The very best VPN providers

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are notoriously tough to work with. Possibly you’re a distant employee who has to register to at least one every day to entry firm providers, otherwise you tried it as soon as since you heard you would use it to entry worldwide content material, however had been met with laggy service and frequent disruptions. As we speak’s VPNs don’t have to come back with these complications. We examined 9 of the perfect VPN providers out there now to provide you with our high picks, and lay out what you must know earlier than paying for one.

We examined 9 of the most well-liked VPN providers out there now to provide you with our high picks, and lay out what you must know earlier than paying for one. Our high decide stays ProtonVPN due to its easy-to-use interface, no-logs coverage and open-source framework, whereas different widespread choices like NordVPN did not fairly make the minimize. Whereas we predict ProtonVPN is the perfect VPN for most individuals, we lay out different good choices you may think about, too.

Editor’s word (5/30/25): We’re within the strategy of revamping our VPN protection to supply extra in-depth, actionable info and shopping for guides. Our suggestions, and all the information on this web page, are topic to alter because the replace continues. Take a look at our revamped ExpressVPN review to see the brand new route, or be taught extra about how we test VPNs.

Desk of contents

Greatest VPNs for 2025

Proton

Simultaneous connections: 10 | Variety of units: 10 | Platforms: Home windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux | Browser extensions: Chrome, Firefox | Devoted IP addresses: Sure, for enterprise customers solely | Trial/Cash-back assure: None/30-day money-back assure

Learn our full ProtonVPN review

The VPNs we tried out ranked fairly constantly throughout all of our assessments, however ProtonVPN stood out as a powerful possibility due to its general safety, usability and privateness options. The Proton Applied sciences suite of providers contains mail, calendar, drive and a VPN identified for its end-to-end encryption. This makes it a powerful contender for general safety, however its VPN particularly got here throughout as a well-rounded unbiased service.

ProtonVPN’s no-logs coverage has handed audits, and the corporate has confirmed to not adjust to legislation enforcement requests. As a result of it’s primarily based in Switzerland, there are not any compelled logging obligations, in accordance with the corporate, making it a safe VPN possibility. Plus, it’s primarily based on an open-source framework, and has an official vulnerability disclosure program together with clear definitions on what it does with private info.

Whereas ProtonVPN affords a free model, it’s restricted in comparison with different choices, with entry to server networks in simply three international locations. Its paid model usually begins at round $5.39 per 30 days, and contains entry to VPN server places in additional than 65 international locations on 10 units at a time. Whereas we would not think about it an inexpensive VPN, it is a comparatively inexpensive value for primary safety. For devoted Proton Applied sciences customers, they will pay nearer to $8.63 for a month-to-month plan to entry the whole suite.

ProtonVPN handed our geoblock, streaming and gaming assessments with solely a really small toll on connection speeds. It additionally comes with malware-, ad- and tracker-blocking as an extra service, plus it has a kill change function on macOS, Home windows, Linux, iOS and the newest model of Android. It’s out there on most main working programs, routers, TV providers and extra together with Firefox, Linux and Android TV. For devoted Linux customers, ProtonVPN added a new Linux-specific app to help its providers in August.

Professionals

Simple to make use of
No-logs coverage
Primarily based on open-source framework
Kill change function on macOS, Home windows, Linux, iOS and Android

$3.39/month at Proton

Windscribe

By signing up for Windscribe’s free plan along with your e mail, customers can entry 10GB per 30 days of information, limitless connections and entry to greater than 10 international locations. We chosen it as the perfect free VPN due to its excessive safety and big selection of server places in comparison with different free VPNs. It has over 500 servers in over 60 international locations, in accordance with the corporate, and will be configured to routers, good TVs and extra on high of the standard working programs.

Windscribe doesn’t have a current unbiased safety audit, nevertheless it does publish a transparency report exhibiting that it has complied with zero requests for its information, runs a vulnerability disclosure program encouraging researchers to report flaws and affords a number of protocols for customers to attach with.

On high of that, it’s simple to make use of. The arrange is intuitive and it handed our geoblock, streaming and gaming assessments. The paid model prices $5.75 to $9 every month, relying on the plan you select, and contains limitless information, entry to all servers and an advert/tracker/malware blocker. Or, for $1 per location per 30 days, customers can construct a plan tailor-made to the VPNs they need to entry. Windscribe continues to be increasing its attain, adding Japan to its listing of accessible spots.

