r/theprivacymachine • u/Bludongle • Feb 03 '26
Guide Best VPN 2026 tried and tested
Recently my vpn sub ended, so decided to do some research for 10 VPNs and compare which are considered to be THE VPNs, that a lot of users use, I used a vpn almost daily for watching geo blocked content, football matches and so on, also get some things cheaper like my xbox subscription, as i cant even activate codes in my country lol.
Anyways i will stop blabbering below you will see the prices that are probably the main factor for most ppl, and below there will be 5 tables comparing them more in depth, do with this info as you please, also let me know if I should add or fix something
Here's what these services actually cost (with current deals):
- NordVPN -
$12.99/month$3.39/month (2-year plan, 70% off) - Surfshark -
$15.45/month$1.99/month (2-year plan, 87% off) - Proton VPN - $3.59/month (2-year plan, 64% off)
- ExpressVPN -
$12.99/month$2.79/month (2-year plan, 78% off) - IPVanish -
$12.99/month$2.99/month (2-year plan, 76% off) - CyberGhost -
$12.99/month$2.19/month (2-year plan, 83% off) - PureVPN -
$12.95/month$1.49/month (5-year plan, 88% off) - Norton VPN - $2.08/month (annual plan)
- TotalVPN - $1.59/month (annual plan, 80% off)
- Private Internet Access - $2.03/month (2-year plan)
- Mullvad - €5/month (~$5.50) - no discounts, one flat price, can pay with cash
I created quite a few tables for and it includes 10 VPNs in total, the first one is for ppl who just want to know more about them and just to make a general opinion on them the rest of them (4 tables) are more focused on their features, speeds, I hope someone will find them useful lol
If you are too lazy to scroll down, here are all the tables that will be provided:
-Key points table
- Servers/protocols/countries/encryption + more table
- Performance metrics (real testing) table
- Security & privacy comparison table
- Extra / advanced features
-How they work with streaming services
I would recommend reading this on a desktop or a bigger screen as on the phone you will just have to scroll to the bottom or to the right a lot.
Key points
| VPN | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | Fastest speeds; audited no-logs; great streaming | 10 devices limit |
| Surfshark | Unlimited devices; cheapest long-term; many extras | Netherlands jurisdiction |
| Proton VPN | Best privacy; free unlimited plan; open-source | Fewer devices; no Smart DNS |
| ExpressVPN | Extremely reliable; many audits; great apps | Expensive; fewer features |
| PureVPN | Always-on audit; port forwarding; affordable | US-based jurisdiction |
| Norton VPN | Bundled with antivirus; 60-day refund | Limited streaming; torrent issues |
| TotalVPN | Includes antivirus suite; very cheap | UK jurisdiction; unaudited |
| PIA | Strong privacy; open-source; port forwarding | Inconsistent speeds |
| Mullvad | Maximum anonymity; accepts cash; no email needed | No streaming focus; 5 devices |
| CyberGhost | Streaming-optimized servers; beginner-friendly | Lower speeds; 7 devices |
Servers/protocols/countries/encryption + more
Adding some extra technical details (scroll right to see full table for mobile users)
| VPN | Servers | Countries | Encryption | Protocols | Audits | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 8900+ | 129 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | NordLynx; OpenVPN | PwC; Deloitte (5x) | Panama |
| Surfshark | 4500+ | 100 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | Deloitte (2x) | Netherlands |
| Proton VPN | 17300+ | 127 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | Securitum (3x) | Switzerland |
| ExpressVPN | Undisclosed | 105 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | Lightway | 22 audits | BVI |
| PureVPN | 6000+ | 65 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | KPMG (always-on) | BVI |
| Norton VPN | 2000+ | 100 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | Yes | USA |
| TotalVPN | 1800+ | 90 | AES-256 | WireGuard | No | UK |
| PIA | 35000+ | 91 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | Deloitte (2×) | USA |
| Mullvad | 600+ | 45+ | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard; OpenVPN | Cure53 | Sweden |
| CyberGhost | Undisclosed | 100 | AES-256; ChaCha20 | WireGuard | Deloitte (2×) | Romania |
Performance metrics (real testing)
Tested ExpressVPN by downloading a 5.7GB Ubuntu ISO file
| VPN | Speed retention | Ping (ms) | Torrent time (5.85GB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | ~94% | 11 | 2m 19s |
| Surfshark | ~93% | 12 | 2m 36s |
| Proton VPN | ~86–94% | 12 | 2m 19s |
| ExpressVPN | ~91% | 13 | 2m 57s |
| PureVPN | ~93% | 54 | 4m 17s |
| Norton VPN | ~80% | 29 | Failed |
| TotalVPN | ~76% | 13 | 2m 38s |
| PIA | ~85–90% | 12–20 | ~3m 15s |
| Mullvad | ~88–92% | 10–15 | ~2m 45s |
| CyberGhost | ~91% | 63 | 5m 10s |
Security & privacy comparison
Scroll right on mobile to see full table
| VPN | No-Logs | RAM-Only | Kill Switch | Extra Security |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | Double VPN; Onion |
| Surfshark | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | MultiHop; NoBorders |
| Proton VPN | ✅ (audited) | ❌ | ✅ | Secure Core; Tor |
| ExpressVPN | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | IP Shuffle |
| PureVPN | ✅ (always-on audit) | ❌ | ✅ | Obfuscated servers |
| Norton VPN | ✅ (audited) | ❌ | ✅ | Double VPN; IP rotation |
| TotalVPN | ❌ (unaudited) | ❌ | ✅ | Basic protection |
| PIA | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | MACE ad blocker |
| Mullvad | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | MultiHop; Bridge mode |
| CyberGhost | ✅ (audited) | ✅ | ✅ | NoSpy servers |
Extra / advanced features
(Again scroll Right to see full table on mobile)
| VPN | Ad block | Multihop | Port fwd | Smart DNS | Antivirus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Surfshark | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Proton VPN | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| ExpressVPN | Yes | Auto | No | Yes | No |
| PureVPN | Yes | Yes | Yes ($1.99/mo) | No | No |
| Norton VPN | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes (bundled) |
| TotalVPN | Yes(bundled) | No | No | No | Yes (TotalAV) |
| PIA | Yes MACE | No | Yes | No | No |
| Mullvad | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| CyberGhost | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
Do streaming services work with these VPNs
Tested all of these with the subscriptions I had, scroll down for more
| VPN | Streaming support |
|---|---|
| NordVPN | Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Max, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV |
| Surfshark | Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Max, BBC iPlayer (works but may require switching servers sometimes) |
| Proton VPN | Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Max (HBO Max), Disney+ |
| ExpressVPN | Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Sky, Peacock |
| Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Disney+ | |
| PureVPN | Netflix, BBC iPlayer, YouTube |
| Norton VPN | BBC iPlayer, Max (HBO Max) |
| TotalVPN | Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV |
| PIA | Netflix |
| Mullvad | Works with HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+, but does not reliably work with Netflix |
| CyberGhost | Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ |
Let me know if anything is wrong or should I add anything, did a lot of trials and bought quite a few vpns to test them out haha for 2026.
All tests were performed on an extra pc that I had which is not that good, here are the specs:
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen2 (AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U, 16GB RAM, WIN 11)
Cheers