Best VPN Service for 2025: VPNs Tested by Our Experts

ExpressVPN holds CNET Editors' Choice Award for best overall VPN. It's a tight race between our top three choices, but ExpressVPN's service excels when it comes to privacy and usability, making it the best of the best with an 8.8/10 rating. It offers unmatched transparency with a clear, user-focused privacy policy, and its Trusted Server technology goes a step beyond traditional RAM-only principles, resulting in maximum peace of mind when it comes to your browsing data.

Its Lightway protocol offers consistently fast speeds alongside post-quantum protection, cleanly blending performance and security. Using ExpressVPN's service is a breeze, reliably unblocking streaming content and offering useful security features with its Advanced Protection suite.

Surfshark is a great choice for folks seeking practical privacy features on a budget. It offers connection speeds and features comparable to ExpressVPN and NordVPN but at an annual rate that's considerably cheaper ($45 for the first year or $60 total for the first two years, then $60 a year after the promotional period, versus $100 per year for ExpressVPN). Surfshark also offers support on unlimited devices, which makes it a great option for people with large families or just a lot of connected devices. There's even an Apple TV app for easy streaming in the living room, and a Linux graphical user interface app that's great for Linux beginners or experts alike. But it doesn't quite match ExpressVPN's commitment to privacy, which makes it less suited for people with critical privacy needs.

NordVPN is an excellent feature-packed VPN. NordVPN's connection speeds were the very fastest we tested, with CNET Labs clocking a best-in-class 11.1% average internet download speed loss. It offers double VPN, as well as Onion Over VPN for extra encryption and Meshnet for secure file sharing, alongside more standard features like split tunneling to let you decide which online activities need VPN protection. Most people won't need all of those options, but they're nice inclusions for power users. Overall, NordVPN offers a high-performing service with excellent features for people who want advanced privacy protection.

Each VPN service we recommend has excellent value for a specific use case, and we point out the ideal user for each one. The array of options available means there's a VPN service suited to your needs, whether your privacy needs are casual or critical. Also, consider jumping on one of the best VPN deals currently available, which many of our top picks are offering.

Internet speed loss

VPNs somewhat lower your internet speed because you're routing your traffic through an encrypted server before communicating with apps, websites and other internet services rather than a direct connection. The fastest VPNs feature an average download speed loss of 25% or less. Generally, even folks with slower connections -- like satellite internet -- won't notice a marginal 25% or under dip. For bandwidth-intensive applications like gaming, 4K video streaming or uploading large files, you'll want a VPN with minimal speed loss. Casual users with faster internet speeds should be fine with more than 25% speed loss, but we look for VPNs that keep speed loss below 50%.

In our 2024 testing, NordVPN came out on top with an impressively low 11% average internet speed loss. Mullvad, Surfshark, Proton VPN and Express VPN all clocked an average internet download speed loss of 25% or less.

Privacy

VPNs bolster your privacy by masking your IP address, which, like your physical address, indicates identifying information about your geographical location. At a minimum, we recommend a VPN with 256-bit encryption (for OpenVPN and IKEv2 VPN protocols) or ChaCha20 (with WireGuard), a strict no-logging policy and DNS leak protection. Because logging is tough to verify, look for regular third-party audits. (You can and should be skeptical of your VPN provider's zero-log claims).

Additionally, transparency reports offer peace of mind. We also suggest sticking with a VPN that includes a kill switch. More privacy-concerned users like investigative journalists or political activists will appreciate advanced features such as obfuscation (which makes it harder for ISPs to determine that you're using a VPN), Tor over VPN (for additional encryption using the Tor network) and a double VPN (which relies on a second VPN server connection to enhance encryption). Folks with critical privacy needs should consider a VPN provider with jurisdiction outside of the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing communities for even stronger peace of mind. 

Server network

When considering VPN server networks, look at the overall number of servers, as well as the individual country locations. For instance, one virtual private network company may have twice the total number of servers as a competitor but half the different country locations, meaning you've got fewer international choices. At the high end, the most comprehensive VPNs for travel offer 90-plus individual countries, but anywhere over 60 countries will work for many folks. 

