Well, well, well if it isn’t another VPN roundup video. But this one my friends,
has a spicy twist to it.
What’s up guys and welcome to The Cyber Lab, the place to be for up
to date reviews and recommendations on the latest cyber security software.
In today’s video I’m going to review the top 5 VPNs for 2022.
But before we get into all that, I want to tell you about an email I received from Bob
Bob writes, ‘Hey Josh, I love watching Cyber Lab videos, (*to camera* Aw,
thanks Bob) but I feel like you could spice them up a little.
For your next video I dare you to flip a coin before each service you recommend.
Heads, you review as normal. Tails, you do a shot of Sriracha Chili sauce.’
Bob, Bob, Bob. You sick bastard. You know what, I’m going to take your dare. Let’s do this.
For this review of the top 5 VPNs for 2022 I’m going to rate each service
based on only the important stuff. 1. Is the VPN easy to set up and use? 2.
Is the service trustworthy and secure? And finally 3. How much does it cost?
Don’t forget if you’d like to purchase any of the VPNs mentioned in this video
be sure to use the links in the description box for the best price out there. Let’s get into it.
Ok, I have my shot of chili sauce. I have my coin. (*Deep breath*)
Let’s flip. (Josh, flips the coin - its heads, no chili sauce). Yes - heads! Suck it Bob.
Ok so in 5th place we have IPVanish.
If you’ve never used a VPN before, IPVanish is probably my top pick for you.
Let’s start with the interface, is IPVanish easy to set up and use? In my opinion, yes.
The settings are easy to navigate making it a good option for beginners. Settings are organized into
tabs. The quick connect tab allows you to connect to the best server location while the server list
tab lets you manually select a server. You can also save your favorite servers by clicking the
star symbol on the right. Nice. I would rate IPVanish a solid 4.5 out of 5 for ease of use.
Next question, is IPvanish trustworthy and secure? IPVanish definitely has all the standard security
features you’d expect from a paid vpn. It comes with solid security features like
military grade encryption, a killswitch, split tunneling and advanced protocols.
If those terms don’t mean much to you, that’s ok. Basically it’s secure.
But is it trustworthy? Now this is where things get a little dicey.
IPVanish lost a lot of trust back in 2016, when the service handed over user data to the FBI.
It’s headquarters are still in the US, which is not the most privacy friendly location.
Now their privacy policy has changed since that scandal, and they claim they have a no logging
policy, but they don’t do independent audits so those claims can’t be verified. Because
of this iffiness I gotta give IPvanish a 1.5/5 for its level of trustworthiness.
Let’s move on to price. A monthly subscription to IPVanish will set you back $10.99 a month.
It’s reasonable to be fair, but what they really want you to do is sign up for their annual plan
which is $44.99 for the first year, and that works out to be $3.75/month.
That’s pretty decent but watch that fine print, ‘in your first year’ basically translates to,
the price will jump up when it’s time to renew your plan.
I think their pricing is reasonable so I’m giving IP Vanish 3 out of 5 for pricing.
So overall IPVanish rates as 3 out of 5. If we’re talking about rating them in terms of the
Nandos peri peri chili scale, IPVanish falls somewhere between lemon and herb and mild.
Moving on to 4th place…oh wait. Before we do that, let’s flip Bob’s coin again. (Flips coin) YES!
Heads again, nailing it. Ok in 4th place we have ProtonVPN.
Let’s start by answering the question: how easy is ProtonVPN to use? In short: easy. When you login,
there’s a big quick connect button so you’ll know exactly what to do. They also offer a
quick tutorial that takes you around the app and shows you it’s different features.
This is a VPN that’s definitely user friendly so we’re giving it 5 out of 5 for ease of use.
Moving on to security and privacy, is ProtonVPN trustworthy? Well the fact that the headquarters
are based in the privacy friendly location of Switzerland give ProtonVPN a big thumbs up from
the get go. In terms of security features, ProtonVPN comes with standard military grade
encryption, its default protocol is OpenVPN and it also supports perfect forward secrecy
meaning that it frequently changes encryption keys to avoid compromising your security.
It is, however, blocked in China. So overall I’m giving ProtonVPN 3.5/5 for trustworthiness.
Now what about price? They do have a free option if you want to try before you buy,
but as with most free VPNs, it’s probably not worth it. Their standard package will set you
back $8/month or $96/year which is pretty expensive in my book as other VPNs have
much more competitive pricing. For that reason I’m rating ProtonVPN 2 out of 5 for pricing.
Overall Proton VPN gets 3.5 out of 5 or a solid mild, edging on a medium
in the Nandos Peri Peri Sauce rating system.
Alright third place here we go. Am I going to have to chug this sauce before we get started?
In third place we have ExpressVPN. My eyes are watering.
It’s fair to say that expressvpn is one of the most established players in the VPN market.
I’ve used it in the past and overall my experience was pretty positive.
In terms of usability they have a big ol’ power button in the middle of the interface,
making it super easy to connect. Even your technophobe mum or dad could figure this out.
