Stash and VPNs

Is Stash a VPN?

Stash appears under VPN in Settings and asks for VPN permission, so the question comes up constantly. The short answer decides whether Stash is any use to you at all.

Short answer

No. Stash is a tool that routes traffic through servers you already have. It does not run any servers, does not sell access to any, and cannot get you online on its own.

What you are buying, and what you are not

A VPN service sells you access to its servers. You pay a monthly fee, pick a country, press connect, and the traffic goes through hardware the company operates.

Stash sells none of that. It is the software that decides which connections go where — and it needs somewhere to send them, which you supply.

IncludedThe app: rule-based routing, proxy group management, HTTP inspection and rewriting, scripting, and the configuration format that drives it all.
Not includedServers, bandwidth, IP addresses, and any subscription to them. Stash has no server list to choose from because it owns no servers.

Why iOS calls it a VPN anyway

Stash handles traffic through Apple's Network Extension framework, the same mechanism a VPN app uses. That is what puts it in the VPN section of Settings, shows the VPN badge in the status bar, and makes iOS ask for VPN permission on first run.

It describes how Stash reaches your traffic, not who provides the connection at the other end. An app can use that framework and still have nowhere to send anything, which is exactly the case here until you add a configuration.

What you need before Stash is useful

A configuration file listing the servers to use and the rules for when to use them. Most people get this from a provider as a subscription URL; anyone running their own server writes it themselves.

Without one, Stash installs and opens and has nothing to do. If you do not have a configuration and do not intend to get one, Stash is not the purchase you are looking for.

So who is it for

People who already have somewhere to send traffic and want real control over what goes there — routing by domain, IP, process or region rather than an all-or-nothing tunnel.

And people who need to see the traffic itself: capture requests, decrypt HTTPS they control, rewrite responses, run scripts against them. That is the part a VPN service does not do at all.

FAQ

The questions behind the question

Can I use Stash without a subscription to a provider?

Only if you have your own server to point it at. Stash needs a configuration naming somewhere to send traffic — self-hosted or from a provider, but it has to come from you.

Does Stash come with any free servers?

No. There are no bundled servers, no trial servers, and no server list inside the app.

Does buying a Stash licence get me a VPN connection?

No. The licence unlocks the app on your devices. Whether you can connect to anything depends entirely on the configuration you supply.

Why does it need VPN permission then?

Because the Network Extension framework is how an app on Apple platforms reaches system-wide traffic. Granting it lets Stash apply your rules to every app, not just a browser.

Does Stash see or log my traffic?

Traffic passes through the app on your own device, and the logging you see is local to it. Stash operates no servers, so there is nowhere for your traffic to be collected even in principle.

Still the tool you want?

If you have somewhere to send traffic and want control over what goes there, that is exactly what Stash does.

See what Stash does Read the manual