The Best VPNs of 2026, Tested for Speed, Privacy and Streaming

A VPN is a dull purchase until the hotel Wi-Fi looks dodgy or the football will not play abroad. We have compared ten of the best-known services on price, renewal, privacy record and streaming, so you can choose one and stop thinking about it.

Our Top VPN Picks at a Glance

• Best overall: NordVPN, quick, audited six times and present in 150 countries.
• Best value: Surfshark, the cheapest of the big three on a two-year plan, with no device limit.
• Best free option: Proton VPN, a free plan with no data cap, no adverts and no card details.
• Best for privacy: Mullvad, no email address required and one flat price for everyone.
• Best for streaming on a budget: CyberGhost, dedicated UK streaming servers and a 45-day refund window.
• Best for long-term savings: Private Internet Access, 39 months for US$79 and unlimited devices.

The 10 Best VPNs, Ranked

Best VPN Services Side by Side: Price, Renewal and Reach

Rank	VPN	Rating	Price from (a month)	Renewal	Devices	Countries	Free option	Money-back	Based in
1	NordVPN	4.5	US$3.49 (£2.62 / €3.11)	US$139.08 (£104.37 / €123.86) a year	10	150	7-day trial, selected countries	30 days	Panama
2	Surfshark	4.4	US$2.49 (£1.87 / €2.22)	Full price, yearly	Unlimited	100	7-day trial, payment details needed	30 days	Netherlands
3	ExpressVPN	4.3	US$2.99 (£2.24 / €2.66)	US$99.95 (£69.95 / €79.95) a year	10 to 14	113	None	30 days	British Virgin Islands
4	Proton VPN	4.3	Free; Plus US$3.49 (£2.62 / €3.11)	US$83.88 (£62.94 / €74.70) a year	10 (1 free)	140+	Free plan, unlimited data	30 days	Switzerland
5	Windscribe	4.3	Free; US$3 (£2.25 / €2.67)	US$69 (£51.78 / €61.45) a year	Unlimited	69	Free plan, 10GB a month	7 days, under 10GB	Canada
6	Mullvad	4.3	US$5.61 (£4.21 / €5.00)	Unchanged, €5 a month	5	50	None	14 days, some payment methods	Sweden
7	CyberGhost	4.1	US$2.19 (£1.64 / €1.95)	US$56.94 (£42.73 / €50.71) a year	7	100	24-hour desktop trial, no card; 3 days Android, 7 days iOS	45 days (14 on monthly)	Romania
8	PIA	4.0	US$2.03 (£1.52 / €1.81)	US$79 (£59.28 / €70.36) every three years	Unlimited	112	7-day iOS trial	30 days	United States
9	IPVanish	3.8	US$2.19 (£1.64 / €1.95)	US$89.99 (£67.53 / €80.15) a year	Unlimited	110+	7-day mobile app trial	30 days (not monthly)	United States
10	PureVPN	3.8	US$2.15 (£1.61 / €1.91)	US$47.95 (£35.98 / €42.70) a year	10	65+	7-day trial for US$0.99 (£0.74 / €0.88)	31 days	British Virgin Islands

How to Choose a VPN: Devices, Distance and the Small Print

Start with the boring question: how many things do you need to protect? A couple with two phones and a laptop will never trouble the 10-device limit at NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN or PureVPN. A family with teenagers, tablets and a TV stick is better off with Surfshark, PIA, IPVanish or Windscribe, which have no limit.

Next, think about where you go. NordVPN covers 150 countries and Proton VPN more than 140 on paid plans, while Mullvad’s 50 are concentrated in Europe and North America. Several providers use virtual locations for smaller countries, where the IP address belongs to one place and the hardware sits in another. CyberGhost’s Lisbon and Valletta servers are virtual, as is ExpressVPN’s Malta location, which matters if you care where your traffic physically travels.

Speed matters less than the adverts suggest. In lab tests on very fast lines, Surfshark averaged 1,012Mbps on WireGuard and IPVanish a median of 738Mbps, far beyond most home broadband.

Then read the checkout page as carefully as the homepage: the term, the renewal line and the refund rules decide what you really pay.

Is a Free VPN Safe? The Plans and Trials Worth Trusting

Two services in our top ten offer a genuinely free plan, and they solve different problems.

Proton VPN Free has no data cap, needs only an email address and does not expire. It covers one device at a time and connects to servers in 10 countries, with the app picking the server for you. You get the same kill switch, leak protection and audited no-logs policy as paying customers, funded by subscribers rather than adverts. The catch: none of those countries is the UK, so no BBC iPlayer.