Outside of country locations, some VPNs allow file sharing across all servers, whereas others feature dedicated P2P (peer-to-peer) options. For purposes like torrenting, check whether your desired provider permits file sharing on all servers or select ones.

Additionally, you'll sometimes find specialty servers, like Tor (The Onion Router) over TPN, Double VPN or obfuscated servers. Onion over VPN and Double VPN servers provide extra privacy by bolstering your encryption even further when compared to a standard VPN connection, with Tor using the Onion network while a double VPN relies on a second VPN tunnel. On the other hand, obfuscated servers make it more difficult for apps, websites or internet service providers to determine that you're using a VPN.

Device support

Think about your devices and what you'd like to run a VPN on. Most VPN companies offer apps for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android/Android TV, iOS/iPadOS and web browsers. Apple TV apps are increasingly common, with ExpressVPN, NordVPN and IPVanish featuring TVOS applications. A graphical user interface application may be easier for Linux users than a command line interface option. Surfshark, Proton and PIA boast Linux GUI apps, making them compelling choices for Linux VPNs. You can typically install a VPN on your router for whole-home coverage and use it on devices that don't support native VPN apps, like Xbox consoles, although this will typically void the warranty on the router.

While most VPN companies let you install an app on as many gadgets as you wish, you're sometimes limited to simultaneous devices. ExpressVPN allows eight while NordVPN and Proton give you 10. Surfshark, PIA and IPVanish are unlimited. Even with a provider like Express, Proton or Nord, you can still install a VPN on as many devices as you wish, but you'll only be able to have a handful of active sessions at once. Most folks should be fine even with eight to 10 simultaneous connections, but families or hardcore power users may feel constrained.

Streaming capabilities

While VPNs can be great for privacy, they're also helpful for unblocking region-restricted entertainment content. You can use a VPN to watch streaming services like Max or Hulu from your home country when traveling abroad. On the flip side, VPNs unlock access to foreign Netflix (so you can get your Bridgerton fix), Disney Plus (so you can stream The Acolyte all you like) and Amazon Prime Video (where you can currently find Oppenheimer in the US) libraries. 

Cost

You can sign up for a monthly, bi-annual, annual or multi-year VPN subscription. Although multi-year deals typically net you the most savings, we usually recommend sticking with an annual plan for the best savings with the lowest risk. The virtual private network you sign up for may initially be fast, private and great for geo-unblocking, but may become slower, suffer a data breach or stop allowing access to foreign Netflix libraries over a year. 

On the high end, VPNs such as Express set you back $100 per year, with value-packed providers like Surfshark and PIA offering year-long prices from $40 to $60. Some companies include price hikes: NordVPN normally charges $60 annually for your first year, then your plan renews at $100 per 12 months. Similarly, Surfshark goes for $48 a year upfront, then renews at $60 annually. Make a budget, then find a VPN provider that fits the bill while being mindful of price hikes. Notably, you can renew while avoiding raised renewal rates by taking advantage of seasonal discounts like Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals.

Additional VPN factors to consider

Don't use free VPN providers: Except for Proton, you'll find only paid VPN options on this list above because they're the only ones we can recommend.

Look for a no-logs VPN, but understand the caveats: The best VPNs keep as few logs as possible and make them as anonymous as possible, so there's little data to provide should authorities come knocking. Even "no-logs" VPNs aren't 100% anonymous.

There are limits to the privacy VPNs currently provide to iOS users: Recent independent research has surfaced suggesting iPhones and iPads running iOS 14 or later may be vulnerable to device-only VPN leaks, regardless of which VPN is used. Apple users concerned with potential leaks can take extra precautions by installing their VPN on a home router to ensure their entire Wi-Fi network is encrypted. Some iOS users may potentially reduce the likelihood of leaks while outside of a home network by enabling their VPN's kill switch and selecting OpenVPN protocols. You can also try closing all apps, activating your VPN and then enabling and disabling Airplane Mode before using your device normally. Apple advises users to activate their device's Always On VPN profile for additional protection. 

