The Best VPNs for iPhone

ExpressVPN’s internet speeds on our iPhone were superb. Connecting to a nearby server in the US, we experienced a download speed slowdown of just 3%.

Even more impressively, ExpressVPN maintained a very high average speed when we connected to several servers located around the world.

The VPN’s excellent speed performance is down to its proprietary Lightway VPN protocol. Not only that, but Lightway is much quicker to reconnect to a server than most other protocols.

Our tests found that Lightway is more than twice as fast as OpenVPN connecting to a VPN server. So, when you’re switching between WiFi and cellular data, you won’t notice a drop in connection.

These fast speeds are noticeable when using ExpressVPN to stream geo-restricted video content.

Not only did the VPN unblock every popular content platform we tested, including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and HBO Max, but it did so without blurriness or buffering.

ExpressVPN’s intuitive iOS app could not be simpler, even if you’ve never used a VPN before.

A large connection button in the center of the screen makes the app very easy to use, even on smaller iPhone screens.

ExpressVPN also encrypts your Apple Watch data, since your watch shares a network connection from the iPhone. It’s also the best VPN for Apple TV, thanks to its well-designed tvOS app.

Disappointingly, its iOS integration hasn’t been so impressive. You can open the app with Siri, but you can’t connect to a server, like you can with NordVPN and PIA.

ExpressVPN hasn’t created a custom widget for iPhone home screens. The VPN also hasn’t integrated with Shortcuts, so you’ll have to set up a Settings shortcut to “Set VPN” if you want to create one.

One of the main drawbacks holding ExpressVPN back from being the perfect iOS VPN is its price, which is higher than the other paid VPNs we recommend.

However, we think that features like split tunneling, 24/7 live chat, and best-in-class privacy features make ExpressVPN worth the extra cost.

If you want to test the VPN first, take advantage of ExpressVPN’s 7-day free trial on iOS.

NordVPN’s application is extremely well-integrated with iOS, and it’s the one area it comfortably beats out ExpressVPN.

We particularly loved the trusted networks feature, which automatically activated the VPN whenever we connected to any WiFi network other than our home WiFi.

We missed this feature whenever we switched back to ExpressVPN — especially during travel, when connecting to public WiFi was a frequent necessity.

NordVPN’s iOS widget is also the best we’ve come across. Using it, we were able to quickly select from 5 recent server locations right from our home screen and lock screen. You can also pause or disconnect in one tap.

It’s better than PIA’s widget, which only opens the app, and ExpressVPN, which doesn’t offer a widget at all.

The VPN app also detects whether your iPhone or iPad is using light or dark mode, and mirrors the app’s theme accordingly.

NordVPN has a huge server network which maintains very fast speeds on iOS — though it doesn’t connect as fast to servers as ExpressVPN does.

In our most recent tests, we recorded just a 5% loss in download speed when connected to a nearby server.

NordVPN also comes with advanced security features to keep your internet activity private from third-parties.

There’s an effective kill switch and the VPN encrypts traffic using the ChaCha20 cipher with the secure WireGuard VPN protocol.

NordVPN is also based in Panama, a safe and private jurisdiction outside the 14 Eyes surveillance alliance.

NordVPN doesn’t have any significant drawbacks on iOS, although some smaller issues need to be resolved.

For certain, NordVPN needs to revise its map interface, which is too small to interact with on an iPhone-sized screen. Frustratingly, you can’t zoom out on the map, either.

NordVPN also isn’t reliable for bypassing sophisticated censorship in countries like China and Russia.

Despite these minor flaws, NordVPN is still an excellent multipurpose VPN. If you value customization options on iOS, NordVPN gives you the flexibility ExpressVPN doesn’t.

PIA has two iOS widgets on offer. We recommend the smaller widget: a simple button. Just tap the button from your home screen, and PIA connects to your last-used server.

We prefer NordVPN’s large widget because it offers multiple server locations. However, if you want something quick, PIA’s widget is a great option.

PIA’s larger widget can be used to see useful information at a glance, but it failed to connect to a server when we tapped the connect button.

You can also set up your own shortcut for the homepage if you’d like to customize the button appearance. Unlike ExpressVPN, which surprisingly had a short delay from when you press the shortcut to the VPN connecting, PIA connects instantly.

You can also connect or disconnect to your most recent server with Siri voice commands. Like NordVPN, PIA also mirrors light and dark mode on iPhone.

While almost all other iOS VPN apps are limited, PIA’s app includes as much functionality as the desktop clients.

The VPN kill switch is enabled by default, and we love that the app lets you choose the encryption cipher, data authentication, and even the handshake algorithm.

