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You've probably heard that a virtual private network (VPN) is a key instrument in your privacy toolkit, but it's nearly impossible for the average person to determine what the best VPN is on their own. That's where PCMag comes in. We've been reviewing VPNs for more than 10 years and writing about them for more than 25. So when our overall favorite, Proton VPN, gets not only an Editors' Choice award but also a five-star rating, you can trust that it's a score we stand behind and one that you can rely on. That said, this story has nine other highly recommended VPNs, all of which are excellent in their own ways. See our top picks below, with links to full reviews of each service and all the info you need to decide which VPN is the perfect fit for you.
Our Top Tested Picks
Our experts have tested this product and selected it for this story. Its inclusion and description here solely reflect findings from our independent review. The company has paid for highlighted placement on this page.
Best Overall
The Best VPN Deals This Week*
- Surfshark VPN — $1.99 Per Month + 4 Months Free (87% Off 2 Years Plan)
- Norton Ultra VPN Plus — $3.33 Per Month for 5 Devices (50% Off 1 Year Plan)
- PureVPN — $2.15 Per Month + 3 Months Free (83% Off 2 Years Standard Plan)
- Perimeter 81 — $8 Per User Per Month With a 1 Year Plan (Designed to Empower Businesses)
- NordVPN — $2.99 Per Month + 3 Months Free (74% Off 2 Years Basic Plan)
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
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- Best Gaming VPNs
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Best Overall
Proton VPN
- Best free VPN subscription yet
- Numerous advanced privacy tools
- Strong customer privacy stance
- Large server network
- Slick, accessible client
- Excellent upload speed scores
- High latency scores
Proton VPN does it all and earns a rare five-star rating. In addition to the usual VPN capabilities, it includes multi-hop connections and access to the Tor network via VPN. It also sports a reimagined app interface for a pleasant user experience. While the core paid VPN service has a dead-on average price, it also has the best free VPN subscription we've seen.
An account with Proton VPN will also grant you access to other products in the Proton, including Proton Mail and Proton Drive. This includes free accounts, making it an excellent value-add. We are also impressed by its Stealth feature, which is designed to provide additional security to particularly endangered users in countries like Iran and Russia.
Proton VPN is truly a strong overall option. Experienced users will find the features they're looking for, and first-timers will find a streamlined experience. It has a great free option, and its paid subscriptions are still an excellent value for the features and performance you get.
Best Premium Features
NordVPN
- Support for multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connections
- Bevy of available features and add-ons
- Good speed results
- Built-in antivirus tools
- Excellent design
- Friendly onboarding wizard
- Expensive
- Threat Protection Pro lacks full antivirus capabilities
- Deceptive annual renewal pricing
NordVPN has long taken a "kitchen sink" approach to its VPN and includes a little bit of everything. From the start, it has included features such as multi-hop connections and access to Tor over VPN, both of which are still rare among competitors. In the still-newish world of VPNs, NordVPN has also managed to set itself up as an established player that now buys other companies and adds entirely new products in addition to improving its VPN.
NordVPN has always been a solid product to use and has kept up a consistent and modern design across all its platforms. It's not afraid to change, however, being one of the first VPN companies to fully embrace the new WireGuard VPN protocol and RAM-only servers. All this comes at a price, though, as NordVPN charges quite a bit above the average monthly price we've seen across the industry.
NordVPN's greatest strength is that it has something to offer everyone. Privacy wonks appreciate its rare tools. People looking to access an otherwise blocked streaming service are empowered by NordVPN's large selection of servers and the ability to select server locations and even specific servers. First-time users should have no trouble getting started, and they may also be intrigued by NordVPN's growing list of additional services, including storage protected by encryption and a password manager.
Best for First-Time VPN Users
TunnelBear VPN
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Excellent privacy policies
- Annual independent audits
- Friendly, approachable design (with bears!)
- No multi-hop connections
- Split tunneling not available on all platforms
- Data limit on free subscription
It's easy to dismiss TunnelBear VPN with its funny bear-themed app, bright colors, and limited feature set. It lacks much of the muscle found among our top choices. But that does TunnelBear VPN a grave disservice. The service is extremely easy to use and features a bandwidth-limited free subscription option, making it an excellent choice for anyone unfamiliar with VPNs who may want to try before they buy. TunnelBear VPN also has one of the most transparent audit processes in the industry, making it a name you can trust.
Thanks to its simple and friendly interface, TunnelBear VPN is a great choice for anyone new to VPNs. It's also a strong option for anyone who just needs a general-purpose VPN and doesn't need to fuss with too many network settings.
