Now let’s clarify a few things first. While the “no logs” VPN services make it very clear they do not store anything, those that keep connections logs, though, are not in any way similar to ISPs and Telecom companies.
A lot of countries in the western world passed legislation that forces Internet Service Providers to store and monitor activities of each and every user. Electronic Frontier Foundation offers an excellent explanation which boils down to the fact that certain governments are spying on us.
After former CIA employee Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the Global Surveillance program along with it’s active members, there is no doubt why governments have aggressively been passing a number of laws requiring internet and telecom providers to store as much information about us as possible.
Now the main difference between connection logs that VPN companies store and browsing logs that ISPs store is a record of the websites that you visit. Logging is expensive because it takes a lot of extra space. No business is interested in unnecessary expenses unless they are absolutely forced to. So essentially, VPN companies that have connection logs do not monitor your online activity – they don’t know which websites you visit, they only know which server you were connected to, which specific IP address was assigned and maybe how much bandwidth you used. That’s it.
This means that VPN services that store connection logs do not censor or monitor their users’ activities. They will, however, be able to match an IP address when subpoenaed by law enforcement, as we explained in another article.
No logs VPN services, on the other hand, have nothing to provide authorities with, even when they are forced to, which makes them a perfect choice for privacy oriented VPN users who need more security and anonymity, for torrenting and other activities that may fall into the grey legal area.
In this guide, we recommend only fully no logging VPN services. Nevertheless, there is another aspect to consider: legal jurisdiction.
Certain governments can coerce any entity to tap into specific users and to start spying on them without any official notice. For instance, United States Patriot Act along with the Gag Order allows this. It’s highly unlikely the government would bother going though so much trouble to track down an average citizen. For those who might be involved with anti-government activities, though, it might be best to avoid VPN services based in the United States, for instance. Please refer to our Best non-US based VPN guide for additional info.
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.49 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
Panama based NordVPN is one of the best security oriented VPN companies with amazingly fast infrastructure. NordVPN is a no logs VPN service that was independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG based in Zurich, Switzerland (one of the Big 4 auditing firms) to back the claims that they don’t log identifiable user information under any circumstances.
NordVPN custom apps have DNS and IP leaks protection and a kill switch that actively monitors your network and shuts down Internet access when your VPN in not running.
NordVPN offers a Double VPN – a privacy feature that sends your Internet traffic through two VPN servers, encrypting it twice.
Onion Over VPN servers is a powerful NordVPN feature that takes your privacy and security to the next level. Using this tech, you first connect to a VPN server and then to the Tor network. Your ISP does not know you are connected to Tor because your entry point in a secure VPN server, while your destination sees an anonymous Tor exit point.
NordVPN obfuscated VPN servers are a perfect choice to use on restrictive networks and to hide the fact that you are using a VPN. These VPN servers are generally recommended for countries that block VPN altogether because the technology can bypass even the most advanced network filtering. Obfsproxy hides OpenVPN and makes your VPN use completely undetectable. Neither your ISP nor the government will know that you are on VPN.
A strict no logs privacy policy, double data encryption, obfuscation tools and a number of advanced security features, makes NordVPN one of the best VPN providers for security and privacy for users with high expectations.
Besides, NordVPN has a Smart Play technology offering an encrypted connection to access geo-restricted content on Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and similar services. If you are a torrenting user, NordVPN has torrenting VPN servers as well.
NordVPN offers over 5,000 high-speed servers in 62 countries, dedicated & shared IP types, 6 simultaneous logins; the infrastructure is built to provide maximum online security, bypass Internet restrictions, online censorship and network firewalls.
To read a full NordVPN review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.33 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 10.95 USD
Hong Kong based PureVPN is a no logs VPN service that was independently audited by Altius IT, a leading California-based independent Certified Information Systems Auditor. Altius IT team members are experts in higher-level network security audit, risk management, assessment, and security consulting services.
Secure high-speed PureVPN infrastructure offers advanced security features for anonymous Internet use. PureVPN custom apps have a built-in WebRTC, IP and DNS leak protection. Kill switch is feature that guards the users from unencrypted data leaks when the internet connection drops. PureVPN even has a DDoS protection add-on.