We had fun customizing the iOS app’s home screen. You can display your favorite server locations, connection data, and even how long you have left on your subscription. Or you can completely remove all elements besides the button and your VPN server, so it’s like ExpressVPN’s app layout.

We also appreciated that PIA’s ad blocker, called MACE. It blocked 80% of ads in our tests, far more than NordVPN’s Threat Protection.

Unlike ExpressVPN and NordVPN, Private Internet Access is not as reliable for unblocking streaming apps, especially Netflix.

The VPN does work with US Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu, but not on every US server. Usually, you’ll have to try several locations until you find one that works. At the moment, the Washington DC server works well.

In terms of Netflix specifically, PIA can only access 6 regions, compared to ExpressVPN’s 18 and NordVPN’s 17.

On the plus side, the VPN’s UK London-Streaming server always unblocked BBC iPlayer in our tests, which not every VPN can do consistently.

Proton VPN lets you use as much data as you want for free. This makes it the best secure free VPN that you can leave running all the time.

You won’t notice that the VPN is running, either. Our latest speed test results show that Proton VPN is an extremely fast free VPN.

On our 100Mbps test connection Proton VPN’s free app logged a mere 2% download speed loss when connected to a server close to us.

Rather than imposing speed and bandwidth caps, Proton VPN instead limits the functionality of its free plan by blocking access to streaming services.

Case in point, the free VPN has never worked with any streaming service we test for, including US Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer.

Proton VPN free has a strict no-logs policy and 256-bit encryption to protect you online – same as the paid version.

It outperforms all other free VPNs like Windscribe, Hide.me, and PrivadoVPN when it comes to privacy.

Additionally, Proton VPN is based in Switzerland, which is a country with strong privacy laws and isn’t part of the 14 Eyes alliance.

No VPN app is perfect, but Proton VPN’s open-source apps are regularly audited by third-party experts. Importantly, Proton VPN publishes these audits and promptly fixes any vulnerabilities found in these checks.

Proton VPN’s iOS app is rather basic and would benefit from a redesign.

The application is perfectly functional, but the lack of graphical elements as well as the overuse of lists and map view are starting to look dated.

We’re disappointed the VPN doesn’t offer a widget for iOS. But Proton VPN does support Shortcuts if you want a quick button on your home screen.

Proton VPN only has free servers in 5 locations: the US, the Netherlands, and Japan, Poland, and Romania.

Unfortunately, you can’t manually choose a server location — the app automatically connects you to the nearest available country.

If you want access to more server locations, you can get a free trial of Proton VPN’s paid version using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Additionally, we don’t like how Proton VPN locks advanced features like the VPN accelerator behind a paywall.

After regularly testing 61 VPNs, we found that Windscribe is one of the most reliable free VPNs for streaming on iPhone.

The VPN unblocks many streaming apps including UK Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Max, and Disney+.

Most other free VPNs we tested reserve streaming functionality for the paid plans, so it’s refreshing for Windscribe provide this for free.

There are some downsides to streaming with the free version of Windscribe, though.

Firstly, it no longer works with the US Netflix library, and despite registering fast download speeds in our tests, we experienced occassional buffering when streaming video.

At first glance, Windscribe iOS app seems easy to navigate. But it’s got some considerable flaws.

The home screen has a simple button and displays essential information, like your server location and IP address (which can also be blurred for privacy).

But Windscribe’s free servers are mixed in with the paid servers, making it frustrating to scroll through the list just to find them.

Many other free VPN apps offer a dedicated tab for free servers, streamlining the user experience.

The app’s small UI elements are also not well-optimized for smaller screens.

Toggling between server tabs is challenging and requires precision, which is unusual for a top-tier VPN app.

Disappointingly, we couldn’t get the iOS widget to connect to a server on our iPhone 14 Pro. Instead, it would simply open the app. When we did connect via the app, the widget wouldn’t update to show the connection was established.

We did get a custom shortcut to work occasionally, but similarly to ExpressVPN, the device was slow to respond compared to the main app. We also saw a few error messages connecting in this way.

There is one major drawback to Windscribe Free, which concerns its monthly data usage limit policy.

If you create a free account, using your email and password, the service raises your free data allowance from 2GB to 10GB per month.

You can further extend it to 15GB by tweeting a promotional link for the company. Sadly, 15GB still isn’t enough. It roughly equates to only six hours of HD video streaming.

That said, it should be enough for encrypting public WiFi networks and occasional streaming, and is far more than you’ll get with some other options, like TunnelBear.