Sota VPN (Сота ВПН, Sota Connect): prices, devices, personal account and what to do if it isn't working

Sota VPN (in Russian, «Сота ВПН») is a paid VPN from the Finnish company Cat Connect Oy, and Sota Connect isn't a new name but the service's app. On the official site a month costs €3.99 and a year €37.99; in the Russian App Store a 30-day subscription costs 349 rubles. One subscription works on 10 devices at the same time, and the trial is 7 days for €1.49. There are apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, Apple TV and Android TV.

Below: prices as of October 26, 2026, where the personal account is, how to pay for and cancel a subscription, where to check the status and what to do if Sota won't connect. If you need a VPN for iPhone, Mac, Android and a TV that installs from an app store and doesn't require getting a key on a website first, we recommend BessyConnect: it runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage, and registration is optional.

Are Sota Connect and Sota VPN the same thing?

Yes. The service and the subscription are called Sota VPN, and the app you connect through is Sota Connect. That is how the FAQ on the official site explains it. There was no renaming, as with «Дед» (Ded) becoming Ded Proxy: both names are used in parallel, and one key from the personal account works in every version of the app.

People spell the service differently in search: «сота впн», «соты впн», «впн sota», «сота коннект» (sota connect), sometimes «сота ван» (sota one). All of these are the same service. Don't confuse it with the American company SOTA connect Inc. of Tennessee: its site sotaconnect.com has nothing to do with VPNs.

The table is compiled from the pages of sotavpn.cc (home page, pricing, FAQ, guides, terms of use, privacy policy) and the app's App Store listing as of October 26, 2026.

As of that date, the official Telegram channel @sotavpn had about 1.1 million subscribers, and the bot @sota about 557 thousand monthly users. The app came out in the Russian App Store on February 23, 2026; its seller is Cat Connect Oy.

What users say

In the Russian App Store, Sota Connect has a rating of 4.6 from 19,929 ratings; on Google Play it has 4.5 from 18 thousand reviews and more than 1 million installs (October 26, 2026). A frequent complaint in the App Store: the app asks for an access key right at launch, and new users don't understand where to get one. The key is issued by the personal account or the bot @sota; more on this below.

How much does Sota VPN cost: prices and plans for October 2026

On the official site prices are in euros: €3.99 for a month, €10.99 for 3 months, €19.99 for six months and €37.99 for a year. In the Russian App Store the same subscription is sold in rubles: 349 ₽ for 30 days and 999 ₽ for 90 days. All plans have the same features; the only difference is the term.

When paid annually, a month works out about 21% cheaper than paying monthly. Prices include taxes; any bank fee is paid by the buyer. Every plan includes 10 devices, 37 countries and unlimited traffic.

Is there a free Sota VPN? No. The app downloads for free, but without an active subscription the key won't connect to the servers. The cheapest way in is the €1.49 trial. You can also get free days through the referral program: for each invited person who pays for at least a month, 10 days are credited.

Sota keys from public sources belong to other people's accounts: the key also serves as the login to the account, and the owner can reissue it at any moment. The service itself asks people not to use such keys.

How many devices can you connect to Sota VPN?

One Sota VPN subscription works on 10 devices at the same time: a phone, computer, tablet and TV all connect with the same key. Separate accounts for family members aren't needed.

To connect several devices, install Sota Connect on each one and paste the same access key from the account. The list of connected devices is shown in the account, in the "Key management" → "My devices" section, with a "Connected N of 10" counter. An extra device can be removed there too.

There is a nuance in the terms of use of September 21, 2026: access is counted by sessions, not by devices, and one device may take up several sessions. If a new device won't connect even though there are fewer than ten, delete old entries in "My devices". Since version 1.8.11 of October 17, 2026, the app says explicitly that the device limit has been exceeded.

Sota VPN personal account: where it is and how to sign in

The Sota VPN personal account is at sotavpn.app. There is no login or password: you sign in with the access key, the same one you paste into the app. If the site won't open, you can manage your subscription through the Telegram bot @sota.

How to get a key and sign in for the first time:

1. Open sotavpn.app and on the "Sign in" screen press "Generate", then "Yes, register".
2. "Your account number" appears: that is the key. Save it with the "Copy" or "Download .txt" button.
3. On the account's main page, press "Buy subscription" and pay for a plan.
4. Copy the key from the "Access" section and paste it into Sota Connect on each device.

