The Best Free & Paid Mobile VPN Apps

Despite the risks inherent to mobile devices — like unsafe WiFi networks — VPN services tend to prioritize their desktop apps more. As such, mobile VPNs often have fewer features, weaker security, and worse performance than their desktop equivalents.

We’ve tested 62 VPNs to compile a shortlist of mobile apps that match the overall quality and performance of desktop while still being easy to use on the go.

To assist in our recommendations, we’ve created testing criteria tailored to handheld devices, with a particular focus on ease of use, mobile features, and the VPN’s performance.

You can use the table below to see how the top-rated mobile VPNs compare based on their performance:

As part of our testing process, we came across several VPNs that are simply too dangerous or ineffective to install on mobile.

Many of these VPNs lacked the necessary security features to qualify as safe to use, and others were actually ‘copycat’ apps masquerading as a VPN service.

Our investigation into unsafe free VPNs also uncovered mobile apps with malware, shady ownership, and intrusive permission requests.

We’ve listed some of the mobile VPNs you should avoid installing below, alongside our reasons for doing so:

Norton Secure VPN

Norton Secure VPN logs your real IP address and it’s incorporated in the US, which puts your personal data at risk.

We were also disappointed by its outdated mobile apps which consist of a few lines of text on a white background. You can’t customize this interface and there isn’t an option for a dark mode.

Even with its simple design, we found it frustrating to use Norton’s mobile apps with key features distributed among different tabs.

Similarly, we found it unusual that the Android app advertises multiple P2P-optimized servers but tapping them redirects you to the same Netherlands server location.

Speedify

Though popular on mobile, Speedify VPN’s logging policy is highly intrusive. When using the service, it collects your real IP address, device information, connection timestamps, and bandwidth usage.

We also discovered that the VPN’s kill switch is only available for premium accounts, leaving free users unprotected.

Secure VPN – Safer Internet

Secure VPN is an Android-only VPN owned by Signal Lab, the developer behind Thunder VPN.

Following our investigation into free mobile VPN ownership, we found that Signal Lab actually has ties to China despite advertising themselves as US-based.

Coupled with its basic logging policy and unprofessional support emails, we advise against installing Secure VPN onto your Android.

Cellular VPN

Cellular VPN is actually a peer-to-peer proxy service on Android which shares your real IP address and internet bandwidth with other users.

This is similar to how Hola VPN functions and it poses a major privacy and security risk as other users can access illegal and dangerous content using your IP address.

We’re also concerned by the lack of information surrounding the service with its Google Play store listing linking to a non-existent website.

We strongly recommend you avoid installing Cellular VPN.

Mobile VPNs carry more risks than their desktop counterparts as they’re usually downloaded from a third-party app store instead of directly from the VPN provider’s website.

On the Google Play Store in particular, there are malicious apps pretending to be legitimate VPN services and ‘copycat’ apps that mimic well-known VPNs.

There are also factors unique to mobile which should be taken into consideration, such as the file size of the VPN app, its history on the Google and Apple app stores, specific mobile features, and more.

To help inform your decision, we’ve highlighted the most important features you should look for when choosing a mobile VPN in the table below:

In the sections that follow, we’ve provided an example of an untrustworthy VPN on the Google Play Store along with some tips for identifying similar apps:

1. Don’t Always Trust the Play Store Figures

Millions of downloads and positive user reviews are not necessarily indicators of a trustworthy service.

Users may be unaware of the VPN’s privacy and security issues or simply not care about them.

It’s also common for shady VPN developers to pay for bots to leave positive reviews of their product.

We recommend referring to one of our VPN reviews, written by real experts, before downloading a new VPN onto your device.

2. Check for Typos & Grammatical Inaccuracies

Another indicator of an unsafe mobile VPN app is misspelled words and poorly-written information.

Even if the mobile app is legitimate, typos are unprofessional and indicate a lack of care and investment from the VPN service.

We suggest you carefully read through the description and privacy policy of any VPN app you consider downloading onto your phone.

3. Check the VPN Provider’s Website

The quality of a VPN provider’s website, or the absence of a website entirely, can provide another signal of the VPN’s overall trustworthiness.

We’ve outlined some of the features of a poorly-built website below:

• Hosted on a http server instead of https
• Blocked by your ISP
• Minimal graphical elements
• Only displays a single web page
• Typos & inaccurate VPN information
• Outdated or missing copyright
• Excessive cookie requests
• Intrusive ads

Although VPNs are useful for enhancing your online privacy and security while using your smartphone or tablet, they come with some limitations.

There are many vulnerabilities inherent to iOS and Android that a VPN cannot prevent or mitigate against.

We’ve outlined the most notable security flaws and privacy risks associated with mobile, and why a VPN cannot prevent them, below:

Google’s Telemetry Data

Google collects large amounts of your personal data as part of its Telemetry whenever you use your Android phone. This includes your device’s IP address, serial number, and MAC address, which is more than enough to identify you.

As this happens at a device-based level, installing a VPN app onto your Android can’t prevent this.

