{"id":22716,"date":"2026-02-23T11:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:16:18","slug":"the-greatest-iphone-vpns-we-have-examined-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest iPhone VPNs We have Examined for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>\n                    Deeper Dive: Our Prime Examined Picks\n                <\/p>\n<div class=\"editors-note !my-12 border-l-8 border-l-red-400 py-2 pl-6\">\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_53 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\" role=\"button\"><label for=\"item-6a325d46199ba\" ><span class=\"\"><span style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input aria-label=\"Toggle\" aria-label=\"item-6a325d46199ba\"  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-6a325d46199ba\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#EDITORS%E2%80%99_NOTE\" title=\"\n            EDITORS&#8217; NOTE \n                    \">\n            EDITORS&#8217; NOTE \n                    <\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons-2\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It-2\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For-2\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations-2\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons-3\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It-3\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For-3\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations-3\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons-4\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It-4\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For-4\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations-4\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Greatest_Transparency_Coverage\" title=\"\n                                Greatest Transparency Coverage\">\n                                Greatest Transparency Coverage<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Windscribe_VPN\" title=\"\n                                                            Windscribe VPN \n                                                    \">\n                                                            Windscribe VPN \n                                                    <\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons-5\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It-5\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For-5\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations-5\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Greatest_for_Discount_Hunters\" title=\"\n                                Greatest for Discount Hunters\">\n                                Greatest for Discount Hunters<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Concealme_VPN\" title=\"\n                                                            Conceal.me VPN \n                                                    \">\n                                                            Conceal.me VPN \n                                                    <\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-26\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Professionals_Cons-6\" title=\"Professionals &amp; Cons\">Professionals &amp; Cons<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-27\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Why_We_Picked_It-6\" title=\"Why We Picked It\">Why We Picked It<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-28\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Who_It_is_For-6\" title=\"Who It is For\">Who It is For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-29\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Specs_Configurations-6\" title=\"Specs &amp; Configurations\">Specs &amp; Configurations<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-30\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Love_All_Issues_Apple\" title=\"\n                                            Love All Issues Apple? \n                                    \">\n                                            Love All Issues Apple? \n                                    <\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-31\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#The_Greatest_VPNs_for_iPhones_in_2026_Evaluate_Specs\" title=\"\n            The Greatest VPNs for iPhones in 2026 \n            Evaluate Specs \n        \">\n            The Greatest VPNs for iPhones in 2026 \n            Evaluate Specs \n        <\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-32\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Do_You_Want_an_iPhone_VPN\" title=\"Do You Want an iPhone VPN?\u00a0\">Do You Want an iPhone VPN?\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-33\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Methods_to_Use_iPhone_VPNs_for_Encryption_and_Location_Spoofing\" title=\"Methods to Use iPhone VPNs for Encryption and Location Spoofing\">Methods to Use iPhone VPNs for Encryption and Location Spoofing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-34\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#What_an_iPhone_VPN_Cannot_Do\" title=\"What an iPhone VPN Cannot Do\">What an iPhone VPN Cannot Do<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-35\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Does_Utilizing_a_VPN_Gradual_Your_iPhone%E2%80%99s_Web_Connection\" title=\"Does Utilizing a VPN Gradual Your iPhone&#8217;s Web Connection?\">Does Utilizing a VPN Gradual Your iPhone&#8217;s Web Connection?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-36\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Advisable_by_Our_Editors\" title=\"Advisable by Our Editors\">Advisable by Our Editors<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-37\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Can_You_Belief_Your_iPhone_VPN_Service\" title=\"Can You Belief Your iPhone VPN Service?\">Can You Belief Your iPhone VPN Service?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-38\" href=\"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/?p=22716\/#Which_Free_VPN_Is_Greatest_for_Your_iPhone\" title=\"Which Free VPN Is Greatest for Your iPhone?\">Which Free VPN Is Greatest for Your iPhone?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"flex items-center text-sm font-bold tracking-wide text-red-400\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"EDITORS%E2%80%99_NOTE\"><\/span>\n            EDITORS&#8217; NOTE<br \/>\n            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-4 ml-2 text-red-400 select-none transform -scale-x-100\" viewbox=\"0 0 512 512\"><!--!Font Awesome Free 6.6.0 by @fontawesome - https:\/\/fontawesome.com License - https:\/\/fontawesome.com\/license\/free Copyright 2024 Fonticons, Inc.--><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M441 58.9L453.1 71c9.4 9.4 9.4 24.6 0 33.9L424 134.1 377.9 88 407 58.9c9.4-9.4 24.6-9.4 33.9 0zM209.8 256.2L344 121.9 390.1 168 255.8 302.2c-2.9 2.9-6.5 5-10.4 6.1l-58.5 16.7 16.7-58.5c1.1-3.9 3.2-7.5 6.1-10.4zM373.1 25L175.8 222.2c-8.7 8.7-15 19.4-18.3 31.1l-28.6 100c-2.4 8.4-.1 17.4 6.1 23.6s15.2 8.5 23.6 6.1l100-28.6c11.8-3.4 22.5-9.7 31.1-18.3L487 138.9c28.1-28.1 28.1-73.7 0-101.8L474.9 25C446.8-3.1 401.2-3.1 373.1 25zM88 64C39.4 64 0 103.4 0 152L0 424c0 48.6 39.4 88 88 88l272 0c48.6 0 88-39.4 88-88l0-112c0-13.3-10.7-24-24-24s-24 10.7-24 24l0 112c0 22.1-17.9 40-40 40L88 464c-22.1 0-40-17.9-40-40l0-272c0-22.1 17.9-40 40-40l112 0c13.3 0 24-10.7 24-24s-10.7-24-24-24L88 64z\"\/><\/svg>        <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"text-sm\">\n<p><em>February 22, 2026: With this replace, our lineup of beneficial iPhone VPNs stays unchanged. The present picks have been vetted for forex and availability.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section aria-label=\"Roundup Product Cards\" x-data=\"productGallery\">\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-overall\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best Overall\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'Proton VPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-overall\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"Proton VPN\" data-position=\"1\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of Proton VPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-overall' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1653509931.jpg\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"Proton VPN's logo\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: Proton)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"Proton VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-overall'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-overall'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-overall'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-overall'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close Proton VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-overall\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1653509931.jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1653509931.jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1653509931.jpg\" alt=\"Proton VPN's logo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: Proton)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Greatest free plan we have seen&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Trade-leading privateness requirements&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>World server community&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Slick, accessible shopper&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Quite a few extra privateness instruments&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Ample buyer help choices<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Excessive latency scores in testing<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>ProtonVPN is our best choice for iOS. Its glossy iOS app retains a lot of the identical options because the desktop model, except cut up tunneling. Moreover, the VPN and a collection of instruments, together with ProtonMail and ProtonPass, can be utilized without spending a dime with the identical account. We respect Proton\u2019s stance that value ought to by no means be a hurdle to privateness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities:\u00a0<\/strong>Proton gives entry to a worldwide server community that works seamlessly with iOS. The premium plans provide a variety of fantastic options, together with a configurable kill change, multi-hop connections, and help for as much as 10 simultaneous connections. The free model is without doubt one of the finest available on the market, with 5 server choices and limitless bandwidth.  \u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>Proton\u2019s strong privateness requirements carry ahead to the iOS model of the app. The individuals behind the corporate take privateness critically, with an unyielding dedication to transparency and accountability that&#8217;s uncommon within the VPN area. All apps are open-source, so that you by no means need to query if a hidden vulnerability may compromise your information. Annual audits and frequent transparency experiences display that Proton persistently maintains its requirements 12 months after 12 months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>Proton\u2019s premium servers rank in the midst of the pack by way of efficiency, with a 20.11% lower in obtain speeds, a 43.21% lower in add speeds, and a 351.26% improve in latency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>Proton makes it straightforward to take your favourite reveals and films on the go. We examined Proton with Netflix in a number of areas and located that it labored flawlessly, granting us entry to each catalog we examined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>All of Proton\u2019s apps are streamlined and simple to make use of, catering to each rookies and skilled customers. Options are simply accessible and clearly labeled on each desktop and cellular interfaces. It\u2019s easy to inform whenever you\u2019re related to a server, and you&#8217;ll entry superior choices with simply a few clicks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Funds-conscious customers<\/strong>: Proton\u2019s free model is strong and packs in lots of options that competing free choices lack. It\u2019s a wonderful device for securing your privateness on a finances. When you can take care of the constraints, Proton\u2019s free model is greater than viable as your important VPN.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness advocates<\/strong>: Proton\u2019s unwavering dedication to transparency and privateness makes it among the finest choices for the privacy-conscious. With open-source apps and common audits, you&#8217;ll be able to monitor exactly how the corporate responds to threats to consumer information.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    10<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"Proton VPN\" data-item=\"Proton VPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/proton-vpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Proton VPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-premium-features\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best Premium Features\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'NordVPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-premium-features\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"NordVPN\" data-position=\"2\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of NordVPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-premium-features' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1602257660.png\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"NordVPN logo\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: NordVPN)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"NordVPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-premium-features'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-premium-features'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-premium-features'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-premium-features'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close NordVPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-premium-features\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1602257660.png\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1602257660.png\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1602257660.png\" alt=\"NordVPN logo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: NordVPN)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons-2\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Help for multi-hop, cut up tunneling, and Tor connections&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Wonderful pace outcomes&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>World server protection&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Wealth of obtainable options and add-ons&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Constructed-in antivirus instruments<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Costly, and annual pricing could possibly be clearer&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Antivirus part could possibly be higher<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It-2\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>The very best factor about NordVPN is that it has just a little one thing for everybody. NordVPN&#8217;s cellular expertise is great, that includes feature-packed apps and a glossy, intuitive interface that&#8217;s straightforward to make use of for all customers. Nord&#8217;s value is increased than the competitors&#8217;s, however you get a powerful suite of safety instruments and options below a single subscription.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities: <\/strong>The iOS app has an advert and malware blocker, a kill change, and multi-hop connections. You additionally get entry to NordVPN Risk Safety Professional, which scans browser downloads for malware and blocks malicious URLs. The principle lacking options on iOS are cut up tunneling, obfuscated servers, and the power to configure customized DNS addresses. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>Based on the corporate&#8217;s privateness coverage, NordVPN doesn&#8217;t log prospects&#8217; shopping historical past, IP addresses, or site visitors. The corporate additionally undergoes frequent code audits from third-party cybersecurity companies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>Nord carried out properly in our newest pace assessments, with a 5.20% lower in obtain speeds, a 5.78% lower in add speeds, and a 58.14% improve in latency. These scores place it among the many quickest VPNs we have now examined. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>Folks looking for to entry a beforehand blocked streaming service will respect NordVPN&#8217;s dependable speeds and intensive server choice. When you&#8217;re a Netflix subscriber, you will be blissful to know that we accessed the complete Netflix library whereas related to servers in 5 places: Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>NordVPN&#8217;s apps look nice and carry out properly in testing. The iOS app is a breeze to make use of and has sufficient depth to please superior customers with out being too overwhelming for these new to VPNs. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For-2\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Frequent vacationers<\/strong>: NordVPN has digital servers in additional than 100 international locations, though most bodily servers are situated within the UK and the US. This implies you may have lots of VPN connection decisions whenever you&#8217;re touring. It is also straightforward to rapidly hook up with a VPN utilizing the app, so you do not have to fret about snoops on public Wi-Fi networks in airports or lodges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Newbies<\/strong>: NordVPN&#8217;s interface makes it straightforward for first-time customers to connect with a VPN instantly. We particularly like the extent of management NordVPN gives prospects. For instance, if you happen to&#8217;re new to utilizing a VPN, you might wish to let NordVPN select the quickest connection for you and simply keep it up. As you develop into extra snug navigating the app, you&#8217;ll be able to choose a server to connect with from a drop-down menu.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations-2\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    6<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2\/IPSec<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"NordVPN\" data-item=\"NordVPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/nordvpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NordVPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-interface\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best Interface\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'ExpressVPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-interface\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"ExpressVPN\" data-position=\"3\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of ExpressVPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-interface' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1701449178.png\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"expressvpn logo\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: ExpressVPN)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"ExpressVPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-interface'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-interface'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-interface'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-interface'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close ExpressVPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-interface\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1701449178.png\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1701449178.png\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1701449178.png\" alt=\"expressvpn logo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: ExpressVPN)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons-3\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Giant, various, extensively distributed fleet of servers&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Quick pace take a look at outcomes&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Sturdy privateness and safety practices&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Help for post-quantum encryption protocols<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Costly month-to-month and annual plans&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>No multi-hop connections&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Advert blocking is spotty&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Possession with a sketchy previous<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It-3\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>ExpressVPN&#8217;s iOS app is thoughtfully designed from prime to backside. The corporate has servers in 105 international locations, sturdy pace take a look at outcomes, and has developed its personal Lightway protocol. Specific additionally leads the pack with its future-forward strategy, incorporating post-quantum encryption that goals to stop superior hacking strategies earlier than they develop into viable. The downsides? You possibly can&#8217;t use the VPN without spending a dime, and a subscription prices a bit greater than common.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities: <\/strong>ExpressVPN&#8217;s iOS app retains a lot of the options from its desktop counterpart, apart from cut up tunneling. iOS customers may also use the IKEv2 protocol, which isn&#8217;t obtainable on Android. An ExpressVPN subscription additionally provides you entry to Specific VPN Keys, the corporate&#8217;s password supervisor, and Risk Supervisor, a malware and tracker blocker. The service has partnered with vacation.com and gives subscribers with an eSIM starting from 1 to 5GB, relying on the subscription size.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>ExpressVPN doesn&#8217;t preserve logs of buyer shopping exercise or connections, and the privateness coverage states that the corporate doesn&#8217;t promote buyer information. ExpressVPN undergoes periodic unbiased safety audits and publishes a radical transparency report on its web site, which lists buyer information requests from regulation enforcement, together with any gag orders or nationwide safety letters. ExpressVPN additionally operates a bug bounty program, which gives safety researchers with the chance to stress-test the corporate&#8217;s programs and report vulnerabilities in alternate for a monetary reward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>ExpressVPN&#8217;s latency and pace assessments yielded outcomes that exceeded the median. It lowered our obtain and add speeds by 18.55% and seven.45%, respectively. Latency elevated by 95.62%. Speeds have been dependable sufficient for on-the-go streaming with out interruptions. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>Throughout the newest spherical of testing, we have been in a position to entry 5 regional Netflix catalogs with none restrictions. World content material is at your fingertips, with 100 servers to select from in various places, together with international locations with strict web insurance policies, reminiscent of Turkey and Vietnam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>ExpressVPN&#8217;s iOS app was our most well-liked manner to make use of the VPN, due to its seamless and beginner-friendly design. It is all the time clear whenever you&#8217;re related to the service, so that you by no means have to fret about unintentionally leaking your location. We did not expertise any points putting in the app or connecting to servers. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For-3\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Newbies<\/strong>: When you first heard of VPNs or, particularly, ExpressVPN through an advert learn by your favourite YouTuber, you are not alone. That is in all probability why ExpressVPN made the app extremely straightforward to navigate. Folks unfamiliar with VPNs will respect the simplicity of this app. Connecting for the primary time is so simple as downloading the app, urgent the massive connection button, and minimizing the window. That is it!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Location spoofers<\/strong>: ExpressVPN has lots of server places world wide, making it a wonderful choose for anybody who needs to spoof their location for any motive. For instance, you could possibly use the VPN at dwelling in Canada to route your internet site visitors by means of a London-based server. It should obfuscate your true location and offer you entry to region-locked content material on video streaming platforms like Netflix.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations-3\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    8<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    OpenVPN, IKEv2<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"ExpressVPN\" data-item=\"ExpressVPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/expressvpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ExpressVPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-for-vpn-novices\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best for VPN Novices\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'Surfshark VPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-for-vpn-novices\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"Surfshark VPN\" data-position=\"4\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of Surfshark VPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-for-vpn-novices' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1620413332.png\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"surfshark logo\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: Surfshark)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"Surfshark VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-vpn-novices'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-vpn-novices'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-vpn-novices'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-for-vpn-novices'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close Surfshark VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-for-vpn-novices\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1620413332.png\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1620413332.png\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1620413332.png\" alt=\"surfshark logo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: Surfshark)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons-4\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Wonderful server protection and efficiency&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Spectacular suite of security measures&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Properly-defined privateness coverage&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Quarterly transparency experiences&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Inexpensive long-term plans<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Excessive month-to-month price&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-red-400 shrink-0 size-4\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Common server community measurement<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It-4\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>Surfshark delivers a high quality expertise throughout all main working programs, together with iOS. The iOS app even helps cut up tunneling, which is commonly tough for VPN to implement on the platform. Whereas it has a excessive up-front month-to-month price, you achieve entry to a wealth of helpful safety instruments and options that assist justify the lofty value.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities:\u00a0<\/strong>Surfshark&#8217;s community boasts ample international protection, with a\u00a0presence in 100 international locations. Superior connection choices, reminiscent of multi-hop and post-quantum encryption, make it straightforward to tailor your safety preferences. Past a typical VPN, Surfshark goals to be a one-app resolution for all issues privateness. You possibly can configure an antivirus, advert blocker, and extra id safety instruments all in a single hub.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>Privateness insurance policies may be complicated and dense. Surfshark takes a extra complete strategy and provides an in-depth but digestible coverage that explains how the corporate handles information. The service has verified these claims with frequent third-party audits and quarterly transparency experiences.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>Surfshark&#8217;s efficiency was spectacular. We solely noticed a 3.25% lower in obtain speeds, a 6.07% lower in add speeds, and a rise in latency of 83.92%.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>Netflix entry was no downside for Surfshark. It accessed each regional catalog we examined with out working into blocks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>When it comes to options, the consumer expertise is constant throughout purposes; nonetheless, we discovered that the iOS model of the app was considerably cluttered. It was nonetheless straightforward to make use of in contrast with the competitors; nonetheless, the Android model provided a extra streamlined expertise.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For-4\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Media streamers:<\/strong> Surfshark is a stable selection for these trying to watch their favourite reveals from anyplace with out compromising on safety. The VPN was one of many quickest we have now examined, and it simply unblocked regional Netflix catalogs. We didn&#8217;t expertise stuttering or gradual load occasions even when related to distant places.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Customers who need a one-app resolution:<\/strong> The largest promoting level for Surfshark is its ecosystem of privateness instruments. It is a good selection for many who do not wish to handle a handful of subscriptions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations-4\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    Limitless<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"Surfshark VPN\" data-item=\"Surfshark VPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/surfshark-vpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Surfshark VPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-transparency-policy\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best Transparency Policy\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'Windscribe VPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-transparency-policy\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"Windscribe VPN\" data-position=\"5\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of Windscribe VPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-transparency-policy' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1718650718.jpg\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"Windscribe logo: A W in an octagon and the word &quot;windscribe&quot; in black on a white background\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: Windscribe)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"Windscribe VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-transparency-policy'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-transparency-policy'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-transparency-policy'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-transparency-policy'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close Windscribe VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-transparency-policy\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1718650718.jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1718650718.jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1718650718.jpg\" alt=\"Windscribe logo: A W in an octagon and the word &quot;windscribe&quot; in black on a white background\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: Windscribe)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"order-first flex w-full items-center pb-6 md:order-last md:ml-8 md:w-1\/2 md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-2 md:leading-normal\">\n<h2 class=\"font-stretch-condensed text-lg font-semibold leading-compact text-red-400\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Greatest_Transparency_Coverage\"><\/span>\n                                Greatest Transparency Coverage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"font-stretch-condensed text-2xl font-semibold leading-compact md:text-3xl md:leading-tight\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Windscribe_VPN\"><\/span>\n                                                            Windscribe VPN<br \/>\n                                                    <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons-5\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Trade-leading firm transparency and communication&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Giant variety of cost choices&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Greatest free plan of any VPN we have examined&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Nameless signup allowed&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Limitless variety of simultaneous connections and gadgets&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Useful AI help bot<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It-5\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>Windscribe VPN boasts a stellar iOS app that&#8217;s totally featured and even simpler to make use of than its desktop counterpart. The iOS app lacks cut up tunneling and the VPN&#8217;s firewall function, however all different premium instruments and choices can be found to cellular customers. Windscribe additionally provides its service to anybody, with solely the small caveat of a bandwidth restriction of as much as 10GB with an e mail deal with at signup or 2GB if you happen to select to stay nameless with no e mail account. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities:\u00a0<\/strong>The total app gives limitless simultaneous machine connections, entry to a big bodily server community, an advert &amp; tracker blocker known as Robert, and quite a few superior configurations. With pay-per-location plans beginning at simply $3, Windscribe is a simple choose if you need leading-class privateness at a low value. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>Windscribe\u2019s typically flippant advertising and marketing and model id could lead one to consider it doesn\u2019t take safety critically. That isn&#8217;t the case. Windscribe is without doubt one of the main VPNs by way of privateness, transparency, and consumer information safety. It doesn\u2019t preserve logs. You possibly can pay anonymously and enroll with out disclosing your private info. Past hermetic privateness measures, the VPN has undergone a number of audits by PacketLabs and has confronted real-world challenges which have validated its privateness claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>A VPN will virtually all the time affect your base web speeds to some extent. We discovered that Windscribe had a minimal affect, leading to a ten.66% lower in obtain speeds, a 13.20% lower in add speeds, and a 67.01% improve in latency. These outcomes place it among the many quickest VPNs that we have now examined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>Windscribe offered open entry to Netflix within the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and Australia. We didn\u2019t encounter any points when testing, and all streams have been clean with no noticeable buffering or stuttering. Windscribe has a community of bodily servers with protection in 69 international locations and 134 cities worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>Desktop customers obtain a compact, streamlined window with all key options simply accessible. The cellular app is simply pretty much as good, that includes a clear design that clearly signifies whenever you\u2019re related to the VPN\u2019s community. All apps function a complete server record and superior options, accessible by means of a helpful drop-down menu.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For-5\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Transparency seekers: <\/strong>Windscribe is the clear selection if you need a service that doesn\u2019t compromise on privateness and safety. Month-to-month transparency experiences preserve you knowledgeable about each inquiry the VPN has acquired. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Configuration fans:<\/strong> Not solely is the bottom subscription inexpensive at simply $9 per thirty days, however you too can configure plans with choose places beginning at a mere $3 per thirty days. You received\u2019t see that stage of configuration provided anyplace else. As certainly one of our highest-rated VPNs, you\u2019re getting a wonderful service at a value that undercuts the overwhelming majority of the competitors.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations-5\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    Limitless<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<div class=\"flex justify-between gap-x-8 text-base leading-normal pt-4\">\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"Windscribe VPN\" data-item=\"Windscribe VPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/windscribe-vpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Windscribe VPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"roundup-product-card mx-auto !mb-16 max-w-3xl rounded-md p-6 shadow-box sm:!mb-32 sm:p-8\" id=\"best-for-bargain-hunters\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-product-card\" aria-label=\"Best for Bargain Hunters\" x-data=\"{ intersectItem: $refs.intersectItem }\" x-ref=\"intersectItem\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents('Best_Product_Card', 'Hide.me VPN', intersectItem)\">\n<div class=\"mb-8 flex flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"order-last w-full md:order-first md:w-1\/2\">\n<div class=\"swiper !flex flex-col gap-3\" id=\"product-gallery-best-for-bargain-hunters\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide !flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex aspect-video items-center justify-center\">\n                    <button class=\"group relative w-full\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"roundup-product-card-image\" data-item=\"image-inspect-1\" data-title=\"Hide.me VPN\" data-position=\"6\" aria-label=\"Inspect Enlarged Image 1 Of Hide.me VPN\" x-track-ga-click=\"\"><br \/>\n                        <span class=\"absolute left-3 top-3 z-10 rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white bg-opacity-75 p-1 text-black transition-colors group-hover:bg-opacity-100 group-hover:text-red-400 group-active:text-red-500\" :class=\"{ 'text-red-400 bg-opacity-100': selectedProduct === 'best-for-bargain-hunters' }\"><br \/>\n                            <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"size-5\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" stroke-width=\"1.5\" stroke=\"currentColor\">\n    <path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" d=\"m21 21-5.197-5.197m0 0A7.5 7.5 0 1 0 5.196 5.196a7.5 7.5 0 0 0 10.607 10.607ZM10.5 7.5v6m3-3h-6\"\/>\n<\/svg>                        <\/span><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video w-full border border-gray-300 object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.fit_lim.size_320x180.v1750950300.png\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 180\" fill=\"%23f7f7f7\" alt=\"Hide.me logo\" data-lazy-sized=\"\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/button>\n                <\/div>\n<p>                <small class=\"flex flex-col line-clamp-1 w-full sm:w-3\/4 md:w-2\/3\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                (Credit score: Conceal.me)<br \/>\n                        <\/small>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><template x-teleport=\"body\" hidden=\"\"><\/p>\n<aside class=\"fixed inset-0 z-top flex justify-center md:mx-6 md:items-center\" aria-label=\"Hide.me VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-show=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-bargain-hunters'\" x-trap.noscroll=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-bargain-hunters'\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 lg:relative lg:z-top\" x-on:click.outside=\"closeModal()\" x-on:keydown.escape=\"closeModal()\">\n                        <dialog class=\"relative mx-6 my-0 flex flex-col items-end gap-4 rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-gray-700 lg:px-6\" :open=\"selectedProduct === 'best-for-bargain-hunters'\" :inert=\"selectedProduct !== 'best-for-bargain-hunters'\" x-ref=\"modal\"><br \/>\n                <button class=\"w-fit cursor-pointer text-gray-700 hover:text-red-400 focus:text-red-400 active:text-red-500 md:right-8 md:top-8\" aria-label=\"Close Hide.me VPN Images Gallery Modal\" x-on:click=\"closeModal()\"><br \/>\n                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5 transition-colors\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"fal\" data-icon=\"times\" viewbox=\"0 0 320 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M193.94 256 296.5 153.44l21.15-21.15c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31l-22.63-22.63c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L160 222.06 36.29 98.34c-3.12-3.12-8.19-3.12-11.31 0L2.34 120.97c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31L126.06 256 2.34 379.71c-3.12 3.12-3.12 8.19 0 11.31l22.63 22.63c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0L160 289.94 262.56 392.5l21.15 21.15c3.12 3.12 8.19 3.12 11.31 0l22.63-22.63c3.12-3.12 3.12-8.19 0-11.31L193.94 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"swiper ease-out w-full max-w-[calc(100vw-5rem)] transition-opacity lg:max-w-3xl\" id=\"modal-gallery-best-for-bargain-hunters\" :class=\"isGalleryVisible ? 'opacity-100' : 'opacity-0'\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col gap-4\">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.fit_lim.size_768x576.v1750950300.png\" media=\"(min-width: 1024px)\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.fit_lim.size_644x362.v1750950300.png\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-video h-auto w-full object-contain\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.fit_lim.size_420x236.v1750950300.png\" alt=\"Hide.me logo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"236\"\/>\n        <\/picture><figcaption class=\"m-0 text-base text-black\">\n            <small class=\"line-clamp-1 flex w-full flex-col\"><br \/>\n                            (Credit score: Conceal.me)<br \/>\n                    <\/small><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <\/dialog>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><\/template>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"order-first flex w-full items-center pb-6 md:order-last md:ml-8 md:w-1\/2 md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-2 md:leading-normal\">\n<h2 class=\"font-stretch-condensed text-lg font-semibold leading-compact text-red-400\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Greatest_for_Discount_Hunters\"><\/span>\n                                Greatest for Discount Hunters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"font-stretch-condensed text-2xl font-semibold leading-compact md:text-3xl md:leading-tight\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Concealme_VPN\"><\/span>\n                                                            Conceal.me VPN<br \/>\n                                                    <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  true  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Professionals_Cons-6\"><\/span>Professionals &amp; Cons<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 gap-x-8 gap-y-6 sm:flex-row\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<ul class=\"!my-0 flex-1 space-y-3 !px-0 text-base font-semibold [&amp;&gt;li]:leading-normal\">\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Ten simultaneous connections&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Dependable Netflix entry&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Privateness-first insurance policies&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Inexpensive&#13;<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<li class=\"flex items-baseline gap-x-3\">\n                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"pt-1 text-green-400 shrink-0 size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"14\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 14\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M7.66659 6.33331H13.6666V7.66665H7.66659V13.6666H6.33325V7.66665H0.333252V6.33331H6.33325V0.333313H7.66659V6.33331Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                    <span>Full-featured free plan<\/span>\n                                <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_We_Picked_It-6\"><\/span>Why We Picked It<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>Conceal.me is an inexpensive and feature-packed VPN service obtainable on all platforms, together with iOS. Its privacy-first insurance policies and aggressive value make it a compelling choose for many who worth privateness however nonetheless need an inexpensive VPN. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Options and capabilities: <\/strong>Conceal.me&#8217;s iOS app is out there straight from the App Retailer, and setup was straightforward. You get a feature-rich VPN with a kill change, an unlimited server record, and configurable advert blockers. Nonetheless, a few choices are lacking on iOS, together with cut up tunneling and the SSTP protocol. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Privateness and safety: <\/strong>Conceal.me solely requires your e mail deal with to make an account. With a variety of safe and nameless cost choices, limiting what information the service has entry to is straightforward. Based on the privateness coverage, the corporate collects your e mail and shops it in an encrypted type in a safe facility. Conceal.me does not retailer any buyer cost info or information, together with your IP deal with, bodily deal with, or different private particulars. Moreover, the service makes use of bodily servers as a substitute of digital machines, offering the corporate with higher management over how consumer information is dealt with.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pace and efficiency: <\/strong>In our most up-to-date assessments, we have been impressed with Conceal.me\u2019s efficiency. Obtain speeds decreased by 5.93%, add speeds decreased by 22.72%, and latency elevated by 92.11%. These outcomes outperform the typical affect throughout all VPNs we examined.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Streaming: <\/strong>The app&#8217;s web site claims it really works properly with widespread streaming companies like Netflix. Throughout testing, we accessed Netflix whereas related to servers in Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US with no points or limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Person expertise and ease of use: <\/strong>Conceal.me&#8217;s interface may be considerably disorganized on Home windows, so we have been happy to see that the iOS model is rather more streamlined. Whilst you lose out on a number of the desktop configuration choices, you get a extra user-friendly interface on cellular. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_It_is_For-6\"><\/span>Who It is For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 rich-text !mb-0\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p><strong>Funds-conscious prospects:<\/strong> When you&#8217;re on a finances, the options included within the free Conceal.me shopper are on par with a number of the paid choices we have reviewed. The SmartGuard function is especially attention-grabbing: It&#8217;s an all-in-one advert blocker, malware blocker, parental management app, and web site filter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Frequent vacationers: <\/strong>Conceal.me has servers in 57 international locations, making it an acceptable possibility for people who often journey and wish to hook up with a close-by, quick server. The auto-connect function additionally helps mitigate the dangers of connecting to public Wi-Fi in airports or lodges.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"border-b-1 border-t-1 border-gray-300 [&amp;+section]:border-t-0\" x-data=\"{ drawerOpen:  false  }\">\n        <button class=\"rich-text my-4 flex w-full items-center justify-between gap-x-4 text-left md:my-6 [&amp;&gt;*]:!m-0 [&amp;&gt;*]:w-fit [&amp;&gt;h3&gt;strong]:font-semibold\" aria-label=\"Pros &amp; Cons\" aria-controls=\"pros-cons\" :aria-expanded=\"drawerOpen\"><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specs_Configurations-6\"><\/span>Specs &amp; Configurations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>        <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col mb-8 divide-y-1 divide-gray-300\" x-collapse=\"\" x-cloak=\"\" x-show=\"drawerOpen\">\n<p>\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Simultaneous VPN Connections<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    10<br \/>\n                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/p>\n<div class=\"flex justify-between gap-x-8 text-base leading-normal pt-4\">\n                            <span class=\"hyphens flex-1 break-words px-4 font-semibold sm:px-8\">Supported Protocols on iOS<\/span><br \/>\n                            <span class=\"flex-1 sm:flex-[2]\"><br \/>\n                                                                    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"inline-block size-5\" width=\"14\" height=\"2\" viewbox=\"0 0 14 2\" fill=\"currentColor\">\n    <path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M13.6666 0.333313V1.66665H0.333252V0.333313H13.6666Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n<\/svg>                                                            <\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"mx-auto mb-4 text-center md:mb-8\">\n<p>Study Extra<\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"mt-2 inline-block font-semibold leading-normal text-red-400 underline md:leading-loose\" data-module=\"Best_Product_Card\" data-element=\"Hide.me VPN\" data-item=\"Hide.me VPN\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/reviews\/hideme-vpn\" aria-label=\"{ $item-&gt;product_name }} Review\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conceal.me VPN Evaluate<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"safari:invisible chrome:invisible\">\n<div class=\"ziff-component relative m-auto my-12 border-b border-t border-black bg-white py-4 md:my-16 md:p-6 md:px-4\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Newsletter Sign-Up\" x-data=\"window.newsletters()\" x-init=\"initNewsletter({&quot;id&quot;:8,&quot;list_id&quot;:21807997,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Weekly Apple Brief&quot;,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;The latest news, reviews, and tips for Mac and iOS fans.&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;weekly-apple-brief&quot;,&quot;courier_list&quot;:&quot;PCMag Weekly Apple Brief&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;newsletters\/21807997.jpg&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;weekly apple&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;}},&quot;preview_link&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/secure.campaigner.com\/csb\/Public\/show\/g6xi-2w56mw--190kz4-ky07csq9&quot;,&quot;contextual_title&quot;:&quot;Love All Things Apple?&quot;,&quot;contextual_tagline&quot;:null,&quot;contextual_image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;newsletters\/21807997-contextual.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Weekly Apple Brief Newsletter Image&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag&quot;}},&quot;contextual_deck&quot;:&quot;Sign up for our Weekly Apple Brief for the latest news, reviews, tips, and more delivered right to your inbox.&quot;,&quot;contextual_body&quot;:[],&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2021-09-30T21:09:59.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-23T20:54:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-23T20:54:13.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:null,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-23T20:54:18.000000Z&quot;})\" x-show=\"showEmailSignUp()\" x-intersect.once=\"window.trackGAImpressionEvents(&quot;pcmag-on-site-newsletter-block&quot;, &quot;Weekly Apple Brief&quot;, $el)\">\n            <!-- Envelope image absolute top right for desktop --><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"opacity-20 absolute right-0 top-0 z-0 hidden md:block\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/images\/newsletter-envelope.svg\" alt=\"Newsletter Icon\" style=\"max-width:220px; max-height:140px; pointer-events:none;\"\/><br \/>\n            <!-- Envelope image absolute top right for mobile --><\/p>\n<div class=\"absolute right-0 top-0 h-[134px] w-[134px] overflow-hidden md:hidden\">\n                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"opacity-20 h-full w-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/images\/newsletter-envelope.svg\" alt=\"Newsletter Icon\"\/>\n            <\/div>\n<p>            <!-- Tagline --><\/p>\n<p>\n                <span class=\"roboto-flex font-stretch-condensed text-[16px] font-bold text-black\">Get Our Greatest Tales!<\/span>\n            <\/p>\n<div x-show=\"!isSuccess\">\n                <!-- Title text --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"relative z-10 mb-5 font-barlow-condensed text-3xl font-medium leading-[36px] text-red-400 md:text-4xl md:text-[36px] md:leading-compact\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Love_All_Issues_Apple\"><\/span>\n                                            Love All Issues Apple?<br \/>\n                                    <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>                <!-- Main content --><\/p>\n<div class=\"md:flex md:flex-row md:gap-6\">\n                    <!-- Top section with image and context - flex row on mobile --><\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-5 flex flex-row gap-3 md:mb-0 md:mb-4 md:block md:w-1\/3\">\n                        <!-- Title section with envelope background --><\/p>\n<div class=\"relative w-1\/3 md:w-auto\">\n<p>                            <!-- Image --><br \/>\n                                                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"h-auto w-full rounded-md object-cover md:rounded-l-md\" src=\"https:\/\/i.pcmag.com\/imagery\/newsletters\/21807997-contextual.fit_lpad.size_250x140.v1750712052.png\" alt=\"Weekly Apple Brief Newsletter Image\"\/>\n                                                    <\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- Contextual body\/deck on MOBILE - next to image --><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-2\/3 md:hidden\">\n<div class=\"font-barlow-semi-condensed text-sm font-normal leading-tight md:ml-1\">\n<p>Join our <strong>Weekly Apple Temporary<\/strong> for the most recent information, opinions, suggestions, and extra delivered proper to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- Form section --><\/p>\n<div class=\"md:mt-0 md:w-[532px]\" x-ref=\"emailForm\" x-on:form-onsuccess.window=\"isSuccess = $event.detail.value\" tracking-source=\"roundup-page\">\n                        <!-- Contextual body\/deck for DESKTOP ONLY --><\/p>\n<div class=\"hidden md:block\">\n<div class=\"mb-4 ml-1 font-barlow-semi-condensed text-sm font-normal leading-tight\">\n<p>Join our <strong>Weekly Apple Temporary<\/strong> for the most recent information, opinions, suggestions, and extra delivered proper to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"roboto-flex mt-2 text-xs font-normal leading-tight text-black md:whitespace-nowrap\">\n                            By clicking Signal Me Up, you verify you might be 16+ and conform to our <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/terms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Phrases of Use<\/a> and <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/privacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Privateness<br \/>\n                                Coverage<\/a>.\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"py-4 text-center\" x-show=\"isSuccess\" x-cloak=\"\">\n                <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"w-12 h-12 text-green-400 mx-auto\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"check-circle\" viewbox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M256 8C119.033 8 8 119.033 8 256s111.033 248 248 248 248-111.033 248-248S392.967 8 256 8zm0 48c110.532 0 200 89.451 200 200 0 110.532-89.451 200-200 200-110.532 0-200-89.451-200-200 0-110.532 89.451-200 200-200m140.204 130.267-22.536-22.718c-4.667-4.705-12.265-4.736-16.97-.068L215.346 303.697l-59.792-60.277c-4.667-4.705-12.265-4.736-16.97-.069l-22.719 22.536c-4.705 4.667-4.736 12.265-.068 16.971l90.781 91.516c4.667 4.705 12.265 4.736 16.97.068l172.589-171.204c4.704-4.668 4.734-12.266.067-16.971z\"\/><\/svg>                <\/p>\n<p class=\"text-green-500 mt-2 text-xl font-bold\">Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-2\">Your subscription has been confirmed. Control your inbox!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"my-16 flex flex-col gap-8 py-6\" data-parent-group=\"roundup-compare-chart\" aria-label=\"Roundup Compare Chart\" x-data=\"{&#10;                 options: [],&#10;                 specNames: [],&#10;                 specLength: 0,&#10;                 specLengthVisible: 0,&#10;                 selectionCount: 0,&#10;                 selections: {&#10;                     selection_1: '',&#10;                     selection_2: '',&#10;                     selection_3: '',&#10;                     selection_4: ''&#10;                 },&#10;                 scrollable: false,&#10;                 scrollEnd: false,&#10;                 gridHeightStyle: '',&#10;                 gridRowStyle: '',&#10;                 init() {&#10;                     $nextTick(() =&gt; {&#10;                         this.setSelections()&#10;                         window.onresize = (() =&gt; {&#10;                             this.setSelections()&#10;                             this.gridHeightStyle = this.calculateGridHeight()&#10;                         })&#10;                         if (this.scrollable) {&#10;                             $refs.specs.addEventListener('scroll', () =&gt; this.scrollEnd = $refs.specs.scrollTop + $refs.specs.clientHeight &gt;= $refs.specs.scrollHeight)&#10;                         }&#10;                     })&#10;             &#10;                     $watch('selections', () =&gt; { this.gridHeightStyle = this.calculateGridHeight() })&#10;             &#10;                     this.options = [{&quot;id&quot;:9135,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:360665,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN Review: A Secure, Affordable VPN That Sets the Industry Standard&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;I've Tested Dozens of VPNsu2014Here's Why Proton VPN Is the Only One I'm Giving a 5-Star Rating&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;proton-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;The best VPN gets even better&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;5.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN isn't the biggest, the flashiest, or even the cheapest VPN, and yet it's one of the best services available. It places an enormous emphasis on security and user privacy, and has an excellent client that's very easy to use. It also offers a suite of advanced privacy tools usually reserved for far more expensive products. For all that, and its amazing free version that has no limit on data usage, it's an Editors' Choice winner and one of the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot;&gt;best VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;. If you're dipping your toe into VPNs, it's a great way to start with no risk.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you activate your VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a server operated by the VPN company. Sending your traffic through the tunnel keeps it hidden from anyone on the same network as you, and from your ISP that is all too willing to sell your anonymized data. A VPN also hides your true IP address, making it harder for advertisers to track you across the web. If you select a distant server, you can even spoof your location to appear in a distant country.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are valuable tools for improving your privacy online, but they can't do everything. I still recommend that everyone use a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt;, activate &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/two-factor-authentication-who-has-it-and-how-to-set-it-up&quot;&gt;two-factor authentication&lt;\/a&gt; wherever it's available, and install an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-free-antivirus-protection&quot;&gt;antivirus app&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ProtonVPN Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Most VPN services offer the same set of features across all pricing tiers. For those services, the tiers are less about upgrades and more about longer-term subscriptions at a reduced rate. ProtonVPN goes in the opposite direction. There is a 20 percent discount for annual versus monthly subscriptions, but more generous features are unlocked or added as you move up the four price tiers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;On its pricing page, ProtonVPN includes speed classifications for its subscription tiers. These are just estimations based on the expected number of users. &lt;i&gt;ProtonVPN does not throttle your speeds&lt;\/i&gt;, regardless of the subscription you use. The Free subscription has &quot;Low&quot; speeds because ProtonVPN expects it will have many users crowded into a few servers, while the paid subscriptions have &quot;High&quot; speeds because they have access to more servers and fewer users per server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The first subscription tier of ProtonVPN is its free offering, which includes just three VPN server locations, and only allows one device to be connected at a time. You'll also have to create an account with ProtonVPN in order to access even its free tier. Despite those limitations, ProtonVPN is unique in that it does not limit the amount of data a free subscriber can use, as mentioned earlier. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear VPN's&lt;\/a&gt; free offering limits you to 500MB of secured traffic per month, Hotspot Shield limits your bandwidth to 500MB per day, and KeepSolid places no data restrictiosn on its limited free version. Other free VPNs pile on other restrictions. Because of all that, I recommend ProtonVPN over all the other free VPNs I've tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The second tier is ProtonVPN Basic, which costs $5 per month ($48 annually). This tier grants access to all the VPN locations ProtonVPN has to offer, but limits you to just two devices. P2P file sharing is allowed at this tier. Mullvad offers unfettered access to its service for a smidge more, at $5.54.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this review, I signed up for a $10 per month ($96 annually) Plus account, which is the third of four pricing tiers. This is dead-on for the average monthly price of a VPN, and still less than competitors with similar features, such as NordVPN. This tier lets me access all the VPN servers in ProtonVPN's network, and use up to five devices&amp;mdash;the average for the industry. This tier grants access to Plus servers. These are servers restricted to the highest two tiers of ProtonVPN, and intended to be less crowded and therefore higher performing. Plus subscribers also get access to the Tor annonymization network, a rare feature. You don't need to use a VPN to access Tor, but it's nice to have. There are also specially designated servers for streaming media at the Plus level.