A VPN, or virtual private network, is a tool that masks your internet identity inside a virtual tunnel, hiding your IP address from your internet service provider, websites and other prying eyes. When you use one, an encrypted connection is established between your device and a server at an undisclosed location, leading everyone to think you’re browsing from somewhere else.
The use of VPNs has grown astronomically in recent years. People in China and Russia have been relying on them to help skirt state censorship, while the rise of home working has seen a surge in usage among employees.
VPNs are a pretty big deal for organisations needing to protect their sensitive information. “Businesses use VPNs to grant access to networks remotely, as well as to protect their data traversing across multiple networks and boundaries across the internet,” explains Rick McElroy, a principal cybersecurity specialist at cloud computing company VMware. “For people who are concerned about governments around the world infringing on their privacy and security, VPNs create a great way to prevent this behaviour.”
The world of VPNs can be a confusing, messy place, and because of the continuing consolidation happening in the industry, it’s getting even more complicated. Kape Technologies – which already owned CyberGhost and Private Internet Access – took control of ExpressVPN in September 2021. Earlier, in February 2022, Nord Security, which owns NordVPN, merged with Surfshark. This means your data is now in the hands of fewer companies, and while that doesn’t inherently make these businesses the bad guys, who owns our data is something we should all be aware of.
There are hundreds of free and paid-for VPNs out there, but they’re not all made equal. Lots of free VPNs are ad-supported, while others claim to protect your privacy while selling off any data gleaned from your browsing history. Most of the best VPNs charge for their services, but they also have free trials. To help you sort through the glut of virtual private networks, we’ve rounded up all the best VPNs for Android, iPhone, PC and more.
Read more:
We tested these VPNs on an iPhone 12 pro, a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE and a MacBook pro laptop. In each case, we trialled how speedy the VPN was when pitted against its competitors, looked at their level of security and whether they kept logs of our browsing data. We also investigated what features they had, such as support for split tunnelling or the inclusion of a kill switch.
Best: Overall VPN
Rating: 5/5
ExpressVPN is the best all-round VPN for any consumer user. It’s flaming fast, simple to use and runs on a laundry list of operating systems and devices – whether that be Mac, Windows PC, Linux, Android, iOS, Amazon Fire stick, or even your PlayStation console or home router.
It has an incredibly simple user interface, emabling you to connect to the most recently used server as soon as you open up the application. You can also quickly connect to the “smart location” server – which is basically the nearest server to you, ensuring you get the fastest speeds. There’s also a list of recommended servers, easily accessible on the home screen, as well as options to switch between Lightway UDP, Lightway TCP and IKEv2 protocols.
All the main requirements of a good VPN are checked off. It’s speedy, thanks to its “lightway” protocol; masks your IP address, and has a nifty kill switch (preventing network data from leaking out if the VPN fails). It also has features such as split tunnelling, which lets you route a portion of your traffic through the VPN, while other devices use the internet directly from your service provider.
ExpressVPN encrypts your data using AES-256, the military-grade encryption standard for complete protection, but also supports “perfect forward secrecy”, automatically assigning you a new secret key every 60 minutes. Plus, if you’re ever confused about anything, ExpressVPN has a 24-hour live support team. It uses purely RAM-based servers, instead of storing your data on a hard drive, meaning that all data is wiped whenever ExpressVPN’s servers are powered off.
ExpressVPN prioritises security and privacy, with the company claiming it keeps no logs of any of your internet activity, your IP address, how long you’ve connected to the server for, or even what time you’ve connected. And the claims have actually been proven true – a Turkish server was seized in 2017 and no logs of any user activity were found.
The only downside is that ExpressVPN is pricier than most of its competition, probably because of how feature-packed it is. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are unhappy, however.
Read the full ExpressVPN review
Best: VPN for PC and Mac
Rating: 5/5
