The Fastest VPN Services of 2023
Our fastest VPN services reviews are the result of over 40 hours of research on 19+ fastest VPN services companies from across the web. These reviews and our fastest VPN services guide help small businesses and startups find the fastest VPN services for their business.
Written by: Digital.com Staff
Updated November 21, 2022- 63 countries offering coverage
- extensive offering of ports and protocols
- Smooth user experience
Starting with the obvious, it is fast and offers unlimited bandwidth, which is a huge plus. SurfShark offers strong encryption and guarantees that it sticks to its "no logging sensitive information" policy. Streaming services have been tested and confirmed with SurfShark to work flawlessly ? only having a 12% decrease in speeds within the United States. Lastly, SurfShark claims to be Cure53's independent audit compliant.
Surf shark's month-to-month pricing is comparable to its competition, and truthfully it is warranted with its service offering. A few things to note is that SurfShark offers a 30-day free trial of its product and flexible yearly and bi-yearly subscriptions. When you subscribe to the two-year plan, you can get its VPN for as low as $1.99 per month. The yearly plan averages around $6 per month.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 63 countries offering coverage
- extensive offering of ports and protocols
- Smooth user experience
Cons
- Customer service is lacking
- Erratic peer-to-peer (P2P) behavior
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $11.95
- 24-month plan: $1.99/month
- 12-month plan: $5.99/month
- Free Trial/Demo30-Day Free Trial
- SupportEmail
- Number of Countries Available63+ countries
- 63 countries offering coverage
- extensive offering of ports and protocols
- Smooth user experience
NordVPN sets itself apart from the competition by offering the best security and privacy in the industry with military-grade encryption. A newer feature offered is Onion over VPN, which provides users with a double VPN to emphasize security further. Lastly, Nord supports all major operating systems, including the top mobile brands, to ensure users have a streamlined experience across all devices.
To own the best, sometimes you have to pay a pretty penny for it. NordVPN is one of the more expensive solutions in the market, charging $11.95 a month for its services. Nord offers several other plans, including a two-year plan that helps thwart the monthly cost by bringing it down to $2.69 a month. Unlike its competition, ExpressVPN, NordVPN offers a 30-day free trial of its solution to allow users to experience all it has to offer before committing to a payment plan.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Military-grade security
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Enhanced privacy features
Cons
- Monthly price
- Sometimes slow internet at peak times
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $11.95
- 2-year plan: $3.49/month
- 1-year plan: $6.99/month
- Free Trial/Demo30-Day Free Trial
- Support24/7 Live Chat
- Number of Countries Available59 countries
- Military-grade security
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Enhanced privacy features
Hide.me claims to be a 99.9% uptime remark and a 100% independent ownership for ensuring a privacy-first approach. Hide.me claims to have support gigabit speeds and unlimited bandwidth as well. Lastly, They offer ten simultaneous connections to co-inside with their unlimited speeds.
Outside of their free basic plan, Hide.me offers three premium plans that include a 2-year plan for 2.45 a month, a 1-year plan for 3.66 a month, and a monthly plan for 9.95. Their model provides a sound system for gradually shifting from the free version to the paid version at a price model that works for the individual.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Totally Free Version without Ads
- Independently Owned
- 10 simultaneous connections
Cons
- More on the expensive side for Premium
- Speeds tend to Suffer at times
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- 1 Year: $8.32/month
- 2 Years: $4.99/month
- 1 Month: $12.95/month
- Free Trial/DemoYes
- SupportBest Free Option
- Number of Countries AvailableYes
- Totally Free Version without Ads
- Independently Owned
- 10 simultaneous connections
- Best pricing model
- 24/7 customer support
- Strong infrastructure presence (60 countries)
One of the most infamous features of TorGuard is its ability to support a plethora of tunneling protocols. These include OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, IKEV2, and SSTP, to name a few. By keeping these protocols, TorGuard can provide Socks5 and HTTP proxies as an additional offering as well. Lastly, one important detail to note is that even though TorGuard has legitimate anonymous features, it is located in a five-eyes country, which means if required, it could be subpoenaed for its users' information.
TorGuard is competitive with its pricing model and uses its specialized packages to encourage different users and use cases to go with its solution. It offers Standard and Pro packages at monthly and yearly billing cycles. Each package provides a free trial, with the yearly package being $59.99. There are also business VPN services available, with pricing based on the number of users and email accounts needed. Compared to ExpressVPN or NordVPN, the price is about $20 cheaper per year, and TorGuard's price includes a 24/7 customer support line as well.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Best pricing model
- 24/7 customer support
- Strong infrastructure presence (60 countries)
Cons
- Speeds aren't the fastest
- Subject to subpoena
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- Monthly: $9.99
- Quarterly: $19.99
- Semi-Annually: $29.99
- Annually: $59.99
- Free Trial/DemoFree Trial
- Support24/7 Live Chat
- Number of Countries Available50 countries
- Best pricing model
- 24/7 customer support
- Strong infrastructure presence (60 countries)
- Wonderful customer support
- Many protocols to choose from
- Torrenting is allowed
ExpressVPN has recently released a brand new VPN protocol called Lightway, this protocol was created to help remove weaknesses and bugs that may reside in some of the legacy protocols. Lightway focuses on using a minimal code base, which allows for faster and more reliable performance as well as enhanced auditing. Lightway also includes a feature that allows for seamless transitions between VPN connections to provide persistence and uninterrupted service.
