Using a VPN in the USA is essential if you want to avoid your ISP snooping on everything you’re doing online. Every VPN provider claims to be the best in the current market, which can make it pretty difficult to make an informed decision. We do all the hard work for you, thoroughly testing each VPN on our site so we can provide you with comprehensive reviews to make choosing the right one that little bit easier.
Our top VPN picks for the US allow you to browse securely and protect you from unwanted data collection. We’ve chosen providers with loads of server choice in the US, and our proprietary speed test tool allows us to provide you with the most accurate speed test data in that country, meaning you can rely on our choices to be capable of HD streaming and quick, uninterrupted downloads. We even put the apps through their paces to make sure they’re user-friendly without lacking in advanced features.
- Best price
- $6.67 per month
- Special deal
- 49% off 15-month plan
- Money-back guarantee
- 30 Days
- Customer Support
- 24/7 Live chat support
- No. of Server Locations
- 94 Countries
- Simultaneous Connections
- 3
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Linux
ExpressVPN is the best all-round VPN, period. Download speeds of 187Mbps on US servers mean you won’t sacrifice streaming and torrenting/P2P performance for the sake of your privacy, and reliable access to Netflix and BBC iPlayer is a major selling point. The market-leading choice of over 30 city-level servers in the US makes optimizing for absolute maximum performance really simple.
Powerful, user-friendly apps are available for a larger range of devices than usual, with the only caveat that you can only protect three at once. Privacy-wise it’s one of the best on the current market, offering some compelling security features and a very minimal logging policy, collecting only anonymous usage stats and no IP addresses.
Customer support is best-in-class: friendly live chat agents are available 24/7 while online resources are comprehensive. It’s not the cheapest on the market but you can save yourself 49% on a 15-month plan and bring the monthly cost down to $6.67. ExpressVPN beats rivals to the top spot as it’s the most reliable, high-performance option currently available in the US.
- Best price
- $2.99 per month
- Special deal
- 75% off with 3-year plan
- Money-back guarantee
- 30 Days
- Customer Support
- 24/7 Live chat support
- No. of Server Locations
- 62 Countries
- Simultaneous Connections
- 6
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Linux
NordVPN does the basics very well indeed – even if it lacks the full package offered by ExpressVPN. It’s very fast, secure and is also one of the few services that consistently works with Netflix. Download speeds in the US average around 225Mbps, making it one of the fastest VPNs for the US on the market. You can also choose between 20 server locations, for coast-to-coast coverage.
The apps are sleek and user-friendly but are limited to the most popular platforms, however you can protect up to six devices at once. Manual VPN protocol selection is a little limiting, but we do like privacy features such as a VPN kill switch while the strict zero-logs policy is also very appealing.
The quality of customer support is excellent but email responses can be slow. So while NordVPN may not quite match up with ExpressVPN overall, on a three-year subscription, it works out quite a bit cheaper at $2.99 per month. If you want to keep monthly costs down without sacrificing core performance, NordVPN is the ideal choice.
- Best price
- $6.49 per month
- Special deal
- 46% off with 12-month plan
- Money-back guarantee
- 7 Days
- Customer Support
- 24/7 Live chat support
- No. of Server Locations
- 61 Countries
- Simultaneous Connections
- 10
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IPVanish is a great choice in the US for torrenters and Kodi fans. Speeds are ultra-fast and consistent, with downloads of 156Mbps making it one of the best performers in the country. A choice of over 400 servers across 17 cities means you won’t struggle to find a high-performance server nearby.
The desktop apps aren’t the most user-friendly we’ve seen but are worth getting used to for the amount of privacy features on offer, including a kill switch and DNS leak protection. The app for Amazon Fire TV Stick is a major plus for streaming fans.
A strict zero-logs policy will appeal to streamers and torrenters, as will the fact that there are no restrictions on P2P activity. Netflix access has recently improved so you shouldn’t struggle to find a server that works with the service.
Customer support is improving now there’s live chat. It isn’t cheap but if you opt for the 12-month plan, you can reduce the monthly cost by 46% to $6.49. If you’re a keen P2P user or an Amazon Fire TV fan then you should definitely consider IPVanish, as not only is it super-secure but also offers excellent performance.
- Best price
- $2.75 per month
- Special deal
- 79% off with 3-year plan
- Money-back guarantee
- 45 Days
- Customer Support
- 24/7 Live chat support
- No. of Server Locations
- 60 Countries
- Simultaneous Connections
- 7
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CyberGhost is hands-down the best budget VPN on the current market. Downloads of around 97Mbps on US servers may be slower than our other picks but still plenty fast enough to download multiple files and stream in HD without breaking a sweat. Torrenters beware, P2P activity isn’t permitted on any of CyberGhost’s US servers.
The apps are available for a range of platforms and offer an innovative, customized experience. Optimized streaming servers provide quick, hassle-free access to Netflix and other popular sites. CyberGhost is a top pick for privacy due to a strict zero logs policy and first-party DNS servers, as well as the usual features such as a VPN kill switch.
Customer support is comprehensive with quick responses from friendly live chat agents. At just $2.75 per month on the three-year plan, it offers incredible value for money even if it isn’t the best all-round performer, so don’t let the negatives put you off too much.
