With the internet abuzz with privacy concerns and the potential changes coming to net neutrality, you’ve likely heard about virtual private networks, better known as VPNs. When used correctly, a VPN can greatly strengthen your online privacy, assist in keeping your personal information secure, and even spoof your location in the world—allowing you to access websites or services that would otherwise be off limits due to region-locking.
With the increased popularity of VPNs has come an increased number of VPN providers vying for your business. That makes finding the best one to suit your needs difficult. To help you sort out the right provider for you, we’ve committed to extensive research and testing of VPN services that cater to Mac owners.
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If nothing but the best will do, check out our routinely updated list. Each of the VPNs we test is thoroughly reviewed, allowing you to make an informed decision on which one to throw your money at. See complete summaries of our picks, and our full list of reviews below.
Note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, our reviews are subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the services.
1. NordVPN
It’s hard not to love NordVPN, and it remains our top pick for Mac users. NordVPN offers above-average data encryption to keep their subscribers’ data safe while tunneling. It’s got a large network of servers, too: over 3,000 servers spread across more than 60 countries, allowing you to spoof a wide number of locations and avoid server congestion. Its software interface is easy to use, making even new VPN users feel like online-privacy experts. While it’s not perfect, NordVPN gets more right than any of the other VPN providers we’ve tested.
Read our full NordVPN review2. AirVPN
There are numerous VPN services that let you specify a VPN protocol or offer one-click double VPN connections. AirVPN does none of that, but what it does offer is clear information about its network at any given time. This allows people to pick and choose between specific servers based on their current load, number of users on the server, or ping time. You could even monitor network trends to get an understanding of which connections will perform best at a given time of day. Power users will be happiest with AirVPN; the pricing is reasonable and the privacy promises are what they should be.
Read our full AirVPN review3. ExpressVPN
The latest version of ExpressVPN has by far the best overall connection speeds we’ve seen. Its performance in every major region we tested was excellent including Europe, the U.K., the United States, and Asia. ExpressVPN is expensive for a VPN, but you get a lot of value for that money. If you’re interested in connecting to zippy VPN servers located within the continental United States, ExpressVPN is the one to beat.
Read our full ExpressVPN review4. Mullvad
Mullvad is the ultimate choice for users who want to remain as anonymous as possible online. Mullvad runs its own VPN network and wants to know as little about you as possible. Users don’t supply a name and email address to create an account, and you can even pay in cash if you like. The service’s privacy policy is also top notch. You won’t find any special features such as a promise to work with Netflix. Regardless, anyone who cares about privacy and anonymity should seriously consider Mullvad.
Read our full Mullvad review5. FastestVPN
This easy-to-use, attractive, and uncomplicated app is a great option for VPN newbs. In addition to its straightforward and uncluttered design, FastestVPN also offers good speeds and a sufficiently expansive network. It’s icing on the cake that its privacy policy is easy to understand and makes all the right promises.
6. Freedome VPN
F-Secure’s Freedome doesn’t offer fancier features like double-hop connections or an onion router, but it does have a good amount of security features such as malicious file scanning. If you need a VPN from a trusted company, then Freedome is worth a look.
Read our full Freedome VPN review7. IVPN
IVPN doesn’t have the hundreds of servers that other companies do, but what it does have is solid connections with good speeds. The addition of a point-and-click WireGuard option is a first and a great feature for those interested in trying out the new protocol.
Read our full IVPN review8. OVPN
OVPN is a good performer on Mac and its privacy promises are very good. The company says that not only does it not keep logs, but that its network of servers do not have the capability to save data even if it wanted to. It is a little expensive, but OVPN appears to be a good choice for those looking to keep their browsing private.
Read our full OVPN review9. ProtonVPN
ProtonVPN is an excellent service with fast speeds, the right privacy promises, a good amount of features including support for streaming services, and fair pricing. It’s well worth a look.
Read our full ProtonVPN review10. Surfshark
A relative VPN newcomer that is off to a strong start with speedy servers, a promise that Netflix will work, and multi-hop connections. The company’s desktop app needs a little work, but there’s a lot here to please most users.
Read our full Surfshark review11. VPN Unlimited
KeepSolid’s VPN Unlimited is a nice looking VPN with serviceable speeds, and a typical but not outstanding privacy policy. It’s a good choice for people aiming to get around regional restrictions or just want to use Netflix while on a VPN.