Windscribe takes the opposite approach. Confirm your email and you get 10GB a month across 10 countries, on as many devices as you like; skip the confirmation and it drops to 2GB. Ten gigabytes is plenty for email, banking and browsing on holiday, and roughly an evening or two of HD streaming. In independent tests, even the free plan reached BBC iPlayer and Netflix in the UK, US and Canada.

Everything else is a trial, and trials deserve a closer look. Surfshark’s 7-day trial needs a card, PayPal or Apple Pay and charges you when it ends. NordVPN’s 7-day trial runs only in selected countries, including the UK and US, and needs a card or PayPal. IPVanish offers seven days through its iOS and Android apps and PIA through its iOS app, and both roll into an annual plan if you forget to cancel. CyberGhost gives 24 hours on Windows and macOS with no card; its 3-day Android and 7-day iOS trials need a payment method. PureVPN’s 7-day trial is not free: it costs US$0.99 (£0.74 / €0.88) and renews into a full, non-refundable year if you do not cancel.

Download only the official app, from the provider or an official app store. For a proper test of a paid service, a 30-day money-back guarantee is usually the safer bet.

Cheapest VPN Over Three Years: Renewals, Discounts and Promo Codes

Almost every headline price on this page is an introductory rate for a long first term. The real cost of a VPN is what it charges in year three.

The gap varies hugely. ExpressVPN’s Basic renewal of US$99.95 (£69.95 / €79.95) a year is more than its whole first term, IPVanish Essential jumps to US$89.99 (£67.53 / €80.15) a year, and Surfshark renews at full price, with an email reminder 30 days before. At the other end, PureVPN Standard renews at US$47.95 (£35.98 / €42.70), Windscribe Pro at the same US$69 it charged on day one, and Mullvad’s price has not moved since 2009.

Worked example: what three years of VPN really costs

Take a couple who sign up by card and keep the same service for three years. On each provider’s own prices:

• PIA: US$79 (£59.28 / €70.36) covers the first 39 months, so nothing more is due.
• CyberGhost: US$56.94 for 26 months, then the same again for a year: US$113.88 (£85.46 / €101.42) for 38 months.
• Proton VPN Plus: US$83.76 for two years, then US$83.88 for the third: US$167.64 (£125.80 / €149.30).
• Mullvad: €5 a month for 36 months: €180 (£151.56 / US$201.96).
• NordVPN Basic: US$94.23 for 27 months, then US$139.08 for the next year: US$233.31 (£175.08 / €207.78) for 39 months.

NordVPN and Proton cost the same per month on day one; three years in, Nord has cost about US$66 more. PIA wins by a distance, provided its stated renewal terms still hold when your term ends.

As for promo codes, most of the saving is already baked into the long plans. NordVPN and ExpressVPN take Promo Code LOCALS at checkout, and Surfshark takes SHARKGIFT or SHARKSECURE, one per order. Proton VPN applies its discount automatically, and Mullvad’s pricing page answers the question of sales with a single word: “Nope.” Codes on coupon sites rarely beat the price already on screen, so check the basket total, and set a reminder a few weeks before renewal to compare rivals’ new-customer deals.

No-Logs Audits and Jurisdiction: Which Providers Have Proved It

A no-logs promise is only as good as the evidence behind it.

Six of our ten have had their no-logs claims checked by a Big Four firm: NordVPN (six assessments), Surfshark, PIA and CyberGhost by Deloitte, ExpressVPN by KPMG, and PureVPN under an “always-on” arrangement. Proton VPN has had five annual audits from Securitum, and IPVanish reports from Leviathan Security Group and Schellman Compliance. Windscribe has no standalone no-logs audit, but its apps and server stack have been independently reviewed.

Real-world tests are rarer and more telling. In 2023 Swedish police arrived at Mullvad’s Gothenburg office with a warrant and left empty-handed. In 2017 Turkish investigators seized an ExpressVPN server and found no logs that could identify a user. In 2025 an Athens court dismissed a case against Windscribe’s chief executive, with the company arguing throughout that it had no logs to hand over.

Not every record is clean. IPVanish handed customer information to US authorities in 2016 under a previous owner, and PureVPN helped the FBI identify a user in 2017 before rewriting its privacy policy.

Then there is jurisdiction. Proton is Swiss, Mullvad Swedish, Surfshark Dutch, CyberGhost Romanian, NordVPN Panamanian, and ExpressVPN and PureVPN are in the British Virgin Islands. PIA and IPVanish are American and Windscribe Canadian, all Five Eyes countries. Ownership matters too: Kape Technologies owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and PIA, and Surfshark merged with Nord Security in 2022.

