Best VPN for USA in 2021

We strongly believe using a VPN in the US is essential. Here’s four reasons why:

1US Government Surveillance

US Intelligence agencies have far-reaching powers that allow it to strip away citizens’ privacy almost entirely at will.

Basically, the US government needs very little ‘due process’ – if it feels like spying on you, it will.

The USA Patriot Act is arguably the most infamous surveillance law on the planet. Created after the September 11 2001 attacks as a means to combat terrorism, its reach has far exceeded its initial intentions.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the government was using the Patriot Act to collect enormous communications logs of all its citizens without good reason.

How is that possible? Because the US government can tap any device with very little oversight or approval needed.

This is just the worst of an alarming number of mass surveillance acts currently in place in the US – you can see a full list of them here.

2US Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

It’s simple: when you sign a contract with a US ISP you’re giving it the right to log everything you do on its service.

However, the real scandal is that ISPs and mobile carriers have been found willingly and secretively cooperating with the notorious NSA to hand over internet and phone records.

A good VPN will shield your browsing habits from your ISP, and help keep what you do online private.

3Hackers

The United States accounts for 18.2% of all ransomware attacks worldwide – that makes it number one.

11% of all cyber attacks originate in the US, the second highest in the world.

Between 2015 and 2017 the US suffered 303 known large-scale cyber attacks – the most of any nation.

There are plenty more figures like this, but the point is clear: if you’re in the US there’s a decent chance you’ll be targeted by hackers, snoopers, or cyber criminals, especially if you use public WiFi.

Our advice? Always use a secure VPN when on a public WiFi network. Follow our security tips on how to stay safe on public WiFi.

4Office & School Networks

Many schools, colleges and workplaces restrict the websites accessible on their networks.

The most-blocked websites in the US are:

• Facebook: 19%
• Twitter: 15%
• YouTube: 14%

When you connect to a VPN server, you’re assigned a different IP address and your school or employer can no longer see which websites you’re trying to access.

Tip: if you’re using an office/school computer, you may not be able to install unauthorised software on it. If that’s the case, trying installing a VPN browser extension instead.

5Sports Blackouts

US sports blackouts are frustratingly common, and often you won’t be able to watch your team play on TV (cable or online).

Blackouts affect three main US sports leagues: NFL, MLB and NBA. Both TV broadcaster as well as online streaming services like Game Pass must adhere to the blackout schedules.

Jump to our VPN blackouts workaround below to see how to bypass these broadcast restrictions.

Using a VPN service in the US is completely legal.

In fact, a lot of major companies use corporate VPN software to protect sensitive data, and it allows staff to access company files and tools remotely.

But, the fact that VPNs are legal doesn’t mean you’re exempt from other state or national laws, especially those regarding copyright.

Basically, when using a VPN we don’t recommend doing anything that you wouldn’t do without one.

Are VPNs legal throughout the world?

Almost, although some countries have either banned them or restricted their use. To know more, read our guide on where VPNs are and aren’t legal.

Getting an anonymous US IP address is easy, and with it you can browse the web as if you were in the US.

Follow these three simple steps to change your IP address to a US one:

1. Find & download a good US VPN

   A US VPN must have fast US servers spread across the nation. And, it can’t leak your real IP address.

   Select one of the VPNs in this guide and won’t have any issues.

2. Setting up & running the VPN

   Once you’ve download the VPN software onto your device, go ahead and install it (see our VPN setup guides for extra help).

   Then, open the VPN app, sign in if necessary, and choose a US location to connect to.

   ExpressVPN has over 30 US cities to pick from:

3. Look out for IP leaks

   The best US VPNs won’t leak your IP address. If you want to make sure your real IP address is hidden, use our IP info tool. If you see your real IP address, then your VPN is leaking.

Some free VPNs also give you anonymous US IP addresses. Word of warning, though, as many free VPNs are insecure and some are actually unsafe.

Unsurprisingly, we recommend you use a paid VPN that will give you a much better experience overall.

However, if you’re still determined to try out a free VPN first then read our Windscribe review, our current favorite free VPN.

Naturally, we recommend always using a VPN online, but we believe a VPN is especially important when torrenting.

Torrenting, or BitTorrent technology, utilizes what’s called a ‘peer-to-peer’ (P2P) connection. When you download torrent files, you’re not downloading a whole file from one website, instead you’re downloading different fragments of that file from many other people (the torrent ‘swarm’).

If you torrent without a VPN, your IP address is VISIBLE to the entire torrent swarm. There’s often more than 1,000 connections at once – that’s a lot of strangers and you just don’t know who’s hiding among them.

