The Best and Most Secure VPN Services for 2023

There are hundreds of commercial VPNs, which can make it difficult to choose one, as they all seem to offer nearly identical features. Each buyer has their preferences on which VPN capabilities are most important to them. To make this decision easy, this list includes the best and most secure VPN providers for 2023.

Good to know: is VPN better than Tor, or vice versa? Find out in our dedicated piece on the matter.

1. Best Overall VPN: ExpressVPN

Price: $8.32/month (with 1-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | Smart TV | Console

When it comes to blazing-fast speeds and guaranteed customer satisfaction, there aren’t any close competitors to ExpressVPN. With quick and easy connectivity, you get superior network speeds, which are a cut above the rest. The service has been proven to work without any issues in countries that restrict VPNs, such as China and UAE. Its highlight, though, is the preciseness with which it unblocks streaming content for the most geo-restricted of services.

With more than 3000 remote servers across 94 countries, ExpressVPN gives consistent performance in any location. Over 80% of its global bandwidth is routed through 10 Gbps servers, which is on par with what your ISP offers. It currently doesn’t support WireGuard, which many VPN providers use to offer greater speed on a lighter codebase. However, it relies on its own proprietary Lightway protocol, which is also open-source, lightweight, and faster.

ExpressVPN has taken the privacy and anonymity standards to the next level with what it calls TrustedServer security. Instead of storing user data on VPN hard drives, it’s run on volatile RAM. Every time the server reboots, all the user information is wiped out. Also, ExpressVPN very rarely disconnects you: when it does, the kill switch will ensure that none of your ISP data is exposed. Additionally, ExpressVPN supports Bitcoin payments for total anonymity.

Pros

• Unparalleled performance in streaming downloads
• Unblocks the most difficult sites
• Smart servers for additional speed gain

Cons

• Expensive
• Doesn’t offer Double VPN, multi-hopping, or dedicated IPs.

2. Best All-Purpose Affordable VPN: Surfshark

Price: $2.49/month (with 2-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | Fire TV

With a full set of anonymity and performance features and an unbelievably low cost, Surfshark is our best affordable VPN. To that end, its best value is letting you connect to unlimited devices at the same time. In contrast, most VPN players put a limit on how many devices you can simultaneously connect. With Surfshark, you can freely share your subscription with family members.

Surfshark brings excellent performance with its bundled static IP servers. It also ranks among the best VPNs for speed, with at least 1 Gbps port plus WireGuard and AES-256-GCM capabilities. Users can benefit from split tunneling: the VPN provider whitelists your favorite apps using a feature called Bypasser. For example, while doing financial transactions, you don’t need to disconnect from the VPN.

Located in the British Virgin Islands, Surfshark is well outside the “Fourteen Eyes” and has a fantastic no-logs policy that doesn’t require your identity. The VPN provider can help you go truly anonymous by not requiring any personal details when you register. To go completely off the grid, create custom multi-hop connections across multiple countries, similar to a Tor network.

Pros

• Really affordable with no surprise charges
• Free trial for mobile apps
• Alternative ID feature that lets you hide your real email, birthday, and other personal details from data harvesters

Cons

• No dedicated IP
• Customer service needs improvement

3. Best Value for Money VPN: NordVPN

Price: $3.99/month (with 2-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | Android TV | Fire Stick | PlayStation | Nintendo Switch | Raspberry Pi | Chrome OS | Oculus

It isn’t cheap if you want to subscribe to a popular VPN brand with super-fast downloading speeds. NordVPN, however, offers a 24-month plan at a very low monthly cost. It supports multiple VPN protocols, server types, and nearly every VPN security feature, making it the best value-for-money VPN provider. NordVPN’s biggest feature is support for the widest network of US-based servers, which is nearly 2000-strong.

NordVPN takes user security very seriously, so it supports 4096-RSA, the strongest encryption standard. It also supports double VPN, onion over VPN, obfuscated servers, and P2P servers. Apart from OpenVPN, NordVPN offers its NordLynx protocol based on WireGuard to provide reliable speeds.

Located in Panama, NordVPN is a great fit if you’re looking for a no-logs VPN provider. Subsequently, you can create your own trusted Wi-Fi networks at your home or office to bypass VPN restrictions. With an anonymity feature called Stay Invisible on LAN, NordVPN lets you keep your device invisible to local or public Wi-Fi networks. Based on our tests, we found that NordVPN is almost as good as ExpressVPN at unblocking content across different geographies.

Pros

• Offers dedicated IP address with plan
• Supports the widest range of devices

Cons

• Some configurations, such as OpenVPN, are too technically complex to implement

Tip: find out more in our review of NordVPN.

4. Best VPN for Gaming: Private Internet Access

Price: $3.33/month (with 1-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | Smart TV |Console

Nothing ruins a player’s gaming experience like geo-restrictions. If you want to play safely at high speeds, you need a dedicated VPN that pulls all the stops with the lowest latency and a high degree of security and anonymity on gaming sites. For all that, you can turn to Private Internet Access (PIA), the best VPN for gaming, especially mobile gaming on handheld devices and consoles.

We played the high-speed Asphalt 9: Legends on an Android device using a US-based server with PIA running in the background. Surprisingly, it started at a barely noticeable latency of 35 ms, which is incredibly fast for racing games. PIA supports OpenVPN and WireGuard and is the only VPN that lets you vary the maximum transmission unit (MTU). You can change it into either “small” or “large” packets. For example, for something like Farmville 2, you could quickly increase the MTU to insert the large screen elements to populate quickly.

