Protect Your Privacy with a VPN Service

By subscribing to a virtual private network service, you can mask your connection and identity as you share files.

Your VPN connection will cipher your connection so that eavesdroppers will only see illegible data when they try to view your downloads.

Simultaneously, a VPN will bounce your signal off multiple servers, making your physically very difficult to trace.

If you're looking to privately browse the web and access streaming media, then these are the VPN providers you should consider. These services will cipher your downloads, uploads, emails, messages, and also manipulate your IP address so that you are effectively untraceable.

Because of the nature of how they work, many people use a VPN service to access services (like Netflix) that are blocked in their country. Another reason to use a VPN might be so that you can protect your privacy from your ISP or other organization that filters or monitors your internet traffic.

This list of VPN providers is populated in part by years of reader feedback. If you wish to add to this list, you're welcome to send us an email.

Note: ​Expect your internet speed to be reduced 50% to 75% while you're using your VPN. Speeds of 2 to 4 Mbps are common for cheaper VPN's. Speeds of 5 Mbps per second are good. VPN speeds over 15 Mbps are excellent. You can use an internet speed test website to see what speeds you're getting.

Tip: If you're concerned about your privacy when signing up for a VPN service, and your regular, secure email provider doesn't seem to be enough to hide your identity, you might try a temporary or disposable email account like 10 Minute Mail.

Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) is an awesome VPN service that is highly praised, especially for people who want to torrent anonymously or unlock region-restricted websites. PIA is also highly versatile, working on a number of platforms — up to five simultaneously.

One particularly interesting privacy feature of PIA is their shared IP addresses. Because multiple subscribers will be assigned the same IP addresses while they are logged onto PIA, it makes it impossible for authorities to match individual file transfers to any individual on the service.

PIA has over 3,000 servers located in 28 countries and you can switch to a different server whenever you want — it's really easy.

There's also a firewall included in the service so that unwanted connections are halted from infiltrating your phone or computer, plus the ability to auto-disconnect when the VPN goes offline, concealing DNS leaks from hackers and authorities, unlimited bandwidth, no traffic logs, and fast setup.

Visit Private Internet Access

Cost: PIA's plans differ only based on how you want to pay. To pay for a whole year at once will make your monthly cost $3.33 (but you have to pay $39.95 up front). Alternatively, you can buy the VPN for $2.91/month for two years or on a monthly basis for $6.95/month.

There's a 7-day money-back guarantee and you can check out with PayPal, Amazon Pay, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Mint, credit card, ShapeShift, Zcash, and BitPay.

TunnelBear VPN

TunnelBear is an interesting Canadian VPN service for a couple of philosophical reasons. For one, they believe that "user logging is evil," and that setup and daily use should be as easy and automated as possible.

To deliver on their first promise, TunnelBear employs a policy of no-logging for all their users, free and paid. They don't collect IP addresses of people who visit their site nor do they store information on the applications, services, or websites that subscribers connect to through TunnelBear.

As for their second belief, TunnelBear employs very simple interfaces and automated settings (decorated with cute bears, of course) that make installing and using their VPN software very easy and non-intimidating to the average user.

TunnelBear also offers some interesting tech features that users will find helpful for additional privacy protection:

- Vigilant Mode is a safeguard against those small windows of exposure when your Wi-Fi or VPN connection drops. The program can block traffic until the connection is restored.

- The closest VPN server will connect you to the TunnelBear service if you're not sure which one to choose.

- You don't have to worry about reconnected at startup because TunnelBear will start with your computer.

- Intellibear lets you selectively VPN into websites you want to be private while browsing with no-VPN on other sites

- Maul Trackers offers ongoing blacklisting of known trackers from ever seeing your signal.

TunnelBear's speed performance is in the range of 6-9 Mbps, which is pretty good for a VPN service. It supports PPTP and has servers in more than 15 countries, and apps are available for both desktop and mobile devices.

Cost: The free plan gives you 500 MB of data each month while TunnelBear Giant and Grizzly offer unlimited data. The two plans are identical except that with Giant, you can pay on a monthly basis for $9.99/month while Grizzly comes out to be $5.00/month (but you have to pay a whole year in advance at $59.99).

Credit cards and Bitcoin are the supported payment options.

IPVanish

IPVanish is a Top Tier VPN service with over 40,000 IP addresses from 1,000+ servers across every habitable continent. Unlike most VPN service providers who use 3rd parties, IPVanish owns and operates 100 percent of its hardware, software, and network.

