The best VPNs for 2025: Tested for performance, trustworthiness,...

Best VPNs 2025: Proton VPN, TunnelBear are winners

Overview

Best VPN for most people (and the best free VPN)

Proton VPN

Jump to Details

Don't let it go to your head, but everybody wants you — more specifically, your browsing data. Personal information about the links you click on and the sites you visit is highly valuable to third parties, including your internet service provider (ISP) and Google, who may want to share or monetize it. Certain government and law enforcement agencies may also be eager to peek at your activity online for their own surveillance purposes.

One way to reclaim some of your digital privacy is by getting a virtual private network, or VPN, a service that creates an encrypted connection between your device and one of the VPN provider's private, remote servers before spitting it out onto the open web. In plain English, a VPN lets you browse the internet more stealthily than usual.

Why do you need a VPN?

Even the best VPNs can't make you totally anonymous on the web — the VPN companies themselves can still see what you're doing while you're using their servers. But they can secure your personal info and hide your true IP address from prying eyes on the outside. The most trustworthy VPN providers operate transparently and abide by independently verified no-logs policies to prove that they don't collect or store user data in this process.

Because VPNs conceal your real IP address, they're also useful for spoofing one's location. By connecting to a VPN server across a border or ocean, users can bypass geo-restrictions on content that's not available in their own country or region. (This is pertinent intel for horny French people and the citizens of 17 U.S. states where a certain adult site is blocked due to age-verification laws.)

The best VPNs we've tried

After recent testing, I believe Proton VPN is the top VPN for most people. It's the most privacy-forward VPN I've tried, with open-source apps, a proven no-logs policy, and a history of supporting digital freedom efforts. It's also a stellar value: Paid Proton VPN users get full access to its huge fleet of reliable servers and useful features like multi-hop and split tunneling (on some platforms), with up to 10 simultaneous VPN connections per account. The free version of Proton VPN is extremely limited in comparison, but it's the only free VPN I've encountered that doesn't have any data limits. For all these reasons, Proton VPN is the first (and only) VPN to win a Mashable Choice Award.

My runner-up is TunnelBear, a veteran VPN service with a simple, adorable app that offers unlimited simultaneous connections with a paid subscription. (It also offers a free tier, but users are capped at 2GB of data per month.) TunnelBear supports some form of split tunneling on all platforms, and it's been undergoing security audits longer than any other consumer VPN. It wasn't able to unblock regional content in my testing, but it was sufficient for everyday browsing. Overall, I think it's the best VPN for beginners and casual users.

In light of these new top picks, I've bumped NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and CyberGhost VPN off my list of recommended VPN services. You can read more about this decision in the section of this guide titled "What no longer makes the cut."

Read on for Mashable's guide to the best VPNs of 2025. FYI: Prices for most VPN providers' long-term plans change frequently. The rates listed here were accurate at the time of publication.

The best VPN deals this week

Surfshark VPN — $2.19 Per Month + 3 Months Free (87% Off 2 Years Starter Plan)
Norton VPN Standard — $3.33 Per Month for 5 Devices (50% Off 1 Year Plan)
NordVPN — $4.39 Per Month + 5GB eSIM Data (70% Off 2 Years Plus Plan)
ExpressVPN — $4.99 Per Month + 4 Months Free (61% Off 2 Years Plan)

Our Pick

the proton vpn logo

Best VPN for most people (and the best free VPN)

The Good & The Bad

No-logs policy has been repeatedly verified by third-party audits (and in court)
Transparency report reveals it's denied all legal requests for info to date
Supports online freedom efforts
Open sources apps
Offers bug bounty program
Extensive server network with city-level selection
Can unblock regional content
Solid, reliable performance
Multi-hop ("Secure Core")
Kill switch
Anonymous payment options
Fast customer support via live chat
30-day money back guarantee
Offers free tier with no data limits

Mac users miss out on split tunneling (for now)
Has only audited its no-logs policy for the past three years
Free servers can be crowded and unreliable

Our review

Read Mashable's full review of Proton VPN.

Who it's for

Proton VPN is my No. 1 VPN for most people, especially those who are already a little familiar with the technology. It makes a point to prioritize user privacy, it has a gigantic network of servers that perform well, and it comes with all of the essential security features I look for in a premium VPN (plus a few extras). It's very worth paying for, though there's also a free tier of Proton VPN that you can use whenever you'd like. It limits you to a handful of crowded servers and omits most features, but the simple fact that it doesn't have any data limits makes it the best free VPN in my book.

Why we picked this

Proton VPN is the first and only Mashable Choice Award-winning VPN (as mentioned up top), scoring high in our measures for trustworthiness, performance, user-friendliness, and value. The first one is most important and what really sets this service apart from its peers: Proton VPN seems to actively care about digital privacy, not just use it as a marketing tactic. It was the first VPN to open-source its apps in 2020, and it's had its infrastructure and operating procedures audited annually to verify its strict no-logs policy since 2022. Anyone can read the results of these audits without needing to make an account first. (It would be better if the company had started doing these audits upon launch in 2017, but it helps immensely that this no-logs policy held up in court back in 2019.) Proton VPN has maintained a transparency report for even longer — since 2018 — which shows that it's never complied with any legal requests for information to date. The company also has a long record of publicly supporting online freedom causes across the world. It practices what it preaches.