Additionally, the provider considered the importance of uninterrupted streaming by introducing Dedicated Streaming add-on that will boost streaming speed and enhance performance. PureVPN optimized streaming servers are best to get a buffer-free streaming experience.
PureVPN is also one of the few VPN providers that can effectively unblock Netflix. For this purpose PureVPN setup dedicated Netflix servers. At the moment the provider can unblock Netflix USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan.
In case you want to limit your VPN use to specific websites/services only, Split Tunneling feature lets you decide which applications to send through unencrypted channel and which one to secure with an encrypted VPN service.
Split tunneling is commonly used in case you need a VPN for torrenting only. More so, PureVPN offers 2,000 high-speed VPN servers in 140 countries with over 60 dedicated torrenting servers and a port forwarding feature to maximize your upload and download speeds.
Overall, PureVPN is a great no logs VPN service for privacy and security, to access geo-restricted streaming content, unblock websites and bypass censorship.
To read a full PureVPN review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.19 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
PIA is a leading no logs VPN service with over 3,000 VPN servers that deliver great speeds and a reliable performance.
PIA offers an easy to install VPN app for all devices with security and privacy features that protect VPN connection from unexpected data leaks. PIA was once subpoenaed by the FBI and the only information they could provide is that the cluster of IP addresses being used was from the east coast of the United States. The FBI case confirms that PIA indeed does not log any user activity.
Their NAT firewall does a great job protecting from cyber attacks, built-in kill switch secures from unprotected data leaks. In addition, PIA apps have a DNS and IPv4/IPv6 leak protection.
PIA VPN service provider gives unrestricted and uncensored access to blocked or censored websites. Aside from unblocking various restricted sites, PIA also works with Netflix USA and Netflix UK libraries, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime.
For faster streaming and torrenting PIA software offers switching between different connection types and ports. The settings have UDP (faster) and TCP connections types that, depending on network, can speed up traffic. UDP is also greatly preferred for torrenting and streaming. Additionally, PIA allows port forwarding to 443, 80, 110, 53, 8080, 9201. Port 443 is the most widespread option because it is used to bypass strict firewalls when all the other ports are blocked. For instance, forwarding traffic through port 443 will likely bypass VPN block on most WiFi networks.
Thus, PIA can bypass strict censorship and firewalls, effectively giving you anonymous browsing experience by hiding your real IP address.
SOCKS5 proxy is another excellent feature that can re-route only certain traffic through VPN tunnel eliminating the need for split tunneling. SOCKS5 is widely used with torrenting software due to its convenience. Once installed on uTorrent, for instance, it works for p2p traffic only.
To read a full PIA review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 4.49 USD/mo [promocode]
MONTHLY PRICE: 8.99 USD
Offering over 3,000 servers in 55 countries, all mainstream protocols and top-notch security, TorGuard rightfully earned its place as a top VPN provider.
No logging TorGuard VPN is a reliable, fast and secure service for privacy oriented users. TorGuard desktop apps have a kill switch feature that actively monitors your Internet connection to protect you from accidental IP leaks when your WiFi is unstable.
Stealth VPN is a technology that TorGuard uses to bypass Deep Packet Inspection firewalls, such as those typically used at the hotels, airports, restaurants and other public WiFi hotspots to restrict online access. Consequently, TorGuard is a highly recommended VPN service for users who live in the regions with particularly restrictive governments, and would like to unblock censored websites or services.
Besides a great number of security features and ability to unblock VPN on restrictive WiFi, TorGuard is also an ultra fast VPN service with gigabit servers (actually, 10 Gbps). This infrastructure allows the fastest VPN speeds with a reliable streaming and browsing experience.
Unlike most VPN providers, TorGuard VPN can bypass Netflix proxy error with their Netflix streaming IPs. TorGuard can unblock a number of Netflix regions (USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Singapore), Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and virtually any streaming or social media service.
TorGuard is not only one of the best VPN services, it also offers OpenPGP encrypted email service with 2 factor authentication and up to 10Mb free storage.
