Secure your information with VPNs for gaming, streaming and more; The 8 Best VPN Service Providers of 2021
We test all of our VPNs on multiple devices to see how they perform in terms of both speed and security. We’re also looking at the company behind the VPN; we want the companies to be based in areas outside of the jurisdiction of Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes, meaning that they can never be legally forced to hand over customer data.
We also read each company’s privacy policy to see what customer data they keep and whether or not it’s shared with third parties. Finally, we test out the VPN’s apps on both iOS and Android, as well as review their customer support system. In a nutshell? We do all the hard work so you can just download a VPN and be protected!
Our Top Picks of Best VPN Service Providers
Best Overall: NordVPN
“Earns top marks in categories like server choice, speed, strength of privacy policy, and even price.”
Best for Kodi: ExpressVPN
“Super fast, easy to use, supports the peer to peer connections that are essential to so many Kodi apps.”
Best for Torrenting: Cyberghost
“You can rest assured that your identity won’t be exposed.”
Best Free VPN: Windscribe
“An excellent free VPN that offers a surprisingly high level of service.”
Best for Android: TunnelBear
“Well designed, easy to understand, and allows you to turn the VPN on and select a server with a few intuitive taps.”
Best for Gaming: VyprVPN
“Runs on a network of servers that are designed with speed in mind, which is rare among VPN services.”
Best for Fire Stick: IPVanish
“Allows you to connect up to 10 devices at once, which is a lot more than most of the competition.”
Best for Privacy: Mullvad
“Doesn’t require users to provide an e-mail address or any identifying information.”
Best Overall: NordVPN
NordVPN is our pick for the best all-around VPN service on the 8 Best VPN Service Providers of 2021, earning top marks in categories like server choice, speed, strength of privacy policy, and even price. They manage to offer a similar, or higher, level of service across the board while maintaining one of the most affordable multi-year subscription prices in the industry.
When you use NordVPN, you get to take your pick of over 5,000 servers located in more than 60 countries. Connection speeds are excellent, latency is acceptable, and the service supports up to six simultaneous connections. That means you can have NordVPN installed on multiple devices, and receive the same high-level protection on all of them.
Native apps are available for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and even devices like routers and smart TVs. That makes it a good choice if you have lots of devices, like a Windows computer, iPhone, and Fire Stick that all need protection.
NordVPN features a strict no-logging policy, so you can rest assured that your anonymity will remain secure.
In October 2019, NordVPN confirmed an expired internal private key was exposed. This allowed hackers unauthorized access to one of its servers in Finland. However, the company assured users that customer data was not exposed and the problem has been corrected. Due to this, we have revised our original star rating to take this circumstance into account, even though it is still a reputable service that many use and recommend
Best for Kodi: ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN was a strong runner up for our top overall pick on The 8 Best VPN Service Providers of 2021, and it definitely ticks all the right boxes to make a fantastic Kodi VPN. It’s super-fast, easy to use, supports the peer to peer connections that are essential to so many Kodi apps, and it has native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
While ExpressVPN is a little more expensive than most of the competition, it offers a comparatively high level of service. You get to choose from more than 3,000 different servers in over 150 locations across 94 countries and access the sort of high-speed connections that are necessary for streaming 4K ultra high definition content through Kodi.
If you need a good general VPN that works outside of Kodi, ExpressVPN has those bases covered as well. The service works for unblocking Netflix, offers a fantastic no-logging privacy policy, high-level encryption, a kill switch to protect your anonymity, and even accepts cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as payment.
Best for Torrenting: Cyberghost
Number 3 on the list of our Best VPN Service Providers of 2021 is CYBERGHOST, Setting torrents up with a VPN can be complicated and confusing if you’ve never done it before, but Cyberghost makes it easy. The service provides native apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Fire TV. Install the appropriate app, press the button to secure your torrents, and you can rest assured that your identity won’t be exposed.
While this service is as easy to use as they come, it also has a rock-solid privacy policy and a fantastic feature set. Cyberghost doesn’t log your activities while using the service, so there’s no way for anyone to find your real IP address, or your identity, through a torrent.
If you ever lose connection to the service, it includes a kill switch that will immediately cease all torrent activities and prevent exposing your identity. It also provides excellent data transfer speeds, unlimited bandwidth, and allows you to leverage extremely secure 256-bit AES encryption.