This service also provides some of the most highly-sought app features, such as a network kill switch and a SOCKS5 proxy, with every VPN plan.

While IPVanish does promise not to log any of its customers' data or online activity, the company is based in the USA, making them open to PATRIOT Act investigations. Even so, the USA does not impose mandatory data collection laws. So, as long as IPVanish truly collects zero data, they're well-prepared to protect users in the face of the law.

IPVanish has a massive international presence with servers in over 60 countries. You can switch between these servers as many times as you want and even use some of them for torrenting. IPVanish supports connections via the OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP protocols.

The IPVanish service also allows for up to five simultaneous VPN connections from any supported device, so you'll never have to sacrifice the privacy of one device for another.

Cost: You have three pricing options depending on how often you want to pay. The cheapest IPVanish plan is to buy a full year at once for $77.99, making the monthly rate $6.49/month. If you pay for three months at once for $26.99, the monthly cost comes down to $8.99/month. However, to subscribe on a monthly basis with no commitment, it will cost $10/month.

You can buy an IPVanish VPN subscription with PayPal or a credit card.

NordVPN

NordVPN is a unique VPN service because it encrypts all your traffic twice and claims to have the "tightest security in the industry." It also has a strict no-log policy and a kill switch that can automatically disconnect you from the internet if the VPN disconnects, to make sure your information isn't exposed.

Some other notable features supported by this VPN company is a DNS leak resolver, 4,000+ servers in over 60 countries, no bandwidth throttling of P2P traffic, and dedicated IP addresses.

You can use your NordVPN account on six devices at once, which is more than what most VPN services support. The VPN can be used on a number of devices, including Windows, Mac, Linux, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android.

Cost: To pay for NordVPN on a monthly basis will cost you $11.95/month. However, you can get it cheaper at $9.00/month or $6.99/month if you buy 6 or 12 months at once for $54.00 or $83.88, respectively. There's a 30-day money back guarantee and a free 3-day trial option.

You can pay for NordVPN by cryptocurrency, PayPal, credit card, cryptocurrencies, and other methods. More »

Speedify

Speedify works with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS to speed up and encrypt your internet traffic. While you can install the software on all of those devices and use them however often you wish, only two of them can be using your VPN account at the same time.

Something pretty great about Speedify is that you can use it for free without even making an account. The moment you install and open the software, you're immediately being protected behind a VPN and can do anything a user can, like change the server, toggle encryption on and off, set monthly or daily limits, and easily connect to the fastest server.

Lots of servers are supported by Speedify—over 1,000. There are VPN servers in Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Belgium, and US locations like Seattle, Atlanta, Newark, and NYC. Some of them are even great for BitTorrent traffic, and finding those P2P servers is as easy as toggling a button on through the program.

If your network supports speeds as high as 150 Mbps, Speedify can match it, which is amazing considering lots of free VPNs don't support such high download speeds.

Cost: Speedify lets you use its services for free for the first 1 GB of data transferred through the VPN. For unlimited VPN data, you can pay $8.99/month or $49.99 for one year at once (which comes out to $4.17/month).

You can use PayPal, Amazon, or a credit card to buy Speedify. More »

PureVPN

PureVPN gives you VPN access through more than 750 servers in over 140 countries, and, according to their privacy policy, keeps zero traffic logs for maximum anonymity. It works for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Chrome users, and even lets you use your account on up to five devices at the same time.

Like other VPN services, PureVPN supports unlimited server switching and access to every server available without reservation, regardless of the plan you're paying for. It also has a kill switch so that the whole connection is dropped if the VPN disconnects.

You can also split the VPN tunneling, which is helpful for having encryption on specific parts of your web habits while still using your regular network connection for other things.

Something else unique that should be mentioned is their Virtual Router feature that lets you "convert" your Windows desktop or laptop into a virtual router so that up to 10 devices can connect to it for their VPN needs.

Cost: PureVPN is much more affordable than most providers and gives a myriad of payment options, like credit card, PayPal, Alipay, CoinPayments, Cashu, Payment Wall, BlueSnap, and more. You can purchase a one-year plan for $4.15/month, a three-year plan for $1.94/month, or pay monthly for $10.95/month. More »

VyprVPN by Golden Frog

VyprVPN is a quality VPN service with 200,000+ IP addresses you can use through over 700 servers spanning six continents. Unlike some VPN services, you won't find any download or server switching caps.