Is Torrenting Actually Legal in the US?

Yes, torrenting is legal, but downloading and/or sharing copyrighted digital material isn’t. If you don’t hide your torrent IP address, and are caught downloading copyright-protected videos, music or software then you risk being fined up to $250,000.

Two laws affect torrenting and P2P activity in the US:

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
• The No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act)

US ISPs store subscribers’ download data for many months, and sometimes even years. If you’re caught torrenting unauthorised digital works, you’ll receive a warning letter from your ISP.

Also, your ISP will probably start throttling your torrenting speeds at this stage.

Typically, US ISPs have a three-strike (warnings) policy, after which they’ll pass on your details to the content owners who may start legal proceedings against you.

How Do I Protect Myself?

In our opinion, the best solution to hiding your true IP location is to use a P2P-friendly VPN (one that allows torrenting). When you connect to a VPN server, you’ll be assigned an anonymous torrent IP address, which will be the only IP address visible to other torrenters and your ISP.

Tip: make sure you connect to a nearby VPN server for faster speeds and, crucially, BEFORE you open your torrenting client. Otherwise, your real IP may be exposed.

You can learn more about torrenting and VPNs in our dedicated guide.

By now it’s common knowledge that the American Netflix library has the widest range of video titles.

Amazingly, the US catalogue has over 5,500 titles compared to only 3,571 in Canada and 2,967 in the UK.

So, how do you access Netflix USA when you’re outside the US?

Easy, all you need to do is:

1. Download a VPN that works with Netflix
2. Connect to one of their US servers
3. Visit the website or open up the app
4. Start streaming

Tip: Clear your web browser cookies before you open up Netflix.

Despite the FCC repealing sports blackout rules in 2014, blackouts still happen because of private agreements between the sports leagues and broadcasters.

There are three types of blackouts:

1. Location-based

   National blackouts: if a national broadcaster like ABC or CBS acquires the rights to a specific game, viewers in the home team’s locality won’t be able to watch the game on other channels.

   Regional blackouts: if a regional blackout is in place for a particular game, only viewers in a specific area will be able to watch that game.

2. Device-based

   Some blackouts affect specific devices, such as mobile devices, Rokus or Chromecasts. This affects NFL fans the most.

3. Streaming-based

   Once you’ve downloaded the VPN software onto your device, go ahead and install it (see our VPN setup guides for extra help).

So, how do you bypass sports blackouts?

All you need to do is get a VPN with servers in many US cities and connect to a location that isn’t blacked out.

ExpressVPN has servers in over 30 US locations, while IPVanish covers 15 cities.

Unfortunately, since April 2017 American ISPs really can sell your web browsing data to third-parties, and without your consent.

This was a huge loss to US consumer’s privacy and, unsurprisingly, many people turned to VPNs to protect their online privacy.

If you don’t think this is actually happening, think again.

A Motherboard investigation published in 2019 proved how US internet providers have been selling access to their subscribers’ location data.

Furthermore, US ISPs have been known to mine customers’ web browsing habits for advertising purposes.

In July 2018, the US government repealed the 2015 Open Internet Order, which prevented US ISPs from throttling internet speeds at their discretion.

With the removal of these ‘Net Neutrality’ rules, ISPs have once again been given the power to control internet speeds as they wish.

Unsurprisingly, in 2019 researchers reported how American ISPs were slowing down Netflix, YouTube streaming speeds.

So, if you don’t want your ISP to slow down your internet speed, use a VPN to prevent your internet provider from detecting what you’re doing online.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is the largest US intelligence agency. It monitors, collects and processes information and data on a scary amount of people.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed the frightening scale of the NSA’s surveillance machine.

Regardless of whether a person is considered of ‘interest’ or not, the NSA will store records of millions of web users’ online activities for up to a year. This data is used to build a so-called ‘pattern of life’ of individuals being tracked.

Since Edward Snowden’s revelations, the NSA has ceased some the above activities however there are several ways it’s still spying on US citizens.

Not only does the US have the NSA and the CIA, it is also a member of the the Five Eyes Alliance. This is an agreement to share sensitive data between:

• US
• UK
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand

Members of the Five Eyes Alliance share surveillance data on individuals it considers of ‘interest.’ This personal data can range from phone records to text messages to web browsing logs.

A VPN won’t help much with phone records and text messages (SMS), but it will hide your web activity from your ISP. As a result, your ISP will have nothing to hand over US agencies.

Eager to know more? Our Jurisdictions and VPNs guide has all the information you need.