With the increasing number of cyberattacks, it has become imperative to have a VPN for Windows. The virtual private network encrypts your traffic and secures you from hackers, snoopers, and other cyber criminals. This blog post will review the best VPNs for Windows that will allow you to experience an active internet life without having to worry about any security or privacy issues.

Why do you need a VPN?

With the introduction of Windows 11 and the mass adoption of Windows 10, it has become clear that protection is paramount. Of course, having a VPN for Mac is just as important, but since there are many threats, especially for desktop computers, it becomes clear that running a virtual private network to protect your traffic is critical.

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Safe web browsing

No matter where you go these days, it seems like there are always threats lurking around every corner, especially when using public Wi-Fi. But having a VPN on your device can help mask your activities and encrypt your traffic, making it much harder for anyone to track or eavesdrop on what you’re doing.

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Prevent Internet throttling

Internet throttling. You might think it’s impossible, but the reality is many ISPs try to ensure they have enough bandwidth capacity to accommodate most users, so if servers get congested, they could reduce your speed, even if you’re paying for it. Opting for a virtual private network is the best way to stop this bad practice. The technology encrypts your web traffic and routes it through a remote server, preventing your ISP from monitoring and slowing your activity.

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Watch geo-locked content

If you’re a Netflix fan, you might be tempted to watch US Netflix or other streaming services. Well, that wouldn’t be possible if you’re not currently located in the country where content is broadcast, due to licensing agreements. Which could see you miss out on many movies if you are an expat or you’re traveling abroad for short business trips and holidays.

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Save money from dynamic pricing

Do you know that dynamic pricing is available on many different services? As a results, living in a developed country could result in paying more than other people. But what if we told you that VPNs can assign you IP addresses that will let you subscribe for services on a bargain. And who wouldn’t love to save some cash?

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Remote work security

Many people work remotely in 2022, so it’s more than natural to connect to multiple networks. However, the more networks you connect to, the bigger the chances a man-in-the-middle attack occurs, and it could have a serious impact over your career, as you could expose corporate resources. With a good VPN, you can protect your web traffic and work remotely without any worries.

Best VPN for Windows

If you look out for the best VPNs for Windows devices, look no further. We’ll show you our list of top 5 best offerings.

PrivateVPN is Time4VPN’s VPN for Windows favorite. It has consistently ranked first for many reasons – great price, lots of features, and most importantly – many developments.

Based in Sweden, PrivateVPN ensures you will enjoy browsing safely. While there were some concerns regarding the 14 Eyes Alliance (Sweden is part of it), there aren’t any known leaks since this software came out.

It’s is an absolute pleasure to work with the VPN provider and the 4.9 stars (from 5) in Trustpilot shows just that. When we add the insanely good price tag(you can get a 3-year subscription for $72, or just $2 per month), it’s clear to see why it has grown on us.

But it’s not just price that matters. It’s also what you get for your money. PrivateVPN is arguably the best VPN for streaming Netflix and HBO Max, and deals perfectly with BBC iPlayer, ESPN+, and other content platforms.

What’s more, it allows port forwarding to achieving high speeds when downloading torrents, and it can easily stream at 4K and 1080p.

PrivateVPN has a great distribution network and owns its dedicated IP servers. On top of that, it successfully passes one of the hardest tests for any VPN on the market – bypassing the Chinese government firewall.

Security-wise, it has all the necessary features, like AES-256 encryption (although it can use 128-bit if you need more speed while compromising security partly), as well as IPv6 protection, SHA256 and a DNS leak protection.

We tried to test the most out of the 200 servers of PrivateVPN, and quite honestly – we expected much inferior results. It provided similar, if not better results than most VPNs, and it was on par with Private Internet Access that prides itself with over 30,000 servers.

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NordVPN is one of the biggest names in the industry, along with ExpressVPN. It’s quite popular and has over 22 thousand reviews in Trustpilot (with 4.5 stars out of 5). It’s based in Panama which is great news for privacy fans, but don’t get overexcited, as it had a server breach once.

Luckily, such things didn’t happen after that and we can rank it second overall in our best VPN for Windows ranking. NordVPN is the fastest VPN on the market and for gamers, it might be a great deal.

We tested it for streaming and it also managed to deal perfectly with it. What we also enjoyed is how well you can utilize it for business purposes, as there is NordLayer (which is a corporate solution).

NordLynx protocol seems to work efficiently and we recorded insane speeds, with minimum speed loss.

You also have the standard AES-256 encryption, Smart DNS, DNS leak protection, and IPv6 leak protection. You can successfully bypass the Chinese firewall.

It’s a bit on the expensive end and you should pay almost $6 per month (with the best deal) to get the NordVPN Complete plan, but for starters, the one worth $3.69 might be enough for you.

