Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: The best VPN service for 2025

Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:04:45 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/be...

As frustrating as it is that governments and businesses are running roughshod
over our online freedoms, at least we have plenty of good VPNs to choose from
to keep us protected online. There are so many fast, intelligently designed,
full-featured and affordable services on the market that the biggest problem
is picking one. For any use case, you can bet at least two providers will be
neck-and-neck for first place.

On the other hand, the VPN world is still the Wild West in some ways. It's
easy enough to slap a cheap VPN together that the market is flooded with low-
quality apps that put more money into advertising than infrastructure. They
may look good, but it's all styrofoam under the hood.

I built this list of the best VPNs after intensive testing to help you
reorient your focus on the providers that actually deserve your time and
money. Which one truly fits your needs is dependent on who you are and what
you do online, but if you pick any of my seven recommendations, you can't go
too far wrong.

For each VPN on this list, I've shared which platforms it works on, how much
it cuts into your download speed, where it offers servers, what other
features are included and how much the best available deal costs. At the end,
I'll list some honorable and dishonorable mentions, then answer some of the
most common questions I hear about VPNs.

Editor's note: This list has been completely overhauled and rewritten as of
September 2025. We intend to revisit this list every three months at a
minimum, at which time our picks may be adjusted based on changes in pricing,
features, testing results and other factors.

Table of contents

Best VPNs for 2025

Other VPNs we tested

What to look for in a VPN

VPN FAQs

Best VPNs for 2025

Other VPNs we tested

The VPNs in this section didn't crack our top list above, but we're
summarizing them here so you can see their positives and negatives as of the
time of our evaluation.

Windscribe

Windscribe is another well-known free VPN supported by paid subscriptions. In
many ways, it takes the best from both Mullvad and Proton VPN, with the
former's no-nonsense privacy and the latter's healthy free plan. Without
paying, you can connect to 10 of Windscribe's server locations on an
unlimited number of devices at once.

Unfortunately, Windscribe didn't copy the most important part of Proton VPN's
free plan ΓÇö the unlimited data. You're only allowed to use 10GB per month,
which isn't enough for regular streaming. It's also committed to a cramped
and headache-inducing user interface that stands out from the crowd in all
the worst ways.

CyberGhost

There's a lot to recommend with CyberGhost. Its streaming-optimized servers
meet a high standard for playback quality, it's pretty fast overall and its
Smart Rules offer some of the deepest VPN automation on the market. The ad
blocker works well, and the NoSpy servers are a neat idea ΓÇö CyberGhost
keeps them under lock and key near its Romania headquarters and carefully
fine-tunes all their settings.

On the other hand, its apps just aren't up to the standard set by our
favorites on this list. I like the designs on paper, but there are too many
snags in the experience, from laggy connections to an overactive kill switch
that often blocks internet access even when the VPN is working perfectly.

I also have some concerns about its commitment to data privacy, since its
privacy policy retains the right to share your personal data with its entire
corporate family. CyberGhost's parent company, Kape Technologies, also owns
ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, but neither of those VPNs have
privacy policies quite so permissive.

TunnelBear

TunnelBear has a decent interface, which its target audience of VPN beginners
will find very easy to use. Its speeds are perfectly good too, and I
appreciate the depth and breadth of its transparency reports. But it's far
too limited overall, with few extra features, less than 50 server locations
and a free plan that caps data at 2GB per month.

VyprVPN

VyprVPN often flies under the radar, but it has some of the best apps in the
business and a very good security record (there was a breach in 2023, but it
didn't crack the VPN encryption itself). It's also got a verified privacy
policy, a solid jurisdiction and runs every connection through an in-house
DNS to prevent leaks.

Despite all that, it didn't make the top seven because its connection speeds
aren't up to scratch ΓÇö you'll likely notice a bigger slowdown than average.
It also has a troubling history of wild, seemingly experimental swings in its
pricing and simultaneous connection limits.

Norton VPN

Norton VPN is part of the Norton 360 package that includes the well-known
antivirus software and other security apps. It's a nice bonus if you use
Norton already, but as a standalone VPN, it falls short. My tests repeatedly
showed it dropping encryption and revealing my IP address whenever I switched
servers, and not all of its locations managed to unblock Netflix.

This isn't to say Norton VPN is terrible. It has a fairly large server
network, user-friendly apps and some cool features like an IP rotator. It
also recently revamped its OpenVPN infrastructure to improve speeds on
Windows. But you probably won't find those things sufficient to balance out
significant speed drops on other platforms or poorly written FAQs. I
especially advise against Norton VPN for Apple users, as its Mac and iPhone
apps are much more limited than their Windows and Android counterparts.

What to look for in a VPN

Choosing a VPN can quickly get you mired in analysis paralysis. We're here to
help, but since only you know your particular needs, you should know the
major red and green flags so you can make the final call yourself. Every
reputable VPN provider offers a free trial or refund guarantee you can use to
run the tests below.

Compatibility: First, make sure your VPN works on all the platforms you plan
to use it on. Most VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, but
those apps aren't always created equal ΓÇö check that the app for your chosen
OS is user-friendly and has all the features you need.

Speed: Use a speed testing app to see how fast your internet is before and
after connecting to the VPN (I use Ookla's speedtest.net). To check security,
look up your IP address while connected to a VPN server and see if it's
actually changed your virtual location. Be sure it's using expert-vetted
protocols like OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2. Try connecting to streaming
services and seeing whether the VPN changes the available content.