Professionals

10GB of information per 30 days with free model
Limitless connections with free plan
Wide selection of server places
Simple to make use of

Cons

Doesn’t provide devoted IP addresses

$0 at Windscribe

ExpressVPN

Learn our full Express VPN review

We picked the perfect VPN service for journey, gaming and streaming primarily based on which one had entry to probably the most places with quick connections and no lag. ExpressVPN met all these standards and was one of the vital premium VPNs we tried, to not point out one of many quickest VPNs, too. Now, it even comes with an in-house password manager, ExpressVPN Keys, to handle and autofill logins throughout websites included with the subscription. That can make it simpler to toggle between streaming and gaming accounts whereas shopping securely.

An web velocity take a look at measured quicker add and obtain velocity in comparison with utilizing no VPN, virtually extraordinary in comparison with the opposite VPNs examined. However being this quick is probably going a fluke because of the VPN service circumventing visitors shaping by the ISP or one other disparity as a result of even top VPNs will in some way slow down speeds. With 2,000 servers in 160 cities, in accordance with the corporate, it had one of many broadest world reaches. It additionally handed our geoblock, streaming and gaming assessments, and it does regular security audits. Plus, Community Lock is its kill change function, which retains your information secure even in case you lose connection to the VPN. Subscription prices vary from $8.32 to $12.95 per 30 days relying on the time period of the plan, and embrace a password supervisor.

With ExpressVPN, customers can connect with as much as 5 units without delay, which is on the decrease aspect in comparison with different providers. That mentioned, it really works on a bunch of units from good TVs to sport consoles, in contrast to another providers that lack help past the standard suspects like smartphones and laptops.

Professionals

Excessive velocity connections with no lag in lots of places
Helps Community Lock kill change function
Works on a wide range of units like good TVs and sport consoles

$8.32/month at ExpressVPN

CyberGhost

Simultaneous connections: 7 | Variety of units: 7 | Platforms: Home windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux | Browser extensions: Chrome, Firefox | Devoted IP addresses: Sure, further buy required | Trial/Cash-back assure: 2 free months/45-day money-back assure

As a result of a number of of the perfect VPN providers connect with routers, cross-platform accessibility isn’t at all times essential. By connecting a VPN to your private home router, you may really connect with limitless units in your family, so long as all of them entry the web by way of that router.

However in case you use VPNs on the go, and throughout a number of units, having the ability to connect with a variety of platforms might be indispensable. CyberGhost affords simultaneous connectivity on as much as seven units for $2.11 to $12.99 per 30 days relying on subscription time period. It helps a number of sorts of devices like routers, computer systems, good TVs and extra. It’s much like the help that ExpressVPN affords, however CyberGhost offers detailed directions on how you can arrange the cross-platform connections, making it a bit extra user-friendly for these functions. Plus, it simply expanded its community of servers from 91 to 100 international locations, including Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to its out there places.

From a safety perspective, CyberGhost accomplished an independent security audit by Deloitte earlier this 12 months, runs a vulnerability disclosure program and offers entry to a transparency report explaining requests for its information. An updated version of its transparency report went stay in August. Whereas it did move all of our assessments, it’s price noting that we had hassle connecting to servers in the UK and needed to choose to run our gaming take a look at by way of an Eire-based server as a substitute.

Professionals

Works nicely throughout totally different sorts of units/platforms
Offers detailed directions for setting service up on totally different units

Cons

Devoted IP addresses come at an extra price

$2.11/month at CyberGhost

Surfshark

Simultaneous connections: Limitless | Variety of units: Limitless | Platforms: Home windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux | Browser extensions: Chrome, Firefox, Edge | Devoted IP addresses: Sure, further buy required | Trial/Cash-back assure: 1 free month/30-day money-back assure

Learn our full Surfshark VPN review

As we talked about earlier than, connecting to a router can present almost limitless entry to units in a single family. However Surfshark VPN is considered one of few VPN providers that supply use on an infinite variety of units with out bandwidth restrictions, in accordance with the corporate. And also you get that comfort and not using a important improve in value: Surfshark subscriptions price about $2.49 to $12.95 for a month-to-month subscription, and the corporate lately performed its first independent audit. It added QR-code-enabled login throughout units and expanded help for different ID profiles since our preliminary evaluation, a function that a few of its rivals already had.

