Virtual privately owned networks had been having a bit of a moment recently, thanks to considerable marketing wallets and influencer collaborations. But a VPN is merely one piece of your online reliability toolkit, and deciding what one to pick could be difficult, a knockout post not least because of the variety promises of security, personal privacy and performance.

There are various factors to consider, including speed and support. However you should also consider your designed use case — will you be streaming video, torrenting or perhaps gaming? A fantastic VPN will be fast, adaptable and protected. It will also present features that help you get the most out of it, such as a wide selection of server places and an user-friendly app.

All of us tested much more than nine VPN services and landed on five major picks that will suit many people. ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and PIA all have superb speeds and provide class-leading secureness and level of privacy features. They all pass our geoblock, communicate and gaming tests and are simple to use on a various devices. They’re also affordable, which has a range of membership options to choose from.

Mullvad is another superb choice if you’re interested in a transparent, privacy-focused service plan. It have scored very well within our speed checks and incorporates a wide range of hosting space around the world, plus one of the most useful features I seen: network lock. This prevents data from giving the VPN if your link with it is lost. But its applications have a few flaws, such as not immediately selecting the fastest location and a bare-bones support site instead of live chat.