The need in online security and privacy grows bigger year by year. Taking into account the latest geopolitical events and restrictions of access to many popular platforms, security and privacy are now an essential need not only of tech-savvy Internet users, but also of regular people.

In this article, we’re going to tell you what a VPN is and how it works. You will also find a small selection of paid and free services and be able to choose the best solution. Let’s get started.

What is a VPN and why do you need it?

VPN is a virtual private network that ensures security for Internet surfing, first of all, by encrypting your traffic. Also, it ensures your personal security and privacy.

Why do you need a VPN?

• For remote work. For example, you work from home permanently. You can use a VPN service to access the services and documents of your company, using a safer connection: it’ll be harder to intercept your data and decrypt it.
• For corporate use – to unite or isolate the departments.
• For ensuring safety when you use public Wi-Fi networks in a café, subway and etc. – the hackers won’t be able to intercept and decrypt your traffic.
• For accessing the Internet resources banned in your country.
• For ensuring anonymity and privacy.

How does a VPN work?

Simply put, VPN connection is a kind of tunnel between the user’s computer and a server. Every node encrypts information before it is transferred by the “tunnel”.

When you connect to VPN, the system identifies your network and authenticates you (compares the password you entered with the password stored in its database).

Then, it’s time for authorization, meaning that you’re allowed to do certain things: read your e-mails, surf the Internet and etc. Once the connection is established, the traffic between your PC and the server will be transferred in the encrypted form. Of course, the VPN server will replace your IP address with its own, thus allowing you to access banned resources and avoid being tracked.

Selection of VPN services

The market of VPN services has grown significantly bigger over the last years – it’s hard to find and choose a suitable solution now, especially if you’re a beginner. In the best-case scenario, you will get confused, choosing from a variety of options. The worst-case scenario would be to choose a service that doesn’t provide the advertised services and proper protection.

If you need a VPN service but lack the knowledge to choose it, you’re lucky to be here: we’re going to tell you about 10 time-proved and reliable VPN services, both paid and free ones. Let’s have a closer look.

TOP 5 paid VPN services

1. ExpressVPN

It is a service allowing to establish VPN connection. It supports the following OSs: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux.

When you get connected to ExpressVPN, your Internet provider will see the traffic in the encrypted form, but it won’t be able to decrypt it and find out what websites you visited. ExpressVPN is used as a gateway.

Benefits:

• a big network of 1700 VPN servers located all over the world guarantees fast and stable Internet connection;
• makes it possible to work quickly with all popular platforms;
• fully protects the devices from hacking and tracking thanks to the AES-256 encryption algorithm;
• your traffic isn’t logged.

To sum up, this is a great solution for those who need stability and privacy when they surf the Internet.

2. IPVanish

It is recommened for those who love to download files from Torrent quickly. Connection speed is really impressive!

Benefits:

• No traffic logging;
• Ensures the best connection speed;
• Suitable for any configuration;
• Cross-platform solution: works with any OS type, has extensions for most browsers.

3. WhoerVPN

It is a VPN service by Whoer.net, that allows to check the information your device transfers via Internet. Most likely, many of you have already heard about it – this is one of the most popular solutions. The developers approached their job wisely and created a VPN service that is no worse than any other one.

Benefits:

• No traffic logging;
• Wide variety of countries;
• Stable connection speed and operation speed;
• Low prices (spoiler: the service launches special offers often, so you can buy a 1-year subscription just for $20-30).

4. VyprVPN

It is a service for save online surfing that allows to change your IP address to hide your location and avoid restrictions imposed by the government and organizations.

Benefits:

• High speed and stable connection;
• Many tariffs have adequate price;
• Powerful software that can be adjusted for the client’s needs;
• Large number of available servers and GEOs.

5. CyberGhost

It is a service allowing you to establish VPN connection. Supports the following OSs: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, as well as Linux.

Also, VPN servers of the service support P2P protocol in some restricted GEOs, thus allowing you to download torrent files from “blocked” resources.

Benefits:

• supports OpenVPN, L2TP, IPsec, SSTP and PPTP protocols;
• fully russified interface;
• IP address can be masked;
• You can encrypt your traffic using AES 256-bit algorithm;
• Blocks malware, checks if the links are original;
• Ensures e-payment protection.

ТОП-5 free VPN services

Let us start with this: all free VPN services have paid tariffs. We chose these ones because they let you to access the features, even though not fully (but most of them have no traffic limits – it’s important). Anyway, if you want to enjoy all the features, you have to pay.

1. Windscribe

It is one of the leading VPN services, its main benefit is 10 GB of free traffic monthly (after verifying your email), as well as an opportunity to use 25 servers and 11 GEOs to access the Internet.

To increase the limit by 5 GB, you have to post an entry on Twitter. You get 1 GB for every user who signed up using your referral link.

Benefits:

• Cross-platform solution;
• Stable connection and operation speed;
• High traffic limits (if we’re talking about free use).

2. ProtonVPN

It is a perfect VPN service with many features available for downloading to all OSs. If you use a free version, you can use a single device to get connected to 3 GEOs to choose from.

Benefits:

• no traffic limits;
• no traffic logging;
• high-speed connection (up to 10 GB/s)

3. Browsec

It is a VPN service available not only for installing it on the main OS systems, but also for using it as a plugin for popular browsers. The Smart Settings feature allows the service to turn on automatically only when a user visits the websites from the list he or she created, the rest of the traffic won’t have anything to do with VPN. You can use this feature for free only for 1 website.

Benefits:

• no traffic limits;
• high connection speed;
• reliable encryption.

4.TurboVPN

It is a reliable VPM service with no traffic limits and compatible with most platforms, including mobile OSs.

Benefits:

• no traffic limits;
• built-in browser;
• you can choose connection protocol.

5. Cloudflare WARP

It is a free VPN service by a leading DNS provider Cloudflare. Available for installation on Windows, macOS, and mobile OSs. Great for watching videos online (up to 4K quality), using streaming services and torrents.

Benefits:

• no traffic limits;
• the best server is chosen automatically;
• ensures basic privacy, bypasses any restrictions.

This is all for now. Choose a VPN server wisely based on your needs.

We wish you high profit!