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-30.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Plus tier also includes access to Secure Core servers, which are a bit unusual and merit further explanation. These are servers owned by ProtonVPN and kept in secure facilities (in one example, an underground demilitarized NATO bunker). This way you can be assured that no one has tampered with the servers, to expose your information. When you connect via Core Servers, your VPN connection makes two hops. First, from your device to the Core Servers, and then onward to the VPN server you select.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN protects your data with its encrypted tunnel, that doesn't mean anything if an attacker has taken control of the VPN server. What the Core Server scheme does is guarantee that your information is secure from your computer to the Core Server, which is under lock and key. If the next VPN server you connect to &lt;i&gt;after&lt;\/i&gt; the Core Server has been compromised, whoever has taken control won't be able to glean anything about you because your traffic will appear to be coming from the Core Server and not your actual computer. This is similar to &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tor-browser&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2455&quot;&gt;Tor&lt;\/a&gt;, but Tor goes above and beyond with many more hops in between you and your destination.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unsurprisingly, this comes at a pretty hefty tradeoff in terms of speed and performance, but is a unique feature that should put even the most paranoid mind to rest. Other companies may offer similar multihop VPN connections and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; also boasts about the integrity of its NoSpy data center. ProtonVPN brings it all together.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If all that is insufficient, you can upgrade to a $30 per month ($288 annually) Visionary plan, the top of the four pricing tiers. This includes all of the features listed in the previous tier but raises the number of devices that can be simultaneously connected to 10. What you're really getting with a Visionary plan is access to the highest paid tier of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonmail.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ProtonMail&lt;\/a&gt;, the encrypted email service also operated by ProtonVPN. That means 20GB of ProtonMail storage, 50 email aliases, support for 10 email domains, and up to five users on a single email account.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN subscriptions can be purchased via major credit card or PayPal. You can make Bitcoin payments, but only when you upgrade from one plan to the other; you can't create a paid account using Bitcoin. TorGuard, to name just one, is a VPN service that gives you far more options for making anonymous payments. That said, ProtonVPN has announced &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ProtonMail\/comments\/871zl0\/this_is_why_proton_is_doing_proton_coin_telegram\/dwfdh84\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;its own cryptocurrency&lt;\/a&gt;, suggesting that anonymous payments could someday come to the forefront.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPN technology has been around a long time, and there are lots of different flavors of encrypted tunnels to choose from. I prefer VPN services that make use of the OpenVPN protocol, which is thoroughly vetted by virtue of being open source and has a reputation for being fast and reliable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN tells me that it uses OpenVPN UDP\/TCP in its Windows app and IKEv2, another good protocol, in all of its Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows apps. I'd like to see it deploy OpenVPN more widely, although that might matter less with the arrival of the super fast, experimental &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot;&gt;WireGuard protocol&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In terms of distribution, ProtonVPN covers a respectable 44 countries, a little below the 52 countries provided by VPNs on average. CyberGhost covers 90 countries, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; an impressive 94. More server locations is good because it means you're more likely to find a VPN server near to you, giving you better performance. It also means more options for spoofing your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN deserves credit for improving its geographic distribution. The company now offers server locations in Africa, an entire continent often ignored by VPN companies, as well as servers in locations in India. ProtonVPN has one location in South America, another oft-ignored locale. I'd like to see more options in all of these regions, but ProtonVPN does better than most.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN provides servers in Hong Kong and Russia, but not in other regions with government restricted access to the web, such as Turkey, Cuba, and others. Having servers in these regions does not necessarily allow users to circumvent censorship, but it may provide a modicum of security and privacy to the populace.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN has one of the smallest networks of servers, but it's also one that has grown steadily over the years. It now stands at 628, which is a far cry from the 5,000 or more available from CyberGhost and NordVPN. While numerous servers are cartainly nice, they don't necessarily mean better service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-31.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some readers have expressed concern about VPNs using virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that a single, physical server can play host to many virtual ones. These can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than their physical host. The concern is that people want to know exactly where they are connecting, and through which countries their information is passing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative for ProtonVPN tells me that the company only rents &quot;bare metal&quot; servers that are dedicated to ProtonVPN, meaning they are not shared with other renters. That's not to say that using virtual servers is bad. GoldenFrog VyprVPN, for example, uses virtual servers in locations it regards as secure in order to service locations where the company cannot guarantee the safety of its hardware.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With ProtonVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's important that every VPN company respect your privacy and protect your personal information. After all, the main reason to use a VPN is to limit access to your personal information. The company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/privacy-policy&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; clearly lays out this, and more, in just a few short paragraphs. It's not as short as TorGuard VPN's policy, nor interactive, like TunnelBear's, but it's clear and concise. I'll do my best to summarize here. In general, it seems that ProtonVPN is living up to its stated goals of protecting user privacy and security&amp;mdash;both through its policies and its hardware and technology practices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In conversations with me and in the company's documentation, ProtonVPN says it does not log user activity. In order to prevent brute-force password attacks, it only stores a timestamp of the last successful login, which is overwritten after the next login. That's excellent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative from ProtonVPN tells me that ProtonVPN only makes money through subscription sales, not by selling user information. ProtonVPN is owned by the parent company Proton Technologies AG, and is based in Switzerland and operates under Swiss law. As such, it only responds to requests for information from an approved Swiss court order, which also requires that the individual who is the target of the investigation be notified. That's in stark contrast to the practice of the US sending National Security letters to companies, requiring information and &lt;em&gt;preventing&lt;\/em&gt; them disclosing the request. Even if ProtonVPN were required to respond to a request, it would only supply login timestamps. The company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/blog\/transparency-report\/&quot;&gt;transparency report&lt;\/a&gt; indicates it has not responded to any requests for information. This is all excellent from a privacy and security standpoint.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN recently &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/blog\/open-source\/&quot;&gt;open-sourced its apps&lt;\/a&gt;, and notes that its service passed muster &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/futurereleases\/2018\/10\/22\/testing-new-ways-to-keep-you-safe-online\/&quot;&gt;with Mozilla&lt;\/a&gt;. That's good, but it hasn't undergone a no-logs or infrastructure security audit. TunnelBear, for examples, has committed to annual audits of its service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In terms of physical security, ProtonVPN says it limits access to its hardware and encrypts its servers so the loss of one would not affect the rest of the fleet. Other VPNs have gone further, having their servers run only in RAM. The company also says that it will inform the public about any data breaches, &quot;as soon as it can be guaranteed that disclosing the information will not put users at risk.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Security is really an issue of trust. Even if a company does everything right, it doesn't matter much if you, the customer, don't trust them. I recommend that consumers consider this information, and choose a service based on which company they feel they can trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With ProtonVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN offers clients for &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-android&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10990&quot;&gt;Android&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;&gt;iOS&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-macos&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;12019&quot;&gt;macOS&lt;\/a&gt;, and Windows. The company provides detailed instructions on how to configure a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-linux&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;1680&quot;&gt;Linux&lt;\/a&gt; machine to use the service. I had no trouble getting ProtonVPN's Windows app installed on a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7beh-bean-canyon&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10220&quot;&gt;Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon)&lt;\/a&gt; desktop running the latest version of Windows 10.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Because ProtonVPN puts such a heavy emphasis on user privacy and technological excellence, I expected ProtonVPN would lack basic features and be a generally unusable mess. I was pleasantly surprised that ProtonVPN is a slick and well-designed app that's easy to use and doesn't skimp on features. Moreover, it's continued to be a pleasure to use over the years.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-32.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you start up ProtonVPN, it appears as a skinny window similar to a mobile app. There's a very obvious button that quickly gets you online, which I appreciate. The app also shows your connection status, a selection of servers so you can quickly change VPN location, and a toggle switch for the Secure Core servers. Clicking the small grey arrow in the upper right expands the window to reveal ProtonVPN's servers spread out on a map along with a real-time assessment of network traffic.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can search or browse the available servers, and I particularly like that you can drill down to the specific servers within a location. The app also displays how much load a particular server is experiencing, whether they are Plus servers (that is, servers reserved for Plus users), and which are specialized servers for Tor, streaming, file sharing, and so forth.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to the specialized servers, ProtonVPN includes Profiles for specific activities. Two Profiles are included by default, one for connecting to the fastest server and another for connecting to a random server. You can also create your own Profiles to meet your unique needs by specifying a country and a specific server within that country with which you wish to connect. You can name your profile, mark it with a color, and require that it use the Secure Core servers, too. I recently realized that unlike most VPNs, ProtonVPN doesn't let you mark a server as a favorite&amp;mdash;that's what Profiles are for. This is a pretty advanced feature, but you can easily ignore it if you're not interested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-33.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN does include a Kill Switch that halts web traffic on your machine should the VPN link become disconnected. That prevents your traffic from being exposed, even if only briefly. The app also includes an easy tool for split-tunneling&amp;mdash;that is, routing the traffic from specific apps or IP addresses either into or outside of the VPN tunnel.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-34.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ideally, a VPN will not leak information about your ISP, your true IP address, or your DNS requests. In my testing with the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test tool&lt;\/a&gt;, the server I used protected my information. Note that I only tested one server. Other servers may not be configured correctly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ProtonVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's really difficult to &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;watch Netflix with a VPN&lt;\/a&gt; because Netflix wants to enforce its distribution deals.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that Netflix was not not-blocked but failed to load while connected to a US server. After manually selecting a Premium server, as ProtonVPN advises you do when watching Netflix, I found I was out and out blocked. This could be an issue. That said, the conflict between VPNs and streaming sites is ongoing, and what works today may be blocked tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies try to sweeten the pot by adding additional features beyond VPN protection. TorGuard, for example, offers access to a 10GB network and static IP addresses. Other VPNs claim to block malware at the network level, although we don't recommend using these instead of stand-alone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-antivirus-protection&quot;&gt;antivirus software&lt;\/a&gt;. Ad blocking is another popular feature, appearing in NordVPN, Private Internet Access, Cyberghost, TorGuard, and PureVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN does not offer static IP addresses for purchase, which is a bit of a disappointment. A static IP address is a &quot;clean&quot; address that is unlikely to be blocked. A company representative has told me that ProtonVPN may offer static IP addresses in the future. ProtonVPN also does not include ad, tracker, or malware blocking. While I like to see these features, they can only complement and not replace standalone solutions, so their loss is no great issue. The highest ProtonVPN tier does provide access to the highest paid tier of the encrypted email service ProtonMail, although this service can be used for free or purchased separately at a lower price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN to secure your web traffic, your data won't be taking the optimal route to and from the internet. Jumping through the extra hoops of a VPN server and the extra data cables involved tends to increase latency while reducing upload and download speeds. To get an impression of that impact, I perform a series of tests using the &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-fast-is-your-internet-connectionreally&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26682&quot;&gt;Ookla speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) Read my feature on &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; for a complete breakdown of our methodologies, as well as the limitations of our testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that ProtonVPN increased latency by 58.8 percent, reduced upload speed test results by 65.5 percent, and reduced download speed test results by 49.8 percent. These are excellent results, and a staggering improvement over last year's figures. The only reason it's not included in our fastest VPN chart is because its upload results were just outside the median for that category, which was our cutoff for inclusion.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ProtonVPN compares in the chart below with the top performers among the nearly 40 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-35.v_1584972175.png', 'Fastest VPN 2020 Better', 'Fastest VPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 676'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.png' width='1280' height='676'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/anchorfree-hotspot-shield-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3961&quot;&gt;Hotspot Shield VPN&lt;\/a&gt; had the best download and latency scores, making it a shoe-in for the title of fastest VPN. However, it's extremely notable that &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/surfshark-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3990&quot;&gt;Surfshark&lt;\/a&gt; has a significantly lower impact on upload speeds than any VPN I've yet tested. Keep in mind that while my testing is useful for comparison, it may differ greatly for you. Also, I believe that security, privacy, and overall value are far more important differentiators than speed, which should not be the primary consideration when choosing a VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Does ProtonVPN Get Faster if You Pay More?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN is unique in that it makes more servers available at higher pricing tiers. It also has a limited free option, and Core Servers, all of which have an impact on speed. Because I am nothing if not thorough, I re-ran my tests to compare the various means of connecting via ProtonVPN. My results are shown in the charts below. For the Free, Premium, and Secure Core tiers I let the app choose the server. I manually selected a Basic server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-36.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The chart above demonstrates a pattern that repeated througout my testing. The Basic and Premium tiers were closely tied, as were the Free tier and Secure Core servers. My testing showed that that the Free tier had a 98.2 percent reduction in download speed test scores, the Basic tier a 61.5 percent reduction, and the Premium tier a 54.9 perent reduction in speed test scores. Using Secure Core reduced download speed test results by 96 percent, slightly better than the Free tier.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-37.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The upload speed test results saw a similar breakdown. The Free tier reduced upload speed test scores by 83.5 percent, the Basic tier by 60.8 percent, and the Premium tier reduced upload speed test scores by 72.7 percent. Enabling Secure Core reduced upload speed test results by 80.8 percent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-38.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The pattern seen throughout testing was most pronounced in latency testing, to the point where the chart above is of questionable utility. My testing showed that the Free tier increased latency results by 8,546.1 percent, likely a result of fewer servers being available. Free and Basic were closely tied, increasing latency results by 61.9 and 60.9 percent, respectively. Unsurprisingly, Secure Core servers had the most dramatic results, increasing latency results by 9,839.1 percent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of conclusions that I can draw from this. First and foremost, it demonstrates that the eccentricities of the VPN server you use have an enormous impact on performance. Second, the difference between the Basic and Premium servers is very small. This was echoed in the same tests I ran last year.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Conventional wisdom would dictate that a limited number of servers and a large user base would result in worse performance. While these results do prove that out, it's not nearly as dramatic as you might expect.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Lastly, while the Core Servers will increase your latency like nobody's business, the impact on performance is not necessarily catastrophic. In fact, it's about the same as using the Free service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Smart and Flexible&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;At first blush, ProtonVPN's restrictively tiered pricing plans might seem a bit off-putting, but those tiers provide flexibility most competitors can't match. The company also offers a rare, truly free experience that doesn't limit your bandwidth or push ads. ProtonVPN has staked its reputation as a privacy-focused company, which is a refreshing change after seeing so many other VPNs emphasize speed and video streaming. It also has a remarkably good-looking client, which is not something every VPN can claim. All that, coupled with the company's focus on technological excellence, is a powerful combination.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Since we first reviewed ProtonVPN, the service has doubled in size and reach and improved its speed test results as well. The company has shown that it can scale up its product without sacrificing security. It's got a bright future, but is also a great choice right now. It's an Editors' Choice winner along with Surfshark and TunnelBear.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:115,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:77,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:9699,&quot;height&quot;:5456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d51482e4cb686dcdc618d4b34761dc19&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1653509931,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:87,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-87.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3984,&quot;height&quot;:2240,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;01358993c3ccffea2c9a7ffd98bbb299&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658934209,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton VPN&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-41468&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:41,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-3.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;131e53e3bb6288683399ab2d3361c7c8&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620542&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:52:13.657&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-4.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;81855e586985d898d203be429f83e97e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2019 Profiles&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620541&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:51:23.263&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-5.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;aef4e855d4db1c36bd55a6158a940898&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2019 Settings&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620539&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:48:51.783&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:44,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-8.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1120,&quot;height&quot;:676,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;448c1821f03578bafddaf6a97657004e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Latency 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619128&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:25:07.877&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:45,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-9.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1169,&quot;height&quot;:702,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c43d9958c5bfde05150e7dc7ccf0e533&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Upload 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619129&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:25:54.037&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:46,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-10.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1146,&quot;height&quot;:685,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8dc281d75d0213f8fba71ce689d0da20&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Download 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619130&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:26:36.453&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:47,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b7ad15ca8cf562a13030aa38785dd987&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678472&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.677&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:48,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;02bd4adda122b34e834319375dc3ade4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678470&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.100&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;72e4fda8eba49fdf99ace6f66cfc60e6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678473&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.977&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:50,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;cec20b0b436cf66db198d73235ae9820&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678471&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.423&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:51,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d90f9f43fa9c97437b0503febca42554&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678469&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:22.823&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5fd6bf3fb0a67964da16547ecb106549&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678467&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 13:37:26.740&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;575f446cf202d16c56c0e23c4326e0df&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678466&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 13:37:26.577&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:89,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-89.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8e1d6e6c5c398212b6b5437e75b84e20&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Proton VPN app on Windows consists of a left rail with buttons and available servers and a large map on the right.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:90,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-90.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c98d4b55f07ec20347cfcf777224bd64&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Secure Core controls, showing two buttons; one for enabling and one for disabling the feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:91,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-91.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5189d7800331f81cd8446e232c0274cb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Proton VPN when connected to a secure core server shows the full path of your data on the map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:92,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-92.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;092b73d0feaaa594ffde7eac63104745&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Settings menu; the top option allows you to choose a VPN protocol.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:93,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-93.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;696d4645b61a067284f7b83ba22c63e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the server locations area of the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:95,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-95.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0cf6802bfa3bd4a3cffc1263f93802ae&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Port Forwarding controls in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:96,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-96.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8d8aff1f1a5fcd7a1d93cdb1b596ab8b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Profile settings in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:97,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-97.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dac557be7973c52883360feaa5e55b6d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The left rail of the Proton VPN on its own without the map in the center of a Windows 11 desktop&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:100,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-100.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0a1eb43d20482108fd022dc4a4bee0d7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1683233742,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the NetShield controls in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:101,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-101.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5f8d45c483fa246d6ba9feb62e853374&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1684525516,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN iPhone app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:102,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-102.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e4ba69e7048726492a7d0a1f272ade8f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1687528681,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's MacOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:104,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-104.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1666,&quot;height&quot;:886,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dfa2b49050ed90397928b6910cee451e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729007620,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;proton vpn mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:105,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-105.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1022,&quot;height&quot;:472,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2674a6312553e708b5b0aa77e42bc1e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729014843,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;proton vpn checkout renewal&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:106,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-106.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;31894048cc84be5a840085c41d70424e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's pricing page plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:107,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-107.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a15bd293d3643f18162985e645ae9256&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton Windows settings dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:108,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-108.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;76642d2a528bc453f082eeb55826e563&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A SecureCore connection showing a connection to the United States via Sweden&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:109,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-109.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;019f763b571732f5bf1cd8b14c0cd085&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A set of three Proton server lists&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:110,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-110.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;00bd162a815a1cc30e087d0104581568&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Windows dashboard for Proton showing an active connection&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:111,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-111.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0c4da4538e53e97f289f01b304ca6ac4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton's macOS dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:112,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-112.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2ed37a9e19a416d7a979fc4845a5869a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three menus from Proton's iOS application&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:113,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-113.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;526cef4ab028ba0f7e3fd97421523f5e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three sections of Proton's Android application&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:114,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-114.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a793014f65269bfd990c39d8d3872a88&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton's support library search tool&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Best free plan we've seenrnIndustry-leading privacy standardsrnGlobal server networkrnSlick, accessible clientrnNumerous additional privacy toolsrnAmple customer support options&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;High latency scores in testing&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN provides unmatched privacy, value, and featuresu2014with the industry's best free plan and an exceptional premium experienceu2014making it the top VPN service we recommend.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Overall&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:[&quot;{&quot;pcmaglabs2025&quot;: false}&quot;],&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-19T15:34:47.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-11-14T16:33:32.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12T16:17:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2018-04-25T19:07:56.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12T16:17:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:9877,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:56860,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56861,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56862,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:06.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56865,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:16,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:75035,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN (Windows)&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.99&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:42.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:56866,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56862,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:06.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56861,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:145614,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;117 countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56868,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56860,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56852,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56853,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version  Server Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;US, Netherlands, Japan&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56854,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56855,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Can Manually Select Server In Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56856,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Are All Features Available In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:10,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56857,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Connection Speeds Limited&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:11,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56858,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;No Ads In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Yes&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:12,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56859,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Public Third-Party Audit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:13,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56863,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:14,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56864,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:15,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56865,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:16,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9877,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;03r4zJ9dwEgqMYYdGXbWuoJ&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:33,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Overall&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-04-27T15:50:33.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T20:38:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9135,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:360665,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN Review: A Secure, Affordable VPN That Sets the Industry Standard&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;I've Tested Dozens of VPNsu2014Here's Why Proton VPN Is the Only One I'm Giving a 5-Star Rating&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;proton-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;The best VPN gets even better&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;5.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN isn't the biggest, the flashiest, or even the cheapest VPN, and yet it's one of the best services available. It places an enormous emphasis on security and user privacy, and has an excellent client that's very easy to use. It also offers a suite of advanced privacy tools usually reserved for far more expensive products. For all that, and its amazing free version that has no limit on data usage, it's an Editors' Choice winner and one of the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot;&gt;best VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;. If you're dipping your toe into VPNs, it's a great way to start with no risk.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you activate your VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a server operated by the VPN company. Sending your traffic through the tunnel keeps it hidden from anyone on the same network as you, and from your ISP that is all too willing to sell your anonymized data. A VPN also hides your true IP address, making it harder for advertisers to track you across the web. If you select a distant server, you can even spoof your location to appear in a distant country.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are valuable tools for improving your privacy online, but they can't do everything. I still recommend that everyone use a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt;, activate &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/two-factor-authentication-who-has-it-and-how-to-set-it-up&quot;&gt;two-factor authentication&lt;\/a&gt; wherever it's available, and install an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-free-antivirus-protection&quot;&gt;antivirus app&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ProtonVPN Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Most VPN services offer the same set of features across all pricing tiers. For those services, the tiers are less about upgrades and more about longer-term subscriptions at a reduced rate. ProtonVPN goes in the opposite direction. There is a 20 percent discount for annual versus monthly subscriptions, but more generous features are unlocked or added as you move up the four price tiers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;On its pricing page, ProtonVPN includes speed classifications for its subscription tiers. These are just estimations based on the expected number of users. &lt;i&gt;ProtonVPN does not throttle your speeds&lt;\/i&gt;, regardless of the subscription you use. The Free subscription has &quot;Low&quot; speeds because ProtonVPN expects it will have many users crowded into a few servers, while the paid subscriptions have &quot;High&quot; speeds because they have access to more servers and fewer users per server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The first subscription tier of ProtonVPN is its free offering, which includes just three VPN server locations, and only allows one device to be connected at a time. You'll also have to create an account with ProtonVPN in order to access even its free tier. Despite those limitations, ProtonVPN is unique in that it does not limit the amount of data a free subscriber can use, as mentioned earlier. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear VPN's&lt;\/a&gt; free offering limits you to 500MB of secured traffic per month, Hotspot Shield limits your bandwidth to 500MB per day, and KeepSolid places no data restrictiosn on its limited free version. Other free VPNs pile on other restrictions. Because of all that, I recommend ProtonVPN over all the other free VPNs I've tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The second tier is ProtonVPN Basic, which costs $5 per month ($48 annually). This tier grants access to all the VPN locations ProtonVPN has to offer, but limits you to just two devices. P2P file sharing is allowed at this tier. Mullvad offers unfettered access to its service for a smidge more, at $5.54.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this review, I signed up for a $10 per month ($96 annually) Plus account, which is the third of four pricing tiers. This is dead-on for the average monthly price of a VPN, and still less than competitors with similar features, such as NordVPN. This tier lets me access all the VPN servers in ProtonVPN's network, and use up to five devices&amp;mdash;the average for the industry. This tier grants access to Plus servers. These are servers restricted to the highest two tiers of ProtonVPN, and intended to be less crowded and therefore higher performing. Plus subscribers also get access to the Tor annonymization network, a rare feature. You don't need to use a VPN to access Tor, but it's nice to have. There are also specially designated servers for streaming media at the Plus level.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-30.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Plus tier also includes access to Secure Core servers, which are a bit unusual and merit further explanation. These are servers owned by ProtonVPN and kept in secure facilities (in one example, an underground demilitarized NATO bunker). This way you can be assured that no one has tampered with the servers, to expose your information. When you connect via Core Servers, your VPN connection makes two hops. First, from your device to the Core Servers, and then onward to the VPN server you select.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN protects your data with its encrypted tunnel, that doesn't mean anything if an attacker has taken control of the VPN server. What the Core Server scheme does is guarantee that your information is secure from your computer to the Core Server, which is under lock and key. If the next VPN server you connect to &lt;i&gt;after&lt;\/i&gt; the Core Server has been compromised, whoever has taken control won't be able to glean anything about you because your traffic will appear to be coming from the Core Server and not your actual computer. This is similar to &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tor-browser&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2455&quot;&gt;Tor&lt;\/a&gt;, but Tor goes above and beyond with many more hops in between you and your destination.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unsurprisingly, this comes at a pretty hefty tradeoff in terms of speed and performance, but is a unique feature that should put even the most paranoid mind to rest. Other companies may offer similar multihop VPN connections and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; also boasts about the integrity of its NoSpy data center. ProtonVPN brings it all together.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If all that is insufficient, you can upgrade to a $30 per month ($288 annually) Visionary plan, the top of the four pricing tiers. This includes all of the features listed in the previous tier but raises the number of devices that can be simultaneously connected to 10. What you're really getting with a Visionary plan is access to the highest paid tier of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonmail.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ProtonMail&lt;\/a&gt;, the encrypted email service also operated by ProtonVPN. That means 20GB of ProtonMail storage, 50 email aliases, support for 10 email domains, and up to five users on a single email account.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN subscriptions can be purchased via major credit card or PayPal. You can make Bitcoin payments, but only when you upgrade from one plan to the other; you can't create a paid account using Bitcoin. TorGuard, to name just one, is a VPN service that gives you far more options for making anonymous payments. That said, ProtonVPN has announced &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ProtonMail\/comments\/871zl0\/this_is_why_proton_is_doing_proton_coin_telegram\/dwfdh84\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;its own cryptocurrency&lt;\/a&gt;, suggesting that anonymous payments could someday come to the forefront.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPN technology has been around a long time, and there are lots of different flavors of encrypted tunnels to choose from. I prefer VPN services that make use of the OpenVPN protocol, which is thoroughly vetted by virtue of being open source and has a reputation for being fast and reliable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN tells me that it uses OpenVPN UDP\/TCP in its Windows app and IKEv2, another good protocol, in all of its Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows apps. I'd like to see it deploy OpenVPN more widely, although that might matter less with the arrival of the super fast, experimental &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot;&gt;WireGuard protocol&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In terms of distribution, ProtonVPN covers a respectable 44 countries, a little below the 52 countries provided by VPNs on average. CyberGhost covers 90 countries, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; an impressive 94. More server locations is good because it means you're more likely to find a VPN server near to you, giving you better performance. It also means more options for spoofing your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN deserves credit for improving its geographic distribution. The company now offers server locations in Africa, an entire continent often ignored by VPN companies, as well as servers in locations in India. ProtonVPN has one location in South America, another oft-ignored locale. I'd like to see more options in all of these regions, but ProtonVPN does better than most.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN provides servers in Hong Kong and Russia, but not in other regions with government restricted access to the web, such as Turkey, Cuba, and others. Having servers in these regions does not necessarily allow users to circumvent censorship, but it may provide a modicum of security and privacy to the populace.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN has one of the smallest networks of servers, but it's also one that has grown steadily over the years. It now stands at 628, which is a far cry from the 5,000 or more available from CyberGhost and NordVPN. While numerous servers are cartainly nice, they don't necessarily mean better service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-31.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some readers have expressed concern about VPNs using virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that a single, physical server can play host to many virtual ones. These can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than their physical host. The concern is that people want to know exactly where they are connecting, and through which countries their information is passing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative for ProtonVPN tells me that the company only rents &quot;bare metal&quot; servers that are dedicated to ProtonVPN, meaning they are not shared with other renters. That's not to say that using virtual servers is bad. GoldenFrog VyprVPN, for example, uses virtual servers in locations it regards as secure in order to service locations where the company cannot guarantee the safety of its hardware.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With ProtonVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's important that every VPN company respect your privacy and protect your personal information. After all, the main reason to use a VPN is to limit access to your personal information. The company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/privacy-policy&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; clearly lays out this, and more, in just a few short paragraphs. It's not as short as TorGuard VPN's policy, nor interactive, like TunnelBear's, but it's clear and concise. I'll do my best to summarize here. In general, it seems that ProtonVPN is living up to its stated goals of protecting user privacy and security&amp;mdash;both through its policies and its hardware and technology practices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In conversations with me and in the company's documentation, ProtonVPN says it does not log user activity. In order to prevent brute-force password attacks, it only stores a timestamp of the last successful login, which is overwritten after the next login. That's excellent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative from ProtonVPN tells me that ProtonVPN only makes money through subscription sales, not by selling user information. ProtonVPN is owned by the parent company Proton Technologies AG, and is based in Switzerland and operates under Swiss law. As such, it only responds to requests for information from an approved Swiss court order, which also requires that the individual who is the target of the investigation be notified. That's in stark contrast to the practice of the US sending National Security letters to companies, requiring information and &lt;em&gt;preventing&lt;\/em&gt; them disclosing the request. Even if ProtonVPN were required to respond to a request, it would only supply login timestamps. The company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/blog\/transparency-report\/&quot;&gt;transparency report&lt;\/a&gt; indicates it has not responded to any requests for information. This is all excellent from a privacy and security standpoint.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN recently &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/protonvpn.com\/blog\/open-source\/&quot;&gt;open-sourced its apps&lt;\/a&gt;, and notes that its service passed muster &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/futurereleases\/2018\/10\/22\/testing-new-ways-to-keep-you-safe-online\/&quot;&gt;with Mozilla&lt;\/a&gt;. That's good, but it hasn't undergone a no-logs or infrastructure security audit. TunnelBear, for examples, has committed to annual audits of its service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In terms of physical security, ProtonVPN says it limits access to its hardware and encrypts its servers so the loss of one would not affect the rest of the fleet. Other VPNs have gone further, having their servers run only in RAM. The company also says that it will inform the public about any data breaches, &quot;as soon as it can be guaranteed that disclosing the information will not put users at risk.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Security is really an issue of trust. Even if a company does everything right, it doesn't matter much if you, the customer, don't trust them. I recommend that consumers consider this information, and choose a service based on which company they feel they can trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With ProtonVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN offers clients for &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-android&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10990&quot;&gt;Android&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;&gt;iOS&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-macos&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;12019&quot;&gt;macOS&lt;\/a&gt;, and Windows. The company provides detailed instructions on how to configure a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn-for-linux&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;1680&quot;&gt;Linux&lt;\/a&gt; machine to use the service. I had no trouble getting ProtonVPN's Windows app installed on a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7beh-bean-canyon&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10220&quot;&gt;Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon)&lt;\/a&gt; desktop running the latest version of Windows 10.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Because ProtonVPN puts such a heavy emphasis on user privacy and technological excellence, I expected ProtonVPN would lack basic features and be a generally unusable mess. I was pleasantly surprised that ProtonVPN is a slick and well-designed app that's easy to use and doesn't skimp on features. Moreover, it's continued to be a pleasure to use over the years.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-32.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you start up ProtonVPN, it appears as a skinny window similar to a mobile app. There's a very obvious button that quickly gets you online, which I appreciate. The app also shows your connection status, a selection of servers so you can quickly change VPN location, and a toggle switch for the Secure Core servers. Clicking the small grey arrow in the upper right expands the window to reveal ProtonVPN's servers spread out on a map along with a real-time assessment of network traffic.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can search or browse the available servers, and I particularly like that you can drill down to the specific servers within a location. The app also displays how much load a particular server is experiencing, whether they are Plus servers (that is, servers reserved for Plus users), and which are specialized servers for Tor, streaming, file sharing, and so forth.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to the specialized servers, ProtonVPN includes Profiles for specific activities. Two Profiles are included by default, one for connecting to the fastest server and another for connecting to a random server. You can also create your own Profiles to meet your unique needs by specifying a country and a specific server within that country with which you wish to connect. You can name your profile, mark it with a color, and require that it use the Secure Core servers, too. I recently realized that unlike most VPNs, ProtonVPN doesn't let you mark a server as a favorite&amp;mdash;that's what Profiles are for. This is a pretty advanced feature, but you can easily ignore it if you're not interested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-33.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN does include a Kill Switch that halts web traffic on your machine should the VPN link become disconnected. That prevents your traffic from being exposed, even if only briefly. The app also includes an easy tool for split-tunneling&amp;mdash;that is, routing the traffic from specific apps or IP addresses either into or outside of the VPN tunnel.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-34.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN 2020', 'ProtonVPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ideally, a VPN will not leak information about your ISP, your true IP address, or your DNS requests. In my testing with the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test tool&lt;\/a&gt;, the server I used protected my information. Note that I only tested one server. Other servers may not be configured correctly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ProtonVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's really difficult to &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;watch Netflix with a VPN&lt;\/a&gt; because Netflix wants to enforce its distribution deals.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that Netflix was not not-blocked but failed to load while connected to a US server. After manually selecting a Premium server, as ProtonVPN advises you do when watching Netflix, I found I was out and out blocked. This could be an issue. That said, the conflict between VPNs and streaming sites is ongoing, and what works today may be blocked tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies try to sweeten the pot by adding additional features beyond VPN protection. TorGuard, for example, offers access to a 10GB network and static IP addresses. Other VPNs claim to block malware at the network level, although we don't recommend using these instead of stand-alone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-antivirus-protection&quot;&gt;antivirus software&lt;\/a&gt;. Ad blocking is another popular feature, appearing in NordVPN, Private Internet Access, Cyberghost, TorGuard, and PureVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN does not offer static IP addresses for purchase, which is a bit of a disappointment. A static IP address is a &quot;clean&quot; address that is unlikely to be blocked. A company representative has told me that ProtonVPN may offer static IP addresses in the future. ProtonVPN also does not include ad, tracker, or malware blocking. While I like to see these features, they can only complement and not replace standalone solutions, so their loss is no great issue. The highest ProtonVPN tier does provide access to the highest paid tier of the encrypted email service ProtonMail, although this service can be used for free or purchased separately at a lower price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN to secure your web traffic, your data won't be taking the optimal route to and from the internet. Jumping through the extra hoops of a VPN server and the extra data cables involved tends to increase latency while reducing upload and download speeds. To get an impression of that impact, I perform a series of tests using the &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-fast-is-your-internet-connectionreally&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26682&quot;&gt;Ookla speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) Read my feature on &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; for a complete breakdown of our methodologies, as well as the limitations of our testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that ProtonVPN increased latency by 58.8 percent, reduced upload speed test results by 65.5 percent, and reduced download speed test results by 49.8 percent. These are excellent results, and a staggering improvement over last year's figures. The only reason it's not included in our fastest VPN chart is because its upload results were just outside the median for that category, which was our cutoff for inclusion.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ProtonVPN compares in the chart below with the top performers among the nearly 40 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-35.v_1584972175.png', 'Fastest VPN 2020 Better', 'Fastest VPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 676'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.png' width='1280' height='676'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1584972175.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-26.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, I found that &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/anchorfree-hotspot-shield-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3961&quot;&gt;Hotspot Shield VPN&lt;\/a&gt; had the best download and latency scores, making it a shoe-in for the title of fastest VPN. However, it's extremely notable that &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/surfshark-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3990&quot;&gt;Surfshark&lt;\/a&gt; has a significantly lower impact on upload speeds than any VPN I've yet tested. Keep in mind that while my testing is useful for comparison, it may differ greatly for you. Also, I believe that security, privacy, and overall value are far more important differentiators than speed, which should not be the primary consideration when choosing a VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Does ProtonVPN Get Faster if You Pay More?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ProtonVPN is unique in that it makes more servers available at higher pricing tiers. It also has a limited free option, and Core Servers, all of which have an impact on speed. Because I am nothing if not thorough, I re-ran my tests to compare the various means of connecting via ProtonVPN. My results are shown in the charts below. For the Free, Premium, and Secure Core tiers I let the app choose the server. I manually selected a Basic server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-36.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-27.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The chart above demonstrates a pattern that repeated througout my testing. The Basic and Premium tiers were closely tied, as were the Free tier and Secure Core servers. My testing showed that that the Free tier had a 98.2 percent reduction in download speed test scores, the Basic tier a 61.5 percent reduction, and the Premium tier a 54.9 perent reduction in speed test scores. Using Secure Core reduced download speed test results by 96 percent, slightly better than the Free tier.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-37.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The upload speed test results saw a similar breakdown. The Free tier reduced upload speed test scores by 83.5 percent, the Basic tier by 60.8 percent, and the Premium tier reduced upload speed test scores by 72.7 percent. Enabling Secure Core reduced upload speed test results by 80.8 percent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-38.v_1584972175.png', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests', 'ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png&quot;}' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1584972175.png' data-image-path='reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The pattern seen throughout testing was most pronounced in latency testing, to the point where the chart above is of questionable utility. My testing showed that the Free tier increased latency results by 8,546.1 percent, likely a result of fewer servers being available. Free and Basic were closely tied, increasing latency results by 61.9 and 60.9 percent, respectively. Unsurprisingly, Secure Core servers had the most dramatic results, increasing latency results by 9,839.1 percent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are a couple of conclusions that I can draw from this. First and foremost, it demonstrates that the eccentricities of the VPN server you use have an enormous impact on performance. Second, the difference between the Basic and Premium servers is very small. This was echoed in the same tests I ran last year.