Being an offshore company incorporated in the Bahamas and based in Switzerland, there is less likelihood of the VyprVPN server logs being examined under the US PATRIOT Act. VyprVPN even claims to defeat high-censorship controls like in China because of their proprietary Chameleon technology.

Plus, their VyprDNS service provides encrypted, zero-knowledge DNS to their users.

VyprVPN also supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, and PPTP protocols, a NAT firewall, and 24/7 support. Users with iPads and Android devices will definitely appreciate the VyprVPN mobile VPN apps.

Cost: There's a 3 day free trial you can grab but you'll still need to enter your credit card. Otherwise, you can pay for VyprVPN every month for $9.95/month (or buy a year at once to bring that down to $5/month). Additional, there's a Premium plan for $12.95/month (or $6.67/month when billed annually) that lets you use your account on up to five devices at once, plus it supports Chameleon.

You can pay for VyprVPN with a credit card, PayPal, or Alipay. More »

Avast SecureLine VPN

Avast is well known for its extremely popular antivirus program and even offers one for free, that protects computers against malware. It's no surprise, then, that they have a VPN service to encrypt and secure internet traffic.

Some of the server locations supported with this VPN service include Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Mexico, Russia, several US states, Turkey, the UK, and Poland.

Because of the variety of supported servers, it easy to bypass location-based restrictions often seen when streaming online video or accessing certain websites. Also, P2P traffic is supported on some of them.

The software is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS platforms, and one account can be used on up to five devices simultaneously. It uses AES 256-bit encryption with OpenSSL certificate authentication and does not display ads while you browse the internet.

Avast does not keep track of the online activity that its SecureLine subscribers partake in.

Cost: There's a free 7-day trial of Avast's VPN service, after which you must pay for it by the year. The yearly cost is $79.99 for up to five devices, which comes out to be around $6.67/month. A variety of other options exist as well depending upon the device and number of devices (e.g. there's a $19.99 /year plan just for phones/tablets).

There are also slight discounts if you pay for three years all at once.

You must use a credit card or PayPal account to buy this VPN service.

StrongVPN

StrongVPN sets itself apart in the industry for not only offering a wide variety of available locations, but for actually working in these locations. Their servers allow users in dozens of countries to successfully get around blocks and stay private in locations where many VPNs don’t typically work.

StrongVPN owns over 650 servers around the globe, operating in dozens of cities in 20+ countries. Offering PPTP, L2TP, SSTP, OpenVPN and IPSec protocols, StrongVPN is a good VPN for beginners, advanced users, and anyone in between who’s looking for straightforward online security.

With a StrongVPN account, customers have the ability to choose which server location they want, even down to the specific city. This type of personalized, user-friendly service is also seen with their unlimited server switching, as well as the ability to have up to six simultaneous connections on different devices. StrongVPN supports Mac, Windows, iOs, Android, and even multiple routers, which is a huge plus.

StrongVPN notably boasts fast connection speeds with the help of their StrongDNS technology, an added bonus that’s included for free with all of their plans.

One of StrongVPN’s most noteworthy features is their zero-logging policy. Because they own their own servers, StrongVPN has the ability to actually protect their customers’ data from any prying eyes, including themselves.

Their Privacy Policy informs customers that the only data they technically "log" is just information needed to create an account, such as your email address and billing information. Other than that, StrongVPN won’t track, store, or sell user data, and they’re probably one of the few names in VPN that can promise that with confidence.

Cost: StrongVPN offers two plan options: one month and annual. Their annual plan will give you the biggest bang for your buck, coming out to just $5.83 per month (if you pay $69.96 annually). Their monthly plan is $10. Fortunately, each tier comes with the same set of features, so you won’t get cheated out of certain levels of encryption depending on which plan you subscribe to.

They offer a 7-day money-back guarantee and accept Bitcoin, Alipay, PayPal, and credit card. More »

VikingVPN

Viking VPN is a small US company that charges more than its competitors, but in return, they offer some very fast encrypted connections and pledge not to log traffic activity.

They also feature the shared IP address function like PIA, giving a single address to multiple users to prevent useful traffic spying. It even generates false traffic so further anonymize what you're doing online.

In addition to US locations, servers are located in the Netherlands, Romania, and other places around the globe.

You can use VikingVPN on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and other platforms.

Cost: $14.95/month if paid monthly; $11.95/month for the 6-month plan (if you pay $71.70 at once); and $9.99/month for the yearly plan (which costs $119.88 every 12 months). There is no free trial with VikingVPN but there is a 14-day money back guarantee.

Payments can be made through Dash, Bitcoin, or a credit card.

