The Best VPNs for Windows 10 of 2023
Our VPNs for Windows 10 reviews are the result of over 40 hours of research on 15+ VPNs for Windows 10 companies from across the web. These reviews and our VPNs for Windows 10 guide help small businesses and startups find the best VPNs for Windows 10 for their business.
Written by: Digital.com Staff
Updated November 21, 2022Our Top Picks
One of the most remarkable features that NordVPN offers is splitting tunneling and choosing the data you want to be protected by the VPN. This feature allows users to avoid hang ups with sites that may not play well with a VPN service. The quick-connect button is also unique to Nord, with a built-in AI algorithm to connect you to the most optimal server based on your location. Lastly, Nord has its own custom CyberSec feature, which actively protects your Windows device from phishing and botnets while browsing the internet.
NordVPN Pricing is comparable to what is commonly seen in the market. They do offer an incentive for subscribing to their 2-year plan, priced at 3.49 a month (which is not the cheapest for a 2-year deal either in the market). A 1-year plan comes in around 6.99 a month, and then the monthly plan is 11.95. NordVPN is more on the expensive side across the board for their services, no matter the plan.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 30-day free trial
- 24/7 support
- 6 simultaneous connections
Cons
- Expensive
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
- Unlimited Unmetered Connections
- Best Pricing on 2-year Plan
- Advanced Bypasser Feature
Surfshark has further optimized its performance on Windows 10 devices by promoting its latest feature, the Bypasser. The bypasser feature allows the end-user to select specific apps to bypass the VPN without disabling the entire service. This feature works great for features like banking websites or torrenting sites that have access restrictions in place to prevent users from a VPN.
Surfshark comes in pretty expensive on a month-to-month basis (given you have unlimited connections, that price could be worth it), but they also offer a 1-year (5.99) and 2-year plan (1.99) as well to help incentivize Windows users to commit long term with them. As long as you do not have any issues committing to the 2-year plan, you will find the best deal for unlimited connections. Best of all, SurfShark offers its VPN for the first 30 days for free to allow users to test out its features before agreeing to a contract thoroughly.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Unlimited Unmetered Connections
- Best Pricing on 2-year Plan
- Advanced Bypasser Feature
Cons
- Expensive monthly option
- Customer Service lacks
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
To start, Windows support for ExpressVPN is well-versed. They cover all supported Windows OS versions (including 11). There interface is straightforward, easy to use, and consists of a push to start VPN connection button. They tout that they proudly support DDoS protecting for gamers and lower overall ping and latency times.
ExpressVPN only lacks in the pricing department; none of its plans is something to run home about. Its monthly plan is one of the most expensive coming in at 12.95, followed by a 6-month plan for 9.99 and a 15-month plan for 6.67. Another shocking relation is that they are one of the only providers that do not offer a free trial of their solution.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Easy to Use
- Performance enhancement from ISP
- DDoS protection
Cons
- Expensive
- Limited connections
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $12.95
- Sixmonths: $9.99
- 15 months: $6.67
- Free Trial/DemoNot Provided
To start, HotSpot has a patented security protocol called Hydra that is proprietary to its solution. They offer unlimited bandwidth to allow users to stream as much as they desire up to 5 devices simultaneously. Lastly, HotSpot Shield has 24/7 live tech support on call, ready to assist within seconds of your request.
HotSpot Shield only has one price plan for its premium package at 7.99 a month. But they do offer their basic package for free. On top of this, they offer a free seven-day trial of premium and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 24/7 tech support
- Free version
- Unlimited bandwidth
Cons
- Limited Pricing Plans
- free version support ads
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- Free for Basic
- $7.99/month for Premium
- Free Trial/DemoNot Provided
- Privacy First approach
- Affordable and Flexible Plans
- Killswitch just for Windows
PrivateVPN supports impressive 2048-bit encryption with AES-256 (government-grade) along with IPv6 leak protection so that your data and identity will stay safe. If you are disconnected. PrivateVPN pushes out unlimited speeds and bandwidth over si>simultaneous connections. Lastly, they support significant and minor VPN protocols, including OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec.
Outside of its seven-day free trial, PrivateVPN offers its services in 3 package plans. A 13-month plan for 3.82 a month, a three-month plan for 4.88 a month, and a one-month plan for 7.67 a month. Overall all three plans are priced lower than the VPN average, including a full 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Privacy First approach
- Affordable and Flexible Plans
- Killswitch just for Windows
Cons
- Inconsistent server speeds
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
- Unlimited connections and unlimited speed
- Reliable Killswitch
- Great Ad blocking
IPVanish is another rare VPN service that permits unmetered VPN connections and can achieve this feat because it only uses its infrastructure (not rented out). IPVanish also has built-in modules that help to prevent targeted advertisements, including ones that perform deep packet inspection. Some of the newer features also include SOCKS5 web proxy support and 256- bit encryption on communications.
