List of the Fastest VPNs (real test results)
Stefany Anderson
VPNs may enhance the security of your data online but often compromise on speed. This makes streaming and chatting using VPNs a pain. We tested 4 popular VPNs on the app store- ExpressVPN, Nord VPN, PureVPN and SurfShark VPN for speed so you get the most authentic speed tests.
ExpressVPN left its peers behind in the speed test, becoming the best fast VPN on our list. With an average speed of 106 Mbps and 4K UHD video play support, their app is an absolute beast.
What is the fastest VPN?
#1. ExpressVPN - No activity logs VPN, all-access pass to global content. 30-day money-back guarantee. 3 Months Special Deal (save up to 49%)
#2. NordVPN - The Most Stable VPN. Protects all your devices, private DNS on every server. Best value deal: save 59% (2 year-Deal)
#3. PureVPN - AES-256 encryption, 6500+ servers in 140+ Countries, 7-day VPN trial. Browsers Extensions available. 31 Days Money-Back Guarantee
#4. Surfshark - Deal of the Day: 59$ for 24 months. Tested on Windows PC - Android - macOS. Split tunneling, Free Trial available
#5. CyberGhost - Ultra Fast Servers, up to 7 devices, no Logs Policy, Special streaming servers, 45-day money back (Incorporated in USA)
The speed of VPN Service is one of the defining factors of its quality. No matter how secure and reliable VPN connection is but if it slows the speed of Internet down you won’t use it anymore. High-quality VPN has to be fast in order to provide user full speed of Internet connection for streaming, online TV, and other activities.
Why do you need fast VPN service
As you might know, one of the disadvantages of VPN is that it makes your internet connection a bit slower. Usually the difference in not more than 5-10%. But this works only in case of reliable modern VPN services.
If your internet connection is slow per se using VPN will make much more it slower (in some cases even twice slower).
When we are talking about the fastest VPNs we are talking about the VPN which doesn’t slow down the speed of your internet connection substantially. Little decrease like 5-10% is acceptable but not more. Actually, all reliable VPN providers offer a wide network of servers all over the world which lets you use VPN without any worries of possible decreases of speed.
Our Top Product Picks
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Fastest streaming speeds
- Unblocks China geoblocks
- IP leak protection
- Over 5,400 servers worldwide
- Automatic kill switch
- DNS/IPS leak protection
- Unblocks Netflix
- Does not keep logs
- Does not throttle or hinder Internet speed
- 6,500 servers in 140 countries
- Kill switch auto-disconnect
- Partially record logs
- Reduces internet speeds
- 3,200 servers in 65 countries
- There is a kill switch
- Does not keep logs
- Online technical support of
- 6,800 servers in 89 countries
- Unlimited bandwidth
1. ExpressVPN
Price Range: $6.67 - $12.95. Special offer: $99.95 for 15 months
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Money-Back: 30-day free trial |
Devices: up to 5 |
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Devices: Apple TV, Fire TV, PlayStation, Xbox, Routers |
Platforms: Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux |
Express is the de facto leader in the VPN app sector. It has over 3000 servers spread across 94 countries, providing you truly global coverage. The customer support at Express is better than its counterparts. It can stream Amazon Prime, Netflix, BBC iPlayer and provide you the fastest browsing speeds among its peers. It is easy to use, and download and installation take less than 4 minutes. It breaks the toughest geoblocks, including China, with ease and provides quick browsing, streaming, and downloading as well.
It is based in a privacy-friendly location and has a strict no-logs policy that keeps your browsing data and history safe from prying eyes. The VPN works best for global streaming services and makes torrenting speeds faster. It provides DNS on each server and follows 256-bit AES encryption as well. Combined with an AES 256-bit cipher that comes with SHA-512 HMAC authentication and 4096-bit RSA key. Plans start at $6.67 per month.
Try ExpressVPN now and get our special offer!
2. NordVPN
Price Range: $3.49 - $11.95. Special offer: 2-year deal with 68% off
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Money-Back: 30-day free trial |
Devices:6 |
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Devices: Firestick, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, Raspberry Pi, Chromebook, Chromecast |
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS |
NordVPN is one of the most popular VPNs on the market. You can get this free VPN on your Android, iPhone, and desktop. It has 5,400 servers across the world and comes with the best in class security features as well. It provides an automatic kill switch that shuts your access to the internet as soon as the VPN shield is down. The Panama-based firm keeps you away from prying eyes and helps you get great streaming and download speeds. It bypasses IP throttling and provides access to Netflix and Amazon Prime from almost any country of your choice.
It follows a no-logs policy which provides you better security than a free VPN. It has dedicated P2P servers providing better security and privacy. It allows you to get extra protection with double IP and Onion over a VPN. It can support six devices at once and provides a 30-day money-back guarantee as well. Plans start at $3.39 per month.
3. PureVPN
Price Range: $1.32 - $10.95. Special offer: 7-day trial for only $0.99
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Money-Back: 31-day free trial |
Devices: 10 |
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Devices: Routers, Android TV, Amazon FireStick, Microsoft Surface |
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox |
PureVPN is a VPN service that will open any website. For this, it uses the OpenVPN, L2TP / IPSec, and IKEv2 protocols. We tested the service and recorded a drop in speed of 5% to 10%. From the initial speed of 70 Mbps, we got 64-65 Mbps when connected to servers in Europe. Therefore, we conclude that PureVPN does not underestimate Internet speed. The service is suitable for watching videos in high definition and playing online games.
