Ranking
Safest VPN Apps 2026, Free and Paid
Every VPN app we cover, paid and free, plus Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 with WARP and Orbot, which send your phone's traffic through a tunnel in the same way. Each score weighs what the provider can log about you, whether outside auditors have tested its no-logs claim and its apps, how open it is about who owns it, the ads and trackers inside the app, and its record with regulators and courts.
Updated · Scores update with each page
The ranking
Mullvad VPN
Mullvad is the most private VPN we have scored. You sign up with a random account number instead of an email, can pay in cash, and its open-source apps are audited every two years. A 2023 police search found nothing to take. Recent app leaks and no paid bug bounty are the weak points.
Score 91, grade AIVPN
IVPN is one of the most private VPNs we have scored. You sign up with a random account ID instead of an email, the apps are open source, and Cure53 has audited parts of the service every year since 2019. A 2026 attack on its Bitcoin payment server and the lack of a paid bug bounty are the weak points.
Score 89, grade AProton VPN
Proton VPN is one of the safest VPNs you can use, and its free plan has the same no-logs policy as the paid one. Five yearly Securitum audits with public reports, open-source apps and very little app data back that up. The main open question is a proposed Swiss rule on user identification and data retention.
Score 88, grade AWindscribe
Windscribe is a safe VPN with a short, specific logging policy, open-source apps and RAM-only servers, and a 2025 criminal case in Greece ended with no user data handed over. It loses points for a 2021 server seizure in Ukraine that exposed an unencrypted OpenVPN key and for repeated desktop-app bugs.
Score 86, grade AOrbot
Orbot is the long-running free app that routes your phone's traffic through the Tor network. It needs no account and both stores list almost no data collected. The weak points are thin outside checking (no published audit, no paid bug bounty), an unstable iOS version and easy access around parental filters.
Score 84, grade BCloudflare 1.1.1.1
Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 app is a safe free way to encrypt DNS and, with WARP, your traffic on untrusted networks. It shows no ads, needs no account and its resolver's privacy promises were checked by an outside auditor. WARP itself has never had a no-logs audit, does not hide who you are, and the last audit is from 2019.
Score 83, grade BPrivate Internet Access
Private Internet Access (PIA) is a safe paid VPN with open-source apps, RAM-only servers and a no-logs claim that FBI subpoenas have tested twice. It loses points for a run of older desktop-app flaws, a small bug bounty and a US base where subpoenas are routine.
Score 83, grade BTunnelBear
TunnelBear is a simple, McAfee-owned VPN from Toronto with a small free plan and no ads. Cure53 has audited its security every year since 2017, and its policy lists every data field it keeps. Its no-logs promise has never had its own audit, and it links email and device ID to you for marketing.
Score 80, grade BCyberGhost
CyberGhost is a reasonably safe paid VPN with RAM-only servers, three Deloitte no-logs reviews and quarterly transparency reports. It trails its sister brand PIA because its apps are closed source, its labels list identifiers used for marketing, and its Windows client has had several security flaws.
Score 79, grade BExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is a safe paid VPN with one of the longest lists of published audits in the industry and a no-logs claim tested by a real server seizure. It loses points for marketing data the App Store label does not fully show, a 2025 Windows bug that sent some traffic outside the tunnel, and US lawsuits over renewals.
Score 79, grade BNordVPN
NordVPN is a safe VPN for hiding your traffic from your network and internet provider. Its no-logs claim has passed six independent assessments since 2018. It loses points for a 2018 server breach it disclosed 18 months later, an app that links a user ID to its own marketing, and US lawsuits over automatic renewals.
Score 79, grade BSurfshark
Surfshark is a safe paid VPN with RAM-only servers, two Deloitte no-logs assessments and recent infrastructure audits. It loses points for analytics and marketing data tied to your account, audit reports kept behind a login, and a pending US lawsuit over automatic renewals.
Score 79, grade BIPVanish
IPVanish is a reasonably safe VPN today, with no-logs audits in 2022 and 2025 and a growing RAM-only fleet. It scores below most rivals because the app links your email to you for marketing, shares a device ID for ads, is closed source and pays nothing for bug reports.
Score 77, grade BHotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is a long-running Pango Group VPN with a free, ad-supported tier. Aon backed its no-browsing-logs claim in 2023, but the App Store label admits tracking, the free app carries eight ad and attribution networks, and its Hydra protocol has no published security audit.
Score 62, grade CVPN Super
VPN Super, sold as "VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy", is a free, ad-funded VPN from a venture-backed California company. Researchers found no shared keys or hidden family links in 2025, but the free app carries ten ad networks, Apple's label shows tracking, and no outside firm has checked its no-logs promise.