Watching UK TV Abroad: iPlayer, Netflix and Live Sport

Streaming results change often, because services update their blocks without warning. NordVPN advises connecting to any UK server for BBC iPlayer, and ExpressVPN suggests a specific order of UK servers to try. CyberGhost names BBC iPlayer, Netflix UK, Amazon Prime Video and Channel 4 among the services its UK streaming servers are built for. Proton VPN publishes guides for everything from Netflix to DAZN, but only on paid plans. In independent testing, Surfshark reached BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4, though Netflix UK proved patchy.

None of the providers here promises access to live sport, so treat a big match as something to test during the refund window rather than at kick-off.

Streaming services set their own terms, and using a VPN to get around them can lead to an account being restricted; PIA’s and ExpressVPN’s own terms bar it too. BBC iPlayer also needs a TV licence.

Connect to a UK server and the services you pay for at home see a UK IP address. NordVPN has four UK cities, ExpressVPN seven UK locations, Windscribe six and CyberGhost 523 UK servers across three cities. Proton VPN needs a paid plan, because its free tier has no UK servers.

Worked example: the Six Nations from a Spanish villa

Say you are a family of four in a rented villa outside Málaga on a Six Nations Saturday. At home the championship is free to air, shared between the BBC and ITV (the latest tournament put five matches on iPlayer and ten on ITVX), but both are geo-restricted, so from Spain the apps will not play.

First, count devices. Two phones, a tablet and a laptop make four; the villa TV with a Fire TV stick makes five. Every service in our top ten allows that many, though only some, including NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark and Windscribe, have a Fire TV app.

Next, data. HD streaming uses roughly 3GB an hour, and Windscribe reckons WireGuard adds 4 to 6%. Two hours of build-up and match comes to just over 6GB, most of Windscribe’s free 10GB in one afternoon, so use a paid plan and the villa’s broadband rather than a phone hotspot.

Then connect the Fire TV stick to a UK server and open ITVX or iPlayer. If the stream refuses, try another UK server before kick-off, not at it.

Hotel and Airport Wi-Fi: Banking Safely on the Move

Picture an hour at the gate at Gatwick with a bill to pay, or a Lisbon hotel where 200 guests share the same network. A VPN encrypts your traffic before it leaves your phone, so the network sees only a connection to the VPN server.

Banking apps already encrypt their own traffic, but public Wi-Fi can still be spoofed or snooped on. Set the app to connect automatically on unfamiliar networks and switch on the kill switch, which stops traffic if the VPN drops. For this job, Proton VPN’s free plan is enough.

One quirk catches people out. Banks watch for logins from unexpected places, so a payment routed through the Netherlands from a phone in Portugal can prompt a security check. Pick a UK server, or one in the country you are in, before opening the app; on Proton’s free plan, a quick reconnect usually finds a server the bank is happier with.

Travelling With a VPN: Countries Where the Rules Change

China is the obvious case. The Foreign Office says Google, Facebook, YouTube and X are permanently blocked there, that access can be limited around key political dates, and that under China’s cybersecurity laws VPNs need a government licence. Its advice: stay informed and follow Chinese law.

The UAE is more nuanced. VPNs are not banned outright, but the cybercrime law punishes using a false IP address to commit or hide an offence, with fines of Dh500,000 to Dh2 million, and lawyers there have said that using a VPN to reach blocked calling apps counts. Protecting hotel Wi-Fi is one thing; getting round local blocks is another.

Some hotel and office networks simply block VPN traffic. NordVPN’s NordWhisper and obfuscated servers, Windscribe’s Stealth and WStunnel, and Mullvad’s bridges are all designed to disguise the connection. Before a long-haul trip, read the Foreign Office’s advice for your destination.

Do You Need a VPN at Home? What Your Broadband Provider Sees

At home the case is weaker, but not zero. Most websites encrypt the page itself, so your broadband provider cannot read your emails or bank statements. What it can see is which services you connect to, and when.

Under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, providers can be ordered to keep those internet connection records for up to 12 months: source and destination IP addresses and the start and end of each connection. They identify the service rather than the page, but together they sketch a year of your online life.

With a VPN on, the provider sees one encrypted connection to the VPN server, and the question of what gets logged moves to the VPN company. That is where the audits above earn their keep.

