These Are the Best VPNs for iOS Devices

NordVPN is an industry leader, due to its sophisticated design, cutting-edge encryption and protocols, and intuitive user interface. The platform has over 5500 servers distributed over 60 countries, which means you should never have any problems locating a nearby server. NordVPN is often praised for its blazing speeds, and is one of the most popular VPNs for streaming. Using NordVPN, you should be able to unblock all the major streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. You can also find plenty of servers customized for p2p file sharing. These help ensure you don't get caught torrenting, and that you enjoy the fastest download speeds.

The iOS version of NordVPN has all the major features one looks for in a VPN, including a kill switch, which only a few iOS apps offer. The kill switch isn't configurable, however, which is a slight minus compared to the fully configurable Android version. There is also a Dark-Web monitor, which crawls the notorious underbelly of the internet, looking for your personal details. If someone out there is trying to sell your personal information, NordVPN will warn you.

Apple users will happy to know the NordVPN app offers all of the major protocols: IKEv2, OpenVPN (TCP), OpenVPN (UDP), and NordLynx. The latter is a proprietary version of the WireGuard protocol, and is the fastest and most efficient of the list. If you want to double your VPN, you can do so on the iOS version. If you're in a rush and don't have time to assess the server list, try the Quick Connect button and trust the NordVPN app to choose the server for you. You can also activate the CyberSec ad blocker to avoid all those annoying pop-ups. Siri users will be thrilled to know you can add the VPN to the voice command system.

You can download the NordVPN via the App Store, but we don't suggest paying for the subscription that way. For one thing, the pricing makes no sense, with several options offering different prices for the same subscription. Also, you're not likely to find the best deal there. For example, on the App Store you'll find a "12-month VPN subscription" for $98.88, but if you follow our link to the NordVPN website, you'll see the same option for a lot less. Furthermore, you'll find a 2-year option for a fraction of the annual price.

ExpressVPN is known for its aggressive marketing, with targeted ads and pop-ups appearing all over the internet, particularly social media. What's more, it lives up to the hype. ExpressVPN enjoys very high customer-satisfaction, despite being one of the most expensive options on the market. On the App Store it has a 4.7-stars (out of 5), and while the App Store doesn't report total downloads, on the Android equivalent (Google Play) it has over 50 million downloads. ExpressVPN's popularity is linked to its speed. If you have a high-speed internet connection, you'll lose a lot of that speed with most VPNs—as much as 90% in some cases. With ExpressVPN, however, you'll keep most of your speed, making it ideal for gaming, torrenting, and 4K streaming.

The reason ExpressVPN is so fast is its proprietary Lightway protocol, which was specifically designed to maximize speed and decrease the "load" on the device running the VPN. For iPhone and iPad users this is great news, because Lightway is not only compatible with iOS, it works perfectly. Unfortunately, you have to be running iOS version 12. If you're running 11 or below, you'll need to use the L2TP protocol instead.

Besides speed, there are plenty of reasons to like the iOS version of ExpressVPN. The app is very easy to use, with a large button on/off in the middle of the screen. The app offers "Smart Location," which recommends servers based on user habits. You also have your pick of thousands of other servers spread over 90 countries. If you're happy with a server, save it to your "Favorites" tab. If there's some other adjustment you want to make and don't know how, you'll love the "help" option, which appears at the bottom of the home screen. There, you'll find a "How to use the app" section, with dozens of clearly worded tutorials, as well as a customer-service email link.

The one drawback to ExpressVPN is that all this quality comes at a price. Whereas some VPNs cost as little as $1.99 a month, ExpressVPN can run as high as $8.33 a month for an annual subscription. In addition, you can only activate 5 connections at a time. If you try to run a 6th, you'll be admonished by a huge exclamation point and bright red notice reading "Connection Limit Reached." Price aside, you really can't go wrong with ExpressVPN.

Have you ever heard of CERN? It's the physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland that houses the Large Hadron Collider, which is used to investigate the origins of the universe. The people behind ProtonVPN are current and former researchers at CERN—in other words, geniuses with a deep understanding of mathematics. The location is also no coincidence: Switzerland is country that places a major premium on privacy. The Swiss constitution actually codifies a right of privacy that expressly protects digital information such as emails, searches, and cookies. While countries like the US, Canada, and the UK actively spy on internet users, Switzerland has made such spying illegal and constitutionally protected.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Proton cybersecurity suite is the go-to choice for those whose privacy is crucial. You'll find journalists, law offices, medical offices, politicians, and activists using ProtonMail, ProtonCalendar, and ProtonVPN to secure their confidential data and protect their accounts. It also offers "perfect forward secrecy" (PFS) encryption that prevents your data can't be downloaded from being decoded later.