VPN transparency is important, but warrant canaries are only the beginning: Many services use "warrant canaries" to passively note to the public whether or not they've been subpoenaed by a government entity. This is because many investigations from national security agencies can't be actively disclosed by law. Like the no-logging issue, warrant canaries aren't always as straightforward as they seem. You should spend more time investigating whether your prospective VPN has cooperated with authorities in the past, and how and when it's disclosed that fact.

Think twice about using a US-based VPN: The Patriot Act is still the law of the land in the US, and that means US-based VPNs have little recourse if and when the feds show up with subpoenas or national security letters in hand demanding access to servers, VPN user accounts or other data. Yes, they may have little data to access if the service has a strong no-logs policy, but why not just choose a service that's based outside Uncle Sam's jurisdiction? (If this is a concern for you, you'll also want to avoid countries with which the US has intelligence-sharing agreements.)

Our hands-on testing and review process is designed to cut through that hype. When we look at each VPN service, we're not just examining them for their technical weaknesses, but we're also scrutinizing their individual performance strengths. We want to know what each service does best. We test each VPN across over 20 factors, and we continually improve our methodology as we learn more. Our rigorous testing process involves running over 250 internet speed tests across multiple worldwide servers to determine accurate internet speed loss averages.

We test VPNs for browsing and streaming speed in multiple countries, as well as their connection stability and even the smallest potential privacy leaks. By testing across multiple devices and platforms, we're able to assess which VPNs are best for gaming versus those best for streaming, torrenting or sharing sensitive information. Most importantly, we focus on doing the deep-dive research necessary to vet each VPN's historical credibility and its ownership in a notoriously murky market. 

The VPNs on this list earn our recommendation for more than just boosting their digital privacy strengths -- they enable easy streaming to overcome geo-blocked media, have torrenting-friendly servers and are fast enough to support gaming globally. Based on those continued evaluations, you'll see a few bullet points on each entry in our list, highlighting each VPN's strengths and the uses we recommend it for most. Because we strive to keep on top of a fast-changing market, you'll notice that the rank of each VPN service changes as we learn more and retest. 

Picking a VPN requires knowing two basic things to start with: What you want to use it for, and what you're willing to pay. The range of VPN offerings is vast, but those two things will help you find a VPN that has the right blend of speed, security and cost. 

Below, you'll find specific FAQ sections on picking a VPN based on the most common needs: gaming, streaming media, working from home and privacy-critical professions. In general, you'll want a VPN that provides sufficient encryption, doesn't log your activity, offers essential security features like DNS leak protection and a kill switch, has server locations where you need them and can give you fast connection speeds. Our top five VPNs have all these features, although connection speeds will vary based on your internet provider and the server you connect to.

For a deeper dive, check our detailed walk-through of how we evaluate and review VPNs. If you're looking for some quick pointers, here are universally applicable advice guides for beginners:

• VPN Red Flags to Watch Out For
• How to Identify a Good VPN

Not every VPN can be a favorite. These are the ones we reviewed, but they're not full-throated recommendations for one reason or another, including limited features and concerns over adequately hiding your identity.

IPVanish

• Servers: 2,400-plus in 56 countries
• Country/jurisdiction: US
• Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Linux (CLI), Chrome OS, Android, Android TV, iOS, iPadOS, Fire TV, Apple TV
• Price: $13 per month, $48 for the first year (then $90 annually) or $72 for the first two years combined (then $90 annually)

IPVanish is a decent beginner-friendly VPN for folks seeking basic privacy. It does a good job unblocking geographically protected streaming content on multiple services, such as providing access to foreign Netflix libraries. We liked its intuitive VPN apps which, while easy to use even for novices, weren't quite as streamlined as apps from NordVPN or ExpressVPN. While you get privacy fundamentals from IPVanish, its US jurisdiction makes it unsuitable for people with critical privacy needs, like political activists, investigative journalists or asylum-seekers.

