The 10 most secure VPN services to keep you safe online in 2021

In this guide we list the five most secure VPN services according to our rigorous testing, so you can be sure your chosen VPN provider takes your privacy as seriously as you do. We will also give you some helpful tips on staying secure online with a VPN.

What are the most secure VPNs available?

Our testing shows these are the safest and most secure VPNs available today:

1. 
   ExpressVPN
   
   – The most secure VPN on our list. This service is super secure but doesn’t compromise on speed and performance.
2. 
   Private Internet Access
   
   – A secure zero logs VPN. Not only is it packed with security features, but it has proven its no logs policy in court!
3. 
   CyberGhost VPN
   
   – An easy to use VPN with watertight security. It offers slick apps for Android & iOS with the same great levels of privacy.
4. 
   Surfshark
   
   – A secure VPN that is packed with value. For $2.49 a month you get excellent encryption, privacy features and fast connection speeds.
5. 
   ProtonVPN
   
   – A very secure VPN service from the developers of ProtonMail. With that pedigree it’s no surprise that it made it into our top picks.

All VPNs should be able to provide users with a secure connection. That much is fundamental, but some services do a much better job of this than others. Because the VPN market is so overcrowded, however, it can be difficult to find a truly secure VPN service that offers you all the features you need to properly safeguard your digital privacy.

The true mark of a secure VPN lies in its technical security to keep you safe online. To accomplish this, a VPN service must offer the following features:

• Strong encryption
• No leaks
• Kill switch technology
  

We make sure to thoroughly check each of these aspects when reviewing the security of all the VPNs we test. So, let’s take a closer look at our shortlist of the most secure VPN services available today.

The 10 most secure VPN services in 2020

These are the most secure VPNs you can get right now:

ExpressVPN is the #1 most secure VPN. It’s chock full of impressive security features, offers solid encryption & doesn’t compromise on speeds.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$6.67 –
  ^$12.95

ExpressVPN’s focus on providing a great customer-focused experience has always impressed us here at ProPrivacy. Central to this is the company’s excellent 24/7 live chat support, its genuinely no-quibbles 30-day money-back guarantee, and its easy-to-use apps for all major platforms.

Besides this, ExpressVPN packs truly outstanding technical security that stands above the other secure VPNs in our list at the post. It implements AES-256 cipher for OpenVPN, with an RSA-4096 handshake and SHA-512 keyed-hash message authentication code (HMAC). Perfect forward secrecy is provided courtesy of Elliptic Curve Diffie–Hellman (ECDH) key exchanges for data channel encryption.

Unlike most other iOS apps, the ExpressVPN iOS app actually uses OpenVPN – a great detail and a testament to the provider’s commitment to security. When you add full Domain Name System (DNS) leak and Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) leak protection, along with a firewall-based kill switch, it becomes clear that ExpressVPN offers exceptional VPN security. You can put this and the provider’s new Lightway protocol (which offers a faster and more secure VPN experience) to the test yourself, with its 30-day money-back guarantee protecting you if you change your mind.

Additional features: five simultaneous connections, “stealth” servers in Hong Kong, free Smart DNS, .onion web address.

PIA has a well earned reputation for being secure. It has proven that it keeps no logs, it implements encryption to an impressive level & tops it off with some nice features.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$2.84 –
  ^$11.00

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

Private Internet Access (PIA) is based in the US, so is not a provider for the more NSA-phobic out there. However, it keeps no logs, which is a claim that it has actually proven in court! And although optional and customizable, its security protections can be first-rate.

At maximum settings, OpenVPN encryption uses an AES-256 cipher with HMAC SHA256 for authorization and an RSA 4096 handshake for the data channel, and an AES-256 cipher with HMAC SHA384 authentication for the control channel. Perfect Forward Secrecy is delivered with a Diffie Hellman exchange (DHE) for RSA handshakes (or ECDHE+ECDSA for ECC handshakes).