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Conventional wisdom would dictate that a limited number of servers and a large user base would result in worse performance. While these results do prove that out, it's not nearly as dramatic as you might expect.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Lastly, while the Core Servers will increase your latency like nobody's business, the impact on performance is not necessarily catastrophic. In fact, it's about the same as using the Free service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Smart and Flexible&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;At first blush, ProtonVPN's restrictively tiered pricing plans might seem a bit off-putting, but those tiers provide flexibility most competitors can't match. The company also offers a rare, truly free experience that doesn't limit your bandwidth or push ads. ProtonVPN has staked its reputation as a privacy-focused company, which is a refreshing change after seeing so many other VPNs emphasize speed and video streaming. It also has a remarkably good-looking client, which is not something every VPN can claim. All that, coupled with the company's focus on technological excellence, is a powerful combination.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Since we first reviewed ProtonVPN, the service has doubled in size and reach and improved its speed test results as well. The company has shown that it can scale up its product without sacrificing security. It's got a bright future, but is also a great choice right now. It's an Editors' Choice winner along with Surfshark and TunnelBear.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:115,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:77,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-77.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:9699,&quot;height&quot;:5456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d51482e4cb686dcdc618d4b34761dc19&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1653509931,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:87,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-87.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3984,&quot;height&quot;:2240,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;01358993c3ccffea2c9a7ffd98bbb299&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658934209,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton VPN&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-41468&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:41,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-3.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;131e53e3bb6288683399ab2d3361c7c8&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620542&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:52:13.657&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-4.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;81855e586985d898d203be429f83e97e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2019 Profiles&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620541&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:51:23.263&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-5.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:810,&quot;height&quot;:456,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;aef4e855d4db1c36bd55a6158a940898&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2019 Settings&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;620539&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-14 15:48:51.783&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:44,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-8.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1120,&quot;height&quot;:676,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;448c1821f03578bafddaf6a97657004e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Latency 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619128&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:25:07.877&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:45,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-9.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1169,&quot;height&quot;:702,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c43d9958c5bfde05150e7dc7ccf0e533&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Upload 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619129&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:25:54.037&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:46,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-10.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1146,&quot;height&quot;:685,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8dc281d75d0213f8fba71ce689d0da20&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1569469974,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Download 2019&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;619130&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2019-02-05 13:26:36.453&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:47,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-21.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b7ad15ca8cf562a13030aa38785dd987&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678472&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.677&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:48,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-22.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;02bd4adda122b34e834319375dc3ade4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678470&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.100&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-23.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;72e4fda8eba49fdf99ace6f66cfc60e6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678473&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.977&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:50,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-24.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;cec20b0b436cf66db198d73235ae9820&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678471&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:23.423&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:51,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-25.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d90f9f43fa9c97437b0503febca42554&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678469&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 15:46:22.823&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5fd6bf3fb0a67964da16547ecb106549&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678467&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 13:37:26.740&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;575f446cf202d16c56c0e23c4326e0df&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1584972175,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:false,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ProtonVPN Speed Tests 2020&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;678466&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:false,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;small&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:null,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-03-04 13:37:26.577&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:89,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-89.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8e1d6e6c5c398212b6b5437e75b84e20&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Proton VPN app on Windows consists of a left rail with buttons and available servers and a large map on the right.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:90,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-90.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c98d4b55f07ec20347cfcf777224bd64&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Secure Core controls, showing two buttons; one for enabling and one for disabling the feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:91,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-91.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5189d7800331f81cd8446e232c0274cb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Proton VPN when connected to a secure core server shows the full path of your data on the map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:92,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-92.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;092b73d0feaaa594ffde7eac63104745&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Settings menu; the top option allows you to choose a VPN protocol.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:93,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-93.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;696d4645b61a067284f7b83ba22c63e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671149,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the server locations area of the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:95,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-95.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0cf6802bfa3bd4a3cffc1263f93802ae&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Port Forwarding controls in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:96,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-96.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8d8aff1f1a5fcd7a1d93cdb1b596ab8b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the Profile settings in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:97,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-97.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dac557be7973c52883360feaa5e55b6d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1676671150,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The left rail of the Proton VPN on its own without the map in the center of a Windows 11 desktop&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:100,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-100.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0a1eb43d20482108fd022dc4a4bee0d7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1683233742,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Close up of the NetShield controls in the Proton VPN app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:101,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-101.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5f8d45c483fa246d6ba9feb62e853374&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1684525516,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN iPhone app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:102,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-102.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e4ba69e7048726492a7d0a1f272ade8f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1687528681,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's MacOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:104,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-104.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1666,&quot;height&quot;:886,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dfa2b49050ed90397928b6910cee451e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729007620,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;proton vpn mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:105,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-105.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1022,&quot;height&quot;:472,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2674a6312553e708b5b0aa77e42bc1e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729014843,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;proton vpn checkout renewal&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Proton\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:106,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-106.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;31894048cc84be5a840085c41d70424e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN's pricing page plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:107,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-107.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a15bd293d3643f18162985e645ae9256&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton Windows settings dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:108,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-108.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;76642d2a528bc453f082eeb55826e563&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A SecureCore connection showing a connection to the United States via Sweden&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:109,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-109.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;019f763b571732f5bf1cd8b14c0cd085&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A set of three Proton server lists&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:110,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-110.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;00bd162a815a1cc30e087d0104581568&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Windows dashboard for Proton showing an active connection&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:111,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-111.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0c4da4538e53e97f289f01b304ca6ac4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991922,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton's macOS dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:112,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-112.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2ed37a9e19a416d7a979fc4845a5869a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three menus from Proton's iOS application&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:113,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-113.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;526cef4ab028ba0f7e3fd97421523f5e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three sections of Proton's Android application&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:114,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/066pfhdQmzHcmyEMaZtToWq-114.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a793014f65269bfd990c39d8d3872a88&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1762991923,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Proton's support library search tool&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Proton&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Best free plan we've seenrnIndustry-leading privacy standardsrnGlobal server networkrnSlick, accessible clientrnNumerous additional privacy toolsrnAmple customer support options&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;High latency scores in testing&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN provides unmatched privacy, value, and featuresu2014with the industry's best free plan and an exceptional premium experienceu2014making it the top VPN service we recommend.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Overall&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:[&quot;{&quot;pcmaglabs2025&quot;: false}&quot;],&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-19T15:34:47.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-11-14T16:33:32.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12T16:17:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2018-04-25T19:07:56.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12T16:17:18.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:75035,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Proton VPN (Windows)&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.99&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:42.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:56866,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56862,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:06.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56861,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:145614,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;117 countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56868,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56860,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:02.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56852,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56853,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version  Server Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;US, Netherlands, Japan&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56854,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56855,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Can Manually Select Server In Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56856,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Are All Features Available In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:10,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56857,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Connection Speeds Limited&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:11,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56858,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;No Ads In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Yes&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:12,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56859,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Public Third-Party Audit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:13,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:56:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56863,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:14,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56864,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:15,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:56865,&quot;product_id&quot;:75035,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:16,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:06:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-18T23:33:00.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:9135,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-11-12T23:58:43.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-12T16:17:18.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[]},{&quot;id&quot;:2777,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:333293,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Review: A Feature-Rich VPN Service With a Robust Security Suite&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;nordvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An expensive but powerful service that's more than just a VPN&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;On paper it's hard to beat a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN service&lt;\/a&gt; like NordVPN. It has a large and diverse collection of servers, an impressive arsenal of rarely seen tools, strong privacy and security practices, and approachable clients for every major platform. After a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/nordvpn-beefs-up-security-with-audit-bug-bounty-program&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37478&quot;&gt;data breach&lt;\/a&gt;, the company says it stepped up its security game, putting it in a good position for the future. Its challenge now is rebuilding trust, which takes longer than setting up new servers. Still, it's an excellent service, and one that performed well in our testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server controlled by the VPN service. All your web traffic is routed through this tunnel, meaning that no one&amp;mdash;not even someone on the same network as you&amp;mdash;can sneak a peek at your data. It also prevents malicious network operators from intercepting your information or using DNS poisoning techniques to trick you into visiting phishing pages. A VPN even protects your web traffic from being monitored by your ISP, which is critically important now that &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/trump-officially-hands-control-of-your-data-to-isps&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10844&quot;&gt;ISPs can sell anonymized user data&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN offers four pricing tiers: $11.95 per month, $83.88 annually, $119.76 every two years, or $125.64 every three years. The company accepts credit cards, various anonymous cryptocurrencies, and PayPal, as well as other online payment methods.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As of this writing, the average price for a VPN service is about $10.10 per month and $73.05 per year, putting a NordVPN subscription well above most other VPN services. Some VPNs cost significantly less. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/kaspersky-secure-connection-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4963&quot;&gt;Kaspersky Secure Connection&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, is just $4.99 per month. Windscribe VPN, alternatively, lets you build your own plan to fit your budget.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If that's still too pricey, a few free VPNs are worth considering, with &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN&lt;\/a&gt; being foremost among them. While all free VPNs have some kind of limitation, ProtonVPN is the only one I've tested that doesn't limit the amount of data free subscribers can use. &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/nordvpn-ends-free-trial-due-to-scammer-abuse&quot;&gt;NordVPN has discontinued its free trial offering&lt;\/a&gt;, stating that scammers were taking advantage of it. Instead, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-25.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can use up to six devices simultaneously on NordVPN, though there are some limitations concerning connecting multiple devices to the same server at the same time. Most VPN services limit you to five simultaneous connections, but that's starting to change. Avira Phantom VPN, Encrypt.me VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN allow an unlimited number of devices. Most services let you add more device slots to your subscription for a fee, but NordVPN does not give you that option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One of the perks of using a VPN is that your actual IP address is hidden from the outside world. Some people may also want a static IP address, which NordVPN can provide for $5.83 per month ($69.96 per year). NordVPN offers dedicated IP addresses in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to establish a VPN connection, and my preference is for services that use the OpenVPN protocol, which is open source and therefore has been thoroughly examined for potential problems. NordVPN supports OpenVPN and my second-best choice, IKEv2\/IPSec, on all platforms.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The new hotness in the world of VPN protocols is WireGuard. This technology is still under development, but NordVPN is already tinkering with the technology. I've done some limited testing of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot;&gt;NordVPN's Linux implementation&lt;\/a&gt; of WireGuard and the results were, frankly, astounding. A company representative informs me that WireGuard is now available in the company's iPhone app, too.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of what you're paying for when you buy a VPN subscription is access the company's network of VPN servers. The best services offer lots of server locations, giving you many options for spoofing your location and improving the odds that there will be a server near your actual, physical location. That's important, because the closer you are to the VPN server you're using, the better performance you're likely to experience.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN lets you select one from a list of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/servers\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;59 countries&lt;\/a&gt;. The bulk of NordVPN's servers are in the US and the UK, which is not unusual for VPN companies. However, NordVPN also has a good mix of servers the world over, covering several locations across Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and a handful in India and the Middle East. The company currently offers one location in Africa (South Africa), a region ignored by most other VPN services.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN provides good geographic diversity with its servers, but other VPN companies outshine it. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt;, for example, covers 94 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One notable feature of NordVPN is that it has around 5,300 servers available. That's second only to &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost's&lt;\/a&gt; network of 5,900 servers. VPN services spin up new servers on an as-needed basis, so the total number of servers is partly a reflection of how popular a service is. Ideally, a large pool of servers ensures that no one server becomes overcrowded. You can't correlate performance directly to server count, but the sheer size of NordVPN's network suggests that you're unlikely to encounter an overburdened server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-26.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While most of us think of a server as a physical box with computer guts inside, it's also possible to create multiple &lt;i&gt;virtual servers&lt;\/i&gt; hosted on a single, physical machine. Many VPNs use virtual servers to keep up with demand, but some VPNs configure their virtual servers to appear in a different country than the physical machine that hosts them. Virtual servers aren't necessarily a bad thing, but it should be clear to users where exactly their data is headed.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A NordVPN representative told me that all of its servers are dedicated, and none are virtual servers. That means that the servers are physically located where they claim to be. Other services approach virtual servers differently. ExpressVPN has three percent of its servers in locations other than where they are listed, and offers a list of those servers' true locations. HMA VPN, on the other hand, claims to have servers in 190 countries, but only has physical hardware in 56 sites.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are sometimes used to bypass government censorship by connecting to a VPN server in another country. We don't make a specific recommendation for a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/why-im-not-choosing-the-best-vpn-for-china&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;19553&quot;&gt;VPN to bypass government censorship&lt;\/a&gt;, because the stakes of getting it wrong are simply too high. NordVPN does provide obfuscated servers designed to be accessible from within China.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Notably, NordVPN offers servers in Hong Kong, Turkey, and Vietnam, all of which have restrictive internet policies. Connecting to one of these servers will &lt;i&gt;not&lt;\/i&gt; bypass censorship, but it could provide a modicum of privacy when browsing the web within those countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN's best feature is the variety of additional tools it provides for improving your privacy. It and ProtonVPN are the only two VPN companies that provide direct access to the Tor anonymization network. This makes it even harder to trace your connection, and it lets you access hidden websites, though at greatly reduced speeds.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If Tor isn't already overkill (and in many cases, it is) NordVPN also offers multihop connections, which it calls Double VPN. This way, if one leg of the connection is somehow compromised, you can be assured that your connection is still secure. IVPN, Mullvad VPN, ProtonVPN, Surfshark VPN, and VPNArea all offer this feature. ProtonVPN is notable for the extreme lengths it goes to secure its multihop connections, in some cases storing secure servers in an old NATO bunker. Whether that's safer than the average server farm is open to discussion.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-27.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to its network protections, NordVPN offers malicious site protection with the CyberSec tool. We don't test the efficacy of malicious site blocking, but it's nice to see. It is not, however, a replacement for standalone antivirus or a dedicated tracker blocker. NordVPN also offers standalone products: an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-encryption-software&quot;&gt;encrypted file vault&lt;\/a&gt; called NordLocker and the NordPass &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;2018 Server Breach&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In October 2019, a Tweet storm surfaced alleging that NordVPN and TorGuard VPN servers had been breached in 2018. NordVPN confirmed that its VPN server in Finland had a remote access feature that the company was not aware of, which was used by an attacker to access this one server. The upshot is that the attacker could potentially have observed the traffic moving through that server, and used the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transport_Layer_Security&quot;&gt;TLS keys&lt;\/a&gt; to launch a man-in-the-middle attack. NordVPN says there is no evidence that either event occurred, and would have been prohibitively difficult.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In this era, it's unfair to judge a company too harshly for security incidents because attacks are a frequent occurrence. It's better to judge a company on how it handles a security issue, rather than hold them to the impossible standard of perfection. And it's in that way that NordVPN fell short. The company took over a year to disclose the incident, and the only after being called out on social media. While a company representative tells me that NordVPN has learned its lesson about disclosing security events, it will take some time to rebuild its damaged reputation.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Since the breach was disclosed, NordVPN has taken several steps to improve its security and win back the trust of the public. In addition to the privacy practices outlined below, NordVPN has launched a bug bounty program with HackerOne, to reward people who disclose potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company has also made moves to harden its infrastructure. A company representative tells me that NordVPN is in the final stages of auditing the datacenters it contracts with and terminating relationships with vendors it deems unsafe. NordVPN is also building a network of collocated servers exclusively under the company's control. Additionally, NordVPN has pledged to undergo an audit of its infrastructure which, I am told, includes &quot;the audit of infrastructure hardware, VPN software, backend architecture, backend source code, and internal procedures.&quot; In a similar vein, the company is switching to diskless servers, which are run only on RAM. That way, if a server is disconnected, there's nothing left to examine. This effort, I am told, is ongoing and rolling out &quot;slowly.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, NordVPN joined with several other VPN companies to form a trade group called the VPN Trust Initiative. Its aim, among other things, is to set standards for the industry, perhaps bringing some clarity to this rather opaque world.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;These are all excellent improvements, and NordVPN will a better company for them. While all of these show a good-faith effort from NordVPN, most of these initiatives have yet to be completed.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For a much deeper dive into the breaches, please read &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot;&gt;NordVPN and TorGuardVPN Breaches: What You Need to Know&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With NordVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it has as much insight into your online activities as your ISP does. If it desired, it could examine every bit of information passing through its system. It also can potentially identify you to another party (read: law enforcement), making it possible to track you online. That's why it's important that before you buy a VPN subscription, you understand and are comfortable with the steps the company takes to safeguard your privacy.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In general, I'm satisfied with NordVPN's stance on privacy and the efforts it makes to protect customers. It is difficult, however, to fully endorse the privacy practices of any given VPN company. To do so would require deep access to the company's code and hardware, as well as the technical expertise to interpret it all. As always, however, you as the consumer should ask yourself whether or not you are comfortable with trusting any given company with your personal information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN operates under the legal jurisdiction of Panama, where there are no laws requiring the company to retain data for any period of time. The company says that were it to be subpoenaed, it would only respond to a court order or subpoena issued by a Panamanian court. Furthermore, the company says it holds no information on user activity.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The NordVPN privacy policy states that the company does not log &quot;connection time stamps, session information, used bandwidth, traffic logs, IP addresses or other data.&quot; Instead, NordVPN retains the username and time of the last session, but only for 15 minutes after you disconnect from the VPN. That's good. All of this information is available in the company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/privacy-policy\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative from NordVPN assured me that the company does not profit from the sale of user data. The company does not generate revenue from sources other than customer subscriptions.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In November of 2018, NordVPN announced that it had &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/blog\/nordvpn-audit\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;passed a third-party audit of its no-log policy&lt;\/a&gt; by PricewaterhouseCoopers, with a second audit. NordVPN has said it intends to do such audits annually. In October, 2019, the company also&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/blog\/nordvpn-completes-app-security-audit\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt; underwent an audit of its apps by VerSprite&lt;\/a&gt;. Penetration testing revealed several vulnerabilities the company patched. NordVPN joins several VPN companies, including TunnelBear VPN, that are undertaking similar audits. We appreciate these efforts at improved security and transparency, though it's worth noting that &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/what-does-a-vpn-security-audit-really-prove&quot;&gt;not all audits are created equal&lt;\/a&gt;. Still, NordVPN's continued efforts are laudable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN also does not make it easy to find the name of its parent company, or information on corporate leadership, on its website. A company representative told me that it is owned by Tefincom S.A., however. NordVPN does not issue transparency reports about requests for informations by law enforcement, but does maintain a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Warrant_canary&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;warrant canary&lt;\/a&gt; that indicates it has not received any National Security letters, gag orders, or government-issued warrants. A company representative told me it has not received any government or law enforcement requests for information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN says that its policy is to disclose any security incident &quot;that involves the data of our customers immediately after the vulnerability is patched.&quot;&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; Security is really an issue of trust. Even if a company does everything right, it doesn't matter much if you, the customer, don't trust them. We recommend that consumers consider this information, and choose a service based on which company they feel they can trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With NordVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While you can always opt to &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21706&quot;&gt;manually set up your VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, I highly recommend using apps provided by the VPN company. These are not only easier to use, they do all the hard work of staying up to date, and they let you access features beyond VPN protection that you simply can't get at via a manual installation. I used a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7beh-bean-canyon&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10220&quot;&gt;Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon)&lt;\/a&gt; laptop running the latest version of Windows 10.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN has always offered an excellent user experience with its apps, regardless of the platform you use. The Windows client shares a lot of design features with the NordVPN mobile apps, with a monochrome blue map as its focus. It's a bit whimsical, with submarines and ships on the cartoon seas, but it's an easy way to select the server you want.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Clicking the Quick Connect option at the top of the screen or the System Tray connects you to the VPN server that NordVPN thinks is best (generally, the closest). That's a great option for people unfamiliar with VPN services. You can change servers by clicking a location on the map, or with the search bar at the top of the screen if your geography skills are lacking. NordVPN's specialized servers are at the top of the list, putting them within easy reach. I like that NordVPN gives you the option to drill down to specific cities and servers, and that it shows the current load on those servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-28.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN does not support split tunneling, which lets you designate which apps send their traffic through the VPN tunnel and which do not. It's useful for apps that require a more robust connection but don't need additional security, such as video games. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear&lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/a&gt; and ExpressVPN include this feature. The client also includes a Kill Switch that shuts off access to the internet for specific applications, should your computer become disconnected from the VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-29.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One concern is that &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;your VPN may be leaking your true IP address or DNS information&lt;\/a&gt;. In my testing, NordVPN successfully changed my IP address and hid my ISP information. The DNS leak test tool indicated that the server I was connected to did not leak my DNS information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I am pleasantly surprised that Netflix did not block me from streaming content while I was connected to a US-based NordVPN server when I tested it. That's great, because Netflix blocks VPNs aggressively. Previously, I was &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-to-unblock-netflix-with-a-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;15585&quot;&gt;able to stream content&lt;\/a&gt; from Netflix while connected to NordVPN servers in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the UK. In the past, it has been the most compatible with Netflix, but that could change at any point as Netflix often manages to block services that previously worked well.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it &lt;i&gt;will&lt;\/i&gt; have an effect on your web browsing performance. To get a sense how great an impact a VPN has, we conduct a series of speed tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) We explain our speed testing methodology in depth in our piece on &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, NordVPN performed very well while connected to a local server. It's in the top ten &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot;&gt;fastest VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;. It reduced download speed test results by 63 percent and upload speed test results by 57.3 percent. My tests showed that NordVPN increased latency by 67.5 percent. NordVPN beats the median result in all categories, though it was very close in some cases.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how NordVPN compares in the chart below with the top performers among the over 40 services we tested. Note that these are ranked by download results, in descending order.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-30.v_1583780584.png', 'Fastest VPN 2020 Better', 'Fastest VPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 676'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.png' width='1280' height='676'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;My tests showed that Hotspot Shield VPN is the fastest VPN, having the smallest impact on both download speeds and latency. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/surfshark-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3990&quot;&gt;Surfshark VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, notably, snuck in excellent upload speed test results. That said, speed alone shouldn't be the only criteria you use to choose a VPN. Value, ease of use, and a commitment to privacy are far more important factors.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN supports Android, Chrome, Firefox, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Notably, its iOS client supports WireGuard. NordVPN's mobile clients both allow you to purchase full subscriptions through their respective app stores. Alternatively, you can configure some routers to connect via NordVPN. Doing so supplies coverage for all the devices on your network, including smart home devices that can't run a VPN on their own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN also offers plugins for Firefox and Chrome. Note that, like all proxy browser plugins, the NordVPN plug-ins only secure the traffic of those respective browsers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;An Excellent VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN has long been at the top of PCMag's ranking of VPNs, and it's easy to see why. It commands an enormous fleet of servers across the globe, and takes a kitchen sink approach to security features. It does all that while not ignoring the user experience, featuring simple, approachable apps that anyone can get the hang of in a few seconds. The company is also looking forward, incorporating new technology like WireGuard into its core products.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Historically, the only drawback to NordVPN has been its price, which is still significantly higher than the average. That all changed in 2019, when the details of a server breach from the previous year emerged. The threat to users from the breach is debatable, and the steps that the company has since taken to secure its infrastructure may mean that the company is on firmer footing for security and privacy than ever, but the enormous delay in disclosing the incident is far more concerning. Every product or company is going to have some kind of security failure eventually, what matters is how the failure is handled. NordVPN initially fell short in its response, and while it remains an excellent product, it now has to follow through on the fence-mending work of rebuilding trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:120,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:719,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;9055711472a1502b9a2fa95a28b52c9d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1602257660,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN logo&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;608357&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2018-12-03 12:30:15.623&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:57,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-57.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2880,&quot;height&quot;:1800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d04c0928d9724c4ec79330f8e2a1c0a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1615562154,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-35084&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:58,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-58.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2880,&quot;height&quot;:1800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d04c0928d9724c4ec79330f8e2a1c0a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1615562154,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN on MacOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:61,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-61.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;9ade5aa31af21b825b15f45980cb0486&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619705445,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:62,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-62.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3868,&quot;height&quot;:2175,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6dc503f85b6ce471768859cc66ec11dd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619708351,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-43900&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:63,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-63.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3868,&quot;height&quot;:2175,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;806fbcca8247425236e64d59023c0923&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619708351,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:65,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-65.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a3d37cec19cfd2e607be68e376f41bf0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:66,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-66.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1214,&quot;height&quot;:683,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d15346008ec0b603de0a8bfc7709b119&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:67,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-67.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1240,&quot;height&quot;:697,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5551c3b9bc7620f1473facff7c9d3cc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:68,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-68.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1234,&quot;height&quot;:694,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8abbed684f39b741bab860062ed1559a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:69,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-69.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1244,&quot;height&quot;:700,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1392a85f67c19eaac716cacf12a422b9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:70,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-70.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1202,&quot;height&quot;:676,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f84a652e25175f39921d53319c54bbcc&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:71,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-71.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1406,&quot;height&quot;:791,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;383499240af2685b6842d44bcf898935&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:74,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-74.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3902,&quot;height&quot;:2195,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2d2200cdea36b1b947730a6daa93df36&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1660242932,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Two screenshots showing NordVPN's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:75,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-75.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6beb4d2b1a24bb9c14d2899cfdb9704d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1664569870,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface on Android&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:76,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-76.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1bbb8a620f45485f99fc0fa9fd6e80c8&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the Windows NordVPN app showing the list of available servers&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:78,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-78.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dd84f8187bffa680b744e0f5a4a934bf&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the split tunneling controls&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:79,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-79.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a3a773ffb21ac47673f33ca540f3f2b4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows showing the Kill Switch settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:80,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-80.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2f128bb87e97dc118c7d3e6125e60c1e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows zoomed in to show the different times for the Pause button&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:81,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-81.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4ccd31bb43bbdd562623895acf0b478f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the Threat Protection settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:82,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-82.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;58710a1c7714696a8f68ad16f7b97907&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows showing the Threat Protection settings with icons&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:83,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-83.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;827448b544b87e16634563bfbd9b8167&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the different types of servers available&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:84,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-84.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6e9896b80c98c9777f9218a4ba694bd9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:85,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-85.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;00416b94393b80f04d5a05b300177477&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN setup Wizard on Windows &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:86,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-86.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d63968273421d3da9efad7b8b7276f80&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshots from the NordVPN Android app showing traffic routing between devices&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:87,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-87.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d465056f21b2508f12ee9a99e8a2c0f0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Alert in the NordVPN Windows app showing that a file has been successfully transfered via Meshnet&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:88,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-88.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;934076ac4a157a24202d05884d9b0216&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Control settings for Meshnet in the NordVPN Windows app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;image-67725&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:89,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-89.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1320,&quot;height&quot;:922,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;481e95b5a56ddc0bb178b451dd56c2bb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:90,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-90.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1070,&quot;height&quot;:863,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;20dce82c0d033bb0f4452e9154874af1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn main window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:91,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-91.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:997,&quot;height&quot;:442,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b4aa12a396327d248cae8a5dcd660a4f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn server selector&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:92,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-92.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1001,&quot;height&quot;:806,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;fbfac6adf159f5cb8f9cc871c494c0a5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn server map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:93,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-93.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1861,&quot;height&quot;:924,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;756a459f2a73b3023fad7203b00f3a35&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723845098,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn mobile screenshots&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:94,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-94.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1067,&quot;height&quot;:858,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;756db418c3c783383f5381d4b3f18f85&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723846139,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn windows main map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:95,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-95.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e9e8f225f897f1d5838ad82f781e899c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp main screen&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:96,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-96.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e9e8f225f897f1d5838ad82f781e899c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-14443&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:97,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-97.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;96268f3d40c3c438803b0cd7d28a64a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp protection results&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:98,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-98.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1085,&quot;height&quot;:753,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1a185e7e5fc65ed2e76937727f53a440&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp protection page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:99,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-99.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ad24662f2292ec406297a305a67badaa&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp vulnerability detection&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:100,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-100.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1085,&quot;height&quot;:694,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;23de4fce852ee67528cea8b4ab48f50f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp suspiscious scam&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:101,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-101.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;db23a57808582bf34e58e9ba9121cfda&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp web protection settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:102,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-102.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:972,&quot;height&quot;:678,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2d6b858d66c5ad83d63446505b0f37de&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Threat Protection Search Results Markup&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:103,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-103.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:692,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8e76e6d432c6eb74bd8d5ebf77e6fe5c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Manage Threat Protection Pro&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:104,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-104.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e3f8d317356ef4dcbb0cca8392318fbd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Harmful Files Detected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:105,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-105.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1018,&quot;height&quot;:693,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dbc8f6e284f59cfaead0824f9ccd891b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Threat Protection Blocked Page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:106,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-106.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1600,&quot;height&quot;:900,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4ea486aa06657889abb79d8816a8db8a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Harmful Downloads Detected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:107,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-107.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1106,&quot;height&quot;:647,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f90ff092e9b55d22c724dd241b7ab4a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Phishing Page Blocked&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:108,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-108.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7eb84d7c8852fe3c85325c782dcc13c0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Vulnerability Scanner&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:109,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-109.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:862,&quot;height&quot;:627,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f64c83dcb5afbee43d0718bd9cadeead&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Search Results Safety&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:110,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-110.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:847,&quot;height&quot;:349,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c57056e41d5b654abc07867b9aa8b194&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Tracking Parameters Example&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:111,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-111.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:692,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;11fef48f17773a666907c986fc83e575&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Tracker Blocker&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:112,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-112.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bc5a7759dd2edf3b5ef620fa867f9a13&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's one-month price plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:113,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-113.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;556e559d34ca11d958b60d0d53798dff&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Nord's kill switch setting menu on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:114,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-114.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;15098930713a58c80cbf4806ca37d42c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Nord's server map on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:115,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-115.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8b2f0fea927ba7073c859857c299a1b0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's Windows dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:116,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-116.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;27a4d5d1cbabcfdfcf7b7aa2f47a52ea&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's macOS dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:117,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-117.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8a5fe39408ae8b1f462890c3c7b3bdc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:118,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-118.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ec2bfab98dcdbeb2b71aee6dfaa204a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:119,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-119.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6b1fbcb0b9a4b6a441a0a8014a7f55fb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's support help center&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Support for multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connectionsrnExcellent speed resultsrnGlobal server coveragernWealth of available features and add-onsrnBuilt-in antivirus tools&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Expensive, and annual pricing could be clearerrnAntivirus component could be better&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;NordVPN offers a comprehensive suite of privacy and security features that extend far beyond traditional VPN protection, including advanced encryption, threat detection, and more.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Premium Features&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2015-03-31T17:44:13.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-29T15:49:42.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:48.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2015-03-30T14:10:31.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:9540,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:101936,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101937,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101938,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;6&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:54.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101941,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2\/IPSec&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:95686,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;12.99&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:54:50.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:101942,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101938,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;6&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:54.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101937,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101943,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;118 countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101944,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101936,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101945,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101939,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101940,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (based on WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101941,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2\/IPSec&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9540,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;05GSymKk9bv3DceZyiKrSrD&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:34,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Premium Features&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-03-30T19:43:31.