What is the best VPN?

There isn't one. The best VPN for streaming in one country is not the best for gaming in another, and some of what decides it, like price and how a company treats your data, is not something anyone can measure from outside. So instead of a list, this page sets out what to look at, what our tests show and what they don't, and how to sort our results for what you need.

A list that picks one VPN for everyone has to decide for you what matters most. We would rather show you the measurements and let you weigh them: every provider is tested the same way, from the same machines, and none is recommended over another.

What our tests measure

Each of our measurement nodes is a machine of ours on one internet line. It holds a tunnel open to every provider and checks each one every five minutes. Four things come out of that, and each answers a different question.

Uptime: does it stay connected?

The share of checks in the last 24 hours in which the tunnel passed traffic. A VPN that drops out leaves you either offline or, if the app doesn't block traffic while it reconnects, briefly unprotected. What it doesn't show: how the app behaves on your device, or how the provider's other servers do. We test only the servers in our tables.

Latency: how quickly does it answer?

The time a small message takes to go through the tunnel to the server and back, in milliseconds. It matters most for games and calls, where a delay is felt at once, and it grows with distance. What it doesn't show: your latency. Much of it depends on how far the node is from the server, and you are somewhere else.

Download and upload: how much can it carry?

Speed through the tunnel in megabits per second: the middle of the speed tests over the last 7 days, about one a day for each server. Download matters for streaming and big files; upload for video calls, sending large files and backups. What it doesn't show: your speed. No figure can be higher than the node's own line, and each test moves a fixed amount of data once, so over a long distance it reads lower than the line could do. Compare rows within one table, not with a speed test in your browser (why).

Location: is it where it says?

Claimed is where the provider says the server is. Measured is where location databases place its address, with how many of them agree. A mismatch matters if you need to appear in a certain country, for a streaming library, a bank or local prices. What it doesn't show: whether a particular website will accept the address, since each site uses its own database and rules. See the column guide, and check your own with the VPN IP test.

What we do not measure

Some things that matter a lot are not measurements, and we don't publish them. Check them yourself on the provider's own pages before you pay:

Price: what you pay, what it renews at after the first term, and the refund terms.
Privacy policy and logging: what the provider says it records about you, and whether an outside audit has checked that.
Jurisdiction and ownership: which country's laws apply to the company and who owns it. These change and are hard to check, which is why we leave them to you.
Apps and devices: whether it runs on everything you use, how many devices can connect at once, and whether it works on your router.
Support: how you reach someone when it breaks, and how fast they answer.

We say nothing about any provider on these points, good or bad. That is a choice, not a verdict: see our principles and what is not measured.

Sort our results for what you need

Each node has its own table. A figure depends on that node's line and on how far it is from each server, so compare rows within one table only. Pick the node closest to your own situation: a home line or a data center, in the region nearest you. The links open each table already sorted, and you can change the sort there. Sorting puts one figure in order and nothing else: it is not a ranking.

Streaming

Steady download speed matters most, and the server has to be in the country whose catalogue you want. Sort by download, fastest first. Then check the Location of the rows you like, and the Netflix line under Served From. Streaming services treat data center addresses differently from home ones, so the home-line tables are closer to what you'd see. For what streaming needs and what we do and don't measure for it, see the streaming guide.

Download, fastest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Downloads and uploads

For large files, sort by download, fastest first. If you send more than you receive, such as backups, video or large attachments, sort by upload.

Download, fastest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Upload, fastest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Gaming and video calls

A short delay matters more than raw speed. Sort by latency, lowest first, then check uptime too: a connection that drops mid-game is worse than a slightly slower one. Choose a server close to you, because latency from our node is not latency from you. For what a VPN does to ping and how to test your own, see gaming over a VPN.

Latency, lowest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Uptime, highest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Privacy

What makes a VPN private is mostly in the list above that we don't measure: what it logs, who owns it, which laws apply. What we can show is whether the tunnel stays up and whether it exits where it says. Sort by uptime, highest first, and check your own device with the VPN leak test.

Uptime, highest first: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

Travel, or appearing in another country

If you need to look as if you are in a certain country, for your bank or your streaming library at home, the server's real location matters more than its speed. Sort by country, then compare Claimed with Measured in the Location column. A row where they differ is not where its name says.

By country: Asia Residential (home line) · Asia Data Center (data center line) · South Africa Residential (home line)

What our data shows

Every node's table, with each provider in an order shuffled once a day, is on the results page, with what each column means. Each number has the checks behind it, one click away in its row. See also how we measure and its known limits.

Coming soon

Simple questions above each table, such as what you want it for and where you are, that set the sort for you.