VPN services are getting more and more popular and sought for products in the reality of 2020. But how do you find the best in this sea of programs? It gets increasingly difficult to sort through all the VPNs out there and select the one that would work wonders for you. Everyone promises to keep you safe and anonymous, but do they? We have made for you a short list with only 5 VPNs, butthey are top of top on the market. We believe that you need to have a choice butnot get overwhelmed.
The following criteria was set for the tests of the VPN services.
- Known and proven VPN provider, that has become trustworthy and has presented a good track record
- High encryption standards and supporting the OpenVPN protocol
- Reliable and stable tests through the server networks
- No IP or DNS leaks found during the tests
- Working VPN apps and money-back guarantee
All VPN services we have placed in our collection, fulfilled the criteria with flying colours. We found that most VPN services fail in a few directions that we will summarize here. This should not sound alarming, just information you should be aware of. One of the main issues with VPN services we found is that they leak theIP address or the DNS requests. This affects many of the services we tested. The danger here is that this might leak your personal information, identity, location, browsing history, etc. Another issue that might appear in VPN services is that they could share data with third parties. Most of the time this issue seems to be with free VPN services. They usually collect user data and sell it to third parties. Sometimes this could be the case with paid VPNs as well, that’s what you should keep in mind. And last but not least is the features that do not really work. It is very easy to advertise many features, but it is not so easy to keep them all working. During testing some features of some VPNs proved not to be working under some conditions.
Why did we choose top 5 VPN services for 2020?
As anything else in life, VPN services also do not offer a single solution for everyone. Depending on the needs of the user, any of our top 5 VPN services willfit different user situations.
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN continues to keep up the good work and to constantly deliver the best results in tests. It constantly proves its reliability, high security and amazingperformance. It never succumbs to bugs, data leaks or slower speed. Express VPN always beats other VPN services in the speed tests. It never fails to deliver consistency in this area. It also offers open source browser extensions for all popular browsers. The apps are very user-friendly and are available for all popular OS and devices, which includes Windows, Android, iOS, Mac OS, Linux, smart TVs and more. It also offers split tunnelling and router apps for Windows and Mac OS. The router app makes it more simple to use VPN on a router, while at the same time giving you the option to switch between server locations. ExpressVPN has also passed an auditor’s security test from a cybersecurity company in Germany. It has live chat support 24/7 that is very responsive, also how-to manuals and all the information one might need to get it properly working. The only negative thing we could say for this VPN service is the price. It is a more expensive than most on the market, but not the most expensive.
2. Surfshark
One of the newer VPN services on the market. Even though it is relatively new it comes loaded with features, leak protection settings, access to multiple streaming services and awesome support. Additionally, it gives you an unlimited number of connections.Surfshark sustains strong privacy protection policies and is a no-logs VPN. The Surfshark apps incorporate good leak protection settings toguarantee data is encrypted without any outflows. Also a CleanWeb feature to block ads, trackers, and malware domains. Like the other best VPN services, Surfshark does great in the streaming category. It is a great VPN for Android and iOS with dedicated mobile apps. It is one of the cheapest VPN services at only $1.99 per month. The only negative things we could say for this service is that sometimes speed varies across server locations and does not support OpenVPN protocol for Mac OS. Other that, it’s a great VPN service.
3. NordVPN
NordVPN is a widely known VPN that constantly improves and upgrades its service. It’s newest feature is full support of theWireGuard VPNprotocol on all OS. It guarantees to be faster than any other VPN protocol with upgraded security. It also blocks ads, trackers and malware domains, while encrypting traffic over two hops. They also add an extra layer of security and have a very secure server network. Most of all it has a built-in leak protection for all apps. It isa top rated VPN for torrents and also works very well with major streaming services. It is available for all OS including some Smart TVs. It has shown outstanding results when tested by thir-party outside testers. The only negative thing that we have to say about this service is that it lacks a router app, but still can be used with most routers.
4. Perfect Privacy
Perfect Privacy offers a very high level of privacy and security, as you might already tell by the name of it. Due to the location of the company there is a strict no-logs policyand is run by a dedicated team of privacy specialists. It is focused on the more advanced privacy features that some enthusiast might be looking for. It offers routing your traffic across multiple VPN servers or dynamically route traffic actors multiple hops, which gives you a higher level of protection. As the other services it also offers ad-blocking features. It offers youboth IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. You can also alter your port forwarding settings and get a higher level of encryption. Perfect Privacy also has custom apps for most major OS, which are not as shiny as some other VPN services’ apps, but they do the work. The only drawbacks we found are the price of it, the fact that itoffers limited support for streaming services and has a small server network. Other than that, if you are a privacy freak, this is the VPN for you.
5. Trust.Zone
Trust.Zone is a less popular VPN service which offers simple, user-friendly VPN apps for Windows and Android. It is more focused on privacy and comes with built-in leak protection. Additionally, Trust.Zone supports other operating systems through third-party apps, such as Tunnelblick and OpenVPN Connect. Trust.Zone also claims a good selection of servers around the world. Price is also quite good at only $2.88/month with the two-year plan. If you are a cryptocurrency user, you get a 10% discount. The test for speed went well, generally around the baseline speed, no major concerns there. It supports major streaming providers and no issue found with torrenting. It has a short money-back period, but it comes with a free trial, which is great. One drawback is the limited feature list and no dedicated apps for MacOS and iOS. Other than that is a great VPN for a reasonable price.
| ExpressVPN | Surfshark | NordVPN | Perfect Privacy | Tust.Zone | |||
| Logs | No Logs | No Logs | No Logs | No Logs | Bandwidth | ||
| Price | $6.67 / mo | $1.99/mo | $3.49/mo | $8.95/mo | $2.33/mo | ||
| Support | 24/7 live chat | 24/7 live chat | 24/7 Live chat | Email and forum | |||
| Refund | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 7 days | 10 days |