We all spend a major portion of our day on the Internet scrolling websites, sharing confidential information, purchasing and much more. But while surfing the internet, are you sure about your online privacy or the safety of the data? We can hear you telling No. So what is the best way to keep yourself secure while surfing the internet?
Moreover, sometimes when you go outside to buy a cup of coffee or to study in the library or anything else, we rely on the public wifi network. But do you know it is least safe to browse the internet using public wifi, and it’s highly prone to hackers?
If you are concerned about your online safety, then stop accessing public networks immediately. There is another way also. Fortunately, you can make use of VPNs to keep your data safe online and surf the internet anonymously without worrying about confidential data theft.
The prying eyes on the internet, we mean the Hackers, are always trying their best to get access to your confidential information and dupe you. In all such cases and for the best prevention, VPN turns out to be a life savior.
Let’s understand in detail, What is VPN? How it Helps?, How to Choose the best one? and our top recommendations for Best VPN in 2021.
What is VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a technology that allows users to access the internet privately by creating a private connection. When you turn on a VPN, it makes an encrypted route between the internet and the device you are using. It also replaces your existing IP address with another one, so it becomes safe for you to access the open wifi networks as well.
Installing VPN is a cakewalk; the way you install other applications, you can install a VPN. VPN lets you gain safe access to geographically restricted content and keeps your ISP at bay from knowing what you are doing on the internet. VPNs make all this happen by showing on the internet that you are accessing it from some other location or country. ‘
Why do I need to install a VPN?
Technically, you should be asking us the advantages of having a VPN installed on the mobile or computer. VPN comes in handy for anyone who has its devices often connected to public networks or unprotected wifi. We find such wifi at cafes, airports, libraries, bars etc. While accessing these networks, some of us happen to share confidential information, unaware that hackers may see it. Fortunately, if you have the VPN already installed, it will safeguard your sensitive data from hackers or other attackers.
When you surf the internet while already connected with the VPN, you need not worry about online privacy and safety. The VPN lets you gain access to the website or application through the encrypted connection only. Once the VPN receives the request to open some site, it forwards it and gets the response to you all through the secure connection. During this process, the data is shared in an encrypted format, and no information leakage happens. Overall, it means you are in safe hands on the internet.
In a nutshell, anyone who accesses the internet frequently for anything must have a VPN installed to protect their data.
You might ask, Does that mean I need a VPN for everything?
Your question is apt. If you want to protect your confidential data from the eyes of hackers, then you cannot think of surviving without a VPN.
If you want to get access to blocked or geo-restricted streaming websites where you can watch your favorite shows, then also VPN is best. You just need to find the best one for your browser or set up one for your mobile.
If you think that VPN works only for your computer or mobile, then you are wrong. VPN protects your smart TV, Xbox etc. as well.
Should I purchase a Free VPN?
We are sure this thought must have come to your mind, but our answer is NO a big big NO.
We know what VPN does for us and how much effort it takes for VPN companies to safeguard us online. But if you are thinking of getting a Free VPN, let us tell you it will not be a VPN but just fake software that acts as a VPN.
Free VPNs are sadly worth nothing, and you should not choose them if you are serious about online privacy and safety.
The reputed VPN companies have to put in lots of effort to keep their users safe. This is the reason why choosing the paid one is the best option.
Are you worried about the costs now? If yes, then don’t worry.
Things have changed now. Getting a VPN costs you less than your monthly coffee budget. The good news is, the ones which we have selected in our list of best VPNs in 2021 are quite affordable. Check out the list now.
List of Best VPNs To Buy in 2022 For Online Privacy
We have taken plenty of metrics into consideration to come up with the list of best VPNs. The metrics were price, performance, ease of access, speed, security, logging, customer support, dynamic IP and much more.
