Best VPN 2026: 14 Services Compared (September 2026)

01VPN comparison table 2026

Prices show the lowest monthly rate on the longest plan, checked in September 2026. On mobile, swipe the table sideways to see every column.

02How we ranked them

Our ranking draws on each provider’s published specs, publicly available independent audits, and recent speed and streaming tests from established tech publications. We checked every figure in September 2026 and looked at six things:

1. A verified no-logs policy. An independent audit from a reputable firm (Deloitte, KPMG, Cure53 and the like) carries the most weight. A “we don’t log” claim on its own isn’t enough.
2. Where the company is based. This decides which laws apply to the provider and who can compel it to hand over data.
3. Speed and reliability. Modern protocols such as WireGuard or in-house versions (NordLynx, Lightway), plus results from independent testing.
4. Streaming and torrenting. Whether the service reliably works with Netflix, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, and whether it allows P2P traffic.
5. Price and renewal. Not just the introductory deal, but what you pay once the first term ends.
6. Devices and apps. How many devices one subscription covers and which platforms it supports.

Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you buy through links in this article. It doesn’t affect our rankings, and it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

03NordVPN: best VPN overall

NordVPN is the most well-rounded choice in 2026. It has passed six independent no-logs audits, the latest by Deloitte in December 2025 (StationX). In Gizmodo’s testing it lost the least speed on US servers of any VPN measured and unblocked all 14 streaming services tested (Gizmodo).

Key facts:

• Price: from $3.49/month on the two-year Basic plan, renewing at $139.08 a year (StationX)
• Devices: 10 at once
• Protocols: NordLynx (WireGuard), NordWhisper, OpenVPN, IKEv2
• Based in: Panama
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• The longest track record of independent audits among the big VPNs
• Top-tier speeds, and Double VPN barely slows you down
• Reliably works with Netflix, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer
• Higher tiers (Complete and up) add ad and malicious site blocking plus a password manager

Cons:

• Gets noticeably more expensive after the first term
• No port forwarding, which torrent users will miss
• Capped at 10 devices, while some rivals offer unlimited

Best for: Anyone who wants one dependable VPN for everything: privacy, streaming, travel and public Wi-Fi.

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04Surfshark: best value

Surfshark covers unlimited devices for what other providers charge for one. Deloitte verified its no-logs policy in both 2023 and 2025 (HostAdvice). The network has more than 4,500 servers in 100 countries, all running in RAM only, so every reboot wipes the data (Gizmodo).

Key facts:

• Price: from $2.49/month on the two-year Starter plan (CyberInsider)
• Devices: unlimited
• Protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and its own Dausos protocol
• Based in: the Netherlands
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• Unlimited devices on every plan
• One of the lowest prices among audited VPNs
• RAM-only servers, CleanWeb ad blocker, MultiHop
• A dedicated mode for getting around censorship

Cons:

• Slower than NordVPN on long-distance connections, such as to the US
• The Netherlands is part of the 9 Eyes intelligence alliance
• Price goes up after the first term

Best for: Households and families with lots of devices, and anyone who wants a quality VPN for as little as possible.

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05ExpressVPN: best for streaming and travel

In September 2025, ExpressVPN scrapped its single, pricey plan and replaced it with three tiers: Basic, Advanced and Pro (ExpressVPN blog). That finally puts it in the same price range as the competition. The tiers differ in device limits: Basic covers 10, Advanced 12 and Pro 14 (ExpressVPN pricing). Its in-house Lightway protocol is among the fastest around, and the service works reliably even in countries with heavy censorship.

Key facts:

• Price: from $2.99/month on the 28-month Basic plan (ExpressVPN), after which Basic renews at $99.95 a year (Ecommerce Paradise)
• Devices: 10 to 14 depending on the plan
• Protocols: Lightway, WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2
• Based in: British Virgin Islands
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• Excellent streaming reliability, including abroad
• Fast Lightway protocol, RAM-only servers
• Independently audited many times over
• 24/7 live chat support

Cons:

• The deal price only lasts for the first term, then jumps noticeably
• The cheapest plan lacks full tracker protection
• Owned by Kape Technologies, like CyberGhost and PIA

Best for: Frequent travelers, people who watch streaming services from other countries, and anyone who needs a VPN where the internet is restricted.

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06Proton VPN: best free VPN and best for privacy

Proton VPN comes from the Swiss company behind the encrypted email service Proton Mail. Its apps are open source, and its no-logs policy has been audited five years in a row (The High Tech Society). The paid version has servers in 140 countries and a Secure Core feature that routes your traffic through an extra server in a privacy-friendly country (Security.org).

Free plan: No data cap and no ads, but only one device and servers in 10 countries, picked automatically by the app. It doesn’t support streaming or torrenting (IP-Trackers).