Performance-wise, the paid "Plus" version of Proton VPN felt great in my testing — mostly because it didn't feel like I was using a VPN at all. All the servers I tried were reliable and fast, no matter where they were located. (I was also successfully able to skirt a geo-restriction on a UK streaming service from my home in Chicago.) Proton VPN's gigantic server network now includes more than 12,000 locations in 117 countries as of March 2025; it's currently unrivaled in size and geographic diversity.

Proton VPN's sleek, cyberminimalist app contains a list of these servers and a map of them alongside some features to customize the type and extent of one's protection, including multi-hop servers ("Secure Core," aka double VPN servers), an ad/malware/tracker blocker ("NetShield"), a kill switch, Tor servers, and split tunneling. Plus, users get up to 10 simultaneous connections and on-demand support via live chat. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide it's not the right VPN for you or if you want to downgrade to Proton VPN Free.

As an aside, split tunneling is only available on Proton VPN's Windows and Android apps right now. However, a spring/summer 2025 feature roadmap said macOS and Linux support is in the works. (This roadmap is quite extensive, by the way — it seems like Proton VPN will only get better with time.)

While Proton VPN's free tier has its restrictions, there's no limit on the amount of data you can use, which is really nice. It's subsidized by the provider's paid subscribers, so there are no ads, and you don't need to fork over any credit card information at signup. You do forfeit access to most of Proton VPN's features if you go this route, save for its kill switch and its proprietary "Stealth" protocol for avoiding censorship. You also lose out on full access to its server network, including the ability to choose which server you're connected to (i.e. location spoofing and content unblocking). In my experience, most of Proton VPN's free servers were pretty full and slow. This would be less forgivable if you were actually paying for the service, and ultimately, I think it's usable for regular browsing if you can take the time to find a less congested server.

Details

the TunnelBear logo

The Good & The Bad

Transparent, easily understandable privacy policy
Regular security audits and transparency reports (available for anyone to read)
Simple, adorable interface is very beginner-friendly
Unlimited simultaneous connections
Good-sized server network
Some form of split tunneling ("SplitBear") available on all platforms
Kill switch ("VigilantBear")
Decent free tier for occasional use

Overdue for its latest audit
No money-back guarantee or on-demand support
Not available on a ton of platforms
No multi-hop connections
Server network isn't very widespread
Couldn't unblock regional content in testing

Our review

Read Mashable's full review of TunnelBear.

Who it's for

TunnelBear is a simple and trustworthy VPN that will serve most casual users well. (If you didn't know what "VPN" stood for prior to reading this guide, look no further.) Like Proton VPN, it also offers a free tier. It's less workable for everyday use because it has a 2GB monthly data cap — TunnelBear recommends treating it like a "try before you buy" option — but it has the advantage of country-level server selection. I rely on it often for quick location spoofing.

Why we picked this

McAfee's TunnelBear democratizes the VPN experience, forgoing supplementary security features and convoluted industry lingo in favor of a charming, basic app. (It'll underwhelm power users, but first-timers should find it refreshingly approachable.) Users can connect to servers by sending a little bear to yellow pipes on its posterized map interface — pretty cute — or by selecting locations from a list. It was reliably fast during testing, if sometimes slow to connect initially. With more than 8,000 servers in 45 countries, TunnelBear's network is decently large but not very geographically diverse, and it couldn't unblock regional content. Split tunneling is available on all platforms, though it's usually limited to web- or app-based traffic, not both. There's no multi-hop.

TunnelBear gives users the option of signing up for a free tier, which includes one connection, country-level server selection, and 2GB of browsing data per month. Free users are funded by the provider's paid subscribers, per a TunnelBear rep, and there are no ads. If you decide to upgrade, a paid Unlimited plan unlocks unlimited bandwidth, unlimited simultaneous connections, and city-level server selection. Users should be mindful that TunnelBear doesn't offer any sort of money-back guarantee, and refunds are only available on a case-by-case basis.

TunnelBear gets special props for its accessible, plainly written privacy policy and for its commitment to transparency: It was the first consumer VPN to publish a third-party audit of its infrastructure and technologies back in 2017. It's done one every year since, and the seventh and most recent one was published in February 2024. (You can read it in full without needing to make an account.) The company also posts transparency reports about the government authority requests it gets. It's twice confirmed that a user has a TunnelBear account, but it's never coughed up any browsing data.

Details

Here at Mashable, we aim to review and recommend the best VPNs to our readers — and above all, a VPN needs to be trustworthy to get our seal of approval. The service gets exclusive access to all of your personal data and internet traffic, so a VPN that doesn't prioritize user privacy is a nonstarter. However, we also need to make sure a VPN works. Therefore, our VPN reviews blend analysis of providers' approaches to privacy and transparency with insights from real-world usage and performance benchmarks. We record the findings of our research testing in a rubric, and each VPN gets scored on a five-point scale on the basis of trustworthiness, performance, user friendliness, and value. Read our full VPN testing methodology.