To read a full TorGuard review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 4.99 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 9.95 USD
Based in Malaysia, Hide.me is one the most secure and fastest VPN providers offering ultra fast gigabit VPN servers that deliver the fastest VPN speeds for users on gigabit Internet connection.
Hide.Me is a no logs VPN service with custom VPN apps that include a number of advanced features for maximum security. Hide.Me VPN has a built-in protection against IP and DNS leaks. Kill switch is an excellent tool to shut down Internet access when the connection to a VPN server is dropped.
Stealth Guard takes this even further by blocking access to predetermined apps even when the VPN is OFF. Essentially, you can configure Hide.Me in a way that makes it impossible to use Chrome browser, for instance, when the VPN is not running. This feature is an excellent addition to protect yourself from accidental mistakes.
Hide.Me supports perfect forward secrecy, an advanced security feature that tells OpenVPN to regularly renegotiate private keys. In case the private key of the server is compromised, past session keys will not be compromised. Forward secrecy protects past sessions against future compromises of secret keys, and future sessions against current attacks.
The provider also offers advanced VPN masking tools to bypass strict firewalls, censorship and hide VPN use. Hide.Me masks (obfuscates) OpenVPN traffic with TLS-Crypt so, if your WiFi network blocks VPN by analyzing traffic patterns, this methods can bypass the most advanced firewalls. This setup also encrypts every OpenVPN packet twice, sort of like double VPN encryption.
Additionally, the provider offers a dynamic TCP/UDP port-forwarding (UPnP) with up to 10 TCP/UDP ports, a useful feature on WiFi networks that block VPN ports, or for torrenting. Port forwarding feature is a great addition as it can speed up torrenting or streaming when your ISP throttles select traffic.
More so, you can selectively tunnel only specific traffic via secure servers. Split tunneling feature allows this or, alternatively, SOCKS5 proxy can be setup on your browser/torrenting client and re-route only that traffic.
Hide.Me VPN is extremely reliable and very fast which makes it a perfect choice for security oriented users who would like to enjoy uninterrupted streaming and browsing experience.
To read a full Hide.me review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 9.99 EUR/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.99 EUR
Germany based Perfect Privacy is an ultra fast (gigabit servers) VPN provider with a heavy focus on advanced online security. As the name suggests, Perfect Privacy VPN has some of the most secure VPN features for maximum security, privacy and complete anonymity.
Perfect Privacy dedicated VPN servers run on RAM, not the hard drive, to secure your anonymity and privacy. This setup ensures that the data is automatically wiped during reboot or server shut down so the government cannot access sensitive user data in case they seize the server.
More so, the provider has one of the best and most advanced kill switch implementations. Their integrated firewall enforces all traffic to be sent through secure tunnels thereby protecting their users from all known IP leaks not only when the app is running, but also after OS reboot. Essentially, it prevents unsecured online access after you restart your device unless you connect to a VPN server.
In addition, Perfect Privacy offers a unique Multi-Hop VPN feature that allows cascading over up to 4 OpenVPN servers (multi-layer end-to-end encryption) at the same time along with SOCKS5 and Squid proxies. So you can create a chain of 6 VPN locations at the same time which basically eliminates any possibility of tracking you down. While this setup surely provides more anonymity, it will dramatically slow you down, which may be an issue for some VPN users.
NeuroRouting is an AI based dynamic routing that determines the most secure and fastest route through the Internet. The algorithm dynamically changes VPN servers when taking a secure route to different destinations. Since NeuroRouting automatically assigns you a new IP address for different exit points, government tracking becomes very challenging, if impossible.
Additionally, Perfect Privacy regularly updates a Warrant Canary page as an insurance that the provider has not received any subpoenas.
Another interesting feature is the provider’s ability to resolve .onion (TOR) addresses without the need for the Tor Browser. Perfect Privacy SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies are setup to resolve Tor addresses by default.
