ExpressVPN
4.6
- Strong user reviews
- Available on most devices
- Backed up by external audit
Every virtual private network (VPN) comes with a unique set of pros and cons, so we can't say that there's one best option for every small business. It's tough to find a better overall recommendation than ExpressVPN. It comes with 160 servers in 94 countries, and strong user reviews indicate that most customers can find a fast connection. ExpressVPN also offers an app for virtually any device and operating systems you can think of, including Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari browsers, and even a direct connection to routers. It's the small business VPN to beat in 2022.
ExpressVPN is well-known for undergoing
independent security audits, most recently from Cure53 in 2021. Their team also published the source code for the ExpressVPN browser extensions, giving users the ability to inspect the code themselves. While Cure53 identified a total of eight potential vulnerabilities, none of them came with an urgency higher than medium. Overall, they found that "the information gained about the ExpressVPN WebExtension is positive and the project complies with the major security and privacy standards."
While new users get a 30-day money-back guarantee, ExpressVPN is on the pricey side compared to most other providers. Subscriptions cost a base of $12.95 per month, but that drops to $9.99 per month when billed every six months and $8.32 per month when billed annually. That makes it significantly more expensive than a competitor like NordVPN, which we've seen available for as little as $3.29 per month.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Strong user reviews
- Available on most devices
- Backed up by external audit
Cons
- Starts at $8.32 per month when billed annually
What Customers Are Saying
While NordVPN edged out ExpressVPN in terms of customer feedback due to its larger pool of reviewers, ExpressVPN has an identical average score of 4.6 out of 5. Some users note that ExpressVPN is on the pricey end of the VPN market, but they're generally satisfied with its clean interface and reliably fast connections.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $12.95/month: 1 month
- $8.32/month: 12 months
- $9.99/month: 6 months
-
Free Trial/Demo
30-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
NordVPN
4.6
- Outstanding user reviews
- Relatively affordable
- Robust business features
We make an effort to learn as much as we can about each platform, but there's no substitute for the experience of hundreds of real users. NordVPN has an excellent average review score of 4.6 out of 5, plus a much larger sample than we've seen from platforms with comparable feedback. It was an easy choice as the small business VPN with the best user reviews in 2022.
While NordVPN's personal plan may well be enough for some smaller businesses, it's worth noting that its dedicated business subscriptions come with a much deeper range of features for teams. Managers can leverage dedicated internet protocol (IP) addresses, oversee team and user permissions, integrate NordVPN with single sign-on (SSO) through Google, Azure, or Okta, and pay for their entire team through a single monthly invoice.
Like ExpressVPN, NordVPN offers one plan with substantial discounts available for longer commitments. It'll run you $11.95 per month if you pay for a month at a time, but just $4.92 per month if you pay annually. You can get the first two years for only $3.29 per month before switching to the usual annual rate. The aforementioned business plans start at a flat $7 per month when paid annually.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Outstanding user reviews
- Relatively affordable
- Robust business features
Cons
- Hit by major data breach in 2018
What Customers Are Saying
NordVPN made our list due to its impressive customer reviews from more than 1,000 unique users. Reviewers particularly emphasized the application's ease of use and sleek, professional interface that fits both personal and business settings.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $3.29/month: 2-year plan
- $4.95/month: 1-year plan
- $11.95/month: 1-month plan
-
Free Trial/Demo
30-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
ProtonVPN
4.3
- Decent free option with limited speed but unrestricted bandwidth
- Starts at $3.29 per month when paid every two years
- More than 1,400 servers
Every free VPN comes with some limitations, but ProtonVPN gives users a surprisingly robust VPN connection at no charge. While free users are restricted to "medium speed," there aren't any limitations on bandwidth. Furthermore, they can connect to one of 24 servers in the United States, Japan, or the Netherlands, which works out to reasonable coverage in North America, Europe, and Asia. It's the best choice in 2022 for anyone who's looking for a free VPN.
For users who are concerned with data privacy, it's worth noting that ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland. That puts it outside of the 14 Eyes, a group of economically developed countries including the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which is a subgroup often referred to as the 5 Eyes. According to the ProtonVPN website, it doesn't store any user activity logs and only respond to data requests that are backed by a court order from the Swiss government.