PIA keeps you safe from the seedy underbelly of the gaming world, with hackers and identity thieves everywhere. Using a feature called PIA Mace, you can instantly block all domains used for ads, trackers, and malware. It also supports multi-hopping and obfuscation. Further anonymize yourself using burner email accounts and phone numbers, which PIA supports. It also offers a split tunnel VPN capability to add your favorite applications, browsers, and IP addresses to navigate through the secured tunnel.

Pros

• Many gaming-centric features for speed as well as anonymity
• Pleasant-looking, easy-to-use interface
• Low latency on Android phones

Cons

• Frequent server downtime
• Dedicated IPs cost an extra $2.50 per month

FYI: if you’re facing stuttering while gaming on your Windows PC, try these solutions.

5. Best VPN for P2P: IPVanish

Price: $3.33/month (with 2-year plan)

Platforms: Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | ChromeOS | Smart TV | Console | NVIDIA Shield

Many countries and ISPs try to restrict or block torrent networks, so you need the best P2P VPN to unblock their content. For one thing, not all VPN servers do a great job of helping you download torrents. With IPVanish, that isn’t the case, as each and every server on this provider is designed to tackle the immense bandwidth requirements of P2P websites. This VPN provider comes with a unique SOCKS5 proxy that is designed to work well with torrenting sites.

Under its network, you get more leeway to download any torrent you want. On that note, we tried testing on BitTorrent with different IPVanish servers in different countries and did not face any restrictions. The service comes with support for AES-256 encryption and WireGuard for faster download speeds.

Many P2P sites are harmful, though, and IPVanish uses its zero-log policy and kill switch to block malicious adware links. Besides, it also uses multi-hopping to make your identity anonymous to phishers and other dangerous elements.

Pros

• Includes On Demand privacy feature to secure your network in unfamiliar Wi-Fi locations, such as airports and hotel lobbies
• Military-grade encryption
• Unlimited simultaneous connections that can be shared with family members

Cons

• Many servers aren’t optimized well for streaming
• No dedicated IP

6. Best Swiss-Based VPN: ProtonVPN

Price: $4.99 per month (with 2-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | ChromeOS

A VPN protected by Swiss privacy laws is a great draw for the privacy-conscious. While there are other Swiss VPN providers, ProtonVPN is the only one worth considering. Offering over 3000 servers, it brings simultaneous connections to up to 10 devices. Despite its premium status, ProtonVPN is an affordable VPN service. A cool trick is to select USD as your currency instead of the default Euro, saving your money.

While the Internet speeds aren’t always as fast as say ExpressVPN or SurfShark, ProtonVPN offers dedicated bandwidth. It supports a large number of US- and EU-based servers. Depending on whether you’re in the Western hemisphere or Eurasia, your connection speeds are faster for a location close to you. Additionally, ProtonVPN connects with Tor for a double VPN. Also, VPN supports WireGuard and other advanced authentication protocols for optimal speeds.

As the Swiss privacy standards would imply, ProtonMail guarantees your anonymity by not logging user activity or sharing data with third parties. This is achieved by using a “secure core” network feature consisting of alternative routing, stealth, and smart protocol. It also has a genuine no-logs policy verified by Securitum, a leading European penetration tester.

Pros

• Offers split tunneling
• Functions well in UAE and China
• Reliable speeds and no connection dropouts for a server near you
• Works well with streaming sites in any country

Cons

• A dedicated IP address costs way too much
• Difficult to get a free trial or even create an account
• Insufficient server coverage if you live in the Southern Hemisphere

Tip: check out how to remove ads from Windows for a cleaner experience.

7. Best VPN With Most Servers: CyberGhost

Price: $2.11 per month (with 2-year plan)

Platforms: Web | Windows | Mac | Linux | iOS | Android | Fire TV | Console

Many VPN users prefer a service that has a worldwide reach in remote locations, and CyberGhost is a clear winner. With more than 9000 robust servers in over 90 countries, it is the VPN option with the most servers. It also checks all the criteria for unlimited bandwidth, without buffering, and the best part is the free trial, although it’s limited to only 24 hours.

With such a large number of VPN servers, you may have a feeling that this provider is chasing numbers alone. But that isn’t the case. Each and every server at any location is developed around WireGuard, OpenVPN, or IKEv2 protocols. Many of them unblock torrents and streaming websites and are regularly maintained. In terms of speeds, we found that CyberGhost nearly rivals the top VPN providers, such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN.

To ensure online anonymity, you may not want to submit usage data or launch CyberGhost when you are booting up your PC. The service has a built-in Wi-Fi protection feature to prevent snooping on public networks.

Pros

• Most extensive VPN server network
• Robust 256-AES encryption in each server
• Affordable costs

Cons

• Doesn’t work reliably in UAE, China, and a few other countries
• Some servers aren’t as frequently updated, so you need to find an alternative

Tip: did you know that browser cookies can affect your privacy? Read on to learn more.

Which VPN Is Right for Me?

The good thing about our top VPN picks is that they easily fulfill considerations from all kinds of VPN users. But security and performance are the main reasons why these are the best. If you have trouble connecting to a VPN, try some of these fixes. Also, give decentralized VPNs a try, as they’re big on privacy.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.