Perfect Privacy also can bypass strict firewalls by obfuscating OpenVPN to look like normal HTTPS traffic with Stealth VPN or OpenVPN over SSH feature. For additional firewall penetration Perfect Privacy allows 5 custom port forwardings or 3 default random ports. Basically, if your WiFi network completely blocks VPN, Perfect Privacy can bypass firewall and unblock VPN on virtually any network.
Overall, Perfect Privacy VPN is the most secure VPN service to avoid mass surveillance, bypass internet restrictions, access blocked websites, and securely stream multimedia content.
To read a full Perfect Privacy review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.45 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.99 USD
Romania based CyberGhost is a secure no logs VPN provider with over 6,500 ultra high speed VPN servers in 90 countries.
The provider has a number of advanced security and privacy features that are not offered by competitors. CyberGhost desktop apps have DNS & IP leaks protection, as well as an automatic kill switch that guards your connection if VPN disconnects.
Anti-fingerprinting and tracking protection blocks websites from storing personally identifiable data. A built-in ad-blocker and anti-malware blocks annoying ads along with malicious websites. Automated HTTPS redirect forces unsecured websites to go to HTTPS, ensuring that you browse the most secure version of it.
Data compression is another interesting feature that compresses data to reduce your Internet usage.
CyberGhost, additionally, offers dedicated high-speed streaming servers to unblock Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and other multimedia services. You can also choose to connect to dedicated VPN servers optimized for torrenting.
Split tunneling is a feature that excludes specific websites from passing through the VPN tunnel. CyberGhost split tunneling only works to bypass predetermined websites, like Netflix.com, and cannot be used for other apps, like torrenting.
For faster streaming and torrenting, CyberGhost VPN allows switching between TCP/UDP protocols (UDP may be faster comparing to TCP).
If you are on a restrictive WiFi network that block VPN connection altogether by closing common VPN ports, typically found at hotels, restaurants and the like, desktop VPN apps can automatically test a wide range of ports and connect to the random VPN port that works. For this reason, the provider is a great choice to unblock VPN, bypass online censorship and unblock restricted content.
To read a full CyberGhost review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 1.75 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.99 USD
Germany based ZenMate is a no logs privacy oriented VPN provider with a number of built-in security features for advanced protection from tracking and various IP leaks. ZenMate has over 3,700 ultra fast VPN servers in 74 countries that are great for streaming, torrenting and gaming since the infrastructure is optimized to take the best routes, low ping times and virtually eliminates lag.
ZenMate premium software for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android is lightweight, efficient and extremely reliable – it takes about 2 seconds to switch servers. During our lengthy in-depth testing, ZenMate VPN never disconnected, not even once. But if you need that extra security, ZenMate kill switch is your fail-safe security measure.
The provider is an excellent choice for VPN users who would like to stay anonymous online and stop the government from tracking individual browsing history or compiling sensitive personal data.
ZenMate gigabit VPN servers are the best for uninterrupted streaming experience. The provider can also unblock a number of geo-restricted streaming services including Netflix (USA, UK, France and Germany), BBC iPlayer, HBO, Amazon Prime and more.
Additionally, if you would like to use your VPN for browsing only, you can install ZenMate browser extensions on Chrome, Opera and Firefox browsers.
To read a full ZenMate review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 6.67 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.95 USD
Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN is an excellent no logs VPN service for privacy oriented VPN users who want to protect their data from government surveillance, improve online security and bypass censorship.
ExpressVPN has been independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a top team of security audit experts with access to ExpressVPN servers’ codebase to verify their no logging claims. The audit also checked that TrustedServer technology operates as described, one of the extremely important features to guarantee user anonymity.
TrustedServer is a name ExpressVPN uses to describe their security tech that has VPN servers running on RAM only, instead of a hard drive that typically contains data until it is erased and written over. TrustedServers are automatically wiped every time they are rebooted or the electricity is cut off, which eliminates any possibility that the government could seize VPN servers and access sensitive user data.
ExpressVPN custom apps have a built-in DNS leak protection to ensure that no data is leaked while the app is running. Even though ExpressVPN is extremely reliable, kill switch is another useful feature that guards your real IP address from leaking.