Key facts:

• Price: free, or from $2.99/month on the two-year VPN Plus plan (Cybernews)
• Devices: 10 (1 on the free plan)
• Protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, Stealth
• Based in: Switzerland
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• The best free VPN available, with no data cap
• Open-source apps and regular audits
• Secure Core, NetShield ad blocker, port forwarding
• Works with Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and BBC iPlayer

Cons:

• Live chat only for paying customers, and not 24/7
• On most platforms split tunneling can’t be combined with the kill switch, Windows being the exception
• The free plan won’t let you choose a country

Best for: Anyone who wants a free VPN with no catch, and users who care most about privacy.

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07CyberGhost: easiest VPN for beginners

CyberGhost keeps things simple with easy apps and servers dedicated to specific streaming services, so there’s no trial and error. Deloitte has verified its no-logs policy several times, most recently in 2025, and all of its servers run in RAM only (VPNCompare). It also offers a longer-than-usual money-back guarantee: 45 days.

Key facts:

• Price: from $2.19/month on the two-year plan (Security.org)
• Devices: 7
• Servers: more than 9,900 in 100 countries
• Based in: Romania (EU)
• Money-back guarantee: 45 days (14 days on the monthly plan)

Pros:

• Very easy to use, even for complete beginners
• Servers optimized for Netflix and other services
• Longer-than-average money-back guarantee
• Low price on the two-year plan

Cons:

• Loses a lot of speed on distant servers
• No Double VPN or built-in malware protection (Security.org)
• Only 7 devices

Best for: Beginners who mainly want to watch shows and movies without fiddling with settings.

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08Private Internet Access (PIA): cheapest with unlimited devices

PIA is one of the oldest VPNs around and a favorite for torrenting. You get unlimited devices, fully open-source apps and port forwarding. Deloitte verified its no-logs policy in 2022, 2024 and 2025, and its servers run in RAM only (VPNCompare). It also has servers in all 50 US states.

Key facts:

• Price: from $2.03/month on the three-year plan, renewing at $79 for 3 years (Private Internet Access)
• Devices: unlimited
• Countries: 91
• Based in: USA
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• Unlimited devices at a very low price
• Open-source apps on every platform
• Port forwarding, great for torrenting
• Detailed encryption settings for advanced users

Cons:

• Based in the US, a member of the 5 Eyes intelligence alliance
• Slower than the top performers
• Less reliable for streaming than NordVPN or ExpressVPN

Best for: Power users, torrenting and big households that want the most for the least.

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09IPVanish: unlimited devices and P2P on every server

IPVanish is owned by the US group Ziff Davis and has passed two independent no-logs audits since the takeover, in 2022 and 2025 (Tom’s Guide). It’s especially popular with Fire TV and Android TV users.

Key facts:

• Price: from $2.39/month on the two-year Essential plan (IPVanish)
• Devices: unlimited
• Servers: more than 3,400 in over 110 countries
• Based in: USA
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days

Pros:

• Unlimited devices
• Every server allows P2P
• A very good app for smart TVs
• Support via chat and email, plus phone on the Advanced plan

Cons:

• Based in the US
• Renews at $99.99 a year after the first term (IPVanish)
• Fewer specialty servers than the market leaders

Best for: Households with lots of devices and anyone who streams on Fire TV or Android TV.

Get IPVanish at a discount

10PureVPN: budget VPN with always-on auditing

PureVPN has an agreement with KPMG that lets the firm run unannounced checks at any time to confirm the service isn’t keeping logs (VPN.com). This was a response to a 2017 case in which the company handed US authorities records that helped identify one of its users. The most recent public KPMG report, however, dates from 2023 (VPNonline).

Key facts:

• Price: $58.20 for the first 27 months, about $2.15/month, then $47.95 a year (prices checked July 2026, VPNonline)
• Devices: 10
• Servers: more than 6,000 in over 65 countries
• Based in: British Virgin Islands
• Money-back guarantee: 31 days

Pros:

• Very low price, even after renewal
• Always-on KPMG audits with no advance notice
• Large server network

Cons:

• The 2017 case still dents trust
• Port forwarding is a paid add-on, and P2P only works in selected countries
• Higher tiers with add-ons can blur what the VPN itself costs

Best for: People who want an affordable VPN for streaming and everyday use and don’t need maximum anonymity.

Get PureVPN at a discount

11Norton VPN: for people already using Norton

Norton VPN (formerly Norton Secure VPN) has closed much of the gap with its rivals over the past year. It added Double VPN and IP rotation, and at the end of September 2025 the company published the results of its second independent no-logs audit (Tom’s Guide). Since January 2026 it has also offered two-year plans with lower prices and more devices.

