These VPNs Can Help Improve Your Online Security and Privacy

Here at CNET, we rigorously test virtual private networks to determine which service is deserving of the title best VPN. To see how VPN services compare against each other, we use a combination of our own hands-on testing and the latest real-world research from industry experts. To earn the top accolade, a VPN needs to demonstrate excellent speed, privacy and overall value in our evaluation.

Currently, ExpressVPN is our Editors’ Choice for best overall VPN. Most recently, ExpressVPN passed its latest set of third-party audits, contributing to a growing record of industry-leading transparency efforts. 

A reliable and well-tested VPN is a cornerstone tool for protecting your privacy online, and can help you get the best value out of your online gaming and streaming. A VPN service is a mobile app or other software that encrypts the connection between your device and the internet, preventing your internet service provider from seeing which apps or websites you are using.

It also prevents most of those websites and apps from seeing what geographic location you’re connecting from. And, if configured correctly, a virtual private network can stop your internet service provider from throttling your speeds.  The best VPN delivers unprecedented digital privacy without compromising on performance.

Though many people forgo VPNs in favor of other types of network connections, we strongly recommend using a good VPN for work, especially if you deal with sensitive information. A VPN can also give you an added layer of security on public Wi-Fi networks, even though they’re far less of a security threat than they were in previous years. And with football season now in full swing, it’s a good time to note that VPNs can also be used to correct wrongly applied league blackouts and geographic restriction glitches.

In addition, VPN services allow you to bypass content blocks in some countries to access critical news and educational information, while also opening up your streaming entertainment options.  While we believe the best VPN overall is ExpressVPN, we’re also eager to find the best VPNs for different uses. That’s why we also recommend Surfshark VPN as the best cheap VPN for the budget-savvy.

Each VPN in the list below has an excellent value for a specific use case, and we point out the ideal user for each one. We’re also in the process of re-evaluating ProtonVPN and will update our recommendations based on that review in the coming months. In the meantime, keep an eye out for holiday VPN deals, which are in play for some providers, including many of our top picks.

Read more: Casual vs. Critical: When Your VPN Is a Matter of Life or Death, Here’s How to Pick One

What’s the best VPN in 2022?

  • ExpressVPN received a CNET Editors’ Choice Award for best overall VPN. We evaluate VPNs based on their overall performance in three main categories: speed, security and price.

    Express isn’t the cheapest, but it’s among the fastest and, so far, is the most secure. 

  • Surfshark is a close second among our picks. In 2022, it also earned a CNET Editors’ Choice Award as our VPN value pick, thanks to its low first-year price support for unlimited devices.
  • NordVPN, our third choice, is a die-hard heavy hitter. It costs more than Surfshark but less than Express, has an enormous network that’s constantly getting faster and more secure, and is easily the most reliable service we’ve tested.

Over the past several years, a flood of VPN providers has entered the marketplace, and that comes with both benefits and drawbacks.

On one hand, the array of affordable VPN options now available means that — no matter how critical or casual your privacy needs — there’s a VPN service suited to your purpose. But it also means consumers have to wade through even more VPN advertising hype.

How we test VPNs

Our hands-on testing and review process is designed to cut through that hype. When we look at each VPN service, we’re not just examining them for their technical weaknesses, but we’re also scrutinizing their individual performance strengths.

We want to know what each service does best. We test each VPN across over 20 factors, and we’re continually improving our methodology as we learn more. We test VPNs for browsing and streaming speed in multiple countries as well as their connection stability and even the smallest potential privacy leaks.

By testing across multiple devices and platforms, we’re able to assess which VPNs are best for gaming versus those best for streaming, torrenting or sharing sensitive information. Most importantly, we focus on doing the deep-dive research necessary to vet each VPN’s historical credibility and its ownership in a notoriously murky market.  The VPNs on this list earn our recommendation for more than just boosting their digital privacy strengths — they enable easy streaming to overcome geoblocked media, have torrenting-friendly servers, and are fast enough to support gaming globally.

Based on those continued evaluations, you’ll see a few bullet points on each entry in our list, highlighting each VPN’s strengths and the uses we recommend it for most. And because we strive to keep on top of a fast-changing market, you’ll notice that the rank of each VPN service changes as we learn more and retest. 

Best VPN services in 2022

Let’s look at each of our VPN vendors below in more depth. Keep in mind that this list is constantly being updated.

We’re actively working on more VPN testing and research, so expect this guide to change throughout the year as we put each VPN through its paces. The list below presents our favorites overall in 2022 so far. We’ll call out when specific traits make for a better choice in a more narrow evaluation.

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