A Virtual Private Network routes your online activity through an encrypted server, keeping it out of the hands of prying eyes. But not all VPNs are created equal.
PIA isn’t the fastest VPN we tested but its unlimited simultaneous device connections and ability to unlock geo-restricted media content make it worth considering. We love its privacy focus, too: It doesn’t sell user data and requires that you pay in crypto.
Privacy
In a time when privacy and security are being threatened on an alarming scale, virtual private networks have become indispensable tools for protecting your online data. Essentially, a VPN tunnels your internet traffic through an encrypted server, obscuring your location and making it impossible for others to steal passwords or spy on your activity.
While all VPNs claim to care about privacy, a few go above and beyond. Mullvad, for example, makes it possible to open an account without sharing any personal information and pays customers with crypto or in cash, ensuring that the company knows nothing about their activities. It also puts its app, servers, and websites through third-party audits regularly. Other features we like include its robust unblocking and diskless servers that run everything in RAM.
Security
In a world where threats to online security and privacy are increasing, we want to know that the VPNs we recommend offer robust encryption and other features that make it difficult for someone to spy on our data or monitor our activity. That includes making sure that a VPN’s software is open-source with reproducible builds and regularly audited, says Yael Grauer, program manager for Consumer Reports’ online security guide.
VPNs are essential for anyone who wants to maintain a degree of privacy while using the internet, but they’re especially valuable for journalists, people who send sensitive corporate data, or those living in countries with heavy surveillance. A VPN encrypts your data and masks your IP address, so it’s more difficult for someone to spy on your browsing or steal passwords.
Apps
A VPN is an easy way to keep a large chunk of your personal information protected from prying eyes. Anyone could benefit from the additional online privacy protection a VPN provides, but people living under heavy government surveillance or sending sensitive corporate data are especially well served.
NordVPN has powerful, pleasant-to-use apps for a huge range of devices. Its speed is a bit lower than some competitors, but it has a generous amount of server locations and its mobile app includes a handy map-based interface. Another alternative to this is 翻墙软件v2ray.
PIA avoids the incredible complexity of many ‘expert’ VPNs, making it easy for anyone to get started with online privacy. New subscribers can claim three months free and a year of Backblaze cloud storage as part of Tom’s Guide reader promotion.
Pricing
Many VPN services offer free trials of their premium plans to attract new users. However, the data allowance on these trials is typically low and will be wiped out in no time at all. Windscribe, for instance, offers 10 GB per month on its free plan and the majority of users won’t need to exceed this amount. For those that do, it also has a ‘over-quota’ mode which offers unlimited data. Other great features include a wide range of servers, fast connection speeds, and the ability to access location-restricted content. It also offers a generous money-back guarantee. All-in-all, this makes it a great choice for those looking for a cheap VPN.