A commercial virtual private network is technology that allows you to create a private connection over a less private network by creating an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the internet. You can install a VPN just like you would any other app or program on your smartphone or computer. A VPN can let you get around censorship in your country or access geo-restricted media content from another country — and prevents your internet service provider from being able to intrude on your privacy by snooping on your web browsing. VPNs do this by allowing you to appear as though you’re connecting from a different location or country. 

A VPN is great for anyone using public, unprotected Wi-Fi, such as what’s offered in airports, bars or coffee shops. Your VPN protects your sensitive information — from your work projects to bank account login information — from being seen by malicious actors who trawl public Wi-Fi networks. When you browse the internet while on a VPN, your computer will contact the website through your VPN’s encrypted connection. The VPN will then forward the request for you and forward the response from the website back through its secure connection.

For more beginner-focused VPN help, we’ve demystified some of the jargon in our guide to all the VPN terms you need to know. 

People who access the internet from a computer, tablet or smartphone will benefit from VPN usage. A VPN service will almost always boost your privacy by encrypting your online activity. Communications that happen between the VPN server and your device are encrypted, so an internet service provider or someone on your Wi-Fi network spying on you wouldn’t know which webpages you access. They also won’t be able to see private information like passwords, usernames and bank or shopping details and so on. Anyone who wants to protect their privacy and security online should use a VPN.

If your goal is to protect your personal data from prying eyes, you want a VPN on whatever you are using. That means having a VPN to protect your laptop, your phone, your Xbox and your smart TV. 

If your goal is to use a VPN to gain access to streaming services which have been made unavailable in your country for whatever reason, you want a VPN on whatever you are using to access those streaming services. This could be as simple as a VPN for your Chrome browser or setting up a VPN for your Amazon Fire TV Stick. 

Whatever your reason for wanting a VPN, it’s usually a good idea to have it set up on as many of your web-connected things as possible. 

Use a mobile-friendly VPN to avoid slower speeds and ensure greater data privacy for your whole device. Mobile VPNs generally have a smaller memory footprint, and require less processing power than desktop VPNs, so they run faster and save more battery. Our top three VPN picks all have excellent, easy-to-use mobile app options for their services. Some VPNs will only work with one type of platform — like Apple or Android — and some are universally compatible. To find the right mobile VPN for you, check out our mobile-specific VPN guides below. We routinely update them with our retesting information, so check back often. 

• How to set up a VPN on your iPhone or Android phone, and why you need one
• Best Android VPNs for 2021
• Best iPhone VPNs of 2021

None of them. Seriously. While there are plenty of excellent free security and privacy apps online, VPNs sadly aren’t among them. Safe VPNs cost companies a lot of money to operate and keep secure, and free ones are almost always malware-laden data snoops. But there’s good news: The burgeoning VPN market is hypercompetitive right now, so prices for even the best VPNs regularly drop to less than $5 a month. In fact, the least expensive VPN we’ve seen so far ranks in our top three VPNs overall for security and speed. Check out our quick list of budget-savvy VPNs to find one in your price range.

We’re keeping a close eye on how each VPN provider stands compared with its competitors, as well as any new VPN services that may become available. We’ve cataloged our most recommended VPN services to date — and listed some less viable VPN selections, too, based on our testing. We’ll be regularly updating this VPN guide as new contenders hit the market.

That said, the VPN landscape can be confusing and mystifying. Here are some quick tips, each of which link to a more in-depth discussion.

Don’t use free VPN services: You’ll find only paid VPN options below because they’re the only ones we can recommend. 

Look for a no-logs VPN, but understand the caveats: The best VPNs keep as few logs as possible and make them as anonymous as possible, so there’s little data to provide should authorities come knocking. But even “no-logs” VPNs aren’t 100% anonymous.

VPN transparency is important, but warrant canaries are only the beginning: Many services use “warrant canaries” as a way to passively note to the public as to whether or not they’ve been subpoenaed by a government entity, as many investigations from national security agencies can’t be actively disclosed by law. But — like the no-logging issue — warrant canaries aren’t always as straightforward as they seem. You should spend more time investigating whether your prospective VPN has cooperated with authorities in the past — and how and when it’s disclosed that fact.

Think twice about using a US-based VPN: The Patriot Act is still the law of the land in the US, and that means US-based VPNs have little recourse if and when the feds show up with subpoenas or national security letters in hand demanding access to servers, VPN user accounts or other data. Yes, they may have little data to access if the service has a strong no-logs policy, but why not just choose a service that’s based outside Uncle Sam’s jurisdiction? (If this is a concern for you, you’ll want to avoid countries that the US has intelligence-sharing agreements with, too.)