PIA’s desktop software supports multiple security options, a VPN kill switch, DNS leak protection, and port forwarding. Up to 10 simultaneous connections are permitted. Its Android client is almost as good, and PIA boasts excellent connection speeds. You can test the service risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

CyberGhost is a VPN that makes staying secure online easy. If you want peace of mind online, but don’t want to spend time tinkering with settings, then CyberGhost is for you.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$2.81 –
  ^$13.47

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

CyberGhost VPN manages to combine a wealth of features with an easy-to-use interface – meaning that it’s a great pick for VPN newbies. The provider packs very strong encryption, and the 7 simultaneous connection allowance is quite generous. Being based in Romania and keeping no meaningful logs is also a big draw. Like ExpressVPN, some minimal statistics are kept, but with no timestamp or IPs recorded, these present no threat to users’ privacy.

The OpenVPN encryption used by CyberGhost is as strong as it gets. Data channel used an AES-256-CBC cipher with SHA256 hash authentication and Control channel uses an AES-256 cipher, RSA-4096 key encryption, and SHA384 hash authentication. Perfect forward secrecy is provided by an ECDH-4096 key exchange.

CyberGhost’s top-notch logging policy, decent local (burst) speeds, and fully featured software gave it a spot on our list. We’d recommend trying it out for yourself, and you can do so with a generous 45-day no-quibble money-back guarantee on subscription plans longer than one month.

Surfshark is a secure VPN service that is packed with value. With a great arsenal of privacy features and encryption, what really impresses us is the price.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$2.49 –
  ^$12.95

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

Surfshark is a VPN provider that is known to be a superb all-rounder. The VPN has apps for all platforms that come with all the advanced privacy and security features you need. This includes a kill switch, DNS leak protection, obfuscation, and OpenVPN encryption.

Where the encryption is concerned it is implemented to a high standard across platforms with Perfect Forward Secrecy. This ensures that your data is always protected against eavesdroppers and hackers. Plus, its no-logs policy ensures that Surfshark never has any data about what you do online. Due to its advanced privacy features, this VPN can be trusted by journalists, lawyers, and other citizens looking for the highest privacy levels.

And Surfshark is suitable for doing sensitive tasks such as torrenting. A VPN with servers in over 60 countries that can unblock virtually any geo-restricted international or censored websites and services. You can test it on unlimited devices simultaneously, and completely risk-free, thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

ProtonVPN is a very secure VPN service from the developers of ProtonMail – so it has pedigree. What makes this service really stand out is a double-hop feature.

• Free option

  Yes

  Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$3.29 –
  ^$5.00

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

ProtonVPN is, as its name suggests, a VPN service from the people who reinvented secure email with the now-famous ProtonMail service. ProtonVPN is based in privacy-friendly and NSA-free Switzerland, and all its apps are open source (with the Android app available on F-droid). 

The Windows client and Linux script use OpenVPN, while the macOS, Android, and iOS VPN apps use IKEv2. The OpenVPN settings used are an AES-256-CBC cipher with HMAC SHA-512 hash authentication on the data channel and AES-256 cipher with RSA-2048 handshake encryption and HMAC SHA-1 hash authentication on the control channel.

Perfect forward secrecy is provided by a Diffie-Hellman key exchange (key length unknown). IKEv2 uses an AES-256 cipher with RSA-2048 handshake encryption.

ProtonVPN uses only bare metal servers and we have never detected an IP leak of any kind when testing the service.

It’s Windows and macOS clients feature kill switches which are firewall-based but do not use the OS system firewalls. ProtonVPN’s SecureCore feature is a double-hop VPN setup designed to foil end-to-end timing attacks. 

AirVPN is an obvious choice for our most secure VPN list. It had to be, considering it lets users connect to VPN servers via the Tor service. Genius.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$3.23 –
  ^$8.05

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

AirVPN is at the top of the game when it comes to fast, secure VPN technology, but its tech-heavy focus and rather brusque support manner may alienate many would-be users or VPN greenhorns.

OpenVPN uses AES-256 with RSA-4096 handshake, HMAC SHA1 data channel authentication, HMAC SHA384 control authentication, and DHE-4096 for perfect forward secrecy. It allows users to connect completely anonymously to its servers via the Tor network and can hide OpenVPN communications inside a Secure Shell (SSH) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) tunnel.

