The answer can be found in our ranking of the best VPN services, which we’ve compiled based on our testing.

Best VPN Services

This year, the following VPN services performed best in our tests:

While there is no one-size-fits-all VPN service that will be perfect for everyone, you can’t go wrong by purchasing one of the VPN services listed above. Any of the recommended VPN services in our review may be the best one for you – it all depends on your unique needs.

The goal of creating this review was to identify the best VPN services on the market that meet at least the following criteria:

• Passed all tests with no data leaks detected (IP address leaks or DNS leaks)
• Excellent performance across the entire server network (connection speed and reliability)
• High quality VPN applications with all functionalities working properly
• Supports WireGuard, OpenVPN and other robust and proven data encryption standards
• Provides a money-back guarantee (from 7 to 30 days)
• Trusted and proven VPN service providers with a good reputation
• Located in a secure privacy jurisdiction (outside of the Five Eyes Alliance countries – USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand)

Here is our ranking of the best VPN services:

1. NordVPN – the current market leader in VPN services

Service name: NordVPN
Jurisdiction: Panama
Logging: none (audited)
Price: from 2,99 €
Support: live chat 24/7
Refund: 30 days
Website: NordVPN.com

NordVPN has maintained its high standards for quite some time, but in recent years it has already firmly established itself as one of the top virtual private networking services and has even increased its lead over a number of competing services.

It was one of the first VPN services to implement the NordLynx protocol into its products, built on the modern and fast WireGuard security protocol. This has given NordVPN (and its users) a huge advantage over other leading services. Unsurprisingly, it was among the fastest VPNs in almost every country in our tests.

NordVPN has many other privacy features (and even higher levels of security) in its offering:

• Threat Protection feature to block ads, tracking codes, malware, and phishing domains
• Double VPN servers for encrypting data transmissions across two servers (without significant loss of data transfer speed)
• Tor-over-VPN servers that add an additional layer of encryption over the Tor network

The service has a very fast and secure server network at its disposal. All servers run in RAM-disk mode (no physical hard disks, only server memory is used).

Another huge benefit is the fact that NordVPN recently announced that it is gradually rolling out high-speed dedicated servers for its entire network. These servers will have up to 10 Gbps of bandwidth assigned to them, and will gradually replace all the servers that the company has been leasing from third parties.

At the moment, NordVPN has around 5,400 servers in 59 countries around the world.

NordVPN has also successfully passed several independent security audits, which have confirmed that its operations comply with the rules it states in its terms of use. It has an ongoing partnership with the auditing company Versprite, which conducts product security audits and penetration tests.

With top speeds and strong security, NordVPN is a top-rated VPN service for torrenting, and it also works very well for all the major streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, and more. You can also use the NordVPN app if you need a VPN for Firestick, Smart TVs, or gaming consoles.

NordVPN also offers a service called obfuscated servers, which obfuscate data traffic over VPNs, much like regular HTTPS encryption does. This is a useful feature for circumventing censorship in countries that prohibit VPN use (for example, when using VPNs in China). However, this functionality can also be used in school networks or in workplaces that try to block traffic over VPNs.

All NordVPN subscriptions come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. In addition, with a long-term subscription, you get a discount of up to 74%, which works out at only 2,99 € per month of use. That’s excellent value for money.

There’s great round-the-clock support via live chat available 24/7.

You can read a detailed review of NordVPN by clicking here.

NordVPN

★★★★★

2,99 € 12,99 €

Discount of 74% for VPN365 readers

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2. Surfshark VPN – rising star among VPN services

Service name: Surfshark VPN
Jurisdiction: British Virgin Islands
Logging: none (audited)
Price: from 1,99 €
Support: live chat 24/7
Refund: 30 days
Website: SurfShark.com

Surfshark VPN, which only officially launched in 2018, has taken the world of VPN services by storm. Despite being a relative newcomer, Surfshark offers a lot of interesting features, great data leak protection settings, access to many streaming services, and excellent performance, all at a great price. What’s more, Surfshark comes with one big advantage you won’t find with most other VPN services – it provides unlimited connections.

Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands and logs absolutely no data about your internet activity, which has been officially verified by the independent auditing company Cure53. Surfshark apps include a good data leak protection setup to ensure that data remains encrypted and secure, even in the event of any outages in your connection to VPN servers. There’s also a CleanWeb feature to block ads, tracking codes, and malware domains.

Similar to our other top recommended VPN services, Surfshark now runs all servers in RAM-disk mode (without physical hard drives) for added security. It offers multiple server configurations with dual protection, allowing you to encrypt data traffic across up to two VPN servers simultaneously.