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ExpressVPN is another reputable name in the industry, and we can confirm they deserve their high rank. The provider is based in the British Virgin Islands – a privacy haven, and can boast with multiple security features, including its own Lightway protocol that has both speed and protection.

It’s safe to say ExpressVPN is an amazing option for gamers and streamers, and can provide Windows users an amazing experience. The software is easy to use and the 4.7 rating in Trustpilot (out of 5) is another positive indication that this service is a good one.

What we could also outline is how well-balanced is the server network of ExpressVPN, and – as a result, it records much higher speeds from distant servers than other big names with more servers.

All servers are RAM-based, it has its own protocol (Lightway), AES-256 encryption, plus the standard kit with Smart DNS and a kill switch. If you need a VPN for Windows that focuses on security, pick ExpressVPN.

However, there are some drawbacks, like the high price (cheapest plan is 3 times more expensive than most of the competition) and the simultaneous connections – only 5. If those limitations aren’t bothering you, then you won’t make a mistake picking the BVI-based VPN provider.

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Private Internet Access, or more commonly known in the industry as “PIA”, is an American VPN provider that has the most extensive server network among all VPNs, and it’s evident in the US. However, being based in the US brings some drawbacks immediately.

Nevertheless, it starts at just $2.03 which is an amazing deal, and you can connect up to 10 devices at the same time. If you need to stream US Netflix or some other US-based services like Hulu, it’s definitely among the top choices. You can also download and upload torrents, as PIA supports port forwarding.

PIA is very well equipped with security features like AES-256 bit, DNS leak blocking, and can occasionally bypass the Chinese’s firewall. We were particularly fond of that.

Speeds are overall great, but apart from Europe and North America, you can expect Private Internet Access to suffer from speed loss in Asia (apart from Australia, Japan, and Singapore) and Africa.

With a rating of 4.6/5 stars in Trustpilot, it’s a top choice for many users, especially US VPN users who want to subscribe on a bargain.

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TunnelBear is our fifth pick in the rankings. While it does lack some features, it has great customizability, and is an amazing option for businesses.

The “grizzly” is based in Canada and it allows you to connect unlimited devices which is always good to know! When we tested it for streaming, it showed mixed results and we can’t recommend it for that purpose.

Still, it’s absolutely great for safe web browsing and for corporate purposes. It has AES-256 encryption plus SHA256 for authentication. It’s part of McAfee which is another sign that there are a lot of security developments going on with the team.

We have revised the free plan but it’s not worth your attention, as we don’t find any value in it. However, the paid plans are very generous. For $3.33/month, you can subscribe to the service, and browse care-free.

TunnelBear is also audited by third parties, and has additional ad blocker + a safe browser. A great package worth your attention.

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Best free VPN for Windows

The award goes to ProtonVPN, as it’s free forever. The plan doesn’t allow you to stream content and download torrents, but the speeds are surprisingly high. The team behind ProtonVPN claims the free plan can achieve similar (not the same, though!) speeds as the paid plan. It offers unlimited traffic. But let’s see more about ProtonVPN.

Switzerland is the only European country that can be considered a 100% privacy haven, and ProtonVPN is a SwissVPN.

What we enjoyed with ProtonVPN is that the free version is the only available free VPN on the market that doesn’t have a monthly data cap! And we should admire the team for that.

It has many users and it’s highly admired for being one of the safest VPNs on the market. It has a lot of security features, like the military-grade AES-256 bit encryption, DNS leak protection, kill switch, and others.

While it isn’t the best VPN for streaming Netflix and other content platforms, many choose it to download torrents, since Switzerland allows downloading torrents by law.

We have also achieved very high speeds, thanks to the WireGuard protocol, and the coverage across Europe is great. We expected a little bit more US server speeds, but the results aren’t bad at all. So is the rest of the world.

Another issue that we found when using it are the occasional drops, which is why we couldn’t rank it among the top 5 in our charts.

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Summary

Using a VPN for Windows has plenty of benefits and you would definitely feel more secure when doing so. But apart from that, you can get an abundance of other perks, including a chance to watch popular streaming platforms from abroad and even save more from products and services!

FAQ

Yes, in most places it is legal to use a virtual private network. Still, in some countries the access to VPNs is restricted due to the benefits they provide (streaming international content, browsing through all social media and websites). Many Middle East countries, plus China, North Korea, and Turkey have imposed bans on VPNs, to protect the regimes against international criticism.

Based on our tests, the best VPN for Windows is PrivateVPN, as it offers an amazing package – great speeds, low prices, ability to watch multiple streaming services, torrenting, and the amazing customer support.

There are many free VPNs on the market that will let your browse with a different IP address. Some of them are pure scams, but others – like AtlasVPN, TunnelBear, and ProtonVPN, are safe to use. However, out of these three, only ProtonVPN doesn’t have a data cap, but still doesn’t come with streaming and torrenting capabilities.