ExpressVPN is one of the more expensive VPN solutions out there, but it is not without warrant. ExpressVPN backs its one-month price point of $12.95 with top-of-the-line features, security, and speed. ExpressVPN offers incentives for signing long-term agreements, including a six-month ($9.99 a month) and a 15-month ($6.67 a month) deal. As always, ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on its services.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Wonderful customer support
- Many protocols to choose from
- Torrenting is allowed
Cons
- More expensive than leading competitors
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $12.95
- Six months: $9.99
- 15 months: $6.67
- Free Trial/DemoNot Provided
- Support24/7 Live Chat
- Number of Countries Available94 countries
- Wonderful customer support
- Many protocols to choose from
- Torrenting is allowed
- Leader in privacy with ProtonMail Package
- Large infrastructure
- Tiered pricing (free version)
One of the more startling details is that ProtonVPN only offers a couple of Protocols for use (OpenVPN and IKEv2), which seems low for a VPN service priced towards the higher end of the spectrum. Many review sites have given ProtonVPN a lower rating because of this. Two things that ProtonVPN does have going its way: its claim to unlimited bandwidth and its server infrastructure presence in over 44 countries.
ProtonVPN offers several pricing options for its professional product as well as a free version. The basic package is around $4 per month, then $8 per month for the plus account, and $24 per month for the individual license. Each license offers additional features. ProtonVPN does offer a seven-day free trial as well. Comparing even the introductory price to those of NordVPN and ExpressVPN, it is clear that ProtonVPN may be trying to ride on the success of ProtonMail to make some extra money. The lack of features and protocol support in ProtonMail are signs of being wary of.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Leader in privacy with ProtonMail Package
- Large infrastructure
- Tiered pricing (free version)
Cons
- Prone to VPN blocks
- Lacking support
- Tough to configure
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- Free version available
- $4/month for Basic
- $8/month for Plus
- $24/month for Visionary
- Free Trial/Demo7-Days Trial
- SupportEmail, Ticket
- Number of Countries Available44 countries
- Leader in privacy with ProtonMail Package
- Large infrastructure
- Tiered pricing (free version)
Unique to TunnelBear are its proprietary features for paid subscriptions. These features are called VigilantBear and GhostBear. VigilantBear is essentially an internet kill switch that can automatically kill your internet connection if you are disconnected from the VPN. GhostBear can hide the fact that you are using a VPN by preventing internet protocol (IP)-based tracking. This feature can be handy in countries where the use of a VPN is frowned upon. Lastly, while TunnelBear is an easy solution to set up and use, it can also be a disadvantage in the future as it does not have the advanced configuration options compared to its competition.
One of the nice perks of choosing TunnelBear is that it offers a limited free version for one device, unlimited individual license, and a Teams package for up to five devices. The individual unlimited package is priced at $3.33 a month, which is currently below the average per month for a VPN solution. One thing to consider with the free version is that you are limited to 500 MB of bandwidth per month, which most users blow through quickly and can be misleading.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Offer free version
- Easy to use
- Proprietary kill switch and IP mask
Cons
- 500 MB bandwidth for free version
- Unstable speeds at times
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- Free for limited usage (500mb of secure browsing)
- Unlimited $3.33/month
- Teams $5.75/user/month
- Free Trial/DemoNot Provided
- SupportEmail
- Number of Countries Available22+ countries
- Offer free version
- Easy to use
- Proprietary kill switch and IP mask
- Largest worldwide infrastructure coverage
- Excellent VPN protocol support
- Free version and money-back guarantee
PureVPN offers Military-grade encryption alongside its killswitch and split tunneling capabilities. Video streaming on all major platforms is supported and encouraged with up to 10 GB a month in bandwidth. The service is relatively easy to set up and use, but if users have trouble, there is a 24/7 support line and a set of excellent installation guides. As it pertains to speed, PureVPN tested excellent, including higher than average upload speeds across the globe. Lastly, all major protocols are well-supported security and privacy ? OpenVPN, L2TP, SSTP, PPTP, and IKEv2. PureVPN is located in Hong Kong, a country outside of any privacy laws nationwide.