In fact, it is impossible to disable Google’s Telemetry, but you can reduce how much of your browsing data it logs by completing the following steps:

Android’s Open-Source OS

All Android devices run on an open-sourced operating system developed by Google. While this has many advantages, it also allows malicious third-parties to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in the source code.

This can allow hackers to gain access to your Android device and even take control of your smartphone.

For example, the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) identified an exploit on Google devices running Android 11 to 13. This allows a third-party to gain control over your Android device by simply running an application.

As this concerns Android’s source code, a VPN cannot be used to protect against this vulnerability.

iOS 16 DNS Leaks

In 2020, Proton VPN’s team discovered that iOS 13.4 leaks DNS requests and causes Apple’s proprietary services to bypass active VPN tunnels.

These services include iCloud photo syncing, iMessage, and other services which contain sensitive personal data.

This is still an issue on the current version of iOS with no known fix.

To identify the best free and paid mobile VPNs, we tested 62 VPN services with a custom-built methodology.

This methodology is divided into two sections: our testing team’s experience of the VPN and its features, alongside a quantitative analysis of its performance in our testing.

As an additional factor, we consider the privacy policy of each mobile VPN to ensure that your online anonymity isn’t compromised by the service.

You can find a detailed walkthrough of our mobile VPN testing methodology in the sections below:

1. Mobile App Usability (30% of Overall Rating)

We expect top-rated mobile VPNs to provide apps which are easy to install, setup, and use regardless of your mobile OS.

Plus, these apps should integrate seamlessly into your mobile device without requiring the installation of additional software or unnecessary learning curves.

We rewarded VPNs with a compact and intuitive mobile app design. Specifically, we looked for decluttered home screens, clearly labeled features, and buttons which are sensibly spaced and responsive.

Mobile VPNs which included ads or data limits were automatically disqualified from the selection process.

To calculate a usability rating, multiple members of the testing team independently assigned each VPN a rating out of 10 based on their personal user experience. We then used this to calculate an average and multiplied it by 0.3 to account for its 30% weighting.

2. Mobile App Features (30% of Overall Rating)

The best mobile VPNs should offer the same features as their desktop counterparts as well as features built for mobile devices specifically.

As a minimum, every recommended VPN has a kill switch, full server network, modern protocols, and functioning GUI on their mobile apps.

Once we assign a value from this scale, we then multiply it by 0.3 to account for its 30% weighting.

3. Mobile Connection Time (10% of Overall Rating)

A VPN’s connection time is a measurement of how long it takes to connect to a nearby server.

This is particularly important for mobile users, as cellular data is more prone to connection drops due to inconsistent network coverage.

Similarly, you’re more likely to use a mobile VPN with public WiFi, which is more susceptible to third-party attacks and snoopers.

Therefore, a fast connection time is essential to protect your personal data on mobile. It’s also an indication of how responsive and easy-to-use the VPN app is.

We measured each mobile VPN’s connection time by timing how long it took to connect to the nearest server on its default protocol. We performed this test three times each for iPhone and Android device and then averaged the results into an overall mobile connection time.

To generate a rating, we converted the final average into a value on a scale of 1 to 10 and multiplied it by 0.1 to reflect its 10% weighting.

You can see our full mobile connection time results and ratings in the table below:

4. Mobile Battery Usage (10% of Overall Rating)

An active VPN connection significantly drains your mobile’s battery and is often one of the leading consumers for battery usage.

The exact amount is difficult to determine and depends on several factors including: the selected VPN protocol, the type of encryption, your signal strength, and your phone’s model.

We’ve created a standardized test to determine the approximate battery usage of each mobile VPN, but it is not exact for the reasons outlined above.

While connected to a nearby VPN server, we streamed a 60 minute video in Full HD quality and recorded our mobile’s battery level before and after streaming. We did this three times each on iOS and Android, using the same test video, to determine an average battery loss.

To calculate the rating, we converted the final average into a value on a scale of 1 to 10 and multiplied it by 0.1 to reflect its 10% weighting.

5. Speed (10% of Overall Rating)

Fast speeds are an essential part of a VPN service, especially when connecting to unreliable mobile networks.

To test this, we regularly connect to VPN servers in five different continents and aggregate the results into an average.

The final results are converted into a rating using our speed test calculator and then multiplied by 0.1 to reflect its 10% weighting.

You can find a selection of each mobile VPN’s speed test results, alongside their speed rating, in the table below:

6. Privacy & Logging Policy (10% of Overall Rating)

A VPN’s logging policy outlines how much of your data is monitored and collected by the service. If too much is logged, then your mobile activity can become linked to you and exposed by a hacker or court case.

We test this by reading every word of a mobile VPN’s logging policy and then recording what it logs, where it’s stored, and how long it’s kept for.

We also take into consideration the VPN’s jurisdiction and whether it uses any additional measures to protect your privacy, such as diskless servers.

To calculate this rating, we take it from the Privacy & Logging Policy section of the VPN review. We then divided it by 0.1 to account for its 10% weighting.