Best VPN of 2018

NordVPN does the basics incredibly well – even if it lacks the full package offered by ExpressVPN. It’s very fast, secure and one of the very few services to reliably work with both Netflix and iPlayer. Downloads on local connections peak at 313Mbps while uploads top 316Mbps, making it one of the fastest on the market.

The apps are slick and user-friendly but limited to only the most popular platforms, however you can protect up to a generous six devices at once. Manual VPN protocol selection and no city-level servers are a minus but we do like privacy features such as the VPN killswitch and the strict zero-logs policy.

The quality of customer support may be excellent but responses can be slow. It’s not the best option for China either. So while NordVPN falls a little short of ExpressVPN overall, on a three-year subscription, it works out a lot cheaper at $2.75 per month. So if you want to keep monthly costs down or only care about core performance, NordVPN is the ideal choice.

IPVanish is a top pick, especially for Kodi and torrenting, due to excellent speeds, zero logging and extensive privacy tools. It’s ultra fast on local connections but less consistent internationally across a network that’s mid-sized for locations but super-sized for servers and IP addresses. Netflix is working but iPlayer is currently blocked, which is a shame as it’s otherwise fantastic for streaming.

The desktop apps could be more user-friendly but make up for it with powerful privacy features, including IPv6 leak protection and a killswitch. The Amazon Fire TV native app is a big plus although IPVanish does lack browser extensions or support for other streaming devices.

It can be made to work at a push in China but there’s better options available. Customer support is improving. IPVanish isn’t cheap but it only requires a 12-month commitment to slash the monthly price by 46% to a reasonable $6.49. If P2P is your priority then IPVanish really is a superb VPN for both privacy and performance that will also cover many other needs.

Cyberghost is easily the best budget VPN on the market. Not only is it very cheap but it also competes with its more premium rivals on several key fronts, especially streaming and privacy.

Access to Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other streaming services is rock solid thanks to dedicated streaming servers. Torrenting/Kodi performance is equally good except on US servers, where P2P traffic is sadly banned. Download speeds on local connections are typically over 93Mbps and while they drop off on international servers, it’s always enough for HD streaming.

A strict zero-logs policy and first-party DNS servers make CyberGhost a top privacy pick, along with the automatic killswitch and other useful extras. The apps are mostly user-friendly but there are slicker alternatives out there. At $2.75 on a 12-month plan though, it’s incredible value and easy to overlook the shortcomings.

HideMyAss! is the VPN service with most server locations, bar none. If you want to be able to disguise your location to appear in almost every country in the world then HMA! is the only choice. It’s also great for streaming thanks to download (and upload) speeds that few rivals can match, optimized servers and reliable Netflix access. A lack of native apps for streaming devices and blocked iPlayer hold it back from being our top streaming pick though.

P2P users note that HMA! does poorly for privacy, as it’s based in the privacy-unfriendly UK and keeps detailed logs of connection metadata for up to three months. Of course if you’re simply looking to hide your IP address and browsing activity it will do the job.

The apps are some of the best-designed and most easy-to-use, especially if you just want to click and forget. Customer support is quick and helpful with useful resources like video tutorials. Go with HMA! if server choice, raw speed and a sweet app trump other considerations.