Best for Global Location Spoofers
ExpressVPN
- Large, diversely distributed fleet of servers
- Strong privacy and security practices
- Split tunneling
- Stylish interface
- Expensive compared with VPNs with similar feature sets
- No multi-hop connections
ExpressVPN's interface is attractive, but that's not the only reason we like it. ExpressVPN also has a significant presence in 95 countries; thankfully, very few are virtual servers. Instead of WireGuard, it offers its own Lightway VPN protocol, which uses the open-source wolfSSL cryptography library and has passed a third-party audit.
With numerous server locations, ExpressVPN is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to spoof their location, whether it's to hide your IP address or to consume region-locked content. This includes watching your regular video-streaming accounts while traveling, seeing Netflix shows that aren't available in your area, or accessing the BBC iPlayer outside the UK.
Best for Streaming Enthusiasts
PureVPN
- Geographically diverse servers
- Quick upload and download speeds in our testing
- Smart, snazzy client design
- Globally unblocked Netflix
- Numerous, affordable add-ons
- Transparent privacy policy
- Confusing pricing
- Unclear where virtual servers are located
- Few additional privacy features
PureVPN has a lot to love inside its snazzy, beautifully designed package. It's fast and has a ton of servers worldwide, plenty of add-ons, a transparent privacy policy, and excellent results unblocking Netflix, all of which make it an appealing, well-rounded VPN.
PureVPN's global Netflix compatibility, massive list of servers to choose from, and excellent scores in our speed tests make it an ideal choice for privacy-conscious users who stream a lot of video. Its pricing structure is a bit convoluted, but once you've paid, you'll find this VPN a pleasure to use.
Best for Frequent Travelers
CyberGhost VPN
- Large, well-distributed server fleet
- Allows up to seven simultaneous connections
- Several add-ons, including antivirus
- Outstanding speed test scores
- Newly completed third-party audit
- Expensive
- Confusing privacy policies
CyberGhost is a pricey but extremely capable VPN service with an enormous collection of servers. It worked well in testing and offers a generous seven simultaneous connections, antivirus protection, and an ad blocker, among other bonus features. We also like that Cyberghost has completed a third-party audit.
CyberGhost's large and widespread network of servers makes it a top choice for users who travel a lot. No matter where you find yourself in the world, there's a good chance there's a local server you can connect to, and local servers mean better average speeds and reduced latency.
Best for Multi-Device Households
IPVanish VPN
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Good geographic diversity of servers
- Transparent privacy policy
- Small impact on throughput speeds in our testing
- Expensive
- Free trial only offered on annual plans via mobile app stores
Given that the average VPN protects five devices per subscription, VPNs like IPVanish that do not cap the number of devices protected provide invaluable service. Furthermore, IPVanish has impressive global server coverage, a good number of added features, and broad platform support to boot.
Anyone predominately concerned about device limits should have IPVanish near the top of their list. While its actual count of available servers could be higher and its price lower, IPVanish checks all the right boxes for those searching for a widely available VPN that protects all their devices.
(Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Best for Bargain Hunters
Mullvad VPN
- Affordable
- Requires no email or account information
- Radically transparency
- Open Netflix access in all regions tested
- Awkward desktop interface
- No transparency report or warrant canary
- Servers in a small range of countries
Mullvad VPN features a rare privacy-focused account system and even allows you to pay anonymously with cash. In this spirit, Mullvad VPN is radically transparent, giving customers an enormous amount of information about how their service works. Best of all, Mullvad VPN's service has a consistent flat rate and is extremely affordable—just 5 Euros ($5.40 at the time of writing) per month.
Mullvad VPN's service is all about knowing as little about its customers as possible, making it the premier option for those who are first and foremost concerned about their privacy on the web. Mullvad also offers an industry-leading price point for excellent service that packs in all the features of the best VPNs on the market.
Best Transparency Policy
Windscribe
- Industry-leading company transparency and communication
- Large number of payment options
- Best free plan of any VPN we've tested
- Helpful AI support bot
- Open Netflix access in all regions benchmarked
- Unlimited number of simultaneous connections and devices
- Anonymous signup allowed
- Middling speed results
Windscribe has a lot going for it, including an unrivaled support database complete with a helpful AI assistant, Open Netflix library access across all regions we tested, and a generous free service tier. However, what sets it above the competition is its outspoken owner and the refreshing level of transparency the company demonstrates regarding its customers' data.
