Every VPN claims to be fast, private and great for streaming. Independent testers do not agree on which is fastest, and the price on the sign-up page is rarely the price you pay in year two. This guide pulls together the latest published tests and checks every price on the vendors' own pages.
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Short answer. Proton VPN is the safest default. It is the top pick in both PCMag's and WIRED's November 2026 guides, it is audited every year, its apps are open source, and its free plan has no data cap. Its VPN Plus plan costs $35.88 for the first year and renews at $83.88. Pick Mullvad if anonymity matters most (a flat €5 a month, no email needed, cash accepted), NordVPN if you want the most features and very fast connections, and ExpressVPN if you need 10 or more devices on one plan. Whatever you choose, compare the renewal price, not the first-term price, and use the 30-day refund window to test streaming yourself, because no tester can promise a service will keep working with a given streaming site.
We did not run our own VPN speed tests for this article. It is a research-based comparison built on the most recent published testing we could read on 10 November 2026: WIRED's guide (updated November 2026), PCMag's "Best VPN services we've tested (November 2026)", and CNET's 2026 guide. PCMag's and CNET's pages could not be read in full by our research tools, so we use only the findings shown in their published summaries and say so where we do. Every price in this article was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on 10 November 2026.
We ranked services on four things, in this order:
| VPN | Best for | First-term price | Renews at | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN Plus | Most people | $35.88 for 12 months ($2.99/mo) | $83.88 a year | 10 |
| NordVPN Basic | Features and speed | $94.23 for 27 months ($3.49/mo) | $139.08 a year | 10 |
| Mullvad VPN | Anonymity | €5 a month | €5 a month (no intro price) | 5 |
| ExpressVPN Basic | Simple apps, many devices | $84 for 28 months ($3/mo) | $99.95 a year | 10 (12 on Advanced) |
| Proton VPN Free | No budget | $0 | $0 | 1 |
Monthly billing costs far more: NordVPN Basic is $14.99 if you pay month to month, for example. Proton, NordVPN and ExpressVPN all advertise a 30-day money-back guarantee for new customers. Mullvad bills one month at a time, so there is no long commitment to undo.
Speed results depend on the tester's location, internet connection, server choice and protocol, so rankings differ between outlets. That is the most useful thing to know about VPN speed tests: treat any single ranking as one data point.
| Outlet | What it reported |
|---|---|
| WIRED | Proton VPN was the fastest it tested in the US and UK. Windscribe dropped speeds by 15.6 percent in the US. Mullvad dropped speeds by around 24 percent in the US. |
| PCMag | Mullvad reduced download speeds by 8.04 percent and upload speeds by 5.54 percent in its tests (from PCMag's published summary). |
| CNET | ExpressVPN led its 2026 speed tests, followed closely by Windscribe, Mullvad and NordVPN (from CNET's published summary). |
Notice that Mullvad's speed loss ranges from about 8 percent at PCMag to about 24 percent at WIRED. Neither number is wrong; they were measured differently. In practice, every service on this list was fast enough for its testers to recommend. If speed matters to you, test on your own network during the refund window.
A VPN moves trust from your internet provider to the VPN company. The question is how much you can verify about that company. Here is what the testers found:
"No-logs" is a vendor promise. Audits and real-world events such as raids are the only evidence you have that a promise holds, which is why we put them first. A VPN also does not make you anonymous on sites where you are signed in, and it does not stop tracking by your browser or apps.
VPN pricing is built around long first terms at a discount, followed by a higher renewal. Two examples from the vendors' pages on 10 November 2026:
If you plan to keep a VPN for several years, Mullvad's flat price is easy to compare: €60 a year. Set a reminder before your renewal date, because you can often cancel and re-subscribe on a new-customer deal. Our checklist for comparing subscription services walks through this in more detail.
Streaming services actively block VPN servers, so support changes over time and differs by country. No outlet can guarantee that a service which worked in its test will work on your account next month. What we can say from the vendors' pages:
The practical approach: subscribe, test the exact services you use within the 30-day refund window, and ask for a refund if they do not work.
Most free VPNs make money somehow, and some do it by collecting data. The two free plans the testers recommend are from companies that also sell paid plans:
Before you rely on any review, including this one, our guide on how to spot fake online reviews explains why VPN recommendations online are often affiliate driven. We do not earn commissions from any VPN on this page.
Proton VPN is the top pick in both WIRED's and PCMag's November 2026 guides. It is independently audited every year, has open-source apps and offers a free plan with no data cap. Its VPN Plus plan cost $35.88 for the first year on 10 November 2026.
It depends on who tested it. WIRED found Proton VPN fastest in the US and UK, while CNET's 2026 tests put ExpressVPN first, followed by Windscribe, Mullvad and NordVPN. Results depend on location, server and connection, so test on your own network during the refund window.
Usually much more than the sign-up price. On 10 November 2026, Proton VPN Plus renewed at $83.88 a year after a $35.88 first year, NordVPN Basic at $139.08 a year and ExpressVPN Basic at $99.95 a year. Mullvad charges a flat €5 a month.
Some are. Testers recommend Proton VPN Free, which has no data cap but limits you to one device and excludes streaming, and Windscribe Free, which gives 10GB of data. Be wary of free VPNs from companies with no paid product, since they need another way to make money.
Mullvad asks for the least information: no email, a randomly generated account number, and payment options that include cash. Proton VPN is also strong, with yearly third-party audits and open-source apps.
Sometimes. Streaming services block VPN servers and support changes over time. Proton's free plan does not support streaming at all. Test the exact services you use within the 30-day money-back window.