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The Fastest VPNs We’ve Tested
Guide Summary
Based on my team’s speed tests and my own hands-on experience, these are the absolute fastest VPNs:
- Hotspot Shield: Fastest VPN with 1% worldwide speed loss. Read my review.
- IPVanish: Fastest upload speeds & low ping times. Read my review.
- Hide.me: Minimal speed loss thanks to its Bolt feature. Read my review.
- ExpressVPN: Less than 2% speed loss on nearby servers. Read my review.
- NordVPN: All-rounder with fast speeds across all locations. Read my review.
Although every VPN slows your connection, picking the right one minimizes the impact.
To find and recommend the fastest VPNs, we used our proprietary tool to speed test 59 services.
Using our data, the graph below shows how Hotspot Shield’s download speed loss compares to the next four fastest VPNs:
You’re probably wondering how these numbers actually translate to the real world.
Honestly, while all five options feel fast and responsive, Hotspot Shield is the clear standout. When I turn it on, I genuinely forget I’m even connected to a VPN — it’s that fast.
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
| VPNs Tested | 59 |
| Total Hours of Testing | 30,000+ |
| Combined Years of Experience | 50+ |
How We Tested & Chose the Fastest VPNs
To ensure our VPN speed tests are as accurate as possible, we follow a strict scientific process that’s been refined over 10 years.
Our testing process closely replicates a typical VPN connection and controls for all possible variable factors.
Each VPN was tested on a Windows 11 PC connected to the internet via Ethernet, and all speeds were measured using our self-developed speed testing tool.
Our fastest VPN ratings are calculated using three primary metrics:
- Download speed (80% of overall rating)
- Upload speed (10% of overall rating)
- Ping (10% of overall rating)
Below is a summary table of the ten fastest VPNs, showing their ratings in each subcategory, along with their overall rating.
To remove the risk of bias or human error, our methodology is designed to extract raw numeric data from real tests. By following our methodology and using our data, you can reproduce our findings yourself.
Here’s a more in-depth look at the measurements we take when finding the fastest VPNs, along with how much of our overall rating they make up:
1. Download Speed (80%)
Since download speed dictates nearly everything you do online, including streaming in 4K, downloading files, and loading web pages, it makes up 80% of our speed rating.
That rating is then split across seven global test locations to reflect real-world VPN use cases.
Our server location weighting is as follows:
- Local (New York, US): 40%
- US (West Coast): 10%
- UK (London): 10%
- Canada (Toronto): 5%
- Brazil (São Paulo): 5%
- Japan (Tokyo): 5%
- Australia (Sydney): 5%
We prioritize local speeds since you’ll be connecting to nearby servers most often. The US and UK receive the next highest weightings due to the popularity of their streaming services.
All other locations get a baseline 5% weighting. If you need a VPN for regularly connecting to one of these regions, use our speed comparison tool to find the best performer.
2. Upload Speed (10%)
Upload speed is a measurement of how quickly your device can transmit data to the internet.
As it’s important for fewer web activities, it accounts for just 10% of our overall rating. A faster upload speed is useful for torrenting, video calling, and uploading files to the internet.
You’re unlikely to be performing these tasks while connected to VPN servers around the world, so we only factor in the results from the local VPN server.
3. Ping (10%)
Ping measures latency: the time it takes for a data packet to travel back and forth between your device and a server.
For most VPN users, low ping is only relevant for lag-free online gaming, which is why it takes up just 10% of our overall speed rating.
We break this down into two server locations to account for the two main reasons people use a VPN for online gaming.
Our server location weighting is as follows:
- Local (New York, US): 6%
- UK (London): 4%
The higher weighting for the local server is because users will most often use a VPN to hide their IP address or to change their NAT type.
We also factor in one international location, the UK, for users who want to access easier gaming lobbies.
Control Variables
Here are the elements we kept constant to ensure our findings are as accurate as possible:
1. Proprietary Speed Test Tool
Unlike other VPN review websites that rely on external tools, we built our own internet speed test tool to eliminate bias.
Third-party platforms have conflicts of interest: some popular VPN services are owned by Ookla’s parent company, while others host the very servers used for testing.
By controlling all eight of our test servers running the open-source OpenSpeedTest platform, we generate far more precise, reliable data. You can see our rental invoice for a dedicated New York City test server in the screenshot below:
Our invoice to rent a speed test server in New York City.
2. One Speed Test at a Time
To ensure any slowdowns can only be attributed to the VPN service and not a congested speed test server, we conduct only one test on each server at a time.
This level of control wouldn’t be possible on a third-party tool, like Speedtest by Ookla, that is used by thousands of people simultaneously.