Windscribe will appeal to people who are keen to reveal as little about themselves as possible and want a VPN company that is firmly dedicated to user privacy across every country it covers. Furthermore, some of Windscribe's advanced features are helpful to a wider spectrum of VPN users, including special protections for the identities of dissidents in data-restricted regions of the globe.
Best Free VPN
Hide.me VPN
- Ten simultaneous connections
- Good server distribution
- Strong speed test scores
- Supports anonymous payments
- Affordable
- Speed limitations on free tier
Hide.me VPN is a bit of an all-rounder, offering a compelling price alongside a user-friendly client and server distribution that would make lesser services blush. Plus, if you're new to VPNs, the free Hide.me client is on par with some of the better for-pay options we've reviewed.
If you're on a tight budget, tepid about VPNs, or unsure if using one will protect you in the way you need, Hide.me is an excellent choice. By not requiring a credit card to sign up or use the service, all you need is an email address, and you can encrypt your connection for up to 2GB per month. If you like the service and want more VPN protection than the free tier offers, Hide.me's premium plan still costs a bit less than the industry average, at $9.95 per month.
Is a VPN Worth Getting?
The simple answer to whether you need a VPN is yes. A VPN is a simple way to protect your privacy online and can help circumvent unwanted internet restrictions. None of the services listed here are perfect, and there will surely be times when a VPN won't make sense. Take the marketing language VPN providers use when sponsoring your favorite YouTube video or podcast with a healthy grain of salt. That said, a VPN is undoubtedly a valuable data privacy tool, one that's becoming even more necessary and is well worth having in your personal security toolbox.
Why Do I Need a VPN?
A VPN routes your internet traffic through an encrypted connection to a server controlled by the VPN provider. From there, your traffic exits onto the web as usual. If you only connect to websites secured with HTTPS, your data remains encrypted, even after leaving the VPN. It sounds simple, but VPN usage can improve your online privacy.
Think of this analogy: When your car pulls out of your driveway, someone can follow you and see where you're going, how long you spend there, and when you return. They might even peek into your car to learn more about you. With a VPN app, it's like driving from your house into a private tunnel, exiting into a closed parking garage, switching to a different car, and driving out. No one who is trying to follow you can know where you went.
Likewise, no one snooping around your network can see what you're doing when you use a VPN connection. Convenient public Wi-Fi networks are also convenient for attackers. How do you know, for example, "starbucks_wifi-real" is the coffee shop's actual Wi-Fi network? A prank popular among security researchers is to create a network with the same name as a free, popular service and see how many devices automatically connect.
Even if you're trusting, you might not want to trust your internet service provider (ISP). In the US, your ISP has enormous insight into your online activities. To make matters worse, congress has decided your ISP is allowed to sell your anonymized browsing history. Selling your data seems egregious since you are already paying for the service. A VPN prevents even your ISP from keeping tabs on you.
Another benefit of using a VPN is that your true IP address is hidden behind the address of the VPN server. This makes it harder to track you. Even dedicated observers have trouble telling which internet traffic is yours because your data is mixed in with everyone else's using the server.
Hiding your IP address has another benefit: It makes it harder for snoops to figure out your location. You can use this to your advantage and connect to distant VPN servers to spoof your location.
It's important to understand that if your VPN connection goes down, the privacy protection you rely on goes with it. For this reason, most VPNs offer a kill switch, which shuts off your network traffic when your VPN connection drops. The only catch? A kill switch is generally turned off by default, so you might want to toggle yours on in your VPN app when you set it up—or at least familiarize yourself with how it works and turn it on when your privacy is critically important. You can read more about this essential security feature in our kill switch explainer.
Note: VPNs are sometimes confused with proxies, but they are different. To learn more, see our explainer on VPNs vs. proxies.
What Can't VPNs Do?
VPN services, while helpful, don't provide every kind of threat protection. A VPN can't help you if you download ransomware or if you give up your data in a phishing attack. We strongly recommend using local antivirus software, enabling multi-factor authentication wherever available, and using a password manager to create and store unique, complex passwords for each site and service you use. Those are all good security measures you should take in addition to using a VPN.
Do You Need a VPN?
There are also limitations to how anonymous you can be with a VPN. Advertisers have tactics, such as online trackers and browser fingerprinting, to gather data on you and track your movements. We recommend using your browser's anti-tracking features and installing dedicated ad or tracker blockers.