Now work, binge & stay secure online with PureVPN
4. Surfshark
Price Range: $1.99 - $11.95. Special offer: Get 81% discount
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Money-Back: 30-day free trial |
Devices:Unlimited |
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Devices:Android TV, FireTV |
Platforms: Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux, Chrome |
SurfShark is a dependable service that will help you bypass blocking while protecting your traffic. But with a connection to Surfshark servers, you will lose 28% of your internet speed, as we experienced when testing European servers. From an original speed of 70 Mbps, we were left floating around 50 Mbps. This is a considerable decrease in speed, but it is still enough to download files via torrent and watch videos. If you have a low internet speed, we recommend that you pay attention to other services.
5. CyberGhost
Price Range: $2.75- $12.99. Special offer: 3 extra months for FREE
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Money-Back: 45-day free trial |
Devices: 7 |
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Devices: Amazon Fire TV & Fire Stick, Android TV, Routers |
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, Linux |
CyberGhost - VPN from a Romanian provider that protects traffic and helps bypass blocking. It uses the OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2 / IPsec protocols and AES-256 encryption for this. During our tests, we found out that CyberGhost reduces the speed by 15% - 20%. These results are worse than NordVPN and ExpressVPN, although the speed is still fast enough to use for safe internet surfing.
Enjoy a fast and reliable VPN
How to define the fastest VPN
And what to take into account while choosing the best fast VPN? It depends on the main purpose of using VPN service.
Of course, fast VPNs have to use new servers which can transmit signal without any delays. For example, if you need VPN for privacy and security the best solution will be to choose the service which has more than one server location near you.
For example, if you live in Manchester you should search for VPN provider with servers in Manchester, or Liverpool, or Leeds, or Sheffield. It means that each your request will reach the server (which is near) and then the final destination and back again to the server and you. As the distance between your location and VPN server is minimal so you will not experience any time lag.
In the case when you are in Manchester and the nearest server is in New York all your traffic will go to New York and then to the destination point and back again to New York and your location. If the destination point is in the USA - this is ok, but if you just want to visit the site of your local football team all your traffic will just go on loop thus causing time lags.
Here are the main factors of the fast VPNs
Good ping time rate
Ping time is the period of time which data package needs to go from your computer to server. Of course the closer the server is the better ping time you will get. Low ping time rate is extremely important for all real-time interactions like watching online TV shows, listening music online, online gaming, online video chats.
High download speed
It is very important if you download high-quality videos from your favorite video hosting services, use online libraries or use torrents a lot. If you want to be sure that VPN doesn’t slow down your internet connection just use some service which measures internet speed (like http://speedof.me/). But be aware that sometimes such services may be in error as they measure speed using the closest server to your location. But if you use VPN service packages also will need time to get to the VPN server and this may result in inaccuracy of measurement.
The best way to compare is to use the VPN server which is closest to your current location and download some heavy file (the sixth season of the Game of Thrones will be enough).
High upload speed
Usually, it is enough to compare upload speed with VPN and without VPN. You can use http://www.speedtest.net/ site by Ookla to measure the speed or just upload some big file to your Dropbox or Google Drive and compare the results. High upload speed is very important if you are an active user of cloud services like Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. Also, high upload speed is needed if are torrenting a lot.
VPN providers with the fastest VPN service
While choosing the right VPN provider keep in mind that speed is not the most important reason of choice. Reliable VPN provider also offers perfect uptime, privacy, and security, a wide selection of servers. If you want to find faster VPN the best way will be to compare services from different providers. You may also have other criteria for choosing the best service (like the wide choice of USA IP addresses for Netflix and HBO).
Also, check the bandwidth of VPN service and uptime. Yes, they are not connected directly with the speed but if the bandwidth is not enough for all users that currently use the service it is may result in the decrease of speed.
If you want to know what is the fastest VPN we can tell you that there are quite a lot of them. Existing technology lets VPN providers offer fast, reliable and security services for their customers. Don't forget, you have money back period
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FAQ
- How to check the speed of the fast VPN service?
The best way to check the speed of the VPN service is to compare it with the speed of your ISP without VPN enabled. It can be done using such services as http://speedof.me/ and http://www.speedtest.net/. Just measure upload speed and download speed with and without VPN. In order to get the exact results connect to the nearest VPN server available.
- Can I use free high speed VPN service?
Technically, yes, you can. But keep in mind that free VPNs usually have some restrictions. They may have the limited amount of servers, limited bandwidth or limited speed. If you still prefer free services please note that some of them may sell information about your browsing history to advertisers. You can find more information about pros and cons of free VPN services here Free VPN Service
- I need the best fast VPN for torrents. How can I find it?
Torrenting requires not only the fast VPN but also the private one. So you can take any VPN provider from the table above and check its privacy settings. If this VPN service has zero logs policy and located in the privacy-friendly location outside of “14 prying eyes” (UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain) it is ok for torrenting.
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Written by: Stefany Anderson
Technical Writer, Visit My WebSite Techno-copywriter, Privacy, Internet Security
Read Comments
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Daniil
It seems like the fastest VPN from Express. On my laptop, everything is ok, but then on the phone, there are drawdowns between 5-15 Mbps out of the 100 Mbps the provider says it offers.
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Admin
On a smartphone, the speed depends on the type of connection, the distance from the Wi-Fi point, and the frequency range (2.4/5 GHz). Try to connect to another server or write to support.
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