Additionally, Surfshark uses a modern and highly secure version of the WireGuard protocol, and connection and data transfer speeds were at least as good as NordVPN’s.

If you want to stream media or unblock websites, Surfshark is a great choice with over 3,200 servers in 63 countries around the world. It currently supports more than 16 regional Netflix libraries, as well as most other streaming services including BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Disney Plus. It’s also a great VPN for Android and iOS.

Surfshark continues to gain widespread popularity, and is a strong competitor to the NordVPN and ExpressVPN pair. It is also one of the cheapest VPN services on the market with a long-term subscription. You can get the service with a discount of 87%, which is just 1,99 € per month of use. This is another option offering an excellent performance/price ratio.

All Surfshark subscription plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. There is also round-the-clock support via live chat.

You can read a detailed review of Surfshark VPN by clicking here.

Surfshark VPN

★★★★★

1,99 € 15,45 €

Discount of 87% for VPN365 readers

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3. ProtonVPN – the VPN service with the most progress

Service name: ProtonVPN
Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Logging: none (audited)
Price: from 2,49 €
Support: live chat, email
Refund: 30 days (partial refund only)
Website: ProtonVPN.com

ProtonVPN has had a quality few years since its launch in 2017, regularly ranking in the top ten VPN services we’ve recommended to our readers. In past years, it was the secure email service ProtonMail that always excelled in Proton Technologies’ product portfolio. However, recent years have changed everything, as the service has come up with a number of innovations that have taken it to the highest level.

Right at the beginning of January 2021 came the NetShield function, which is tasked with blocking malware, ads, and tracking codes on websites. NetShield is available on Android, iOS, macOS and Windows, and offers two levels of protection. The first level prevents your browser from loading resources from domains that host malware, spyware, or other malicious software. Malware protection is enabled by default. The second level of protection available blocks ads and tracking codes.

In June 2021, a new application was released for Linux systems. It features a sophisticated and fully-functional graphic user interface that makes it much easier to use. ProtonVPN is the only VPN service that offers a full-featured and free open-source Linux app.

In July 2021 the company launched the VPN Accelerator function, which improves VPN connection stability and can increase data transfer speeds by more than 400% in certain situations. VPN Accelerator is a technology unique to ProtonVPN, and should better leverage the capabilities of the large network of VPN servers at the company’s disposal. If you’re the technical type and are interested in learning more about this service, you can find more information here.

In October 2021, the company incorporated the advanced, fast and secure WireGuard protocol into its products. The benefits of this protocol are faster speeds, near instant connections to servers, better performance, and increased battery life for your devices. WireGuard is extremely fast and lightweight, open source, and, combined with VPN Accelerator technology, is another major performance leap forward. WireGuard is the default protocol via Smart Protocol technology for all ProtonVPN users on Windows, macOS, iPhone/iPad, Android, Chromebook and Android TV.

By the end of October 2021, ProtonVPN had already expanded to 63 countries worldwide, with the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, Nigeria and Georgia being added in succession. For these servers, Smart Routing technology has been used, where the server is not physically in the country, but a virtual location is used. Similarly, connectivity in other problematic countries such as Brazil, South Korea and Taiwan are also being addressed. The network has also been expanded with four new servers at the Limassol data centre in Cyprus.

Also in October 2021, ProtonVPN launched a live chat. Users no longer have to rely solely on an online form and subsequent email communication. Any user with a subscription to the service can now get help and answers to their questions in real-time via a live chat with the support team. Support is available on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

ProtonVPN has eliminated almost all of the issues that we have faulted it for in the past, and the VPN apps themselves have also undergone several improvements over the years. They are the best we can currently find among VPN services in terms of functionality, design, and ease of use.

The measured data transfer speeds were competitive with the best players on the market, which was also not the standard in the past.

In April 2022, the service passed an external audit by the renowned Securitum company, which confirmed that ProtonVPN is indeed a service that does not log its customers’ activities.

The service is available for a long-term subscription with a 75% discount, which is only 2,49 € per month of use.

You can read a detailed review of ProtonVPN by clicking here.

ProtonVPN

★★★★★

2,49 € 9,99 €

Discount of 75% for VPN365 readers

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4. ExpressVPN – a quality stalwart among VPN services

Service name: ExpressVPN
Jurisdiction: British Virgin Islands
Logging: none (audited)
Price: from 4,99 $
Support: live chat 24/7
Refund: 30 days
Website: ExpressVPN.com

In a crowded market of VPN providers, ExpressVPN maintains a very high standard and has long maintained a top position in anonymity and security on the internet. While a number of VPN services struggle with multiple bugs and issues, ExpressVPN has been providing consistent quality service for several years now.