ExpressVPN default configuration wraps OpenVPN into SSL and reroutes VPN connection through HTTPS port 443. This setup completely hides VPN use from network admins and makes your VPN traffic appear as regular encrypted Internet browsing, thereby, making ExpressVPN a perfect choice for VPN users who need increased anonymity. Assuming your restrictive network blocks VPN protocols and VPN ports, ExpressVPN can unblock VPN on virtually any network.
Additionally, the provider has one of the fastest infrastructures with over 3,000 servers in 94 countries. Ultra fast ExpressVPN is one of the few services with VPN network that supports gigabit Internet connection, making it a perfect choice for ultra high speed streaming and torrenting.
ExpressVPN is also an excellent choice for high speed Netflix streaming. The provider can unblock Netflix USA and UK, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and a number of other streaming services.
Overall, this ultra fast infrastructure, dedication to security, and a number of additional privacy features definitely makes ExpressVPN one of the most secure VPN services.
To read a full ExpressVPN review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 1.66 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.95 USD
Switzerland based VyprVPN is a leading no logs VPN provider with over 700 ultra fast servers worldwide that support gigabit VPN speed (1,000Mbps). VyprVPN was independently audited by Leviathan Security that confirmed VyprVPN to be a no logging VPN service.
Unlike most VPN providers, VyprVPN doesn’t rely on 3rd party hosting – they own and manage their own VPN servers. Essentially, no 3rd parties involved means that no one else handles your data, which increases overall security and privacy.
All VyprVPN servers run on the highest encryption using the most modern encryption methods. NAT firewall is an additional layer of security since it blocks unrequested inbound traffic.
VyrpVPN apps have a DNS and IP leaks protection and a kill switch to protect your device from accidentally accessing the Internet using your real IP address. VyprVPN kill switch works deeper than a typical kill switch. It remains active even after you quit the app, so when enabled, it works as a firewall and completely blocks Internet access until you connect to VyprVPN.
In addition, VyprVPN is an excellent provider to bypass even the strictest firewalls that block VPN connection. For this purpose VyprVPN designed a proprietary VPN protocol called Chameleon. The protocol scrambles OpenVPN to hide VPN use and make it undetectable via deep packet inspection (DPI). Chameleon allows you to use VPN on very restrictive networks that completely block VPN.
VyprVPN infrastructure is amazingly fast offering ultra fast gigabit speeds and low ping times for high speed HD streaming. Being one of the fastest VPN services, VyprVPN boasts some of the best VPN speeds. VyprVPN has dedicated streaming servers that can bypass Netflix proxy error and also work with BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Spotify.
With over 200,000 IP addresses in 64 countries, VyprVPN offers a fantastic choice of VPN locations.
To read a full VyprVPN review click HERE.
I honestly don’t know why anyone would pay more than what NordVPN costs. I was really skeptical at first because I saw some providers charging over $80 when NordVPN charges only $35. So I decided to buy 2 VPNs to compare and ask for a refund later. Honestly I saw no difference whatsoever in speed or quality. Nord performed really well in comparison, I had no disconnection issues, the software is easy to use. My network speed is 30Mbps, I got roughly the same speed with both providers. So I decided to continue using NordVPN.
Hide Me may be expensive, but the quality is impressive. They are everything a no logs VPN should be: based in Malaysia (outside of the 14 eyes), offers protection against leaks, protocols that mask VPN use (like when even your ISP doesn’t know you have a VPN running, how cool is that!), kill switch, incredible speeds. Hide Me can even handle Fiber internet speeds. So many of my friends who use free or cheap VPNs constantly complain about terrible speeds, disconnections, leaks and so on. I’ve been using Hide Me for 4 months now and I can tell you that it’s so much better than the competition, even if it costs a lot more.
PIA is the best no logging VPN as was proven when the FBI requested servers logs. “A subpoena was sent to London Trust Media and the only information they could provide is that the cluster of IP addresses being used was from the east coast of the United States”. So PIA is 100% no logs VPN and should be ranked #1. I’ve been using them for years for torrenting and simply for privacy and I think they are the best.