3. Dedicated Broadband Line
We have a dedicated fiber-optic broadband line that is only used for conducting our VPN speed tests, ensuring that our baseline speed is unaffected by external network activities.
As a result, any observed speed variations can be attributed to the VPN in use.
4. Consistent Test Equipment
We use a standardized setup for all tests: a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop connected via a Cat7 ethernet cable, with each VPN installed on separate virtual machine.
This uniformity ensures that any speed fluctuations are due to the VPNs and not our test equipment.
We manually conduct every VPN speed test.
5. Time of Day
We tested each VPN’s connection speeds from 3–5pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) to avoid the extreme network conditions of peak and off-peak hours.
By doing this, any variances in network performance were consistent across tests and could be attributed to the VPN service rather than network fluctuations.
All speed tests were conducted from 3–5pm EST.
Research Limitations
Although we have taken steps at every stage to keep our speed results as accurate as possible, there are still some unavoidable limitations to our testing.
These limitations may result in a VPN performing differently when you test it yourself:
1. Network Fluctuations
Although we test each VPN at the same time each day, network demand is often different from one day to the next.
For instance, if there are many people simultaneously connecting to the internet on a particular day, the VPN being tested may experience slower speeds or connection issues.
2. Varying Device Performance
The speed test results of a VPN can vary widely depending on the device being used, as different devices have varying network cards, software, and performance capabilities. For example, desktop PCs often have larger and faster wireless cards than mobile devices.
Although we test VPN speeds on a commonly used computer running the most popular operating system, you may not always experience the same results we did.
How to Speed Up Your VPN
A VPN will slow your internet connection in almost every case due to the added distance and encryption overhead.
When you connect, your traffic is encrypted and sent through a remote server. This adds an extra stop before your data reaches its final destination, reducing your download speed.
The severity of this performance hit depends on your chosen protocol, server distance, and server load.
Our speed test data shows the reduction you can typically expect with a paid VPN service:
- Nearby Servers: 7% download speed loss
- Long-Distance Servers: 16% download speed loss
Thankfully, you can minimize this added overhead. Below are five ways you can speed up your VPN:
1. Use the WireGuard Protocol
Any data you send or receive over the internet is split into small units called “packets.” When you use a VPN, these are encrypted and wrapped inside an outer layer to route them to the remote VPN server.
Because these packets have a strict maximum size limit, the extra layer leaves less room for your actual data. As a result, it takes more of them to transmit the same amount of information, which decreases your overall download speed.
Some VPN protocols introduce more data overhead than others, resulting in a greater impact on your connection speeds.
Use the table below to compare the most popular VPN protocols by their overhead and average speed performance:
| VPN Protocol | Overhead | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| WireGuard | 4.53% | Very Fast |
| IKEv2/IPSec | 7.88% | Very Fast |
| PPTP | 8.24% | Very Fast |
| OpenVPN UDP | 17.23% | Fast |
| OpenVPN TCP | 19.96% | Moderate |
As shown above, WireGuard has the smallest impact on your download speeds. In my opinion, it’s the best VPN protocol available.
2. Connect to the Nearest Server Location
When you use a VPN, your internet traffic takes a detour through a server in a location of your choice.
In 99% of cases, the farther away the VPN server is from your physical location, the slower your internet speeds will be.
Most top-rated VPN services have a “Smart Location” or “Quick Connect” feature for this very reason.
To maximize your download speed, connect to a VPN server as close to you as possible.
3. Consider Server Load
If lots of other users connect to the same server as you, it can become congested due to the stretched bandwidth. This translates to slower download speeds for you.
Choosing a VPN with a large server network protects against this, as its users are dispersed across multiple endpoints.
Some VPNs, like IPVanish, may even display the percentage load of each server in their apps.
When possible, choose a server with the lowest load to maximize your VPN’s speed.
4. Use a Wired Connection
While not always convenient, connecting your device directly to your router with an ethernet cable will improve your download speeds.
By doing so, you avoid the issues of physical objects blocking your signal or interference from other signals.
This also has the benefit of reducing your latency if you need to use a VPN for online gaming.
5. Change Your VPN Service
To be blunt, not all VPNs are created equal. Some providers may invest more in bypassing censorship than speed performance, while others may throttle your connection to encourage you to buy a pricier plan.
Whatever the reason, it won’t matter what you do if your VPN isn’t capable of reaching fast speeds.
By using one of our recommended VPNs from this page, you avoid this issue. All of our picks have been verified by our team of experts as the fastest VPNs on the market.
Speed Test Data: Full Results
For complete transparency, we’ve published the performance data for all 59 VPNs we review. Use the table below to compare the average download speed loss across our global testing locations:
VPNs are listed from fastest to slowest (lowest speed loss first).
