8 Best VPN Services You Should Check Out in 2026

While online privacy is slowly becoming a myth, it’s more important than ever for users to safeguard their digital identity. A VPN lets you connect to a remote server by encrypting your personal data and masking your IP address. VPNs can also bypass censorship, allowing users to access blocked websites and apps in restrictive countries. If you are looking for the best VPN in 2026 that offer strong privacy protections, check out our list.

Overview of Best VPN Services

ProtonVPN is one of the best VPNs for free users, while NordVPN ranks among the top premium VPNs in 2026. You can check out the table below to compare all the VPN services.

VPN Services	Best Suited For	Limitations	Pricing
Proton VPN	Free VPN with focus on privacy, great speed and performance	Free version limited to 10 countries	Free, $3.99 per month on 1-year plan
NordVPN	Best premium VPN for streaming, privacy and security, support up to 10 devices	Competitors offer unlimited devices	Paid plan starts at $4.89 per month on 1-year plan
ExpressVPN	Premium VPN for streaming and traveling, Fantastic performance and coverage	More expensive	Paid plan starts at $8.99 per month on 1-year plan
Mullvad	Best VPN for strong security and privacy safeguards, maintain anonymity online	No free tier	Flat $5.71 per month
TunnelBear	Best for casual users, offers 2GB for free per month	Poor speed under the free plan	Free, Paid plan starts at $4.99 per month on 1-year plan
Private Internet Access (PIA)	One of the oldest VPNs, wide coverage and great performance	No free plan	Paid plan starts at $3.33 per month on 1-year plan
Windscribe	Great free VPN with 10GB data per month, no server limitation	Inconsistent streaming performance	Free, Paid plan starts at $5.75 per month on 1-year plan
Surfshark	Best for families, connect unlimited devices, good for streaming	Extra features behind more expensive plans	Paid plan starts at $3.19 per month on 1-year plan

How We Tested the Best VPN Services?

To find the best VPN, I started with where the VPN provider is located. As they say, a VPN (Virtual private Network) is as good as the company that runs it. So, the jurisdiction of the VPN provider is of utmost importance. That’s why I have only selected those VPNs which are not located in Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes countries. Operating from these countries may compel VPN providers to share user data.

EU-based providers generally have better security and privacy protections. Next, I tested each VPN on my PC and Android phone to see what they offer under the free plan. As a result, I have also added some privacy-focused free VPNs with some limitations around server and speed.

Apart from that, I checked if these VPNs have a kill-switch or not, and whether they support new protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN. Moreover, I looked at DNS leak protection, AES-256 encryption, and security audits done by independent researchers before finalizing the list of best VPN services.

Best VPNs Available for Free

While I generally don’t recommend a free VPN, but if you are a casual user, I would recommend using Proton VPN, which offers a free version with privacy protections. You can find more such free VPNs under this section.

Proton VPN

Proton VPN is arguably one of the best VPN services you can use in 2026. I say this because Proton VPN offers a free plan with access up to 10 important server locations while delivering great speeds. On top of that, it has a strong commitment to privacy with a strict no-logs policy even for free users, and the service is entirely open-source and audited by independent experts.

The only con with the free plan is that you can only use one device with a single account. But apart from that, Proton VPN excels on all fronts. It operates out of Switzerland so your privacy is protected by strong EU laws. If you choose to get the paid plan, you can access more than 15,000 servers across the world with AES-256 encryption.

Pros	Cons
No-logs policy, based out of Switzerland	Free plan has limited servers
Offers a free plan
Access to over 15,000 servers

Windscribe

Windscribe is one of the best free VPN services that I regularly use on my PC. It offers a generous free plan with 10GB of data per month. Not only that, its network spans over 69 countries and brings access to 134 cities around the world. So if you are looking to bypass age restrictions on X (formerly Twitter) or Discord in the UK, Windscribe is a great free VPN to pick.

Just so you know, Windscribe is based in Canada, but its privacy stance has earned trust among users. In addition, it uses AES-256 encryption and supports WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. And the company says that it follows a strict no-logs policy.

Pros	Cons
Offers a free plan, up to 10GB per month	Inconsistent speeds on some locations
Strict no-logs policy
Servers in 69 countries

TunnelBear

TunnelBear is a VPN service you can use if you want to bypass age restrictions in the UK for free. It offers 2GB data per month to free users which is reasonable. TunnelBear was founded in Canada, but it was later acquired by McAfee, moving its jurisdiction to the US. That said, TunnelBear maintains that it has a strict no-logs policy and supports strong protocols like WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2.

