VPN Comparison

After making a post about comparing VPN providers, I received a lot of requested feedback. I’ve implemented most of the ideas I received.

Providers

Notes

  • I’m human. I make mistakes. I made multiple mistakes in my last post, and there may be some here. I’ve tried my best.
  • Pricing is sometimes weird. For example, a 1 year plan for Private Internet Access is 37.19€ first year and then auto-renews annually at 46.73€. By the way, they misspelled “annually”. AirVPN has a 3 day pricing plan. For the instances when pricing is weird, I did what I felt was best on a case-by-case basis.
  • Tor is not a VPN, but there are multiple apps that allow you to use it like a VPN. They’ve released an official Tor VPN app for Android, and there is a verified Flatpak called Carburetor which you can use to use Tor like a VPN on secureblue (Linux). It’s not unreasonable to add this to the list.
  • Some projects use different licenses for different platforms. For example, NordVPN has an open source Linux client. However, to call NordVPN open source would be like calling a meat sandwich vegan because the bread is vegan.
  • The age of a VPN isn’t a good indicator of how secure it is. There could be a trustworthy VPN that’s been around for 10 years but uses insecure, outdated code, and a new VPN that’s been around for 10 days but uses up-to-date, modern code.
  • Some VPNs, like Surfshark VPN, operate in multiple countries. Legality may vary.
  • All of the VPNs claim a “no log” policy, but there’s some I trust more than others to actually uphold that.
  • Tor is special in the port forwarding category, because it depends on what you’re using port forwarding for. In some cases, Tor doesn’t need port forwarding.
  • Tor technically doesn’t have a WireGuard profile, but you could (probably?) create one.

Takeaways

  • If you don’t mind the speed cost, Tor is a really good option to protect your IP address.
  • If you’re on a budget, NymVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark VPN are generally the cheapest. If you’re paying month-by-month, Mullvad VPN still can’t be beat.
  • If you want VPNs that go out of their way to collect as little information as possible, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, and NymVPN don’t require any personal information to use. And Tor, of course.

ODS file: https://files.catbox.moe/cly0o6.ods

  • rirus@feddit.orgEnglish
    346·
    6 days ago

    PIA isnt independent, its by a Israeli spyware company, that owns multiple VPN Review sites and VPN services . Remove it from the list.

      • GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.ml
        24·
        6 days ago

        Yes. The owner/developer is Kape technologies, an Israeli spyware/adware company.

        To quote from cnet

        For maximum privacy, I recommend VPN providers with a jurisdiction outside of Five Eyes and other international intelligence-sharing agreements – that is, one headquartered outside of the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. So it initially seems like a positive sign that, while CyberGhost has offices in Germany, it’s headquartered in Romania. German entrepreneur Robert Knapp says he founded the $114,000 startup on the back of low-wage Bucharest labor before flipping it for $10.5 million in 2017.

        The issue is who he sold it to – the notorious creator of some pernicious data-huffing ad-ware, Crossrider. The UK-based company was cofounded by an ex-Israeli surveillance agent and a billionaire previously convicted of insider trading who was later named in the Panama Papers. It produced software which previously allowed third-party developers to hijack users’ browsers via malware injection, redirect traffic to advertisers and slurp up private data.

        Crossrider was so successful it ultimately drew the gaze of Google and UC Berkeley, which identified the company in a damning 2015 study. (You can read the Web Archive version of that document.)

        This practice, commonly called traffic manipulation, is condemned web-wide. And the only difference between it and one of the oldest forms of cyberattack, called man-in-the-middle (MitM), is that you clicked “agree” on the terms and conditions.

        Whether or not PIA or ExpressVPN or the other providers owned by Kape fulfill this data scraping and ad-serving pipeline in my mind is irrelevant. Choosing to do business with them rewards bad actors when there are other VPN sellers who don’t have such a tainted lineage.

    • loxdogs@lemmy.wtf
      1·
      4 days ago

      I read from somewhere that mullvad is owned by two israeli guys. Dont remember the names, but I was told, that it’s written on a frontpage or smth.