Background: Do some outside research into the VPN's origins, especially its
parent company, privacy policy and any past incidents. It's a dealbreaker if
you can't figure out where the VPN is headquartered (which indicates a lax
approach to transparency) or if it seems to have never passed a real third-
party audit.

Server network: Look at the server network to make sure the VPN has locations
near you and in any countries where you'll want an IP address ΓÇö e.g. if you
need a VPN to unblock Canadian Netflix, look for multiple server locations in
Canada.

Customer Service: I also advise testing the customer support options by
looking for the answer to a straightforward question. If phone support
(versus email and chat) is important to you, make sure to prioritize that ΓÇö
and make sure it's available at convenient times in your timezone.

Pricing: Finally, check prices. See if the VPN is affordable and decide
whether you're comfortable taking a long-term subscription for better
savings. If you do get a multi-year plan, check what price it will renew at,
since many of the cheapest subscriptions are only introductory deals.

VPN FAQs

To wrap up, let's answer some of the most common questions we get about VPNs.
Feel free to get in touch if you have a query I don't cover here.

What is a VPN?

VPN stands for virtual private network. There are a few different types of
VPNs, but for this list, we're talking about commercial services that let
individual users access the internet with an assumed identity.

Whenever you get online, you're assigned an IP address ΓÇö a digital nametag
that tells websites where to send the information you request. For an IP
address to work, it needs to be unique, which means it's possible to create a
record of what an individual does online.

When you use a VPN, all the data you send to the internet goes through one of
the VPN's servers before heading to its final destination. The VPN encrypts
the connection between your computer and its server so the data won't trace
back to you. Any website, ISP or third party that cares to look will only see
the VPN's IP address, not yours.

What are some things VPNs are used for?

The three main use cases for a commercial VPN are security, privacy and
entertainment. Using a VPN conceals your real IP address from anyone who
might want to use it for nefarious purposes like cyberstalking, DDoS attacks
or deducing your real location. It also keeps your ISP from profiling you for
ads based on where you live or what you do online.

One side effect of borrowing a VPN's IP address is that you can make it
appear as though your connection is coming from another country. You can use
this to access streaming content and platforms that are only available in
certain regions due to copyright. Changing your location can even get you
better prices when shopping online.

Location spoofing can also be used to get online in countries that censor
internet access, like China and Russia, as well as certain US states or
countries ΓÇö like the UK ΓÇö that are adding barriers like age-gating to
previously unfettered online access. All you have to do is connect to a
neighboring country (or locality) where the internet isn't blocked. If you
plan to do this while traveling, make sure you have the VPN downloaded before
you go, as some nations prevent you from even loading a VPN's homepage. Make
sure you check with local laws regarding the legality of VPN use as well ΓÇö
just because your VPN traffic is encrypted doesn't mean that authorities
can't detect that it's being used in a given location.

Are VPNs worth it?

Whether a VPN is worth the price depends on how much you value those three
use cases above. It's no secret that your personal information is profitable
for a lot of people, from illicit hackers to corporations to law enforcement.
A VPN will not make you completely anonymous, nor is it a license to commit
crimes (see the next question) but it will give you a lot more control over
what you transmit to the world.

With entertainment, the value is even clearer. You can use a VPN to fight
back against streaming balkanization by getting more shows and movies out of
a single platform ΓÇö for example, a lot of shows that have been kicked off
American Netflix are still on Netflix in other countries.

What information does a VPN hide?

A VPN does not make it impossible for you to be unmasked or taken advantage
of online. It prevents you from passively leaking information, keeps your IP
address undiscoverable on public wi-fi networks and gets you around online
censorship.

However, if you share personal information of your own volition, there's
nothing the VPN can do. If you reveal your password in a social media post or
click a link in a phishing email, that information bypasses the VPN.
Likewise, if you do anything sensitive while logged into an account, the
account holder will have that information even if you're using a VPN.

A VPN is a critical part of your online security, but it can't do the whole
job by itself. Healthy passwords, malware scanners, private search engines
and common sense all have roles to play. Never forget, too, that using a VPN
means trusting the VPN provider with access to information that's concealed
from everyone else ΓÇö make sure you trust the privacy policy before signing
up.

Are VPNs safe?

As far as we can determine, all the VPNs recommended in this story are safe
to use. As with anything you subscribe to online, due diligence is important,
but there's very little inherent risk; generally, the worst thing a bad VPN
will do is fail to work, leaving you no worse off than before. There are some
VPNs (usually offered for free) that transmit malware, so always make sure to
look up any complaints or warnings about a service before you download it.

Can you get a VPN on your phone?

Absolutely ΓÇö almost every VPN has apps for both desktop and mobile devices.
A good VPN will redesign its app to be mobile-friendly without dropping too
many features. Both iOS and Android natively support VPN connections, so
you're free to choose whichever provider you like.

What about Google's One VPN?

Google One VPN was, as you might expect, a VPN provided by Google. It was
launched in 2020 for Google One subscribers and discontinued in 2024 due to
lack of use. If you really want a Google VPN, you can still get one if you
have certain Pixel models or if you're a Google Fi subscriber.

That said, I don't recommend using a VPN from Google even if you do still
have access to one. Google is one of the worst big tech companies at
protecting user privacy. While its VPN might not leak, I wouldn't trust it to
guard your sensitive information.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/be...

---
VRSS v2.1.180528