The open-source desktop client disables IPv6, and its “network lock” feature acts as a kill switch and prevents DNS leaks. WebRTC leaks are blocked by both the network lock function and at the server level. This protects users from WebRTC leaks, even when using the generic OpenVPN app. Furthermore, AirVPN runs its own bare-metal servers. Give it a go with a three-day trial for just €2.

Additional features: real-time user and server statistics, three-day trial, five simultaneous connections.

VyprVPN is a fully audited no logs VPN that takes privacy seriously. Vypr implements robust encryption across all of its apps so you are never left exposed, regardless of your device.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$1.66 –
  ^$12.95

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

VyprVPN is a provider based in Switzerland; a location that is generally accepted as being the best place in the EU for a privacy service to be based. The VPN is a no logs service that ensures nobody ever finds out what you do online.

VyprVPN has apps for all platforms that provide advanced privacy and security features such as a kill switch, DNS leak protection, and obfuscation. This ensures that the VPN is suitable for doing sensitive tasks such as torrenting, or unblocking government censored content. With VyprVPN, OpenVPN encryption is implemented to a high standard using a string cipher and Perfect forward Secrecy. This ensures that the VPN is future proof and that your data cannot be intercepted even by government snoops.

We love that VyprVPN has servers in over 70 countries around the world. And the fact that this VPN paid for a full third party security audit means that you can trust the service to protect your data. It’s well worth testing using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Hide.Me is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a truly secure service. For starters, it is based in Malaysia and it even covers IPv6 connections.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$2.43 –
  ^$12.95

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

Hide.me is a VPN provider from Malaysia that is always considered an excellent choice for anybody who cares about privacy and security. The VPN has a lot of advanced features that you won’t find on the majority of VPN services available on the market. This includes a kill switch, DNS leak protection, obfuscation, and full IPv6 compatibility.

Plus, Hide.me provides port forwarding for anybody who requires it for torrenting. Hide.me also recently bolstered its product by allowing users to unblock sought after services such as Netflix US. 

You can see how it stands up against our other recommendations thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee. 

PrivateVPN is the cheapest secure VPN on our list. This fast, no logs VPN implements solid encryption standards, and it can unblock most streaming services as an added bonus.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$1.89 –
  ^$7.12

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

PrivateVPN is a provider based in Sweden that is true to its namesake. The VPN has excellent apps for all platforms that provide robust military-grade OpenVPN encryption that is implemented securely with a strong cipher, handshake, and authentication on both the data and control channels.

PrivateVPN is a no-logs provider, which means that it will never hold any records about what you have done online while connected to its network. This means that it can never comply with data requests or warrants. We enjoy this VPN because it has all the important security features we need to use the internet safely. A kill switch ensures that you never leak data to your ISP, and the obfuscation makes this service suitable for bypassing censorship in restrictive countries around the globe.

This VPN is a great all-rounder that can unblock many sought after streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and it has reliable apps for all platforms. You can test it risk-free thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

IPVanish is known for being used as a secure VPN to torrent with. It’s packed full of features, in obfuscation technology, so no one knows what you are doing online.

• Pricing

  From 
  
  ^$6.49 –
  ^$10.00

• Logging policy

  • Anonymized

• IP Leak detected?

• WebRTC Leak detected?

IPVanish is a VPN provider based in the US, but this is hardly a problem thanks to its staunch zero logs policy. It has fantastic apps for all platforms, each of which comes with advanced VPN features such as a kill switch, DNS leak protection, and obfuscation. This ensures that you can use the VPN for sensitive tasks such as torrenting in private.

IPVanish also provides our preferred encryption protocol – OpenVPN. And that encryption is implemented robustly with an AES-256 cipher and perfect forward secrecy. In addition to being private and secure, IPVanish has fast servers in over 75 countries worldwide. This makes the VPN perfect for unblocking online content from around the globe with complete privacy. We found this VPN to be easy to use across all platforms, and you can connect with as many devices as you want simultaneously. This is very generous and means that you can use it to gain security across all of your devices.

