Quick version: most "best VPN" lists you find online are paid placements. We don't sell ranking. Our picks come from running each VPN through the same battery of tests over multiple weeks, and the results sometimes contradict the rankings everyone else publishes.
The testing methodology
For each use case (Netflix, torrenting, gaming, etc), we evaluate four objective dimensions and one subjective:
1. Leak protection (objective)
We run our own checker - the widget you see on every page of this site - against each VPN in default configuration. Specifically: WebRTC peer-to-peer leak (does the browser expose a non-VPN public IP via STUN?), IPv6 exposure (does an IPv6 address escape the tunnel?), and DNS routing (does a known DNS test endpoint see an ISP-owned resolver?).
If a VPN fails any of these in default config, it's disqualified for the relevant use case. A VPN that requires manual settings to not leak is a VPN we don't recommend - users won't change defaults, and the failure mode is "you think you're protected, you aren't".
2. Service-specific success rate (objective)
For streaming use cases: does the VPN unblock the target service on our test runs? Tested across 30+ connections per service per VPN, across multiple cities. We score success rate as a percentage of attempts that successfully started a stream without "VPN detected" / "streaming error" / "service unavailable in your region" messages.
For torrenting: does the VPN allow P2P on most servers, support port forwarding (improves seeding speed), survive a kill-switch test (we drop the connection mid-transfer and verify the torrent client stops, not falls back to the ISP).
3. Audit and incident history (objective)
We track: independent no-logs audits (auditor name + year + scope), public incident history (any logging revelations, court cases that produced data, vulnerabilities), ownership and parent-company transparency, and jurisdiction.
A VPN with no audits but a clean incident history is rated lower than one with audits, but higher than one with audits + incidents. Each weighted relative to use case (privacy use case weights audits + jurisdiction heaviest; streaming weights success rate heaviest).
4. Pricing (objective)
Headline price + renewal price. Headline-pricing-only marketing is dishonest - many VPNs offer 70% off the first 2-year term then renew at full price. We list both.
5. App quality (subjective)
Connection speed (under the same protocol on the same route), UI/UX (does the kill switch require a settings dive or is it on by default), support response time, mobile app stability. Less weighted than the four above, but real users notice this every day.
What we explicitly don't do
- No "Top 10" lists. No category has 10 worth recommending. Most have 3-4.
- No paid placements. Affiliate links exist (we earn commission when you sign up via them) but they don't affect ranking.
- No artificial differentiation. If two VPNs are equivalent for a use case, we say so rather than fabricating reasons to prefer one over the other.
- No outdated information. Each use-case page lists the date we last tested. If it's been more than 3 months, the page is due for a re-test.
Why our picks differ from other sites
Other "best VPN" sites are mostly affiliate-revenue businesses that earn commissions ranging from $30-100 per signup. Their incentive is to send traffic to whichever VPN has the highest commission, not the best service. NordVPN and Surfshark pay top affiliate rates - which is why they top almost every "best VPN" list everywhere.
For us, NordVPN and Surfshark genuinely top our streaming and Netflix lists too - because their actual service is good. But for privacy maximalism we recommend Mullvad (which has no affiliate program at all) and ProtonVPN (which has a low-paying program). For torrenting we list ProtonVPN and PIA prominently because they support port forwarding, even though that's irrelevant to commission.