- Best price
- $2.99 per month
- Special deal
- 75% off with 3-year plan
- Money-back guarantee
- 30 Days
- Customer Support
- 24/7 Live chat support
- No. of Server Locations
- 190 Countries
- Simultaneous Connections
- 5
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Linux
HideMyAss! really shines in the US due to its huge server network in the country. You can choose from 54 different US cities, by far the most we’ve seen from any provider, and with downloads of up to 228Mbps you can expect a seamless browsing experience no matter what you’re doing online. Streaming fans will love the servers optimized for Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other popular streaming sites.
HMA! is unfortunately based in the privacy-unfriendly UK and logs detailed connection metadata (including your true IP address) for up to three months. If you’re just looking to hide your browsing activity and IP address it’ll do the job, but more privacy-conscious users should consider other options.
The apps are modern and really user-friendly, especially if you want to click and forget. Customer support is comprehensive, if badly organized, with live chat available 24/7. HMA! isn’t incredibly cheap but you can save 75% if you sign up to a three-year plan, bringing the monthly cost to $2.99, which is decent value if you’re looking for blazing fast speeds and a huge server network.
How We Picked the Best VPN for USA
Our top choices for the USA offer loads of city-level server choice in the country and fantastic performance on both local and international connections. They also work with major streaming services including Netflix and BBC iPlayer. We look for privacy-friendly, minimal logging policies as well as advanced features such as DNS and IPv6 leak protection to ensure you’re protected against unwanted online surveillance.
We are always testing all the VPNs on our site to make sure our reviews and recommendations for the USA are always updated. We run regular speed tests on US servers to monitor VPN performance in that country. We try out the custom apps on a range of popular devices and even make sure the customer service is top notch.
Do I Need a VPN in the USA?
If you want to protect your personal information from prying eyes, using a VPN in the USA is absolutely essential.
The US is one of the least privacy-friendly jurisdictions on the planet, so you want to be sure that your browsing history stays private. ISPs no longer need your explicit permission to share your personal data with any third party, and are free to sell it to advertisers so they can target you with tracked ads – with a VPN you can avoid this completely as your online activity isn’t visible to anyone other than yourself.
Even disregarding the fact that your information can be sold to advertisers, do you really want your ISP to be able to see exactly what you’re doing online? This includes everything such as the state of your finances, any personal health worries you might have, and just random questions that you’re trying to find the answer to. It doesn’t seem right that a total stranger working for your ISP has the power to access (and possibly profit from) all the websites you have ever visited.
The US government is also known to monitor web traffic for national security reasons, so just searching for one suspicious word could put you under scrutiny, despite the fact in the majority of cases there will be no sinister motive whatsoever. Using a VPN encrypts all of your data, making it impossible to be tracked, therefore preventing any third parties from seeing what you’re searching for online.
Are VPNs Legal in the USA?
Using a VPN in the USA in order to protect your personal data and mask your true IP address is completely legal. In fact, a lot of major companies use VPNs to protect sensitive data from prying eyes, and also to allow their employees to access company files when they’re working remotely. There are absolutely no laws that prohibit US citizens from connecting to a VPN server.
However you need to remember that using a VPN doesn’t mean you’re exempt from state or national laws, especially those regarding copyright. In other words, we wouldn’t recommend doing anything whilst using a VPN that you wouldn’t do without one. The main purpose of a VPN is to keep your keep your online activity private, and there are no laws that state you cannot use one in the USA.
How to Choose a VPN for the USA: 7 Tips
- How many servers does it have in the USA?
Most popular VPN providers will offer a good choice of US servers covering the length and breadth of the country, with some of our top picks leaving you spoilt for choice. The nearer a VPN server to your physical location, the faster speeds you’re going to get, so you should opt for a provider that offers lots of city-level servers so you can determine which are closest to you.
- Does it offer good performance on its US servers?
More servers tends to mean less congestion and therefore improved speeds, however this isn’t always the case. Check out our independent speed test results to get the best idea of what performance is like in specific locations.
- Will it work with your favorite websites and apps?
Enjoy watching Netflix or BBC iPlayer? Not every provider will work with these apps, especially since the recent VPN crackdowns. We’re constantly testing whether each provider is working with Netflix and other popular sites, and we share these results with you in our VPN reviews.
- What is their logging policy?
Nearly all VPN providers will claim to be ‘zero logs’, however unfortunately this is rarely the case. In order to maintain a high level of performance across a global server network, most providers will need to collect at least some basic connection metadata from their customers, such as the amount of bandwidth used. We look through all the privacy policies so you don’t have to, and summarize them in plain English in the logging policy section of our VPN reviews.
Ideally you want a VPN provider that collects a minimal amount of logs, and nothing that could be used to personally identify you. Better still, a provider that doesn’t collect or store any logs is the best option, however these are few and far between.
- Does it work on your preferred devices?
Almost all VPN software will work on Windows, Mac and Linux machines, along with iOS and Android mobile devices. However, some VPN services are also compatible with other internet-connected items, such as routers, games consoles and streaming devices, such as the Amazon Fire Stick.
- Check the number of simultaneous connections supported
Do you want to protect your family’s devices as well as your own? Look for as many connections as you are likely to use at the same time (most providers will allow around 3-5 simultaneously).
- Are their client apps and software easy to use?
No-one likes a clunky, confusing app. Look for a VPN with software that’s well-designed, simple and powerful and you will be much more likely to use it all the time. We share the results of our hands-on testing of each VPN app in the the Ease of Use part of its review. We spend all day testing VPN apps, so hopefully we know a thing or two!