Its comparatively slow speeds -- we measured a 44% average internet speed loss -- severely lagged behind NordVPN (11%), Surfshark (17%), Proton VPN (21%) and ExpressVPN (25%). Likewise, its relatively small server network of 56 countries is head and shoulders below Nord (111 countries), ExpressVPN (105) countries, Surfshark (100 countries), Proton (91 countries) and PIA (91 countries). IPVanish sets you back $13 per month, $48 for your first year or $72 for two years combined -- but the one- and two-year plans jump to $90 annually after your introductory pricing period. For the price, you can get a VPN with faster internet speed maintenance and a much larger web of servers.

Read our IPVanish review.

Hotspot Shield

• Servers: 1,800-plus in 80-plus locations
• Country/Jurisdiction: US (Five Eyes member)
• Platforms: Windows, Android, MacOS, iOS, Linux, Amazon Fire TV
• Price: $8 per month or $95.88 billed annually. Month-to-month plan at $13
  

Hotspot Shield VPN's TLS-based Hydra Catapult protocol, US jurisdiction, 128-bit AES encryption support and large percentage of virtual servers might strip away our trust in its ability to provide more privacy protections than its competitors. Those are all key components to its ability to achieve the blazing speeds it delivered during its most recent speed tests.

It effortlessly delivers smooth-streaming media and can dance between server connections without missing a beat, no matter how many interruptions you throw at it. A 26% speed loss puts it in second place, falling behind Surfshark (which lost just 16.9% of its speed the last time I tested it) and knocking Express down to third place with a 51.8% speed loss at the last measurement. Speed losses on UK connections were under 8%. When it comes to gaming, torrenting, browsing and streaming, these speed-dependent services won't be slowed down for Hotspot Shield users.

We're not excited about Hotspot's privacy and security. Since the services use a closed-source proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol, instead of the more transparent open-source OpenVPN protocol, we'd like to see Hotspot give the public more third-party audits, which is a necessary step to bring Hotspot up to speed with routinely audited VPNs like TunnelBear. As recently as April 2021, review site VPNMentor discovered a DNS leak in Hotspot Shield's plug-in for Google Chrome. Hotspot acknowledged the issue at the time and aimed to improve the product.

We're also not thrilled about the amount of user data Hotspot collects and its privacy policy. With its premium product, it gathers and retains much more information about users than most other VPNs. If you're using the free version of its product, it shares that information -- along with even more finite data, including your MAC address and specific phone identifier -- with advertising companies.

While its interface is user-friendly and its speeds are thrilling, spending time with Hotspot is going to leave your wallet a little lighter than you might prefer. Its current price is higher than its nearest competitors, its speeds slightly slower and its privacy more questionable. If you're looking for a VPN purely on the grounds of speed, we still recommend passing on Hotspot until it improves.

Read more: Hotspot Shield VPN review: This speedster costs more than its faster, more private competitors

TunnelBear

• Average speed loss: 63%
• Number of countries: 48-plus
• Jurisdiction: Canada, with US parent company
• Price: $3.33 per month, or $120, for a 3-year plan

TunnelBear has gotten a lot of hype in the last couple of years. When we looked under its hood and compared it with its VPN competitors, our excitement waned.

TunnelBear's speeds are reasonable. We lost nearly 63% of internet speed overall when we used it, which is about average for a VPN. TunnelBear's speeds have steadily improved over the years as measured by other review and testing sites, and the US scores we recorded saw a speed loss of only 54%.

On the plus side, TunnelBear is holding its own in the transparency competition among VPNs by publishing the results of its independent security audits and annual transparency reports. No IP address, DNS or other potentially user-identifying data leaks were detected during our testing, but in the past TunnelBear was observed to have been leaking WebRTC information. TunnelBear's VPN encryption is standard AES-256 and it supports Perfect Forward Secrecy.