Key facts:

• Price: from $3.33/month on the one-year Standard plan bought directly from Norton ($39.99 for the first year), renewing at $79.99 a year (Norton). A two-year plan at $2.49/month is only available through partner sites (Tom’s Guide)
• Devices: 5 to 10 depending on the plan
• Protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPsec, Mimic
• Based in: USA
• Money-back guarantee: 60 days on annual and longer plans

Pros:

• A well-known brand that pairs easily with Norton 360 antivirus
• No-logs policy audited twice, most recently by VerSprite in 2025
• Mimic protocol for networks that block VPNs

Cons:

• Based in the US
• The lowest price is only available through partner sites

Best for: Norton antivirus users who want everything under one brand.

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12PrivadoVPN: solid free VPN for streaming

Swiss-based PrivadoVPN has the most useful free plan for streaming: 10 GB of data a month across 13 locations, including the US, the UK and Germany. Once you hit the cap, speeds drop to 1 Mbps (VPN Rating). The paid version is one of the cheapest on the market, though the network is small.

Key facts:

• Price: free, or from $1.11/month on the 24-month plan plus 3 extra months (PrivadoVPN)
• Devices: 10 (1 on the free plan)
• Countries: about 50
• Based in: Switzerland
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days (not on the monthly plan)

Pros:

• The free plan supports streaming and P2P
• Very cheap paid plans
• Swiss jurisdiction, SOCKS5 proxy included

Cons:

• No publicly available independent audit (Gizmodo)
• Small network, with crowded servers at peak times
• No Double VPN or advanced features

Best for: Occasional streaming of foreign content for free, and anyone who wants the cheapest possible paid VPN.

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13ZoogVPN: European VPN with a permanent free plan

Greece-based ZoogVPN falls under EU law and offers a permanent free plan alongside cheap paid plans for up to 10 devices. For censored countries it has its own obfuscation technology called Shadow Protocol (WP Room). The network is small, though, and its no-logs policy hasn’t been independently verified.

Key facts:

• Price: free, or about $2.49/month on the two-year plan, which works out to $59.99 for 27 months (24 + 3 free) (ZoogVPN)
• Devices: 10 (1 on the free plan)
• Free plan: 10 GB a month, a handful of locations (Cloudwards)
• Based in: Greece (EU)
• Money-back guarantee: only 7 days

Pros:

• EU jurisdiction (Greece)
• Up to 10 devices on the paid plan
• Traffic obfuscation for censored countries

Cons:

• Smaller network, 35 to 55 countries according to the provider
• No independent audit
• Very short money-back window

Best for: Casual users who want a cheap European VPN for the family.

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14FastestVPN: lifetime license for a one-off payment

FastestVPN offers something you’ll rarely find elsewhere: a lifetime license for a single payment. The company is based in the Cayman Islands, and Altius IT verified its no-logs policy in 2023 (Ecommerce Paradise). Despite the name, it isn’t among the fastest in testing, and its network is far smaller than the leaders’.

Key facts:

• Price: lifetime license for $40 one-time, or $5 a month (FastestVPN)
• Devices: 10
• Servers: roughly 550 to 800 in 47 to 49 countries
• Based in: Cayman Islands
• Money-back guarantee: 31 days

Pros:

• Pay once, no renewals
• Ad and malware blocking included
• 10 devices on a single license

Cons:

• Only one audit, and that was back in 2023
• Apps aren’t open source (VPN Ratings)
• Speeds don’t live up to the name, small network

Best for: Casual users who don’t want a subscription and accept that a “lifetime” service may not last forever.

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15VeePN: budget VPN for up to 20 devices

Panama-based VeePN offers three plans: Basic for 5 devices, Pro for 10 and Max for up to 20 (All Things VPN). It holds decent speeds in testing, doesn’t leak DNS, and its kill switch reliably cuts your connection if the VPN drops. The only independent audit so far, however, covers its browser extension from 2021, not the main apps.

Key facts:

• Price: from $1.99/month on the two-year Basic plan (All Things VPN)
• Devices: 5, 10 or 20 depending on the plan
• Servers: more than 2,600; the provider claims 148 countries, but independent reviews counted around 60 (Computing Unleashed)
• Based in: Panama
• Money-back guarantee: 30 days (14 days on the monthly plan)

Pros:

• Low price and up to 20 devices
• Double VPN and ad blocking

Cons:

• Main apps haven’t been independently audited
• Unreliable for streaming
• Inconsistent customer support

Best for: Families with lots of devices who just need basic protection on public Wi-Fi.

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16iTop VPN: cheap, but we don’t recommend it for privacy

iTop VPN is run by a Hong Kong company, which means it falls under China’s national security law (CyberTrustLog). It hasn’t passed any independent audit, says little about the encryption and protocols it uses, and in Security.org’s testing it delivered only about 20% of the original connection speed (Security.org). It’s fine for unblocking content, but there are better choices for protecting your privacy.