Finally, this VPN can be compared to our other recommendations thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Are secure VPNs fast?

Yes, all of our recommended secure VPNs are fast enough to handle even the most data-intensive tasks, such as online gaming, VoIP calls, and streaming in full HD. To help you better understand what speeds you can expect from our top secure VPN picks, we run speed tests on them three times a day and display the most recent results in the table below. This way, you know which secure VPNs are the fastest at any given moment.

How to determine how secure a VPN is?

There are lots of things that a VPN can do for you, but let’s acknowledge that it is, first and foremost, a tool to protect your privacy online. If a VPN can’t do this, it’s putting your privacy at risk and creating a false sense of security – the exact opposite of what you’d want from a VPN.

The most important things that we look at when determining the security of a VPN are:

• Encryption & VPN protocols – What encryption standards does the VPN offer and are the protocols strong enough?
• IP Leaks – Is the VPN accidentally leaking your IP address from anywhere?
• Kill switch – Will the VPN protect you if your connection to the server fails?

We cover the different ways that you can determine how secure a VPN is below.

Which is the most secure VPN protocol?

In order to establish a secure connection, the VPN software on your device negotiates an encrypted connection with the VPN server. The mechanism used to do this is called the VPN protocol, which uses a series of authentication and encryption algorithms to ensure the connection is secure.

The main VPN protocols you are likely to encounter are:

How we assess encryption

We focus on OpenVPN encryption when assessing the encryption used by VPN providers. This is because:

• OpenVPN and IKEv2 are the only VPN protocols we know to be fully secure and we recommend you use either of these.
• Just about every VPN service offers OpenVPN. This allows us to compare like for like across services.
• The care a provider takes over the details of its OpenVPN encryption is a strong indicator of the care it takes over security in general.

OpenVPN is made up of several elements – but the devil is in the detail. The security of OpenVPN comes from how well it has been implemented. Meaning that if OpenVPN has been implemented poorly by a VPN service, then it’s no better than the other (lesser) protocols we mentioned.

Below is a list of the component parts of the OpenVPN protocol:

We recognize that implementing encryption protocols like OpenVPN to a high standard is a key feature of a secure VPN – so, we made it one of our main considerations when coming up with our list of the ten most secure VPN services. Simply put, if we find that a particular VPN service can’t implement encryption protocols to a high standard, we don’t recommend the service.

   

Secure no logs VPNs

In our opinion, a VPN cannot be considered secure if it keeps logs of your connection and traffic. This is because a VPN that keeps logs of your activity is liable to hand that data over to authorities at a moment’s notice. This is not at all something you’d want your VPN provider doing, especially if you’re using your VPN to download torrents.

Because of this, all of the secure VPN providers we recommend in this guide have strict no-logs policies to ensure that none of your online activity while connected to their networks is ever logged. Since a secure, no-logs VPN provider will never have any data related to what you get up to on its network, it will have literally nothing whatsoever to hand over to authorities, even if served with a warrant. This means that you can rest assured that your online privacy will be fully protected by a VPN that doesn’t keep logs.

IP leaks

The second key element to a VPN’s technical security is to have IP leak protection.

An IP leak happens when your VPN leaks your real IP address to a website or service that you visit online. This is very dangerous, of course, particularly if you’re using a VPN to keep your identity private while accessing the internet.

When using a VPN, no website you visit should be able to see your real IP address, or one belonging to your ISP that can be traced back to you. We have tested all the services in the list above to ensure that they do not leak your real IP Address. 

How to test for IP Leaks yourself

We recommend testing your VPN service for leaks when you first sign-up for it. You can do this by using ProPrivacy’s leak testing tool – and don’t worry, we’ve made the process incredibly easy! All you need to do is follow the on-screen instructions:

All tests were passed in the example image above, as indicated by the checkmarks to the right. You can find out more information by clicking on the drop-down boxes. If you instead see a red cross next to IPv4, IPv6, DNS, or WebRTC, then you have experienced a leak. In this case, you can troubleshoot by turning IPv6 off manually and disabling WebRTC, but it might be easier to just switch providers at that point if you detect a leak of any kind.