It's also a Canadian business owned by US-based McAfee, so if you're looking for subpoena-proof international online privacy, you're playing with fire. It holds a paltry 23 server locations from which you can't manually choose your VPN server or even a city. It doesn't offer Tor-over-VPN, it offers split tunneling only on Android and it can't even unblock Netflix.

On a per-month breakdown, the least expensive TunnelBear plan is its $120, three-year plan. You can also go month to month for $10, or pay $60 upfront for a single year. Either way, TunnelBear accepts payment via credit card and Bitcoin. Unlike other VPNs, it doesn't take PayPal, plus it doesn't support Amazon Fire Stick or Android TV.

Read more: TunnelBear VPN Review: The Overpriced Ursine Has Trouble Living Up to the Hype

CyberGhost VPN

• Number of servers: Over 8,000 worldwide in 91 countries
• Number of server locations: 111
• Jurisdiction: Romania, with UK parent company
• Number of simultaneous connections: 7
• $2.03 a month or $60 for a two year plan (plus four free months). Month-to-month plan at $13.

In CNET's previous coverage of virtual private networks, we've praised CyberGhost for its roster of competitive features. Our in-depth review of CyberGhost in 2019 included speed testing, security verification and an analysis of its full suite of privacy tools. Since then, the VPN company has increased its number of servers and is prepared to roll out new privacy tools, all while remaining one of the cheapest VPNs we've reviewed, at just $2.03 per month for a two-year plan.

As we've bolstered our approach to VPN reviews, CyberGhost has raised some red flags. Its parent company's history warrants skepticism, our previous tests have shown it to expose your VPN use to your ISP, its website and app trackers are more numerous than warranted and its ad blocker uses an untrustworthy method of traffic manipulation no VPN should even think about. Its low price previously made it worth considering if you needed to change the appearance of your location online, but not if you wanted best-in-class security.

While CyberGhost's connection speed and security features appear to be improving, we don't currently recommend using the VPN service provider if you're in a country where VPNs are illegal. We also recommend that anyone in the US review CyberGhost's parent company before deciding whether to pay for a subscription.

On the plus side, CyberGhost was still faster than Norton Secure VPN and less taxing on the processing power of our devices. It also offers split tunneling in its Windows client and has its servers neatly organized into categories: NoSpy servers, servers geared for torrenting, servers best for streaming and servers best for use with a static IP address. CyberGhost imposes no data caps, allows unlimited server switching and offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on subscription plans of a year or more.

Read more: CyberGhost VPN review: Competitive Features, but Its Parent Company Concerns Me

Norton Secure VPN

• Number of countries: 30
• Number of servers: 1,500 (1,200 virtual)
• Number of server locations: 200 in 73 cities
• Country/jurisdiction: US

  $40 for the first 12 months for five devices

Norton LifeLock, long known for excellence in security products, has a relatively limited offering in its VPN product. Norton Secure VPN does not support P2P or BitTorrent, Linux, routers or set-top boxes. It's Netflix and streaming compatibility is somewhat limited. Even worse, during testing, we experienced privacy-compromising data leaks.

During CNET's testing, Norton Secure VPN speeds were comparable to other mid-tier VPNs but not particularly competitive. Although its VPN is only available on four platforms -- Mac, iOS, Windows and Android -- Norton gets points for its 24/7 live customer service phone support and 60-day money-back guarantee.

Norton Secure VPN's pricing structure is a bit different than what you typically find in the industry. Pricing is tiered based on how many simultaneous connections you want with your account. For a single device, you'll pay $30 for the first year and $50 for any subsequent years, or $4.99 a month for the monthly. For five simultaneous connections, the price jumps to $40 for the first year and $80 for subsequent years, or $8 a month for the monthly plan. If you want up to 10 simultaneous connections, the price is $60 for the first year and $100 for subsequent years, or $10 a month for the monthly plan.