Many VPN services also provide their own DNS resolution system as a security feature. Think of DNS as a phone book that turns a text-based URL like PCMag.com into an IP address computers can understand. Savvy snoops can monitor DNS requests and track your movements online. Greedy attackers can also use DNS poisoning to direct you to bogus phishing pages designed to steal your data. When you use a VPN's DNS system, it's another layer of protection. Read how (and why) to change your DNS server for more.
There's debate among security experts about the efficacy of VPNs. Since most sites now support secure HTTPS connections, much of your online experience is already encrypted. Secure DNS products like Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 exist precisely because some feel VPNs are overkill. Still, a VPN covers the information not already protected by HTTPS, places a buffer between you and the people controlling internet infrastructure, and makes tracking your activities online harder for any potential prying eyes.
Some security-conscious industries, like banking, are confused by or suspicious of VPNs. If your bank sees you logging in from what appears to be another US state or even another country—or if it simply detects that a VPN may be in use—it can raise red flags. That's because if a hacker were trying to get into your bank account from another country, they'd use a VPN, too. Expect to see captchas and more frequent multi-factor authentication requests when your VPN is on, or be prepared for your bank to block you from logging in at all.
VPNs vs. Security Suites
Just as antivirus utilities evolved into multi-function security suites, over the past year we’ve seen VPN services add other types of security features, from password managers to built-in antivirus protection. Norton Ultra VPN Plus, for example, contains most of the same features as the Norton 360 Deluxe suite, though some are hidden. The Threat Protection module in NordVPN Threat Protection Pro is like an antivirus, but it lacks the expected ability to scan local files for malware. Surfshark One’s antivirus component earned good scores against malware and a perfect score against phishing frauds. It ropes in a handful of other security features, but not enough to challenge top security suites.
Coming from the other direction, many traditional security suites have included a VPN component for years. Some are in-house productions, like Norton’s. Other companies, like Bitdefender, license VPN technology from third parties. Mergers and acquisitions muddy these waters further and make it difficult to tell who owns what, who's licensing which technologies, and which tools are developed from the ground up versus bought from someone else. Thankfully, we keep track, and you can find that information in greater detail in our individual reviews. It’s unclear how this collision of security-plus-VPN with VPN-plus-security will ultimately play out in the coming years, but you can be sure we’ll keep a close eye on the matter going forward.
What Is the Best Free VPN?
Not all VPN services require payment. There are, in fact, many excellent free VPNs. But every free VPN we've tested has limitations. Some limit you to a few simultaneous connections or devices. Others restrict your data or limit you to a handful of servers. Still others do all of the above.
Finding the best free VPN is an exercise in balancing those restrictions. Windscribe, for example, lets you use any server on its network but limits you to 2GB per month (10GB if you sign up with your email address). Proton VPN has the unique distinction of placing no data restrictions on free users, but it does limit which servers you can access.
For those of you who willing to put down some cash, we also have a roundup of the best cheap VPNs.
What Is the Best VPN for Mac?
While this list includes the best VPNs we've tested, you may be looking for one specifically for Mac. For complete details, read our roundup of the best VPNs for Macs. Based on our testing, the best options for Apple's OS are Proton VPN and NordVPN. We have a full comparison between Proton and Nord here.
What Is the Best VPN for Torrenting?
When you use BitTorrent, you should absolutely consider using a VPN. Many ISPs and network managers block Torrenting altogether, and a VPN can prevent them from seeing that you're connecting to a peer-to-peer sharing service. Of course, torrenting certain files may get you in trouble, whether they are bootlegged or even banned in your area, and a VPN can protect you here as well. To find the right service for staying safe while torrenting, head over to our roundup of the best VPNs for torrenting.
What Is the Best VPN for Gaming?
Gamers need privacy protection, too. While the idea of using a service that can increase your latency and generally interfere with your connectivity may not appeal to you, you might want to play a game that isn't available in your area, or you might not want to expose your real IP address to other gamers. VPNs might even make it more difficult for rivals to use distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to knock players offline. Read our story on the best VPNs for gaming for help picking the VPN that strikes the right balance between productivity and privacy.
What Is the Best VPN for China, Russia, or the Ukraine?
VPNs are useful for improving individual privacy, but there are also people for whom a VPN is essential for their safety. Journalists and activists often rely on VPN services to circumvent local government censorship and safely communicate with the outside world. Check the local laws before using a VPN in China, Russia, or in any country with repressive internet policies. Another place people might want to use a VPN is in a war zone such as Ukraine, where hiding locations might well be a matter of life and death.