The company also says that it publishes annual security audits and doesn’t sell or monitor browsing data. It also has presence in more than 47 countries which should be enough for light VPN usage. Overall, after Proton VPN, TunnelBear is another worthy free VPN service that you can try.

Pros	Cons
Servers in 49 countries	Some privacy concerns
Offers 2GB data under the free plan
Supports WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols

Best VPN for Privacy and Security

For complete online anonymity and privacy protection, you should simply pick Mullvad over every other VPN. It has fewer servers, but you get top-notch security protections.

Mullvad

Mullvad is known as a privacy-focused VPN service that collects no user information at all. If you are serious about protecting your online identity, Mullvad is the VPN to get. It’s based out of Sweden, and has around 600 servers in 50 countries. It supports the WireGuard protocol along with OpenVPN to offer a fast and private internet connection.

Mullvad states that it doesn’t keep activity logs of any kind, making it a truly no-logs VPN service. As you might have guessed, there is no free plan with this VPN, so you must get the paid plan to access this service. The best part about Mullvad is that you don’t need an email or name to create an account.

Pros	Cons
Based out of Sweden, doesn’t collect user data at all	No free plan
Over 600 servers in 50 countries
Supports WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols

Best Premium VPNs in 2026

NordVPN is considered the top premium VPN, be it speed, performance, server uptime, privacy, etc. Other than that, you can check out ExpressVPN for reliability, but it will cost you a bit more. Find all the paid VPNs under this section.

NordVPN

NordVPN is a premium VPN service and it offers more than 8,900 servers covering 178 countries. There is no free plan with this VPN, but you get a reliable VPN connection and strong security protections. NordVPN is headquartered in Panama so you are covered by strong privacy laws.

Similar to Proton VPN, NordVPN also mentions that it has a strict no-logs policy and supports industry-standard AES-256 encryption. It’s compatible with OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard protocols to make the connection private and secure. While there is no free plan, you get a 3-day free trial on Android and a 30-day money-back guarantee for all users.

Pros	Cons
No-logs policy, based out of Panama	No free plan
Support for OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard protocols
Access to 8,900 servers

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is another premium VPN service that you can consider, especially if you are looking to bypass age restrictions in the UK. It’s based in the British Virgin Islands which doesn’t have a data retention law, which aids in protecting user privacy. It has servers in more than 105 countries worldwide and offers superior speeds than many VPNs out there.

ExpressVPN also maintains that it doesn’t log your online activity and that its source code is verified by independent audits. Bear in mind that ExpressVPN doesn’t offer a free plan, but with the paid plan, you can connect up to 8 devices at once.

Pros	Cons
No-logs policy, based out of British Virgin Islands	No free plan
High speed performance
Servers in 105 countries

Private Internet Access (PIA)

Private Internet Access, or PIA is one of the oldest VPN providers, and it has servers in more than 91 countries. It’s based in the US, and states that it “never tracks, records, or stores any kind of usage data.” Basically, just like premium VPN services, PIA has a strict no-logs policy. Apart from that, its apps are fully open-source, and anybody can inspect them.

On top of that, PIA delivers unlimited bandwidth and data speeds, no matter which server you connect to. And it’s also available on a range of platforms and web browsers, making it one of the best VPN services in 2026. That said, there is no free tier with this VPN, so you must get a paid plan to access its services. Basically, if you want an affordable alternative to ExpressVPN, you should check out this VPN.

Pros	Cons
Large network, servers in 91 countries	No free plan
Strict no-logs policy
Unlimited bandwidth

Surfshark

Surfshark is our final VPN recommendation which has over 4,500 servers in more than 100 countries. It’s based in the Netherlands and maintains a strict no-logs policy for any user activity. It brings support for top-notch protocols like WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 for secure communication. On top of that, Surfshark has been audited by independent experts to verify the privacy safeguards.

Note that this VPN doesn’t offer a free tier so you will have to pay for the paid plan. However, you get a 7-day free trial on mobile and a 30-day money-back guarantee. All in all, for reliable and broader coverage, you can definitely check out Surfshark.

Pros	Cons
Based in Netherlands, strict no-logs policy	No free plan
Servers in 100 countries
Unlimited devices per account

So these are the best VPN services to consider in 2026. In this list, I have tried to include only those VPN providers that are headquartered in countries with strong privacy laws. I have also added a few services that have consistently earned user trust over the years. And if you want a free, but trustworthy VPN, you can find one in this list.