ExpressVPN offers its own Lightway protocol, unlike other services that rely on the widely available WireGuard protocol. However, Lightway is open source, so anyone can check it. However, Lightway is open source, so anyone can use it. In benchmark tests, we found that the Lightway protocol offers both higher speed and reliability than OpenVPN, as well as very similar results to the popular WireGuard.

ExpressVPN provides a network of high-security servers in 160 locations in 94 countries around the world (more than 3000 servers). Like NordVPN and Surfshark, ExpressVPN runs all servers in RAM-disk mode (without physical hard drives) with TrustedServer for data security. This technology has been independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has also verified and successfully confirmed compliance with the service’s policy of not logging user activity.

In addition to security, ExpressVPN also excels in streaming. It is one of the best VPN services for Netflix and provides uninterrupted access to its many regional libraries. ExpressVPN equally does well with Disney Plus, Hulu, and the BBC iPlayer service.

Additionally, it offers minimalist VPN apps with a clean design that are very reliable. Although ExpressVPN is slightly more expensive than some of our other recommended VPN services, it remains a safe and reliable choice for all users.

All subscription plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. ExpressVPN provides round-the-clock live chat support and many video guides.

You can get a long-term subscription service at a discount 61%, which is only 4,99 $ per month of use.

You can read a detailed review of ExpressVPN by clicking here.

ExpressVPN

★★★★★

4,99 $ 12,99 $

Discount of 61% for VPN365 readers

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NordVPN

★★★★★

2,99 € 12,99 €

Discount of 74% for VPN365 readers. The discount coupon is activated automatically by clicking the button below.

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NordVPN is probably the most well-known brand in the VPN services industry. Over the years, it has steadily worked its way up to be one of the leaders in VPN services. Its popularity and the quality of the services it offers continue to grow, allowing it to hold its place as one of the top VPN services currently available on the market.

9.8

Verified VPN service

NordVPN

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WHAT WE LIKED

• Strong privacy and security features
• Premium performance: high speeds, high reliability and near-instantaneous connectivity
• Large and secure server network
• Great customer support
• A proven brand in a good jurisdiction
• A non-logging service that has undergone multiple third-party audits
• Excellent service for Netflix and several other streaming services
• Multiple extra security features
• High-quality applications for mobile devices
• Excellent price/performance ratio

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

• Lack of an app for routers
• The Threat Protection function is not fully operational
• Login via web browser

NordVPN is based in Panama, which is an excellent jurisdiction for a VPN service. Panama is not part of the Five/Nine/Fourteen Eyes alliance, and the country does not require companies to log data about their users’ internet activity.

The service was launched in 2013 and is backed by the renowned Nord Security, which also offers NordPass (a secure password manager) and NordLocker (secure file storage, syncing and sharing) apps.

Another important aspect in terms of privacy is NordVPN’s logging policy. NordVPN is one of the few VPN services that has undergone a third-party audit, which confirmed that the company adheres to a no-logging policy for its users’ data. The audit was conducted in 2019 by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG of Zurich, Switzerland.

To further verify the privacy claims, NordVPN also recently completed a second audit, which was published in July 2020. For this second audit, which was again carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, the scope was extended to include full access to servers and the entire infrastructure.

The audit officially verified that NordVPN is a log-free service that remains true to its privacy policy. NordVPN does not store any logs of its customers’ connections, IP addresses or internet activity.

A third audit was conducted by Versprite in 2019. This included comprehensive penetration testing or source code analysis. The main audit (and its findings) was completed at the end of 2019, but it is an ongoing process.

Representatives from VerSprite, a leading security group specialising in software vulnerabilities, simulated malicious attacks from every angle (penetration test) while identifying weaknesses that could make applications vulnerable to external attacks.

At the end of calendar year 2022, NordVPN underwent another external audit, which again confirmed that the service does not log any data about its users. The audit was carried out by the leading audit firm Deloitte at the end of November and the beginning of December. The firm examined the entire VPN service infrastructure in detail. The conclusion of the audit has once again confirmed that the protection of customers’ personal data is a top priority for NordVPN.

NordVPN has also officially launched a Bug Bounty program. The company will reward any user who finds security weaknesses in the NordVPN app.

NordVPN has been on the market since 2013 and currently has more than 5,500 servers in 59 countries around the world. Few VPN services can boast such a massive infrastructure.

