The most secure VPNs in 2026

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, Chrome, Firefox, Android TV, Apple TV, Firestick, routers | Average download speed drop: 12.5 percent | Server locations: 154 in 62 countries | Notable features: NetShield ad blocker, Secure Core servers, Tor over VPN | Best price: $71.76 for 24 months

Proton VPN is generally fantastic, with a well-designed app, great speeds and the ability to unblock streaming sites just about everywhere. On top of all that, it's one of the few VPNs I'd entrust with actual sensitive activity, such as protecting journalistic sources. Still owned by its founders and partly funded by a nonprofit, Proton has the leeway to take privacy seriously.

That mentality extends to its security. It uses three reliable protocols (OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2) as well as the Stealth protocol, which is the same as WireGuard but with added tricks to make it impossible to detect that you're using a VPN at all.

The most interesting security measure on Proton VPN, though, has to be Secure Core. This is a double-hop feature that sends your connection through two VPN servers instead of one. The second location is always in one of three locations where Proton VPN has bulked up physical security — Sweden, Iceland or its home base of Switzerland. These locations have all the digital anti-penetration measures you'd expect, but they also defend you against old-school theft techniques, which hackers absolutely still use.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, Chrome, Android TV, Apple TV, Firestick, routers | Average download speed drop: 6.9 percent | Server locations: 164 in 105 countries | Notable features: Threat Manager tracker and malware blocker, Ad blocker, Parental controls, Aircove router | Best price: $68.40 for 28 months

ExpressVPN gets security right in all the basic ways: no leaks, impeccable encryption and the use of expert-vetted protocols. It also has an excellent malware blocker in Threat Manager, and has recently introduced a security suite that includes identity theft insurance and a data removal service.

But as nice as all that is, it was Lightway that landed ExpressVPN on this list. Lightway is a VPN protocol that looks a lot like WireGuard but is its own unique tool. Its code goes to extra lengths to make sure stored encryption keys — a common vulnerability in VPN technology — are protected behind multiple layers of safeguards. Thanks to Lightway, ExpressVPN's consistently great speeds come with virtually no downside.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, AndroidTV, tvOS routers | Average download speed drop: 6.4 percent | Server locations: 153 in 117 countries | Notable features: Double VPN, Onion over VPN, obfuscated servers, P2P servers, Threat Protection, Dark Web Monitor | Best price: $81.36 for 24 months

NordVPN passed through all the standard leak tests with a clean bill of health. It never showed my real IP address, even when I switched between servers quickly to try and throw it off. It's also just added its own obfuscation protocol, NordWhisper, which can help you get online when networks (or entire countries) block VPN traffic.

Another security innovation of NordVPN's is to incorporate the Tor network, which too many VPNs prefer to treat like an awkward cousin. Tor is a decentralized anonymity network that's infamous as the gateway to the dark web, but is also perfectly capable of providing legitimate protection to ordinary users.

The only problem is that Tor is maintained by unvetted volunteers. But if you're already protected by a VPN when you first touch Tor, as NordVPN makes easy with its Tor Over VPN servers, the risk is greatly reduced.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Apple TV, Fire TV, routers | Average download speed drop: 5.4 percent | Server locations: 141 in 100 countries | Notable features: Dynamic MultiHop, Everlink, IP rotator, unlimited simultaneous connections, CleanWeb, NoBorders mode | Best price: $53.73 for 27 months

Surfshark is fast, but it has more than just speed to recommend it. I've found it to be the ideal casual VPN, great for changing your location for streaming or to search for a travel deal. According to my tests, it's also highly unlikely to leak your real location.

It's not quite as focused on security as the providers above, but does have one safety feature the others lack: Everlink. This feature is built on Surfshark's tightly connected network of servers, which it calls Nexus. Unlike typical kill switches, which cut your internet off if you lose your link to the VPN server, Everlink only keeps you offline for a second while automatically reconnecting you to the next server available. It dramatically reduces both internet downtime and time spent with any information exposed.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, routers | Average download speed drop: 26.3 percent | Server locations: 90 in 50 countries | Notable features: IPv6 support, dynamic multihop, DNS ad and tracker blocker, DAITA AI monitoring prevention | Best price: 5 Euro per month

Almost all the VPNs I've listed so far are solid on privacy, but still gather small amounts of information, usually through marketing cookies on their websites. This info isn't connected to anything you're actually doing on the VPN, but it can still be disconcerting that it exists at all.

Mullvad gives you peace of mind on that front. Nearly alone among VPNs, it collects absolutely no information — nothing, not even an email address when you sign up. Every Mullvad account is a string of digits that tells interlopers nothing whatsoever about you. You can even pay cash and leave no financial trace either. That leaves no data for Mullvad to mishandle, even accidentally: it can't leak what it never knew.