To fully and comprehensively anonymize your traffic, use the free Tor network. While a VPN tunnels your web traffic to a VPN server, Tor bounces around your traffic through several volunteer nodes, which makes it much harder to track. Using Tor also grants access to hidden dark websites, which a VPN cannot do. Some services, such as NordVPN and Proton VPN, offer Tor access on specific servers.
A VPN protects you against mass data collection and casual criminals who vacuum up user data for later use, but a determined adversary will almost always find a way to breach your defenses. If this does happen to you, read our story on what to do when you've been hacked.
How to Get a VPN
The VPN market has exploded in the past decade, growing from a niche industry to a highly crowded and competitive one. Many VPN service providers are capitalizing on the general population's growing concerns about surveillance and cybercrime, which means it's hard to tell when a company is providing a useful service and when it's selling snake oil. Fake VPNs have even popped up, so be careful.
When you read reviews looking for a good service, don't just focus on connection speed since that's the factor you (and the VPN) have the least control over. Since nearly all VPN companies offer some mixture of the same technologies, consider value when looking for your best VPN service. How can you get the most for the least? Look for extra VPN features like split tunneling, multi-hop connections, and so on. You may not always need them, but they're helpful when you do.
Nearly every VPN service provider has its own app with an interface for managing connections and settings, and we recommend using it. You might dismiss such things as mere window dressing and prefer manually managing your VPN connections. However, that can be tedious and often doesn't give you access to the additional privacy tools many VPNs provide.
The best way to know if a VPN works is to try it in all the environments where you plan to use it, like home, work, and school. Some VPNs provide free trials or even completely free subscription tiers of service, so take advantage of them. Free access to a VPN lets you see if you can access all the sites and services you need and test the speeds in your area to see if they're acceptable.
We recommend starting with a short-term subscription to ensure you are happy with the service before committing to annual, two-year, or lifetime paid plans. Yes, you may get a discount by signing up for a year, but that's more money at stake should you decide the service doesn't meet your needs after the fact.
How Do I Set Up My VPN?
Getting a VPN is easy; setting one up on your machine can be a bear, however, if you don't know what you're doing. What server should you connect to? Should you let the software choose for you? What security features should you enable?
We answer these questions in our story on choosing and setting up a VPN. If you don't like the idea of downloading yet another app, you can also configure Windows 11 to connect directly to the service you choose. You can read how in our story on setting up a VPN in Windows 11—be warned, however, that this is not the easy way to do it.
VPNs protect your data using a variety of publicly available open-source encryption protocols, as well as proprietary ones. The most common open-source options include OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP, IKEv2, and others. Meanwhile, some VPNs like ExpressVPN are looking toward the future with the company's "post-quantum encryption" protocol, Lightway.
Can I Trust My VPN to Protect My Privacy?
If you're using a service to route all your internet traffic through its servers, you have to be able to trust that service. It's easier to trust companies that have been around longer because their reputation is likely well-established—and it's what's at stake should the company do you wrong. The trouble is that the VPN industry is relatively young compared with antivirus, for example, and some VPN companies play dirty. Figuring out who to trust is difficult.
At PCMag, we pay special attention to VPN companies' privacy practices, not just the technology they provide. We read their privacy policies as part of our testing procedure and discuss company practices with representatives. We look for a commitment to protecting user information and practices that gather and retain as little user information as possible.
As part of our research, we also determine 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 the promise of "we don't keep any logs." It's also useful to know under what circumstances a VPN provider will hand over information to law enforcement and what information it would have to provide (and what it could provide) if that happened. For more, see our story on VPN logging.
The best VPN services have a privacy policy spelling out what the service does, what information it collects, and what the company does to protect said information—ideally in plain English. Some companies explain they collect some information but don't inform you how they intend to use it. Others are more transparent. We discuss these details in every review we write of a VPN service.
Recommended by Our Editors
What Are the Best VPNs for Streaming?
Netflix and other streaming services often block VPNs because they can access region-locked content. A service that works today may be blocked tomorrow. That could be an issue for some readers because while many users rely on VPNs solely for online privacy purposes, others use them to unblock streaming from different regions around the globe.
For example, if you're watching Brooklyn 99 on Netflix from a US-based IP address while waiting for your flight to the UK, you may find that the show isn't available on the service when you land at Heathrow. This is down to how local content licenses are distributed by the major studios, where some shows are globally distributed, and others are only licensed for viewing in particular countries.
We test five countries here at PCMag each time we review a VPN: Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the US. The results of those tests are included in the chart below, along with descriptions of how we classify each type of Netflix library we might encounter during testing.