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-23T18:56:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:2777,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:333293,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Review: A Feature-Rich VPN Service With a Robust Security Suite&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;nordvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An expensive but powerful service that's more than just a VPN&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;On paper it's hard to beat a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN service&lt;\/a&gt; like NordVPN. It has a large and diverse collection of servers, an impressive arsenal of rarely seen tools, strong privacy and security practices, and approachable clients for every major platform. After a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/nordvpn-beefs-up-security-with-audit-bug-bounty-program&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37478&quot;&gt;data breach&lt;\/a&gt;, the company says it stepped up its security game, putting it in a good position for the future. Its challenge now is rebuilding trust, which takes longer than setting up new servers. Still, it's an excellent service, and one that performed well in our testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server controlled by the VPN service. All your web traffic is routed through this tunnel, meaning that no one&amp;mdash;not even someone on the same network as you&amp;mdash;can sneak a peek at your data. It also prevents malicious network operators from intercepting your information or using DNS poisoning techniques to trick you into visiting phishing pages. A VPN even protects your web traffic from being monitored by your ISP, which is critically important now that &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/trump-officially-hands-control-of-your-data-to-isps&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10844&quot;&gt;ISPs can sell anonymized user data&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN offers four pricing tiers: $11.95 per month, $83.88 annually, $119.76 every two years, or $125.64 every three years. The company accepts credit cards, various anonymous cryptocurrencies, and PayPal, as well as other online payment methods.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As of this writing, the average price for a VPN service is about $10.10 per month and $73.05 per year, putting a NordVPN subscription well above most other VPN services. Some VPNs cost significantly less. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/kaspersky-secure-connection-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4963&quot;&gt;Kaspersky Secure Connection&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, is just $4.99 per month. Windscribe VPN, alternatively, lets you build your own plan to fit your budget.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If that's still too pricey, a few free VPNs are worth considering, with &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN&lt;\/a&gt; being foremost among them. While all free VPNs have some kind of limitation, ProtonVPN is the only one I've tested that doesn't limit the amount of data free subscribers can use. &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/nordvpn-ends-free-trial-due-to-scammer-abuse&quot;&gt;NordVPN has discontinued its free trial offering&lt;\/a&gt;, stating that scammers were taking advantage of it. Instead, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-25.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-19.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can use up to six devices simultaneously on NordVPN, though there are some limitations concerning connecting multiple devices to the same server at the same time. Most VPN services limit you to five simultaneous connections, but that's starting to change. Avira Phantom VPN, Encrypt.me VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN allow an unlimited number of devices. Most services let you add more device slots to your subscription for a fee, but NordVPN does not give you that option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One of the perks of using a VPN is that your actual IP address is hidden from the outside world. Some people may also want a static IP address, which NordVPN can provide for $5.83 per month ($69.96 per year). NordVPN offers dedicated IP addresses in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are several ways to establish a VPN connection, and my preference is for services that use the OpenVPN protocol, which is open source and therefore has been thoroughly examined for potential problems. NordVPN supports OpenVPN and my second-best choice, IKEv2\/IPSec, on all platforms.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The new hotness in the world of VPN protocols is WireGuard. This technology is still under development, but NordVPN is already tinkering with the technology. I've done some limited testing of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot;&gt;NordVPN's Linux implementation&lt;\/a&gt; of WireGuard and the results were, frankly, astounding. A company representative informs me that WireGuard is now available in the company's iPhone app, too.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of what you're paying for when you buy a VPN subscription is access the company's network of VPN servers. The best services offer lots of server locations, giving you many options for spoofing your location and improving the odds that there will be a server near your actual, physical location. That's important, because the closer you are to the VPN server you're using, the better performance you're likely to experience.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN lets you select one from a list of &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/servers\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;59 countries&lt;\/a&gt;. The bulk of NordVPN's servers are in the US and the UK, which is not unusual for VPN companies. However, NordVPN also has a good mix of servers the world over, covering several locations across Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe, and a handful in India and the Middle East. The company currently offers one location in Africa (South Africa), a region ignored by most other VPN services.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN provides good geographic diversity with its servers, but other VPN companies outshine it. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt;, for example, covers 94 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One notable feature of NordVPN is that it has around 5,300 servers available. That's second only to &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost's&lt;\/a&gt; network of 5,900 servers. VPN services spin up new servers on an as-needed basis, so the total number of servers is partly a reflection of how popular a service is. Ideally, a large pool of servers ensures that no one server becomes overcrowded. You can't correlate performance directly to server count, but the sheer size of NordVPN's network suggests that you're unlikely to encounter an overburdened server.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-26.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-20.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While most of us think of a server as a physical box with computer guts inside, it's also possible to create multiple &lt;i&gt;virtual servers&lt;\/i&gt; hosted on a single, physical machine. Many VPNs use virtual servers to keep up with demand, but some VPNs configure their virtual servers to appear in a different country than the physical machine that hosts them. Virtual servers aren't necessarily a bad thing, but it should be clear to users where exactly their data is headed.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A NordVPN representative told me that all of its servers are dedicated, and none are virtual servers. That means that the servers are physically located where they claim to be. Other services approach virtual servers differently. ExpressVPN has three percent of its servers in locations other than where they are listed, and offers a list of those servers' true locations. HMA VPN, on the other hand, claims to have servers in 190 countries, but only has physical hardware in 56 sites.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are sometimes used to bypass government censorship by connecting to a VPN server in another country. We don't make a specific recommendation for a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/why-im-not-choosing-the-best-vpn-for-china&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;19553&quot;&gt;VPN to bypass government censorship&lt;\/a&gt;, because the stakes of getting it wrong are simply too high. NordVPN does provide obfuscated servers designed to be accessible from within China.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Notably, NordVPN offers servers in Hong Kong, Turkey, and Vietnam, all of which have restrictive internet policies. Connecting to one of these servers will &lt;i&gt;not&lt;\/i&gt; bypass censorship, but it could provide a modicum of privacy when browsing the web within those countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN's best feature is the variety of additional tools it provides for improving your privacy. It and ProtonVPN are the only two VPN companies that provide direct access to the Tor anonymization network. This makes it even harder to trace your connection, and it lets you access hidden websites, though at greatly reduced speeds.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If Tor isn't already overkill (and in many cases, it is) NordVPN also offers multihop connections, which it calls Double VPN. This way, if one leg of the connection is somehow compromised, you can be assured that your connection is still secure. IVPN, Mullvad VPN, ProtonVPN, Surfshark VPN, and VPNArea all offer this feature. ProtonVPN is notable for the extreme lengths it goes to secure its multihop connections, in some cases storing secure servers in an old NATO bunker. Whether that's safer than the average server farm is open to discussion.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-27.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-21.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to its network protections, NordVPN offers malicious site protection with the CyberSec tool. We don't test the efficacy of malicious site blocking, but it's nice to see. It is not, however, a replacement for standalone antivirus or a dedicated tracker blocker. NordVPN also offers standalone products: an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-encryption-software&quot;&gt;encrypted file vault&lt;\/a&gt; called NordLocker and the NordPass &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;2018 Server Breach&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In October 2019, a Tweet storm surfaced alleging that NordVPN and TorGuard VPN servers had been breached in 2018. NordVPN confirmed that its VPN server in Finland had a remote access feature that the company was not aware of, which was used by an attacker to access this one server. The upshot is that the attacker could potentially have observed the traffic moving through that server, and used the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transport_Layer_Security&quot;&gt;TLS keys&lt;\/a&gt; to launch a man-in-the-middle attack. NordVPN says there is no evidence that either event occurred, and would have been prohibitively difficult.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In this era, it's unfair to judge a company too harshly for security incidents because attacks are a frequent occurrence. It's better to judge a company on how it handles a security issue, rather than hold them to the impossible standard of perfection. And it's in that way that NordVPN fell short. The company took over a year to disclose the incident, and the only after being called out on social media. While a company representative tells me that NordVPN has learned its lesson about disclosing security events, it will take some time to rebuild its damaged reputation.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Since the breach was disclosed, NordVPN has taken several steps to improve its security and win back the trust of the public. In addition to the privacy practices outlined below, NordVPN has launched a bug bounty program with HackerOne, to reward people who disclose potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company has also made moves to harden its infrastructure. A company representative tells me that NordVPN is in the final stages of auditing the datacenters it contracts with and terminating relationships with vendors it deems unsafe. NordVPN is also building a network of collocated servers exclusively under the company's control. Additionally, NordVPN has pledged to undergo an audit of its infrastructure which, I am told, includes &quot;the audit of infrastructure hardware, VPN software, backend architecture, backend source code, and internal procedures.&quot; In a similar vein, the company is switching to diskless servers, which are run only on RAM. That way, if a server is disconnected, there's nothing left to examine. This effort, I am told, is ongoing and rolling out &quot;slowly.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, NordVPN joined with several other VPN companies to form a trade group called the VPN Trust Initiative. Its aim, among other things, is to set standards for the industry, perhaps bringing some clarity to this rather opaque world.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;These are all excellent improvements, and NordVPN will a better company for them. While all of these show a good-faith effort from NordVPN, most of these initiatives have yet to be completed.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For a much deeper dive into the breaches, please read &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot;&gt;NordVPN and TorGuardVPN Breaches: What You Need to Know&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With NordVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it has as much insight into your online activities as your ISP does. If it desired, it could examine every bit of information passing through its system. It also can potentially identify you to another party (read: law enforcement), making it possible to track you online. That's why it's important that before you buy a VPN subscription, you understand and are comfortable with the steps the company takes to safeguard your privacy.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In general, I'm satisfied with NordVPN's stance on privacy and the efforts it makes to protect customers. It is difficult, however, to fully endorse the privacy practices of any given VPN company. To do so would require deep access to the company's code and hardware, as well as the technical expertise to interpret it all. As always, however, you as the consumer should ask yourself whether or not you are comfortable with trusting any given company with your personal information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN operates under the legal jurisdiction of Panama, where there are no laws requiring the company to retain data for any period of time. The company says that were it to be subpoenaed, it would only respond to a court order or subpoena issued by a Panamanian court. Furthermore, the company says it holds no information on user activity.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The NordVPN privacy policy states that the company does not log &quot;connection time stamps, session information, used bandwidth, traffic logs, IP addresses or other data.&quot; Instead, NordVPN retains the username and time of the last session, but only for 15 minutes after you disconnect from the VPN. That's good. All of this information is available in the company's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/privacy-policy\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative from NordVPN assured me that the company does not profit from the sale of user data. The company does not generate revenue from sources other than customer subscriptions.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In November of 2018, NordVPN announced that it had &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/blog\/nordvpn-audit\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;passed a third-party audit of its no-log policy&lt;\/a&gt; by PricewaterhouseCoopers, with a second audit. NordVPN has said it intends to do such audits annually. In October, 2019, the company also&lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/blog\/nordvpn-completes-app-security-audit\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt; underwent an audit of its apps by VerSprite&lt;\/a&gt;. Penetration testing revealed several vulnerabilities the company patched. NordVPN joins several VPN companies, including TunnelBear VPN, that are undertaking similar audits. We appreciate these efforts at improved security and transparency, though it's worth noting that &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/what-does-a-vpn-security-audit-really-prove&quot;&gt;not all audits are created equal&lt;\/a&gt;. Still, NordVPN's continued efforts are laudable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN also does not make it easy to find the name of its parent company, or information on corporate leadership, on its website. A company representative told me that it is owned by Tefincom S.A., however. NordVPN does not issue transparency reports about requests for informations by law enforcement, but does maintain a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Warrant_canary&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;warrant canary&lt;\/a&gt; that indicates it has not received any National Security letters, gag orders, or government-issued warrants. A company representative told me it has not received any government or law enforcement requests for information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN says that its policy is to disclose any security incident &quot;that involves the data of our customers immediately after the vulnerability is patched.&quot;&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; Security is really an issue of trust. Even if a company does everything right, it doesn't matter much if you, the customer, don't trust them. We recommend that consumers consider this information, and choose a service based on which company they feel they can trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With NordVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While you can always opt to &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21706&quot;&gt;manually set up your VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, I highly recommend using apps provided by the VPN company. These are not only easier to use, they do all the hard work of staying up to date, and they let you access features beyond VPN protection that you simply can't get at via a manual installation. I used a &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7beh-bean-canyon&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10220&quot;&gt;Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon)&lt;\/a&gt; laptop running the latest version of Windows 10.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN has always offered an excellent user experience with its apps, regardless of the platform you use. The Windows client shares a lot of design features with the NordVPN mobile apps, with a monochrome blue map as its focus. It's a bit whimsical, with submarines and ships on the cartoon seas, but it's an easy way to select the server you want.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Clicking the Quick Connect option at the top of the screen or the System Tray connects you to the VPN server that NordVPN thinks is best (generally, the closest). That's a great option for people unfamiliar with VPN services. You can change servers by clicking a location on the map, or with the search bar at the top of the screen if your geography skills are lacking. NordVPN's specialized servers are at the top of the list, putting them within easy reach. I like that NordVPN gives you the option to drill down to specific cities and servers, and that it shows the current load on those servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-28.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-22.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN does not support split tunneling, which lets you designate which apps send their traffic through the VPN tunnel and which do not. It's useful for apps that require a more robust connection but don't need additional security, such as video games. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear&lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/a&gt; and ExpressVPN include this feature. The client also includes a Kill Switch that shuts off access to the internet for specific applications, should your computer become disconnected from the VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-29.v_1583780584.png', 'NordVPN 2020', 'NordVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.png' width='1280' height='720'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-23.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One concern is that &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;your VPN may be leaking your true IP address or DNS information&lt;\/a&gt;. In my testing, NordVPN successfully changed my IP address and hid my ISP information. The DNS leak test tool indicated that the server I was connected to did not leak my DNS information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I am pleasantly surprised that Netflix did not block me from streaming content while I was connected to a US-based NordVPN server when I tested it. That's great, because Netflix blocks VPNs aggressively. Previously, I was &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-to-unblock-netflix-with-a-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;15585&quot;&gt;able to stream content&lt;\/a&gt; from Netflix while connected to NordVPN servers in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the UK. In the past, it has been the most compatible with Netflix, but that could change at any point as Netflix often manages to block services that previously worked well.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it &lt;i&gt;will&lt;\/i&gt; have an effect on your web browsing performance. To get a sense how great an impact a VPN has, we conduct a series of speed tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) We explain our speed testing methodology in depth in our piece on &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my testing, NordVPN performed very well while connected to a local server. It's in the top ten &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot;&gt;fastest VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;. It reduced download speed test results by 63 percent and upload speed test results by 57.3 percent. My tests showed that NordVPN increased latency by 67.5 percent. NordVPN beats the median result in all categories, though it was very close in some cases.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how NordVPN compares in the chart below with the top performers among the over 40 services we tested. Note that these are ranked by download results, in descending order.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-30.v_1583780584.png', 'Fastest VPN 2020 Better', 'Fastest VPN 2020', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 676'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1583780584.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.png' width='1280' height='676'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2020' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.fit_lim.size_1280x676.v_1583780584.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-24.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;My tests showed that Hotspot Shield VPN is the fastest VPN, having the smallest impact on both download speeds and latency. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/surfshark-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3990&quot;&gt;Surfshark VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, notably, snuck in excellent upload speed test results. That said, speed alone shouldn't be the only criteria you use to choose a VPN. Value, ease of use, and a commitment to privacy are far more important factors.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;NordVPN on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN supports Android, Chrome, Firefox, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Notably, its iOS client supports WireGuard. NordVPN's mobile clients both allow you to purchase full subscriptions through their respective app stores. Alternatively, you can configure some routers to connect via NordVPN. Doing so supplies coverage for all the devices on your network, including smart home devices that can't run a VPN on their own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN also offers plugins for Firefox and Chrome. Note that, like all proxy browser plugins, the NordVPN plug-ins only secure the traffic of those respective browsers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;An Excellent VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;NordVPN has long been at the top of PCMag's ranking of VPNs, and it's easy to see why. It commands an enormous fleet of servers across the globe, and takes a kitchen sink approach to security features. It does all that while not ignoring the user experience, featuring simple, approachable apps that anyone can get the hang of in a few seconds. The company is also looking forward, incorporating new technology like WireGuard into its core products.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Historically, the only drawback to NordVPN has been its price, which is still significantly higher than the average. That all changed in 2019, when the details of a server breach from the previous year emerged. The threat to users from the breach is debatable, and the steps that the company has since taken to secure its infrastructure may mean that the company is on firmer footing for security and privacy than ever, but the enormous delay in disclosing the incident is far more concerning. Every product or company is going to have some kind of security failure eventually, what matters is how the failure is handled. NordVPN initially fell short in its response, and while it remains an excellent product, it now has to follow through on the fence-mending work of rebuilding trust.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:120,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:719,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;9055711472a1502b9a2fa95a28b52c9d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1602257660,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN logo&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;608357&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2018-12-03 12:30:15.623&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:57,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-57.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2880,&quot;height&quot;:1800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d04c0928d9724c4ec79330f8e2a1c0a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1615562154,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-35084&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:58,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-58.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2880,&quot;height&quot;:1800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d04c0928d9724c4ec79330f8e2a1c0a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1615562154,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN on MacOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:61,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-61.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;9ade5aa31af21b825b15f45980cb0486&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619705445,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:62,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-62.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3868,&quot;height&quot;:2175,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6dc503f85b6ce471768859cc66ec11dd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619708351,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-43900&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:63,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-63.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3868,&quot;height&quot;:2175,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;806fbcca8247425236e64d59023c0923&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1619708351,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:65,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-65.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a3d37cec19cfd2e607be68e376f41bf0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:66,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-66.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1214,&quot;height&quot;:683,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d15346008ec0b603de0a8bfc7709b119&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:67,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-67.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1240,&quot;height&quot;:697,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5551c3b9bc7620f1473facff7c9d3cc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:68,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-68.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1234,&quot;height&quot;:694,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8abbed684f39b741bab860062ed1559a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:69,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-69.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1244,&quot;height&quot;:700,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1392a85f67c19eaac716cacf12a422b9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:70,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-70.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1202,&quot;height&quot;:676,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f84a652e25175f39921d53319c54bbcc&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:71,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-71.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1406,&quot;height&quot;:791,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;383499240af2685b6842d44bcf898935&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1658176800,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:74,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-74.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3902,&quot;height&quot;:2195,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2d2200cdea36b1b947730a6daa93df36&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1660242932,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Two screenshots showing NordVPN's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:75,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-75.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6beb4d2b1a24bb9c14d2899cfdb9704d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1664569870,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's interface on Android&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:76,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-76.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1bbb8a620f45485f99fc0fa9fd6e80c8&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the Windows NordVPN app showing the list of available servers&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:78,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-78.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dd84f8187bffa680b744e0f5a4a934bf&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the split tunneling controls&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:79,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-79.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a3a773ffb21ac47673f33ca540f3f2b4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows showing the Kill Switch settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:80,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-80.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2f128bb87e97dc118c7d3e6125e60c1e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows zoomed in to show the different times for the Pause button&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:81,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-81.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4ccd31bb43bbdd562623895acf0b478f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the Threat Protection settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:82,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-82.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;58710a1c7714696a8f68ad16f7b97907&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows showing the Threat Protection settings with icons&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:83,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-83.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;827448b544b87e16634563bfbd9b8167&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN Windows app showing the different types of servers available&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:84,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-84.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6e9896b80c98c9777f9218a4ba694bd9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN app on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:85,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-85.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;00416b94393b80f04d5a05b300177477&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1677617968,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshot of the NordVPN setup Wizard on Windows &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:86,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-86.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d63968273421d3da9efad7b8b7276f80&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Screenshots from the NordVPN Android app showing traffic routing between devices&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:87,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-87.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d465056f21b2508f12ee9a99e8a2c0f0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Alert in the NordVPN Windows app showing that a file has been successfully transfered via Meshnet&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:88,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-88.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;934076ac4a157a24202d05884d9b0216&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679338876,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Control settings for Meshnet in the NordVPN Windows app&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;image-67725&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:89,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-89.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1320,&quot;height&quot;:922,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;481e95b5a56ddc0bb178b451dd56c2bb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:90,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-90.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1070,&quot;height&quot;:863,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;20dce82c0d033bb0f4452e9154874af1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn main window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:91,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-91.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:997,&quot;height&quot;:442,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b4aa12a396327d248cae8a5dcd660a4f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn server selector&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:92,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-92.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1001,&quot;height&quot;:806,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;fbfac6adf159f5cb8f9cc871c494c0a5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723831906,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn server map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:93,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-93.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1861,&quot;height&quot;:924,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;756a459f2a73b3023fad7203b00f3a35&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723845098,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn mobile screenshots&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:94,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-94.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1067,&quot;height&quot;:858,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;756db418c3c783383f5381d4b3f18f85&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1723846139,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nordvpn windows main map&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:95,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-95.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e9e8f225f897f1d5838ad82f781e899c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp main screen&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:96,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-96.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e9e8f225f897f1d5838ad82f781e899c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-14443&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:97,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-97.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;96268f3d40c3c438803b0cd7d28a64a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp protection results&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:98,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-98.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1085,&quot;height&quot;:753,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1a185e7e5fc65ed2e76937727f53a440&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp protection page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:99,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-99.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ad24662f2292ec406297a305a67badaa&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp vulnerability detection&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:100,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-100.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1085,&quot;height&quot;:694,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;23de4fce852ee67528cea8b4ab48f50f&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp suspiscious scam&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:101,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-101.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:775,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;db23a57808582bf34e58e9ba9121cfda&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;nord tpp web protection settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:102,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-102.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:972,&quot;height&quot;:678,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;2d6b858d66c5ad83d63446505b0f37de&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724709477,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Threat Protection Search Results Markup&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:103,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-103.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:692,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8e76e6d432c6eb74bd8d5ebf77e6fe5c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Manage Threat Protection Pro&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:104,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-104.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e3f8d317356ef4dcbb0cca8392318fbd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Harmful Files Detected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:105,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-105.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1018,&quot;height&quot;:693,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dbc8f6e284f59cfaead0824f9ccd891b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Threat Protection Blocked Page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:106,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-106.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1600,&quot;height&quot;:900,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4ea486aa06657889abb79d8816a8db8a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Harmful Downloads Detected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:107,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-107.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1106,&quot;height&quot;:647,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f90ff092e9b55d22c724dd241b7ab4a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Phishing Page Blocked&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:108,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-108.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7eb84d7c8852fe3c85325c782dcc13c0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Vulnerability Scanner&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:109,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-109.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:862,&quot;height&quot;:627,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f64c83dcb5afbee43d0718bd9cadeead&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Search Results Safety&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:110,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-110.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:847,&quot;height&quot;:349,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c57056e41d5b654abc07867b9aa8b194&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Tracking Parameters Example&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:111,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-111.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:946,&quot;height&quot;:692,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;11fef48f17773a666907c986fc83e575&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757449849,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN Tracker Blocker&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: NordVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:112,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-112.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bc5a7759dd2edf3b5ef620fa867f9a13&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's one-month price plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:113,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-113.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;556e559d34ca11d958b60d0d53798dff&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Nord's kill switch setting menu on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:114,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-114.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;15098930713a58c80cbf4806ca37d42c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Nord's server map on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:115,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-115.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8b2f0fea927ba7073c859857c299a1b0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's Windows dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:116,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-116.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;27a4d5d1cbabcfdfcf7b7aa2f47a52ea&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's macOS dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:117,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-117.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8a5fe39408ae8b1f462890c3c7b3bdc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:118,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-118.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ec2bfab98dcdbeb2b71aee6dfaa204a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:119,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04yO1RQQQj7e5kEow66iE52-119.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6b1fbcb0b9a4b6a441a0a8014a7f55fb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1757515658,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;NordVPN's support help center&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/NordVPN&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Support for multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connectionsrnExcellent speed resultsrnGlobal server coveragernWealth of available features and add-onsrnBuilt-in antivirus tools&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Expensive, and annual pricing could be clearerrnAntivirus component could be better&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;NordVPN offers a comprehensive suite of privacy and security features that extend far beyond traditional VPN protection, including advanced encryption, threat detection, and more.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for a Premium VPN Experience&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2015-03-31T17:44:13.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-29T15:49:42.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:48.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2015-03-30T14:10:31.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:52.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:95686,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;12.99&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:54:50.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:101942,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101938,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;6&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:54.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101937,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101943,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;118 countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101944,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101936,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-08T19:55:03.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101945,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101939,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101940,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (based on WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:101941,&quot;product_id&quot;:95686,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;NordLynx (WireGuard), OpenVPN, IKEv2\/IPSec&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:25:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:55.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:28,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:184,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;05KCrAjPLMgB30jl5fmp5eF&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:1,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Neil J.&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Rubenking&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;neil-j-rubenking&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Principal Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;neil_rubenking@pcmag.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;varzilthegood.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Neil has covered cybersecurity for decades, testing the latest security apps against real-world threats to help you find the best protection.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;neiljrubenking&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/05KCrAjPLMgB30jl5fmp5eF.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A headshot of Neil J. Rubenking&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;unknown&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-13T20:11:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:20.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:45.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2019-06-11T02:52:11.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:20.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:2777,&quot;author_id&quot;:28,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-09-04T18:44:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:52.000000Z&quot;}},{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:2777,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-10T14:47:39.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:52.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:4203,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:6250,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;021MWY0W3chQ8tdlwbxRQyv&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;NordVPN&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;nordvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;deck&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2019-06-11T02:54:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;brandable_id&quot;:2777,&quot;brand_id&quot;:4203,&quot;brandable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-12T00:07:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:22:52.000000Z&quot;}}]},{&quot;id&quot;:7874,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:346223,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;0720gpTQE8mDYRSQhBsNKme&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN Review: A Global Juggernaut With Impressive Technology&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;expressvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;You never know who might be virtually looking over your shoulder, so it pays to use a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt; (VPN), like ExpressVPN, to secure your web browsing against scammers, three-letter agencies, and, well, everyone else. ExpressVPN has a wide distribution of servers and includes rare features like split-tunneling. It's expensive, however, and it only provides three connections per license.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network at the local coffee shop, you're not safe. An unscrupulous person could snoop on your web traffic, or perhaps the free Wi-Fi is phony and designed expressly to steal information from anyone who connects to it. Even out on the web, governments and advertisers are keen to get your data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469965.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469965.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nWhen you're connected to one of these services, your data travels through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the VPN company. From here, it exits onto the web. While in transit it can't be intercepted, stopping sleazes at the coffee shop from snooping on you. Out on the open internet, your real IP address can't be discerned because your traffic appears to be coming from the VPN server. Routing your traffic through the VPN's server also effectively spoofs your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has three pricing tiers: $12.95 billed each month, $59.95 billed every six months, and $99.95 billed annually. Like most services, the only difference is for how long you commit. The company accepts payment by all major credit cards, PayPal, and other services such as Alipay and WebMoney. ExpressVPN subscriptions can also be purchased with Bitcoin. There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money back guarantee.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The current monthly price of a top-rated VPN service is around $10.30, which is quite a bit below ExpressVPN's asking price. Private Internet Access costs a mere $6.94, while TunnelBear is slightly more at $9.99. Even &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/nordvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2777&quot;&gt;NordVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt;, the most expensive Editors' Choice-winning VPN, is a full dollar a month cheaper.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The only thing cheaper than cheap is free, and ExpressVPN does not offer a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;free VPN subscription&lt;\/a&gt;. TunnelBear VPN does offer a free trial which limits you to 500MB of data month, while Anchorfree HotSpot Shield's free subscription cuts you off at 500MB per day. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt;, on the other hand, places no data restrictions on its free subscription and has a flexible pricing structure that can get you started for $5.00 per month.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Given ExpressVPN's price tag, its service is surprisingly stingy. ExpressVPN limits you to three simultaneous connections from different devices, while the industry standard is five simultaneous connections. NordVPN offers six connections, and CyberGhost seven, while TorGuard VPN lets you choose how many connections you'd like with a simple slider that goes from five to 205. Windscribe and Avira Phantom VPN are even simpler: they place no limit on the number of devices you can connect simultaneously.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can spring for a router preloaded with ExpressVPN software, thanks to a partnership between ExpressVPN and FlashRouters. Or you can follow ExpressVPN's instructions and install the software on a router yourself. The advantage of a VPN-enabled router is that it protects every device on your network, including those that can't run VPNs on their own, and effectively lets you connect an infinite number of devices. ExpressVPN notably provides apps or installation instructions on a dizzying number of platforms, so you're sure to find something that meets your needs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-9.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Connected', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are a very mature technology and as such there are a lot of different ways to create a VPN connection. I prefer OpenVPN. This VPN protocol is known for its speed and reliability, but most importantly is an open-source project, meaning its code has been picked over for vulnerabilities. ExpressVPN, happily, supports OpenVPN UDP\/TCP on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. It also supports configuring routers to use OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also supports the older L2TP protocol on macOS and Windows, and the much less secure PPTP on Windows only. I don't recommend using either, unless you absolutely have to for some obscure legacy reason.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-10.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Protocols', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's notable that ExpressVPN supports OpenVPN in its iOS app. That's because Apple makes app developers that wish to use OpenVPN jump through additional hoops, and many developers decline to do so. ExpressVPN also supports the IKEv1\/2 protocols on iOS, which is my next-best choice of VPN protocol after OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of what you are paying for with a VPN subscription is access to the company's fleet of VPN servers. These are the machines you'll be connecting with, and from which your web traffic will appear to originate. Generally speaking, it's good to have a diverse distribution of servers, since this will ensure that you'll be able to find one close by, no matter where you travel, and likely get better service because of that closeness. It also gives you more options for spoofing your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN offers 160 &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/vpn-server&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;server locations&lt;\/a&gt; across 94 countries. Among my top-rated VPNs, ExpressVPN offers the most choices for server locations. My top choice, NordVPN, supports only 62 countries and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; only 80. It also excels in geographic diversity, with four of its locations in Africa and excellent coverage across South America&amp;mdash;two continents often underserved or completely ignored by other VPN companies. ExpressVPN also maintains servers for some countries with repressive internet policies, including Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-11.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Locations', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some readers have expressed concern about virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that one piece of hardware can host multiple virtual servers. Virtual servers can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than where that physical hardware is located. Virtual servers aren't necessarily bad, but the idea that your data may be heading to some country other than where you want it to go can be unnerving.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Most VPN companies will spin up servers as needed (virtual or otherwise) to meet demand. As such, the overall number of servers is influenced by how many subscribers a company can boast. But a large server fleet also means it's more likely to find an uncrowded server, potentially getting you better performance. ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers at its disposal, placing it among the largest collection of servers we've seen. CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard&lt;\/a&gt; all have over 3,000 servers but NordVPN is at the top of the heap with well over 5,200 servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN is very &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/support\/troubleshooting\/virtual-server-locations\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;transparent about its use of virtual servers&lt;\/a&gt;. An explanatory page says that less than three percent of servers are not physically located where they appear to be, and lists their true location. A company spokesperson confirmed this information. ExpressVPN explains that part of why it uses virtual servers is to provide better performance, but also for improved security. You wouldn't necessarily want a VPN server within a dangerous country, as it could be tampered with, potentially revealing private information about its users. ExpressVPN's Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Vietnam servers, for example, are all virtual. This sounds reasonable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With ExpressVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, you're entrusting it with access to your web traffic. If the VPN were lacking in morals, it could easily monetize your personal information much the same way an ISP can. The VPN might also be targeted by law enforcement to hand over information relating to its customers. This is why it's important to read and understand a VPN's privacy policy. Don't worry, I've read the fine print for you. To its credit, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/privacy-policy&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN's privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; is a reasonable length and fairly easy to understand.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN does collect information on activity in order to run its business, but is clear about the limits of that gathering: &quot;These statistics never include anything about what the user did with the VPN: no data about the contents or destinations of VPN traffic, no DNS queries, and no IP addresses.&quot; The policy goes on to explain that it cannot match users to IP addresses or other activity. That's what you want to hear from a VPN company.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, which has no data retention laws. The company points out that any request for user information would have to be issued from a local court, and would only be honored if the crime under investigation would be punishable by at least a year in prison in the British Virgin Islands.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Better still, ExpressVPN makes it clear in its policy (and verified to me) that it only generates revenue through the sale of VPN subscriptions. The company does not sell user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company does, however, collect information on the aggregate amount of data transferred, the day a successful connection has been made, and to which VPN location&amp;mdash;but not a specific public-facing IP address. ExpressVPN stresses that this information is not sufficient to identify a specific individual, since it would be identical to many other users. A company representative proudly pointed out that when Turkish authorities seized an ExpressVPN server, investigators, &quot;could not find any server logs that would enable investigators to link activity to a user or even determine which users, or whether a specific user, were connected at a given time.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPN companies have begun releasing the results of third-party audits in order to validate the security of their services. NordVPN commissioned an audit of its no-log policy, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; has committed to releasing annual audits of its entire process. An ExpressVPN representative tells me that the company carries out regular audits and penetration tests, but has not yet shared any publicly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One contribution that ExpressVPN has made to the larger security community is an open-source leak-testing tool. It has also responded to the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Center for Democracy and Technology's VPN questionnaire&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With ExpressVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I had no trouble downloading and installing the software on my &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/lenovo-thinkpad-t460s&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;8493&quot;&gt;Lenovo Thinkpad T460s&lt;\/a&gt; running Windows 10. Installation and setup were a breeze in my testing, and I was quickly using ExpressVPN's lovely, minimal interface. The simple main window lets you connect and disconnect quickly, with a large, clearly marked button. One interesting twist is that I didn't have to log in to the ExpressVPN client. Instead, I just entered an activation code from the ExpressVPN site. It's nearly seamless.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-12.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Setup', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additional windows let you sort and save preferred servers but I wish the app showed more information about each server, such as overall usage. I especially like the speed test window, which performs a quick test across all ExpressVPN's available servers to help you pick the best one.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN eschews specialized servers and upsell features, opting to instead offer a rock solid product out of the box. Everything you'd expect is here, like a kill switch to prevents apps from connecting to the Internet if the VPN is disconnected. ExpressVPN has a unique feature called split tunneling. When active, this lets you designate which applications send their data through the VPN's tunnel or travel outside the tunnel, without encryption. If you have certain activities that are blocked when you use a VPN or are affected negatively by poor network performance, split tunneling is a useful workaround.