The one observed downfall pertains to its pricing model. Currently, IPVanish only offers its solution at a monthly price of 10.99, which is towards the more expensive side of the house. They have been known to provide promotional deals for longer-term plans, but these are limited offerings. Lastly, IPVanish does give a 30 day trial of its solution, but for iOS only, so Windows 10 is out of luck here.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Unlimited connections and unlimited speed
- Reliable Killswitch
- Great Ad blocking
Cons
- Free trial limited to iOS
- limited pricing and expensive
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $10.99
- Free Trial/Demo30 Days for iOS Only
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- Free trial offered for Windows
- Large infrastructure
CyberGhost has an automatic killswitch that cuts off your internet if your VPN tunnel should randomly drop (specifically for Windows devices). CyberGhost claims to have complete Windows end-to-end coverage as far as encryption goes for your communications. Lastly, having extensive infrastructure means no bandwidth limitations (they are currently pushing out 10G on their servers).
CyberGhost offers a competitive yearly pricing package for 2.57 a month. For Windows systems, we can get a one-day free trial of the solution, along with a 45 day month back guarantee if you are not satisfied. They also offer a 7.99, 6-month plan and a 12.99 monthly plan that are at the top of the thresholds as far as VPN prices are concerned.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- Free trial offered for Windows
- Large infrastructure
Cons
- UI is inferior
- Monthly Plans are the most expensive in the market
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $12.99
- Six-mont: $7.99/month
- 1 year plan: $2.75/month
- Free Trial/Demo1 Day Free Trial
- Nice 2-Year package pricing
- Built-in Anti-virus solution
- Extremely large infrastructure
PIA VPN has one of the largest infrastructures in the VPN space, counting up to almost 34000 servers worldwide! Speed and performance won't be an issue here. IT also comes prebuilt with a built-in antivirus solution that can scan and remove malware for any windows ten device (all while sustaining user privacy).
With such an extensive infrastructure to support, you might think that the price point would be outrageous. PIA VPNs 2 year plan only costs 2.69 a month! That is below average for other competitors of this size! Its one-year (3.33/month) plan isn't so bad either, but the best part is if you subscribe to the monthly plan and decide it isn't for you, PIZ offers a full money-back guarantee of up to 30 days anyway.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Nice 2-Year package pricing
- Built-in Anti-virus solution
- Extremely large infrastructure
Cons
- No totally free version
- Doesn’t include a double-hop feature
What Customers Are Saying
Summary
- Starting Price
- One-month: $9.95
- 2 years plan: $2.69/month
- 1 year plan: $3.33/month
- Free Trial/Demo*30 Days Money Back Guarantee Only
- Totally Free Windows 10 version
- Integrated with Mail solution
- Killswitch
Besides displaying a proud no-logs policy, ProtonVPN offers an unlimited, totally free version of their VPN on Windows 10 devices. The best part of all is that it is directly compatible with this sister tool, ProtonMail, allowing its users to create an anonymous account with their existing ProtonMail credentials quickly.
The Pricing for ProtonVPN is super flexible and offers different plans/features for various price points. They have their free version for Windows 10, but they also have a basic plan (4 dollars/month), their plus plan (8 dollars/month), and a visionary plan (24/month). ProtonVPN does offer a free seven-day trial of plus plans to entice users to upgrade. The visionary plan gives you all the features of the Plus plan and all the features for your ProtonMail account.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Totally Free Windows 10 version
- Integrated with Mail solution
- Killswitch
Cons
- Support is limited to email only
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
- Totally Free Version without Ads
- Independently Owned
- 10 simultaneous connections
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/DemoFree Trial
How We Chose the Best Windows 10 VPN
When we evaluated the best VPN solutions for Windows 10, we took several factors into account. Windows 10 support is crucial, but also tying in features like infrastructure, privacy, usability, and killswitch compatibility are some of the major factors that we tried to focus on.
Overall Infrastructure Support
All the VPN candidates needed to have a focus on infrastructure improvements and support. Windows 10 comprises most of the market, so a VPN solution must handle loads of bandwidth on its platform. Ensuring that not only do they have a decent size infrastructure back end, but they continuously update, upgrade, and test their servers to keep performance as stable as possible.
Privacy
It may seem obvious, but privacy can be overlooked in a VPN solution. Most assume that because it's a VPN, it must have good privacy. Ensuring that VPN solutions are constantly enforcing the latest best practices for data communications and standards for data handling is critical. Also, it helps if a VPN has a well-defined and supported Privacy policy that the typical fold of the world can understand clearly.
Usability and Adoption
Just because a VPN has certain features or is cheaper than the competition doesn't mean it'll satisfy the masses. VPNs need to work seamlessly with the end-users and set up for a newer solution to take hold in the industry.
Killswitch
Finally, for Windows, we wanted each VPN solution to come with an intuitive killswitch option. The whole idea of a VPN is to protect you while using the internet. If, for some reason, the VPN fails without notifying you or switching the internet off, then what good is it? Having an automated killswitch in place provides users with a sense of reassurance that they are protected and at least have the option to enable the internet with caution or at their own risk.
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