NordVPN has been transitioning towards using its own dedicated servers for some time now, which operate in RAM mode only (without the use of hard drives).

In the case of NordVPN, we haven’t seen any use of virtual servers. In addition, a NordVPN representative confirmed to us that the company does not use any virtual server locations. In other words, all of NordVPN’s servers are indeed located in the countries it lists on its site.

In our speed tests, NordVPN scored excellent results. We tested the service on a Windows system with the WireGuard protocol set up. All tests were performed on a dedicated 500 Mbps network located in Hungary at different time intervals.

Connections were very stable and we did not experience any extreme fluctuations or interruptions. The actual connection speed to the servers was extremely fast, being almost instantaneous most of the time. This made switching between VPN servers very comfortable.

Nearest / recommended server (Austria)

• Lowest measured speed: 131,02 Mbps
• Highest measured speed: 402,95 Mbps
• Average measured speed: 384,17 Mbps
• Average PING: 22,31 ms

England, London

• Lowest measured speed: 167,78 Mbps
• Highest measured speed: 366,68 Mbps
• Average measured speed: 343,20 Mbps
• Average PING: 35,88 ms

USA, New York

• Lowest measured speed: 28,37 Mbps
• Highest measured speed: 192,61 Mbps
• Average measured speed: 181,75 Mbps
• Average PING: 108,13 ms

Australia, Melbourne

• Lowest measured speed: 18,43 Mbps
• Highest measured speed: 98,90 Mbps
• Average measured speed: 92,62 Mbps
• Average PING: 233,21 ms

NordVPN offers some solid features to enhance user privacy and security above and beyond most other VPN services.

OpenVPN uses AES-256-GCM encryption and HMAC SHA256 authentication. NordVPN additionally makes use of Perfect Forward Secrecy by way of the DHE-4096 key exchange. AES-256-GCM is also used to encrypt IPSec/IKEv2 traffic.

In addition to OpenVPN and IPSec/IKEv2, NordVPN also supports the NordLynx protocol, which is based on the fast and modern WireGuard protocol. This can be used in all applications. You can easily switch between protocols in Settings / Connection.

NordLynx (WireGuard protocol) offers serious performance and security benefits:

• WireGuard is the fastest VPN protocol available (much faster than OpenVPN)
• WireGuard connects faster and offers better reliability, especially on mobile devices
• WireGuard uses updated encryption algorithms

You will also find the following functionality available in the apps:

• Kill Switch: technology that automatically disconnects you from the internet when your VPN connection goes down. You can set this either to complete disconnection from the internet or only for some applications.
• Split VPN Tunnel: Users can choose which apps to run through the VPN tunnel and which apps will bypass the VPN tunnel.

The apps worked very well during our tests and we did not experience any data leaks, error messages, or other issues.

With a premium VPN service, you expect support for all operating systems, and NordVPN won’t let you down in that regard. Supported systems include:

• Windows
• macOS
• iOS
• Android
• Android TV
• Amazon Fire TV
• Linux
• Browser add-ons (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) – only protect data transfers directly through browsers
• Smart TVs and game consoles (Smart DNS technology that does not encrypt data)
• settings for routers

NordVPN does not offer a router application, unlike other VPN services brands such as ExpressVPN.

Here are our main takeaways from testing the Windows and Mac OS clients:

• Fully featured – NordVPN’s apps are packed with features that include dedicated servers, data leak protection, and a variety of settings for launching and connecting.
• Easy to use – Whether you’re a new VPN user or a seasoned pro, NordVPN clients are very clear, intuitive, and easy to use.
• Security – In addition to the strong encryption we talked about above, NordVPN also secures your data with a switch called a kill-switch. This will block all internet traffic (or just certain apps) if the VPN connection drops for any reason.

We were especially pleased with the mobile apps, which were very fast and very well handled. This is one of the best options available for Android.

We were slightly bothered by the fact users have to log into their account outside of the apps in the web browser. We would have welcomed logging in directly through the apps, although over time we got used to it.

We used NordVPN servers in the US to access our US Netflix account. Everything worked perfectly without any problems. NordVPN has consistently worked to make Netflix work worldwide through its service.

With NordVPN, we got full access to the following Netflix libraries: the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Australia, India, and Italy. (we’re not ruling out other regions, but they weren’t tested as part of this review.) With support like this, NordVPN is one of the best services for Netflix.

Other streaming services (such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, DAZN, and others) are also handled brilliantly by NordVPN. It’s equally a great VPN service for Disney+, offering a wealth of content across multiple regional libraries. Additionally, NordVPN is one of the few VPN services that has mastered connecting to the UK’s BBC iPlayer.