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that ExpressVPN offers its own DNS service. That's handy, since clever attackers can monitor DNS requests to try and track you across the web. The company also allows P2P file sharing and &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;91&quot;&gt;BitTorrent&lt;\/ZIFFARITCLE&gt; on all servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If a VPN is configured incorrectly, it can &lt;ZIFFARTICLE id=&quot;354450&quot;&gt;potentially leak&lt;\/a&gt; your real IP address, your ISP, or your DNS requests. I confirmed that my IP address were hidden and my ISP obscured. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test&lt;\/a&gt;, I found that ExpressVPN redirected all of my requests to the right spot, without leaking any information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ExpressVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-video-streaming-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;106&quot;&gt;Streaming media&lt;\/a&gt; is incredibly important for consumers, but streaming services like &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix will sometimes block&lt;\/a&gt; your access when you use a VPN. This is often in order to protect distribution agreements for streaming companies.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I was unable to connect to Netflix while ExpressVPN was in use. That's disappointing, but not too surprising. VPNs and Netflix are in an ongoing arms race over access.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPN companies include additional features to help differentiate them from competitors. For example, NordVPN attempts to block advertising at the network level. Other companies attempt to block malicious URLs, or provide static public IP addresses. ExpressVPN does not offer these extras.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A perennial concern with VPNs is that using one will slow your internet connection to a crawl. While it is true that using a VPN will increase latency and reduce upload and download speeds, it's usually a bearable experience. To get a sense of the impact a VPN has on your internet experience, we run a series of tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) I run through the nitty-gritty of our testing elsewhere, so be sure to read that if you're curious about &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;my methodologies&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-13.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Speed', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that network connections are mercurial things, and your individual experience will probably differ from mine. Think of these results as more of a snapshot for comparison, rather than a final verdict on performance.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When I initially tested ExpressVPN, the results weren't spectacular. It greatly increased latency, in my case by 1,266.7 percent. I found that ExpressVPN reduced upload speeds by 85.7 percent and download speeds by 95.3 percent. When ExpressVPN released the current version of its software, company representatives said it had been rejiggered to produce better speed test results. I was skeptical, but the test results speak for themselves: ExpressVPN now reduces latency by only 25 percent, upload speeds by 76.3 percent, and download speeds by 85 percent. That's an across-the-board improvement. &lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below with the top ten performers among the over 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-14.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Speedtest Improvements', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1072 637'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.fit_lim.size_1072x637.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='1072' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.fit_lim.size_1072x637.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;According to my testing, HideIPVPN is the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;258&quot;&gt;fastest VPN&lt;\/a&gt; based on its comparatively small impact on upload and download speeds. ExpressVPN, however, has improved by leaps and bounds. It's a very close runner up for the top 10 fastest VPNs (in fact, it came in at 11th). That said, I believe that features and overall value are far more important than speed, and discourage readers from judging a VPN solely off these results.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-15.v_1569469965.png', 'Fastest VPN 2019 Feb 21 2', 'Fastest VPN 2019', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1250 590'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' width='1250' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ExpressVPN on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN offers apps for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. I highly recommend that people use an app with a VPN, since it is easier to use, requires no manual configuration, and grants access to additional features. ExpressVPN also supports Linux users with a command line tool.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also has plug-ins available for browsers, including Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. Note that browser plug-ins function as proxies, letting you change the apparent location of only your browser traffic, and doesn't apply the encryption found with VPN protocols.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also provides a Fire TV and Kindle Fire app, and instructions for using the service on Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Tough Competition&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has a lot going for it. Its geographic distribution is excellent, and its use of virtual servers seems smart&amp;mdash;not sketchy. It also boasts over 3,000 servers, which is quite robust. While it covers all the basics, ExpressVPN goes further by including rarely seen features like split tunneling. What holds ExpressVPN back from being an Editors' Choice is the value proposition it offers: Three simultaneous connections at a comparably high monthly price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN is a very good service, but our Editors' Choice winners have better all-around offerings at lower prices: NordVPN offers more for less, &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/private-internet-access-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4067&quot;&gt;Private Internet Access&lt;\/a&gt; undercuts ExpressVPN by almost half the price, TunnelBear has unbeatable friendliness, and ProtonVPN provides excellent security with flexible pricing.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:57,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:46,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2000,&quot;height&quot;:1176,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7b01f84233ced24cca11bc2b830b48d6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1701449178,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;expressvpn logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-47325&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:28,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1114,&quot;height&quot;:626,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;828953861dd137d2a4ef9a096bc110b1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN app connected to VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:29,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1247,&quot;height&quot;:702,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dafab1cc170e95a02943f67018e7be74&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three windows of the ExpressVPN app with the protocol selector on the far right&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:30,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-30.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1123,&quot;height&quot;:631,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;75f2798a3bad8d9e7af8044d41faf368&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Window showing available VPN server locations&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1115,&quot;height&quot;:627,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a89df354c983931913071ce7b036de37&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Panel showing advanced settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:32,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-32.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1594,&quot;height&quot;:897,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7de9515818e5cb0756cdf86945aed63c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The app is reddish when disconnected and notifications appear&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:33,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-33.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1082,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6a1770b57f53bf182a5154fff3177766&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The split tunneling settings window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:34,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-34.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c0436406cccf51703d67c646d5cbd6f6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1624557947,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:35,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-35.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2194,&quot;height&quot;:1234,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7611d79c1b50c1a603f110dc05cf0ee9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1624889077,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN macOS VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:37,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-37.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;10c2fdb844d5a1bd5475518a50c0f1a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1626117355,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's iPhone interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:38,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-38.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;df8a255cedccc2c6933c470bf2a69dce&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app while connected &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:39,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-39.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0977a5331a7e0257ed180b2f573388a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpresVPN Windows app displaying the protocol selector&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:40,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-40.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4b6a49c07661a5f40730bc659e70a255&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app showing the server location selector window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-42.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;34ed04f260c82e0ae5e00bc5871b61a5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app while disconnected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-43.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f350c15b0731cdf968fcd69de15d39e5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three windows from the ExpressVPN Windows app, the topmost one showing which apps are sending traffic outside the VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:44,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-44.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0a6cd6a40c0303f9985825d81f846011&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app displaying controls for the shortcuts feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:47,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-47.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1832,&quot;height&quot;:982,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;17e935cedced3d1ffbdf7beaf0ad49e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729808835,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;expressvpn ios&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:48,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-48.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c024ece55404135a9c0742d0e302b23c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's pricing page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-49.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;eb8552be7568937131e28bbf362aeb5e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows connection screen&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:50,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-50.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c35d1883cdd2cfc515c2962350806ac5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's threat manager menu on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:51,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-51.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ab0715735f637c0e5aba4e54c08b3469&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749750547,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows protocol options&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:52,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-52.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c424984a01a496ea081894c0e396f2ec&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749750547,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows server menu&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-53.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1fe9fe74c14dea2872f13e8b2e796139&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows client menus&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-54.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d1bfaf395931808b34f7fd033e802860&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's macOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:55,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-55.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0b0e23aab41426420e94b9d328547c99&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN iOS interface and menus&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:56,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-56.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;53abae7c52f22d3dbb8951eb8a927b6c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750882057,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Large, diverse, widely distributed fleet of serversrnFast speed test resultsrnStrong privacy and security practicesrnSupport for post-quantum encryption protocols&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Expensive monthly and annual plansrnNo multi-hop connectionsrnAd blocking is spottyrnOwnership with a sketchy past&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's dedication to privacy is impressive, as is its far-flung fleet of servers, though its price is steep for those who don't need worldwide access.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Interface&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2016-07-22T09:33:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:19.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2016-07-18T21:18:01.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:11523,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:54765,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54766,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54767,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-25T00:04:53.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54770,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:72669,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;0720gpTQE8mDYRSQhBsNKme&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;12.95&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:20:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:54771,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54767,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-25T00:04:53.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54766,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54772,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;105 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54773,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54765,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54774,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54768,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Lightway&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54769,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Lightway, OpenVPN, L2TP&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54770,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:11523,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;0720gpTQE8mDYRSQhBsNKme&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;06CHsteybNkhsJbtoZ4bIWi&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:36,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Interface&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-07-12T20:32:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T20:38:38.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:7874,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:346223,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;0720gpTQE8mDYRSQhBsNKme&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN Review: A Global Juggernaut With Impressive Technology&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;expressvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;You never know who might be virtually looking over your shoulder, so it pays to use a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt; (VPN), like ExpressVPN, to secure your web browsing against scammers, three-letter agencies, and, well, everyone else. ExpressVPN has a wide distribution of servers and includes rare features like split-tunneling. It's expensive, however, and it only provides three connections per license.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network at the local coffee shop, you're not safe. An unscrupulous person could snoop on your web traffic, or perhaps the free Wi-Fi is phony and designed expressly to steal information from anyone who connects to it. Even out on the web, governments and advertisers are keen to get your data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469965.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469965.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nWhen you're connected to one of these services, your data travels through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the VPN company. From here, it exits onto the web. While in transit it can't be intercepted, stopping sleazes at the coffee shop from snooping on you. Out on the open internet, your real IP address can't be discerned because your traffic appears to be coming from the VPN server. Routing your traffic through the VPN's server also effectively spoofs your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has three pricing tiers: $12.95 billed each month, $59.95 billed every six months, and $99.95 billed annually. Like most services, the only difference is for how long you commit. The company accepts payment by all major credit cards, PayPal, and other services such as Alipay and WebMoney. ExpressVPN subscriptions can also be purchased with Bitcoin. There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money back guarantee.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The current monthly price of a top-rated VPN service is around $10.30, which is quite a bit below ExpressVPN's asking price. Private Internet Access costs a mere $6.94, while TunnelBear is slightly more at $9.99. Even &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/nordvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2777&quot;&gt;NordVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;036agv40SCXcyS0CC0d4np6&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt;, the most expensive Editors' Choice-winning VPN, is a full dollar a month cheaper.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The only thing cheaper than cheap is free, and ExpressVPN does not offer a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;free VPN subscription&lt;\/a&gt;. TunnelBear VPN does offer a free trial which limits you to 500MB of data month, while Anchorfree HotSpot Shield's free subscription cuts you off at 500MB per day. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt;, on the other hand, places no data restrictions on its free subscription and has a flexible pricing structure that can get you started for $5.00 per month.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Given ExpressVPN's price tag, its service is surprisingly stingy. ExpressVPN limits you to three simultaneous connections from different devices, while the industry standard is five simultaneous connections. NordVPN offers six connections, and CyberGhost seven, while TorGuard VPN lets you choose how many connections you'd like with a simple slider that goes from five to 205. Windscribe and Avira Phantom VPN are even simpler: they place no limit on the number of devices you can connect simultaneously.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can spring for a router preloaded with ExpressVPN software, thanks to a partnership between ExpressVPN and FlashRouters. Or you can follow ExpressVPN's instructions and install the software on a router yourself. The advantage of a VPN-enabled router is that it protects every device on your network, including those that can't run VPNs on their own, and effectively lets you connect an infinite number of devices. ExpressVPN notably provides apps or installation instructions on a dizzying number of platforms, so you're sure to find something that meets your needs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-9.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Connected', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs are a very mature technology and as such there are a lot of different ways to create a VPN connection. I prefer OpenVPN. This VPN protocol is known for its speed and reliability, but most importantly is an open-source project, meaning its code has been picked over for vulnerabilities. ExpressVPN, happily, supports OpenVPN UDP\/TCP on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. It also supports configuring routers to use OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also supports the older L2TP protocol on macOS and Windows, and the much less secure PPTP on Windows only. I don't recommend using either, unless you absolutely have to for some obscure legacy reason.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-10.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Protocols', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's notable that ExpressVPN supports OpenVPN in its iOS app. That's because Apple makes app developers that wish to use OpenVPN jump through additional hoops, and many developers decline to do so. ExpressVPN also supports the IKEv1\/2 protocols on iOS, which is my next-best choice of VPN protocol after OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of what you are paying for with a VPN subscription is access to the company's fleet of VPN servers. These are the machines you'll be connecting with, and from which your web traffic will appear to originate. Generally speaking, it's good to have a diverse distribution of servers, since this will ensure that you'll be able to find one close by, no matter where you travel, and likely get better service because of that closeness. It also gives you more options for spoofing your location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN offers 160 &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/vpn-server&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;server locations&lt;\/a&gt; across 94 countries. Among my top-rated VPNs, ExpressVPN offers the most choices for server locations. My top choice, NordVPN, supports only 62 countries and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; only 80. It also excels in geographic diversity, with four of its locations in Africa and excellent coverage across South America&amp;mdash;two continents often underserved or completely ignored by other VPN companies. ExpressVPN also maintains servers for some countries with repressive internet policies, including Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-11.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Locations', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-4.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some readers have expressed concern about virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that one piece of hardware can host multiple virtual servers. Virtual servers can also be configured to appear as if they are in a country other than where that physical hardware is located. Virtual servers aren't necessarily bad, but the idea that your data may be heading to some country other than where you want it to go can be unnerving.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Most VPN companies will spin up servers as needed (virtual or otherwise) to meet demand. As such, the overall number of servers is influenced by how many subscribers a company can boast. But a large server fleet also means it's more likely to find an uncrowded server, potentially getting you better performance. ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers at its disposal, placing it among the largest collection of servers we've seen. CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard&lt;\/a&gt; all have over 3,000 servers but NordVPN is at the top of the heap with well over 5,200 servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN is very &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/support\/troubleshooting\/virtual-server-locations\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;transparent about its use of virtual servers&lt;\/a&gt;. An explanatory page says that less than three percent of servers are not physically located where they appear to be, and lists their true location. A company spokesperson confirmed this information. ExpressVPN explains that part of why it uses virtual servers is to provide better performance, but also for improved security. You wouldn't necessarily want a VPN server within a dangerous country, as it could be tampered with, potentially revealing private information about its users. ExpressVPN's Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Vietnam servers, for example, are all virtual. This sounds reasonable.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With ExpressVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, you're entrusting it with access to your web traffic. If the VPN were lacking in morals, it could easily monetize your personal information much the same way an ISP can. The VPN might also be targeted by law enforcement to hand over information relating to its customers. This is why it's important to read and understand a VPN's privacy policy. Don't worry, I've read the fine print for you. To its credit, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/privacy-policy&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN's privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; is a reasonable length and fairly easy to understand.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN does collect information on activity in order to run its business, but is clear about the limits of that gathering: &quot;These statistics never include anything about what the user did with the VPN: no data about the contents or destinations of VPN traffic, no DNS queries, and no IP addresses.&quot; The policy goes on to explain that it cannot match users to IP addresses or other activity. That's what you want to hear from a VPN company.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has its headquarters in the British Virgin Islands, which has no data retention laws. The company points out that any request for user information would have to be issued from a local court, and would only be honored if the crime under investigation would be punishable by at least a year in prison in the British Virgin Islands.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Better still, ExpressVPN makes it clear in its policy (and verified to me) that it only generates revenue through the sale of VPN subscriptions. The company does not sell user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company does, however, collect information on the aggregate amount of data transferred, the day a successful connection has been made, and to which VPN location&amp;mdash;but not a specific public-facing IP address. ExpressVPN stresses that this information is not sufficient to identify a specific individual, since it would be identical to many other users. A company representative proudly pointed out that when Turkish authorities seized an ExpressVPN server, investigators, &quot;could not find any server logs that would enable investigators to link activity to a user or even determine which users, or whether a specific user, were connected at a given time.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPN companies have begun releasing the results of third-party audits in order to validate the security of their services. NordVPN commissioned an audit of its no-log policy, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; has committed to releasing annual audits of its entire process. An ExpressVPN representative tells me that the company carries out regular audits and penetration tests, but has not yet shared any publicly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One contribution that ExpressVPN has made to the larger security community is an open-source leak-testing tool. It has also responded to the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Center for Democracy and Technology's VPN questionnaire&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With ExpressVPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I had no trouble downloading and installing the software on my &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/lenovo-thinkpad-t460s&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;8493&quot;&gt;Lenovo Thinkpad T460s&lt;\/a&gt; running Windows 10. Installation and setup were a breeze in my testing, and I was quickly using ExpressVPN's lovely, minimal interface. The simple main window lets you connect and disconnect quickly, with a large, clearly marked button. One interesting twist is that I didn't have to log in to the ExpressVPN client. Instead, I just entered an activation code from the ExpressVPN site. It's nearly seamless.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-12.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Setup', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additional windows let you sort and save preferred servers but I wish the app showed more information about each server, such as overall usage. I especially like the speed test window, which performs a quick test across all ExpressVPN's available servers to help you pick the best one.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN eschews specialized servers and upsell features, opting to instead offer a rock solid product out of the box. Everything you'd expect is here, like a kill switch to prevents apps from connecting to the Internet if the VPN is disconnected. ExpressVPN has a unique feature called split tunneling. When active, this lets you designate which applications send their data through the VPN's tunnel or travel outside the tunnel, without encryption. If you have certain activities that are blocked when you use a VPN or are affected negatively by poor network performance, split tunneling is a useful workaround.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that ExpressVPN offers its own DNS service. That's handy, since clever attackers can monitor DNS requests to try and track you across the web. The company also allows P2P file sharing and &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;91&quot;&gt;BitTorrent&lt;\/ZIFFARITCLE&gt; on all servers.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If a VPN is configured incorrectly, it can &lt;ZIFFARTICLE id=&quot;354450&quot;&gt;potentially leak&lt;\/a&gt; your real IP address, your ISP, or your DNS requests. I confirmed that my IP address were hidden and my ISP obscured. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test&lt;\/a&gt;, I found that ExpressVPN redirected all of my requests to the right spot, without leaking any information.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ExpressVPN and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-video-streaming-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;106&quot;&gt;Streaming media&lt;\/a&gt; is incredibly important for consumers, but streaming services like &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix will sometimes block&lt;\/a&gt; your access when you use a VPN. This is often in order to protect distribution agreements for streaming companies.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I was unable to connect to Netflix while ExpressVPN was in use. That's disappointing, but not too surprising. VPNs and Netflix are in an ongoing arms race over access.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPN companies include additional features to help differentiate them from competitors. For example, NordVPN attempts to block advertising at the network level. Other companies attempt to block malicious URLs, or provide static public IP addresses. ExpressVPN does not offer these extras.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A perennial concern with VPNs is that using one will slow your internet connection to a crawl. While it is true that using a VPN will increase latency and reduce upload and download speeds, it's usually a bearable experience. To get a sense of the impact a VPN has on your internet experience, we run a series of tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.) I run through the nitty-gritty of our testing elsewhere, so be sure to read that if you're curious about &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;my methodologies&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-13.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Speed', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-6.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that network connections are mercurial things, and your individual experience will probably differ from mine. Think of these results as more of a snapshot for comparison, rather than a final verdict on performance.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When I initially tested ExpressVPN, the results weren't spectacular. It greatly increased latency, in my case by 1,266.7 percent. I found that ExpressVPN reduced upload speeds by 85.7 percent and download speeds by 95.3 percent. When ExpressVPN released the current version of its software, company representatives said it had been rejiggered to produce better speed test results. I was skeptical, but the test results speak for themselves: ExpressVPN now reduces latency by only 25 percent, upload speeds by 76.3 percent, and download speeds by 85 percent. That's an across-the-board improvement. &lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below with the top ten performers among the over 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-14.v_1569469965.png', 'ExpressVPN Speedtest Improvements', 'ExpressVPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1072 637'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.fit_lim.size_1072x637.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='ExpressVPN' width='1072' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.fit_lim.size_1072x637.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-7.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;According to my testing, HideIPVPN is the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;258&quot;&gt;fastest VPN&lt;\/a&gt; based on its comparatively small impact on upload and download speeds. ExpressVPN, however, has improved by leaps and bounds. It's a very close runner up for the top 10 fastest VPNs (in fact, it came in at 11th). That said, I believe that features and overall value are far more important than speed, and discourage readers from judging a VPN solely off these results.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how ExpressVPN compares in the chart below.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-15.v_1569469965.png', 'Fastest VPN 2019 Feb 21 2', 'Fastest VPN 2019', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1250 590'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469965.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' width='1250' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469965.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-8.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;ExpressVPN on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN offers apps for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. I highly recommend that people use an app with a VPN, since it is easier to use, requires no manual configuration, and grants access to additional features. ExpressVPN also supports Linux users with a command line tool.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also has plug-ins available for browsers, including Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. Note that browser plug-ins function as proxies, letting you change the apparent location of only your browser traffic, and doesn't apply the encryption found with VPN protocols.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN also provides a Fire TV and Kindle Fire app, and instructions for using the service on Apple TV, PlayStation, and Xbox devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Tough Competition&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN has a lot going for it. Its geographic distribution is excellent, and its use of virtual servers seems smart&amp;mdash;not sketchy. It also boasts over 3,000 servers, which is quite robust. While it covers all the basics, ExpressVPN goes further by including rarely seen features like split tunneling. What holds ExpressVPN back from being an Editors' Choice is the value proposition it offers: Three simultaneous connections at a comparably high monthly price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;ExpressVPN is a very good service, but our Editors' Choice winners have better all-around offerings at lower prices: NordVPN offers more for less, &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/private-internet-access-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4067&quot;&gt;Private Internet Access&lt;\/a&gt; undercuts ExpressVPN by almost half the price, TunnelBear has unbeatable friendliness, and ProtonVPN provides excellent security with flexible pricing.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:57,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:46,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-46.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2000,&quot;height&quot;:1176,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7b01f84233ced24cca11bc2b830b48d6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1701449178,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;expressvpn logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-47325&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:28,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1114,&quot;height&quot;:626,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;828953861dd137d2a4ef9a096bc110b1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN app connected to VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:29,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1247,&quot;height&quot;:702,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;dafab1cc170e95a02943f67018e7be74&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three windows of the ExpressVPN app with the protocol selector on the far right&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:30,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-30.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1123,&quot;height&quot;:631,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;75f2798a3bad8d9e7af8044d41faf368&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257405,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Window showing available VPN server locations&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1115,&quot;height&quot;:627,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a89df354c983931913071ce7b036de37&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Panel showing advanced settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:32,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-32.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1594,&quot;height&quot;:897,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7de9515818e5cb0756cdf86945aed63c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The app is reddish when disconnected and notifications appear&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:33,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-33.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1082,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6a1770b57f53bf182a5154fff3177766&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1623257406,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The split tunneling settings window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:34,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-34.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c0436406cccf51703d67c646d5cbd6f6&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1624557947,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:35,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-35.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2194,&quot;height&quot;:1234,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7611d79c1b50c1a603f110dc05cf0ee9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1624889077,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN macOS VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:37,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-37.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;10c2fdb844d5a1bd5475518a50c0f1a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1626117355,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's iPhone interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:38,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-38.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;df8a255cedccc2c6933c470bf2a69dce&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app while connected &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:39,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-39.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0977a5331a7e0257ed180b2f573388a0&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpresVPN Windows app displaying the protocol selector&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:40,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-40.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4b6a49c07661a5f40730bc659e70a255&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301398,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app showing the server location selector window&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-42.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;34ed04f260c82e0ae5e00bc5871b61a5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app while disconnected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-43.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f350c15b0731cdf968fcd69de15d39e5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Three windows from the ExpressVPN Windows app, the topmost one showing which apps are sending traffic outside the VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:44,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-44.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0a6cd6a40c0303f9985825d81f846011&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1692301399,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The ExpressVPN Windows app displaying controls for the shortcuts feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:47,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-47.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1832,&quot;height&quot;:982,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;17e935cedced3d1ffbdf7beaf0ad49e7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1729808835,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;expressvpn ios&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: ExpressVPN\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:48,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-48.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c024ece55404135a9c0742d0e302b23c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's pricing page&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-49.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;eb8552be7568937131e28bbf362aeb5e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows connection screen&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:50,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-50.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c35d1883cdd2cfc515c2962350806ac5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749749653,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's threat manager menu on Windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:51,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-51.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ab0715735f637c0e5aba4e54c08b3469&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749750547,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows protocol options&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:52,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-52.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c424984a01a496ea081894c0e396f2ec&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749750547,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows server menu&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-53.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1fe9fe74c14dea2872f13e8b2e796139&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Windows client menus&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-54.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d1bfaf395931808b34f7fd033e802860&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's macOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:55,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-55.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0b0e23aab41426420e94b9d328547c99&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1749751363,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN iOS interface and menus&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:56,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/017J2F0SqocSaCiuU25mVZe-56.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;53abae7c52f22d3dbb8951eb8a927b6c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750882057,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/ExpressVPN&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Large, diverse, widely distributed fleet of serversrnFast speed test resultsrnStrong privacy and security practicesrnSupport for post-quantum encryption protocols&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Expensive monthly and annual plansrnNo multi-hop connectionsrnAd blocking is spottyrnOwnership with a sketchy past&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN's dedication to privacy is impressive, as is its far-flung fleet of servers, though its price is steep for those who don't need worldwide access.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for World Travelers&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2016-07-22T09:33:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:19.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2016-07-18T21:18:01.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:72669,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;0720gpTQE8mDYRSQhBsNKme&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;12.95&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:20:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:54771,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54767,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-25T00:04:53.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54766,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54772,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;105 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54773,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54765,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-03T15:21:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54774,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54768,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Lightway&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54769,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Lightway, OpenVPN, L2TP&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:54770,&quot;product_id&quot;:72669,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T02:02:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:36:56.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:7874,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-12T17:34:13.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:2022,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:6933,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01gF4RGG9auLdAIs1lUkB91&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;ExpressVPN&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;expressvpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;deck&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2019-06-11T02:54:11.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-08T11:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;brandable_id&quot;:7874,&quot;brand_id&quot;:2022,&quot;brandable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2020-01-12T00:07:18.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:43:24.000000Z&quot;}}]},{&quot;id&quot;:3990,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:368559,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;04q3oaGMO76XaZT56tVsqUn&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN Review: A Feature-Packed Service With Top-Notch Performance&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN Review: A Feature-Packed Service With Top-Notch Performance&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;surfshark-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;Surfshark offers top-of-the-line performance, unlimited simultaneous device connections, and affordable long-term plans. However, Surfsharku2019s monthly subscription price is the highest out of the VPNs we have reviewed.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:false,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;One of the first things I look at when &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;reviewing a VPN&lt;\/a&gt; is what kind of value it offers, particularly how many devices you can use with a given service and at what price. Surfshark takes the unusual move of placing no limits on the number of devices that can use a single account, making it an excellent value&amp;mdash;even if the asking price is a bit high. Surfshark also offers rarely seen advanced features, and bundles it all in an excellent app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server operated by the VPN company. By piping all of your web traffic through this tunnel, it effectively hides your IP address and makes it appear as if your traffic is coming from the VPN server rather than your computer. This makes it much harder for spies, advertisers, and your ISP to track your activities online. That last one is important, as ISPs can now sell your anonymized data for a profit.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While VPNs are powerful tools, they can't solve all your privacy and security problems. If you require total anonymity, you'll need more powerful solutions, such as the Tor network.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As with most VPN companies, Surshark offers different subscription tiers of varying price and duration. The longer the subscription, the bigger the discount. Surfshark currently costs $11.95 per month, $71.88 every year, or $47.76 every two years. That's a very steep discount, but that's not too unusual in the VPN market. I recommend starting with the shortest possible subscription, to make sure it works for you, and then increasing to longer subscription terms if you decide you like the service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I compare only the full monthly fees in my reviews&amp;mdash;it's really the only way to get apples-to-apples comparisons&amp;mdash;and Surfshark is on the high side. The average price of one of PCMag's top-rated VPNs is $10.28 per month. At $11.95 per month, Surfshark costs the same per month as NordVPN (which is on the expensive side), and is far beyond the $6.95 per month asked for by &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/private-internet-access-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4067&quot;&gt;Private Internet Access&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If that's too rich for your blood, there are numerous cheap VPNs and even &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;a few worthy free VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; to consider. ProtonVPN fits into both categories, and is especially notable because it is the only free VPN I've yet reviewed that imposes no data limit.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a bit pricey, Surfshark does offer excellent value for that money. For one thing, it lets you use an unlimited number of devices on one account, whereas most companies cut you off after just five simultaneous connections. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; notably offers seven connections out of the box and ExpressVPN an even more generous 10, but you can't beat unlimited.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark allows P2P and &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot;&gt;BitTorrent via VPN&lt;\/a&gt; on certain servers, and the CleanWeb tool provides ad-blocking as well, but its real strengths are the rarely seen features it provides. One such feature is Whitelister, a split-tunneling tool lets you route certain apps or websites outside the VPN tunnel. The other unusual feature is Multihop, which creates a VPN connection to a server and then bounces your traffic to a second VPN server for even greater security. These are really powerful tools, and while you might not use them every day (or ever), they help justify Surfshark's high price. More on these features below.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One rare feature Surfshark currently does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;\/em&gt; offer is access to Tor via VPN, which is available through &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/nordvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2777&quot;&gt;NordVPN&lt;\/a&gt; and ProtonVPN. Notably, ProtonVPN also offers multihop VPN connections.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-9.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies allow you to purchase add-ons to your base subscription. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, has an &lt;em&gt;&amp;agrave; la carte&lt;\/em&gt; option for the number of simultaneous connections you'd like. NordVPN and others offer static IP addresses, which are useful anytime you find your VPN connection blocked. Surfshark already provides an unlimited number of connections, so there's no problems there, and a company representative says it will start offering static IP addresses in the near future.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are many different ways to create a VPN connection. My preferred option is OpenVPN, which has a reputation for speed and reliability. More importantly, it's an open-source option, meaning that its code is available to be examined for potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark uses the IKEv2 protocol by default on all its apps, which is another strong option. OpenVPN is available for Android, Linux, and Windows, but you have to select it manually. Surfshark tells me that its iOS and macOS apps will support OpenVPN soon.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Two important metrics for VPN services are the number of servers the company offers, and the geographic distribution of those servers. In both categories, Surfshark does fairly well.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company currently offers 800 total servers, putting its server fleet on the high end of mid-range. NordVPN, for instance, maintains over 5,200 servers while Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, and TorGuard have over 3,000 apiece. On the other end of the spectrum, Golden Frog VyprVPN has around 700 servers and ProtonVPN only 347. It's important to keep in mind that more servers does not always translate into better performance, and that total server count is partly a function of how many subscribers a company, well, serves.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-10.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Geographic distribution matters because a nearby server may offer better service than one further afield. Lots of locations across the globe means you're more likely to find one close by at home or when traveling, and it provides lots of options for spoofing your location. Surfshark covers 53 countries with its servers, which is quite good compared with the competition. NordVPN covers only slightly more at 62 countries, while &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; leads the pack with a whopping 94 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark notably provides above-average coverage to South America, an area often ignored by other companies. That said, its single server offering in Africa could stand to be expanded. Surfshark also offers servers in &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/why-im-not-choosing-the-best-vpn-for-china&quot;&gt;countries with repressive internet policies, including China&lt;\/a&gt;, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPNs make use of so-called virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that a single hardware server could host numerous virtual servers. The technology allows companies to quickly add servers to meet demand, or configure a server to appear in a country where the company cannot guarantee the safety of its hardware while really being hosted in a safer locale. In general, I don't have a problem with virtual servers, but I do believe that companies need to be transparent about which servers are virtual and provide the true location of the server. That's not an issue with Surfshark, as the company currently only has physical servers in its fleet.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With Surfshark&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Using a VPN requires a great amount of trust. If a VPN provider wanted to spy on your traffic, monetize your activity, or turn over your personal information to law enforcement, it very easily could. That's why it's important to understand the company's privacy policy and the legal framework the company operates under.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark actually has two documents that pertain to your privacy. Its &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/privacy-policy&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; is fairly readable, and extensive, while a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/features\/no-logs&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more understandable version&lt;\/a&gt; is also available. I looked at both for this review.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In its policy documents, Surfshark stresses that it does not log IP addresses, browsing history, amount of bandwidth used, network traffic, or even connection timestamps. That's exactly what you want to hear from a VPN company. I suspect the company is able to provide that level of anonymity in part because it places no limits on the number of devices or connections, so it does not need to police its users as carefully.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469941.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469941.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nThe company does collect &lt;em&gt;some&lt;\/em&gt; information, including aggregate &quot;performance data,&quot; frequency of use, and unsuccessful connection attempts. None of that sounds particularly suspicious, but it would be helpful if Surfshark better explained what these are and how the information is used. The company also notes that it receives advertising IDs from third parties, citing Google Play as an example. These are identifiers that you can reset yourself, and are used in place of unchangeable IDs like your phone's IMEI. Again, this isn't unusual, but Surfshark could better serve its customers by explaining how this information is used.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When I asked if the company generates revenue from sources other than VPN subscriptions, a company representative said no. That's good. It means that Surfshark is more interested in acquiring and keeping customers than mining them for data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-11.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt;&quot;&gt;Surfshark VPN includes split-tunneling.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark is owned by Surfshark LTD., and operates under the legal jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands. That has some benefit for the privacy of its customers, which I'll outline below. However, the company representative I spoke with declined to say where the company has its offices. The representative explained: &quot;as we have invested a lot of time and effort to break through the Great Firewall of China as well as other oppressive regimes, we choose to exercise our right to privacy and remain undisclosed.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While I can respect the right of an individual to not want to draw the ire of any government, Surfshark's decision to remain silent on this point is distressingly evasive. Most companies in the security industry have to contend with issues of personal and corporate safety, but are still willing to provide some sense of where they are located. It would be better if Surfshark was more transparent to its customers on this point.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company says that, to date, it has received no requests for information from British Virgin Island authorities. Other VPNs in the British Virgin Islands have told me that all warrants from other countries must be approved by local courts, which is good for users. A Surfshark representative told me that if the company was ever served a legal warrant, &quot;we would truthfully respond that we are unable to identify any user as we keep no logs whatsoever.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company has a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/warrant-canary&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;live Warrant Canary&lt;\/a&gt; on its site, for additional assurance. This is a single line that says the that the company has not been issued a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/yahoo-publishes-national-security-letter-details&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21645&quot;&gt;National Security Letter&lt;\/a&gt;, which would prevent Surfshark from disclosing the existence of the letter. Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, if Surfshark removes the page, something bad is going on.