Cyberghost also works for unblocking streaming services, accessing blocked websites, and even playing region-locked games, so you aren’t limited to
Best Free VPN: Windscribe
Free VPN services usually suffer from problems like slow data speeds, a lack of servers, and poor overall performance. In most cases, and for most types of use, you’re just better off paying for a VPN. If that isn’t an option, Windscribe is an excellent free VPN that offers a surprisingly high level of service, reason why its listed on our Best VPN Service Providers of 2021
When you sign up for a free Windscribe account and provide a valid e-mail address, you get access to 10GB worth of data per month. That isn’t enough to stream 4K video every day, but it’s a whole lot more than competing services offer.
Windscribe also allows you to connect to servers in 10 different countries, establish an unlimited number of connections each month, and enjoy surprisingly fast data transfer speeds.
The free version of Windscribe includes access to Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS apps, so you can use it on a wide range of different devices. It’s also compatible with VPN routers, but that feature isn’t available unless you pay for a subscription.
Best for Android: TunnelBear
There are a lot of great VPN services that include Android apps, but TunnelBear stands out due to how easy and straightforward it is. The TunnelBear Android app is well designed, easy to understand, and allows you to turn the VPN on and select a server with a few intuitive taps. Reasons best for Best for Android is TunnelBear which is listed on our Best VPN Service Providers of 2021.
TunnelBear offers great speeds, has servers in over 20 countries, supports 256-bit encryption, and has a strict no-logging policy to protect your anonymity.
TunnelBear also includes a totally free version if you want to check out how it works on your Android device without paying for a subscription. The free version is limited, and only allows you to transfer 500MB of data each month, but it’s there if you need it.
In addition to the fantastic Android app, TunnelBear also works with Windows, macOS, iOS, and has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. The service also allows you to use it on up to five devices at once, so you can easily run it on your computer and Android phone at the same time.
Best for Gaming: VyprVPN
Gaming on a VPN can be a challenge because connecting to the internet through a VPN typically slows your connection and introduces latency. VyprVPN is an excellent VPN for gaming because it’s decently fast, keeps the latency and jitter to a minimum, and has great server placement.
VyprVPN runs on a network of servers that are designed with speed in mind, which is rare among VPN services. They also have VPN servers located in close physical proximity to major gaming servers for a lot of popular games, which can help cut down on latency.
If your internet service provider throttles your connection, or routes you through congested nodes, connecting through VyprVPN may actually increase your connection speed and decrease your ping to the game server that you’re trying to connect to.
In addition to being an excellent gaming VPN, VyprVPN is also great for streaming video and other uses that require fast download speeds. It includes native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, VPN routers, and even smart TVs, so you can use it for more than gaming.
Best for Fire Stick: IPVanish
IPVanish is the best option for Fire Stick users, with a native Fire TV app that you can install right on your device. The app is even available from the official Amazon app store, so you don’t need to go through a complicated sideloading process. Best VPN Service Providers of 2021
One of the best things about IPVanish is that it allows you to connect up to 10 devices at once, which is a lot more than most of the competition. That means if you have IPVanish installed on all of your Fire Sticks and Fire TV devices, you can run it on your computer or laptop, and even your phone, all at the same time.
This service includes access to more than 1,300 servers in over 75 countries, supports peer to peer connections, and provides speeds that are fast enough to stream high definition content.
In addition to the excellent Fire TV app, IPVanish also has native apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Best for Privacy: Mullvad
Privacy is one of the most important concerns when choosing a VPN, but Mullvad is on another level. This VPN features the same strict no-logging policy that all the best VPN services stick to, but they go even further by not requiring users to provide an e-mail address or any identifying information.
When you create a Mullvad account, you are assigned an account number. That number is the only thing that Mullvad has to identify you, as they don’t ask for your name, or even your e-mail address when you sign up. Best VPN Service Providers of 2021
Mullvad even accepts multiple cryptocurrencies as payment options, so they can’t even track or keep a record of your identity through billing information. In the event that anyone ever went to Mullvad and asked for records on your internet activities, they simply wouldn’t be able to provide anything relevant.
Mullvad is a highly competent VPN service outside of their excellent privacy measures, with decent connection speeds, a wide variety of servers to choose from, and an affordable monthly billing plan. You can pay for Mullvad with a credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin, or even cash.
What’s the Fastest VPN?
In our experience performing speed tests on all of our VPNs, the fastest options were:
- IPVanish: We saw super quick download speeds with IPVanish.
- ExpressVPN: ExpressVPN also had really fast speeds on our Windows computer.
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