A VPN matcher, not a top-ten list

Which VPN is right for you? Five questions, three picks, receipts for each.

A VPN comparison where the ranking never reads the commission, every number carries the day it was checked and the page it came from, and the renewal price is next to the intro price, because that’s where cheap stops being cheap.

✓8 providers, 7 with an independent no-logs audit (read Mullvad’s reports or ExpressVPN’s). One has no affiliate programme at all and still gets recommended.
✓Must-haves are hard filters. Say “open source” and the closed ones are gone, with the reason written down.
✓Prices checked 2026-10-30. Confirm at checkout; intro offers can change and some vary by visitor.

Behind this page: a dot in each country where all eight providers have servers. The full map, 177 countries from the providers’ own lists, is on the country page.

Or skip the questions: the full table · by country · sports & TV · monthly server report · how it’s ranked

Question 1 of 5

What's the main job?

Pick the one you'd be annoyed if it didn't work. Everything else is a bonus.

Skip to the full table

A hand pointing a remote at a TV showing Netflix

Watch what's on at home, from anywhere

Netflix libraries, iPlayer, the match

Hotel Wi-Fi, airport Wi-Fi, café Wi-Fi

Works where VPNs get blocked

Keep the laptop yours

Audited no-logs, open source, pay without a name

Shortcuts

Already know the job?

Best VPN for streaming

Netflix libraries, BBC iPlayer, and the speed to watch in HD. Ranked on 2026 test results, not on who pays us most.

Best VPN for privacy

Audited no-logs policies, open-source apps, jurisdictions outside the intelligence alliances, and ways to pay without a name.

An airport gate window with planes on the apron

Best VPN for travel

Hotel Wi-Fi, airport networks, countries that block VPNs, and your home streaming from abroad.

Best VPN for torrenting

P2P on every server, port forwarding, and a no-logs policy someone has actually checked.

Best cheap VPN

Lowest cost over two years, with the renewal price shown, because that's where cheap stops being cheap.

Best monthly VPN

No two-year lock-in. The honest monthly prices, ranked.

A group around a café table with laptops and phones

Best VPN for multiple devices

Unlimited connections or close to it, for every phone, laptop and TV in the house.

Best VPN for China and blocked networks

Obfuscation that actually connects on networks built to stop it. Install before you land.

Two controllers in front of a football game

Best VPN for gaming

The lowest added latency, WireGuard-class protocols, and servers near the game regions you play in. Plus game boosters, which are a different tool and listed separately.

A traveller with a backpack on concrete steps

Best free VPN

Two providers with a real free tier and a business model that isn't selling you. Everything else here is paid and says so.

Best VPN for the UK

iPlayer from abroad, UK servers that keep working, and prices in real money.

Why trust this

The rules, in one breath

Ranking is code

A fit score from your five answers and dated facts. The affiliate terms sit in a separate block the scorer never reads. See it.

Every fact has a receipt

Price, audit, jurisdiction, device count: each carries a checked-on date and a link. When sources disagree, we say so on the card.

We link, you buy

No checkout here, no coupon pop-ups, no countdowns. Some links pay us; each button says whether it does.