ProtonVPN's iOS app offers tons of features, including a propriety "VPN Accelerator" that increases your internet speed by as much as 400%. That makes it ideal for lag-free streaming and gaming. The Netshield adblocker blocks all those annoying pop-ups, and the kill switch helps your phone block any internet traffic, coming or going, if the VPN accidentally disconnects. With over 1400 servers located in over 60 countries, ProtonVPN is a large system, though there are a few VPN with more servers. It also offers a multi-hop VPN that cascades the network connections for added security. You can even connect to "The Onion Router" (Tor), for maximum anonymity.

Proton's pricing is a bit confusing, because they offer so many products. If all you want is a light VPN, the free version is quite good. It's limited to 100 servers in the US, the Netherlands, and Japan, and the speed isn't impressive, but it's fine for occasional use. On the other end of the spectrum is Proton Unlimited, which includes half a terabyte of secured cloud storage, 15 email accounts, 20 calendars, and up to 10 VPN connections with some of the fastest speeds anywhere. That latter runs you $9.99 a month, and in the middle is Mail Plus, for $3.99, but it offers far less storage and limited VPN speeds.

CyberGhost has one of the largest collection of servers of any VPN provider in the world, which means you're not going to have much trouble locating a server. Moreover, many of the servers are optimized for streaming, so you can enjoy all the shows offered worldwide, by Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, HBO Now, and others. The servers offer excellent speeds, so you should by able to stream in 4K and play graphic-heavy video games without any buffering or lag. To be sure, you will still incur a 25% speed loss due to the VPN, but if you have high-speed internet, you should still have more than enough speed to enjoy the heftiest games.

On their website, CyberGhost makes a compelling argument for using a VPN: "In 2015, cybercriminals compromised 128+ million iPhone users’ information, and Apple kept quiet about it," the site warns. They're referring of course to the notorious XcodeGhost attack, which used Apple's own Xcode to turn regular iPhones into hackable bots subject to remote access and manipulation. The hack was only publicized after researchers at Alibaba discovered it. At first, Apple acknowledged the hack had infected 25 apps, but eventually admitted the number was closer to...4000! They also point out that the NSO has successfully used the highly sophisticated Pegasus spyware to hack iPhones.

The iOS app is touch rudimentary, but it works well. It offers a WireGuard protocol, which yields faster connections while decreasing the load on your phone's battery. The app also offers wifi-protection feature that automatically connects to any wifi network that hasn't been pre-approved. Given their focus on cybersecurity, CyberGhost has developed several products for iOS in addition to the VPN. They have a Secret Photo Vault, designed to protect your camera roll. They offer a Password Manager designed to store your passwords under a secure file with a master password. They also have a secure browser that clears your activity when you're done using it.

CyberGhost has a range of prices, based on the duration of the subscription and the products included. You can purchase a monthly subscription for a whopping $12.99 a month, but there's simply no reason to do that. If you're worried you won't like the product, just get a 3-year subscription, which costs a meager $2.29 a month, and you'll have 45 days to decide whether you want to keep it. The other iOS apps, like the browser and the password manager, are free, but if you want to add the Windows Cybersecurity Suite, you'll have to add another $1.29 more. Then again, we're pretty sure you prefer Mac over Windows, right?

In 2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) opened "Room 641a" at the SBC Communications building in San Francisco. From what looked like a storage room, they were able to spy on millions of Americans, by routing and inspecting all AT&T internet traffic. When the operation was outed in 2006, it led to a deluge of law suits, as well as the development of various anti-spying tool. The American owners of software development company "Golden Frog" reacted by incorporating in Switzerland, which has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world. There, they developed VyprVPN, and began advocating for "Peace, Prosperity & the Case for the Open Internet."

It's worth mentioning that Golden Frog owns the servers it uses for VyprVPN, unlike the many providers who rent them. They also have their own protocol, known as "Chameleon 2.0," which is designed to mask OpenVPN metadata so that even the most advanced VPN blockers don't recognize you're using a VPN. The protocol has a great track-record against some of the world's most restricted networks, such as China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. They also have the other major protocols: WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN. Versions of the VPN are available for every major operating system, including Windows, MacOS, iOS, and even Blackberry phones, which apparently still exist.

The iPhone app is sleek and very intuitive, and includes several important features: There's an auto-connect setting that turns the VPN on anytime you're connected to a "public" network. Obviously, the term public just means you haven't added it to your "Trusted Networks" list, which you can do at any time. You can also activate the "Automatic Reconnect" feature, which is particularly important if you're on the road because you move from tower to tower. The app counts how long you've been connected to the VPN, which is strange, since that's not actually a useful piece of information. You're not being charged by the minute.