If you're not satisfied with ProtonVPN's free option, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for as little as $3.29 per month paid every two years. The Basic tier comes with a higher speed cap, two simultaneous connections access to more than 400 servers in more than 40 countries, plus an adblocker and support for torrents and blocked content. At $4.99 per month paid every two years, Plus adds in more than 1,400 servers, 10 connections, 10 Gbps, and support for Tor as well as streaming services.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Decent free option with limited speed but unrestricted bandwidth
- Starts at $3.29 per month when paid every two years
- More than 1,400 servers
What Customers Are Saying
While most of ProtonVPN's feedback is positive, its average review score of 4.3 is noticeably lower than some of the other providers we've covered. Some users report underwhelming speeds on the free plan, but the experience still seems to be significantly better than the other free VPNs we've seen.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- Free plan available
- $4/month: Basic
- $5.59/month: Plus
- $24/month: Visionary
-
Free Trial/Demo
Free plan available
-
24/7 Customer Support
No
-
Malware Protection
Yes
CyberGhost
4.5
- Offers more than 7,500 servers in over 91 countries
- Currently available for as little as $2.17 per month
- 45-day money-back guarantee for six-month and 27-month plans
While some servers are better than others, a VPN with a higher server count gives you more chances to find an ideal connection. CyberGhost stands on top when it comes to the total collection of servers, with more than 7,500 options available to subscribers. Furthermore, those servers are distributed in more than 91 different countries. Naturally, we chose CyberGhost as the small business VPN with the most servers in 2022.
Additionally, CyberGhost users can leverage several unique VPN protocols including OpenVPN (TCP and UDP), IKEv2, WireGuard, and L2TP/IPsec. That makes it significantly more flexible than some of the other providers we've looked at. Subscribers also have the option to add a dedicated IP to their plan for an extra charge of $4 per month.
CyberGhost starts at $12.99 per month for a monthly plan, but that drops to $6.39 when paid every six months and $2.17 per month in the current offer when paid for an initial period of 27 months. While the six-month and 27-month subscriptions come with a 45-day money-back guarantee, you'll have to make your decision within 14 days if you start with the monthly option.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Offers more than 7,500 servers in over 91 countries
- Currently available for as little as $2.17 per month
- 45-day money-back guarantee for six-month and 27-month plans
What Customers Are Saying
While the CyberGhost desktop app has a decent average score of 4.5 out of 5, we noticed that feedback is much more mixed for the Android and iOS clients. The Android app has a 4.3 average, while its iOS counterpart has a slightly lower 4.2 — not terrible, but much less impressive than TorGuard's scores of 4.4 and 4.8.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $12.99/month: 1 month
- $2.17/month: 2 Years + 3 Months
- $6.39/month: 6 Months
-
Free Trial/Demo
7-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
IPVanish
4.5
- Excellent connection speeds
- Unlimited devices
- 30-day money-back guarantee
It's impossible to predict how a particular VPN will perform for you, but we found that IPVanish is a good choice for users who want the fastest connection they can find. While some reviewers had complaints about the service they received from the support team, almost every customer agreed that IPVanish provided reliably strong speeds. Your experience may be different, but it's hard to find a better bet than IPVanish.
Another unique feature of IPVanish compared to other VPNs is that users can connect an unlimited number of devices. Most providers restrict users to roughly five or six connections per account, but that isn't the case with IPVanish. Every authorized device can leverage the platform's fast connections at the same time, with no need to log out of one device to make room for another.
IPVanish has two simple pricing options — you can either pay $10.99 per month, or $89.99 per year, which is equal to $7.50 per month. However, the introductory offer gives new users the first year for just $38.38, or $3.20 per month. The annual subscription also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, making it a more affordable and lower-risk option compared to the monthly plan.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent connection speeds
- Unlimited devices
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Intermittent customer service
What Customers Are Saying
While VPNs naturally lead to different results for different users, what stood out to us about IPVanish was how reliably customers agreed that they were getting a fast connection. Of course, you should test out the application while the money-back guarantee is still active in case your experience doesn't line up with other users.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $10.99/month: Monthly
- $4.50/month: Yearly
- $3.96/month: 2-Year
-
Free Trial/Demo
Not Offering Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
OpenVPN
4.5
- Provides secure access for remote teams
- Easy setup
- Three free connections
OpenVPN's "private network in the cloud" service is an industry leader for organizations that want to give remote workers or even globally dispersed teams secure, reliable access to the right materials. With a mesh network supported by servers located on six continents, OpenVPN also offers the scalability to grow with your small business. OpenVPN is an incredibly flexible choice for companies of all sizes, making it the best secure access solution in 2022 for most small businesses.