Read our full VPN Unlimited review12. VyprVPN
VyprVPN’s connection speeds are less than spectacular, but the company’s commitment to online user security, privacy, and maintaining an open internet for its clients is admirable.
Read our full VyprVPN review13. CyberGhost
CyberGhost’s connection speeds make it a great VPN option for most people, but users who deal in sensitive information may wish to look elsewhere for greater privacy from government actors.
Read our full CyberGhost review14. Malwarebytes Privacy VPN (Mac)
Malwarebytes Privacy VPN does a good job, the price is right, and it comes from a respected name in security based in the U.S.
Read our full Malwarebytes Privacy VPN (Mac) review15. PureVPN
PureVPN’s price is not great, and the exotic business location of Hong Kong does not seem as ideal as perhaps it once did. Still, the desktop app for Mac is usable and helps users decide what they want to do with their VPN service. There are also a few features for power users to dip into, just not as many as with competing services.
Read our full PureVPN review16. TorGuard
TorGuard offers features well-tailored for those with privacy concerns, but its tiered pricing scheme and basic user interface make it a hard sell for less tech-savvy types.
Read our full TorGuard review17. Hide.me
Malaysia-based Hide.me is a fairly good service with average pricing and serviceable speeds. It has the right privacy promises and accepts a range of payment methods. You can find faster services on Mac, but anyone who just needs a VPN for everyday uses will find them to be just fine.
Read our full Hide.me review18. IPVanish VPN
IPVanish works, but we found the app creaky and old, with some aspects that don’t work properly, and its VPN protocols could use an update. IPVanish does have appeal for anyone who also wants some SugarSync back-up space, which comes as an add-on with all subscriptions.
Read our full IPVanish VPN review19. PrivateVPN by Trunkspace Hosting
A service that promises not to do any kind of logging of customer data. But other VPNs offer more features, and the speeds could be better. On top of that, Trunkspace asks for an unusual amount of personal information from its customers—even those who wish to pay with methods other than credit cards.
Read our full PrivateVPN by Trunkspace Hosting review20. SaferVPN
SaferVPN’s offices is a concern, given the potential for user data being shared with a number of governments, but the company’s VPN service is capable enough to keep users’ online traffic safe from non-state sponsored hackers.
Read our full SaferVPN review21. TunnelBear
TunnelBear is likable for its quirky branding and European connection speeds, but the company’s base in a Five Eye country is a concern from a user privacy standpoint. Security-minded individuals should look elsewhere for a VPN service.
Read our full TunnelBear review22. VPNCity
VPNCity offers a good country count with a solid number of servers. The speeds are fine, and the privacy policy says all the right things. It also works with U.S. and UK Netflix, which makes it a good choice for overseas travelers or those who use Netflix on open Wi-Fi networks.
Read our full VPNCity reviewFastest VPN for other countries
If you are interested in connecting to servers in other countries, we’ve found the following to be fast options:
- UK: TorGuard welcomes P2P file sharing on its VPN servers with open arms and offers the best connection speeds to servers in the United Kingdom that we’ve seen so far.
- Europe: While TunnelBear gave us pause in the areas of user privacy and its ambiguous server numbers, the Canadian VPN provider takes first place when it comes to European connection speeds.
- Asia: While we weren’t thrilled with its logging policies and the fact that it only allows P2P file sharing on a single server, Israel’s SaferVPN gets top marks when it comes to connecting to servers in Asia.
- Oceania: If you want to connect with VPN servers down under, CyberGhost is the way to go.
How we tested VPNs
For each VPN service we review, we conduct tests at three different times of the day: morning, afternoon, and evening, using Ookla Speedtest. We start by measuring the speed of our unprotected internet connection before testing the upload/download speeds of the VPN service. These tests are conducted to servers located in North America, the UK, Europe, Oceana, and Asia over an ethernet connection with a service provision of 100Mbps.
Ookla Speedtest
To test upload and download speeds, I closed down all background internet processes on my Mac, using TripMode. The only traffic on my system able to upload or download any data was Ookla. I used this setup to ensure that the numbers that Ookla produced were not stymied by anything else that my computer may have been doing at the time. The speeds Ookla captured were then averaged, providing us with a final numeric score.