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies have begun commissioning third-party audits to verify company statements about customer privacy and security. Surfshark has commissioned one such audit of its Firefox and Chrome browser plug-ins, which earned a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/blog\/blog-surfshark-browser-extensions-stand-out-for-their-robust-security-independent-investigation-revealed&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;glowing review from auditors at Cure53&lt;\/a&gt;. I'm heartened to see Surfshark commission and release this report, and I hope that it will go further in the future. While an examination of the plug-ins is certainly valuable, I do not feel that it goes far enough to evaluate the company's privacy practices nor the security and efficacy of its core VPN product. Hopefully, future audits will provide that assurance.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As of this writing, Surfshark has not responded to the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Center for Democracy and Technology's VPN survey&lt;\/a&gt;. The company has, however, given me much of the same information found in the survey.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With Surfshark&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In this review, I tested Surfshark on a Lenovo ThinkPad T460s laptop running Windows 10. On Windows, Surfshark offers a small, stylish app with flat colors and smart design that expands and contracts to show more or less information. Unlike many other VPN clients, Surfshark has a resizable window, and a &quot;mini&quot; mode. It's not quite as friendly as &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear&lt;\/a&gt;, but it's very clean in the way that the best mobile apps are. In fact, it looks quite a bit like a mobile app, floating on a Windows desktop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark strikes a good balance between complexity and usability. It has some surprisingly robust features, which I outline below, but never seems daunting or overwhelming. I especially like that it has a clear, obvious way to immediately get online, and that it lets you select specific servers, and not just entire countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-12.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark offers a surprising number of advanced features, such as split-tunneling, which it calls Whitelister, as mentioned above. This tool lets you determine which sites and applications should be routed &lt;i&gt;outside&lt;\/i&gt; the VPN tunnel by adding URLs or applications to a list. Anything on the whitelist won't be slowed down by the VPN, or be blocked if the site or service blocks VPN users. It also won't be encrypted. It's a handy tool if you have low-security tasks that need bandwidth, such as video streaming, or critical sites that block VPN usage, such as some banks.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A sort of opposite of Whitelister is Multihop, which does exactly what it says on the tin. You can have your VPN connection go through multiple VPN servers instead of just one. This further obscures your online activities, even to parts of Surfshark's infrastructure, a bit like a very simplified Tor Network. The downside is that you'll experience even more latency and reduced upload and download speeds. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN&lt;\/a&gt; also offers multihop connections, and like Surfshark is limited to predefined multihop connections. You can't arbitrarily choose two locations, unfortunately. Despite that, it's a rare feature that I am glad to see included in the app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-13.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Surfshark VPN multihop, in action.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Also of note is Camouflage Mode, which disguises your VPN traffic as normal HTTPS web traffic. Other VPNs include this feature under different names (TunnelBear calls it GhostBear, for instance), and it's especially useful if you're in a region that blocks the use of VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A concern with VPNs is that they may &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;leak your DNS information or IP address&lt;\/a&gt;. In my testing, I found that Surfshark successfully hid my true IP and ISP information. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test&lt;\/a&gt; tool, I confirmed that Surfshark did not leak my DNS requests to my ISP.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Surfshark and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you live, streaming services such as Netflix might serve you different content. If you're traveling abroad, you might find that you're unable to continue watching a show that you started at home. With a VPN, you can spoof your location back home to keep watching a show or movie, or jump to a distant VPN location to access content not available at home. For this very reason, &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix aggressively blocks the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, that shouldn't be an issue with Surfshark. I had no trouble streaming from Netflix while connected to a US VPN server. Keep in mind, however, that Netflix is locked in a cat-and-mouse game with VPN companies. A service that works today may not work tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In order to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, several VPN companies have begun adding additional features to their products beyond the scope of VPN protection. Surfshark has one such feature: an ad-blocker branded as CleanWeb. Like many such tools, it blocks ads at the DNS level, so ads never reach your browser.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Other companies go further. TunnelBear, for instance, has a stand-alone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt; called Remembear and a bear themed ad-blocking browser plug-in.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In the coming months, Surfshark plans to release two new features: a privacy-focused search engine and an identity theft detection tool. The latter of these appears to be similar to Firefox Monitor or HaveIBeenPwned, and will be branded as HackLock. If your email or passwords show up in a data breach, you'll get an alert. The company will be branding its search engine as BlindSearch, which will not save a search history, present no ads, and display &quot;purely organic&quot; search results&amp;mdash;meaning a relevance ranking, rather than paid placement. I'll be taking a look at these features as they become available and will update this review accordingly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, you're adding more machines and physical distance to your internet connection, resulting in degraded performance. To get a sense of that degradation, I calculate a percent change between batches of tests run with a VPN and those without, using the Ookla Speedtest tool. To read the nitty-gritty about how we test VPNs, be sure to read the aptly titled feature How We Test VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569469941.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569469941.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Editors' Note: Ookla Speedtest is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.)&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my tests, I found that Surfshark increased latency by 166 percent over baseline, which is above (that is, worse than) the median result for this test. The service performed remarkably poorly in the upload test, where it decreased upload speeds by 96.9 percent&amp;mdash;the second-worst result I've yet recorded and far below the median score. Surprisingly, Surfshark reduced download speeds by only 84.4 percent, slightly better than the median result for this score.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see in the chart below how Surfshark compares with the top ten performers among the more than 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-14.v_1569469941.png', 'Fastest VPN 2019 Feb 21 2', 'Fastest VPN 2019', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1250 590'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' width='1250' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that my results came from using this VPN at a particular time of day and at a particular place. Your results will surely differ, but this method does allow me to make a comparison between services while controlling for variables. My testing has shown that, for now, HideIPVPN is the fastest VPN service out there. That said, speed alone should never be the main concern when shopping for a VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Surfshark on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark has &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-android-vpns&quot;&gt;Android VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;&gt;iOS VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot;&gt;macOS VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, and Windows VPN client apps. The company also offers an app for FireTV, which is a bit of a rarity. I highly recommend that you use a VPN app wherever possible, since the apps give you access to all the features the VPN service provides (and that you are paying for) and takes all the trouble out of configuring your connections.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Surfshark has plug-ins for the Chrome and Firefox browsers. Note that VPN browser plug-ins do spoof your location, but typically encrypt your traffic via TLS instead of a VPN protocol like OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company offers its custom DNS resolver for Xbox and PlayStation, but does not offer apps for those platforms. It also offers instructions for using Surfshark on Linux and for configuring routers to use Surfshark.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Safe Surfing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It is a pleasure to see a new VPN service come across my desk that gets so much right. Surfshark has a generous unlimited devices policy, letting you hook up as many devices as you like. In addition to the VPN protection provided by its excellent desktop applications, it also provides rarely seen features such as split-tunneling and multihop VPN. Overall, it's an excellent product.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark does have drawbacks. It's expensive, and its speed test scores are mediocre overall. More concerning is the company's lack of clarity and transparency on some points of its privacy policy. I'd like to see its audits become more encompassing, going beyond browser plug-ins.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Given all its plusses and minuses, Surfshark earns a good score with the hope of an even better one in the future. We continue to recommend our Editors' Choice winners: NordVPN for its features and large server fleet, Private Internet Access for its affordable pricing, TunnelBear for its friendly demeanor, and ProtonVPN for its combination of affordability and excellent features.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:79,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:52,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1028,&quot;height&quot;:578,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a20120f84e23cf6a859ad001d2d11791&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1620413332,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;surfshark logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:61,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-61.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:4036,&quot;height&quot;:2270,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;da823b3a6b7701e33b7fc76ab3312fd1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1659113958,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN on iOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-53.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3738,&quot;height&quot;:2102,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;422fb327945b9590527bcbf2b4d0049a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1620676652,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark's macOS VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-54.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1066,&quot;height&quot;:600,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;559650d0ce42709b7ed8b2116ef1b6dd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1652905144,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The desktop of Ubuntu 22.04 showing the Surfshark VPN app an its toolbar menu&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:62,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-62.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f14d4736c360c668b06cf7d6301a9645&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1664397607,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:63,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-63.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bd018dfc0e37ad049fc903bd8311b3c2&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN app on Windows 11, the app indicates that it is connected to the VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:64,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-64.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8b0a21314fb6f2fff0e4ea824e1399c5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app displaying information about Surfshark One.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:65,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-65.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c0fbb7a6904c6b82080e714d8f03b65e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app displaying a popover that explains the function of the IP Rotator&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:66,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-66.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7d09ce1e882409e7c84f30e9d557bfc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN app on Windows 11 displaying connection stats&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:67,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-67.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7ea3f711533e2e8545faf97da5e3b75d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app while disconnected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:68,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-68.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a5812fa227c87967d9b44d2272f50337&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app showing the settings for the Bypasser feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:69,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-69.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bf6762b3a2fbe1681d45e820b31d4b96&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app showing the IP Rotator countdown&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:70,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-70.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:768,&quot;height&quot;:432,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1e8c96c8483c52930931d686d6d73d62&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724885416,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;surfshark vpn mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:71,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-71.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;01302c82fc9e83217d01c6c33e68a317&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Prices for the monthly Surfshark plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:72,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-72.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6385d8aea9cb7f84be28033a73a41d4a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Prices for the two-year Surfshark plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:73,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-73.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;73c686b40b712212b4c28bd31d6045eb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark's Windows server list&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:74,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-74.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6e4b07bef5e4f2f2f1953cf3a7359a56&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark Windows interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:75,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-75.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5b7a4ef601aa3d4f9fde1047ac369340&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:76,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-76.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0918cc59cc10baca9b4db3ed58484f9e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark macOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:77,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-77.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f07f8b2d1ea33964f69f91044b776fe4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark support chat windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:78,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-78.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d99e3ed8b0ff59a2b6155b9504c0a3a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750876895,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark Android Interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Excellent server coverage and performancernImpressive suite of security featuresrnWell-defined privacy policyrnQuarterly transparency reportsrnAffordable long-term plans&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;High monthly costrnAverage server network size&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Surfshark is a top-tier VPN with unlimited device connections, compelling server performance, and a rock-solid privacy policy.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for VPN Novices&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2019-05-29T09:50:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:37:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2019-05-23T17:08:16.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:26:04.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:9879,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:16236,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16237,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16238,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16241,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:27880,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04q3oaGMO76XaZT56tVsqUn&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;15.45&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:58:44.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:16242,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16238,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16237,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16243,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;100 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16244,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16236,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:false,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16245,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16239,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16240,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16241,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9879,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;04q3oaGMO76XaZT56tVsqUn&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;00ixh31tLdVliJFwAf9EdLa&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:37,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for VPN Novices&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-04-27T15:51:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-23T18:56:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:3990,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:368559,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;04q3oaGMO76XaZT56tVsqUn&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN Review: A Feature-Packed Service With Top-Notch Performance&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN Review: A Feature-Packed Service With Top-Notch Performance&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;surfshark-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;Surfshark offers top-of-the-line performance, unlimited simultaneous device connections, and affordable long-term plans. However, Surfsharku2019s monthly subscription price is the highest out of the VPNs we have reviewed.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:false,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;One of the first things I look at when &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;reviewing a VPN&lt;\/a&gt; is what kind of value it offers, particularly how many devices you can use with a given service and at what price. Surfshark takes the unusual move of placing no limits on the number of devices that can use a single account, making it an excellent value&amp;mdash;even if the asking price is a bit high. Surfshark also offers rarely seen advanced features, and bundles it all in an excellent app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server operated by the VPN company. By piping all of your web traffic through this tunnel, it effectively hides your IP address and makes it appear as if your traffic is coming from the VPN server rather than your computer. This makes it much harder for spies, advertisers, and your ISP to track your activities online. That last one is important, as ISPs can now sell your anonymized data for a profit.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While VPNs are powerful tools, they can't solve all your privacy and security problems. If you require total anonymity, you'll need more powerful solutions, such as the Tor network.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As with most VPN companies, Surshark offers different subscription tiers of varying price and duration. The longer the subscription, the bigger the discount. Surfshark currently costs $11.95 per month, $71.88 every year, or $47.76 every two years. That's a very steep discount, but that's not too unusual in the VPN market. I recommend starting with the shortest possible subscription, to make sure it works for you, and then increasing to longer subscription terms if you decide you like the service.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I compare only the full monthly fees in my reviews&amp;mdash;it's really the only way to get apples-to-apples comparisons&amp;mdash;and Surfshark is on the high side. The average price of one of PCMag's top-rated VPNs is $10.28 per month. At $11.95 per month, Surfshark costs the same per month as NordVPN (which is on the expensive side), and is far beyond the $6.95 per month asked for by &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/private-internet-access-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4067&quot;&gt;Private Internet Access&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If that's too rich for your blood, there are numerous cheap VPNs and even &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;a few worthy free VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; to consider. ProtonVPN fits into both categories, and is especially notable because it is the only free VPN I've yet reviewed that imposes no data limit.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a bit pricey, Surfshark does offer excellent value for that money. For one thing, it lets you use an unlimited number of devices on one account, whereas most companies cut you off after just five simultaneous connections. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; notably offers seven connections out of the box and ExpressVPN an even more generous 10, but you can't beat unlimited.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark allows P2P and &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot;&gt;BitTorrent via VPN&lt;\/a&gt; on certain servers, and the CleanWeb tool provides ad-blocking as well, but its real strengths are the rarely seen features it provides. One such feature is Whitelister, a split-tunneling tool lets you route certain apps or websites outside the VPN tunnel. The other unusual feature is Multihop, which creates a VPN connection to a server and then bounces your traffic to a second VPN server for even greater security. These are really powerful tools, and while you might not use them every day (or ever), they help justify Surfshark's high price. More on these features below.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One rare feature Surfshark currently does &lt;em&gt;not&lt;\/em&gt; offer is access to Tor via VPN, which is available through &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/nordvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2777&quot;&gt;NordVPN&lt;\/a&gt; and ProtonVPN. Notably, ProtonVPN also offers multihop VPN connections.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-9.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies allow you to purchase add-ons to your base subscription. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, has an &lt;em&gt;&amp;agrave; la carte&lt;\/em&gt; option for the number of simultaneous connections you'd like. NordVPN and others offer static IP addresses, which are useful anytime you find your VPN connection blocked. Surfshark already provides an unlimited number of connections, so there's no problems there, and a company representative says it will start offering static IP addresses in the near future.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are many different ways to create a VPN connection. My preferred option is OpenVPN, which has a reputation for speed and reliability. More importantly, it's an open-source option, meaning that its code is available to be examined for potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark uses the IKEv2 protocol by default on all its apps, which is another strong option. OpenVPN is available for Android, Linux, and Windows, but you have to select it manually. Surfshark tells me that its iOS and macOS apps will support OpenVPN soon.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Two important metrics for VPN services are the number of servers the company offers, and the geographic distribution of those servers. In both categories, Surfshark does fairly well.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company currently offers 800 total servers, putting its server fleet on the high end of mid-range. NordVPN, for instance, maintains over 5,200 servers while Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, and TorGuard have over 3,000 apiece. On the other end of the spectrum, Golden Frog VyprVPN has around 700 servers and ProtonVPN only 347. It's important to keep in mind that more servers does not always translate into better performance, and that total server count is partly a function of how many subscribers a company, well, serves.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-10.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Geographic distribution matters because a nearby server may offer better service than one further afield. Lots of locations across the globe means you're more likely to find one close by at home or when traveling, and it provides lots of options for spoofing your location. Surfshark covers 53 countries with its servers, which is quite good compared with the competition. NordVPN covers only slightly more at 62 countries, while &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; leads the pack with a whopping 94 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark notably provides above-average coverage to South America, an area often ignored by other companies. That said, its single server offering in Africa could stand to be expanded. Surfshark also offers servers in &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/why-im-not-choosing-the-best-vpn-for-china&quot;&gt;countries with repressive internet policies, including China&lt;\/a&gt;, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Some VPNs make use of so-called virtual servers. These are software-defined servers, meaning that a single hardware server could host numerous virtual servers. The technology allows companies to quickly add servers to meet demand, or configure a server to appear in a country where the company cannot guarantee the safety of its hardware while really being hosted in a safer locale. In general, I don't have a problem with virtual servers, but I do believe that companies need to be transparent about which servers are virtual and provide the true location of the server. That's not an issue with Surfshark, as the company currently only has physical servers in its fleet.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With Surfshark&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Using a VPN requires a great amount of trust. If a VPN provider wanted to spy on your traffic, monetize your activity, or turn over your personal information to law enforcement, it very easily could. That's why it's important to understand the company's privacy policy and the legal framework the company operates under.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark actually has two documents that pertain to your privacy. Its &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/privacy-policy&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;privacy policy&lt;\/a&gt; is fairly readable, and extensive, while a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/features\/no-logs&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;more understandable version&lt;\/a&gt; is also available. I looked at both for this review.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In its policy documents, Surfshark stresses that it does not log IP addresses, browsing history, amount of bandwidth used, network traffic, or even connection timestamps. That's exactly what you want to hear from a VPN company. I suspect the company is able to provide that level of anonymity in part because it places no limits on the number of devices or connections, so it does not need to police its users as carefully.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469941.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469941.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-3.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nThe company does collect &lt;em&gt;some&lt;\/em&gt; information, including aggregate &quot;performance data,&quot; frequency of use, and unsuccessful connection attempts. None of that sounds particularly suspicious, but it would be helpful if Surfshark better explained what these are and how the information is used. The company also notes that it receives advertising IDs from third parties, citing Google Play as an example. These are identifiers that you can reset yourself, and are used in place of unchangeable IDs like your phone's IMEI. Again, this isn't unusual, but Surfshark could better serve its customers by explaining how this information is used.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When I asked if the company generates revenue from sources other than VPN subscriptions, a company representative said no. That's good. It means that Surfshark is more interested in acquiring and keeping customers than mining them for data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-11.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-4.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt;&quot;&gt;Surfshark VPN includes split-tunneling.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark is owned by Surfshark LTD., and operates under the legal jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands. That has some benefit for the privacy of its customers, which I'll outline below. However, the company representative I spoke with declined to say where the company has its offices. The representative explained: &quot;as we have invested a lot of time and effort to break through the Great Firewall of China as well as other oppressive regimes, we choose to exercise our right to privacy and remain undisclosed.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While I can respect the right of an individual to not want to draw the ire of any government, Surfshark's decision to remain silent on this point is distressingly evasive. Most companies in the security industry have to contend with issues of personal and corporate safety, but are still willing to provide some sense of where they are located. It would be better if Surfshark was more transparent to its customers on this point.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company says that, to date, it has received no requests for information from British Virgin Island authorities. Other VPNs in the British Virgin Islands have told me that all warrants from other countries must be approved by local courts, which is good for users. A Surfshark representative told me that if the company was ever served a legal warrant, &quot;we would truthfully respond that we are unable to identify any user as we keep no logs whatsoever.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company has a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/warrant-canary&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;live Warrant Canary&lt;\/a&gt; on its site, for additional assurance. This is a single line that says the that the company has not been issued a &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/yahoo-publishes-national-security-letter-details&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21645&quot;&gt;National Security Letter&lt;\/a&gt;, which would prevent Surfshark from disclosing the existence of the letter. Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, if Surfshark removes the page, something bad is going on.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many VPN companies have begun commissioning third-party audits to verify company statements about customer privacy and security. Surfshark has commissioned one such audit of its Firefox and Chrome browser plug-ins, which earned a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/surfshark.com\/blog\/blog-surfshark-browser-extensions-stand-out-for-their-robust-security-independent-investigation-revealed&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;glowing review from auditors at Cure53&lt;\/a&gt;. I'm heartened to see Surfshark commission and release this report, and I hope that it will go further in the future. While an examination of the plug-ins is certainly valuable, I do not feel that it goes far enough to evaluate the company's privacy practices nor the security and efficacy of its core VPN product. Hopefully, future audits will provide that assurance.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As of this writing, Surfshark has not responded to the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Center for Democracy and Technology's VPN survey&lt;\/a&gt;. The company has, however, given me much of the same information found in the survey.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With Surfshark&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In this review, I tested Surfshark on a Lenovo ThinkPad T460s laptop running Windows 10. On Windows, Surfshark offers a small, stylish app with flat colors and smart design that expands and contracts to show more or less information. Unlike many other VPN clients, Surfshark has a resizable window, and a &quot;mini&quot; mode. It's not quite as friendly as &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear&lt;\/a&gt;, but it's very clean in the way that the best mobile apps are. In fact, it looks quite a bit like a mobile app, floating on a Windows desktop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark strikes a good balance between complexity and usability. It has some surprisingly robust features, which I outline below, but never seems daunting or overwhelming. I especially like that it has a clear, obvious way to immediately get online, and that it lets you select specific servers, and not just entire countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-12.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark offers a surprising number of advanced features, such as split-tunneling, which it calls Whitelister, as mentioned above. This tool lets you determine which sites and applications should be routed &lt;i&gt;outside&lt;\/i&gt; the VPN tunnel by adding URLs or applications to a list. Anything on the whitelist won't be slowed down by the VPN, or be blocked if the site or service blocks VPN users. It also won't be encrypted. It's a handy tool if you have low-security tasks that need bandwidth, such as video streaming, or critical sites that block VPN usage, such as some banks.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A sort of opposite of Whitelister is Multihop, which does exactly what it says on the tin. You can have your VPN connection go through multiple VPN servers instead of just one. This further obscures your online activities, even to parts of Surfshark's infrastructure, a bit like a very simplified Tor Network. The downside is that you'll experience even more latency and reduced upload and download speeds. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN&lt;\/a&gt; also offers multihop connections, and like Surfshark is limited to predefined multihop connections. You can't arbitrarily choose two locations, unfortunately. Despite that, it's a rare feature that I am glad to see included in the app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-13.v_1569469941.png', 'Surfshark VPN', 'Surfshark VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 810 456'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Surfshark VPN' width='810' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.fit_lim.size_810x456.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-6.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 8pt;&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Surfshark VPN multihop, in action.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Also of note is Camouflage Mode, which disguises your VPN traffic as normal HTTPS web traffic. Other VPNs include this feature under different names (TunnelBear calls it GhostBear, for instance), and it's especially useful if you're in a region that blocks the use of VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A concern with VPNs is that they may &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;leak your DNS information or IP address&lt;\/a&gt;. In my testing, I found that Surfshark successfully hid my true IP and ISP information. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DNS Leak Test&lt;\/a&gt; tool, I confirmed that Surfshark did not leak my DNS requests to my ISP.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Surfshark and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Depending on where you live, streaming services such as Netflix might serve you different content. If you're traveling abroad, you might find that you're unable to continue watching a show that you started at home. With a VPN, you can spoof your location back home to keep watching a show or movie, or jump to a distant VPN location to access content not available at home. For this very reason, &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix aggressively blocks the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, that shouldn't be an issue with Surfshark. I had no trouble streaming from Netflix while connected to a US VPN server. Keep in mind, however, that Netflix is locked in a cat-and-mouse game with VPN companies. A service that works today may not work tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In order to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, several VPN companies have begun adding additional features to their products beyond the scope of VPN protection. Surfshark has one such feature: an ad-blocker branded as CleanWeb. Like many such tools, it blocks ads at the DNS level, so ads never reach your browser.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Other companies go further. TunnelBear, for instance, has a stand-alone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt; called Remembear and a bear themed ad-blocking browser plug-in.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In the coming months, Surfshark plans to release two new features: a privacy-focused search engine and an identity theft detection tool. The latter of these appears to be similar to Firefox Monitor or HaveIBeenPwned, and will be branded as HackLock. If your email or passwords show up in a data breach, you'll get an alert. The company will be branding its search engine as BlindSearch, which will not save a search history, present no ads, and display &quot;purely organic&quot; search results&amp;mdash;meaning a relevance ranking, rather than paid placement. I'll be taking a look at these features as they become available and will update this review accordingly.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, you're adding more machines and physical distance to your internet connection, resulting in degraded performance. To get a sense of that degradation, I calculate a percent change between batches of tests run with a VPN and those without, using the Ookla Speedtest tool. To read the nitty-gritty about how we test VPNs, be sure to read the aptly titled feature How We Test VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569469941.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569469941.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-7.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;(Editors' Note: Ookla Speedtest is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.)&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my tests, I found that Surfshark increased latency by 166 percent over baseline, which is above (that is, worse than) the median result for this test. The service performed remarkably poorly in the upload test, where it decreased upload speeds by 96.9 percent&amp;mdash;the second-worst result I've yet recorded and far below the median score. Surprisingly, Surfshark reduced download speeds by only 84.4 percent, slightly better than the median result for this score.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see in the chart below how Surfshark compares with the top ten performers among the more than 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-14.v_1569469941.png', 'Fastest VPN 2019 Feb 21 2', 'Fastest VPN 2019', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1250 590'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469941.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Fastest VPN 2019' width='1250' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.fit_lim.size_1250x590.v_1569469941.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-8.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Keep in mind that my results came from using this VPN at a particular time of day and at a particular place. Your results will surely differ, but this method does allow me to make a comparison between services while controlling for variables. My testing has shown that, for now, HideIPVPN is the fastest VPN service out there. That said, speed alone should never be the main concern when shopping for a VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Surfshark on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark has &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-android-vpns&quot;&gt;Android VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;&gt;iOS VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot;&gt;macOS VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, and Windows VPN client apps. The company also offers an app for FireTV, which is a bit of a rarity. I highly recommend that you use a VPN app wherever possible, since the apps give you access to all the features the VPN service provides (and that you are paying for) and takes all the trouble out of configuring your connections.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Surfshark has plug-ins for the Chrome and Firefox browsers. Note that VPN browser plug-ins do spoof your location, but typically encrypt your traffic via TLS instead of a VPN protocol like OpenVPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company offers its custom DNS resolver for Xbox and PlayStation, but does not offer apps for those platforms. It also offers instructions for using Surfshark on Linux and for configuring routers to use Surfshark.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Safe Surfing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It is a pleasure to see a new VPN service come across my desk that gets so much right. Surfshark has a generous unlimited devices policy, letting you hook up as many devices as you like. In addition to the VPN protection provided by its excellent desktop applications, it also provides rarely seen features such as split-tunneling and multihop VPN. Overall, it's an excellent product.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Surfshark does have drawbacks. It's expensive, and its speed test scores are mediocre overall. More concerning is the company's lack of clarity and transparency on some points of its privacy policy. I'd like to see its audits become more encompassing, going beyond browser plug-ins.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Given all its plusses and minuses, Surfshark earns a good score with the hope of an even better one in the future. We continue to recommend our Editors' Choice winners: NordVPN for its features and large server fleet, Private Internet Access for its affordable pricing, TunnelBear for its friendly demeanor, and ProtonVPN for its combination of affordability and excellent features.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:79,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:52,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-52.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1028,&quot;height&quot;:578,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a20120f84e23cf6a859ad001d2d11791&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1620413332,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;surfshark logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:61,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-61.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:4036,&quot;height&quot;:2270,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;da823b3a6b7701e33b7fc76ab3312fd1&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1659113958,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN on iOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:53,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-53.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:3738,&quot;height&quot;:2102,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;422fb327945b9590527bcbf2b4d0049a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1620676652,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark's macOS VPN interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:54,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-54.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1066,&quot;height&quot;:600,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;559650d0ce42709b7ed8b2116ef1b6dd&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1652905144,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The desktop of Ubuntu 22.04 showing the Surfshark VPN app an its toolbar menu&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:62,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-62.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f14d4736c360c668b06cf7d6301a9645&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1664397607,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:63,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-63.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bd018dfc0e37ad049fc903bd8311b3c2&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN app on Windows 11, the app indicates that it is connected to the VPN&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:64,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-64.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;8b0a21314fb6f2fff0e4ea824e1399c5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app displaying information about Surfshark One.&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:65,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-65.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c0fbb7a6904c6b82080e714d8f03b65e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app displaying a popover that explains the function of the IP Rotator&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark VPN&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:66,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-66.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7d09ce1e882409e7c84f30e9d557bfc4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN app on Windows 11 displaying connection stats&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:67,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-67.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7ea3f711533e2e8545faf97da5e3b75d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app while disconnected&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:68,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-68.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a5812fa227c87967d9b44d2272f50337&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app showing the settings for the Bypasser feature&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:69,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-69.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1280,&quot;height&quot;:720,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bf6762b3a2fbe1681d45e820b31d4b96&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1679685239,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Surfshark VPN Windows app showing the IP Rotator countdown&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:70,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-70.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:768,&quot;height&quot;:432,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;1e8c96c8483c52930931d686d6d73d62&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1724885416,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;surfshark vpn mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Surfshark\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:71,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-71.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;01302c82fc9e83217d01c6c33e68a317&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Prices for the monthly Surfshark plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:72,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-72.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6385d8aea9cb7f84be28033a73a41d4a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Prices for the two-year Surfshark plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:73,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-73.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;73c686b40b712212b4c28bd31d6045eb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark's Windows server list&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:74,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-74.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6e4b07bef5e4f2f2f1953cf3a7359a56&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark Windows interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:75,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-75.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;5b7a4ef601aa3d4f9fde1047ac369340&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:76,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-76.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0918cc59cc10baca9b4db3ed58484f9e&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark macOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:77,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-77.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f07f8b2d1ea33964f69f91044b776fe4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1748535462,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark support chat windows&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:78,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04S1wwi1deiGuN21Ixcjcxv-78.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d99e3ed8b0ff59a2b6155b9504c0a3a7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750876895,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Surfshark Android Interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Surfshark&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Excellent server coverage and performancernImpressive suite of security featuresrnWell-defined privacy policyrnQuarterly transparency reportsrnAffordable long-term plans&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;High monthly costrnAverage server network size&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Surfshark is a top-tier VPN with unlimited device connections, compelling server performance, and a rock-solid privacy policy.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Unlimited simultaneous device connections.&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2019-05-29T09:50:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T20:37:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:26:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2019-05-23T17:08:16.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:26:04.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:27880,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04q3oaGMO76XaZT56tVsqUn&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Surfshark VPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:true,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;15.45&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:58:44.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:16242,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:36.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16238,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16237,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16243,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;100 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16244,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16236,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-10-29T16:59:37.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16245,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No Free Version&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16239,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on Android&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16240,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on macOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:16241,&quot;product_id&quot;:27880,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-01T22:52:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2023-11-10T14:37:10.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:3990,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-05-29T16:17:43.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-09-30T17:26:04.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[]},{&quot;id&quot;:17544,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;01ocdj7pQCIRzviciWNNwsX&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN Review: An Exceptional VPN Built on Trust&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN Review: An Exceptional VPN Built on Trust&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;windscribe-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An exceptional VPN, built on trust&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;windscribe VPN review&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:16,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:9,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2500,&quot;height&quot;:1250,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c233d592ee22c81a6b28020b360c4bdc&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718650718,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe logo: A W in an octagon and the word &quot;windscribe&quot; in black on a white background&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:8,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-8.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:421,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;fb9801a23b7a093dbb1567b9e1f80b39&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718642009,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe logo 1&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-59594&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:4,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-4.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:400,&quot;height&quot;:400,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e80aada9a1b23bf6831dddebaf04452c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-60819&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:1,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-1.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:803,&quot;height&quot;:574,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;077bb8be43ccd0c35421b345a21aa0f4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717786324,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe main&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-45103&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:2,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-2.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:805,&quot;height&quot;:575,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;13a52b6b5bac41da747fbcc67b69bce9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717789597,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe vpn settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-33615&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:3,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-3.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:803,&quot;height&quot;:574,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e660a96d7d6563d0bda80b41aff5ea3d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717789597,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe proxy settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-69539&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:5,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-5.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1204,&quot;height&quot;:577,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bae82dc9f6973d6d88c28b0e755b5d55&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-6.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1181,&quot;height&quot;:546,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a9d41d476f5a9d6e6e61f6be6cf83565&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe robert&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:7,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-7.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1843,&quot;height&quot;:984,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b3674d2134592893aa3af01ce697ad51&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718042305,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscrivbe mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:10,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-10.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f2877cca55f8766370cfa4bea07cd4bf&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN's pricing page &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:11,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-11.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b07089f9ed6a043be575582a9bf7ff79&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's Windows interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:12,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-12.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e187a51dd457dbe2d76c94d004fdddae&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:13,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-13.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;3544690ec30f8ca3cc5472f3c671bc56&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:14,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-14.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d4dcbc82826f710046fec8fd29a1c303&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Chat logs from Garry, Windscribe's AI support bot&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:15,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-15.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bdd07a0805a4a536dbd79291fc1f2ce4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764532,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's R.O.B.E.R.T. tool description&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Industry-leading company transparency and communicationrnLarge number of payment optionsrnBest free plan of any VPN we've testedrnAnonymous signup allowedrnUnlimited number of simultaneous connections and devicesrnHelpful AI support bot&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Short refund window&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;From its deep set of features to its class-leading transparency, Windscribe offers an excellent, refreshingly clear-cut VPN experience.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Transparency Policy&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-17T19:47:23.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T16:07:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:23:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-06T21:51:24.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T16:07:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:9878,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:141517,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141514,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141513,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;list&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:null}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:129968,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01ocdj7pQCIRzviciWNNwsX&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Windscribe&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:false,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.00&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:141512,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141513,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141514,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141515,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;69 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141516,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141517,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141518,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10GB Per Month&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9878,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;01ocdj7pQCIRzviciWNNwsX&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;00SkROb1pxkDbIGp3EYmNRo&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:38,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Transparency Policy&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-04-27T15:50:48.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-23T18:56:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:17544,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;01ocdj7pQCIRzviciWNNwsX&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN Review: An Exceptional VPN Built on Trust&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN Review: An Exceptional VPN Built on Trust&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;windscribe-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An exceptional VPN, built on trust&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;windscribe VPN review&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.5&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:16,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:9,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-9.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:2500,&quot;height&quot;:1250,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c233d592ee22c81a6b28020b360c4bdc&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718650718,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe logo: A W in an octagon and the word &quot;windscribe&quot; in black on a white background&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:8,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-8.