VPN Comparison

After making a post about comparing VPN providers, I received a lot of requested feedback. I’ve implemented most of the ideas I received.

Providers

Notes

  • I’m human. I make mistakes. I made multiple mistakes in my last post, and there may be some here. I’ve tried my best.
  • Pricing is sometimes weird. For example, a 1 year plan for Private Internet Access is 37.19€ first year and then auto-renews annually at 46.73€. By the way, they misspelled “annually”. AirVPN has a 3 day pricing plan. For the instances when pricing is weird, I did what I felt was best on a case-by-case basis.
  • Tor is not a VPN, but there are multiple apps that allow you to use it like a VPN. They’ve released an official Tor VPN app for Android, and there is a verified Flatpak called Carburetor which you can use to use Tor like a VPN on secureblue (Linux). It’s not unreasonable to add this to the list.
  • Some projects use different licenses for different platforms. For example, NordVPN has an open source Linux client. However, to call NordVPN open source would be like calling a meat sandwich vegan because the bread is vegan.
  • The age of a VPN isn’t a good indicator of how secure it is. There could be a trustworthy VPN that’s been around for 10 years but uses insecure, outdated code, and a new VPN that’s been around for 10 days but uses up-to-date, modern code.
  • Some VPNs, like Surfshark VPN, operate in multiple countries. Legality may vary.
  • All of the VPNs claim a “no log” policy, but there’s some I trust more than others to actually uphold that.
  • Tor is special in the port forwarding category, because it depends on what you’re using port forwarding for. In some cases, Tor doesn’t need port forwarding.
  • Tor technically doesn’t have a WireGuard profile, but you could (probably?) create one.

Takeaways

  • If you don’t mind the speed cost, Tor is a really good option to protect your IP address.
  • If you’re on a budget, NymVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark VPN are generally the cheapest. If you’re paying month-by-month, Mullvad VPN still can’t be beat.
  • If you want VPNs that go out of their way to collect as little information as possible, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, and NymVPN don’t require any personal information to use. And Tor, of course.

ODS file: https://files.catbox.moe/cly0o6.ods

  • rirus@feddit.orgEnglish
    153·
    3 hours ago

    PIA isnt independent, its by a Israeli spyware company, that owns multiple VPN Review sites and VPN services . Remove it from the list.

  • Corridor8031@lemmy.ml
    8·
    3 hours ago

    For anyone who considers getting the tor vpn android app “Tor VPN is beta software. Do not rely on it for anything other than testing. It may leak information and should not be relied on for anything sensitive” (it is a disclaimer from their website)

    Thank you for adding the created date column and making sweden green

  • Valmond@lemmy.world
    10·
    5 hours ago

    ProtonVPN: only 8 years old: RED FLAG!

    Well reddish flag at least, is there a rationale behind this? I mean 8 years is quite a long time.

    • pineapple@lemmy.mlEnglish
      36·
      6 hours ago

      Could be wrong but I think it’s due to the security vulnerabilities present, its generally better to just use Google play store with an anonymous account.

      • cmhe@lemmy.world
        9·
        4 hours ago

        Na… The likelyhood of installing some bad or fake app from google play store is much higher than on fdroid.

        • Corridor8031@lemmy.ml
          2·
          3 hours ago

          i think the security issues are not about fake apps, but about fdroid signing the builds themself, while their build infrastrcuture is described as insecure

          • cmhe@lemmy.world
            1·
            18 minutes ago

            The issue there AFAIK is that some app builds aren’t fully reproducible, because if they were the developer signature would still apply and be used. In the reproducible case the security of the build infra wouldn’t matter, because the same app would be produced the same regardless were they are build.

            Without reproducible builds, you cannot really trust the software anyway, because the Dev could hook some hidden code only for the released binary app and sign that.

  • online@programming.dev
    5·
    6 hours ago

    Also of note, some providers have data caps. I haven’t looked at all providers, merely Nymvpn as I was interested. Turns out they have a 2TB/month cap. Might not be an issue for some, but might be for others.

  • Undertaker@feddit.org
    8·
    9 hours ago

    Availability: Direct download via Repo or developer web page is missing. Google shouldn’t be a plus. The provided explanation in the last thread was invalid

  • cmhe@lemmy.world
    4·
    4 hours ago

    The ‘availability’ is misleading. If they offer OpenVPN or Wireguard then they are available pretty much anywhere.

    Using just plain Wireguard or OpenVPN configs would also be much better than installing random VPN provider apps.

  • Brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    13·
    10 hours ago

    One thing you may want to update - listing Tor’s logging policy as “No Logs” is a bit misleading, that’s really more of a voluntary recommendation for individual Tor exit relay operators.

    Tor exit relay operators absolutely can store logs of outgoing connections if they choose to. And technically they could even snoop on non-secure traffic if they choose, there’s a reason you should be using HTTPS if you’re going to use Tor for clearnet browsing.

    Of course most Tor exit relay operators aren’t going to do these things but it’s all voluntary, seems incorrect to claim all exit relay operators follow no log principles.

    EDIT: Also AFAIK you can’t forward a port from the clearnet through a Tor exit relay’s public IP address back to your own Tor client, Tor doesn’t do port forwarding like that. It’s definitely not needed to run Tor Browser (and Tor VPN I think) but that isn’t needed for any of the other VPNs either, a bit confusing how you listed that one.

  • brb@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    8 hours ago

    If you make 2.1 you could add some info on the port forwarding because there are massive differences on it between providers. Like PIA gives you a single random port that changes each time you reconnect, while AirVPN gives you 5 static ports you can configure yourself.

  • MrSulu@lemmy.mlEnglish
    52·
    8 hours ago

    Proton and Mullvad VPN appear to win the battle of the charts for privacy & security.