I then used those scores to calculate a percentage of difference in speeds, which is what you’ll see in our reviews. Since internet speeds change constantly based on server load, how fast your connection is, and a gazillion other factors, we feel this provides a better picture of what you can expect from a service, on the whole, than merely quoting the exact upload/download speeds we encountered during testing.
Speed isn’t the only quantifiable metric that we look at. The number of countries that a VPN offers servers in, total number of servers worldwide, and how much it’ll cost you to connect to those servers on a monthly or annual basis are also taken into consideration when recommending a VPN service to you.
Additionally, we conduct hours of research into the VPN providers to find out who owns them, where they’re based, what they do with subscriber information, and whether the provider has a track record of questionable business practices.
What’s a VPN?
VPN stands for virtual private network. If you’re not using a VPN, when your computer connects to the internet, it does so through the local gateway provided by your internet service provider (ISP). Doing this allows you to connect to all of the online services you use everyday.
However, connecting this way also allows an ISP to know your physical location based on where you access the internet—be it at home, at work, in a cafe, or at a public Wi-Fi hotspot. This information is often sold to marketers and other parties interested in getting to know more about you and your browsing habits.
Worse still, if you connect to the internet through an access point with weak security, such as at an airport, mall, or local library, hackers connected to the same network could intercept personal information like your social media passwords or banking credentials through what’s called a man-in-the-middle attack. A VPN service can help prevent all of that.
A good VPN should allow for server connections around the globe.
A VPN creates an encrypted digital tunnel between your computer and the server of the VPN service you choose to use. Once this tunnel has been established, your web searches, the sites you access, and the information you submit online will be hidden from prying eyes. This means that your ISP can’t log or sell your information and hackers using the same network as you will find it difficult to initiate an attack on you. Almost no one will have any idea of what information you’re accessing.
What a VPN can’t do
A VPN can’t protect you from viruses, malware, or ransomware attacks if you choose to download an infected file, or a visit site designed to inject your computer with malignant code. It won’t keep spoofed sites from stealing your personal information, if you happen to visit one. So, you’ll want to bone up on online security best practices.
You should know that while using a VPN will allow you to anonymously engage in peer-to-peer file-sharing/torrenting, some service providers may cancel your VPN subscription or turn over your information to the authorities if they catch you trading copyrighted material with others.
What to look for in a VPN
A clear privacy policy. A good VPN should offer an easy-to-understand privacy policy that outlines what, if any, information the company collects from its users. It’s important that this policy details what they do with this information. Some VPN providers, especially those that offer their services for free, sell their user information to advertisers and other interested parties, just like an ISP does. Choose a provider that offers a level of privacy that suits you.
Know where the provider is based. Many countries have no laws demanding that VPN providers maintain logs of their users’ activity. This makes maintaining your privacy more assurable than it would be if you use a VPN located in a country that requires that user-activity records be maintained. Some companies, in an effort to make their network of servers look bigger or more varied than it actually is, spoof the locations of their servers.
The more servers, the merrier. Choosing a VPN provider with a ton of servers around the world is important for a couple of reasons. First, having a multitude of servers to choose from means that you won’t be forced to connect to an overpopulated server where the data flows like mud.
Second, having a wealth of servers to choose from both at home and internationally means more opportunities for spoofing your location, allowing you to hide where you are or access region-locked content with ease.
Multiple payment options. It’s a vicious circle. Paying for a VPN with a credit card online before you have access to a VPN could allow your financial information to fall into the wrong hands. Look for providers that offer alternative payment options such as PayPal, Bitcoin, AliPay, or via the Mac App Store.
An easy-to-use interface. It takes a lot of digital wizardry to connect to a VPN. Some people want to see how their VPN operates, behind the scenes. Using an open source VPN client like Tunnelblick is great for this. Most folks, however, just want their VPN to work with minimal frustration. Look for a VPN service that offers a Mac client with an easy-to-use interface.
Protection for all of your devices. A good VPN service will offer licenses for multiple devices to protect your loved ones’ computers as well as your personal smartphone and tablet. To this end, before investing in a VPN subscription, make sure that it provides software clients for all of the devices you own.
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