crackthe.net
About crackthe.net
crackthe.net is an independent measurement archive for VPN providers. It records what each provider's server list says about its locations, measures published endpoints using probes around the world, and documents the prices providers state. Everything can be looked up and compared free of charge and without a login.
Who is behind crackthe.net
crackthe.net was founded and is run by Alexander Bock. Alexander holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science and two GIAC certifications: GICSP (Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional) and GRID (GIAC Response and Industrial Defense).
His career spans two areas that directly shape this site:
- Cybersecurity: years of work protecting industrial control systems, where sources, evidence, and verifiability matter more than confident-sounding claims. That approach shapes how data is collected, checked, and presented here.
- Artificial intelligence: building and operating data and AI systems. This allows a small, independent site to collect and check more than a thousand server locations several times a day.
The site is made by the person who builds the measurement pipeline and reviews the figures, not by a marketing department. Alexander Bock is responsible for all content. Every page states the date of its figures, and every finding shows the replies it is based on. The method explains how the measurements work and what they cannot show.
Qualifications
- M.Sc. Computer Science: academic degree in computer science
- GICSP: Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional (GIAC)
- GRID: GIAC Response and Industrial Defense (GIAC)
Both GIAC certifications can be verified in the public GIAC verification profile. Alexander's full professional background is available on LinkedIn.
How crackthe.net works
Server locations come from the lists published by the providers themselves. Prices come from the providers' own pricing pages. Measurements use a public network of probes. The network that announces a server's address is taken from a public routing table. Data is collected automatically several times a day, and the date of each figure is shown on the relevant page.
The figures and statements on the data pages are generated from the collected data using fixed rules. The software and explanatory text were created with AI assistance. Before publication, the pipeline automatically checks the result, including that no server address appears anywhere and that all totals add up. Publication stops if a check fails. A finding that contradicts a provider's list is treated as an observation until a second day confirms the same result.
The site contains no advertising and no affiliate links. Affiliate links, wherever there are any, are labeled, and they do not influence which providers are listed, how they are ordered, or what the measurements show.
What crackthe.net is (and what it is not)
crackthe.net is a measurement archive. It shows what providers state alongside what can be measured from outside. Apps, speed, and customer support are not tested, and there are no purchase recommendations or security ratings. The provider pages and the finder evaluate only the archive's figures, by fixed rules; the answers to common questions on these pages are built from the same figures, and where an answer relies on an outside source, that source is linked. A location shown as “matches the country” is not thereby confirmed to be located there, and a published server endpoint is not the address the traffic exits through.
All data is provided without warranty. Errors in the underlying sources or their processing cannot be ruled out. Providers and readers who find an error can report it using the contact details in the imprint. Corrections are made on the live pages.
Contact
The postal address, telephone number, and email address are listed in the imprint. How personal data is handled is described in the privacy policy.