The best VPN services in 2020 | Top 05 VPNs ranked

The best VPNs to keep your data safe - the perfect tool if you care about your privacy, travel frequently or often work on public Wi-Fi.

The overall best VPN services encrypt all your internet traffic and pass it through a private tunnel to their own secure servers so that no one can see what you're reading or downloading - not the government, not your ISP, not even the VPN service itself.

Very simply, a VPN (short for virtual private network) is an app you can download for your mobile or laptop that allows you to hide your location, identity and IP address from the rest of the internet.

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All internet content is completely encrypted - securely jumbled so no one could read it even if they intercepted it - between the VPN server and your device.

By doing this, a VPN can protect your data, keeping it safe and anonymous while you connect with your online banking account, favorite retailer or any other site. So if you want to keep your emails, browsing history or bank details away from potential prying eyes, a VPN is the way to do it.

VPNs are becoming more and more mainstream, with analysts predicting the market will be worth over $50 billion by 2024. But which is the best VPN? These are out top picks.

5 best VPN services at a glance:

A VPN's ability to encrypt traffic and change your location to be whatever you want it to be also allows you to bypass blocks, filters or restrictions on the internet or local networks. That means if there's a Netflix block at your school, you can use a VPN to access it on your phone regardless. If you're visiting China next month, you'll be able to use a VPN to access Facebook and Whatsapp which are both blocked in that country. And if you're on vacation in the UK and want to access your usual US Netflix or Disney Plus content - that's easy too.

What's more, the best VPN apps these days are super easy to use - there's no need to be some sort of computing expert. They're self-explanatory and easy to work out. That's one of the main assets of our #1 pick ExpressVPN - in fact, that particular service ticks all of the above boxes.

So if you’re interested in the benefits of a VPN, on this page we have compiled our top 10 services to help you find the best VPN for you. You can also read our full reviews at the included links if you want to take a deeper dive into the pros and cons of each individual service.

The best VPN you can download today:

1. ExpressVPN

Simply the best VPN money can buy - ExpressVPN came top in almost all aspects of our testing

Fastest VPN out there

Wide device support

30-day free trial

A 24/7 support service

5 simultaneous devices

ExpressVPN is the best VPN for almost everyone, thanks to its fantastic apps, ease of use, superb speeds, excellent 24/7 customer-service support and wide compatibility across devices. You can use the service on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android or even Linux and BlackBerry. You can also install it on your Android TV, games console or your home router.

For anyone new to the VPN world, ExpressVPN is super-simple to use with a one-click startup option. And for those looking for more complex and advanced options, it also offers a kill switch and DNS leak protection - plus you get industrial-level encryption and there's a clear no logging policy.

The service also recently fixed one of its primary drawbacks - it used to only allow three simultaneous connections per account. That has now been upped to the industry standard of five - enough for the vast majority of people's needs.

If you're planning to use your VPN to access Netflix and other streaming services like HBO Go, Hulu or Sky Go - Express is simply the undisputed champion. It has a team constantly ensuring they're providing access to the most popular sites and helping you find the right server locations - if you're struggling, the aforementioned 24/7 customer service team will sort you out with a quick chat.

One final killer addition to this service is a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, effectively, you can try this for free for 30 days, and if you don't like it you can easily cancel and walk away without having spent a dime.

Get a discount on Tom's Guide's best VPN 2020
If you're still not convinced by ExpressVPN, knowing that a 30-day money back guarantee is in place may just sway you. Or, if you know that going for the full 12 months makes sense, then hit the 'View deal' button below and claim 3 months extra FREE and a healthy 49% off what a 1-month plan would cost.

2. Surfshark

The new VPN on the block is also among the very best

Cheap two year plan

Live chat support

Super fast connections

Basic app interface

In general, Surfshark is both fast and powerful, with advanced features (although the mobile app is more bare-bones), and is capable of bypassing region restrictions with ease.

The 24-month deal works out at only $1.99 a month, which is clearly fantastic value. But there’s no free trial, meaning you have to commit for two years immediately or pay for a single month first if you want to try it out.

The other problems you might want to watch out for are a lack of online support.beyond set-up (although the live chat makes up for this should you want it) and the fact that some of the servers have their physical locations separated from their IP locations, meaning that depending where you’re accessing them from, you could end up with sluggish performance.

3. CyberGhost

A respectable VPN service with plenty of features servers to choose from

Wide server spread

Lots of features

45-day money-back guarantee

Spotty performance

Interface could be better

CyberGhost has a feature-loaded, user-friendly interface, with convenient buttons in the Windows client software for streaming media, torrenting files, protecting your Wi-Fi transmissions and evading censorship.

There are about 6,200 CyberGhost connection points in 90-odd countries worldwide. You don't need to provide your real name, just a working email address, and you can pay in bitcoin (should you have any) to remain nearly anonymous. As with most full-fledged VPN services, you can connect directly from your operating system's network settings or use third-party OpenVPN software to do so. You can also select from among VPN protocols and set up a home Wi-Fi router to use CyberGhost all the time.

CyberGhost is transparent about its company structure, posting photos and bios on its website of everyone from the CEO to the cleaning person, and privacy fanatics will like that the company is based in Romania rather than in the U.S. But CyberGhost's full-service subscription price is among the most expensive month-by-month — it's far better to just pay for a year at a time.

4. IPVanish

Another top VPN service that offers 10 simultaneous connections and excellent support

Very reliable

Live-chat support

Fast speeds

Based in U.S.

Third in our rankings list comes IPVanish - a fantastic VPN service that boasts over 1,300 servers in more than 75 countries, 24/7 customer service and a whopping 10 simultaneous connections available at a time.

You may yet use those 10, as IPVanish works on lots of devices, including Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. The desktop apps offer plenty of options that will keep the pros happy, while the just-work simplicity is also there for everyone else. That it all functions with far above average speeds is a nice bonus.

The lack of a kill switch on the mobile version of the app may be a downside for some but generally everything worked well. If you do want to give this VPN a go, you're covered by a seven-day money-back guarantee. However, its subscription price is kind of high, and its U.S. base may be a negative for some potential customers.

Read our full IPVanish review.

5. NordVPN

The world's most famous VPN service is still very impressive, despite bad press

Super 2048-bit encryption

Up to six devices at once

Handy connection wizard

Dropped connections

That reported data breach

If pure security is your need, then NordVPN is one of the options for you, thanks to the provider's 2048-bit encryption that'd leave even the military impressed – and blocked out. To be specific, that's out of over 5,500 servers that are spread over 60 countries. All that gives you strong DNS leak protection, two kill switches and excellent connection speeds.

Unique features of NordVPN include proxy extensions for the likes of Bitcoin, PayPal, credit cards, Chrome and Firefox. In addition, you get SmartPlay, which helps you get around geo restrictions, making it ideal for watching the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or BBC iPlayer abroad. And if you run into problems, you can solve them with the aid of NordVPN's help center articles, email support or live chat support options.

On the downside, there were issues with server connections from time to time but largely we got online fine and speeds were well above average. And we must admit that our confidence in Nord was at least somewhat knocked by the reported data breach that came out in October 2019, although we're encouraged by the steps it has taken to remedy it and ensure nothing of the like happens again.

With lots of payment options available, there should be something for everyone here. But compare the price of NordVPN to the rest, and it may just be the service for you.

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