We bumped into some hassle connecting to Surfshark’s WireGuard protocol, however examined on an IKEv2 protocol as a substitute. The VPN velocity was a bit gradual and struggled to attach for our geoblock take a look at at first, however finally handed. What makes it totally different from different VPNs with limitless connection choices is that it has entry to a bigger variety of servers and is offered on extra sorts of units.

Professionals

Limitless simultaneous connections
Massive variety of servers out there

Cons

On the costly aspect
Slower speeds than the competitors

$2.49/month at Surfshark

What’s a VPN?

VPNs, or digital non-public networks, masks your IP handle and the identification of your pc or cellular system on the community and creating an encrypted “tunnel” that stops your web service supplier (ISP) from accessing information about your shopping historical past. VPNs should not a one-size-fits-all safety answer, although.

As a substitute, they’re only one a part of holding your information non-public and safe. Roya Ensafi, assistant professor of pc science and engineering on the College of Michigan, informed Engadget that VPNs don’t defend towards widespread threats like phishing assaults, nor do they defend your information from being stolen. A lot of the information or info is saved with the VPN supplier as a substitute of your ISP, which implies that utilizing a poorly designed or unprotected community can nonetheless undermine your safety. However they do come in useful for on-line privateness if you’re connecting to an untrusted community someplace public as a result of they tunnel and encrypt your visitors to the subsequent hop.

Meaning sweeping claims that appear promising, like military-grade encryption or whole digital invisibility, might not be completely correct. As a substitute, Yael Grauer, program supervisor of Client Experiences’ on-line safety information, recommends in search of safety features like open-source software program with reproducible builds, up-to-date help for industry-standard protocols like WireGuard (CR’s most well-liked protocol) or IPsec, and the flexibility to defend towards assault vectors like brute pressure.

Learn extra:

Understanding VPNs and your wants

Earlier than contemplating a VPN, be certain that your on-line safety is updated in different methods. Meaning complicated passwords, multi-factor authentication strategies and locking down your information sharing preferences. Even then, you in all probability don’t have to be utilizing a VPN on a regular basis.

“Should you’re simply anxious about anyone sitting there passively and taking a look at your information then a VPN is nice,” Jed Crandall, an affiliate professor at Arizona State College, informed Engadget.

That brings us to a few of the most typical makes use of circumstances for VPNs. Should you use public WiFi networks so much, like whereas working at a espresso store, then VPN utilization may help offer you non-public web entry. They’re additionally useful for hiding info from different folks in your ISP in case you don’t need members of your family to know what you’re as much as on-line.

Geoblocking has additionally turn out to be a preferred use case because it helps you attain providers in different components of the world. For instance, you may entry exhibits which can be solely out there on streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, in different international locations, or play on-line video games with folks positioned all around the globe.

There are additionally a number of widespread VPN options that you must think about earlier than deciding if you wish to use one, and which is greatest for you:

What’s break up tunneling?

Cut up tunneling lets you route some visitors by way of your VPN, whereas different visitors has direct entry to the web. This could come in useful if you need to defend sure exercise on-line with out shedding entry to native community units, or providers that work greatest with location sharing enabled.

What’s a double VPN?

A double VPN, in any other case often called multi-hop VPN or a VPN chain, passes your on-line exercise by way of two totally different VPN servers one proper after the opposite. For VPN providers that help this, customers are usually in a position to decide on which two servers they need their visitors to move by way of. As you would possibly count on, this offers an additional layer of safety.

Are VPNs price it?

Whether or not or not VPNs are price it relies upon how usually you would use it for the above use circumstances. Should you journey so much and depend on public WiFi or hotspots, want to browse outdoors of your private home nation or need to maintain your visitors hidden out of your ISP, then investing in a VPN might be helpful. However, needless to say even the perfect VPN providers usually decelerate your web connection velocity, in order that they might not be best on a regular basis.

In at present’s world, we advocate not counting on a VPN connection as your most important cybersecurity instrument. VPN use can present a false sense of safety, leaving you susceptible to assault. Plus, in case you select simply any VPN, it might not be as safe as simply relying in your ISP. That’s as a result of the VPN might be primarily based in a rustic with weaker information privateness regulation, obligated handy info over to legislation enforcement or linked to weak person information safety insurance policies.

For VPN customers working in professions like activism or journalism that need to actually strengthen their web safety, choices just like the Tor browser could also be a worthwhile different, in accordance with Crandall. Tor is free, and whereas it is much less user-friendly, it’s constructed for anonymity and privateness.

