Which VPN actually protects your privacy?

An independent, transparent comparison of VPN tools across privacy, security, transparency, value and ethics. Every cell is scored by a published rubric and backed by primary sources. We take no money from the VPNs we list.

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42 services independently verified. Tip: tick two or more rows to compare them side-by-side.

Type:

Categories:42 of 42 services

		Privacy					Security						Transparency					Ethics

IVPN Gibraltar IVPN Limited	100/100	None	None	None	Yes	Cash + crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	2× (2025)	Yes	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
NymVPNMixnet Switzerland Nym Technologies SA	97/100	None	None	None	Yes	Cash + crypto	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	3× (2024)	?	?	Untested	Clean	Consistent
Mullvad Sweden Mullvad VPN AB	96/100	14 Eyes	None	None	Yes	Cash + crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2× (2025)	Yes	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent
ExpressVPN British Virgin Islands Kape Technologies	95/100	None	None	None	Yes	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	4× (2025)	Yes	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
hide.me Malaysia eVenture Ltd	95/100	None	None	None	Yes	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	3× (2024)	Yes	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
Proton VPN Switzerland Proton AG	94/100	None	None	None	No	Cash + crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5× (2026)	?	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent
Obscura VPN United States Sovereign Engineering Inc.	91/100	5 Eyes	None	None	Yes	Crypto	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1× (2025)	?	?	Untested	Clean	Consistent
Windscribe Canada Windscribe Limited	90/100	5 Eyes	None	Some	Yes	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	3× (2024)	?	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
NordVPN Panama Nord Security	89/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	3× (2025)	Yes	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
Private Internet Access United States Kape Technologies	87/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	3× (2025)	Yes	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent
AirVPN Italy	82/100	14 Eyes	None	None	Yes	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	None	Yes	?	?	Clean	Consistent
CyberGhost VPN Romania Kape Technologies	82/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	3× (2025)	Yes	Yes	Untested	Clean	Consistent
Surfshark Netherlands Nord Security	76/100	9 Eyes	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	2× (2025)	Yes	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
Mozilla VPN United States Mozilla	75/100	5 Eyes	None	Logs	No	Cards only	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	2× (2023)	?	?	?	Clean	Consistent
OVPN United States Point Wild	73/100	5 Eyes	None	None	Yes	Cash + crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	None	Yes	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent
TorGuard United States Data Protection Services LLC	73/100	5 Eyes	None	None	Yes	Cash + crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	None	Yes	?	Untested	Clean	Consistent
TunnelBear Canada Advent International-led private-equity consortium	73/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	Cards only	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	No	2× (2025)	?	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent
AzireVPN Sweden Malwarebytes	72/100	14 Eyes	None	None	No	Cards only	Yes	No	?	?	?	Yes	?	1× (2026)	Yes	Yes	Untested	?	?
Bitdefender VPN Romania Bitdefender	72/100	None	None	None	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	1× (2025)	?	?	?	Clean	Consistent
ZoogVPN Greece Softoria	72/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	1× (2026)	?	No	?	?	Consistent
Cloudflare WARP United States Cloudflare	69/100	5 Eyes	None	Logs	Yes	Cards only	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	2× (2025)	?	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
PureVPN British Virgin Islands PureSquare	69/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	3× (2023)	?	Yes	Untested	Overclaims	Contradictory
AdGuard VPN Cyprus AdGuard Software Limited	61/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	None	?	No	?	Clean	Consistent
PrivadoVPN Iceland Privado Networks ehf.	61/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	None	?	No	Untested	?	Consistent
Trust.Zone Seychelles Internet Privacy Ltd	61/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	None	?	No	?	?	Consistent
Brave VPN United States Brave Software	60/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	Cards only	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	2× (2024)	?	Yes	?	Clean	Consistent
VyprVPN United States Certida	60/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	1× (2018)	No	?	?	?	?
HMA (HideMyAss) United Kingdom Gen Digital	59/100	5 Eyes	None	Some	No	Cards only	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	1× (2020)	No	?	Untested	?	Consistent
IPVanish United States Ziff Davis	59/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	Cards only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	2× (2025)	No	Yes	Untested	Overclaims	Contradictory
PrivateVPN Sweden Miss Group	57/100	14 Eyes	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	None	No	No	?	?	Consistent
VPN Unlimited (KeepSolid) United States KeepSolid Inc.	54/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	None	?	?	Untested	?	Consistent
Astrill VPN Liechtenstein Veloxee Corp	51/100	None	None	Some	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	None	Yes	No	?	?	Contradictory
VPN.ac Romania Cryptolayer SRL	51/100	None	None	Some	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	None	No	No	?	Clean	Contradictory
Ivacy VPN Singapore Disrupt.com	50/100	None	None	None	No	Crypto	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	None	?	?	Untested	Overclaims	Contradictory
StrongVPN United States Ziff Davis	46/100	5 Eyes	None	None	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	None	No	?	Untested	?	?
Hotspot Shield United States Point Wild	43/100	5 Eyes	None	Some	No	Cards only	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	?	No	1× (2023)	No	No	?	Overclaims	Contradictory
Avast SecureLine VPN Czech Republic Gen Digital	41/100	None	None	Logs	No	Cards only	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	None	No	No	Untested	Overclaims	Contradictory
Hola VPN Israel Independent	19/100	None	Logs	Logs	No	?	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	None	?	No	?	Overclaims	Contradictory
Gnosis VPNNetwork / Mesh Decentralised (HOPR mixnet) Gnosis DAO + HOPR Association	n/a	None	None	?	Yes	Crypto	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	None	?	?	Untested	Clean	Consistent
NostrVPNNetwork / Mesh Decentralised (no provider) Open-source project	n/a	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	Yes	None	?	?	?	Clean	Consistent
Sentinel dVPNNetwork / Mesh Decentralised (Cosmos, global nodes) Sentinel dVPN Foundation	n/a	?	?	?	Yes	Crypto	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	None	?	?	Untested	Clean	Consistent
Tor VPNNetwork / Mesh Decentralised (Tor network) The Tor Project	n/a	None	None	None	Yes	?	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	None	?	Yes	Proven	Clean	Consistent

Legend: ✓ good · ∼ partial · ✗ poor · ? unknown. Scores exclude unknown values so missing data never inflates or sinks a rating.