Furthermore, OpenVPN receives as many updates as any VPN we've seen, illustrating the team's ongoing commitment to the platform. With nine updates in just eight months from April through November 2021, it's clear that OpenVPN is constantly being optimized based on consumer preferences and industry trends. For example, a November 2021 release enabled managers to configure multiple authentication methods with different requirements for unique users or groups.
Pricing for OpenVPN depends on the number of connections you need as well as your preference between a cloud and self-hosted deployment. Unsurprisingly, the per-user rate drops significantly as you add more connections to your plan. For example, a cloud subscription costs $75 per month for the minimum 10 connections, but you'll pay just $300 per month for 100 connections, which works out to a 60% discount from the base rate. While you can get up to three free connections, that's unlikely to be enough for most small businesses.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Provides secure access for remote teams
- Easy setup
- Three free connections
Cons
- Expensive for small businesses with more than three team members
What Customers Are Saying
OpenVPN's average score of 4.5 puts it in line with most competitors and just slightly behind top alternatives like NordVPN and ExpressVPN (both 4.6). Nearly every user agreed that OpenVPN's connections are incredibly consistent, with relatively little downtime compared to other VPNs.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- Three free connections
- $75/month: 10 connections
- $25/month: 25 connections
- $219/month: 50 connections
- $300/month: 100 connections
- $575/month: 250 connections
- $500/month: 1095 connections
- $1560/month: 1000 connections
- $3120/month: 2000 connections
- Cus
-
Free Trial/Demo
7-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
Perimeter 81
4.7
- Responsive 24/7 customer service
- Intuitive user interface
- Robust features for small businesses
Perimeter 81 is a business-first VPN that offers powerful features for small- and midsized businesses (SMBs). The platform comes with responsive customer service through phone, chat, and email, with 24/7 support available through the Enterprise plan. Based on our research, users appear to be extremely satisfied with the responsiveness and helpfulness of the Perimeter 81 support team. Those factors made it stand out from the competition as the small business VPN with the best customer service in 2022.
The new Monitoring Dashboard from Perimeter 81 gives team leaders an easy way to see all activity on their network. For example, users can view the number of active sessions in each country, the number of team licenses currently in use, and the most common access times for team members in different locations. Activity information can even be sorted by different operating systems, such as iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.
New users can start with a demo of Perimeter 81 rather than a conventional free trial, so your best bet is to contact the company directly to schedule a consultation. After that, you'll be able to open a subscription starting at $10 per user, per month ? $8 per user, per month, billed annually. However, even the basic Essentials plan comes with a five-user minimum, plus an additional $50 per month, per gateway. Premium costs $15 per user, per month for a minimum of 10 users, and Premium Plus costs $20 per user, per month for a minimum of 20 users are intended for midsize businesses, while custom Enterprise solutions are also available for larger clients.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Responsive 24/7 customer service
- Intuitive user interface
- Robust features for small businesses
Cons
- Starts at $10 per user per month (minimum of five users) plus $50 per gateway
What Customers Are Saying
We gave NordVPN the "best user review score" award due to its larger sample, but Perimeter 81 has an even higher average of 4.7. We found consistently positive comments about the customer service as well as the application's intuitive design.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $10/month/user: Essentials
- $15/month/user: Premium
- $20/month/user: Premium Plus
- Custom Quote: Enterprise
-
Free Trial/Demo
Offering Free Demo
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
PureVPN
4.4
- Currently available for $2.05 per month when prepaid for two years
- 31-day money-back guarantee
You can't beat ProtonVPN when it comes to free VPN access, but PureVPN is the next best thing on the market. At a price point of just $49.12 for the first two years, its cheapest option works out to $2.05 on a monthly basis — less than you might spend on a cup of coffee. Furthermore, this subscription doesn't come with restricted speeds or any of the other limitations associated with the free ProtonVPN plan. While you'll lose access to that introductory rate after the end of the offer, PureVPN is still the cheapest paid VPN on the market in 2022 for the first two years.
The PureVPN team posts information about new updates on its website, and we were happy to find that it has released at least one new version of its Windows client for several consecutive months. The November 2021 release, for example, introduced support for the WireGuard VPN protocol on top of PPTP and OpenVPN.