How we examined VPNs

To check the safety specs of various VPNs and title our high picks, we relied on pre-existing educational work by way of Consumer Reports, VPNalyzer and different sources. We referenced privateness insurance policies, transparency stories and safety audits made out there to the general public. We additionally thought of previous safety incidents like information breaches.

We checked out value, utilization limits, results on web velocity, doable use circumstances, ease of use, basic performance and extra “further” VPN options like multihop. The VPNs had been examined throughout iOS, Android and Mac units so we might see the state of the cellular apps throughout varied platforms (Home windows units are additionally supported generally). We used the “fast join” function on the VPN apps to hook up with the “quickest” supplier out there when testing web velocity, entry to IP handle information and DNS and WebRTC leaks or when a fault within the encrypted tunnel reveals requests to an ISP.

In any other case, we performed a take a look at of geoblocking content material by accessing Canada-exclusive Netflix releases, a streaming take a look at by watching a information livestream on YouTube through a Hong Kong-based VPN and a gaming take a look at by taking part in on servers in the UK. By performing these assessments on the identical time, it additionally allowed us to check claims about simultaneous system use. Listed here are the VPN providers we examined:

Learn extra: The best password managers for 2023

Different VPN providers our consultants examined

NordVPN

NordVPN didn’t fairly make the minimize as a result of it’s overhyped, and underwhelming. As I’ve written in our full review of NordVPN, the pricing, as much as $14.49 for a “full” subscription, appeared excessive in comparison with different providers, and its free or decrease price plans simply didn’t have the identical huge number of options as its rivals.

TunnelBear

Regardless of the lovable graphics and person friendliness, TunnelBear wasn’t a best choice. It failed quite a few primary safety assessments from Client Experiences, and had restricted availability throughout platforms like Linux. It did, nevertheless, get a serious safety enhance in July when it up to date to support WireGuard protocol throughout extra of its platforms.

Bitdefender VPN

Bitdefender doesn’t provide help for units like routers, which limits its cross-platform accessibility. It additionally lacked a transparency report or third-party audit to verify safety specs.

Atlas VPN

Atlas ranked decrease on our velocity assessments in comparison with the opposite VPNs examined, with a notably slower distinction on net shopping and streaming assessments. It was an excellent possibility in any other case, however might simply trigger complications for these chasing excessive velocity connections. Safety-wise, an Atlas VPN vulnerability leaked Linux users’ real IP addresses.

VPN FAQs

What are some issues VPNs are used for?

VPNs are historically used to guard your web visitors. Should you’re linked to an untrusted community like public WiFi in a restaurant, utilizing a VPN hides what you do from the web service supplier. Then, the proprietor of the WiFi or hackers making an attempt to get into the system can’t see the identification of your pc or your shopping historical past.

A standard non-textbook use case for VPNs has been accessing geographically restricted content material. VPNs can masks your location, so even in case you’re primarily based in the US, they will make it seem as in case you’re shopping overseas and unblock entry. That is particularly helpful for streaming content that’s usually restricted to sure international locations, like if you wish to watch Canadian Netflix from the US.

What info does a VPN conceal?

A VPN doesn’t conceal your entire information. It solely hides info like your IP handle, location and browser historical past. A standard false impression is that VPNs could make you completely invisible on-line. However needless to say the VPN supplier usually nonetheless has entry to all of this info, so it doesn’t grant you whole anonymity. You’re additionally nonetheless susceptible to phishing assaults, hacking and different cyberthreats that you ought to be aware of by implementing robust passwords and multi-factor authentication.

Are VPNs secure?

Usually, sure. VPNs are a secure and dependable approach to encrypt and defend your web information. However like most on-line providers, the security specifics range from supplier to supplier. You should use sources like third-party audits, Consumer Reports reviews, transparency stories and privateness insurance policies to grasp the specifics of your chosen supplier.

Are you able to get a VPN in your telephone?

Sure, you should use a VPN in your telephone. Most main VPN providers have cellular apps you may set up on iPhones and Android units so you may join in your telephone to guard your cellular shopping.

What about Google’s One VPN?

Google One subscriptions embrace entry to the company’s VPN, which works equally to different VPNs on our listing, hiding your on-line exercise from community operators. Nevertheless, Google introduced lately that it plans to shut down the One VPN as a result of “folks merely weren’t utilizing it.” There is not any particular date for the shutdown, with Google merely saying it should discontinue the service someday in 2024. Pixel telephone house owners, nevertheless, will proceed to have entry to the free VPN out there on their units.