Score 57, grade CX-VPN
X-VPN is a free, ad-supported VPN run since 2025 by a young Singapore company whose owners are not public. A Big Four firm checked its no-logs policy in 2026, but the report is for customers only, a 2025 study found a hard-coded key shared with VPN Potato, and the free version funds itself with ads.
Score 53, grade DSecure VPN
Secure VPN, sold as "Secure VPN－Safer Internet", is a free, ad-funded VPN with more than 100 million Android downloads. A 2025 study found no hidden links to other VPN families, but the publisher gives no real address or owner, the policy omits its ad partners, and the app offers no way to delete data.
Score 51, grade DVPN Potato
VPN Potato is a free, ad-supported VPN from a small Singapore company whose owners are not public. A 2025 study tied its code to X-VPN and found a hard-coded key and a connection-inference flaw. Its Apple and Google labels disagree, and it is rated 4+ though its terms say 18+.
Score 49, grade DTurbo VPN
Turbo VPN is a weak choice for privacy. Researchers found its Android app used one hard-coded password for all users, which lets an eavesdropper decrypt traffic, and sent users' ZIP codes to the developer despite its policy. A watchdog traced the Singapore developer to Qihoo 360, a Chinese firm under US sanctions.
Score 42, grade D
Which apps are on this list
The rule is what the app does. An app is here when its main job is to send all your device's traffic through an encrypted tunnel to someone else's servers. That covers the paid VPNs, such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Mullvad and Private Internet Access, and the free or ad-funded ones, such as Proton VPN, Hotspot Shield, Turbo VPN, X-VPN and VPN Super. Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, whose WARP mode works like a VPN, and Orbot, which routes traffic through the Tor network, are included because people install them for the same reason. Browsers with a built-in VPN are scored with browsers.
How the order is built
Each app is scored on five factors. Privacy and security count for 30% each: what the provider collects and could hand over, and how well its apps and servers have held up to audits, research and attacks. Transparency and control count for 15%, which includes public audit reports, open source apps and named owners. Scams and harmful content count for 15%, and the regulatory record for 10%. Full rubrics are on how we score apps.
The list is those scores sorted from the highest down. When we update a page, its place here moves too, so this text does not quote scores.
What the VPNs near the top have in common
They know very little about you to begin with and have proved it. Mullvad and IVPN let you sign up with a random account number instead of an email address, and a 2023 police search at Mullvad found nothing to take. Proton VPN publishes yearly no-logs audits anyone can read, and several of the paid VPNs run servers that keep nothing on disk.
Free VPNs
Free VPNs split into two kinds. A few are free plans of paid services or come from companies that make money elsewhere: Proton VPN, TunnelBear, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 and Orbot. Most of the rest pay for themselves with advertising. Hotspot Shield's free app carries eight ad and attribution networks, VPN Super's ten. A 2025 study found a hard-coded key shared by X-VPN and VPN Potato, and researchers found that Turbo VPN's Android app used one password for every user. Apps like these lose points because they collect a lot and say little about who runs them.
What the score does not tell you
A VPN moves your trust from your internet provider to the VPN company, nothing more. It does not stop phishing pages, malware or scam calls, and it can get around school or parental web filters, so check what a child installs. If you need a VPN to reach blocked sites, test it before you travel, since some countries block VPN apps and their websites too.
Questions
Are free VPNs safe?
Some are. Proton VPN's free plan shows no ads and falls under the same audited no-logs policy as its paid plans, and Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 needs no account and shows no ads. Most free VPNs are paid for by advertising instead, and the apps carry ad and tracking networks that collect the very data a VPN is meant to protect.
Can a VPN see what I do online?
It can see which sites you connect to, though not the content of encrypted pages. That is why the no-logs promise matters. Look for a provider whose policy has been tested by an independent audit or by a real event, such as a police raid or a server seizure that found nothing to hand over.
Does a VPN make me anonymous?
No. It hides your traffic from your network and internet provider and hides your IP address from the sites you visit, but you are still recognisable when you sign in to an account, and trackers can still fingerprint your browser. WARP in Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 app, for example, does not hide who you are. For stronger anonymity, Tor goes further.
Why does it matter who owns a VPN?
Because you are handing that company all of your traffic. Some free VPNs give no real address or owner, and researchers have traced apps sold under different names to shared code and the same keys. A watchdog traced Turbo VPN's developer to Qihoo 360, a Chinese firm under US sanctions. Pick a provider whose company, country and owners are public.
Is a VPN worth it on public Wi-Fi?
It helps, but less than it used to. Most sites and apps now encrypt traffic themselves, so the main gain is hiding which sites you visit from the network owner. A VPN does not stop phishing, malware or scam sites, and none of the providers on this list can protect an account whose password has leaked.