After three years of testing VPNs
from the best on the market to the worst of the worst,
it's finally time for my magnum opus, the best VPN tier list.
I'll cover security, privacy, performance, and pricing,
of the 10 best VPN service providers in 2023
to judge these providers in the fairest way possible.
Come on, what's more fair than a tier list?
Let's start alphabetically with the A-tier.
The first of the best VPN 2023 providers is Atlas VPN.
Atlas VPN is an interesting provider.
It's a very minimalistic VPN with a simple UI and straightforward settings.
It's very easy to pick up, even for beginners.
Despite being extremely basic, Atlas VPN is super secure.
It uses a reliable encryption algorithm and offers data leak protection.
Plus, I can block trackers and malware with the SafeBrowse feature,
and that's a big security bonus.
Atlas VPN has been audited for security, and it features a no-logs policy.
Both of those things help make up for the US jurisdiction.
The US is a Five Eyes country,
so not the best place for a privacy app, but audits and no-logs mean safety.
Atlas VPN is still one of the best VPN providers in terms of performance.
Definitely fast enough for me when browsing and even streaming.
There might be fewer available countries or servers to use,
but the most popular locations perform really well.
Atlas VPN is also among the most affordable VPN providers.
It has a free version too, as limited as it is.
Overall, it's a good benchmark.
Atlas VPN is a great free option for casual users
and a good premium VPN if you need streaming and security.
It's an A-tier VPN for sure.
Hey, this is the best VPN comparison, so another contender is ExpressVPN.
It was the subject of a big controversy not so long ago
after it acquired a shady IT company.
Not a good start.
Hey, I'm not letting that slide, but I can't ignore the improvements
ExpressVPN has made to security and privacy.
ExpressVPN was actually the first to implement RAM-only servers
to make sure user data doesn't stay on servers.
It's been running a bug bounty for ages now.
In terms of jurisdiction, no-logs policy, and encryption,
ExpressVPN follows only the best practices.
Just recently, ExpressVPN did raise
their number of simultaneous connections from five to eight.
It's not a lot, but it's more than NordVPN, for example.
For performance, ExpressVPN is pretty close to Atlas VPN.
They had similar speeds in my tests,
but ExpressVPN benefits from a wider server net,
therefore better streaming choices.
Importantly, if you're looking for a VPN for your router,
of all the providers I've tried,
ExpressVPN has the best tutorial for routers.
It's fully interactive.
One downside,
ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive providers on the market,
and it also doesn't really offer enough features or unique security points
to justify that price, unlike NordVPN or Surfshark.
Considering it's checkered past,
ExpressVPN's decent performance and good security,
still landed a bit below Atlas VPN, so right at the top of the B-tier.
Next, one of the best VPN in 2023 options is NordVPN.
Compared to previous options, NordVPN stands out with a big server list,
similar to Ivacy VPN and very fast performance.
It's currently the fastest VPN that I've tested,
and the speed stays stable for streaming and torrenting.
NordVPN might not be able to access as many streaming platforms as ExpressVPN,
but it beats all other providers.
NordVPN's greatest strength is security and privacy.
It's based in privacy-friendly Panama.
It uses RAM-only servers like ExpressVPN,
and it has an independently audited no-logs policy.
Feature-wise, NordVPN can block ads,
trackers, and even malware when you're browsing,
and it can also connect multiple PCs into a secure LAN connection
and even share Netflix credentials using the Meshnet feature.
NordVPN features a solid security base
from the gold standard of encryption
to reliable kill switch and leak protection.
One downside is that NordVPN only covers six devices at the same time,
which is even less than ExpressVPN.
Still, that's the only downside of an otherwise exemplary VPN
with very accessible pricing.
It's the first S-tier provider for me.
If you want to grab this S-tier VPN and also save on your purchase,
grab the discount link from the description box.
The next best VPN app for this list is Hotspot Shield.
Its free version is limited,
but in my tests, it was more than enough for secure browsing.
After all, even in its free version,
Hotspot Shield offers a pretty reliable security baseline.
Same encryption as Atlas VPN or ExpressVPN.
Its location is the same as Atlas VPN,
which means it does have to counteract US jurisdiction somehow.
Unfortunately, Hotspot Shield openly logs some of its user data,
which is concerning,
especially because Hotpot Shield
has previously been found to be leaking user data,
which really shouldn't be happening to the best VPN in 2023.
Performance wise, Hotspot Shield has more servers than Atlas VPN.
In my experience, the speed was pretty slow,
and there are only two streaming countries which is not good variety.
Summarizing this best VPN review,
HotspotShield, it's a decent free VPN,
but it can't really compare to premium options.
It belongs in the C-tier for now.
Coming up next, Surfshark.
This is one of the most affordable VPN providers.
It's got unlimited simultaneous connections.
It's got a cheap antivirus package, lots of features, and good performance.
All of this, while the price is actually quite low.
Despite being based in a Nine Eyes country,
the Netherlands,
Surfshark's no-logs policy
has been audited independently by Deloitte.
It's also one of the few VPN providers with RAM-only servers.
Security-wise, Surfshark can block ads,
trackers, and malicious links, encryptor connection,
and prevent data leaks.