The main rule: the key can't be recovered. Registration is anonymous, no email or phone is needed, and support doesn't store keys. If you have lost the key to a paid account, create a new one and write to support about the subscription. If the key has fallen into the wrong hands, the account has a "Reissue key" button: the old one will stop working on all devices.

For Russia, the site periodically moves to new domains because of blocking; currently it is sotavpn.cc. The international address sotavpn.com doesn't open from Russia, according to the service itself. The current address is published in the @sotavpn channel and in the bot @sota. The real site doesn't ask you to download a "ready-made configuration" and doesn't ask for your key on its pages. How to recognize fake sites and apps is covered in the article on fake VPN apps.

How to pay for, renew and cancel a Sota VPN subscription

You can pay for Sota VPN in the personal account (the payment page is sotacheckout.com), through the bot @sota or with a purchase in the App Store. The site accepts bank cards, including Russian ones, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and cryptocurrency. The subscription renews automatically; renewal can be turned off in the account.

For a Russian bank card, choose the "Russian bank card" method on the payment page rather than ordinary card payment: so says the service's payment guide of October 12, 2026. If a payment didn't go through, check this first.

How to cancel the subscription:

1. Sign in to the account with your key and open the "Profile" section.
2. Press "Cancel auto-payment". The VPN will keep working until the end of the paid period.
3. If the subscription was bought in the App Store, cancel it in your Apple ID settings: charges, renewal and refunds for such purchases follow Apple's rules.
4. If the button doesn't help, write to support at @sotasupport.

What is important to know before paying:

• The €1.49 trial automatically turns into a monthly subscription at the regular price if you don't cancel it before the end of the seventh day.
• Cryptocurrency payments have no auto-renewal, and under the terms of use such payments aren't refunded.
• Within 14 days of subscribing you can withdraw from the subscription. The money is refunded pro rata, minus the time already used, within 14 days by the same payment method.

Where to download Sota VPN for PC, phone and TV

Sota Connect is available on all major platforms: iPhone, iPad and Mac install from the App Store, Android and Android TV from Google Play or as an APK file, Windows and Linux with an installer from the site or from the service's GitHub mirror. The app is free; only the subscription is paid.

Sota VPN on PC. On Windows, Sota Connect installs like an ordinary program: download the installer from the download page, run it, paste the key and press the power button. If the connection won't come up, you can switch the mode in the settings from "Tunnel" to "System proxy": this makes it easier to tell whether an antivirus is interfering. General advice on VPNs for computers is in the article VPN on PC.

Sota VPN on a TV. Apple TV and Android TV are officially supported. On a TV it is more convenient to enter the key from your phone: on Apple TV, when the input field is active, a notification for entering text arrives on the iPhone. The site has no separate app for Samsung (Tizen) and LG (webOS). What to do with such TVs is covered in the article how to install a VPN on Samsung and LG, and Android TV in the guide VPN on Android TV.

Download the app only from the stores, the official site or the sotavpn GitHub mirror: the service warns that builds from other sites may be tampered with.

What protocol does Sota VPN use?

Sota VPN doesn't name its protocol: the site only says "an open-source protocol", and the GitHub description mentions traffic camouflage. The service doesn't publish independent audits or reviews.

There are indirect signs, but they aren't confirmation. In November 2025 the @sotavpn channel wrote about Xray/VLESS being blocked in Russia and said it had prepared a working solution for its keys. In the instructions the access key is called a UUID, and such identifiers are used in VLESS. Version 1.8.11 of October 17, 2026, can search for available connection addresses on its own if the main ones are blocked.

The Windows app has what people usually look for in a paid VPN:

• three connection modes: "Tunnel", "System proxy" and "Separate proxy" for individual programs;
• a choice of DNS: Cloudflare, Google, AdGuard or Quad9;
• split tunneling with a ready-made "Russian sites" list, so that banks and Gosuslugi (the government services portal) go directly (how this works is explained in the article on split tunneling);
• Kill Switch, which blocks the internet if the VPN drops.

Can you open Sota in Happ? The official instructions describe connecting only through Sota Connect. According to the service's description, the account shows "VPN keys" next to the access key, but the site doesn't confirm that they work in third-party clients. How paste-a-key clients like Happ differ from services with their own app is covered in the Happ review.

Is Sota VPN working right now and where do you contact support?

Sota VPN's current status is shown on the sotastatus.com page, which displays the state of the servers in real time. The service posts about outages and blocking in the @sotavpn channel, and they are discussed in the @sotavpnchat chat. Support is @sotasupport on Telegram, the email support@sotavpn.com and a ticket in the personal account; the site claims 24/7 operation.

