How to choose a VPN: what matters and what’s marketing
Every provider promises speed, security and privacy, so the adverts don’t help much. These are the criteria that actually separate one service from another, roughly in the order they tend to matter.
Start with the country
First question: which country do you need an IP address from? For the US, the UK, Germany or Japan you can choose freely. The US alone is covered by 43 of the 43 services we compare. For less common places the list shrinks fast. In 35 countries on our map only one provider is available. Check the VPN map or the list of countries.
It’s also worth checking whether the server is physically in that country. Big networks rely on virtual locations: NordVPN has 95 among its 150 countries, ExpressVPN 64 among 113. Websites won’t notice, but your latency might.
Trust: logs, audits, jurisdiction
A VPN provider could technically see what you do, so what matters is whether it records it. A “no-logs” claim means little without an independent audit, and it’s worth looking up how the company responded when authorities asked for data. Jurisdiction matters because local law decides what can be demanded. The services we compare are based in Switzerland, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, Sweden, Canada, the US and the EU. The full list is on the VPN providers page.
Speed
With WireGuard (or one of its variants) or Lightway, the speed hit compared with no VPN can be small. Distance to the server and how busy it is matter more. A large network makes it easier to find something nearby. The only reliable test is your own, during a trial period.
Devices and features
Several services, including Surfshark, Private Internet Access, IPVanish and Windscribe, have no device limit; see each provider’s limit in the comparison. The others usually allow somewhere between a few and a dozen connections at once. The most useful extra is a kill switch. Ad and malware blocking also helps, such as Threat Protection at NordVPN, CleanWeb at Surfshark or R.O.B.E.R.T. at Windscribe, and so does split tunneling, which lets selected apps skip the VPN.
Try before you commit
Free plans are available from Proton VPN (no data cap), hide.me, Windscribe, PrivadoVPN and TunnelBear, among others; we list each one’s limits in the comparison. Most paid services give you 30 days to ask for a refund, and CyberGhost offers 45 on longer plans. Use that time to test the servers you’ll actually use, not just the closest one.
Price comes last
Two-year plans work out several times cheaper per month than paying monthly. Check the renewal price before you buy, though, because it’s often much higher once the introductory deal ends. Mullvad does things differently, with one flat price and no promotions.