PureVPN doesn't offer a free trial, but users can get a refund with no questions asked for up to 31 days after opening a new subscription. Plans cost a relatively steep $10.95 per month when paid monthly, but that price is mostly there to push customers toward a longer commitment. You can currently get PureVPN for just $2.99 per month when paid annually or $2.05 per month when paid for the first two years.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Currently available for $2.05 per month when prepaid for two years
- 31-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Rate goes up after two years
What Customers Are Saying
While PureVPN's average score of 4.4 is relatively solid, we found a few recurring complaints when reading through customer reviews. In particular, many users noted that the client was consuming too much of their computer's resources and draining performance in other applications.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $10.95/month: 1 month plan
- $2.04/month: 24 months plan
- $3.32/month: 12 months plan
-
Free Trial/Demo
7-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
TorGuard
4.6
- iOS and Android apps with outstanding user reviews
- Servers up to 10 Gbps
- Just $3.89 per month when paid every three years
Most VPN users are primarily interested in desktop use, but mobile VPNs have become an increasingly popular option over the last few years. We've found high-quality mobile apps from several providers, but none could match the positive user feedback of TorGuard's iOS and Android apps. These platforms make it easy to protect traffic on your mobile device, offering the same functionality you expect from the desktop client. Furthermore, both versions have excellent user reviews, with a 4.4 average on Android and a 4.8 average on iOS. With that in mind, TorGuard is the best VPN in 2022 when it comes to mobile usage.
In June 2021, TorGuard introduced a new application with changes for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. One of the key changes for iOS users was the addition of a killswitch, which can be configured to shut down internet traffic if the VPN disconnects automatically. This ensures that your traffic won't be compromised in the event of an outage.
TorGuard starts at a relatively steep $9.99 per month when paid monthly. However, like other providers, they offer significantly lower prices for longer subscription terms, going all the way down to $3.89 per month for a three-year plan ($139.99 total). Users can also upgrade to the Pro tier for additional features such as a dedicated IP address and access to 10 Gbps servers.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- iOS and Android apps with outstanding user reviews
- Servers up to 10 Gbps
- Just $3.89 per month when paid every three years
Cons
- Requires a three-year commitment for the lowest rate
What Customers Are Saying
While TorGuard has only received a small number of reviews for its desktop app, we found that both iOS and Android users are highly satisfied with the performance of the mobile app. The Android app has a solid average of 4.4 out of 5 while the iOS app's average is even higher at 4.8.
Summary
-
Starting Price
- $9.99/month: Anonymous VPN
- $32 99/month: Business VPN
- $21.98/month: Streaming Bundle
- $8.95/month: Anonymous Email
-
Free Trial/Demo
7-Day Free Trial
-
24/7 Customer Support
Yes
-
Malware Protection
Yes
VyprVPN
4.4
- Sleek design
- iOS and Android app with strong user reviews
- Security verified by external audit
Getting started with a VPN can be confusing, especially if you don't have experience with other VPN clients. VyprVPN is an ideal choice for users who aren't as confident in their technical skills and want a simple, approachable way to secure their internet connection. It comes with applications for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, plus Roku, smart TVs, the Chrome browser, and your internet router. Each client offers a streamlined interface, and reviews indicate that users are happy with the performance on each platform. VyprVPN is our top choice as the easiest small business VPN to use in 2022.
Like ExpressVPN and other security-conscious providers, VyprVPN went through a third-party security audit to give consumers more confidence in their services. Similar to ExpressVPN, VyprVPN had some minor issues that were revealed through the audit, but security firm Golden Frog noted that "the VPN clients produce no identifying logs without the user's consent."
VyprVPN subscriptions start at $15 per month when billed monthly, but that goes down to $8.33 per month when you pay for a year at a time. New users can also take advantage of a 30-day money-back guarantee if they encounter any issues with the application. While VyprVPN isn't the most expensive VPN we've covered, it still costs significantly more money than low-cost competitors like NordVPN and PureVPN.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Sleek design
- iOS and Android app with strong user reviews
- Security verified by external audit
Cons
- More expensive than some competitors
What Customers Are Saying
VyprVPN has an average user review score of 4.4, putting it near the middle of the providers we've looked at. While it has received high marks for ease of use and customer support, a few reviewers reported experiencing dropped connections while using VyprVPN.
