Top 10 Free and Paid VPNs in 2017 to Ensure Privacy
The US Senate has voted to allow internet providers to track and share your web browsing history without permission, which puts customer data at risk of identity theft, breaches, and frauds. Time to choose a nice VPN service if you haven’t done it yet.
VPNs are among the most important digital privacy components as they allow you to surf the internet safely by hiding your IP address and encrypting the traffic. Using a VPN is essential to keep your anonymity, prevent interceptions and hacks.
VPN providers are not necessarily secure and reliable. Actually, in some cases they keep logs and may pass or sell them to third parties. This is why we’ve made a list of trustworthy VPN providers offering free and paid solutions. If you choose a free option and enjoy the way it works, feels and looks like — you can later upgrade to a paid subscription that has less limitations and more opportunities.
When choosing a VPN, bear in mind:
- Using a free VPN means a slightly slower internet connection, and most free services have traffic limitations.
- Pull up the privacy policy of the provider and check whether they collect your logs and whether they are eager to pass them to law enforcements whenever they require the data.
- Choose the service that offers protection against ad networks that analyze cookies to identify users.
- There are malevolent VPN providers that actually sell personal data instead of providing anonymity as VPNs are supposed to do. No VPN at all is a better option than an untrustworthy service.
Top VPN services — choose the one that fits you best
Free VPNs
1. TunnelBear. A Canadian service. The design and the attitude are almost irresistible, the bear is literally everywhere. Who would mind owning a personal bear protecting your privacy? There are clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad, and VIPole works perfectly with them. Settings are easily scalable. There are both free and paid solutions. The provider does not keep logs, and the privacy policy is tight. You can access VPN server locations in 20+ countries. There is a 500MB limitation for browsing per month if you use the free service, and you can upgrade to Giant and Grizzly to get more.
2. SurfEasy. The VPN works with all kinds of devices in all networks and ensures blocking ad trackers. The app is handy and provides security without making the speed slower. The starting plan offers a 500MB limitation for secure traffic per month. The paid plan provides more opportunities.
3. CyberGhost. With the user-friendly interface, CyberGhost is a good option even for not tech-savvy VPN users that allows to surf and torrent anonymously, protecting the connection. Another advantage — no bandwidth limitations. However, if you choose the free solution, you get advertisements and only a limited range of server locations. To use it on several devices, you will need to purchase one of the premium subscriptions.
4. VPNGate. A free open source project created by Japan’s University of Tsukuba run on the relay of volunteer computers. Security is well protected, but there are a couple of drawbacks though: torrents are illegal here, and sometimes there may be speed issues. Also, this VPN keeps logs. The main purpose of this service is to allow the people in the countries where the internet is censored to access prohibited websites and read the unbiased news.
5. Hotspot Shield. A free VPN provider with advanced versions named Elite and Business. It facilitates secure WiFi connection, anonymous browsing and unblocking websites on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. The paid versions allow to use multiple devices and have a broader range of VPN servers worldwide to choose.
Bonus. Tor. Open source project with multilayered encryption running on volunteer relays. Technically, it is not a VPN, but in some aspects it works even better, protecting all your traces online and excluding the possibility of profiling you in any way. VIPole users often have Tor to additionally protect their connections and activities, and all VIPole services are available, including the encrypted calls and secure group chats. To work in VIPole with Tor, you need to use the SOCKS5 proxy, which allows to transmit the UDP traffic. Data is transmitted at least through three nodes, encrypted every time. Sadly, this process inevitably makes the connection speed slower.
Paid VPNs
1. Hide My Ass The provider has servers in more than 190 countries, allowing to use the internet like a local regardless of your location. HMA can be used on multiple devices at the same time, including mobile phones, tablets and games consoles. Importantly, this VPN does not reduce the speed of your connection.
