JACOB ROACH GEAR JAN 28, 2026 7:30 AM The Best VPNs to Protect Yourself Online Every VPN says it’s the best, but only some of them are telling the truth. All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Learn more. Featured in this article Best VPN Overall Proton VPN Plus READ MORE $48 $36 (25% OFF) PROTON (YEARLY) Best VPN Upgrade NordVPN Plus READ MORE $117 NORDVPN (2-YEAR) Best Free VPN Windscribe VPN READ MORE $69 WINDSCRIBE (PRO, YEARLY) Best VPN for Beginners Surfshark Starter VPN READ MORE $54 SURFSHARK (2-YEAR) SHOW MORE 4 / 6 THERE ARE LITERALLY hundreds of VPNs floating around. They all want you to believe they're the best VPN you can buy. All of them say they have the biggest network, or claim they have a no-logging policy. And they all promise your internet traffic is safe on the network of servers they've rented. Only some of them are telling the truth. VPNs are only growing in popularity due to age-verification laws in the UK and in several states in the US. Even if you don't want a VPN, you might need one. If you're hesitant, I get it. VPN providers have been deep in murky waters for years, constantly caught lying about their practices, handing over user data that was never supposed to be logged, and serving as safe havens for large cybercriminal organizations. I wanted to find the VPN services that actually work; the ones that keep their promises even in the face of potential prosecution, and the ones that have a proven track record of reliable performance. Some of the picks in this guide aren't conventional, and some of the services I suggest you avoid might be controversial. But these are the top VPNs I'd use day-to-day. Read our other VPN guides, including how to set up a VPN on your router and how to use a VPN to watch Netflix when you travel abroad. Update January 2026: We’ve added IVPN and details about Windscribe’s anonymous login option. How Much Do VPNs Cost? ACCORDIONITEMCONTAINERBUTTON There's a broad range of prices for VPN services, but most providers sit somewhere around $10 per month for a monthly plan. That number changes if you purchase several months at once, and it's even more obfuscated with full security suites, such as those offered by Nord Security and Proton. Most of the prominent VPN services you'll come across offer multi-month or even multi-year discounts. These plans are often the best way to get your foot in the door, but recently, some VPNs have faced class-action lawsuits regarding their auto-renewal practices. Although a handful of lawsuits have been filed, that doesn't mean these services necessarily engaged in illegal practices. Free VPNs exist, as well, but you should avoid most of them. Some restrictive free plans from Proton and Windscribe are useful, but you should handle most free VPNs with skepticism. What Does a VPN Do? And How Does It Work? ACCORDIONITEMCONTAINERBUTTON VPN stands for virtual private network. A VPN provides a tunnel through which all of your internet traffic passes. Instead of connecting to your internet service provider's servers, you connect to a VPN's server before connecting to the broader internet. Because most VPN services operate this way, your browsing data isn't stored, essentially making you anonymous online. The linchpin in this system is a VPN protocol. Today, nearly all internet traffic is encrypted, but that encryption only happens once you've established a connection with a website. A VPN protocol encrypts traffic before it heads off to the VPN server, which adds some extra security on untrusted networks like public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or airport. It doesn't help much on your personal network unless someone is intruding on it. Although VPNs are often marketed as security tools, they serve a better purpose for privacy and bypassing geo-restrictions. By anonymizing your traffic through a VPN server, your browsing can't be traced back to you. And, by routing your traffic through a server in another location, you can bypass geo-restrictions online, such as the content libraries available in different countries on Netflix. VPN Terms and Features, Explained ACCORDIONITEMCONTAINERBUTTON You'll come across a few of these terms in this guide as you generally shop for a VPN. Here's what they mean. Double-hop: Connecting to two (or more) VPN servers in succession. This provides an extra layer of privacy if someone traces your network path, but it will vastly reduce speeds. Split tunneling: Allows you to choose which apps use the VPN tunnel. Useful if you want some apps (like your browser) to use the VPN tunnel but not others. Kill switch: A security feature in VPNs that will disable your internet connection if the VPN connection drops. A kill switch can avoid leaking internet traffic in the event of a VPN failure. IP and domain block list: A list of IP addresses or domain names that are blocked inside the VPN tunnel. Some VPNs offer Domain Name System (DNS) blocking, too, which can block ads served from particular DNS servers. Static IP: Most VPNs assign you a random IP address, or even rotate the IP address while you’re connected. If you need external access to your network with a network-wide VPN, you'll need a static IP address. Port forwarding: Allows you to forward a port on your private network, bypassing the VPN tunnel. Useful for instances where you need external network access with a network-wide VPN, such as running a media server. NetShield: A feature specific to Proton VPN that blocks ads and trackers while connected to the VPN. Other services, such as Windscribe and NordVPN, offer similar features. Dark web monitoring: A feature available in some VPNs, such as NordVPN and ProtonVPN, that will monitor the dark web for your email address or other personal information. You'll be notified if the information shows up on the dark web or as part of a breach. DAITA: A feature of Mullvad VPN that will introduce background noise to your connection, combating AI-assisted network analysis. Windscribe, NordVPN, and ProtonVPN have similar features available. Are VPNs Illegal? ACCORDIONITEMCONTAINERBUTTON Short of a few exceptions, VPNs are legal around the world. That includes the US, UK, Canada, Australia, the EU, South Africa, and many countries in Central and South America. Countries such as North Korea and Turkmenistan have VPN bans in place, but due to the extreme censorship in those countries, it's hard to verify what laws are on the books (and how they're enforced). You can probably guess the North Korean government's stance on bypassing censorship, though. For everyone else, the legality of VPNs only comes into play when it comes to what VPN you're using and what you're using it for. Countries such as India and Russia call for compliance with the government, forcing providers like NordVPN to shut down servers in those regions. And, regardless of what country you're in, engaging in illegal activity while connected to a VPN is still illegal. Best VPN Overall PHOTOGRAPH: JACOB ROACH Proton VPN Plus $48 $36 (25% OFF) PROTON (YEARLY) $72 PROTON (2 YEAR) $10 PROTON (MONTHLY) SHOP AT PROTON (FREE) Proton VPN (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best VPN you can buy. Its Plus service was the fastest I tested across the US and UK. It has a generous free plan if you'd like to try it out first. The features are unmatched, and the pricing is excellent, especially if you bundle Proton VPN with the company's other software (Proton Unlimited). After testing all of these services, Proton is what I personally use now. What sent Proton over the edge was its commitment to transparency. It has maintained a transparency report since 2017, undergone third-party audits annually since 2022, and open-sourced its applications five years ago. That last bit is huge, as bugs within the application can pose a security risk, and handing those applications over to the open source community can surface those bugs much faster. There are no real compromises here, with features like split tunneling, port forwarding, and double-hop connections. Proton is a rare example of a VPN service that gets it. Every VPN engages in the same marketing practices, touting their security, speed, and privacy. But Proton puts its money where its mouth is, all while offering a remarkably easy-to-use and feature-rich VPN application. Specs Number of devices: 10 Number of servers: 17,000+ Applications: Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Google TV, Apple TV, Fire TV Features: Kill switch, split tunneling, NetShield ad blocker, port forwarding, double-hop, P2P servers Best VPN Upgrade NORDVPN VIA SCOTT GILBERTSON NordVPN Plus $117 NORDVPN (2-YEAR) $78 NORDVPN (1-YEAR) $15 NORDVPN (MONTHLY) NordVPN has a long history, and it's one of the most prominent VPN services on the market. It comes with one of the largest VPN networks available, enough features to make Surfshark blush, and decent (though not the best) speeds. It's a little more expensive than I'd hoped for, but that's the price you pay for such an extensive network and feature set. That feature set is where NordVPN stands apart. Its Basic plan will get you access to the VPN, but I recommend going with at least the Plus plan. It opens up an ad blocker and gives you access to one of the best password managers around, NordPass. Nord backs up security and privacy credentials with independent audits of the company’s no-log policy and the service’s security. Like Proton, Nord lets you scale up your protection with encrypted cloud storage, but Nord leans further into security while Proton focuses on privacy-focused productivity. With NordVPN, you can upgrade to unlock NordProtect, an identity theft protection service, as well as Incogni to remove your data online. These extras wouldn't mean much on their own, but the core of NordVPN is still an excellent VPN service. It's been on