The Best VPNs for the US

Since 2017, ISPs in the US have had the legal right to sell your browsing and app-usage data without your consent. This is in contrast to the EU, which is covered by GDPR regulation that requires opt-in consent.

What that means for you is your data will actively be monetized and sold to third parties. For example, in 2024 the FCC fined AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint nearly $200 million combined for selling their customers’ location data to third parties without consent.

The worst part is that most of the worst data-sharing is well-hidden, and only discovered after the fact.

For complete peace of mind, I strongly recommend you use a VPN while in the US. Any of my top picks will encrypt your connection, making it impossible for any ISP to log and sell your data.

I used Wireshark to manually verify that all of my recommended VPNs properly encrypt user traffic.

Connecting to a VPN replaces your real IP address with one from your chosen server location, allowing you to access streaming services restricted to specific territories.

If you are in the US, a VPN lets you watch popular international titles, like The Traitors (UK) on BBC iPlayer, or access shows that are free-to-air overseas but paywalled domestically.

For example, while Parks and Recreation requires a Peacock subscription in the US, you can stream it for free in the UK on Channel 4.

This also solves local sports blackouts. If your local NBA team is blacked out in your region, connecting to a VPN server in a nearby state lets you bypass the blackout and watch the game.

It works both ways: if you’re outside the US, a VPN lets you unblock popular American catalogs on platforms like US Netflix and Hulu. All of my recommended VPNs work especially well for US content.

Let’s get one thing straight first: public WiFi is much safer than it used to be, thanks to widespread adoption of HTTPS encryption.

If another tech outlet tells you that hackers will steal your bank passwords unless you buy a VPN, then they’re simply using scare tactics.

The truth is that third parties on a public WiFi network can only see which domain names you visit, not what you do on those sites. I still consider this a privacy risk, albeit less serious.

Using a VPN encrypts all of your browsing activity, which includes the domains you visit and your DNS requests. This is essential when using public networks that have captive portals like airport or coffee shop WiFi.

A VPN also protects against “evil twin attacks”, where a fake network masquerades as a legitimate WiFi hotspot (like “Starbucks_Free WiFi”). Since a VPN routes your connection via an encrypted tunnel, the fake network owner can’t inspect your traffic.

• Test Conducted: I audited each VPN’s server network, assessing total server count, global country spread, and city-level options.
• Why It’s Important: A well-distributed server network expands the number of countries you can connect to and unblocks more regional streaming libraries. Plus, it optimizes your download speed by ensuring you have a server nearby.
• Optimal Result: Servers in 100+ countries, spanning key global regions beyond just Europe and North America.

• Test Conducted: I went through each VPN’s server network to record how many US servers it runs, and how many US cities and states those servers cover, then assessed how evenly they’re spread across the country.
• Why It’s Important: A wide variety of US servers means better performance and less congestion. It’s also what makes a reliable US IP address possible at all, rather than one that’s blocked the week after you buy it.
• Optimal Result: Thousands of fast and reliable US servers on the East and West coasts, and in at least 10 different US states.

• Test Conducted: My testing team runs regular in-house speed tests on every VPN to establish its average international download speed.
• Why It’s Important: Speed is what keeps a US stream sharp and stops it buffering, and you’ll notice a slow connection just as quickly when you’re browsing.
• Optimal Result: Less than 20% average download speed loss, compared to my normal internet connection, connecting to the US from anywhere in the world.

• Test Conducted: I attempted to unblock popular streaming services from different regions, while connected to each VPN. This included US and international platforms alike.
• Why It’s Important: Consistent access to global streaming services ensures you’re getting the widest range of content to choose from.
• Optimal Result: The ability to stream popular Netflix regions (e.g. US, UK, and Canada), select free-to-air broadcasters (e.g. BBC iPlayer), and premium subscription services (e.g. Paramount+ and HBO Max), with a high success rate.

• Test Conducted: I analyzed each VPN’s privacy policy in accordance with our privacy standards.
• Why It’s Important: The US has some of the most invasive privacy laws in the world, so the provider handing you an American IP address needs to be one that will protect your online activity.
• Optimal Result: A verified no-logs policy, supported by evidence such as independent audits or court cases.

• Test Conducted: I examined each VPN’s security standards and verified that it successfully encrypts every connection.
• Why It’s Important: One of the core functions of a VPN is to encrypt the internet data transferred through its connections.
• Optimal Result: Best-in-class VPN protocols with AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption, verified via my Wireshark tests, plus extra settings like a working kill switch and built-in IPv6 leak protection.

IPVanish certainly doesn’t have a speed issue, and is a great choice for privacy-conscious users.

For several years, though, it struggled to bypass US streaming geo-restrictions. That’s improved significantly lately, and it now delivers smooth access to the major US content platforms from abroad.

I need to see IPVanish do that consistently over a longer period before I’ll feel confident about its streaming performance.

With 1,533 US servers spread across 22 cities, I’m keeping close tabs on it to see whether it can break into my recommendations list.

The IPVanish apps on desktop and mobile.

Despite offering 1,553 servers in the US, CyberGhost actually covers fewer US IP locations than IPVanish and Surfshark.

Most of its US servers accessed American content platforms without issue, but the streaming quality wasn’t what I expected it to be.

Its 19% slowdown was the steepest figure I recorded among these alternatives, and it showed: occasional blurriness, and even buffering during live broadcasts.

Similar to Surfshark, CyberGhost’s apps can sometimes take longer to connect to a server than ExpressVPN’s and NordVPN’s do.

In spite of all of this, I did find the VPN’s performance with Hulu particularly good. Given how cheap CyberGhost is, it’s definitely worth considering if Hulu is your priority.

CyberGhost is a cheap option for streaming Hulu.

Mullvad is an extremely reputable and security-focused VPN service, but its performance connecting to the US disappointed me.

It only operates 227 servers in the US, and it rarely got me past an American geo-block at all. On the few occasions it did, the resulting streaming quality was average at best.

Its 15% global speed slowdown is respectable enough; the problem here is the unblocking, not the speed.

It’s a shame but if you need a US VPN with fast speeds and unrestricted streaming access, Mullvad isn’t it.

I couldn’t get Mullvad to work with US Netflix despite multiple attempts.

PIA was once on my shortlist due to its coverage of all 50 US states, cheap subscriptions, and solid US streaming performance.

However, it no longer works with US or UK Netflix, which are two of the largest English-language catalogs.

Combine that with overly complex apps and a Smart DNS tool that fails to unblock any streaming services, and it’s easy to see why it’s fallen out of my rankings.

PIA was detected by Netflix, limiting the catalog strictly to globally available Netflix Originals.