Best VPN service 2024

You’ve likely heard of NordVPN before, and for a good reason, as it is easily one of the biggest names in the VPN arena. When tested on the OpenVPN encryption (with the ProPrivacy VPN Speed Testing Tool), it had an average server download speed of 65.79Mbit/s, making it the fastest VPN on this list.

When a certain activity uses a lot of bandwidth, your ISP will artificially slow down the connection speeds for it. Not only will NordVPN mask your activities and stop your ISP from being able to slow things down, but you might even find things generally run a bit faster when you have it switched on.

With over 6,000 different servers across 60 countries, you’ve got tons of connection points, and with its WireGuard protocol, it encrypts data much more quickly than many of its competitors too. Whether you use Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android, you’ll find that it offers dedicated support to your platform of choice, making NordVPN a great all-around choice for anyone seeking a speedy VPN.

Read our NordVPN review.

With servers in 94 countries around the world, compatibility with most major streaming platforms, superb download speeds, and countless other benefits, ExpressVPN is our choice for the best VPN service overall. As it is a giant of the VPN world, there’s no doubt that many readers will already have heard of it.

It’s great for gamers trying to find better lobbies, it’s great for movie fans who want to access the libraries of their favorite streaming platforms while abroad, and it’s excellent for keeping all of your internet activity private and discreet. It recently expanded its allowance on simultaneous connections too, upping it from five to eight, and allowing you to install it on as many devices as you like.

If privacy is a top concern, is TrustedServer system will appeal. What this does is prevent servers from being able to write any information about your browsing habits when ExpressVPN is on. It’s a good reassurance that it’s not guzzling your data to the same extent as your internet service provider (ISP).

Exclusive ExpressVPN deal

If you sign up to ExpressVPN via any of the links in this article, you’ll get an exclusive deal that gives you an extra three months of VPN coverage at no extra charge. This deal works out as 49% less than the cost of the ExpressVPN monthly plan. If you fancy getting those extra months but still need a bit of time to try the VPN out, take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you can get a complete refund at any point within the first month.

Read our ExpressVPN review.

Fans of streaming services know the pain of region-locked content – thank goodness CyberGhost gives you a way to get around that. With more than 11,500 servers in over 100 countries, you can potentially gain access to a lot of film and movie content that would otherwise not be available.

CyberGhost is compatible with all the major streaming platforms, including Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, and Netflix, so you shouldn’t have any trouble accessing these services when your VPN is switched on. On top of that, it has a 45-day money-back guarantee, so if there’s one show you really want to watch and that’s it, you could watch it within those 45 days and then get your money back.

This is also one of the few major VPN providers that let you test it out with a free trial. Admittedly, it only lasts for a day (and the other providers with a trial give you longer), but that’s still an opportunity to take CyberGhost for a spin and make sure it does what you need it to. Now that it has started to undergo third-party audits to prove its integrity, it’s a more appealing choice than ever before.

Read our CyberGhost review.

While every VPN on this list is a trusted and respected business, we picked out PureVPN as the most trusted for one key reason: privacy audits. While every provider here has a no-logs policy, PureVPN goes a step further by willingly submitting themselves to third-party audits so that it can be conclusively proven that they aren’t making tabs on their customers. For the more privacy-conscious internet user, this will be particularly appealing.

Additionally, these audits help to ensure that the business stays up to date with threats to privacy in the ever-evolving internet landscape. If and when the auditors identify any areas in which the service could be any more privacy-focused, they then make any appropriate changes to rectify the issues.

Annoyingly, there isn’t a free trial for this VPN (only a paid one) so you’ll just have to rely on the 31-day money-back guarantee if you want to try it out (which we appreciate won’t be for everyone). On the other hand, though, PureVPN lets you have up to ten simultaneous connections (enough for most households) which, short of having no cap at all, is one of the most generous allowances you’ll find.