  • Corridor8031@lemmy.ml
    13·
    6 days ago

    For anyone who considers getting the tor vpn android app “Tor VPN is beta software. Do not rely on it for anything other than testing. It may leak information and should not be relied on for anything sensitive” (it is a disclaimer from their website)

    Thank you for adding the created date column and making sweden green

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
      31·
      6 days ago

      I’m on ProtonVPN because it’s ran by CERN people, so definitely an important information IMO.

        • Valmond@lemmy.world
          23·
          6 days ago

          Show me where he endorses Trump.

          Oh, you can’t? But you read it on Facebook or something so it must be true?

          Common, show me your information.

          This is bullshit based on some old tweet Andy Yen did about trump doing good going against big tech. You can read about it here or search for it elsewhere.

          It always comes out when someone says something nice about ProtonVPN, who have an amazing track record IMO.

          • porcoesphino@mander.xyz
            3·
            5 days ago

            That write up does seem to ignore the doubling down here:

            https://lemmy.ca/comment/13913116

            Calling out that JD Vance was the only one to answer is pretty troubling to me after reading about some of his new-right ties. It’s way, way too close for my liking to a mouse telling everyone that will listen that the cat was amazing for inviting him and all his friends to his house in a week. ie. Playing into what just seems like an obvious strategy.

            That said, I’m pretty ignorant about the CEO. I just remembered this lemmy comment and I didn’t notice it included in the write up that was being linked.

          • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
            22·
            6 days ago

            Ok, just read the artlce cited on wikipedia and it sounds like calling him a Trump supporter is a bit of an exaggeration. He seems basically centrist. Which is not great but not nearly as bad.

            • Valmond@lemmy.world
              11·
              6 days ago

              Thank you!

              And sorry if I came around a bit agressively. Kudos to you for checking the link and updating your view.

  • Echolynx@lemmy.zipEnglish
    8·
    6 days ago

    Mullvad also ran some pretty quirky ads on our public transit. I hadn’t been that familiar with them, but it did heighten my awareness, and they seem pretty fine.

  • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    18·
    7 days ago

    I’ve been using one of these since forever and it just works. Should I look at the others?

    I don’t want this to be a “I use x and its the best” type comment so I won’t say which one.

    I only use wireguard and wouldn’t touch openvpn just because it seems so complex in comparisson.

    The price is fine, the speed is fine, wireguard makes it ubiquitous, never had a problem with reliability.

    • The 8232 Project@lemmy.mlOP
      6·
      7 days ago

      If you feel one of the options offers something better than the one you currently use, you may consider switching. That’s the purpose of comparisons, after all!

  • online@programming.dev
    11·
    6 days ago

    Also of note, some providers have data caps. I haven’t looked at all providers, merely Nymvpn as I was interested. Turns out they have a 2TB/month cap. Might not be an issue for some, but might be for others.

  • Valmond@lemmy.world
    10·
    6 days ago

    ProtonVPN: only 8 years old: RED FLAG!

    Well reddish flag at least, is there a rationale behind this? I mean 8 years is quite a long time.

  • TankieTanuki [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    10·
    6 days ago

    All VPNs are blocked on my university’s network meow-cactus

    I live off campus, thankfully, but it sucks that I can’t have any privacy on my laptop while on campus.

    • _cryptagion [he/him]@anarchist.nexusEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      it sucks that I can’t have any privacy on my laptop while on campus.

      tunnel to your home connection then. unless you live an hour or two away from your campus, it’s not gonna add a delay that’s noticeable to you.

  • utopiah@lemmy.ml
    3·
    5 days ago

    Since you do not seem to list self-hosting options, e.g. WireGuard or OpenVPN, then IMHO it’d be good to at least have a line on each about what’s the actual backend, e.g. does service X runs on WireGuard, OpenVPN, something else, something proprietary that has been audited by 3rd party if so whom and when.

    Edit: suggested self-hosting (but not at home) WireGuard in the previous thread https://lemmy.ml/post/37270537/21536054

  • Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    8·
    7 days ago

    I appreciate the attempt to quantify availability, but don’t most of these providers allow you to generate OpenVPN and Wireguard configs, which can be used practically anywhere?

    Nevertheless, your work is appreciated.