Norton WiFi Privacy VPN

For starters, Norton WiFi Privacy doesn't track or store your internet activity and provides bank-level encryption with their VPN to hide your traffic from prying eyes. This is available for as low as $3.33 /month if you buy a full year at once.

You can use Norton WiFi Privacy VPN as often as you like on one, five, or ten devices simultaneously depending on how you choose to pay. macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS are supported.

Cost: To use Norton's VPN service on just one device at once, is $4.99 every month or a payment of $39.99 to get it for a whole year (which makes the monthly cost $3.33). Prices are different if you want to pay for five or ten devices; $7.99/month for five and $9.99/month for ten. There isn't a trial version available.

Norton WiFi Privacy can be purchased with a credit card or PayPal account.

HideMyAss! (HMA) VPN

HMA is a UK-based VPN service that is considered by some to be the easiest and most user-friendly VPN. While their reputation was somewhat marred by the 2011 FBI investigation of a Sony hacker (HMA disclosed logs of suspect Cody Kretsinger's online timeframes), many users still continue to use HMA for their private browsing.

Tip: Read their logging policy for information on what they keep about you.

HMA has a tremendous pool of 800+ servers located in nearly every country on the planet, which opens up access to geographically restricted content in many locations. Plus, the VPN software has been translated to a number of languages to further support the widest range of customers.

HideMyAss also provides some slick features like rotating IP addresses, speed guides, and an extremely convenient client tool. HMA is also very easy for beginners to set up.

HMA also, of course, supports common VPN features like PPTP, L2TP, IPSec, and OpenVPN protocols. You can use a single license on up to five devices at the same time.

Note: If you are a file sharer, HMA is not for you. Readers report that HMA frowns on members who participate in torrent sharing, and presumably pressures its users when they receive P2P complaints.

Cost: HMA costs $6.99/month when you prepay for 12 months ($83.88/year.) They also have a six-month option for $47.94, which comes to $7.99/month. To pay monthly will cost $11.99/month.

There's a 30-day money back guarantee and you can pay with a credit or debit card, PayPal, cash (at 7-Eleven/ACE), check, or UnionPay.

Cryptostorm VPN

Cryptostorm is absolutely the most preferred VPN for file sharers, privacy freaks, and people who surf the Dark Web.

This service is based in Iceland and Canada, and resists the reach of the US PATRIOT Act and other surveillance. Because Cryptostorm doesn't keep a database or record of traffic, there isn't anything to explain about you even if the company is forced to release user data.

The big differentiator is Cryptostorm's plugging of DNS leaks. Most VPN's do not go this extra mile to prevent authorities from tracking you. Cryptostorm employs a special DNS utility to ensure that there is no DNS hint of your source location while cloaked.

Cost: Token prices range from less than $6/month up to a little under $8/month, depending on the term length and how you choose to pay. For instance, if you pay for one week at a time ($1.86) for one month using Stripe, you'll be charged a total of $7.44 for that month; paying for a full year ($52) brings that monthly equivalent down to $4.33.

Cryptostorm VPN accepts Bitcoins, Stripe, PayPal and altcoins as payment, and grants access through the use of tokens instead of currency. This token-based payment approach adds more cloaking to the identity of its customers.

UnoTelly VPN

UnoTelly VPN started in Greece and has grown into a large multinational organization, with servers in a number of countries. One of its most unique features is the built-in parental control options utilized in its UnoDNS service.

UnoTelly does log some information but it only includes your log-in and log-out time, and the amount of bandwidth you used during that time. However, since the VPN service uses shared IP addresses, they can not track the websites you visit.

You also get malware and ad blocking with UnoTelly's UnoProtector feature. It works in your computer browser but also on iOS and Android.

Unlike some service that let you use your account with multiple devices at once, UnoTelly only supports simultaneous device use if they're running under the same network at once.

Cost: There are two plans here; Premium and Gold, but only the latter supports VPN while the other is just their DNS service. UnoTelly Gold costs $7.95/month if you buy it every month, but there are three other options if you want to purchase it for three months, six months, or one year. Those prices, respectively, are $6.65/month, $6.16/month, and $4.93/month (each, of course, being paid for in one lump sum). You can try it free for eight days through this link.

Bitcoin and credit cards are the supported payment options for subscribing to UnoTelly.

WiTopia VPN

WiTopia is a respected name in the VPN arena. Although some users do say that the software can be frustrating to install and configure, they have a wide range of servers in over 40 countries.