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:421,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;fb9801a23b7a093dbb1567b9e1f80b39&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718642009,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe logo 1&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-59594&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:4,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-4.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:400,&quot;height&quot;:400,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e80aada9a1b23bf6831dddebaf04452c&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-60819&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:1,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-1.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:803,&quot;height&quot;:574,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;077bb8be43ccd0c35421b345a21aa0f4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717786324,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe main&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-45103&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:2,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-2.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:805,&quot;height&quot;:575,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;13a52b6b5bac41da747fbcc67b69bce9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717789597,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe vpn settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-33615&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:3,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-3.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:803,&quot;height&quot;:574,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e660a96d7d6563d0bda80b41aff5ea3d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717789597,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe proxy settings&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;,&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image&quot;:&quot;content-blocks-editor-uploaded-image-69539&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:5,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-5.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1204,&quot;height&quot;:577,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bae82dc9f6973d6d88c28b0e755b5d55&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-6.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1181,&quot;height&quot;:546,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;a9d41d476f5a9d6e6e61f6be6cf83565&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1717809862,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscribe robert&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:7,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-7.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1843,&quot;height&quot;:984,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b3674d2134592893aa3af01ce697ad51&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1718042305,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;windscrivbe mobile&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Windscribe\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:10,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-10.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f2877cca55f8766370cfa4bea07cd4bf&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe VPN's pricing page &quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:11,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-11.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;b07089f9ed6a043be575582a9bf7ff79&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's Windows interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:12,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-12.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;e187a51dd457dbe2d76c94d004fdddae&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's iOS interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:13,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-13.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;3544690ec30f8ca3cc5472f3c671bc56&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's Android interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:14,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-14.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;d4dcbc82826f710046fec8fd29a1c303&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764033,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Chat logs from Garry, Windscribe's AI support bot&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:15,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/04nsFjYxgdcYmKbESqG7dSM-15.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;bdd07a0805a4a536dbd79291fc1f2ce4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1752764532,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Windscribe's R.O.B.E.R.T. tool description&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Windscribe&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Industry-leading company transparency and communicationrnLarge number of payment optionsrnBest free plan of any VPN we've testedrnAnonymous signup allowedrnUnlimited number of simultaneous connections and devicesrnHelpful AI support bot&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Short refund window&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;From its deep set of features to its class-leading transparency, Windscribe offers an excellent, refreshingly clear-cut VPN experience.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best Company Transparency&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-17T19:47:23.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T16:07:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:23:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-06T21:51:24.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T16:07:00.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:129968,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01ocdj7pQCIRzviciWNNwsX&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Windscribe&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:false,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.00&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:141512,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141513,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Unlimited&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141514,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141515,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;69 Countries&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141516,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141517,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:24:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:141518,&quot;product_id&quot;:129968,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10GB Per Month&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-06-07T20:01:14.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:17544,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-07-17T14:53:54.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-08-01T15:23:25.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[]},{&quot;id&quot;:3060,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:362405,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;02nwS0rA4I77JXf1DTxQf3f&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN Review: An Affordable, Highly Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN Review: An Affordable, Highly Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;hideme-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An Affordable, Highly-Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;When testing a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;virtual private network, or VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, we always consider the service's price, privacy, and technology. Hide.me does well in all of most of those areas, and is especially notable for its advanced features like Split Tunneling. It is, however, expensive compared to the competition, and, if you don't need those advanced features, the price is hard to justify.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server operated by the VPN company. All of your web traffic is routed through this tunnel, using encryption to keep your activities hidden from the prying eyes of the world. From the VPN server, your traffic then exits onto the internet as normal. When you use a VPN, anyone watching your traffic will see the VPN server's IP address instead of your own. That's handy, since an IP address will probably be fairly close to your actual location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469935.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469935.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nCriminals aren't the only ones keeping tabs on you. Your ISP has permission from Congress to &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/trump-officially-hands-control-of-your-data-to-isps&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10844&quot;&gt;sell anonymized user data&lt;\/a&gt;, but it can't peer inside a VPN tunnel. A VPN can also curb (but probably not entirely stop) efforts by advertisers to track you across the web. Since the NSA's spooks already have the ability to spy on the activities of just about anyone on the internet, using a VPN is a great way to keep their noses out of your business.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unlike most other VPN services, Hide.me has a full-fledged free tier. For the low, low price of nothing (not even your credit card information!), you can access five Hide.me VPN server locations on one device at a time. You are, however, limited to 2GB of data per month.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are other &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;free VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; available if you don't like the offer Hide.me makes. TunnelBear's free version offers less data per month, at just 500MB. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; doesn't limit your data usage, but limits the devices and servers available to free users.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-18.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me's paid tier is called Premium, which costs $14.95 per month and is what I have tested here. That's significantly more than the current industry average of $10.80 per month. Notably, all of PCMag's highest-rated VPNs are less expensive than Hide.me. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/norton-secure-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;8100&quot;&gt;Norton Secure VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, is only $7.99 per month, and ProtonVPN's multi-tier system means you can get an excellent, full-featured VPN for as little as $5.00 per month. Note that Hide.me, like most other VPN companies, frequently offers discounts on its subscriptions. You may see a lower price when you visit the site, but $14.95 is the base listed price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Premium tier removes the data cap from the free tier, grants access to all 57 VPN locations Hide.me offers, and raises the device limit to 10. That's twice the industry average for simultaneous connections. Avira Phantom VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN place no limit on the number of devices you can use.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As with most VPN companies, Hide.me offers longer subscriptions at a discount. A one-year plan with Hide.me will run you $59.95, and a two-year plan costs $99.95. NordVPN costs a mere $83.88 per year, ProtonVPN's Plus tier costs $96.00 per year, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear's &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; excellent service costs slightly less at $59.88 per year. In general, I advise customers to purchase short-term plans first, then try out the VPN service for a while before committing to a long-term plan. That way, you can be sure the VPN will work for all the services you use most frequently.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can purchase an account from the Hide.me website using major credit cards, PayPal, and several anonymous cryptocoin options like BitCoin and Ethereum. That's particularly handy if you want a fully anonymous experience when purchasing a VPN. Some VPN companies, such as TorGuard VPN, let you purchase an account using prepaid gift cards from major retailers, like Subway sandwiches. I did, however, notice that the Privacy Badger tracker blocker made the Hide.me purchase page unusable. This is the first time I have encountered this issue in more than two dozen VPN reviews.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Avid BitTorrent users should note that Hide.me does allow file sharing on its network, but only on certain servers. That's true for nearly every VPN I've reviewed thus far. That said, simply allowing it doesn't mean it's the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;91&quot;&gt;best VPN for BitTorrent&lt;\/a&gt;. TorGuard, for example, offers a slew of specialty offerings designed to protect and support the use of BitTorrent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One thing Hide.me doesn't offer is specialized servers. Many VPN companies have servers marked for specific situations, like trying to watch Netflix in the US. NordVPN has many specialized servers, including one that provides double encryption and another that routes your traffic through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tor-browser&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2455&quot;&gt;Tor&lt;\/a&gt; anonymization network via VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs have been around for a long time, so people have figured out several different ways to create an encrypted tunnel. My preferred method is by using the OpenVPN protocol. OpenVPN has the advantage of being newer technology, and it's open-source. That means its code has been thoroughly examined by many users for potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-19.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me Windows app that I tested for this review uses OpenVPN, which is a point in its favor. It also supports the IKEv2 protocol, which is new and secure. The service also provides legacy support for L2TP\/IPSec, as well as the older SSTP and PPTP protocols. I would advise against using these last two, but they can be handy for legacy support.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Hide.me includes support for the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftEther_VPN&quot;&gt;SoftEther VPN protocol&lt;\/a&gt;. It's the first service I'm aware of that uses this particular technology, which the company says is designed to be hard to detect and block. Other VPNs offer similar features that seek to disguise VPN traffic in order to circumvent VPN blocking. TunnelBear, for instance, calls this feature GhostBear. &lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3541&quot;&gt;WireGuard&lt;\/a&gt; is the heir-apparent to OpenVPN, promising unrivaled speeds and the latest security. It's still a protocol under development and Hide.me doesn't currently provide support for WireGuard in its Windows app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The number of servers and the location of a VPN company's servers can have a noticeable impact on performance. Companies with only a handful of servers must funnel more customers into crowded servers, reducing the sliver of the bandwidth pie available to each person. Similarly, if a company only has a few locations for its servers, it can mean connecting to an entirely different continent just to get online. For that reason, we pay careful attention to how many servers are offered, and whether there's a good degree of geographic diversity in those servers' placement.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has a reasonably sized pool of servers, with 1,400 servers in 56 different locations across 35 countries. For comparison, NordVPN has over 5,200 servers and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; offers in excess of 5,600 servers. Private Internet Access, ExpressVPN, and TorGuard all have over 3,000 servers, respectively. Keep in mind that companies will purchase as many servers as necessary to meet demand, so it's not a strict measurement of quality.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As for the geographic diversity of Hide.me's servers, the company has done a fairly good job covering the Earth. Many VPN companies ignore South America, India, and all of Africa, but Hide.me has a few locations in these regions. It also has servers in China and Turkey, regions known to censor the web. Hide.me does not offer any servers in Russia, but NordVPN and others do. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; and CyberGhost lead the pack, offering servers in more than 90 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-20.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Potential customers may have concerns about VPNs using virtual servers. That's when a single, physical server plays host to multiple virtual machines. Those virtual servers can, in turn, be configured to appear as if they are in a different country than the machine hosting them. If you're very concerned about precisely where your data is headed, that can be an issue. On the other hand, companies use virtual servers to compensate for sudden demand, and can also protect your data by using a physical server in a safe location to offer service to a less-safe location nearby.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative of Hide.me told me that the company only uses dedicated servers located in the designated country. That's excellent from a data transparency perspective.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With Hide.me&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A big reason to use a VPN is to protect your privacy online, which is why it's important to know if the VPN itself is violating your privacy. While I cannot peer within the hearts of company employees or their servers, I can ask questions of company representatives and read through a VPN company's privacy policy.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me's privacy policy is very thorough and very long, especially compared with &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard's&lt;\/a&gt; impressively brief policy. It does, however, lay out what data the company gathers, how it goes about gathering it, and what that data is used for. The effort is laudable, but I would like to see a bit more plain English.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The gist of the policy is that Hide.me collects as little information as possible. In fact, the only information it seems to store for any length of time is user email addresses. The policy reads, &quot;We do not request or store your name, IP address or physical addresses or any other personal information.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company does not monitor what sites you access, log your true IP address, or even timestamp your connection. The company does track the amount of traffic for users, since two of Hide.me's plans have data caps. It also keeps some troubleshooting information, including &quot;customer's randomly generated username and internally assigned (non-public) IP address,&quot; but it deletes that information every few hours. Hide.me could stand to improve in this area, as other VPN services now strive to gather as little information as possible and keep it for as short a time as possible.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of why you don't want a VPN storing a lot of information about you and your activities is that the company could be compelled to hand over that information to law enforcement. Hide.me explains the company's stance this way: &quot;If a court order is received from a recognized legal authority with jurisdiction over hide.me then the company shall comply with that order. However, the company cannot be compelled to hand over information which it does not have.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're particularly concerned about receiving a DMCA notice for, say, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-use-bittorrent&quot;&gt;downloading copyrighted content&lt;\/a&gt;, Hide.me has a ready response: &quot;Since we store no connection logs, we cannot associate the notice with a customer identity even if legally compelled to do so.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to understanding a company's privacy policy, it's also good to know where that company is located and under what legal jurisdiction it operates. Hide.me is clear on this point: the company is based in Malaysia and operates under local law. Hide.me even includes its mailing address, if you're curious.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has been &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/hide.me\/en\/blog\/leon-juranic-certifies-hide-me-as-one-of-the-most-anonymous-vpn-provider\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;audited by DefenseCode&lt;\/a&gt;, a step several VPN companies have taken to demonstrate their privacy and security &lt;em&gt;bona fides&lt;\/em&gt; to customers. TunnelBear notably has undergone multiple audits and has pledged to be audited annually. Hide.me does issue an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/hide.me\/en\/blog\/annual-transparency-report-for-2018\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;annual transparency report&lt;\/a&gt;, a step I appreciate. The company has not participated in the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;CDT's VPN questionnaire&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With Hide.me&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I had no trouble installing the Hide.me app on my Lenovo ThinkPad T460s laptop running Windows 10. You can opt to forgo the app entirely and &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-a-vpn-in-windows-10&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18654&quot;&gt;manually configure a Windows 10 computer&lt;\/a&gt; to connect via VPN, but it's a bit of a pain.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me app is very simple, offering just a blue window with a big button to connect the VPN. I appreciate apps that cut to the chase like this. It's much more straightforward than PureVPN, which has some useful scenario-based connection presets, but lacks a fast and easy way to get online.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me app is simple, but it's not exactly friendly. I much prefer NordVPN's app, which uses maps and large buttons to make even complex tools approachable. TunnelBear does something similar with brightly colored bears.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One quirk I did notice in testing was that when the &quot;Best Location&quot; option was selected, the Hide.me app sometimes connected me to a VPN server in the Netherlands. Now, I have nothing against the Netherlands, but most VPNs will connect you to the nearest server to your actual location by default. That's because the closer you are to the VPN server, the better performance you're likely to see. Also disappointing is how the client tried and failed several times to connect me with a US-based VPN server. I'm surprised that after all the work Hide.me has done to improve its client, this behavior persists.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While Hide.me does make it obvious which servers allow BitTorrent, it doesn't include server stats like overall load or ping time. It does, however, let you drill down to see specific servers in the app's location list. That's handy, because you might find that one server works better for you than another. You can then add that useful server to your Favorites, for easy access later on.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Settings panel does provide some surprisingly advanced features, however. Hide.me even lets you trigger custom scripts for when the VPN fails, which I have never seen before. An Advanced tab lets you mess around with ports and such, if that's your thing. The client also includes a rare feature called Split Tunneling, which lets you designate which apps send traffic through the VPN and which do not. This is handy for negotiating tricky scenarios, like streaming to local media devices or accessing specific services that block VPN traffic.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-21.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can select the VPN protocol you want Hide.me to use, and OpenVPN is an option. By default, Hide.me uses IKEv2, so changing this might be worthwhile. You can also set up a Fallback configuration. If the VPN can't connect with your first choice of protocols, it will try again with the protocols you select.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-22.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it should secure all your data and &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;not leak anything that could identify you&lt;\/a&gt;&amp;mdash;such as your DNS request information, or your real IP address. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot;&gt;DNSLeakTest.com&lt;\/a&gt; tool, I confirmed that my DNS requests were being protected and that my IP address was changed successfully when using Hide.me.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hide.me and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-video-streaming-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;106&quot;&gt;streaming video services&lt;\/a&gt; block the use of VPNs because you can use them to spoof your location and access content licensed for specific regions. BBC's free streaming iPlayer, for instance, is intended only for UK citizens. But if you hop onto a VPN server in London, you may as well be a local resident. In particular, &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix blocks VPNs very aggressively&lt;\/a&gt;, as mentioned above.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;During my testing, I wasn't able to access Netflix when connected to a domestic Hide.me server. Your mileage may vary, but keep in mind that a VPN service that works with Netflix today might not tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;With an ever-increasing crowd of competitors, many VPN companies have begun adding features outside of network protection. These can range from simple ad-blocking to TunnelBear's standalone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt; called Remembear. A representative from Hide.me tells me that the company doesn't currently offer additional security features, and made the case that ad- and malware-blocking actually further diminishes speeds.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;TorGuard, on the other hand, has a lengthy menu of optional extras. In addition to its slider for adding devices to your account, you can also purchase dedicated IP addresses in 50 different countries, or level up to a 10Gbit network connection. Hide.me also offers dedicated IP addresses, but only for those at the highest subscription tier. These are included in the price of the Premium account, but are not enabled by default.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A major concern among PCMag's readers is the impact using a VPN will have on their internet speeds. That's a valid concern, because using a VPN forces your web traffic to jump through more hoops and travel farther than usual. To get a sense of the impact from each service, I use the &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-fast-is-your-internet-connectionreally&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26682&quot;&gt;Ookla internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt; to compare test results with and without the VPN. &lt;em&gt;(Note that Ookla and Encrypt.me are owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.)&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1570635440.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1570635440.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my most recent testing, I found that Hide.me had no appreciable effect on latency. That's excellent. It did, however, reduce upload test results by 68.4 percent and download test results by 75.8 percent. That's a significant drop, but also one of the top five best speed test results I recorded.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how Hide.me compares in the chart below with the top 10 performers from among the more than 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-23.v_1570635440.png', 'Fastest VPN Spet 2019 Encrypt.me', 'PCMag', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='PCMag' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1264 617'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.fit_lim.size_1264x617.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PCMag' width='1264' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.fit_lim.size_1264x617.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In fairness, this testing is more of a snapshot in time than an overall evaluation of a VPN's speed performance. There are many variables that can affect the outcomes, from the configuration of the VPN servers to physical damage of network infrastructure. Moreover, I don't believe that speed should be the single criteria anyone uses to choose a VPN. All that being said, I currently view Encrypt.me as the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;258&quot;&gt;fastest VPN&lt;\/a&gt; yet tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hide.me on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide,me offers apps for Android, iPhone, macOS, and Windows devices. It also provides apps for Amazon Fire devices, which is surprisingly rare. Additionally, you can opt to install Hide.me's proxy plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox. These change the IP address and apparent location of your browser traffic, and only your browser traffic, but do not use the same means to encrypt your traffic as the normal VPN app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can follow Hide.me's instructions on how to run a VPN from your router, or purchase a Vilfo router configured to run with Hide.me. While an interesting setup, I don't think that using a VPN through a router is a viable use case.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;The Last Mile&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has some enviable strengths. Its privacy policy is remarkably thorough and transparent, if long. It supports the best VPN technology, provices 10 simultaneous connections, and has a good distribution of servers across the globe. Hide.me also offers a fairly generous free option, which is something of a rarity. Most importantly, it packs in several advanced features often ignored by the competition, but packages them in a simple app most people will understand how to use. Hide.me's main drawback is that it charges well above the industry average per month&amp;mdash;enough to significantly reduce the value of this otherwise impressive service. While Hide.me is especially useful to seasoned security wonks and those looking for a free alternative to other VPNs, our Editors' Choice winners NordVPN, Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, and TunnelBear are excellent.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:50,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f68b5beac4f8b7a2a24b3ba32710b706&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750950300,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:25,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-25.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:848,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f84009a255d3c6aa347bfdbad9ce3000&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703697486,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me protocols&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:26,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-26.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1218,&quot;height&quot;:449,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;29319d260418fe94a7ca9760f2f532b9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703697486,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:27,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-27.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1301,&quot;height&quot;:733,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0047afb9256c126e88072d2e21723247&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703702662,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me locations&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:28,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:846,&quot;height&quot;:604,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f6290bea3d3b2e66678d25c63cf2b0ef&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703796523,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me 2024 interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:29,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:843,&quot;height&quot;:605,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;da364bf79e9e458b9b74eab78d885c9b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703796691,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me features&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:845,&quot;height&quot;:604,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;32d626bd48455a647aedf1a65bed515d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1705684386,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me bolt proxy&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:33,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-33.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;48190afba66fcabf22e2cb31d27ef986&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1711124921,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's app on an iPhone&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:34,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-34.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1188,&quot;height&quot;:1138,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ec09c58e576a655524f4c1c868c64fc7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1711124921,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's StealthGuard feature on macOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:36,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-36.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6ccf61c1a42a081ecf60562ba4f007e5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's premium plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:37,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-37.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c23154ee49a5ee4c3962de376aa5ec63&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's SmartGuard menu in the Windows App&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:38,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-38.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4e170662f71000ff0012fe6d903f8579&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A list of Hide.me's protocols offered in the Windows App&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:39,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-39.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;cd5f719e22dc00a60df643fe8796d50b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's in-app server list&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:40,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-40.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;38f72115dd80eef669420116a66ad0fb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's Windows dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:41,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-41.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;798d2f7bbe2d211d6d0b61fafe035de4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's macOS design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-42.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7321d595bebb325e9c91373032bdfa75&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's iOS interface design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-43.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;07185f24430735d20ba0ab3c71daf754&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's Android interface design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Ten simultaneous connectionsrnReliable Netflix accessrnPrivacy-first policiesrnAffordablernFull-featured free plan&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Average server numbers&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN offers truly unlimited free trials, great performance, and tons of security options to protect your data. Even better, its pricing plans are simple, easy to understand, and affordable.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for Bargain Hunters&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-17T12:09:12.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:59:40.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:41:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-11T15:37:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:43:52.000000Z&quot;,&quot;product_title&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN&quot;,&quot;roundup_product_id&quot;:9345,&quot;isReview&quot;:true,&quot;newSpecs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:122169,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122166,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:139497,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;list&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:null}],&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:102746,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02nwS0rA4I77JXf1DTxQf3f&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:false,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.95&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:43:34.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:122165,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:139497,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122166,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122167,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;89&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122168,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122169,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:true,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122157,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10GB Per Month&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122158,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version  Server Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Five Locations&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122159,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122160,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Can Manually Select Server In Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122161,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Are All Features Available In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:10,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122162,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Connection Speeds Limited&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:11,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122163,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;No Ads In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Yes&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:12,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122164,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Public Third-Party Audit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:13,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;}]},&quot;roundup_product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:9345,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:169,&quot;roundup_group_id&quot;:null,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;02nwS0rA4I77JXf1DTxQf3f&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;076J9eLjxw5tDllXW8Vz7HQ&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:39,&quot;group_rank&quot;:null,&quot;is_spotlight&quot;:0,&quot;spotlight_start_date&quot;:null,&quot;spotlight_end_date&quot;:null,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;sponsor_name&quot;:null,&quot;product_name_override&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:null,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;youtube_id&quot;:null,&quot;jwplayer_id&quot;:null,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:null,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for Bargain Hunters&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2021-03-12T17:36:22.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-01-23T18:56:14.000000Z&quot;,&quot;review&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:3060,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:362405,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;product_uuid&quot;:&quot;02nwS0rA4I77JXf1DTxQf3f&quot;,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;06lWQ6LeMwOhpO7nWLcJo30&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;roundup_id&quot;:315,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN&quot;,&quot;heading&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN Review: An Affordable, Highly Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;page_title&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN Review: An Affordable, Highly Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;hideme-vpn&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;An Affordable, Highly-Customizable Service&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:null,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;is_editors_choice&quot;:true,&quot;use_hero_image_gallery&quot;:false,&quot;is_preview&quot;:false,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;score&quot;:&quot;4.0&quot;,&quot;people_involved&quot;:null,&quot;hours_spent&quot;:null,&quot;hours_researched&quot;:null,&quot;body&quot;:&quot;&lt;p&gt;When testing a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;virtual private network, or VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, we always consider the service's price, privacy, and technology. Hide.me does well in all of most of those areas, and is especially notable for its advanced features like Split Tunneling. It is, however, expensive compared to the competition, and, if you don't need those advanced features, the price is hard to justify.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What Is a VPN?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you switch on a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server operated by the VPN company. All of your web traffic is routed through this tunnel, using encryption to keep your activities hidden from the prying eyes of the world. From the VPN server, your traffic then exits onto the internet as normal. When you use a VPN, anyone watching your traffic will see the VPN server's IP address instead of your own. That's handy, since an IP address will probably be fairly close to your actual location.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML START 3993 --&gt;n&lt;A HREF=&quot;http:\/\/securitywatch.pcmag.com\/&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 95 85'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469935.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='SecurityWatch' width='95' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.fit_lim.size_95x85.v_1569469935.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-1.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/A&gt;n&lt;!-- ZIFFHTML END 3993 --&gt;nCriminals aren't the only ones keeping tabs on you. Your ISP has permission from Congress to &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/trump-officially-hands-control-of-your-data-to-isps&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;10844&quot;&gt;sell anonymized user data&lt;\/a&gt;, but it can't peer inside a VPN tunnel. A VPN can also curb (but probably not entirely stop) efforts by advertisers to track you across the web. Since the NSA's spooks already have the ability to spy on the activities of just about anyone on the internet, using a VPN is a great way to keep their noses out of your business.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Pricing and Features&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Unlike most other VPN services, Hide.me has a full-fledged free tier. For the low, low price of nothing (not even your credit card information!), you can access five Hide.me VPN server locations on one device at a time. You are, however, limited to 2GB of data per month.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There are other &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;free VPNs&lt;\/a&gt; available if you don't like the offer Hide.me makes. TunnelBear's free version offers less data per month, at just 500MB. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/protonvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;9135&quot;&gt;ProtonVPN &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07MzChxv6c3GEopWVEsNLtg&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; doesn't limit your data usage, but limits the devices and servers available to free users.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-18.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-11.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me's paid tier is called Premium, which costs $14.95 per month and is what I have tested here. That's significantly more than the current industry average of $10.80 per month. Notably, all of PCMag's highest-rated VPNs are less expensive than Hide.me. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/norton-secure-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;8100&quot;&gt;Norton Secure VPN&lt;\/a&gt;, for instance, is only $7.99 per month, and ProtonVPN's multi-tier system means you can get an excellent, full-featured VPN for as little as $5.00 per month. Note that Hide.me, like most other VPN companies, frequently offers discounts on its subscriptions. You may see a lower price when you visit the site, but $14.95 is the base listed price.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Premium tier removes the data cap from the free tier, grants access to all 57 VPN locations Hide.me offers, and raises the device limit to 10. That's twice the industry average for simultaneous connections. Avira Phantom VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN place no limit on the number of devices you can use.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As with most VPN companies, Hide.me offers longer subscriptions at a discount. A one-year plan with Hide.me will run you $59.95, and a two-year plan costs $99.95. NordVPN costs a mere $83.88 per year, ProtonVPN's Plus tier costs $96.00 per year, and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tunnelbear-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7387&quot;&gt;TunnelBear's &lt;span data-commerce-link=&quot;07gTbd8huAzu6dL77AgI3Nt&quot;&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/a&gt; excellent service costs slightly less at $59.88 per year. In general, I advise customers to purchase short-term plans first, then try out the VPN service for a while before committing to a long-term plan. That way, you can be sure the VPN will work for all the services you use most frequently.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can purchase an account from the Hide.me website using major credit cards, PayPal, and several anonymous cryptocoin options like BitCoin and Ethereum. That's particularly handy if you want a fully anonymous experience when purchasing a VPN. Some VPN companies, such as TorGuard VPN, let you purchase an account using prepaid gift cards from major retailers, like Subway sandwiches. I did, however, notice that the Privacy Badger tracker blocker made the Hide.me purchase page unusable. This is the first time I have encountered this issue in more than two dozen VPN reviews.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Avid BitTorrent users should note that Hide.me does allow file sharing on its network, but only on certain servers. That's true for nearly every VPN I've reviewed thus far. That said, simply allowing it doesn't mean it's the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-bittorrent&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;91&quot;&gt;best VPN for BitTorrent&lt;\/a&gt;. TorGuard, for example, offers a slew of specialty offerings designed to protect and support the use of BitTorrent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One thing Hide.me doesn't offer is specialized servers. Many VPN companies have servers marked for specific situations, like trying to watch Netflix in the US. NordVPN has many specialized servers, including one that provides double encryption and another that routes your traffic through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/tor-browser&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2455&quot;&gt;Tor&lt;\/a&gt; anonymization network via VPN.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Protocols&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;VPNs have been around for a long time, so people have figured out several different ways to create an encrypted tunnel. My preferred method is by using the OpenVPN protocol. OpenVPN has the advantage of being newer technology, and it's open-source. That means its code has been thoroughly examined by many users for potential vulnerabilities.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-19.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-12.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me Windows app that I tested for this review uses OpenVPN, which is a point in its favor. It also supports the IKEv2 protocol, which is new and secure. The service also provides legacy support for L2TP\/IPSec, as well as the older SSTP and PPTP protocols. I would advise against using these last two, but they can be handy for legacy support.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Additionally, Hide.me includes support for the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftEther_VPN&quot;&gt;SoftEther VPN protocol&lt;\/a&gt;. It's the first service I'm aware of that uses this particular technology, which the company says is designed to be hard to detect and block. Other VPNs offer similar features that seek to disguise VPN traffic in order to circumvent VPN blocking. TunnelBear, for instance, calls this feature GhostBear. &lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/the-vpn-industry-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-breakthrough&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;3541&quot;&gt;WireGuard&lt;\/a&gt; is the heir-apparent to OpenVPN, promising unrivaled speeds and the latest security. It's still a protocol under development and Hide.me doesn't currently provide support for WireGuard in its Windows app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Servers and Server Locations&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The number of servers and the location of a VPN company's servers can have a noticeable impact on performance. Companies with only a handful of servers must funnel more customers into crowded servers, reducing the sliver of the bandwidth pie available to each person. Similarly, if a company only has a few locations for its servers, it can mean connecting to an entirely different continent just to get online. For that reason, we pay careful attention to how many servers are offered, and whether there's a good degree of geographic diversity in those servers' placement.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has a reasonably sized pool of servers, with 1,400 servers in 56 different locations across 35 countries. For comparison, NordVPN has over 5,200 servers and &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/cyberghost-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2456&quot;&gt;CyberGhost&lt;\/a&gt; offers in excess of 5,600 servers. Private Internet Access, ExpressVPN, and TorGuard all have over 3,000 servers, respectively. Keep in mind that companies will purchase as many servers as necessary to meet demand, so it's not a strict measurement of quality.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As for the geographic diversity of Hide.me's servers, the company has done a fairly good job covering the Earth. Many VPN companies ignore South America, India, and all of Africa, but Hide.me has a few locations in these regions. It also has servers in China and Turkey, regions known to censor the web. Hide.me does not offer any servers in Russia, but NordVPN and others do. &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/expressvpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;7874&quot;&gt;ExpressVPN&lt;\/a&gt; and CyberGhost lead the pack, offering servers in more than 90 countries.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-20.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-13.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Potential customers may have concerns about VPNs using virtual servers. That's when a single, physical server plays host to multiple virtual machines. Those virtual servers can, in turn, be configured to appear as if they are in a different country than the machine hosting them. If you're very concerned about precisely where your data is headed, that can be an issue. On the other hand, companies use virtual servers to compensate for sudden demand, and can also protect your data by using a physical server in a safe location to offer service to a less-safe location nearby.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A representative of Hide.me told me that the company only uses dedicated servers located in the designated country. That's excellent from a data transparency perspective.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Your Privacy With Hide.me&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A big reason to use a VPN is to protect your privacy online, which is why it's important to know if the VPN itself is violating your privacy. While I cannot peer within the hearts of company employees or their servers, I can ask questions of company representatives and read through a VPN company's privacy policy.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me's privacy policy is very thorough and very long, especially compared with &lt;a href=&quot;\/reviews\/torguard-vpn&quot; data-link-type=&quot;review&quot; data-link-id=&quot;2758&quot;&gt;TorGuard's&lt;\/a&gt; impressively brief policy. It does, however, lay out what data the company gathers, how it goes about gathering it, and what that data is used for. The effort is laudable, but I would like to see a bit more plain English.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The gist of the policy is that Hide.me collects as little information as possible. In fact, the only information it seems to store for any length of time is user email addresses. The policy reads, &quot;We do not request or store your name, IP address or physical addresses or any other personal information.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The company does not monitor what sites you access, log your true IP address, or even timestamp your connection. The company does track the amount of traffic for users, since two of Hide.me's plans have data caps. It also keeps some troubleshooting information, including &quot;customer's randomly generated username and internally assigned (non-public) IP address,&quot; but it deletes that information every few hours. Hide.me could stand to improve in this area, as other VPN services now strive to gather as little information as possible and keep it for as short a time as possible.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Part of why you don't want a VPN storing a lot of information about you and your activities is that the company could be compelled to hand over that information to law enforcement. Hide.me explains the company's stance this way: &quot;If a court order is received from a recognized legal authority with jurisdiction over hide.me then the company shall comply with that order. However, the company cannot be compelled to hand over information which it does not have.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're particularly concerned about receiving a DMCA notice for, say, &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-use-bittorrent&quot;&gt;downloading copyrighted content&lt;\/a&gt;, Hide.me has a ready response: &quot;Since we store no connection logs, we cannot associate the notice with a customer identity even if legally compelled to do so.&quot;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In addition to understanding a company's privacy policy, it's also good to know where that company is located and under what legal jurisdiction it operates. Hide.me is clear on this point: the company is based in Malaysia and operates under local law. Hide.me even includes its mailing address, if you're curious.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has been &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/hide.me\/en\/blog\/leon-juranic-certifies-hide-me-as-one-of-the-most-anonymous-vpn-provider\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;audited by DefenseCode&lt;\/a&gt;, a step several VPN companies have taken to demonstrate their privacy and security &lt;em&gt;bona fides&lt;\/em&gt; to customers. TunnelBear notably has undergone multiple audits and has pledged to be audited annually. Hide.me does issue an &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/hide.me\/en\/blog\/annual-transparency-report-for-2018\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;annual transparency report&lt;\/a&gt;, a step I appreciate. The company has not participated in the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/cdt.org\/insight\/unedited-answers-signals-of-trustworthy-vpns\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;CDT's VPN questionnaire&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hands On With Hide.me&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;I had no trouble installing the Hide.me app on my Lenovo ThinkPad T460s laptop running Windows 10. You can opt to forgo the app entirely and &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-a-vpn-in-windows-10&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18654&quot;&gt;manually configure a Windows 10 computer&lt;\/a&gt; to connect via VPN, but it's a bit of a pain.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me app is very simple, offering just a blue window with a big button to connect the VPN. I appreciate apps that cut to the chase like this. It's much more straightforward than PureVPN, which has some useful scenario-based connection presets, but lacks a fast and easy way to get online.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Hide.me app is simple, but it's not exactly friendly. I much prefer NordVPN's app, which uses maps and large buttons to make even complex tools approachable. TunnelBear does something similar with brightly colored bears.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;One quirk I did notice in testing was that when the &quot;Best Location&quot; option was selected, the Hide.me app sometimes connected me to a VPN server in the Netherlands. Now, I have nothing against the Netherlands, but most VPNs will connect you to the nearest server to your actual location by default. That's because the closer you are to the VPN server, the better performance you're likely to see. Also disappointing is how the client tried and failed several times to connect me with a US-based VPN server. I'm surprised that after all the work Hide.me has done to improve its client, this behavior persists.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While Hide.me does make it obvious which servers allow BitTorrent, it doesn't include server stats like overall load or ping time. It does, however, let you drill down to see specific servers in the app's location list. That's handy, because you might find that one server works better for you than another. You can then add that useful server to your Favorites, for easy access later on.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The Settings panel does provide some surprisingly advanced features, however. Hide.me even lets you trigger custom scripts for when the VPN fails, which I have never seen before. An Advanced tab lets you mess around with ports and such, if that's your thing. The client also includes a rare feature called Split Tunneling, which lets you designate which apps send traffic through the VPN and which do not. This is handy for negotiating tricky scenarios, like streaming to local media devices or accessing specific services that block VPN traffic.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-21.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-14.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can select the VPN protocol you want Hide.me to use, and OpenVPN is an option. By default, Hide.me uses IKEv2, so changing this might be worthwhile. You can also set up a Fallback configuration. If the VPN can't connect with your first choice of protocols, it will try again with the protocols you select.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-22.v_1570635440.png', 'Hide.me Update', 'Hide.me VPN', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1280 720'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Hide.me VPN' width='1280' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.fit_lim.size_1280x720.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-15.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When you use a VPN, it should secure all your data and &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/is-your-vpn-leaking&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;13135&quot;&gt;not leak anything that could identify you&lt;\/a&gt;&amp;mdash;such as your DNS request information, or your real IP address. Using the &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.dnsleaktest.com\/&quot;&gt;DNSLeakTest.com&lt;\/a&gt; tool, I confirmed that my DNS requests were being protected and that my IP address was changed successfully when using Hide.me.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hide.me and Netflix&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Many &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-video-streaming-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;106&quot;&gt;streaming video services&lt;\/a&gt; block the use of VPNs because you can use them to spoof your location and access content licensed for specific regions. BBC's free streaming iPlayer, for instance, is intended only for UK citizens. But if you hop onto a VPN server in London, you may as well be a local resident. In particular, &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpns-for-netflix&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;152&quot;&gt;Netflix blocks VPNs very aggressively&lt;\/a&gt;, as mentioned above.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;During my testing, I wasn't able to access Netflix when connected to a domestic Hide.me server. Your mileage may vary, but keep in mind that a VPN service that works with Netflix today might not tomorrow.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Beyond VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;With an ever-increasing crowd of competitors, many VPN companies have begun adding features outside of network protection. These can range from simple ad-blocking to TunnelBear's standalone &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers&quot;&gt;password manager&lt;\/a&gt; called Remembear. A representative from Hide.me tells me that the company doesn't currently offer additional security features, and made the case that ad- and malware-blocking actually further diminishes speeds.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;TorGuard, on the other hand, has a lengthy menu of optional extras. In addition to its slider for adding devices to your account, you can also purchase dedicated IP addresses in 50 different countries, or level up to a 10Gbit network connection. Hide.me also offers dedicated IP addresses, but only for those at the highest subscription tier. These are included in the price of the Premium account, but are not enabled by default.