Key facts:

• Price: free (300 MB a day), or from $1.66/month on the three-year plan (Security.org)
• Devices: 8
• Servers: more than 3,200 in over 100 countries and regions, according to the provider
• Based in: Hong Kong
• Audit: none

Pros:

• Low price and a free plan
• Choice of static or dynamic IP address
• Servers optimized for streaming and gaming

Cons:

• Jurisdiction under Chinese influence
• No audit, vague technical information
• Significant slowdown

Best for: Light content unblocking only. If privacy or security matters to you, pick Proton VPN’s free plan or budget-friendly Surfshark instead.

Official iTop VPN website

17Best VPN for what you need

Don’t want to pay at all? We compare six safe free VPNs, their limits and the ones to avoid in Best Free VPN 2026.

Buying a VPN mainly for streaming? StreamFix compares VPNs for streaming, with Netflix, Disney+ and other services in mind. We designed and built StreamFix at Listify.

18Using a VPN to watch your home TV abroad

Most broadcasters and streaming services, from BBC iPlayer to local sports apps, only show part of their catalog in their home country because that’s all they hold the rights for. Live sports, movies and licensed series are the usual casualties. A VPN connected to a server back home gives you a local IP address, so the service behaves as if you never left.

How to set it up:

1. Install the VPN on the device you’ll watch on: phone, laptop, Fire TV or smart TV.
2. Connect to a server in your home country.
3. Sign out of the streaming app and sign back in, or clear your browser cookies. Otherwise the service may remember your foreign location.
4. If playback still fails, try a different server or switch protocols in the VPN settings.
5. If problems persist, a dedicated IP address usually fixes it. Most big VPNs sell one as a paid add-on.

Using a VPN on vacation: On hotel or airport Wi-Fi, a VPN protects your logins and payments. In places like Egypt or Turkey, it also helps you reach apps and content that aren’t available locally. ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark are the most reliable in countries with restricted internet. Some countries (China, Russia or the UAE, for example) restrict or regulate VPN use, so check the local rules before you travel.

Using a VPN is legal in most countries, but some streaming services’ terms don’t allow getting around geo-restrictions. Check the terms of the service you use.

19What to watch out for when choosing a VPN

The price after year one (or two). Advertised prices of around $2 to $3 a month usually only apply for the first two years. After that, the plan auto-renews, often at two to three times the price. ExpressVPN Basic, for example, costs $2.99 a month in one current deal but works out to about $8.33 a month after renewal (Ecommerce Paradise). Put the renewal date in your calendar.

Audits over promises. Anyone can say “we don’t keep logs.” Services that have had that claim checked by an independent auditor, and published the results, deserve more trust.

Where the company is based. A provider’s home country decides which laws it has to follow. Switzerland, Panama and the British Virgin Islands are friendlier to privacy than the US. Hong Kong falls under the influence of Chinese law.

Free VPNs. Running servers costs money. If you’re not paying for the product, you’re often paying with your data. The exceptions are free tiers of paid services, like Proton VPN or PrivadoVPN, which paying customers fund.

Who owns the service. Several big VPN brands share the same parent. ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and Private Internet Access all belong to Kape Technologies (VPNCompare), while NordVPN and Surfshark sit under Nord Security. Keep that in mind when you compare them.

What a VPN can’t do. A VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your traffic, but it won’t protect you from phishing emails or weak passwords, and it can’t stop Google or Facebook from knowing who you are once you log in. Think of it as one layer of protection, not an invisibility cloak.

20VPN FAQ

21The verdict

If you don’t want to spend ages deciding, get NordVPN. If you want to save money or cover the whole household, go with Surfshark. And if you don’t want to pay at all, install Proton VPN for free. Every paid service in our top ten comes with a money-back guarantee, so you can try them risk-free.

Get NordVPN at a discount

Try Surfshark

Try Proton VPN

22Sources

We checked prices, audits and features in September 2026. Main sources (others are linked in the text):

• StationX: NordVPN Review (September 2026)
• Gizmodo: NordVPN Review 2026
• CyberInsider: Surfshark VPN Review 2026
• HostAdvice: Surfshark VPN Review 2026
• Tom’s Guide: ExpressVPN review
• ExpressVPN: Pricing
• Security.org: Proton VPN Review
• VPNCompare: CyberGhost Review 2026
• VPNCompare: Private Internet Access Review
• Tom’s Guide: IPVanish review
• VPNonline: PureVPN Review 2026
• Tom’s Guide: Norton VPN review
• Cloudwards: PrivadoVPN Review
• WP Room: ZoogVPN Review
• Security.org: FastestVPN Review
• All Things VPN: VeePN Review 2026
• Security.org: iTop VPN Review
• ExpressVPN: New pricing tiers (September 2025)
• Private Internet Access: Pricing
• IPVanish: Pricing
• Norton VPN: Pricing
• ZoogVPN: Pricing
• FastestVPN: Pricing