PIA
The speeds we measured by Non-public Web Entry (PIA) have been underwhelming, with a middling 49% common web obtain velocity loss. Though that’s high quality for informal customers with quick connections — suppose fiber, not satellite tv for pc web — it falls nicely beneath a 20% common, which we anticipate from the quickest VPNs. ExpressVPN clocked 24.8%, Surfshark 17% and NordVPN a mind-blowing 11%, leaving PIA within the mud. Should you’re unconcerned with velocity loss however searching for an OG VPN supplier that is low cost, delivers glorious privateness and provides limitless simultaneous connections, then PIA is an efficient selection. Subscriptions price $12 per thirty days, $40 per 12 months or $80 each three years, which makes PIA some of the budget-friendly VPNs within the trade.
IPVanish
After we examined IPVanish, we misplaced 58% of our speeds connecting by OpenVPN from the US and 19% from Budapest. Maddeningly, the app did not all the time join us to the quickest potential server when utilizing IPVanish’s Fast Join characteristic. Whereas IPVanish’s speeds from inside the US have been pretty constant, speeds to different places fluctuated dramatically. Speeds to Europe, for instance, peaked as excessive as 317 Mbps and dropped to as little as 40 Mbps. We obtained sooner and extra constant speeds when abandoning the Fast Join characteristic and selecting servers manually whereas connecting through OpenVPN.
IPVanish’s WireGuard speeds have been higher, dropping our speeds by solely 14.5% on common. Throughout one spherical of testing IPVanish in Budapest, the ISP we have been related by was noticeably throttling our speeds, inflicting a lot of our VPN velocity readings to be sooner than our non-VPN readings, which finally resulted in a mere 3% common velocity loss for that spherical. Regardless of that anomaly, the inconsistent nature of IPVanish’s speeds and unreliable Fast Join efficiency put it out of the operating for the quickest VPN. IPVanish prices $13 per thirty days, $54 for the primary 12 months (then $90 yearly) or $80 for the primary two years mixed (then $90 yearly), which is on the costly aspect for a VPN.
Proton VPN
Proton VPN had by far essentially the most inconsistent speeds of the VPNs we examined. The peaks and valleys we skilled have been staggering, no matter protocol or testing location. Speeds would go as much as 328 Mbps and drop to three Mbps in the identical spherical of testing. General, Proton averaged a 36% velocity loss, which is unexceptional at greatest. Should you’re searching for a VPN that constantly delivers quick speeds, Proton VPN is just not the VPN you are searching for. Proton VPN prices $10 per thirty days, $72 per 12 months or $120 each two years, which is center of the street in contrast with different VPNs.