Trustworthiness: A good VPN won't have a long rap sheet for mishandling users' personal data or succumbing to server breaches. It's also willing to open itself up to scrutiny. We pore over providers' privacy policies and company histories, and find out how they make money. We then look to see if they publish independent security audits and/or transparency reports disclosing any data requests they've received from authorities. We award bonus points to VPNs that have open-source apps and bug bounty programs.
Performance: We incorporate the VPNs we test into our daily workflows to find out how how well they protect users in practice. This includes running DNS leak tests, trying any advanced privacy features they support, and hopping around to different VPN servers throughout their networks. Speed isn't a huge factor in our performance scoring, as a VPN connection will almost always be slower than one's regular internet connection, but we'll call out any VPN that's sluggish to the point of being unusable. We also check to see if the VPN provider can unblock georestricted content, which is an important secondary use case for Mashable readers.
User friendliness: A VPN app should be easy to navigate regardless of how many features or servers it includes, or the platform it's being used on, so we evaluate a VPN's design and interface as part of our user friendliness score. We also consider the VPN provider's customer support options and money-back guarantees — you should be able to get help (or a refund) when you need it. A VPN gets extra credit if it accepts anonymous payment options, which ups the untraceability factor.
Value: A VPN's trustworthiness, performance, and user friendliness all contribute to its sense of "worth-it-ness," so we determine its overall value by factoring in these scores on top of a few other metrics. One is the cost of a VPN's subscription plans, which we compare to those of other providers, as well as the rate at which they renew — most VPN plans typically get dramatically expensive after your first term. We also look at the number of simultaneous connections the VPN allows and the platforms on which it's available (the more, the better). We'll give a provider a small score bump here if it bundles its VPN service with any useful extras, like an ad blocker.

What no longer makes the cut

As of March 2025, we no longer recommend NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or CyberGhost VPN. I was willing to overlook some of their issues in the past because we hadn't tried any better options, but in light of testing (and loving) Proton VPN, I've relegated them to this metaphorical discard pile.

NordVPN used to be our "best premium VPN." It has the same core security features as Proton VPN, including an anti-censorship protocol, multi-hop, Onion Over VPN, and split tunneling on all platforms. It also supports up to 10 simultaneous connections. However, its server network is smaller than Proton VPN's, its plans are more expensive, and its record isn't as clean. In 2019, NordVPN didn't tell users about a security breach at one of its third-party data centers until allegations of it circulated on X. (In its defense, the company implemented network upgrades, better security standards, and bug bounty program in the aftermath.) I also don't love that users need a NordVPN account to read the results of its no-logs audits.

ExpressVPN was previously our "best VPN for streaming or travel" because of its servers' geographic diversity, but Proton VPN's network is even more widespread (and it plans don't cost as much). Also, ExpressVPN doesn't offer multi-hop, supports two fewer connections, and restricts its split tunneling tool to Windows and older Macs with macOS 11 from 2020. Its ownership by Kape Technologies is a slight cause for concern — in a previous life, the company made software that bad actors used for adware injection — but it helps that Kape doesn't touch ExpressVPN users' personal information.

CyberGhost VPN was previously an honorable mention for streaming and travel, mostly because it was a cheaper option with the largest server network out of the VPNs we'd tested at the time (including locations optimized for streaming, torrenting, and gaming). Feature-wise, CyberGhost only offers split tunneling on Android, and multi-hop is a no-go across the board. CyberGhost is also owned by Kape, but unlike ExpressVPN, it states in its privacy policy that it may share users' personal data with its parent company. It's pretty new to independent audits, too, which you can only read by requesting a copy via email, filling out a contact form, or creating a CyberGhost account.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the simplest terms, using a VPN (which stands for "virtual private network") lets you hide who you really are and where you really are while using the internet from everyone except the VPN. In less simple terms, a VPN is a service that sends your internet traffic through an encrypted connection to a remote server maintained by the VPN provider before it's dispatched to the public internet. The encryption part makes it so your traffic is unreadable to third parties like your ISP and Google; routing that traffic through a VPN server then gives you a different IP address, which makes it look like you're browsing from somewhere you aren't actually located IRL.

Using a VPN is often likened to driving around in a rental car with tinted windows and a license plate that doesn't match your home state, or arriving at a location via secret trapdoor and wearing a mask while you go about your day.

There are a few notable downsides to using a VPN, besides the obvious "it costs money" thing, one being the VPN's affect on your browsing speed. It will virtually always be slower than your normal, unprotected connection.

Another issue is that sites may restrict your access to their content if they detect VPN usage. Some maintain blacklists of IP addresses that are known to belong to VPNs, including major streaming services like Netflix. If your IP address is frequently associated with multiple users, that's usually what gives it away.

Finally, there's always the risk that a VPN is shadily collecting and selling your personal information (see below) — hence the importance of picking one that's transparent and trustworthy.

The answer is a little nuanced. VPNs that are completely free outright are generally not safe to use, as free VPNs have been known to secr