Let’s take a deeper look at every VPN we listed below. We will keep updating this list from time to time, so you get only the latest information from us every time. Here we go:
Nord VPN – Best For Security, Strong Encryption, and Reliability
- Works Best On Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android
- Number of Devices It Supports: 6
- Number of Servers: 5000+
- Available in: 59 Countries
- Unblocked Streaming Sites: Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and iPlayer
- Money-Back Guarantee: 30-days
Like every field has its pioneers; similarly, NORDVPN is the renowned name in the VPN industry. It has a huge customer base of around 8 million customers. You can assume from it how popular it is. To test its efficiency, we used it to watch films and download content.
The best thing about NordVPN is that it has its roots in Panama. This location is not a member of 14 eyes, Nine eyes as well as Five Eyes. It means the government can never force this company to hand over or share confidential data. NordVPN is the best choice for those who are highly concerned about their online privacy.
Speed – When compared with its other competitors, the performance of NordVPN was par excellence. It offers you excellent speed. Moreover, while browsing the internet using NordVPN, you will never face any lags, sudden dips or other interruptions. These are the factors where we expect the VPN not to perform well, but NordVPN proved why it’s the best. For its fast speed, we can thank Nordlync, its in-house protocol.
Features:
- Cyber Sec – It tends to block the affected sites, ads or other malware.
- Kill Switch – It refrains you from using the internet in case the VPN connection vanishes.
- Double Encryption – We loved this feature the most. It means the web traffic is encrypted two times to maintain your privacy. It makes NordVPN highly secure out of all.
- Split Tunneling and Free SOCK55 Proxy for you to use.
- Combine NordVPN with some secure Tor networks to use in the countries where it’s restricted.
Streaming Platforms – We manually tested NordVPN on different sites that offer streaming services. We concluded that it has the power to unblock any streaming platform which is geo-restricted, and you want to access it. Moreover, if you’re going to use Netflix to see Korean dramas, then using VPN, you can change your location, and Netflix will show you the same content. It works smoothly on Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO, and Netflix.
Pricing: You must be thinking NordVPN has so many features, so it must be costly. But no, not at all, it costs merely $11.65 for a month. We used the monthly package for testing NordVPN for you. If you sign up for a long term, then prices go down nearly 75%. Isn’t it amazing? Also, it comes with a full 30 days refund policy.
Customer Support: We believe there is no advantage of buying any software if its support team is not good. The NordVPNs customer support team is highly amicable and reliable. Shoot them an email if you face any issue, and they reply in a couple of hours or go to their live chat option to respond immediately.
Pros:
- Fair Prices
- Excellent Speed
- Unblocked Streaming Sites
- No-logs policy and kill switch feature
- Has Ad Blocker
- 24/7 live chat support
- Higher ratings
- Supports six devices
Cons:
- No Free Trial Available
- Needs email address for signing up
- With the iOS app kill switch doesn’t work properly
- No router application
CyberGhost VPN – Packed With Excellent Feature and Best For MAC
- Works Best On: Windows, Linux, iOS and Android
- Number of Devices It Supports: 7
- Number of Servers: 7000+
- Available in: 91 Countries
- Unblocked Streaming Sites: Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix and iPlayer
- Money-Back Guarantee: 45 Days
CyberGhost is the best VPN for those who wish to configure the VPN as per their preferences. It has an excellent user-friendly interface and keeps any jargon at bay. CyberGhost has a broad network of nearly 7300 servers in different countries which means you will not face any trouble while connecting. Its subscriber base amounts to almost 10 million subscribers.
The actual company is located in Romania. This country is not part of international surveillance networks, which means no data retention laws. Overall, this makes CyberGhost a great choice for ensuring online privacy.
Speed: CyberGhost company has given deep thought to the user experience. Its Smart Rules panel offers users extra touches to perform the actions. Another bonus is that when you start your computer, Cyberghost automatically connects to the server you prefer.
This feature turns out amazing if you are looking to stream. Its wireguard protocol is the backbone behind the excellent speed that CyberGhost offers. The quick connection speeds give you a glimpse of NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
Features:
- CyberGhost VPN has the potential to unblock any geo-restricted content.
