VPN inside the Five Eyes
- ✗The VPN backend is Guardian's proprietary infrastructure; the browser is open source but the VPN service is not
- ✗Kill switch is iOS only, and there is no Linux app yet
- ✗Requires the Brave browser, and offers no anonymous, cash, or crypto payment
Protocols & encryption
The tunnelling protocols this service offers and the cryptography behind them.
WireGuard
ModernA modern, lean protocol (~4,000 lines of code) that is fast and easy to audit. Its cryptography is fixed and state-of-the-art, with no weak options to misconfigure.
- Data cipher
- ChaCha20-Poly1305
- Key exchange
- Curve25519 (ECDH)
- Integrity
- BLAKE2s
IKEv2 / IPsec
TrustedA fast, stable protocol that reconnects quickly when you change networks, so it is popular on mobile. Built natively into most operating systems.
- Data cipher
- AES-256-GCM
- Key exchange
- Diffie-Hellman (ECP)
- Integrity
- SHA-256 / SHA-384
- Stated data cipher
- ChaCha20 (WireGuard) / AES-256 (IKEv2)
- Stated handshake
- Curve25519 (WireGuard)
- Perfect forward secrecy
- Yes
- Post-quantum resistant
- No
- RAM-only servers
- Unknown
- Kill switch
- No
- First-party DNS (leak protection)
- Yes
- IPv6
- Unknown
Full data sheet
Every attribute we track, coloured by whether it helps or hurts your privacy.
| Based in | United States |
| Eyes alliance | 5 Eyes |
| Enemy of the Internet | No |
| Owner | Brave Software, Inc. (VPN powered by Guardian) |
| Conglomerate | n/a |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Traffic / activity | None kept |
| DNS requests | None kept |
| Timestamps | None kept |
| Bandwidth | None kept |
| Source IP address | None kept |
Strict no-logs: Brave says it stores no data about your traffic, connections, usage, or IP. A privacy-preserving login means Brave itself can't tell whether you've used the VPN. Guardian's infrastructure was independently audited in 2024. Both firms are US-based.
| Anonymous signup | No |
| Accepts cash | No |
| Accepts crypto | No |
| PGP key | Unknown |
| OpenVPN | No |
| WireGuard | Yes |
| Proprietary protocol | n/a |
| Multi-hop | No |
| Obfuscation | Yes |
| Kill switch | No |
| First-party DNS | Yes |
| RAM-only servers | Unknown |
| Port forwarding | No |
| P2P / torrenting | Unknown |
| IPv6 | Unknown |
| Data cipher | ChaCha20 (WireGuard) / AES-256 (IKEv2) |
| Handshake | Curve25519 (WireGuard) |
| Open-source clients | No |
| Independent audits | 2 |
| Transparency report | Yes |
| Court / seizure-tested | Unknown |
Guardian publishes a transparency report on every legal request (who asked, what for, what was shared) and passed independent software and infrastructure audits in 2024. US jurisdiction (Five Eyes) still applies, and there is no widely reported no-logs court test.
| Simultaneous devices | 10 |
| Countries | n/a |
| Servers | n/a |
| Linux support | No |
| Month-to-month | $9.99 |
| Best $/mo | $8.33 |
| On plan | 1-year |
| Free trial | 7 days |
| Refund window | n/a |
| Free tier | No |
| Logging policy | Consistent |
| Marketing honesty | No overclaiming |
Independent audits
- Independent security firm· 2024 · Infrastructure security audit (Apr 2024), via Guardianreport ↗
- Independent security firm· 2024 · Software security audit (Feb 2024), via Guardian
Brave Firewall + VPN is powered by Guardian, a San Francisco security firm. It uses WireGuard (ChaCha20) and IKEv2/IPSec (AES-256), with an anonymous, privacy-preserving login so Brave can't link your purchase to your VPN usage. Guardian ran independent software (Feb 2024) and infrastructure (Apr 2024) audits and publishes a transparency report. Both Brave Software and Guardian are US-based, which places the service inside the Five Eyes.
Sources
- Brave Firewall + VPN (official) ↗
- Guardian — Brave partnership (audits, transparency report) ↗
- Brave VPN relaunch: new features, servers, plans ↗
Last verified 2026-07-06. Point-in-time data, so always confirm on the provider's own site.