A major outage happened on October 14, 2026: at 19:30 the channel reported that the service's infrastructure had come under attack and that even active connections were affected. By 22:40 service was restored, which required updating Sota Connect, and everyone's subscriptions were extended by 50 hours as compensation.

For support to answer from the first message, the service advises stating right away:

• the device and system, for example Windows 11 or iPhone;
• the Sota Connect version, the selected server and the connection mode;
• the error text and which network you are connecting through;
• whether the VPN works on another network or on another device with the same key.

Send your access key only in private messages to support and only when asked: in the general chat everyone will see it.

Sota VPN isn't working: what to check

If Sota won't connect, first look at sotastatus.com and the @sotavpn channel: during a mass outage there is nothing to configure. If all is quiet there, the problem is on your side, and most often it is solved by changing the server, updating the app or checking the subscription.

1. Check the subscription in the account: the main page shows whether it is active. After renewal the app will connect by itself.
2. Choose another country or "Best server": a particular server may be blocked by your provider.
3. Update Sota Connect. After the October 14, 2026 outage, the app didn't receive new addresses without an update.
4. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile internet or vice versa. If it works on one network but not the other, the network is the cause.
5. Turn off other VPNs and proxies, including the proxy in Telegram's settings: two VPNs interfere with each other.
6. If it says "Connected" but sites won't open, change the DNS in the settings and check split tunneling: in "Through the tunnel" mode, only what is on the list goes through the VPN.
7. On Android, remove battery optimization and background restrictions for Sota Connect, otherwise the system turns the VPN off. More in the article VPN disconnects by itself.
8. If Sota's site won't open but the app works, only the domain is blocked. The new address is in the channel and the bot.

If mobile internet is running in whitelist mode, almost any VPN stops connecting, and changing settings won't help. What this mode is is explained in the article does a VPN help when mobile internet is shut off. A general diagnostic procedure for any VPN is in the article why a VPN isn't working.

Why we recommend BessyConnect

We recommend BessyConnect to those who need a VPN on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and a TV with a clear protocol and no intermediate key step: the app installs from the store, and registration is optional. It runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage, under which traffic looks like ordinary HTTPS. There are more than 100 servers, no logs are kept, and there is a trial period.

Where Sota is stronger: it has apps for Windows and Linux, while BessyConnect has no Windows app. Sota is in the Russian App Store and BessyConnect isn't, so on an iPhone in Russia you need an Apple ID from another country for it. Sota also openly publishes its prices, legal entity and refund terms on its site. If you need a VPN primarily on a Windows computer, Sota covers that task and BessyConnect doesn't.

What neither Sota nor BessyConnect will solve: a VPN doesn't work when mobile internet has been switched to whitelist mode, and it doesn't guarantee a connection on every network. A VPN also doesn't make you anonymous: sites still see the accounts you are signed in to.

Download BessyConnect:

• iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV — App Store
• Android — Google Play
• Android TV — Google Play
• All platforms — download page

A fact-based comparison with other services is in the article BessyConnect and other VPNs, and the difference between services and paste-a-key clients is covered in BessyConnect or Happ, Sota, Batya VPN.

Sota VPN is a workable option if you need Windows or Linux and are fine with signing in by a key from the account. If you need a VPN on Apple devices, an Android phone and a TV, installed from official stores and with a disclosed protocol, start with BessyConnect: all versions are gathered on the download page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sota VPN free? No. The Sota Connect app is free, but it connects only with a subscription: from €3.99 a month on the site or 349 ₽ for 30 days in the App Store. New users can get a 7-day trial for €1.49.

How many devices can I connect to Sota VPN? Up to 10 at the same time on one key. The device list and the "Connected N of 10" counter are in the personal account, where you can also remove extra devices.

Is there Sota VPN for PC and TV? Yes. Sota Connect is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and among TVs for Apple TV and Android TV. There is no separate app for Samsung and LG.

Where is the Sota VPN personal account? At sotavpn.app; you sign in with your access key, without a login or password. If the site won't open, you can manage your subscription through the Telegram bot @sota.

How is BessyConnect better than Sota VPN? BessyConnect openly runs on VLESS with Reality camouflage and doesn't require getting a key on a website before the first connection. But it has no Windows app and isn't in the Russian App Store, while Sota has both.

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