Speaking of being charged, VyprVPN is definitely on the expensive end of the spectrum. The monthly plan is $15, which is far beyond what you should ever pay for any VPN. The annual plan is $100, billed annually. That comes out to around $8.25, which is still very pricey, though occasionally they offer discounts that take the price down around $5.50 a month. Furthermore, a subscription only grants you access to 5 devices. If you need to run several devices at once, look into VyprVPN's business options, which start at $299 a year. Not very many VPNs offer business accounts, and this is one of the only ones that offers a free trial.

Surkshark is a feature-rich VPN that offers just about everything you can ask of a VPN. Not only can you mask your IP address, but you can use the Surfshark Multi-Hop feature to maximize security. On their website, Surfshark explains that when Multi-Hop is active, your VPN connection "will hop from one server to another," making it all but impossible to trace or locate. On the other hand, if you want to use the same IP address each time you log on, use one of Surfshark's static servers. If you're the kind of user who gets annoying by pop-up ads, use the CleanWeb browser to enjoy ad-free internet.

Surfshark can been catering to the iPhone community since 2018, and since then the iOS app has undergone extensive upgrades. It now offers auto-connect, a kill switch, which is surprisingly rare for iOS VPNs, and it even offers access to the state-of-the-art WireGuard protocol. Multi-Hop and Static-Server features are also available on the iOS app, as are the Camouflage and NoBorders modes that hide your activity from strict government surveillance programs found in countries like China. All these features help explain why the app scores an impressive 4.8 stars out of 5 on the Apple App Store.

There are a few features missing from the app, and we would be remiss not to mention them. First, you can't override (spoof) your GPS location on an iPhone, and that's most unfortunate, since Apple aggressively tracks its users. Second, you can't split-tunnel with an iPhone, so either your VPN is on or it's off. You also can't make your phone "invisible to devices" on your network, nor will you be able to change the default encryption cipher. There advanced features are major attractions, and we can only hope Surfshark and other VPN developers figure out a way to facilitate them on iOS.

Surfshark isn't cheap, but we wouldn't say it's cost prohibitive either. Via the App Store, you can download the app for free, and purchase subscriptions ranging from $10.99 for monthly subscription, down to $47.99 ($3.99 a month) for an annual subscription. However, on their site, you'll find much better deals, including a 24-month subscription priced at $2.49 a month. If you're commitment shy, keep in mind that Surfshark offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and it obviously makes no sense to try out a product for 4 bucks a month when you can try it out for 2.50 a month. Lastly, remember that with no device limit, you're saying money using Surfshark.

The cleverly named Hide.Me claims to be the "world's fastest vpn," which is difficult claim to prove or disprove, as there are many ways to quantify speed. Do they mean it has the lowest speed-loss percentage? Do they mean it has the fastest servers? It's not clear, but one this is certain: It is indeed a very fast VPN. At 9Ranks, we usually discuss speeds in terms of "speed loss," meaning, how much the VPN slows down your normal connection. Reductions of 30% or less are considered excellent, and that's what Hide.Me provides. If you're into streaming in 4K, or if you enjoy playing graphic-heavy video games where lag sometimes ruins the experience, this is one of the VPNs you should seriously consider.

Hide.Me offers all the standard protocols: OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), IKEv2, and WireGuard, and it offers access to SoftEther. Developed at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, SoftEther is the brainchild of Associate Prof. Daiyu Nabori, based on his master's degree thesis in computer science. It's open-source and compatible with most operating systems, but is only offered by a handful of VPN providers. SoftEther yields extremely fast speeds, with downloads dropping only 25%. Along with WireGuard, this protocol offers the best streaming, torrenting, and gaming experience on Hide.Me.

Hide.Me's iOS app is quite advanced, offering several features not usually found on iOS VPNs. You have a multihop option, which works as a "double VPN." You also have full IPv6 compatibility, which several major brands are lacking. You have a kill switch, which blocks all internet traffic wherever the VPN drops. You also have Stealth Guard, which works somewhat like a tunnel splitter, allowing you to select apps that must be connected to the VPN at all times. If you are a full-time VPN user, these are important features that help justify the price of a long-term subscription.

The paid versions aren't cheap, but they provide a lot of extras. For example, the 2-year plan costs $238.80, which is $9.95, but it comes with a one-year subscription to Internxt Cloud Storage (2 terabytes). Also, there is a significant discount on the first 2 years ($59.95 instead of $238.38). We should also mention that Hide.Me accepts several cryptocurrencies, which allow for even greater anonymity. On the other hand, if you're interested in a high-quality free VPN, Hide.Me is worth a look. You get 10GB of data per month, using 5 locations. You can download the free version with nothing more than your email address.