Protecting your online privacy is one of the primary reasons VPN providers recommend using a VPN. While it's true that using a VPN while browsing the web can be an effective layer of security to help preserve your privacy, it's essential to understand that when you use a VPN, all your internet traffic is routed through the VPN provider's servers. There's no real way to avoid this when using a commercial VPN provider, so you just have to trust that they're taking good care of your data. Luckily, we've done the hard work of closely reading the privacy policy, no-logging policies, terms of service, and conducting in-depth research on over 15 of the best VPNs for privacy on the market, so that you can make an informed decision and find a VPN that you can trust.
To learn more about what we learned while testing VPNs for privacy, check out our R&D article.
In 2025, we published reviews for 20 different VPN services. These reviews came after months of research, test development, and collaboration between our engineers, testers, writers, photographers, and editors. Our process for each review involves a lot of work behind the scenes, including rigorous checks and balances along the way, all to provide the most accurate and useful test results to allow you to make the right purchasing decisions for your needs.
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Best VPN For Privacy
Private Browsing9.1Policies & Practices9.2Security8.6Data Limit:N/ASee all our test resultsCountries:49Mullvad is the best VPN for privacy that we've tested. As a company, Mullvad has exceptional business practices and policies that are designed to preserve its users' privacy. Instead of creating an account using an email address and password, you're assigned a randomly generated account number. This helps ensure your anonymity in the event of a data breach, as there's almost nothing that bad actors (or even Mullvad itself) can tie back to your real identity. Mullvad's policies are also crystal clear about how they collect only the bare minimum of your information needed for billing purposes. You can even pay anonymously using cryptocurrencies or cash. Additionally, the company has a history of conducting itself ethically, which helps instill trust. They commission frequent, independent, high-quality third-party audits of their infrastructure and policies, which have consistently yielded positive results, with any issues being minor and promptly addressed. Mullvad's ownership structure is clear, with no visible conflicts of interest or unethical behavior, and their staff practice open and transparent communication with users.
It's not all theoretical either, as Mullvad VPN itself is an excellent product. It's easy to use and navigate, and it works as expected by keeping your IP address, DNS queries, and traffic inside the encrypted VPN tunnel. It also has a functional kill switch that shuts off your internet connection if your VPN unintentionally disconnects for some reason. It also sports some additional features: Obfuscation can help you get around restrictions that block access to websites and services that don't allow VPNs, and DAITA (defense against AI-guided traffic analysis) is a feature that makes it harder for third parties to find patterns that can lead back to you in your encrypted traffic.
IVPN is another stellar VPN for privacy. It's essentially equivalent to Mullvad in terms of its privacy policies, history of good business ethics, and VPN client functionality, so you can't go wrong with it. Mullvad offers a better value, as you can log in to five devices simultaneously for the same price, compared to two with IVPN. That said, IVPN offers a Pro tier that costs more, but it comes with an allowance of seven simultaneous devices.
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Best Free VPN For Privacy
Private Browsing8.2Policies & Practices7.9Security8.6Data Limit:10 GBSee all our test resultsCountries:10There are dozens of free VPNs available, but unfortunately, many of them aren't trustworthy because they're either unproven, have privacy policies that allow the companies running them to collect excessive amounts of your data, or have questionable business practices. Thankfully, Windscribe Free is a trustworthy free VPN for privacy. Its privacy and no-logging policies are written clearly and specify that the company doesn't log any user traffic. They specify exactly what user information they collect, and it's limited to what's necessary for billing purposes and to enforce the device connection limit. You can choose to sign up with a simple username and receive a 2GB monthly data limit, or you can sign up with an email address and receive 10GB monthly. If you choose the latter, Windscribe states that they use your email address to send you marketing emails only. Additionally, Windscribe is an independent, privately owned company that practices transparent communication with its users and the wider community regarding the VPN. Their applications are open-source, and they commission frequent third-party security and infrastructure audits. That said, they haven't published any audits of their privacy and no-logs policies to ensure that the company upholds their commitments.
The VPN itself has excellent security and functionality. It keeps your IP address and DNS requests inside the encrypted tunnel and has a kill switch that turns off your internet connection in case the VPN turns off unintentionally. It has servers in 10 countries and has clients for many different platforms. If you're okay with a monthly data limit, Windscribe Free is the best free VPN for privacy on the market.
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Best Free Unlimited VPN For Privacy
Private Browsing7.5Policies & Practices6.3Security8.6Data Limit:N/ASee all our test resultsCountries:1If you don't want to worry about a monthly data cap, Proton VPN Free is the best free unlimited VPN for privacy, but with a few caveats. Firstly, while Proton has a clear no-logging policy that independent auditors found the company upheld, the scope of the last audit was limited, as Proton's wider privacy policies (which you must agree to to make an account) were excluded, and auditors did not have access to the VPN software's source code. Additionally, there's some ambiguity in the privacy policies and terms of service about which and how much of your data Proton collects, and how that data is retained after you delete your account.
The VPN itself has good functionality and security. It keeps your IP address and DNS requests inside the encrypted tunnel and has a working kill switch, just like our other picks. Unlike Windscribe Free, our other free VPN pick, you can't choose which country you want to connect to; instead, you automatically connect to a server in one of five countries (Poland, the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, and the U.S.). Also, torrenting isn't allowed, as it's a feature reserved for the paid version of Proton VPN. Overall, if you're okay with Proton Free's limitations and the less-than-ideal amount of data collection, it's a good choice if you just want a free, unlimited VPN to add an extra layer of privacy while browsing.
Notable Mentions
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Proton VPN:
Proton VPN is a trusted name in the VPN and online privacy space, and while it's still a good pick for privacy, Mullvad is the better choice. Although it has a no-logging policy, Proton collects slightly more of your personal data than Mullvad and uses some unclear language in its policies.
See our review
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are currently the best VPNs for privacy for most people. We only recommend VPNs with a clear and comprehensible privacy policy, a proven track record of protecting their customers' privacy, transparency regarding their ownership, and acceptable security and speed. We also factor in price (a cheaper VPN wins over a more expensive one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our users, and reputation within the community.
When choosing a VPN, consider what you need it for and understand its limitations. Depending on your risk profile, using one at all times is probably unnecessary. Modern websites, browsers, and devices have ample built-in security measures to protect you from the most common threats. If you want to learn more about what a VPN can and can't do to protect your privacy, check out our article about VPN privacy. With that in mind, here's the list of all our VPN reviews.