PureVPN offers a monthly, biyearly, yearly, and two-year subscription plan. The best deal is the two-year plan totaling $3.33 per month and slightly lower than its competitors like ExpressVPN and NordVPN. PureVPN does offer a free trial of its services and is currently supported on all major PC and mobile operating systems. Lastly, it also offers a 31-day money-back guarantee if you aren't fully satisfied with its solution.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Largest worldwide infrastructure coverage
- Excellent VPN protocol support
- Free version and money-back guarantee
Cons
- Customer service lacks technical knowledge
- Unreliable at times in China
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $10.95
- 6 months plan: $8.33/month
- Free Trial/DemoFree Trial
- Support24/7 Live Chat
- Number of Countries Available140+ countries
- Largest worldwide infrastructure coverage
- Excellent VPN protocol support
- Free version and money-back guarantee
- Strong zero-log policy
- Unblocking streaming services
- Flexible pricing tiers
PrivateVPN is great at unblocking streaming services quickly and is known for having fast-performance servers. Similar to its competition, PrivateVPN mimics the military-grade encryption standard and supports five protocols ? OpenVPN, L2TP, IPsec, PPTP, and IKEv2. Its killswitch also allows the end-users to select specific devices to apply the killswitch to ? not just a one size fits all approach. Lastly, PrivateVPN offers an obfuscation mode called StealthVPN, which helps with IP masking and tunneling practices.
PrivateVPN offers several subscription plans, all offering a 30-day money-back guarantee. Monthly, quarterly, yearly, and two-year plans are even spread apart to provide a good spread of pricing options. The monthly is a bit expensive, running around 11 dollars a month, and the best deal is the two-year plan coming in at $2.55 a month. One of the most extraordinary things about PrivateVPN is that it is one of the only VPN providers that accept Bitcoin as a payment option, along with all major credit cards and PayPal.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong zero-log policy
- Unblocking streaming services
- Flexible pricing tiers
Cons
- Live chat feature is faulty
- Slower speeds on specific servers
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One month: $7.67
- 3 months: $4.88/month
- 13 months: $3.82/month
- Free Trial/Demo7-Day Free Trial
- Support24/7 Live Chat
- Number of Countries Available60 countries
- Strong zero-log policy
- Unblocking streaming services
- Flexible pricing tiers
- Unlimited bandwidth (10 GB free version)
- Unlimited connections with Pro
- Strong and customizable security
Windscribe takes internet security to the next level with its one-of-a-kind R.O.B.E.R.T. solution. R.O.B.E.R.T. is a server-side domain and IP blocking service that allows end-users to customize different online security actions per device, including blocking ads and trackers, infections alerts, and even access rules for visiting specific online resources.
The pricing plans with Windscribe are pretty straightforward at $9 monthly or $4 per month for a yearly plan. It also offered an attractive "build your own plan" pricing where, if you meet the criteria of several locations, you get bulk pricing for as little as $1 per month, per location. This offering may encourage large organizations to make the switch.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Unlimited bandwidth (10 GB free version)
- Unlimited connections with Pro
- Strong and customizable security
Cons
- Servers infrastructure not worldwide
- No 24/7 live support
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- Monthly plan: $9.00
- 1 year plan: $4.09/month
- Build a Plan: $1/location/month
- Free Trial/Demo1 Day Trial
- SupportEmail, Ticket
- Number of Countries Available60 countries
- Unlimited bandwidth (10 GB free version)
- Unlimited connections with Pro
- Strong and customizable security
How We Chose the Fastest VPN Services
When we evaluate VPN solutions to determine the fastest, we take several factors into account other than fast speeds. As an end-user, you shouldn't need to buy an expensive solution thinking, "Well, it must be good if it's costly."
There should be a balance between price and features that offer a solid all-around product as the outcome. We consider the four following attributes as major deciding factors when picking out the fastest VPN solution.
Bandwidth Consumption Limit
Overall speed is excellent but, if you don't have high bandwidth usage, fast speeds will burn through your bandwidth and contribute to overall poor performance. When you load websites or watch videos, it is essential to have a large bandwidth to allow all that data to be sent over in a large group. This allows for faster loading times; with a lower bandwidth amount, it is like filling up a pool with water through a straw. It doesn't matter how fast the water is going through the straw as it still takes a while to fill up.
Infrastructure Capacity
Having an extensive infrastructure of servers around the globe is critical to several different functions on a fast VPN. As an end-user, you want to be able to switch to another country's server quickly if, for some reason, you are experiencing slowness. Also, options for different countries play into various features like tunneling, streaming, and privacy controls within each platform. We always consider the number of supported countries when evaluating VPN solutions.
Supported Features/Systems
If you purchase a VPN service, you want it to work on your device. More times than not, we have seen users get used to a VPN and would like to stick with that service but expand it out to all of its devices after some time. We want to highly regard VPNs that support a vast majority of the popular features and operating systems in the market to ensure overall user satisfaction. Users shouldn't have to choose between different VPNs because one supports features like streaming or proxying, which the user wants to use, but then find out it doesn't help all of their device operating systems.
Speed Output
Last is overall speed output. There is nothing worse when using a VPN service to stream a movie or download files, and your general internet speed is nullified once you turn on the VPN. We reviewed the advertised speed and tested these speeds from different countries around the globe to ensure that once the VPN is enabled, these speeds do not vary from what is advertised. Speed sells when it comes to VPNs, and it is not hard to test.
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