If you have crossed the border of basic internet user, you would have definitely heard about Virtual Private Networks that are commonly known as VPN, from your friends, advertisements or even some authorities that demand superb-level security. In most cases, however, you would have let that name go, thinking that VPNs are something exclusive for tech-savvies out there — you have been wrong, if you did so! After all these developments in World Wide Web & their influence upon us, it’s become somewhat necessary to have a layer of extra protection as you browse web. And an effective VPN is just right for that purpose. Well, if you still have that doubt why you should use a VPN, we have a few answers for you.
- Firstly, VPN helps you encrypt your internet traffic, making it untraceable for your ISPs and other authorities
- Secondly, VPN can break those geographical restrictions in World Wide Web, thus allowing an Asian to check out Netflix or Hulu that are restricted to UK and US
- Thirdly and most importantly, you can get rid of stealthy hands when you access internet through public Wi-Fi or other ‘unsecured’ connections
- And, there are VPNs that give you better download speed and anonymity while using services as BitTorrent
So, whether you are a traveler who uses a lot of Public Wi-Fi connections or a user who is desperate to get rid of the various surveillances put on you, you’d find a Virtual Private Network useful in many instances. That having said, it is a matter of fact that increasing number of VPN services in the market has toughened the selection process. Here, in this post, we have compiled a list of top 10 VPN services, considering various factors such as pricing and whether the services keep logs.
1. Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access is a paid VPN service that is accompanied by a broad-enough & effective network of servers and impressive features. Private Internet Access offers more than 3463 VPN servers that are spread over 17 countries, allowing you choose the server according to the corresponding country of the service / product you are going to access.
While the availability of VPN connection client is restricted to Windows and Mac, it’s offering support and in-depth tutorials for more than thirty platforms, including Linux, iOS, Android etc. When we do consider the case of pricing and plans, plan of Private Internet Access offers unlimited bandwidth, ability to connect up to five devices at the same time, support for P2P and VoIP Protocols etc, and it never keeps traffic logs. It is to be noted that you don’t have to pay for each VPN protocol, but PP2P, OpenVPN and L2TP protocols are all available.
- Price: $6.95 per Month
2. IPVanish VPN
IPVanish VPN, with total 170 VPN servers, provides an impressive VPN Tunnelling service that gives importance to let users access unblocked content. As the firm itself calls it, IPVanish VPN can be an All Access Pass that lets you break all those geographical boundaries and access web content regardless where you really are. It has to be noted that, as opposed to the first choice, IPVanish VPN lets you connect only two devices simultaneously, although OpenVPN and PPTP protocols are available with each plan.
Also, IPVanish VPN offers unlimited VPN Bandwidth and you can switch between servers as you wish; as the service supports P2P protocols, you will be able to deal with Torrents! IPVanish keeps no records of your traffic, which is a great thing. When we consider the case of VPN connection clients, IPVanish offers software and apps for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS and you’ll be able to connect two devices at maximum, as we said.
- Price: $10 per month
3. NordVPN
NordVPN is a comparatively newer but impressive VPN software that packs noteworthy features and affordable pricing plans. In twenty five different countries, NordVPN has set up more than 43 VPN Servers, covering every continent with an exception to Antarctica; it has to be noted, however, that availability of protocols is variable according to the server locations, although popular locations like UK and US support all those protocols.
You will be able to use NordVPN in almost every popular device such as Windows PC, Android or iOS Smartphone or even a router and you can connect up to six devices at a time. The unavailability of dedicated connection clients has been substituted by step-by-step tutorials to enable NordVPN in almost every platform — as of now, dedicated clients are available only for Windows and iOS. Considering all these features, along with support for P2P traffic, NordVPN does prove to be an awesome choice.
- Price: $8 per Month
4. Spotflux Free VPN
Spotflux VPN comes with a freemium model, in which you can access the basic features for free but have to pay for a number of advanced features. As of now, Spotflux is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android and the company is working to extend support for more platforms and devices out there. One of the noticeable features we found in it is the ability to compress data when you access web from your Spotflux-enabled Smartphone and thus to save your bandwidth in the long run.
As you move on to the premium version of Spotflux, you can have more features such as access to premium network and ability to choose servers from the huge list, along with additional features such as ad blocking and compression of data you access as to save bandwidth. Plus, you can connect up to five devices at a time & access anonymous web through all those.
- Price: Free but Premium Subscription starts from $29.99 per year
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5. OkayFreedom VPN
OkayFreedom VPN considers privacy and anonymity to be the most important things when it comes to internet! Due to this fact, it does not offer that many features, but brings its capabilities in a neat form. There are two plans you’ll be able to choose — the ad-supported free plan or the premium plan that costs you $29.95 per year. Literally, once you have installed Windows VPN software, you will be able to get rid of geographical restrictions and all.
Nevertheless, unlike the VPN services mentioned above, OkayFreedom VPN has restrictions in the free version. If it’s not okay for you to pay, you have only 1 GB bandwidth, which can be upgraded upon inviting your friends to join the VPN service. There’s nothing sort of technical such as protocols to be involved when it comes to OkayFreedom and it is best to be called a minimalistic VPN service. A noted disadvantage of OkayFreedom is that the client is available for Windows only.
