Best Mobile VPN of 2024 [CNET]

August 18, 2024August 18, 2024 Attila Tomaschek technology

There are hundreds of VPNs available, and with so many of them offering mobile apps, it can be difficult to choose the right solution for your iOS or Android phone or tablet. Based our extensive research and hands-on testing of VPNs over the years, these are the factors to look out for when choosing a VPN for your mobile device:

Privacy

The primary consideration for any VPN should be privacy. If your VPN is unable to deliver a sufficient level of privacy, then your VPN is practically useless, whether you’re using its mobile or desktop app. Your VPN should offer industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption (with the OpenVPN and IKEv2 VPN protocols) or ChaCha20 with WireGuard, along with basic privacy protections like a kill switch, DNS leak protection and a no-logs policy. If you have heightened privacy needs, you’ll need a VPN provider that is based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction, offers obfuscation and has a RAM-only server architecture. Additional privacy features to look out for include Tor over VPN functionality, ad and tracker blockers and multi-hop connections. These features can offer increased privacy, but aren’t absolutely essential. It’s also a good idea to choose a VPN that’s trustworthy, transparent and undergoes regular third-party security audits, which can help bolster trust in the VPN’s ability to protect your privacy.

Speed

Your mobile VPN’s connection speeds can have a major influence on the quality of your streaming, downloading, video conferencing, gaming and general web browsing activities. To keep things running as smoothly as possible, you’ll want a VPN that will have as minimal an impact on your regular internet speeds as possible, whether you’re using Wi-Fi or mobile data.

Here’s how VPNs we tested stacked up, speed-wise.

Provider	Speed loss
NordVPN	11%
Mullvad	13%
Surfshark	17%
Proton VPN	21%
ExpressVPN	25%
CyberGhost	30%
IPVanish	44%
PrivadoVPN	48%
PIA	49%

Usability

A good mobile VPN should run smoothly and be easy to use regardless of your technical expertise. It should have all of the features you need easily accessible with a tap of your finger. Many mobile VPN apps also include a help section with easy ways to get in touch with support or access troubleshooting documentation directly from the device, which can be helpful if you need assistance on the go. The VPN should have a large network of servers around the world so you can connect easily and reliably from wherever you may be traveling, and it should be able to help you access geo-restricted content from various regions if that’s what you want to use it for.

Cost

Depending on your budget, you may want to consider the cost and overall value of your mobile VPN before making a purchase. VPN pricing can vary greatly from provider to provider, but you can typically expect to spend about $5 to $13 per month for a monthly VPN subscription plan. If you want to save some money over the long term, you can opt for an annual subscription, where prices can range from roughly $30 to $100 per year. However, you’ll want to be careful with free VPNs because you may end up risking your privacy instead of protecting it when using one. Proton VPN is currently the only free VPN that CNET recommends. That said, most premium VPNs offer a money-back guarantee that can be anywhere from a week to 45 days. You can also get a seven-day free trial with many VPNs when you sign up through Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store. So you have options to try various mobile VPNs risk-free before you decide whether to fully invest in one.

Proton VPN

Proton VPN is the highly secure open-source VPN solution from the Swiss-based privacy company Proton. Proton VPN holds the distinction as the only free VPN that CNET recommends and is the mobile VPN for you if you’re looking for a top-quality service without having to pay a dime for it. With Proton VPN’s free plan, you get access to just five server locations (US, Japan, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands), but unlike most free VPNs, Proton VPN doesn’t throttle speeds on its free servers or limit your usage in any way. Most free VPNs are basically useless for anything other than the most basic online activities, but I had no issues streaming Netflix on Android and iOS using Proton VPN’s free servers. If you want to pay for Proton and get access to all its servers and features, it’s relatively inexpensive compared with the competition, at $10 a month, $60 a year or $108 total for two years (the one- and two-year plans spike to $80 annually upon renewal).

Proton VPN’s iOS/iPadOS and Android apps are nearly identical, but with a few minor differences in appearance and available features. The Quick Connect button lets you easily hop onto an optimal server. The Android app lets you easily connect to a recent server, or you can toggle on Fastest to jump on the server with the quickest internet speeds — which should be geographically nearby. You can also browse a list of all 112 countries with the paid premium plan. Both apps also include a kill switch and give you the option of using Proton VPN’s NetShield feature to block malware, tracking and ads.

Read our Proton VPN review.

IPVanish

IPVanish’s mobile apps look slick, but if you want better performance and functionality out of your mobile VPN at a similar price or cheaper, you’re better off going with one of our top picks listed above. To be fair, IPVanish’s mobile apps are functional, and you’ll be able to achieve sufficient online privacy and unblock regional streaming content on your mobile device with it. But its speeds are on the slower end of the spectrum (we measured a 44% average internet speed loss in our 2024 testing), its server network is relatively small and its data-sharing practices have us raising our eyebrows. That, in combination with its curiously high pricing, is largely why IPVanish misses the cut here.

Read our IPVanish review.