Over the past few years, we've found VPNs have improved their ability to access streaming content. Previously, it was unusual to find a VPN that could stream Netflix content from outside the US. Lately, though, either Netflix has softened its efforts to ban VPNs, the VPNs have gotten better at circumventing those bans, or some combination of both. This means more VPNs can access more streaming content than ever before. However, accessing region-locked streaming content can breach the terms of service for your preferred streaming service, so remember that doing so may risk getting your account terminated.
What Is the Best VPN for Pornhub?
As more states pass age-restriction legislation, another kind of region-locked content that may increasingly require a VPN to watch is porn. In response, Pornhub has blocked access for any users connecting from more than 10 different states in the US. For a guide to watching adult content despite such blocking, check out our guide on how to watch porn safely, as well as our picks for the best VPNs for viewing Pornhub.
What Is the Best VPN for TikTok?
TikTok is another service that may soon require a VPN to access from the US after President Biden signed a bill banning it. While the ban won't go into effect until January 2025 (if it survives the inevitable legal challenges), many die-hard fans are already thinking about how they will keep getting their fix. If that sounds like you, take a look at our picks for the best VPNs for TikTok.
How Many Devices Can My VPN Protect at Once?
Some important things to look for when shopping for a VPN include the total number of simultaneous connections the VPN service allows, the number of servers it has, and its server location count.
Most VPN services let you connect up to five devices with a single account. Any service offering fewer connections is outside the mainstream. You need to connect every device you wish to protect to the VPN service, so a mere two or three licenses often is barely enough for one person, let alone a connected couple or family.
This paradigm may be changing, however. Many services now offer far more than five simultaneous connections, while others have eliminated the restriction entirely, offering protection for unlimited devices. Avira Phantom VPN, IPVanish VPN, and Windscribe VPN all place no limit on the number of simultaneous connections. (Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Of course, there are more than just phones and computers in a home. Game consoles, smart TVs, and smart home devices such as light bulbs and fridges all need to connect to the internet, too. Many of these things can't run VPN software on their own. To solve the issue, some VPN companies provide instructions on configuring your router to use a VPN, which protects any devices connected to your home network.
Where Are My VPN's Servers?
One key consideration when picking the right VPN is how broadly the company's servers are distributed worldwide. Having numerous servers in diverse locales means that no matter where you travel, you should be able to find an available server nearby. The closer the server, the better the speed and reliability of the connection it offers. Remember, you don't need to connect to a far-flung VPN server to gain security benefits. Depending on where you live, a server down the street is as safe as one across the globe.
We also examine how many virtual servers and virtual locations VPN companies use. A virtual server is just what it sounds like—a software-defined server running on server hardware that might have several virtual servers onboard. A virtual location is a server configured to appear somewhere other than where it is physically located.
While neither approach is inherently problematic, choosing one location and discovering your server is somewhere else entirely is worrisome. Some VPN companies take a smart view of virtual servers, using them to provide VPN support for regions where it might be too risky to house a server physically. When VPNs use these technologies, we prefer they be transparent about it.
What's the Fastest VPN?
When a VPN is active, your web traffic takes a more circuitous route than usual. In most cases this added hop can result in slower download and upload speeds, as well as increased latency, compared with a connection that isn't routing through a VPN. The good news is that using a VPN probably won't remind you of the dial-up days of yore.
When we test VPNs, we use the Ookla speed test tool. This test provides metrics for latency, download speeds, and upload speeds. Depending on your needs, any one of these can be an important measurement, but we tend to view the download speed as the most important. We test each VPN ten times and record the median score for each performance category. See our story on how we test VPNs for the full details. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
In our most recent batch speed tests, NordVPN came out on top with an actual increase to our download speeds compared with a base connection with no VPN enabled. You can read more about how a result like this is possible in our full breakdown of the fastest VPNs we've tested.
What Is the #1 Best VPN?
There are plenty of choices when picking a VPN—so many that we have Editors' Choice-winning VPNs for several use cases. Our current favorite is Proton VPN, which gets a rare 5-star rating and an Editors' Choice award. It takes a strong privacy stance, is fast in our testing, and has an impressive collection of advanced tools and an excellent free tier. NordVPN may cost a bit more, but it offers many security tools and extras while blowing away the competition in speed tests, earning it a 4.5-star rating and our Editors' Choice for premium VPNs. Windscribe, another Editors' Choice, ties NordVPN's score thanks to its radical privacy and transparency policies—getting started doesn't even require an email address—along with its feature-packed apps across all the platforms we tested.
Max Eddy contributed to this story.