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Speed and Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A major concern among PCMag's readers is the impact using a VPN will have on their internet speeds. That's a valid concern, because using a VPN forces your web traffic to jump through more hoops and travel farther than usual. To get a sense of the impact from each service, I use the &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/how-fast-is-your-internet-connectionreally&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26682&quot;&gt;Ookla internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt; to compare test results with and without the VPN. &lt;em&gt;(Note that Ookla and Encrypt.me are owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.)&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1570635440.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.jpg'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1570635440.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-16.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In my most recent testing, I found that Hide.me had no appreciable effect on latency. That's excellent. It did, however, reduce upload test results by 68.4 percent and download test results by 75.8 percent. That's a significant drop, but also one of the top five best speed test results I recorded.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;You can see how Hide.me compares in the chart below with the top 10 performers from among the more than 30 services we tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#&quot; class=&quot;no-underline&quot; onclick=&quot;return popImage('\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-23.v_1570635440.png', 'Fastest VPN Spet 2019 Encrypt.me', 'PCMag', '');&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt='PCMag' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1264 617'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.fit_lim.size_1264x617.v_1570635440.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.png'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PCMag' width='1264' src='\/imagery\/reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.fit_lim.size_1264x617.v_1570635440.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-17.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In fairness, this testing is more of a snapshot in time than an overall evaluation of a VPN's speed performance. There are many variables that can affect the outcomes, from the configuration of the VPN servers to physical damage of network infrastructure. Moreover, I don't believe that speed should be the single criteria anyone uses to choose a VPN. All that being said, I currently view Encrypt.me as the &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-fastest-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;258&quot;&gt;fastest VPN&lt;\/a&gt; yet tested.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Hide.me on Other Platforms&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide,me offers apps for Android, iPhone, macOS, and Windows devices. It also provides apps for Amazon Fire devices, which is surprisingly rare. Additionally, you can opt to install Hide.me's proxy plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox. These change the IP address and apparent location of your browser traffic, and only your browser traffic, but do not use the same means to encrypt your traffic as the normal VPN app.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can follow Hide.me's instructions on how to run a VPN from your router, or purchase a Vilfo router configured to run with Hide.me. While an interesting setup, I don't think that using a VPN through a router is a viable use case.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;The Last Mile&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Hide.me has some enviable strengths. Its privacy policy is remarkably thorough and transparent, if long. It supports the best VPN technology, provices 10 simultaneous connections, and has a good distribution of servers across the globe. Hide.me also offers a fairly generous free option, which is something of a rarity. Most importantly, it packs in several advanced features often ignored by the competition, but packages them in a simple app most people will understand how to use. Hide.me's main drawback is that it charges well above the industry average per month&amp;mdash;enough to significantly reduce the value of this otherwise impressive service. While Hide.me is especially useful to seasoned security wonks and those looking for a free alternative to other VPNs, our Editors' Choice winners NordVPN, Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, and TunnelBear are excellent.&lt;\/p&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:50,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:49,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-49.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f68b5beac4f8b7a2a24b3ba32710b706&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750950300,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me logo&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:25,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-25.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:848,&quot;height&quot;:608,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f84009a255d3c6aa347bfdbad9ce3000&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703697486,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me protocols&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:26,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-26.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1218,&quot;height&quot;:449,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;29319d260418fe94a7ca9760f2f532b9&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703697486,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me pricing&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:27,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-27.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1301,&quot;height&quot;:733,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;0047afb9256c126e88072d2e21723247&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703702662,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me locations&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:28,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-28.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:846,&quot;height&quot;:604,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;f6290bea3d3b2e66678d25c63cf2b0ef&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703796523,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me 2024 interface&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:29,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-29.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:843,&quot;height&quot;:605,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;da364bf79e9e458b9b74eab78d885c9b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1703796691,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me features&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:31,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-31.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:845,&quot;height&quot;:604,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;32d626bd48455a647aedf1a65bed515d&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1705684386,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;hide.me bolt proxy&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:33,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-33.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;48190afba66fcabf22e2cb31d27ef986&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1711124921,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's app on an iPhone&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:34,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-34.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1188,&quot;height&quot;:1138,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;ec09c58e576a655524f4c1c868c64fc7&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1711124921,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's StealthGuard feature on macOS&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: Hide.me\/PCMag&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:36,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-36.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;6ccf61c1a42a081ecf60562ba4f007e5&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's premium plans&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:37,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-37.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c23154ee49a5ee4c3962de376aa5ec63&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's SmartGuard menu in the Windows App&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:38,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-38.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;4e170662f71000ff0012fe6d903f8579&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863003,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;A list of Hide.me's protocols offered in the Windows App&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:39,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-39.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;cd5f719e22dc00a60df643fe8796d50b&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's in-app server list&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:40,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-40.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;38f72115dd80eef669420116a66ad0fb&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's Windows dashboard&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:41,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-41.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;798d2f7bbe2d211d6d0b61fafe035de4&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's macOS design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:42,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-42.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;7321d595bebb325e9c91373032bdfa75&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's iOS interface design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}},{&quot;index&quot;:43,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;reviews\/05LPlniWsYSaFvNFu6P9tUf-43.png&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;png&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;07185f24430735d20ba0ab3c71daf754&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1750863004,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Hide.me's Android interface design&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag\/Hide.me&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;hero_image_gallery&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:1,&quot;images&quot;:[],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_body&quot;:[],&quot;final_thoughts_image&quot;:null,&quot;should_i_upgrade_body&quot;:[],&quot;pros&quot;:&quot;Ten simultaneous connectionsrnReliable Netflix accessrnPrivacy-first policiesrnAffordablernFull-featured free plan&quot;,&quot;cons&quot;:&quot;Average server numbers&quot;,&quot;bottom_line&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN offers truly unlimited free trials, great performance, and tons of security options to protect your data. Even better, its pricing plans are simple, easy to understand, and affordable.&quot;,&quot;best_for&quot;:&quot;Best for Robust Protection at a Reasonable Price&quot;,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;awards&quot;:null,&quot;awards_tooltip&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-17T12:09:12.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:59:40.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:41:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2018-07-11T15:37:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:43:52.000000Z&quot;},&quot;roundup&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:169,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:354059,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt&quot;,&quot;apple_news_id&quot;:null,&quot;story_editor_id&quot;:241,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Standard Roundup&quot;,&quot;show_msrp&quot;:true,&quot;show_hero_image&quot;:false,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;order_column&quot;:null,&quot;spec_sheet_uuid&quot;:&quot;04IRWQJueRqnnfDbh55QNAf&quot;,&quot;pop_treated&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2026&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:&quot;The Best iPhone VPNs We've Tested for 2026&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;the-best-iphone-vpns&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_specs&quot;:true,&quot;show_carousel&quot;:true,&quot;is_sponsored&quot;:0,&quot;is_list_truncated&quot;:1,&quot;deck&quot;:&quot;A VPN is a handy tool to have in your privacy toolbox, even on Apple's relatively secure iOS, so make sure to protect yourself with one of the top iPhone VPNs we've tested.&quot;,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;focus_keyword&quot;:&quot;Best iPhone VPNs&quot;,&quot;no_link_injection&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;offers_title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Deals This Week*&quot;,&quot;offers_group_uuid&quot;:&quot;04OxzCDkFFxS5n4XRIANLg7&quot;,&quot;deals_content_blocks&quot;:&quot;{&quot;type&quot;: &quot;doc&quot;, &quot;content&quot;: []}&quot;,&quot;editors_note&quot;:[],&quot;intro_text&quot;:[],&quot;body&quot;:&quot;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;You Need an iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Apple has made iPhone security a number-one concern from the very beginning. As a result, you don't see anything like the horde of malware attacks that exist for Android devices. You generally pay more for that added security, but you've got good protection in hand. It's when you connect your device to the internet that things get dicey. If you're not using a secure HTTPS connection, your data is exposed. Even if it is, snoops could learn a lot just by seeing what sites you visit, and where your connection originates. To fully protect your online activity, you need a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;315&quot;&gt;VPN, or virtual private network&lt;\/a&gt;. With a VPN's protection, nobody can see or tweak your network traffic, not even the network's owner. VPNs have other benefits too, as I'll explain, so install one on your iPhone now, and don't forget your other devices.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;div&gt;rnrnrn&lt;\/div&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that modern cellular communication is thoroughly encrypted, not easily tapped unless you have access to police-level tools like the Stingray device, or data dumps from cell towers. Oh, it's possible for bad actors to jam the secure 4G and 3G channels, forcing nearby phones to connect via insecure 2G to a briefcase-sized cell tower called a &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/encyclopedia\/term\/femtocell&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;femtocell&lt;\/a&gt;. In that scenario, the attacker has full access to all communication. But the likelihood you'll suffer such an attack is vanishingly small.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The real day-to-day problem is Wi-Fi. When you connect to the free Wi-Fi at the public library, airport, coffee shop, grocery, or wherever, your security is in the hands of the hotspot owner. HTTPS connections should be safe, but a crooked network owner could sift through your less sensitive communications, and could track which sites you visit. Other users on a nonsecured network can also find ways to track your network traffic, if they're clever. Even your own ISP can now aggregate and sell nonpersonal information, thanks to the current administration's steady dismantling of online security. It's a jungle out there!&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='KeepSolid VPN main' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;center&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-1.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It gets worse. Once you've connected with a hotspot, your iPhone's default behavior is to connect with that same hotspot automatically next time it comes in range. However, there's no verification of the hotspot other than the SSID (network name), and your iPhone broadcasts the names it's looking for. It's easy for bad guys to obtain a portable hotspot that listens for those broadcast queries and mimics every network name requested by nearby devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Note that the same dangers apply to that lightweight MacBook you're carrying around. When you're connected to Wi-Fi, you're vulnerable. Be sure to install a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-mac-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;163&quot;&gt;Mac VPN&lt;\/a&gt; before you head for the coffee shop.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:360Oeq1GlV\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Encryption and Location Spoofing&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When your VPN is active, all your network traffic, whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself, gets encrypted before it leaves your phone. This encrypted data stream travels to a server owned by the VPN company, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Encrypted web traffic isn't the only reason &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;21377&quot;&gt;you need a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;. With a direct, no-VPN connection to a website, your IP address not only identifies you to that site, but it also identifies your geographic location. Ad-trackers, snoops, and government agencies can use that IP address to track what you do online. When you're using a VPN, however, the IP address that others see is that of the VPN company, not your own.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; style=&quot;width: 100%; height: 100%;&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/mashable.com\/videos\/blueprint:1On8Y6WYlB\/embed\/?player=pcmag&amp;amp;autoplay=true&amp;amp;mute=true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN companies maintain servers all over the world. On one hand, that means that when you're traveling you can find a nearby server, and nearby typically means faster. On the other hand, you can spoof your location by choosing a server in a faraway country. Try doing that and visiting the Google website; you'll find that it comes up in the language of your apparent location. Journalists embedded in repressive countries and political activists working against those repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Of course, you may be breaking local laws just by using a VPN. For example, &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/putin-bans-vpns-in-russia&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;4281&quot;&gt;Russia has banned the use of VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;, claiming a need to block terrorist activities. Russia is also working on a system to detach from the internet at large, ostensibly to protect against cyberattack.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Russia's not alone. China banned the use of VPNs last year, though some still manage to connect. &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/chinas-internet-censors-ban-use-of-the-letter-n&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;35340&quot;&gt;China's internet censors have displayed their power&lt;\/a&gt; by blocking use of the letter N. The big Chinese ISPs have been tasked with blocking unauthorized VPN use, while letting businesses continue to use their internal VPNs.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='NordVPN Map' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-2.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's not uncommon for online streaming services to offer content in one region, but not another. Offerings from Netflix and Hulu differ by country. Brits can watch BBC shows for free, while the same shows require a subscription in the US. Spoofing your location with a VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. But take care: Location spoofing may violate your terms of service. In addition, companies like Netflix are &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/use-a-vpn-to-watch-netflix-abroad-prepare-to-be-cut-off&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;26342&quot;&gt;cracking down on VPN users&lt;\/a&gt;. More often than not, streaming isn't an option when your VPN is running.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Despite Wi-Fi and cellular security issues, privacy concerns, and the other potential benefits of location spoofing, too few people protect themselves and their traffic with a VPN. In fact, in our &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/youre-not-using-a-vpn-bad-idea&quot;&gt;survey on VPN usage&lt;\/a&gt;, 71 percent of respondents had never used a VPN. If you fall into that group, don't worry! We've got a whole feature on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;What an iPhone VPN Can't Do&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The connection from your device to a VPN server is totally secure, but the same can't always be said of the connection from the VPN server to the website you're visiting. If it's a plain old HTTP website, the back-and-forth between the site and the VPN server isn't protected, and might conceivably be intercepted. If the site uses secure HTTPS, on the other hand, your interaction is encrypted from end to end, but a snoop could still learn where your data is going.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even with no VPN, your connection to a site that uses HTTPS, as &lt;a href=&quot;\/news\/77-percent-of-google-internet-traffic-now-encrypted&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;18827&quot;&gt;Google wants every site to do&lt;\/a&gt;, is encrypted. Of course, that HTTPS connection does nothing to hide your IP address. For the best security, use your VPN and also connect using HTTPS whenever it's available.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='PureVPN Main Window' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-3.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While the data going to and from your VPN server is encrypted, using a VPN doesn't get you the level of anonymity obtained by connecting through the &lt;a href=&quot;\/how-to\/how-to-stay-anonymous-online&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;34342&quot;&gt;TOR network&lt;\/a&gt;, nor the concomitant ability to dive into the scary depths of the Dark Web. On the plus side, some VPN services include TOR-specific servers as an option.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;It's true that iPhone users have less to worry about when it comes to malware (but don't get &lt;em&gt;too&lt;\/em&gt; complacent). However, you can still be duped by a phishing website into giving up your security credentials. A few iPhone VPNs promise to strip out fraudulent sites, malicious sites, and (in some cases) advertising from the data stream that pours into your iPhone. Just don't rely too strongly on these, as in most cases they do the job using a simple blacklist. Phishing websites come and go ephemerally, and often vanish before they ever get blacklisted.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 35 26'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg&quot;}' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg' width='35' height='26'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='Related Story' width='35' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.fit_lim.size_35x26.v_1569470765.jpg' align=&quot;left&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-4.jpg'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;\/about\/how-we-test-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;5963&quot;&gt;See How We Test VPNs&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/strong&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Testing iPhone VPN Performance&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Suppose your business involves shipping goods back and forth between City A and City B. If you add a requirement that they go off to City C for a security check in the middle of each run, the trip will naturally take longer. The same is true when you stick a VPN server in the middle of your connection to a website. Things almost always take longer.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Before starting our VPN speed tests, we disable the cellular data network by putting the phone in airplane mode and then enabling Wi-Fi. The cellular connection isn't as stable, and it's also much more difficult to attack than Wi-Fi, as mentioned earlier. We test all of the products on the same iOS device, running the latest version of iOS.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For testing purposes, we use Ookla's &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/pcmag.speedtestcustom.com\/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;internet speed test tool&lt;\/a&gt;. (Note that PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis, also owns Ookla). We average a series of tests, discarding the lowest and highest results. Then we immediately enable the VPN, connecting to whatever it recommended as the fastest server, and repeat that test. By comparing averages with and without the VPN active, we derive a score based on the percent change.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Ping latency is the time it takes for your device to query a server and receive a response. If that query must go through the VPN, latency typically increases, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot. However, we measure latency in milliseconds. Unless you're playing a fast-paced online game where extra milliseconds of lag can get you fragged, you won't notice a modest increase in latency.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' src=&quot;data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 310 550'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' \/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot; v-image-loader='{ imageSrc: &quot;\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png&quot;}' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png' width='310' height='550'&gt;&lt;noscript inline-template&gt;&lt;img alt='TunnelBear connected' width='310' src='\/imagery\/roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.fit_lim.size_310x550.v_1569470765.png' align=&quot;right&quot; data-image-path='roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-5.png'&gt;&lt;\/noscript&gt;&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;A drag on download speed, on the other hand, will probably draw your attention. If downloading a new app takes twice as long, that's not good. And slow download speeds can cause streaming videos to pause or stutter. Fortunately, few of the iPhone VPNs we've tested had a big impact on download speed. In fact, one of them actually sped up downloads in testing.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;When's the last time you uploaded a big file from your smartphone? Right, it's not a common activity. A drag on upload speed due to the VPN isn't likely to bother anybody. In truth, while all the iPhone VPNs we tested had some effect on upload speed, even the worst of them wasn't bad.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;For this batch of reviews, we performed all the iPhone speed tests on exactly the same device and network, over the course of just two days, but that doesn't mean we'd get precisely the same results on a different day, nor that you would get the same results on another network. The extremes would probably remain extreme, but other results could well vary. In addition, for most people, speed shouldn't be the only factor in choosing a VPN. A convenient interface, a wide selection of servers, useful advanced features&amp;mdash;these are also important considerations.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Can You Trust Your VPN Service?&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust the provider. Established security companies, such as F-Secure, may have only recently come to the VPN market. It's easier to trust companies that have been around a little longer, simply because their reputation is likely to be known. But companies and products can change quickly. Today's slow VPN service that won't let you cancel your subscription could be tomorrow's poster child for excellence.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;We're not cryptography experts, so we can't verify all of the encryption claims providers make. Instead, we focus on the features provided. Bonus features like ad blocking, firewalls, and kill switches that disconnect you from the web if your VPN connection drops, go a long way toward keeping you safe. We also prefer providers that support OpenVPN, since it's a standard that's known for its speed and reliability. It's also, as the name implies, open source, meaning it benefits from many developers' eyes looking for potential problems.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;In evaluating VPNs, we give special attention to the privacy practices of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. In our testing, we read through the privacy policies and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives. What we look for is a commitment to protect user information, and to take a hands-off approach to gathering user data.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;As part of our research, we also make sure to find out where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier to keep a promise of &quot;We don't keep any logs.&quot; It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN company will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide if that should happen.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The best VPN services have a privacy policy that clearly spells out what the service does, what information it collects, and what it does to protect that information. Some companies explain that they collect some information, but don't inform you about how they intend to use that information. Others are more transparent.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;While a VPN can protect your privacy online, you might still want to take the additional step of avoiding paying for one using a credit card, for moral or security reasons. Several VPN services now accept anonymous payment methods such Bitcoin, and some even accept retailer gift cards. Both of these transactions is about as close as you can get to paying with cash for something online. That Starbucks gift card may be better spent on secure web browsing than a mediocre-at-best latte.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Even the best privacy practices can't protect against failures by third-party providers. The well-regarded &lt;span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;\/opinions\/nordvpn-and-torguard-vpn-breaches-what-you-need-to-know&quot; data-link-type=&quot;article&quot; data-link-id=&quot;37390&quot;&gt;NordVPN suffered a breach&lt;\/a&gt; that was traced to a single leased server managed by a third-party company. NordVPN has beefed up security, hired a penetration-testing team to work alongside its own experts, and scheduled a full security audit. The company also announced a bug bounty program. TorGuard got caught up in the same breach, but can't report full details due to a pending lawsuit against...NordVPN.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;VPN Features and Extras&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;The features to look for in a VPN depend on the way you intend to use it. If you never travel abroad and don't feel the need to pretend you're surfing from Amsterdam, the most important features for you are a convenient interface and a big selection of servers in the US. Conversely, if you're a globetrotter with a need for a secure connection from just about anywhere, you'll look for a VPN provider whose server locations cover all the continents.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrnrnrn&lt;p&gt;For those protecting their Windows or macOS desktops with a VPN, the availability of specialized servers for BitTorrent and P2P file sharing may be a deciding factor. However, in our experience, using BitTorrent or P2P on a mobile device is much less common.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Here's a distinction that may matter more to us than to the average user. There are many protocols available to protect a VPN connection, and our favorite at PCMag is OpenVPN. It's open-source, so many experts have vetted its security. It's also fast and effective. And&amp;hellip;hardly any iPhone VPNs use it. Why? Because Apple would prefer developers use the default IPSec or IKEv2 protocol, so any app that uses OpenVPN must go through even more vetting than usual.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;Finally, there's the bang-for-your-buck factor. While it's possible to get a &lt;a href=&quot;\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns&quot; data-link-type=&quot;roundup&quot; data-link-id=&quot;216&quot;&gt;VPN for free&lt;\/a&gt;, most free services either put a draconian cap on bandwidth or serve up ads. Prices for the iPhone VPNs we've examined range from less than $7 to more than $12 per month, typically with a discount if you pay for several months or a full year. That subscription typically lets you install protection on five or ten devices, though a few VPN tools put no limit on the number of devices.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;Get the Right iPhone VPN&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;There's little need to go searching the Apple store for an iPhone antivirus utility to go with iOS 13. Malware coders focus on the low-hanging fruit, meaning the relatively insecure Windows and Android operating systems. But using a VPN isn't about protecting your device; it's about protecting your information, and your network connections. You need a VPN no matter what type of device you use. Read our reviews, check our ratings, and select the VPN that's best for you. Once you've chosen a service, be sure to read our guide on &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-set-up-and-use-a-vpn&quot;&gt;how to set up and use a VPN&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;rnrn&lt;h2&gt;&lt;\/h2&gt;rnrn&lt;style&gt;&lt;\/style&gt;&quot;,&quot;body_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;images&quot;:{&quot;autoincrement&quot;:14,&quot;images&quot;:[{&quot;index&quot;:6,&quot;path&quot;:&quot;roundups\/02Zsw4AysaaHUmSZV3CE9tt-6.jpg&quot;,&quot;extension&quot;:&quot;jpg&quot;,&quot;animated&quot;:false,&quot;width&quot;:1920,&quot;height&quot;:1080,&quot;hash&quot;:&quot;c6a3316f0c141f21b53c6c5a6223129a&quot;,&quot;timestamp&quot;:1713819756,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;hero&quot;:true,&quot;logo&quot;:false,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;The Best VPN Apps for the iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:&quot;531783&quot;,&quot;thumbnail&quot;:true,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Credit: PCMag \/Apple&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;810, The, Best, VPN, Apps, for, the, iPhone&quot;,&quot;legacy_size&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;photo_credit&quot;:null,&quot;hero_position&quot;:1,&quot;load_image_bits&quot;:false,&quot;legacy_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-07 16:35:11.447&quot;}}],&quot;metadata&quot;:[]},&quot;badge&quot;:null,&quot;hero_caption&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-12T15:06:08.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-20T23:42:30.000000Z&quot;,&quot;scheduled_at&quot;:null,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2017-06-01T21:17:58.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2026-02-22T21:00:01.000000Z&quot;},&quot;product&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:102746,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02nwS0rA4I77JXf1DTxQf3f&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;ACTIVE&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Hide.me VPN&quot;,&quot;tiered_pricing&quot;:false,&quot;msrp_currency&quot;:&quot;USD&quot;,&quot;msrp_amount&quot;:&quot;9.95&quot;,&quot;msrp_label&quot;:&quot;Per Month, Starts at&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:null,&quot;source_updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:43:34.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;,&quot;specs&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:122165,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Blocks Ads&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:139497,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:1,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122166,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:2,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122167,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Server Locations&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;89&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:3,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122168,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geographically Diverse Servers&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:4,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122169,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:5,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122157,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Data Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;10GB Per Month&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:6,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122158,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version  Server Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Five Locations&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:7,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122159,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:8,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122160,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Can Manually Select Server In Free Version&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:9,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122161,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Are All Features Available In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:10,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122162,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Free Connection Speeds Limited&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;No&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:11,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122163,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;No Ads In Free Version?&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;text&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;Yes&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:12,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2024-04-23T20:19:10.000000Z&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:122164,&quot;product_id&quot;:102746,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Public Third-Party Audit&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;boolean&quot;,&quot;value&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;unit&quot;:null,&quot;rank&quot;:13,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2023-03-02T03:56:36.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:44:31.000000Z&quot;}]}},&quot;authors&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:509,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;Editorial Author&quot;,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;is_active&quot;:true,&quot;show_expertise&quot;:1,&quot;show_expertise_filters&quot;:0,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;first_name&quot;:&quot;Justyn&quot;,&quot;last_name&quot;:&quot;Newman&quot;,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Senior Writer, Security&quot;,&quot;bio_summary&quot;:[],&quot;bio_content_blocks&quot;:[],&quot;expertise&quot;:[],&quot;email&quot;:&quot;justyn.newman@ziffdavis.com&quot;,&quot;twitter&quot;:null,&quot;bluesky&quot;:&quot;justynnewman.bsky.social&quot;,&quot;threads&quot;:null,&quot;bio_blurb&quot;:&quot;Justyn has written about tech and security since 2012. He tests VPNs and other tools to see if they can withstand the growing threats to our privacy.&quot;,&quot;linkedin&quot;:&quot;justyn-newman-655395143&quot;,&quot;image&quot;:{&quot;path&quot;:&quot;authors\/01oXdQFB122D8N1SANiXoWC.png&quot;,&quot;metadata&quot;:{&quot;altText&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;,&quot;attribution&quot;:&quot;Justyn Newman&quot;}},&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:05.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:48:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-04-18T14:53:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-10-10T19:56:27.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;authorable_id&quot;:3060,&quot;author_id&quot;:509,&quot;authorable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-25T14:50:04.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:43:52.000000Z&quot;}}],&quot;brands&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:7372,&quot;legacy_id&quot;:null,&quot;luna_user_id&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;02obWYk2O6MpJRii31TSdV1&quot;,&quot;status&quot;:&quot;Published&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Hide.me&quot;,&quot;seo_title&quot;:null,&quot;slug&quot;:&quot;hideme&quot;,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:null,&quot;seo_noindex&quot;:0,&quot;deck&quot;:null,&quot;seo_description&quot;:null,&quot;first_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:14:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:14:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;last_published_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:14:38.000000Z&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:14:38.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:14:46.000000Z&quot;,&quot;pivot&quot;:{&quot;brandable_id&quot;:3060,&quot;brand_id&quot;:7372,&quot;brandable_type&quot;:&quot;review&quot;,&quot;created_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T14:15:00.000000Z&quot;,&quot;updated_at&quot;:&quot;2025-06-26T15:43:52.000000Z&quot;}}]}]&#10;                     this.specNames = [&quot;Rating&quot;,&quot;Best For&quot;,&quot;Free Version&quot;,&quot;500+ Servers&quot;,&quot;Simultaneous VPN Connections&quot;,&quot;Supported Protocols on iOS&quot;]&#10;                     this.specLength = Object.keys(this.specNames).length;&#10;                     this.gridRowStyle = `grid-row: span ${this.specLength } \/ span ${this.specLength }`&#10;                 },&#10;                 show(key, id) { return this.selections[`selection_${key}`] === this.options[id]?.uuid },&#10;                 select(key, val) { this.selections[`selection_${key}`] = this.options.find(option =&gt; option.uuid === val)?.uuid ?? '' },&#10;                 setSelections() {&#10;                     const width = window.innerWidth&#10;                     const dropdownCount = width &gt;= 1024 ? 3 : 2&#10;                     this.selectionCount = dropdownCount&#10;                     this.specLengthVisible = width &gt;= 768 &amp;&amp; this.specLength &gt;= 6 ? 6 : this.specLength &gt;= 4 ? 4 : this.specLength&#10;                     this.scrollable = this.specLength &gt; this.specLengthVisible&#10;                     Object.keys(this.selections).forEach((key, index) =&gt; )&#10;                 },&#10;                 calculateGridHeight() {&#10;                     const node = [...$refs.specs.children].find(child =&gt; child.offsetHeight)&#10;                     const childNodes = [...node.children].filter(child =&gt; child.offsetHeight).slice(0, this.specLength &lt; this.specLengthVisible ? this.specLength : this.specLengthVisible)&#10;                     const height = Math.round(childNodes.reduce((sum, child) =&gt; sum + child.offsetHeight, 0))&#10;                     return `height: ${height}px`;&#10;                 }&#10;             }\">\n<h2 class=\"font-stretch-ultra-condensed flex flex-col gap-y-2 leading-compact\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Greatest_VPNs_for_iPhones_in_2026_Evaluate_Specs\"><\/span>\n            <span class=\"text-base font-bold uppercase not-italic tracking-widest text-red-400\">The Greatest VPNs for iPhones in 2026<\/span><br \/>\n            <span class=\"text-3xl font-semibold tracking-wide\">Evaluate Specs<\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p>\n                        Shopping for Information: The Greatest VPNs for iPhones in 2026<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"do-you-need-an-iphone-vpn\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_You_Want_an_iPhone_VPN\"><\/span>Do You Want an iPhone VPN?\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>No matter machine, advertisers can<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/you-tossed-your-cookies-but-theyre-still-tracking-you-heres-how-to-hide\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/you-tossed-your-cookies-but-theyre-still-tracking-you-heres-how-to-hide\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>monitor your on-line habits<\/u><\/a>. This information is efficacious. Corporations, advertisers, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/explainers\/the-hidden-cost-of-free-vpns-how-to-tell-which-ones-are-safe\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>unscrupulous VPNs<\/u><\/a> promote it to one another. Aggregators and information brokers take your information and use it to focus on customers like your self with commercials. It\u2019s not just some unhealthy apples plundering consumer information. It&#8217;s common for corporations to have interaction in information manipulation till they&#8217;re slapped with an injunction or positive that prohibits such practices. Even then, most don&#8217;t cease solely.<\/p>\n<p>Even your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/articles\/readers-choice-2025-isps\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>web service supplier<\/u><\/a> (ISP) can mixture and promote anonymized details about on-line exercise. Social media has been constructed on buyer information. Each algorithm you have interaction with makes use of your preferences and decisions to focus on you. These highly effective corporations are not looking for their home of playing cards to return crumbling down and can battle till the top to take care of their capacity to gather your info. So, it&#8217;s as much as you to take measures to safeguard your private information.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You possibly can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/services-and-software\/protect-your-privacy-by-disabling-this-app-tracking-apple-iphone-setting\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"(Opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>restrict a few of this info alternate<\/u><\/a> on the iPhone by means of the Ask App To not Monitor function. Simply needless to say the function should be manually enabled for every app you put in in your machine. This function received\u2019t cease all info from being collected both. Apps can nonetheless gather \u201cfirst-party information,\u201d together with in-app purchases, account particulars, and app interactions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/best-vpns-for-tiktok\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>TikTok<\/u><\/a> can\u2019t use your cellphone&#8217;s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) quantity to trace your conduct. Nonetheless, it may well nonetheless see what you are doing by itself app. TikTok can then transmit that exercise again to dwelling base to be used in third-party commercial concentrating on. If you would like to take again a few of that privateness, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/news\/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-you-need-one\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>a VPN can assist<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-use-iphone-vpns-for-encryption-and-location-spoofing\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Methods_to_Use_iPhone_VPNs_for_Encryption_and_Location_Spoofing\"><\/span>Methods to Use iPhone VPNs for Encryption and Location Spoofing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When your VPN is energetic, all of your community site visitors\u2014whether or not from browsers, apps, or iOS itself\u2014will get encrypted earlier than leaving your cellphone. This encrypted information is transmitted to a server owned by the VPN supplier, the place it is decrypted and forwarded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With out a VPN, your IP deal with and site may be revealed to anybody spying in your connection or aggregating information from customers in your space. Encryption makes that information unreadable on its strategy to the VPN\u2019s server. After that, the decrypted information is linked to the VPN\u2019s server, thus eradicating your connection to it solely.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-parent flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<div id=\"video-container-1On8Y6WYlB-699bb780d6af1\" class=\"!h-full\">\n<div class=\"relative\">\n                <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"absolute size-16 block inset-1\/2 translate-center text-black z-20 cursor-pointer sm:w-24 sm:h-24\" viewbox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"m371.7 238-176-107c-15.8-8.8-35.7 2.5-35.7 21v208c0 18.4 19.8 29.8 35.7 21l176-101c16.4-9.1 16.4-32.8 0-42zM504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248zm-448 0c0-110.5 89.5-200 200-200s200 89.5 200 200-89.5 200-200 200S56 366.5 56 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"w-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ex.co\/transformations\/production\/b627881f-ce14-4696-873f-e94f5223a21c\/thumbnail-480.webp\" alt=\"How a VPN Works\"\/>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"text-lg gap-4 font-bold mb-0 flex items-center leading-tight\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"max-w-[2.5rem] md:min-w-12 md:max-w-12\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/images\/pcmag.svg\" alt=\"PCMag Logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p>How a VPN Works<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Since VPNs route your information to a special location, you&#8217;ll be able to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/opinions\/need-to-spoof-your-location-a-vpn-can-help\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>spoof your location<\/u><\/a> and tunnel previous native web restrictions. Journalists and political activists working towards repressive regimes have lengthy relied on VPNs to speak safely with the skin world. Please word that in some international locations, utilizing a VPN may be thought-about a violation of native legal guidelines. For instance, Russia and China have banned most VPNs.<\/p>\n<p>Spoofing your location may also circumvent regional streaming restrictions. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/best-vpns-for-video-streaming\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>On-line streaming companies<\/u><\/a> typically present content material in a single area however not one other. A VPN can give you entry to reveals that aren&#8217;t sometimes obtainable to you. Nonetheless, location spoofing could violate the platform&#8217;s phrases of service. Platforms <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/how-to-unblock-netflix-with-a-vpn\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">like Netflix<\/a> have been blocking VPNs left and proper, and it is unclear whether or not this back-and-forth content material warfare will ever finish. This battle implies that what your VPN can entry could change in a single day. Even the perfect VPNs want time to adapt to the brand new blocking applied sciences that streaming companies implement.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"what-an-iphone-vpn-cant-do\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_an_iPhone_VPN_Cannot_Do\"><\/span>What an iPhone VPN Cannot Do<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Even when paired with an iPhone, a VPN does not make you invincible to on-line threats. I extremely advocate enabling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/multi-factor-authentication-2fa-who-has-it-and-how-to-set-it-up\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>multi-factor authentication<\/u><\/a> wherever doable, creating distinctive logins with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-password-managers\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>a password supervisor<\/u><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/explainers\/passwordless-authentication-what-it-is-and-why-you-need-it-asap\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>creating passkeys<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-parent flex flex-col gap-4\">\n<div id=\"video-container-N8l61m3Bn1-699bb780d71d9\" class=\"!h-full\">\n<div class=\"relative\">\n                <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"absolute size-16 block inset-1\/2 translate-center text-black z-20 cursor-pointer sm:w-24 sm:h-24\" viewbox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"m371.7 238-176-107c-15.8-8.8-35.7 2.5-35.7 21v208c0 18.4 19.8 29.8 35.7 21l176-101c16.4-9.1 16.4-32.8 0-42zM504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248zm-448 0c0-110.5 89.5-200 200-200s200 89.5 200 200-89.5 200-200 200S56 366.5 56 256z\"\/><\/svg>                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"w-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ex.co\/transformations\/production\/4354f105-573a-4579-a408-05031a0a1be9\/thumbnail-720.webp\" alt=\"What Is Two-Factor Authentication?\"\/>\n            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-3\">\n<div class=\"text-lg gap-4 font-bold mb-0 flex items-center leading-tight\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"max-w-[2.5rem] md:min-w-12 md:max-w-12\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/images\/pcmag.svg\" alt=\"PCMag Logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p>What Is Two-Issue Authentication?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Except for apps, take the time to learn the privateness insurance policies for the companies you employ and modify your privateness preferences in your cellular browser. Eradicating permissions does work, and meaning there might be much less information for apps and websites to drag from.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Contemplate a VPN with multi-hop connection help, reminiscent of Proton VPN. Multi-hop connections repeat that preliminary routing step by means of a number of VPN servers, making it even tougher to trace again to you.<\/p>\n<p>A VPN received\u2019t forestall all snooping, particularly on apps that require your private info. Kind information, account info, and different manually entered particulars will nonetheless be trackable in an app. It\u2019s finest to make use of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-temporary-email-services\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>burner e mail<\/u><\/a> and faux particulars when doable. Most apps don\u2019t really need your actual identify, cellphone quantity, deal with, or e mail. You\u2019ll simply find yourself with spam promotional emails and texts. If it isn&#8217;t vital to the service&#8217;s operation, then it is best to maintain these particulars personal.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"does-using-a-vpn-slow-your-iphones-internet-connection\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Utilizing_a_VPN_Gradual_Your_iPhone%E2%80%99s_Web_Connection\"><\/span>Does Utilizing a VPN Gradual Your iPhone&#8217;s Web Connection?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A VPN virtually all the time will increase your web connection latency, which might decelerate your uploads and downloads. To grasp the affect a VPN could have in your web connection, I examine the outcomes from a sequence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.speedtest.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"(Opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Ookla pace assessments<\/u><\/a> with and with out the VPN energetic. (Be aware: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com&#8217;s mother or father firm. For extra, see the ethics coverage in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/about\/pcmagcom-mission-statement\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Editorial Mission Assertion<\/u><\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Community speeds differ considerably relying on the time of day, community circumstances, and your location, so I think about my outcomes a snapshot for comparability reasonably than a definitive judgment of a service&#8217;s efficiency. The most recent information is within the chart under:<\/p>\n<div class=\"py-4\" data-parent-group=\"related-stories\">\n<div class=\"mx-0 border border-b border-l-0 border-r-0 border-t border-gray-300 py-4 md:ml-8 md:mr-24\">\n<h3 class=\"font-stretch-ultra-condensed mb-2 text-lg font-semibold uppercase\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Advisable_by_Our_Editors\"><\/span>Advisable by Our Editors<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I depend on a Home windows desktop and a wired connection for testing as a result of I&#8217;ve discovered it extra dependable than testing on particular person cellular gadgets. Moreover, not all VPN suppliers make the most of the identical protocol throughout all platforms, which might have an effect on efficiency.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"can-you-trust-your-iphone-vpn-service\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_You_Belief_Your_iPhone_VPN_Service\"><\/span>Can You Belief Your iPhone VPN Service?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Belief is finest lent to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-vpn-services\" data-element=\"link-injector\" x-track-ga-click=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VPN service<\/a>, reasonably than being handed over solely. VPNs change. I&#8217;ve seen once-great companies fail to ship over time, and have seen once-dubious suppliers right their course. I can not confirm all of the encryption claims suppliers make. As an alternative, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/explainers\/what-dirt-does-your-vpn-have-on-you-vpn-logging-explained\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>I give particular consideration to<\/u><\/a> the privateness practices of VPN corporations, not simply the know-how they supply. I learn the privateness insurance policies throughout testing after which focus on firm practices with VPN service representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a part of my analysis, I additionally decide the corporate&#8217;s location and the authorized framework below which it operates. Some international locations lack data-retention legal guidelines, making it simpler for them to stick to their no-logs coverage. Realizing what private info a VPN collects and below what circumstances a VPN supplier will hand it over to regulation enforcement is vital. The very best choices received\u2019t gather any information that could possibly be handed over within the occasion of a search. Whether it is saved lengthy sufficient handy over to regulation enforcement, it&#8217;s vulnerable to a knowledge breach. I search for companies which have clear privateness insurance policies that define what the service does, what info it collects, and the way the corporate protects your information.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I additionally prefer to see coverage backed up by some verifiable effort. VPN suppliers can display their dedication to privateness and safety by present process third-party privateness audits to confirm their claims. These audits, though imperfect, do present some peace of thoughts.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2 id=\"which-free-vpn-is-best-for-your-iphone\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Which_Free_VPN_Is_Greatest_for_Your_iPhone\"><\/span>Which Free VPN Is Greatest for Your iPhone?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Though it is doable to get a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/the-best-free-vpns\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>free<\/u><\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/picks\/best-cheap-vpns\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">low cost<\/a> VPN, even the perfect no-cost companies have some limitations, reminiscent of bandwidth caps. Nonetheless, information caps will possible be the least of your worries with a free service. Fee is commonly dealt with utilizing your private information, which is exactly what a VPN is meant to stop. When you should use a free service, it&#8217;s best to make use of a free trial model of a premium, respected VPN as a substitute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Proton VPN gives the one free service with out information restrictions, making it the one actually free VPN on my record. Nonetheless, the free tier limits your server places to five random international locations, and you should utilize the free VPN service on just one machine at a time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n    var facebookPixelLoaded = false;\n    window.addEventListener('load', function() {\n        document.addEventListener('scroll', facebookPixelScript);\n        document.addEventListener('mousemove', facebookPixelScript);\n    });\n    function facebookPixelScript() {\n        if (!facebookPixelLoaded) {\n            facebookPixelLoaded = true;\n            document.removeEventListener('scroll', facebookPixelScript);\n            document.removeEventListener('mousemove', facebookPixelScript);\n            window.zdconsent.cmd.push(function() {\n                ! function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {\n                    if (f.fbq) return;\n                    n = f.fbq = function() {\n                        n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)\n                    };\n                    if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;\n                    n.push = n;\n                    n.loaded = !0;\n                    n.version = '2.0';\n                    n.queue = [];\n                    t = b.createElement(e);\n                    t.async = !0;\n                    t.src = v;\n                    s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n                    s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)\n                }(window, document, 'script', '\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n                fbq('init', '454758778052139');\n                fbq('track', \"PageView\");\n            });\n        }\n    }\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deeper Dive: Our Prime Examined Picks EDITORS&#8217; NOTE February 22, 2026: With this replace, our lineup of beneficial iPhone VPNs stays unchanged. The present picks have been vetted for forex and availability. (Credit score: Proton) (Credit score: Proton) Professionals &amp; Cons Greatest free plan we have seen&#13; Trade-leading privateness requirements&#13; World server community&#13; Slick, accessible [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-input-devices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22717,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22716\/revisions\/22717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aireviewirush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}