2. TigerVPN The company has offices in Slovakia and Romania. TigerVPN utilizes AES-256-CBC encryption with the OpenVPN protocol. Installing the app is easy, and the interface is user-friendly, turning the VPN on takes one click. Note, that there are 15 global nodes available, which is slightly less than many other providers offer.
3. Private Internet Access The provider is on the market since 2010, specializing in encrypted VPN tunnels with several layers of privacy and security. The service is backed by multiple gateways worldwide with VPN tunnel access in more than 25 countries. PIA doesn’t collect logs and guarantees anonymity. You can connect up to five devices with one account.
4. NordVPN The provider is under the jurisdiction of Panama. All user data is protected with 2048-bit SSL encryption, which even a supercomputer can’t crack. NordVPN offers unrestricted internet, safe Wi-Fi and complete privacy. The company does not log user activities. It’s somehow funny that NordVPN website shows your IP address with the image identifying your country and claims that your connection is insecure, even if you are already using a VPN service.
5. Buffered VPN Buffered in on a mission of making the internet secure and open, and it offers users to avoid any kinds of government or workplace censorship. Like other VPNs, Buffered ensures security when you use public Wi-Fi, which keeps passwords and credit card details safe. The provider has servers in 37 countries around the globe and adds new ones regularly.
What is your reason to use a VPN service?
Personal
VPN is indispensable for safeguarding your identity and connections, bypassing network limitations and protecting your traffic from intruders. VPN services have become increasingly popular and important following the growth of international tensions and the legislation initiatives in the USA, in Europe, and in Asia. Whether you are an anonymity advocate or you just need to use the service that is prohibited in your country due to certain reasons, a VPN helps a lot.
Employ VPN services to access the internet anonymously, to protect private data and logs, use the applications with the IP of another region or country, to ensure secure and uninterrupted high-speed connection and safeguard files and conversations from hacker attacks.
Using a VPN is extremely beneficial when you need to connect via insecure public Wi-Fi to access corporate networks. The latter option is sometimes default in organizations with strict compliance policies.
Corporate
A VPN allows to benefit from the functionality, security and management policies a private network provides. In is often used in companies that need to protect employees’ access to services dealing with sensitive information in the areas of finance, insurance, health, and law.
VPN can be used within the corporate network for uniting remote offices in the branched corporate structure, for protecting the IP telephony, for access to external IT resources, for protecting video conferencing sessions and screen sharing and safeguarding the data while employees are on business trips.
In security-savvy organizations, employees are required to use a VPN when connecting from personal and corporate devices to any networks outside the office.
There are also companies where the administrator configures user settings in order to use a VPN by default. As a provider of secure corporate communications services, we have addressed this, and VIPole works with any VPN. Depending on the provider, the connection can be slightly slower, and if you face any difficulties, our technical support is ready to assist you.
Whether you need VPN for personal or corporate reasons, there are many people like you, and the trend is becoming stronger every year. According to Global Web Index:
In 2014, about 166mln people worldwide used VPN to access social media. Today, 1 in 4 online adults have used a VPN with 1 in 4 VPN users accessing daily.
Does a VPN make you safe online?
You may use a VPN to access various websites, but this does not provide complete protection against companies tracking your online activities on social media and other websites. Your choices, likes and conversations in services that lack end-to-end encryption still make it possible to profile you.
Those who care about privacy understand that a VPN is very useful, but not completely sufficient. To make your activities inaccessible to advertisers and data thieves, use your VPN together with a secure messenger. VIPole client works with any type of VPN, and you can choose the one that fits your needs in the best way. Like VPN services, VIPole offers a free subscription along with paid solutions with advanced options. Sign up today and get bonuses for inviting friends.
If our list of VPN providers lacks certain solutions — please feel free to mention them in comments!
VIPole offers end-to-end encrypted messaging and collaboration solutions for teams and enterprises dealing with commercially or personally sensitive information, and individuals wishing to protect themselves from hackers, identity thieves and malware. More at www.vipole.com