Check out our guide on how to fix the WebRTC bug if you are experiencing any WebRTC related issues. 

Kill switches

VPN connections do sometimes drop – for various reasons – and this is something that can happen to even the best VPN. A secure VPN provider will ensure that you are kept secure if your internet connection drops, meaning your real IP address will not be exposed for the world to see.

Kill switches shut down your internet connection when your VPN is not connected in order to protect your privacy. They can be either reactive or firewall-based.

Reactive kill switches

Reactive kill switches detect that the connection to the VPN server has dropped, then shut down your internet connection to prevent leaks.

There is a danger, however, that an IP leak could occur during the micro-seconds it takes to detect the VPN dropout and to shut down your internet connection.

Firewall kill switches

Firewall-based kill switches solve the IP leak problem by simply routing all internet connections through the VPN interface. If the VPN is not running, then no traffic can enter or leave your device. Firewall-based kill switches are therefore better than reactive ones, but any kill switch is better than none!

Firewall-based kill switches come in two types. The first kind is implemented in the client, and will therefore not work if the client crashes. The second kind modifies the Windows or macOS firewall rules so that even if the VPN software crashes, traffic cannot enter or exit your device.

The only problem with the second method is that it could, at least in theory, cause conflicts if you use a third-party firewall.

Are there free secure VPNs?

Yes, if you don’t feel like spending any money, then you can get a quality, reliable free VPN that is secure and will allow you to sufficiently protect your privacy without having to pay a single cent. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that free VPN services are typically restricted in various ways such as in connection speeds, number of server locations, premium features, and data limits.

It’s also important to understand that genuine, high-quality free VPN services are exceedingly rare. So if you do opt for a free VPN, then make certain that it does its part to protect your privacy and keep you secure. Why? Because the vast majority of free VPN services are either completely useless and provide little to no online security, or they make their money by selling your data to the highest bidder. Some free options can even be outright dangerous to use since they can be crawling with malware.

If you don’t mind dropping a few bucks a month for one of the premium services listed in this guide, then you’d really be better off securing your connection with one of our recommended secure VPNs.

Most secure VPNs for Android and iPhone

If protecting your online privacy while you’re out and about is your main concern, you’ll be happy to know that all our VPN recommendations also apply to the Android and iPhone apps as well. A quality, secure VPN provider will keep you secure on smartphones and tablets since it will offer the same privacy protections it offers on other platforms.

In fact, using a VPN on mobile is the best way to protect your privacy on the go, especially if you’re connecting your mobile device to a public wifi hotspot. Check out our iOS VPN or Android VPN pages for more infromation about using one on your mobile. 

Has your data been compromised?

Check if your data has been compromised by using our tool below. It will tell your email has ever been exposed in a data breach. Simply enter your email address above to find out.

FAQs

Conclusion

A VPN is a versatile tool with a wealth of functions, whether you want to spoof your location, access restricted sites, or stay safe on public WiFi hotspots – but primarily, a VPN is about security. When you connect to a VPN server, you’re shoring up your privacy. Nobody will be able to snoop on your identifiable information; not your ISP, government, or any malicious cybercriminals.

Now that you know everything that goes into making sure a VPN is secure, here’s a quick reminder of our top picks for the most secure VPNs:

1. 
   ExpressVPN
   
   – The most secure VPN on our list. This service is super secure but doesn’t compromise on speed and performance.
2. 
   Private Internet Access
   
   – A secure zero logs VPN. Not only is it packed with security features, but it has proven its no logs policy in court!
3. 
   CyberGhost VPN
   
   – An easy to use VPN with watertight security. It offers slick apps for Android & iOS with the same great levels of privacy.
4. 
   Surfshark
   
   – A secure VPN that is packed with value. For $2.49 a month you get excellent encryption, privacy features and fast connection speeds.
5. 
   ProtonVPN
   
   – A very secure VPN service from the developers of ProtonMail. With that pedigree it’s no surprise that it made it into our top picks.