- For ensuring the safety of its users, it uses military-grade encryption, i.e., AES-256.
- We are confident that our actual identities are protected with excellent encryption, which means you can browse safely.
- Website unblocking is another forte of CyberGhost VPN. It can easily go well with Disney+, Netflix US etc.
- CyberGhost offers easy-to-follow guides for every user that explains each and everything.
- Plenty of configuration options.
Streaming Platforms: For streaming, CyberGhost is the best. It has many servers, which gives you an excellent experience on Netflix and other streaming platforms. Moreover, CyberGhost VPN is a highly versatile application, and it works great for Mac, Windows, and Linux. For mobile, it has Android and iOS applications. The SmartDNS feature of this VPN allows you to unblock the movies or shows you want to see.
Pricing: Who doesn’t like great deals? And this is the reason why Cyberghost VPN is one of our favorites. It has in total four plans. The one-month plan costs you $12.99 and the three years one $2.25 per month. You can even get a dedicated IP for just $5 a month. The best perk is that CyberGhost offers you a 45-day money-back guarantee, and there is also a one-day free trial available for those using the desktop version.
Customer Support: We are giving you an honest review only. Just like other VPN services, CyberGhost gives you excellent customer support, which is available 24/7. It also offers a live chat option that is available in German, French and English language. To get an answer to your query, you can scroll through the troubleshooting guides available on the website and get an answer.
Pros:
- Excellent customer support
- Affordable costs
- Plenty of servers around the world
- Quick and best for streaming
- Allows torrenting too
- Excellent security features
Cons:
- Lags on windows
- No split tunneling feature
- The company which owns this VPN has a bad reputation.
- Logging policy
Express VPN – Overall Best VPN for Privacy, Unblocking, and Speed
- Works Best On Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android
- Number of Devices It Supports: 5
- Number of Servers: 3000+
- Available in: 94 Countries
- Unblocked Streaming Sites: Youtube, Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix
- Money-Back Guarantee: Use its free 30-day trial as a money-back guarantee
If you ask us who the all-rounder winner is, then it’s ExpressVPN. It works best for those who are constantly connected with public wifi networks. Express VPN without any lag connects the user easily with the network and offers fast speeds simultaneously. It also has a kill switch which comes in handy when the connection is lost. It kills all the ongoing sessions to protect our privacy. Other than iPhone, Express VPN works great on Windows and Mac as well.
We tried to test Express VPN in-depth, and the results of every test were quite impressive. This is the reason why this VPN has a higher rating. If we look back and revise the history, then also ExpressVPN has an excellent track record. This VPN has nearly 3000 servers situated in different locations around the world. At the same time, it allows the user to create five connections that we believe are more than enough.
Speed: If you are a multi-tasker like us, then Express VPN works pretty much great all the time. While checking its speed and performance, it gave tough competition to its rivals.
You can easily use this VPN with Apple TV, Smart TVs, Xbox, Routers, Playstation, etc. Its Lightway Protocol is meant to increase reliability and speed to a great extent. Considering our real-life testing, Expressvpn emerges as the best. For beginners, it’s very fast. Even in multiple countries, it offers superb connection speeds.
Features:
- Collab With OpenVPN – Works great with OpenVPN. Express VPN says that when it’s combined with OpenVPN, then it gives excellent speed, performance, and security at the same time.
- Logging Policy – It has a highly strict logging policy which means it keeps no record of web activity. It is the feature we expect from all the VPNs for ensuring privacy. This VPN just keeps the needed information only, and thankfully it is highly safe.
- Split Tunneling – Sometimes, when we are outside working, we keep fluctuating between public and private networks. In such a case, other VPNs have a kill switch feature, but ExpressVPN has a split tunneling function. This feature lets the user access both public and private networks simultaneously. It keeps toggling at bay.
Streaming Platforms: Most people rely on VPN for accessing sites where they can see their favorite shows or movies and play games. Using Express VPN, you can access blocked streaming sites and geo-restricted sites. You can easily watch shows or movies on streaming partners like Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Disney+. Without an inch of difficulty, this VPN unlocked all these sites.