- Price: Free [Ad-supported]
6. BTGuard
If you need enhanced protection for the Torrent-based stuff you do in World Wide Web, you should seriously check out BTGuard, which is known as the solution for anonymous BitTorrent services. Although extra powerful in case of BitTorrent, other sections of BTGuard are also impressive, we bet. From the technical point of view, you might find it to be a minimalistic VPN solution, but we can assure that it’s worth what you pay.
Talking of network, BTGuard has servers in Toronto, Amsterdam and Singapore, letting you choose the server as per what the download server is. Plus, the solution has collaborated with many connectivity providers, and you can truly depend upon the network for your torrent downloads and all. In addition, BTGuards offers the no-logs-kept policy & support for OpenVPN and PPTP protocols and it will work well with Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Price: $9.95 per month
7. Hide My Ass
Recommended by a lot of popular media, Hide My Ass is one of the best VPN services you can ever have! The service comes with multi-device subscription, meaning that you do not have to pay for each device, but can use Hide My Ass in Windows, Mac, iOS and Android with the same level of effectiveness and security. However, number of devices to be connected to VPN network is limited to two! Hide My Ass has a pretty impressive server network too, as it covers 300 locations with 855 VPN servers that can be chosen according to the address you want to show.
Quite notably, the network is being upgraded day by day, offering you access to new IP addresses and thus to get rid of geographical restrictions. In addition, HMA supports various VPN protocols, including PP2P, L2TP & OpenVPN! But there’s something to be noted: since Hide My Ass is a service from UK, they may keep partial logs, but there are no restrictions based on bandwidth and all. So, if you don’t mind the logging thing, it’s a good choice.
- Price: $11.52 per Month
8. Astril VPN
Astril VPN is a VPN Service that gives somewhat equal importance to security, anonymity and speed of connection to be established through VPN, while keeping support for a wide range of VPN protocols such as OpenVPN, PP2P, L2TP, IPSec, SSTP etc and you can choose according to your own convenience and purpose of VPN connection. Regardless the plan you choose, you can have all these protocols, along with support for a huge number of platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, Linux, Android and Wi-Fi Routers; talking about routers, you can get some pre-configured Wi-Fi routers as well.
Other praiseworthy features of Astril VPN include unlimited bandwidth and unlimited switching of VPN servers, but 2 devices can only be connected to VPN connection at a time. When it comes to the case of networks, Astril VPN does have more 220 VPN servers, spread in 55 countries. As of now, VPN Software of Astril is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. In addition of all these, regardless the server you chose, your traffic WILL NOT be logged, as a precaution for the sake of privacy protection.
- Price: $9.98 per Month
9. Private Tunnel
Private Tunnel is actually the commercial version of the open-source VPN protocol named OpenVPN and you will be able to use Private Tunnel to tunnel your internet traffic safely. OpenVPN is probably the most secure VPN protocol you can find and Private Tunnel, being an official sort of client, offers awesome support and integration for your VPN connections that use OpenVPN protocol. Talking of compatibility, you can use Private Tunnel VPN in Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, by means of dedicated connection software. Talking of data logging, Private Tunnel logs no kinds of your traffic.
Although comparatively faster, you’ll have to compromise in selection of VPN servers when you’ve decided to move forward with Private Tunnel VPN, because Private Tunnel VPN has only 1 UK server and 3 US server. Despite the fact that Private Tunnel lets you connect unlimited devices at a time, it does not have monthly plan; on the other hand, you will have to pay according to the amount of data you use. And, there’s a 500MB plan that’s free and you can earn 100MB by referring other people.
- Price: Free for 500 MB, then $12 for 50 GB — no monthly plans
10. CyberGhost VPN
CyberGhost VPN is an easy-to-use Virtual Private Network Tunnelling solution that boasts a lot of features! Some of the features we loved in CyberGhost VPN include the unlimited bandwidth and unlimited traffic, and all your traffic is encrypted using the 256-bit encryption that is powerful enough and untraceable. In addition, anti-fingerprint feature of CyberGhost VPN makes sure that none of your footsteps are being logged. Talking of the server network, this VPN service has 513 server and they can give you identity that will seemingly be from 30 different countries.
Number of devices that can be connected to VPN service simultaneously depends upon the plan you choose. While the first plan lets you connect only one device, the premium plan that costs $9.16 has a device support 5 devices at a maximum level. And, yes, there are no ads when you move on to the premium version while the free version will be an ad-supported one. From the support perspective, CyberGhost VPN is available for Android, iOS, Windows & Mac. It has to be noted that P2P protocol is allowed only in some particular servers, that too when you have gone with the premium plan. Altogether, despite the impressive UI and features, CyberGhost VPN seems to be a bit restricted.
- Price: Free, but premium plans available from $5.83
SEE ALSO: 10 Best VPN Services For Android
So, that’s it — you have our list of top 10 VPN Services out there, and we have created list giving importance to the various factors that matter! Now, it’s your time to let us know which VPN you use!
Abubakar Mohammed