If you’re on a tight budget, but don’t want to go for a free VPN, then Private Internet Access might be a good choice. We’ve partnered with them in order to provide PCGN readers with an exclusive deal: for $79 (£43.94), you get 38 months’ worth of VPN cover, which works out as just $2.03 (£1.57) a month, and then you don’t need to worry about internet privacy again for over three years.

You can also enjoy the added security of a kill switch, and a no-logs policy, plus built-in ad-blocking functionality. The only real downside is that its download speeds aren’t quite up to the level of the speedier providers on this list. The service got even better recently too, with the removal on the cap on simultaneous connections, meaning your whole household, no matter how big, can have it on on all their devices at the same time.

The VPN service itself is pretty great too. Private Internet Access has an enormous selection of 35,000+ servers in 91 countries and it’s compatible with all the major streaming platforms. Although the range of countries is rivaled or surpassed by other providers, its sheer number of servers puts it quite far ahead of any other providers when the overall total is considered.

These days, a few of the VPN providers are offering an unlimited number of simultaneous connections, but it Surfshark is one of the OGs and we respect it for that. In addition to being a trendsetter, it’s also a very decent VPN and one that has continuously expanded the range of its services over the years.

It is compatible with a number of streaming services, including Amazon Prime and Netflix. If you need to keep the kids occupied, this lets you access the regionally exclusive content from 100 different countries, meaning plenty of content to binge on, and with speeds of 2x10Gbps per server, you won’t have them moaning about buffering either.

If you want to take Surfshark for a spin, then you’ll be pleased to hear that it has a week-long free trial, which should give you plenty of time to make sure that it does everything you need it to. They only thing that we can say against it is that, though technically a no-logs VPN, it does record your IP address when you use it. This is deleted very soon after you’re done and not a huge issue, but something for privacy purists to be conscious of.

Read our Surfshark review.

While it isn’t as well established as some of the other businesses on this list, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge PrivadoVPN. With its no-logs policy and IP leak protection, it does a fantastic job of keeping all of your private data, well, private.

Meanwhile, being able to use it with up to ten simultaneous connections means that it should be able to protect the privacy of most households. Even some of the bigger, well-established providers have a cap on simultaneous connections that’s less than ten.

If you don’t use the internet all that often, you might want to give the PrivadoVPN free plan a go. Its biggest limitation is only allowing you to use 10GB of data a month, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you only want to use it for certain sensitive searches, or if you don’t go online too often. It might be more limiting than the paid packages, but it’s certainly worth a look if you’re working on a tight budget.

Have you got a lot of media you want to keep safe on your computer? In that case, you might want to take a look at IPVanish, because it can provide you with up to 250GB of SugarSync encrypted storage and backup – allowing you to protect huge amounts of content.

Though it may not have quite as many servers as some of its competitors (2,200+ in 75 countries), it does allow for an unlimited number of simultaneous connections and is compatible with the majority of streaming services. If you have trouble streaming through your native connection, this VPN might just hold the solution.

IPVanish is also a rare example of a VPN provider that allows its users to have an unlimited number of simultaneous connections. This will definitely be appealing to anybody who has a large household full of devices that need to have their privacy protected.

Ivacy VPN is another of the less well-known providers that we wanted to cast a light on. Lesser brand recognition does not equal lesser quality, especially not in this instance. In addition to the military-grade 256-bit encryption that will keep your internet search activity as private as possible, Ivacy VPN also boasts an impressive 6,500+ servers in more than 100 countries around the world. It’s an easy choice for the most private VPN.

The only real chink in its privacy armor is its lack of third-party security audit. Once upon a time, these audits were more of a rarity and if a VPN did have one, it was a sign of them being especially trustworthy. These days, however, it’s almost standard for VPNs to undergo them, so it’s a shame that this provider has yet to do so.

Nonetheless, Ivacy VPN has a no-logs policy, and the optional additions of a dedicated IP and port forwarding for those who need them, providing high levels of privacy and discretion. Founded in 2006, Ivacy VPN builds on top of decades of experience and is a real ‘hidden gem’ of the VPN world.