You’ll get access to more servers than you’ll know what to do with,
decent speeds and it comes with a 30 day money back guarantee
which is always nice. Setup is a cinch too which is why I’m rating them 4 out of 5 for usability.
In terms of security they’ve got what I would consider pretty standard features at this point.
A killswitch or network lock, ram based servers, encrypted DNS, split tunneling. And
if those technical terms don’t mean a whole lot to you, that’s fine. These are features
you’ll probably use anyway, even if you’re not entirely aware of what they do. 4 out of 5.
Price wise, their monthly plan is pretty expensive at 12.95,
the 6 month plan isn’t much better at 9.99 a month, so that’s why we recommend going for
the annual plan at $99.95 per year. It works out to be $6.67 per month,
you get an extra 3 months free plus a 30 day money back guarantee which is a nice bonus. For pricing,
I’m giving ExpressVPN 4 out of 5. They’re not the cheapest, but they’re definitely reasonable.
With 4’s across the board, that means that overall ExpressVPN is a 4 out of 5. A definite
medium level of spice on the Nando's chili scale, my sauce on the other hand (holds up
empty shot glass), too spicy if anything.
Ok we’re up to second place, who’s it gonna be? But first. The coin.
The chili. Alright. (Flips the coin). Yes!
Heads. No chili. Thank god. In second place we have NordVPN.
Ok this should come as no surprise to most people,
NordVPN is a heavy hitter in the world of VPNs and for good reason too.
Now to start off let’s talk about usability.
NordVPN is incredibly easy to use. The 3 step process for signup is simple,
the speeds are good and 95% of their servers work with Netflix which is probably high on most users'
agenda. On top of that they’ve got over 5200 servers across 59 countries all around the world.
So in terms of usability we can’t really fault them so it’s getting 5 out of 5.
Moving on to security and the trustworthy factor. I want to start off by saying that
quite recently Nord Security and Surfshark announced that their companies will be merging.
However, for now the VPNs will continue to operate separately. We’re still evaluating what this might
mean for you and we’ll be sure to keep updating our recommendations if anything changes with this
vpn. NordVPN has headquarters in Panama, which is a privacy friendly location so thumbs up there.
They support perfect forward secrecy which I mentioned earlier and they offer other standard
security features like a kill switch, split tunneling, and robust protocols.
That being said, they were involved in a privacy scandal in 2018, when one of their
rented servers was breached. The breach was very small in the grand scheme of things and
no user data was revealed but we’ve still got to dock them half a point for that,
meaning NordVPN rates 4.5/5 for trustworthiness.
Finally let’s talk pricing. NordVPNs best deal is their 2 year plan, which works out to be just
$3.71/month, or $89 for two years. That’s pretty good but it’s also worth mentioning that the price
only gets you 6 simultaneous connections which isn’t all that impressive.
For that reason, we’re rating NordVPN 4 out of 5 for pricing.
Which means that overall they get 4.5 out of 5
or if we’re talking nandos peri peri, a solid hot rating.
Ok this is it. The #1 spot for VPNs in 2022.
It’s time to crown a winner. But first - one more flip of the coin. Drats.
Tails again.
Alrighty let’s do this (another shot of chili sauce). And in
our #1 spot we have dun da dun dun, Surfshark!!
No list of VPNs would be complete without mentioning Surfshark. Now
despite being newer and having a smaller server fleet than Expressvpn and Nordvpn,
Surfshark is still a seriously competitive vpn option.
In terms of ease of use, surfshark ticks all the boxes,
it’s incredibly easy to set up and install, and connection couldn’t be more simple.
The interface is highly intuitive so that even beginners won't have a problem finding their
way around the app. For this reason we’re rating Surfshark 5 out of 5 for ease of use.
Moving on to security and privacy. As we mentioned in NordVPN,
these two companies are merging and we don’t yet know what that means for users.
As of the time of recording, both vpns are still operating independently.
Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is well known as being privacy friendly.
They have a robust privacy policy and they get regular independent audits which makes them
very trustworthy in my book. Unlike some of the other vpns in this video, surfshark hasn't been
involved in any privacy scandals so I’m giving them 5 out of 5 for the trustworthy factor.
In terms of pricing, Surfshark is the most affordable.
A two year plan works out to be just $2.49/month which is the best we’ve seen.
Plus they have unlimited simultaneous connections, making Surfshark the best value for your buck.
It’s for that reason I’m giving them 5 out of 5 for pricing. Which means that overall
Surfshark is extra hot on the nandos peri peri scale, and our top pick for a VPN in 2022.
That brings us to the end of this video! Thank you
for watching and special shout out to Bob for sending me this ridiculous spicy dare.
Call him out in the comments by leaving chilli icons in the chat.
If you’re interested in purchasing any of these vpns make sure to use the links in the
description box below as that will give you the best price. As always if you enjoyed this video
don’t forget to smack that like button and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an update.
Thanks for watching. I'm gonna go drink a big glass of milk now.