Speeds that you can expect on WiTopia are similar to other VPN's. They're in the range of 2 Mbps to 9 Mbps depending on your proximity to their servers.

As added reassurances for anyone wanting to cloak their browsing and file sharing habits, WiTopia explains that any information they keep still does not allow someone to see what you've been doing on the VPN.

WiTopia also supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, Cisco IPsec, PPTP, and 4D Stealth, plus unlimited server switching, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited data transfers, zero ads, wide device support, and a free and secure DNS service.

Depending on the plan you go with, you can even use your Witopia account on eight devices simultaneously. However, the cheaper of the two only support five.

Cost: This VPN service comes in three plans: Basic, Pro, and Premier, any of which can be purchased on a six month, one year, two-year, or three-year basis. The premier plan is $5.83 /month if you pay all 36 months up front, the professional plan is $4.44/month if you buy all three years at once, and the basic plan is $3.06/month for three years. Basic also lets you pay monthly, for $5.99/month.

You can pay via credit card or PayPal, and all three plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Boxpn

Boxpn yields some very fast speeds, especially when compared to other VPN's. Readers report getting over 7 Mpbs. Servers are located in various locations like Paris, Sydney, Dublin, Montreal, and Panama.

Boxpn's parent company is based out of Turkey, which helps keep it away from the reach of the US PATRIOT Act. The company also pledges not to log any client activities, which is particularly comforting to people who participate in P2P file sharing

Here's what they have to say about data logging: We NEVER keep online activity logs or store private information about individual user activities on our network. Information regarding payments may be logged, as per payment processor regulations.

Boxpn is similar to some of the other services o​n this list in that they offer unlimited data transfers, a money-back guarantee, and unlimited server switching. They also support OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, SSTP, 2048-bit encryption, three simultaneous connections per account, and mobile devices.

Cost: Boxpn is cheapest if it's purchased for one year at a time for $35.88; the monthly cost is just $2.99/month. If you buy it for three months at once, that monthly price goes up to $6.66/month, and it's even higher for their month-to-month, $9.99 plan.

The payment options for buying Boxpn include PayPal, credit card, Perfect Money, Global Payments, Bitcoin, and several other cryptocurrencies.

OverPlay VPN

This UK-based service is definitely worth looking at. While OverPlay does not have the server pool size of some of the other services on this page, the performance is strong, it supports unlimited P2P traffic, and readers average over 6 Mbps download speeds.

With OverPlay, you can instantly access hundreds of servers from over 50 countries around the world, either to access blocked websites or to browse the web anonymously. You can use your account on three devices at the same time and it works with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

You can also set up OverPlay manually with OpenVPN support, which is useful if you want your entire network to access the VPN through a router.

Here's a quick summary of some of OverPlay's most important features: no traffic logs, unlimited server switching, unlimited bandwidth, PPTP and L2TP support, and military-grade encryption.

Cost: Get OverPlay for $9.95/month or pay for a whole year at once for $99.95, which is like paying $8.33/month.

OverPlay can be purchased by credit card or PayPal.

ZenVPN

ZenVPN can be purchased on a weekly basis and has servers that can be found in over 30 locations around the world, including Brazil, Denmark, the US, Romania, India, Norway, and the Netherlands.

According to ZenVPN: We don't inspect your online activities and don't maintain any record of them.

The setup is super easy to use because, after just a few clicks, you're ready to start using the VPN to encrypt all your internet data.

This VPN service does not block or limit P2P traffic, which means you can torrent as much as you want and never be reprimanded for it. However, remember that torrenting copyrighted data is still illegal in most countries, regardless of whether you use a VPN.

Note: It's important to be aware that unlike most VPN providers (and even ZenVPN's Unlimited plan), the free and Standard ZenVPN plans limit your daily traffic to 5 GB. It's been added to this list, however, because the weekly payment option might be preferred by some and VPN torrenting isn't always so easily accepted by providers.

Cost: To be billed every 7 days, you can subscribe to ZenVPN on a weekly basis for $2.95, which is equivalent to around $11.80/month. Another option is to just buy it a month at a time for $5.95/month. A third option is to buy a whole year at once (for $49.95) for what comes out to be $4.16/month. The unlimited option is more expensive, at $5.95/week, $9.95/month or $7.96/month if you pay $95.50 for the whole year.

Every plan starts as a free trial, so you don't need to provide payment details until you decide to pay. Acceptable forms of payment include Bitcoin, PayPal, and a credit card.