Looking to buy the best privacy VPN to keep you safe online? Thinking of upgrading your VPN service and have privacy at the top of your VPN checklist? Concerned by VPN logging policies, hiding your IP address and VPN protocols? Then check out our top recommended most private VPN providers below.
Our privacy VPN reviews explained
When considering a VPN, the underlying purpose has to be that your true IP address is securely encrypted and hidden from your internet service provider (ISP). Secondly, the most privacy focussed VPN providers offer zero log policies meaning they don’t store any user activity themselves. This is important should a law enforcement agency or government request information as they will not have anything to provide. Sadly with the explosion of VPN choices on offer, both with paid for and free VPNs, the above key principles aren’t always adhered to. In the worst cases, particularly with free VPNs, the users privacy can be abused meaning they aren’t always protected in the way the VPN has advertised. Others take it one step further by selling user data and profiting from unsuspecting VPN users. Our top 5 best VPNs for privacy use the most advanced security software to mask your IP address and help keep you secure, have the strictest log policies, offer great speeds and are super easy to use.
What do you need from a VPN for privacy?
A VPN for privacy needs to be extremely secure when it comes to the users online anonymity and data security as well as offering outstanding zero log policies, DNS leak protection and the all important VPN kill switch. Our top recommended VPNs for privacy all offer the following:
- Low or zero log policies
- Military grade IP encryption to protect your true IP address
- Located in privacy friendly jurisdictions
- Has enhanced security features such as DNS leak protection and kill switch
- Fast and reliable servers for streaming & torrenting
- Well designed apps with great customer support
Melvyn's top 5 VPNs for Privacy
PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN are a first class, zero logs VPN provider and are one of our top picks if you’re concerned about online privacy. Combining market leading security with excellent speeds produced from its global network of servers, you can safely enjoy torrenting or stream HD content from all the popular providers such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer with ease. Private by name and private by nature… this VPN is hard to beat!
Compatible with
Summary
Exceptionally privacy focused, ultra-quick download speeds and ridiculously competitively priced… you don’t want to overlook PrivateVPN!
Our score:
4.7
Price from:
$1.89
per month
Pros
- Fast reliable servers with up to 323Mbps download speeds
- 2048-bit encryption with AES-256
- Kill switch, DNS and IPv6 leak protection
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting permitted
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer and all other popular streaming sites
- Zero logs policy
- Full 30-day money back guarantee
- One of the cheapest VPNs available
Cons
- Server choice could be larger
- Currently no web browser extensions
- Live chat directed us to email in testing
hide.me
If you’re looking for outstanding privacy protection and a highly secure VPN which deploys market leading technology to help keep you safe online, you couldn’t go far wrong with hide.me. With a strict not logs policy, fantastic speeds, and some great features, hide.me is certainly up there with the best if you can get over their higher than average prices!
Compatible with
Summary
Outstanding privacy protection, fantastic speeds and some great premium features… If you’ve got a good budget, you won’t go far wrong with hide.me!
Our score:
4.7
Price from:
$4.99
per month
Pros
- Outstanding privacy protection
- Kill switch, DNS leak protection, 256-bit AES encryption
- SoftEther & Stealth protocols bypass government censorship
- Fantastic local & global average server speeds
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting permitted
- Protect up to 10 devices with the one account
Cons
- Not the cheapest VPN available
- Server network could be larger
CyberGhost
CyberGhost are an exceptional VPN provider with industry leading levels of privacy, worldwide server locations ideal for torrenting with user friendly applications that flawlessly unblock US Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other popular streaming services. If you want a super-fast, zero logs, easy to use VPN… then look no further!
Compatible with
Summary
Super-fast, zero logs, easy to use apps and friendly 24/7 customer support… you can see why it’s our number one recommended provider!
Our score:
5.0
Price from:
$1.99
per month
Pros
- Super fast, reliable servers with up to 265Mbps download speeds
- Extremely user-friendly applications on all devices
- Kill switch, DNS leak protection, 256-bit AES encryption
- Access to over 7,200+ servers spanning more than 91 countries
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, DIsney+ and all other popular streaming sites
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting allowed
- Protect up to 7 devices with one account
- One of the best value VPNs available
Cons
- No VPN obfuscation technology for use in high censorship countries
- Doesn’t work in China
Ivacy
Compatible with
Summary
Well polished user-friendly apps, market leading speeds and an outstanding price… Ivacy are major players in the VPN market!
Our score:
4.7
Price from:
$1.16
per month
Pros
- Fast, reliable servers with up to 256Mbps download speeds
- Kill switch, DNS leak protection, 256-bit AES encryption
- Access to 1,000+ servers spanning 100+ countries
- Slick applications which are full of features
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer and all other popular streaming sites
- Optimised peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting servers
- Strict no logs policy
- Protect up to 10 devices with one account
- One of the cheapest VPNs available
Cons
- OpenVPN not available on all servers
- Long distance connection speeds
IPVanish
Compatible with
Summary
Our score:
4.7
Price from:
$6.49
per month
Pros
- Fast reliable servers with up to 251 Mbps download speeds
- Access to 1,500+ servers in 75+ locations
- Military grade encryption with AES-256
- Kill switch, DNS and IPv6 leak protection
- Zero logs policy
- Unlimited peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting traffic
- Protect an unlimited amount of devices with one account
- One of the fastest VPNs available
Cons
- Didn’t reliably unblock BBC iPlayer in testing
- Doesn’t work in China
- Short money back guarantee period compared to other providers
Privacy related news
Privacy VPN FAQs...
There are some key things we look out for to name the best privacy VPNs. Clearly a VPN needs to have strong IP encryption preventing your true IP address from being leaked. It’s also useful to have a kill switch should your VPN lose connection at any time. DNS leak protection ensures you are fully protected and the best providers have this feature built in and permanently switched on. We love the VPNs that do all of the above without compromise as well as being able to do additional functions such as unblock Netflix and handle torrenting.
VPN connections may drop from time to time. Our 5 best privacy VPNs are extremely reliable in this regard so we are confident they will perform well. A kill switch is a great additional safety feature. Simply put, if your VPN happens to lose connection without a kill switch, your real IP address and non-HTTPS encrypted online activity would immediately be exposed to your ISP.
Using a VPN can slow your connection down slightly. The more secure the VPN is, in some cases, the lesser the speeds that can be achieved. This may not be a problem at all if you just want a VPN for web browsing as opposed to streaming and torrenting. Generally speaking, our top 5 privacy VPNs have the best servers on offer as well as a wide server choice location. If you use a server located geographically closer to you, this will help achieve optimum speeds.
A no log VPN simply doesn’t record any logs of your online activity. Without a VPN, most ISP’s store your online footprints and communications and can hand this over to third parties if requested. If the VPN doesn’t log this data then it cannot hand anything over as it simply has no record of it! A VPN will of course have to register information such as when your subscription will expire and the details you give when you sign up. Chiefly, the importance of any online browsing and communications being totally hidden will be maintained by a no log VPN.
If your main concern is online privacy as opposed to say streaming or torrenting then you should 100% choose a no log VPN from one of our top 5 privacy VPNs.
Yes. If you are concerned for your online privacy, we recommend selecting a VPN from our top 5 list that is based in a jurisdiction that doesn’t have strict surveillance on its citizens.
Yes. In almost all jurisdictions it’s perfectly legal to own and use a VPN. They are widely adopted and recognised across the globe for personal and business use.