Currently, Surfshark is the second fastest VPN on my list,
overtaken only by NordVPN.
But when it comes to streaming, Surfshark is king.
It has access to 100 countries and all the content you can find there
with very few downsides to speak of.
Surfshark is one of the more S-tier VPNs.
Coming up next in this best VPN list is IPVanish.
While IPVanish continues the trend of US-based VPNs, not optimal,
but unlike Hotspot Shield, IPVanish does have an audited no-logs policy.
Plus, IPVanish runs high-end security features
from the latest encryption algorithm to leak protection.
It even comes with an antivirus subscription,
which is a good way to put all your eggs in one basket
and avoid buying a whole separate app.
Currently, IPVanish offers more servers than Atlas VPN and Hotspot Shield
and covers more countries than Atlas VPN.
Still somehow it ends up only working well with a few streaming platforms,
pretty much limiting IPVanishes value as a streaming VPN.
On the other hand, it's got free SOCKS5 proxy,
which does deliver much better torrenting performance
than the other providers I've mentioned.
It also has no limits on simultaneous connections,
similar to Atlas VPN,
which is much better than ExpressVPN or Hotspot Shield.
Overall, I think it's a solid B-tier VPN,
maybe even better than ExpressVPN if you need a fast torrenting VPN.
Continuing with the best VPNs,
there's a few things that stand out immediately about Ivacy VPN.
First of all, over 5,700 servers.
That's a lot.
But I've tested the speed as well, and unfortunately, it's not that good.
Without a WireGuard protocol, Ivacy suffers compared to other options.
It's the same for streaming.
Ivacy is not performing that well since it can only access Netflix US.
But Ivacy does do quite well for torrenting.
It offers a wide server choice and pretty decent performance.
In terms of security, Ivacy covers all the bases there
unless you're a macOS or iOS user
because there's no kill switch on those platforms.
The best part of Ivacy VPN is that it's extremely affordable,
but Surfshark is also cheap and it's better.
Let's put Ivacy at the bottom of the C-tier.
Let's move on to Private VPN.
This is the ultimate beginner VPN.
I started with it myself.
Simple UI, straightforward security features,
and all basic protection included and available from the first launch.
It's a perfect starter pack.
While Private VPN has a lot going for it as a simple VPN for simple needs,
it's not great if you're looking for performance.
The server list is too short and the location choice is unimpressive.
Private VPN might do a decent job for streaming and torrenting,
but pretty much every other option on the list is better.
Now, Private VPN does defy the odds in terms of security and privacy.
It's located in Sweden, which is a 14-Eyes country,
and Private VPN features an audited no-logs policy,
and it owns each of its servers, so no third party rents.
Each of the services company-owned, which justifies the low server count.
Private VPN might look small and unimpressive,
but it's surprisingly reliable for your security which is the VPN's goal.
We'll go B-tier.
Proton VPN is next, and it's a great privacy-focused provider.
It's got that privacy-friendly jurisdiction of Switzerland.
ProtonVPN's no-logs policy is also audited by an independent party.
Security includes all the baseline features you might need,
and all that is available in the free version.
Unfortunately, there are a few other security features
that are only available to premium users,
and they can make a big difference blocking online threats and tracking.
When discussing performance, ProtonVPN shows promise
with over 2,900 servers in over 68 countries.
All servers are 10 Gb/s as well, which is great for fast performance,
especially if you enable the VPN Accelerator feature.
Proton VPN is definitely a worthy streaming choice.
It's capable of accessing a lot of streaming locations,
but somehow only 20 locations are available for torrenting.
Weird.
You can have 10 simultaneous connections.
Proton VPN is slightly ahead of NordVPN in that regard.
It's also the second most expensive on this list so far after ExpressVPN.
Not a good look.
Still, Proton VPN, it's a solid B-tier material.
The last VPN on the list is VyprVPN.
It's another Switzerland-based VPN.
A privacy-friendly location is great,
but with an independently audited no-logs policy
and completely owned hardware,
VyprVPN's privacy policy is already above the majority of VPNs in this list.
There's also a cool benefit of VyprVPN.
It's got this chameleon protocol that can bypass VPN blocks
in restrictive countries like China or Russia.
That's some spy-level stuff right there.
In terms of performance,
VyprVPN doesn't have a lot of servers, but the performance is still decent.
The connection is reliable and well optimized.
VyprVPN doesn't have any features supporting streaming or torrenting,
but it doesn't limit them either.
At the end of the day, VyprVPN is not affordable enough
to make it worthwhile, so I'd say it's a low B, even a C-tier for me.
That's the final tier list.
Those are the 10 best VPN providers from C to S.
Yeah, looking over it again, I think it turned out good.
Let's see.
Some VPNs like ExpressVPN or Atlas VPN might have a chance to go higher,
and maybe Hotspot Shield, for instance, could definitely drop out of the top 10.
What do you think?
You agree with me or you think I'm missing something?
Let me know what the best VPNs are that you think in the comments,
and don't forget to leave a like and subscribe if you found this helpful.
Thanks for watching, and I'll catch you in the next one.