Note: If you’re having trouble with any streaming platform, then simply ask customer support for help. Live chat representatives will tell you exactly which servers to use.

NordVPN is also an excellent choice for torrenting. Here are three reasons why:

• Fast and consistent speeds – especially useful when downloading large files.
• Data leak protection – NordVPN apps come with built-in data leak protection settings. This lets you torrent for hours without worrying about your IP address being revealed.
• Safe jurisdiction – NordVPN is based in Panama. Unlike the US and Europe, Panama doesn’t have draconian copyright laws. Therefore, NordVPN can simply ignore DMCA/copyright requests from other countries.

In addition, NordVPN also has dedicated servers directly for P2P. These servers are listed in the Special Servers section and are ideal for torrenting.

Double VPN (multi-hop)

NordVPN is one of the few VPN providers that offer multi-hop or dual VPN servers. With this connection, your internet traffic is encrypted through up to two separate VPN servers.

• Double VPN gives you an extra layer of encryption between your device and the regular internet.
• Distributes trust between two different servers.

Using multi-hop is certainly not a bad idea. Despite connecting through two servers, the speeds were surprisingly good. For example, we measured the following values when combining the UK and the Netherlands:

• Lowest measured speed: 55,53 Mbps
• Highest measured speed: 254,01 Mbps
• Average measured speed: 238,23 Mbps
• Average PING: 36,59 ms

NordVPN currently offers 31 VPN configurations with dual-layer protection. These can be easily selected within the NordVPN client settings. For those who want a higher level of privacy and security, dual VPN servers are a great option to consider.

Tor over VPN

If you’re looking for additional encryption and anonymity beyond a single-hop VPN server, another option is to use Onion-over-VPN servers, which encrypt traffic using the Tor network in addition to a regular VPN server. NordVPN currently offers two locations for this: the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Threat Protection

NordVPN’s Threat Protection feature was launched in 2022 and goes beyond VPNs. Threat Protection has replaced CyberSec.

CyberSec, the predecessor to Threat Protection, was a security feature that blocked tracking codes and advertising.

Threat Protection also offers that function, in addition to:

• Scanning websites and files for malware. It does this in real time and blocks URLs and files infected with malware.
• Offering continuous protection even when not connected to a VPN. CyberSec, on the other hand, only worked if you were connected to a VPN server.

With Threat Protection enabled and antivirus running, our internet connection stopped working and we had to disable it. The NordVPN site states that the feature is not a replacement for antivirus, so it’s not clear to us why it didn’t work even with virus protection active.

Dark Web Monitor

Dark Web Monitoring is a cybersecurity feature designed to prevent other people from using account information that has been leaked to the dangerous dark web. It continuously scans dark web sites looking for your login credentials and alerts you to each discovery so you can take action to protect your vulnerable account.

Meshnet

A feature that allows you to access devices through encrypted private tunnels. Sound a bit like a VPN? You’re absolutely right, but instead of connecting to a VPN server, Meshnet allows you to connect to other devices directly, no matter where they are in the world. Meshnet is powered by the NordLynx protocol. This foundation ensures top-notch security for all device-to-device connections over Meshnet.

Obfuscation servers

Obfuscation servers are available directly in the VPN client. These servers, which are available in 16 countries, hide (obfuscate) VPN traffic to make it appear as normal HTTPS traffic, and are useful in the following situations:

• When you need to bypass VPN blocking at work, at school, or on restricted networks.
• Avoiding state censorship efforts and VPN blocking in some countries, such as China, the United Arab Emirates, and others.

With a selection of obfuscating servers, NordVPN is a great choice if you need to use a VPN in, say, Russia, or another country that censors internet content.

Chat support is always available via the NordVPN website in the bottom right corner. You don’t need to log in – just click on the chat icon and you’ll be connected to a representative.

For this review, we tried NordVPN customer support a few times and everything worked well and without any issues.

In all of our interactions, it didn’t take long to connect with a representative (usually less than a minute). The support staff were helpful in answering all of our questions.

Additionally, NordVPN provides all support in-house with trained technicians (no outside third parties), which is a big plus.

The website also has a really comprehensive database of tutorials and articles that you may also find helpful.

NordVPN isn’t one of the cheapest services on the market, but it’s certainly not the most expensive either. With a long-term subscription, you get a monthly price you’ll rarely find with such a premium service. You can request a refund within 30 days of purchasing the service.

Payment options available are credit card, Google Pay and cryptocurrencies.

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