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Best iPhone VPN of 2023 – CNET [CNET]
Written by
Rae Hodge
,
Attila Tomaschek
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement
Rae Hodge Former senior editor
Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET’s coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.
Attila is a Staff Writer for CNET, covering software, apps and services with a focus on virtual private networks. He is an advocate for digital privacy and has been quoted in online publications like Computer Weekly, The Guardian, BBC News, HuffPost, Wired and TechRepublic. When not tapping away on his laptop, Attila enjoys spending time with his family, reading and collecting guitars.
Expertise Attila has nearly a decade’s worth of experience with VPNs and has been covering them for CNET since 2021. As CNET’s VPN expert, Attila rigorously tests VPNs and offers readers advice on how they can use the technology to protect their privacy online and
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Speed Tests
We intensively test each VPN, making sure it meets our standards for privacy, speed and usability. How we test VPNs
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Best Overall VPN
ExpressVPN
Privacy protection and fast speed
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Best Connectivity
NordVPN
Reliable VPN with multi-device use
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Best Beginner VPN
IPVanish
Simple, newbie-friendly interface
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Why You Can Trust CNET
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Speed Tests
We intensively test each VPN, making sure it meets our standards for privacy, speed and usability. How we test VPNs
What is an iPhone VPN?
Apple puts a strong emphasis on security, knowing that it’s tantamount to a good user experience. The company has a reputation for the strong security of its products, so most people who purchase an iPhone expect a certain level of protection. That being said, that base protection can always be improved upon if it’s simply not enough for you or you’re looking to bolster your privacy.
That’s where using a solid, well-tested VPN, or virtual private network, comes in. Without a VPN, your internet service provider can still track your browsing habits on both MacOS and iOS and websites can collect your IP address. By itself, an iPhone can’t stop either of those things from happening, but the best VPN for iPhone can.
While not every VPN service is going to pair flawlessly with iOS’ distinct controls, Apple-focused VPN apps are becoming more and more popular among the top VPN providers. That means your iPhone VPN options are better than ever before.
Over the past few years, the market for mobile VPNs has been booming, according to the most recent trend reports available. Over 480 million people downloaded a mobile VPN between 2019 and 2020, a report from research firm Top10VPN showed, a whopping 54% increase from the previous year. While 84% of those downloads were free VPN services, we urge you to avoid using a free VPN, as they almost always come with unforeseen risks and they’re limited in their usefulness. Instead, it’s in your best interest to stick with a tried-and-true paid VPN whenever possible. That’s what you’ll find here in our guide to the best iPhone VPN apps.
One caveat worth noting is that there are currently some limits to the privacy VPN clients provide to iOS users. Recent independent research showed that iOS (and some MacOS) users’ browsing and internet data may be sent to Apple despite the protections offered by an encrypted VPN tunnel. We’ll continue to update our VPN recommendations as more information emerges about this issue.
This list is essentially a subset of our main best VPN list, but specifically focuses on VPN clients for anyone looking for mobile browsing protection for their iPhone or other iOS device. If and when a service is ranked higher here than on our main VPN list, it’s because the mobile app experience was superior. (You can check out our recommendations for the best Android VPNs, too.) Keep in mind that this is an evolving list: We’re actively working on more research and hands-on testing, so check back regularly as we expect this list to change periodically. Here are the top VPN apps for iPhone that we’ve tested so far this year.
iPhone VPN FAQs
What’s the best iPhone VPN right now?
Thanks to its impressive performance and unlimited device support, Surfshark is our current top pick for the best iPhone VPN. ExpressVPN is a close second among our picks and offers a simple and effective iPhone VPN app. It isn’t the cheapest, but it’s among the fastest of all the VPN options. NordVPN, our third choice, is a die-hard heavy-hitter. It costs more than Surfshark but less than Express, has a network of servers that’s constantly getting faster and more secure, and is easily the most reliable service we’ve tested. No matter which VPN you choose, however, keep in mind that recent independent research has emerged suggesting iOS (and some MacOS) users’ browsing and internet data may still be sent to Apple despite the protections offered by an encrypted VPN tunnel. We will continue to update our recommendations as more information and research surface around this issue.
What is a mobile VPN?
Use a mobile-friendly VPN to avoid slower speeds and ensure greater data privacy for your whole device. Mobile VPNs generally have a smaller memory footprint, and require less processing power than desktop VPNs, so they run faster and save more battery. Our top three VPNs listed above all have excellent, easy-to-use mobile app options for their services. Some VPNs will only work with one type of platform — like Apple or Android — and some are universally compatible. To find the right mobile VPN for you, check out our other mobile-specific VPN guides below. We routinely update them with our retesting information so check back often.
What’s the best free VPN?
We don’t recommend opting for a free VPN because they can be risky to use unless they are the free tier of service provided by a premium VPN. Free VPNs usually make money by selling user data, and some have even been found to be riddled with malware — which is the exact opposite of what you want from a VPN. On top of that, free VPNs are often slow, impose restrictive usage and data limits, offer a minimal selection of servers and are generally less secure than paid VPNs. Most won’t work with streaming services, either. Check out CNET’s list of the best cheap VPNs if you want to find a premium, budget-friendly VPN.
Can you get in trouble for using a VPN?
You normally don’t have to worry about getting into any legal trouble just for using a VPN — unless you’re in a country like China or Iran where VPN use is banned or illegal. In most parts of the world, using a VPN is perfectly legal. If you’re in a country where VPN use is restricted in any way, you’ll need to connect to an obfuscated server. Doing so will disguise your VPN traffic as regular HTTPS internet traffic, so authorities won’t know you’re using a VPN in the first place.
What does my ISP/mobile carrier see when I’m connected to my VPN?
Your internet service provider or mobile carrier (depending on whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or using mobile data) will see that you’re connected to a VPN, but it will not be able to see any of your internet activity like the websites you visit or browsing history since your traffic is encrypted. It will also see things like the IP address of the VPN server you’re connected to, the timestamps of when you’re connected and the amount of data you’ve transmitted. If you want to hide your VPN usage from your ISP or mobile carrier, you can connect to an obfuscated server, if offered by your VPN.
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