Best VPNs Compared: Proton vs NordVPN vs ExpressVPN vs Mullvad vs Surfshark vs PIA vs Windscribe

Price and value: Surfshark and PIA are cheapest, Mullvad is the most predictable

Only four of the seven summaries include pricing, so this section covers those four. On long-term cost, Surfshark One is the cheapest. Its 24-month plan works out to £1.79 a month (£48.33 for 27 months, plus VAT). That price also covers its breach alerts, private search and identity-masking extras. Its monthly plan is £13.49 plus VAT, so the low price depends on committing up front. Private Internet Access is close behind, with prices starting around $2 a month.

Mullvad charges a flat €5 every month with no renewal surprises. It is not the cheapest on a long plan, but it is the most transparent. That makes it the opposite of NordVPN, whose summary warns of steep auto-renewal price increases and expensive monthly plans. Windscribe costs $9 a month or $69 a year, roughly $5.75 a month on the annual plan. That puts it above Surfshark and PIA's long-term pricing.

We can't judge value for Proton VPN Plus or ExpressVPN, because no pricing was supplied for either.

Device connections: PIA and Windscribe have no cap

Private Internet Access and Windscribe both allow unlimited simultaneous connections. They are the clear picks for large households or anyone with many devices. Proton VPN Plus and ExpressVPN each allow 10 devices, which covers most people. Mullvad has the tightest limit at 5. The NordVPN and Surfshark summaries don't state a connection limit.

Server network and torrenting: Proton is biggest, PIA is best for P2P

Proton VPN Plus reports by far the largest network: 20,600+ servers in 148 countries on the Plus plan. Its own summary notes those counts are reported inconsistently across sources. ExpressVPN is next with 3,000+ servers in 113 countries. PIA offers thousands of servers across 91 locations. Mullvad (580+ servers, 50 locations) and especially Windscribe (130+ servers, 69 countries) are much smaller. Both summaries list network size as a weakness.

For torrenting, PIA wins outright because P2P is allowed on every server. Proton also allows P2P. Windscribe supports it only on some servers, and torrenting there is reported as slow. Mullvad lost port forwarding in 2023, which matters to some torrent users.

Speed and streaming: NordVPN is the best all-rounder

NordVPN has the strongest combined record here. Multiple reviewers confirmed fast, consistent speeds, and it is strong at unblocking streaming services. Windscribe may match it on raw speed, with very fast WireGuard and fast OpenVPN results. However, its streaming unblocking reports are inconsistent. Surfshark is described as a strong, fast and reliable VPN at its core.

ExpressVPN's Lightway gave the fastest downloads among ExpressVPN's own protocols in Cloudwards testing. Yet it ranked only 8th of 22 overall in VPN.com testing, so it trails NordVPN on speed evidence. Proton's speed result rests on a single source.

At the bottom for performance are PIA, whose connections are described as relatively slow with weaker uploads and middling streaming, and Mullvad, which is weak or inconsistent for Netflix and other streaming services.

Privacy and trust: Proton leads on transparency, Mullvad on anonymity

Proton VPN Plus has the strongest privacy credentials on paper. It is based in Switzerland, built by the Proton Mail team, and has an audited no-logs policy and open-source apps. That transparency helps explain its top 4.3 rating. NordVPN (Panama-based) and PIA also have audited no-logs policies.

Mullvad is the anonymity specialist. Sign-up needs no email or personal information, just a 16-digit account number, and you can pay with cash, Monero or Bitcoin. No other VPN here offers that.

ExpressVPN's case rests on Lightway. The protocol is open source, about 1,000 lines of code, and has been reimplemented in Rust for memory safety. However, its battery, stability and post-quantum claims come mainly from ExpressVPN itself, and Lightway has a shorter track record than OpenVPN.

Windscribe adds built-in ad, tracker and malicious-domain blocking, while Mullvad includes a DNS content blocker.

Extras and usability: Surfshark bundles the most, but keeps it basic

Surfshark One is the only package here bundling breach alerts, private search and Alternative ID identity masking alongside the VPN. It is also the only one listing a free trial (7 days). The trade-off is that its antivirus and other non-VPN tools are more basic than standalone suites, reports conflict on how much its full scans slow your system, and it offers very few adjustable settings. That partly explains its lowest-in-group 3.5 rating.

Elsewhere, Mullvad packs in power-user tools such as multihop, a SOCKS5 proxy, split tunneling and a kill switch. Proton offers the widest protocol choice, including Stealth. NordVPN's feature set varies across platforms, and its Windows kill switch blocks internet access even after a manual disconnect. PIA backs its service with 24/7 live chat and a 30-day money-back guarantee, though occasional live chat issues are reported.

Verdict: which VPN should you choose?

• Best overall and for privacy: Proton VPN Plus. It has the highest rating (4.3), Swiss jurisdiction, audited no-logs, open-source apps and the biggest reported network. Check pricing yourself, since none was supplied.
• Best for streaming and consistent speed: NordVPN Plus. Watch out for steep renewal prices.
• Best for anonymity: Mullvad VPN. It offers no-email sign-up, cash and crypto payments, and honest flat €5 pricing. Skip it if streaming matters.
• Best for torrenting and big households on a budget: Private Internet Access. It has unlimited devices, P2P on every server and prices from around $2 a month. Speeds are its weak spot.
• Best unlimited-device option with built-in blocking: Windscribe Pro. It is very fast on WireGuard, but has the smallest network here.
• Best for security-minded protocol fans: ExpressVPN with Lightway. Choose it if a lean, Rust-based, auditable protocol appeals to you.
• Best all-in-one budget bundle: Surfshark One. It is the cheapest long-term plan and includes identity extras, if you can live with basic add-on tools and few settings.