Read more: Norton Secure VPN Review: Why We Don't Recommend It

Mullvad

• Number of servers: 684
• Server location: 44 countries
• Number of simultaneous connections: 5
• Jurisdiction: Sweden
• Price: $5 a month

Mullvad is an independently owned and open-source VPN provider focused on building trust through transparency with its commitment to protecting the privacy and security of its users. Although some other VPNs are considerably more well known in the industry, Mullvad's offering is just as polished and easy to use as what's offered by many of the market's bigger players.

Mullvad's primary focus is on security. Like most other top VPN providers, Mullvad employs industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption, using the OpenVPN protocol or ChaCha20 on WireGuard, to secure users' connections. Mullvad's kill switch feature and DNS leak protection are enabled by default and can't be disabled. During our testing, the kill switch worked as expected and we detected no leaks of any kind. The company says it doesn't keep any logs of its users' activity, and for the most part it's pretty transparent about how it operates and what it does to protect user privacy. Mullvad is unique in that it doesn't require any personal information at sign-up. While most VPN providers ask users to provide an email address and enter a username, Mullvad generates a random 16-digit account number to activate each new user account. You don't even need to provide any payment information since Mullvad accepts cash sent via mail.

Mullvad's source code being entirely open source is a testament to the company's transparency, but we'd still like to see Mullvad issue an annual transparency report to give the public a view of how many legal requests the company gets and where they're coming from. But you don't just have to take Mullvad's word for it: Radically Open Security confirmed Mullvad's no-logs assertions in a 2023 independent audit.

With 684 servers across 44 countries, Mullvad's VPN server network is comparatively small. Even so, the network covers the most in-demand locations and is pretty well spread out across the globe. What its network may lack in size, it makes up for in speed. In our latest round of speed testing, we measured just a 13.5% drop in average internet speeds (VPNs will slow you down 50% or more), easily making it one of the fastest VPNs we've tested. Although Mullvad's speeds are fantastic, it's not the best for streaming geographically restricted content. We were able to access Netflix and Disney Plus without any issues but were denied access to stream Amazon Prime Video when connected to Mullvad's servers -- it recognized that we were using a VPN.

Mullvad's straightforward approach to pricing is a breath of fresh air, especially with so many other VPN providers concocting ever-more convoluted pricing structures. Mullvad costs about $5 a month, whether you want to use it for a month, a year or a decade, and you're never locked into a long-term subscription plan. If you're not satisfied with the service, you can get a refund within 30 days of purchase.

Read more: Mullvad Review: Solid Security and Privacy, but Swedish Jurisdiction Is Concerning

Below you'll find some additional VPNs. We're in the process of re-evaluating them in the coming months.

PureVPN

• Number of servers: 6,500-plus
• Number of countries: 78-plus
• Country/jurisdiction: Hong Kong
• $3.24 a month for one-year plan, $1.99 a month for a two-year plan (plus three free months)

PureVPN says it doesn't log connection information. The company joined the "no log" movement in 2018 and underwent a third-party audit by Althius IT (albeit one commissioned and paid for by PureVPN). 

We like that PureVPN offers a 31-day refund policy and supports Bitcoin payments. We also like that PureVPN has both Kodi and Chromebook apps available. In addition, PureVPN was the first VPN service we noted to fully implement GDPR compliance.

StrongVPN

• Number of servers: 950-plus
• Number of server locations: 59 locations in 30 countries
• $3.66 a month (67% discount) for a one-year plan
• StrongVPN in-depth review and hands-on testing (ZDNet)

StrongVPN blasts onto our list with excellent infrastructure and a decent price. StrongVPN has a strong no-logging policy and picks up kudos for its large base of IP addresses. It has a solid collection of servers and worldwide locations. For those of you who need a dedicated IP, you can get one from the company but you'll need to contact customer support to get help setting it up.

One of StrongVPN's strengths is the company's network. It owns and operates its entire network infrastructure, which means it has no externally dictated limits on bandwidth or the type of internet traffic allowed on the network.

StrongVPN's regular monthly price of $10.99 is in the middle of the pack, but its regular yearly price of $80 is among the lowest of our contenders.