Will the UK Ban VPNs? The Online Safety Act So Far

When age checks under the Online Safety Act came into force on 25 July 2025, Proton VPN reported a rise of more than 1,400% in UK sign-ups, and VPN apps climbed Apple’s UK App Store charts. Ofcom later put daily UK VPN users at around 1.5 million, without explaining how it reached the figure.

Talk of a ban followed. In the Lords, Baroness Lloyd said there were “no current plans to ban the use of VPNs”, though “nothing is off the table” on children’s safety. In July 2026 the technology minister Kanishka Narayan was blunter, telling the Internet Society and others in reply to an open letter that the UK is “not banning or age gating VPNs”.

The position is unchanged: using a VPN is legal in the UK.

How We Test and Score Each Provider

Every provider here has a full review, scored on the same weighted criteria:

• Price and renewal (25%): the introductory price, what you pay after the first term and how clearly both are shown at checkout.
• Privacy and security (25%): independent audits, jurisdiction, ownership, incident history, RAM-only servers and protocols.
• Network and speed (15%): countries and locations, virtual servers and published independent speed results.
• Streaming (15%): official streaming guidance and independent unblocking results for services including BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
• Free options and refunds (10%): free plans, trial terms and how easy the money-back guarantee is to claim.
• Apps and user feedback (10%): device limits, platform coverage and what customers say on Trustpilot and the app stores.

We check each deal against the brand’s own pricing page and checkout terms, convert prices from US dollars into sterling and euros, and quote providers’ own local prices where they publish them.

Your VPN Questions Answered

What is the best VPN overall?

NordVPN tops our ranking at 4.5/5, with six no-logs assessments, servers in 150 countries and 10 devices on every plan. Surfshark is the better buy if price or device numbers matter most.

Is it legal to use a VPN in the UK?

Yes. Using one to get around a streaming service’s terms can lead to that service restricting your account.

Are free VPNs safe to use?

The free plans from Proton VPN and Windscribe carry the same core protection as their paid tiers, and Proton’s is covered by its audited no-logs policy. Always download the official app from the provider or an official app store.

Is there a good free VPN with UK servers?

Proton VPN’s free plan has no UK servers. Windscribe’s free plan reached BBC iPlayer in independent tests, but its 10GB monthly allowance will not last long on HD streaming.

How do I get a UK IP address abroad?

Connect to one of your VPN’s UK servers, then open the service. NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and Windscribe all run several UK locations.

Can I watch BBC iPlayer abroad with a VPN?

NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and Proton VPN (paid plans) publish iPlayer guidance. The BBC blocks VPN connections, so results vary by server, and you still need a TV licence.

Does a VPN slow down my internet connection?

A little. In one independent test on a 94.6Mbps line, Mullvad still recorded 92.4Mbps through New York. On most home connections, your broadband will be the limit rather than the VPN.

Does a VPN make me completely anonymous?

No. It hides your traffic from the network you are on, but how private you are beyond that depends on the provider’s logging and on what you share with the sites you sign in to.

Which VPN is best for a Firestick?

NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, IPVanish, PureVPN and Windscribe all have Fire TV apps. Surfshark and IPVanish, with no device cap, suit big households.

Will VPNs be banned in the UK?

No. In July 2026 the technology minister Kanishka Narayan said the UK is “not banning or age gating VPNs”, and using one remains legal.

Can I use a VPN in China or Dubai?

Tread carefully. The Foreign Office says VPNs in China need a government licence, and UAE cybercrime law punishes using a false IP address to commit or hide an offence. Check the latest travel advice before you go.

Can my broadband provider see what I do with a VPN on?

It sees a connection to a VPN server and how much data you use, but not which sites or services you visit. That information sits with the VPN provider instead, which is why audited no-logs policies matter.

How much data does a VPN use?

Slightly more than without one. Windscribe estimates WireGuard adds 4 to 6% and OpenVPN 15 to 20%, so an hour of HD streaming goes from roughly 3GB to about 3.15GB on WireGuard.

Which VPN is cheapest over three years?

On the providers’ own prices, PIA: US$79 (£59.28 / €70.36) covers 39 months. CyberGhost follows at US$113.88 (£85.46 / €101.42) for 38 months, then Proton VPN Plus at US$167.64 (£125.80 / €149.30) for 36.

Is NordVPN better than ExpressVPN?

NordVPN has the wider network, 150 countries against 113, and six no-logs assessments to ExpressVPN’s three. ExpressVPN is cheaper on its entry two-year plan and renews for less, US$99.95 a year against US$139.08. Both take Promo Code LOCALS.