Pricing: They offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can leverage it and find out whether ExpressVPN is useful for you or not. As a payment option, it offers the Bitcoin option as well. Their best package starts at $7 a month for the whole year; you get to use ExpressVPN free for three months under this plan.
Customer Support: The best news is that this VPN offers excellent customer support and 24/7 live chat support. Along with this, the site has several detailed tutorials and guides; you can go through these to learn how to use ExpressVPN or get an answer to your queries. We used their live chat support option, and we got a detailed explanation in a couple of minutes. It means their customer support team is highly hyperactive.
Pros:
- Runs on almost every platform
- Excellent speed
- Fast customer support
- Access to geo-restricted sites
- No data retention laws
- Solid security
Cons:
- Fewer simultaneous connections only
- Slow speed at Mac
- For internet explorer, it offers no browser extension
- Five simultaneous connections only for every subscription
Private Internet VPN – Best suitable for the Windows
- Works Best On Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android
- Number of Devices It Supports: 10
- Number of Servers: 10000+
- Available in: 78 Countries
- Unblocked Streaming Sites: YouTube, Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix
- Money-Back Guarantee: No
We cannot say Private Internet Access is the fastest or the most affordable VPN. But it is rather good. When we tested it, we got quite good speed, and it also comes in the form of iOS and Android apps. PIA has plenty of features to offer its users.
Aside from this, their privacy policy is also strict, and it covers almost every point. Another thing that users will like the most is that the government never asks this VPN company to share their confidential data or hand it over. Their founder says that “We don’t keep records of logs, that’s it.”. The actual company that owns the Private Internet Access VPN is situated in Denver.
Speed: We will not say it’s the fastest VPN you can have. During performance tests, we found its rate is not the worst. It offers excellent speeds in the US and Europe especially. For long-distance connections, it provides slightly low speed.
Also, PIA is a perfect combination of sought-after privacy features and protocols needed for ensuring online safety. Private VPN easily connects with nearby servers without any lag. If we keep aside the speed losses, it is also fast enough to offer you an excellent browsing experience and streaming.
Features:
- Private Internet Access doesn’t allow any kind of activity logging or keeping a record of sessions.
- In-built ad blocking for protecting you from visiting malicious sites.
- A huge network of nearly 10000 servers situated in different countries.
- Provides dedicated IP options to its users.
- PIA has a kill switch feature to safeguard you in the online world.
Streaming Platform: Just like other VPN platforms, this VPN also gives you access to Netflix, Hulu, Youtube and Amazon and the geo-restricted sites by unblocking them. It gives you an excellent HD streaming option without any lag. The stealth mode is made to overcome the DPI firewalls and VPN blocks so that you get unlimited access to the content you want to see.
Pricing: Getting the two-year plan will save you plenty of dollars, and it costs you $69.95. It means $2.69 for a month. For one year, it has a plan worth $39.95 which means $3.33 a month. If you don’t want to spend more, you can go for the monthly plan that costs you $9.95.
Customer Support: No live chat support option is available. But when we tried to connect with their customer support team, we got a suitable response from them, which was quite helpful. We think it is fair, not bad at all.
Pros:
- Plenty of servers
- Apps packed with required features
- Excellent value for money
- No security auditing
- No logging policy
- WireGuard offers excellent speed
- Highly affordable
- Gives extra three months usage if you buy the yearly plan
Cons:
- No free trial is available
- No live chat option
Conclusion
Ideally, the purpose of using a VPN is to safeguard you while surfing the internet. After all, when we use the internet, we are highly prone to getting our data hacked, stolen, etc.
To help you, we have created the list of best VPNs available in 2021. For every VPN listed, we have explained the features, speed, performance, streaming platforms, etc.
We suggest you read it in detail. If you would like to know in-depth about the best VPNs 2021 listed above or any else, then leave a comment or get in touch with us.
