These VPN Service Providers Offer Static-IP Addresses

NordVPN didn't get 10 million active users by accident. They did it by creating one of the very best VPN services on the market. NordVPN uses the most advanced encryption protocols available, and offers all the features a user could possible want, including some important features not found on any other major VPN service.

Among the basic features you'd expect to find is a kill switch, in case the VPN drops (though it rarely does). They offer access to "The Onion Router" (Tor), which runs your IP through a complex maze to prevent identification. There's a real-time Threat Protection and malware-protection system that inspects the files you download to make sure they're safe. They offer split-tunneling, dedicated peer-to-peer servers for torrenting, and because they have over 5000 servers in over 60 countries, you'll never really lack access to anything.

Then there are the advanced features. For example, they offer a Dark-Web Tracker that crawls through the Dark Web checking whether your personal, digital, or financial information has been leaked (and possibly sold). There's a Meshnet that allows you to connect via remotely over private tunnels, from anywhere in the world. NordVPN's obfuscation servers make it possible to hide from even the most invasive government spying systems. You can even double the VPN, meaning running the VPN itself through a VPN.

Lastly, NordVPN is one of very few premium VPN services to offer a static-IP with whitelisting capabilities. However, at $70 per year, it's not cheap. In fact, the static-IP alone costs almost as much as a one-year subscription to the VPN, meaning you're paying almost double what a "regular" user would pay. That's not cheap, but let's be honest: no service provider, whether ISP or VPN, is going to provide one for much less, as they are expensive to operate. In addition, 9Ranks is of the opinion that the NordVPN subscription justifies its price by providing one of the highest-quality products of its type.

There are a lot of great things to say about PureVPN, but before we get to them, we need to address the "notorious" FBI incident. In 2017, PureVPN disclosed one user's data to the FBI, and that raised a lot of eyebrows in the privacy-committed world of VPN users. If that fact concerns you, which we can completely understand, you should consider one of the other VPNs on this list. On the other hand, it's only fair to mention that the individual was being pursued for crimes of a horrid nature—so horrid, in fact, that many VPN users were able to overlook the incident.

That being said, PureVPN has a lot of merits. The company operates a vast array of servers around the world, including over 2000 in North America, over 3000 in Europe, and over 500 in Asia. Given that VPN speed is partially dependent upon the distance between you and the VPN server, it's good to know they probably have one near you. They also maintain around 100 virtual servers, which are useful in that they can't ever be physically confiscated or breached.

Speaking of speeds, in early 2022 PureVPN added the faster and more efficient WireGuard protocol (with the ChaCha20Poly1305 stream cipher) to its arsenal. In addition, they added 20 new Gpbs servers throughout the US and Europe. As you would expert, the result was a dramatic uptick in speeds.

PureVPN has three important "add on" features for those willing to pay a little extra: port forwarding, DDoS protection, and dedicated IPs. Port forwarding and DDoS protection are both important for those with a real reason to fear hackers, such as those operating online businesses with payment systems. Just keep in mind that the cost adds up. The port forwarding is $0.99 a month, the dedicated IP is another $2.99 per month, and the DDoS protection is $3.99. Lastly, please note that the dedicated IP options are US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, and Malta. The first four are Five-Eyes countries, while Germany is a 14-Eyes country and Singapore is suspected of cooperation with the Eyes.

PrivateVPN is a Swedish VPN service with a small collection of meticulously curated servers. They have specific servers for streaming—meaning, servers that are designed to evade the geographic restrictions imposed by Hulu, HBO, Amazon, Netflix, Disney+, and others. The results with these servers are quite impressive: You should have no trouble unlocking all the libraries of the major streaming services, whether via your router client, your Android client, or your Firestick client.

PrivateVPN also has specific servers for peer-to-peer file-sharing, also known as torrenting. However, depending on which server you use, the speed-losses can become an issue. You will occasionally face speed losses of over 50%, which is far worse than the industry standard. Obviously, if you have fast internet to begin with you won't feel it, so if you're working with a 500Mbps system, you should be fine. However, we wouldn't recommend this for someone with a 50Mbps to 100Mbps connection. In addition, Sweden is a 14-eyes country, which probably won't affect you, but it is a consideration.

One of the problems with PrivateVPN is that the entire operation relies on a meager 200 servers, which is far too few in our opinion. We can only assume they will continue to add servers over the coming years. That being said, the servers are well distributed, including locations in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Singapore, and South Africa. Most surprisingly, they have a few servers in China, and the VPN does manage to circumvent China's extreme restrictions.

PrivateVPN offers a monthly plan, but at $12 a month, we feel it's overpriced. Instead, we recommend you take advantage of their 7-day free trial, which gives you complete access to the basic plan. That's not a lot of time, but it might be enough to determine whether you like the product. Alternatively, you could sign up for their 3-month plan at $6 a month, and then cancel after 29 days if you're not satisfied. The least expensive plan, in terms of monthly costs, is their 36-month plan, which reduces the price down to $2 a month, but you should definitely test out the product before committing long term.

CyberGhost boasts the largest collection of servers of any VPN provider in the world. In addition to their standard servers, CyberGhost also hosts servers with special "no-spy" configurations that are extra secure. CyberGhost offers all the features you could possibly ask for, including a built-in ad-blocker, a kill switch that shuts down your internet activity if the VPN falters for even a moment, and leak protection that prevents your IP from being exposed for even a fraction of a second. CyberGhost is also strongly committed to your privacy—so strongly that they moved their entire operation from Germany to Romania when the EU started imposing data sharing laws.

Like all the top VPNs, CyberGhost uses 256-bit AES encryption and offers WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols. There are clients for routers, mobile devices, and even VPN clients best for Android TVs. There's a router app for those who run everything through their VPN, and there's also a split-tunneling option for those on the other end of the spectrum. CyberGhost has an important set of security features labeled "Connection Features." There, you'll find buttons to toggle Block Ads, Block Malicious Websites, Data Compression, Block Online Tracking, and even an Automated HTTPS Redirect that reroutes all HTTP URLs to HTTPS versions. There's also a DuckDuckGo-based "PrivateBrowser" with its own "Clear Browsing Data" button.

When it comes to speed, CyberGhost scores better than most other VPNs, especially when using the sleeker WireGuard protocol. In speeds tests using a 1G connection (meaning 1000Mbps), CyberGhost was able to sustain speeds of 850Mbps. That's a speed-loss of only 15%, which is far below the industry standard. At that speed you should be able to stream any show in 4K, and you should be able to download a feature-length 4K film in just a few minutes.

CyberGhost offers two static-IP options, each at additional costs. The first is a standard static-IP add on you can purchase $5 per month, and that's a dedicated IP for you and only you. On the other hand, you can purchase "tokens" and use the token-based static-IP servers. Only you will have access to those tokens, and there is no way for CyberGhost (or anyone else) to know when you've used a token to access a static server. The latter is a convenient solution for the occasional user, but if you're running a business you'll need to get the $5 add on.

Surfshark is a world-class VPN praised for its torrenting speeds, efficacy in unblocking streaming services, and its lack of device restrictions. It's not clear just how many devices you can actually use before they send you a strongly worded email, but at least on paper they claim to offer "unlimited" devices. Surfshark has upgraded to the most sophisticated elliptic-curve encryption methods, using the WireGuard protocol that ensures efficiency and speed. They've added a few advanced features that can make all the difference for those who need to completely hide their online identity.

One such feature is their GPS Spoofing, which makes it impossible for someone tracking your GPS location to know where you are. You might physically be located in Japan, but the spoofer makes it seem like you're in Australia, or perhaps Brazil. You don't even need to stay in the "same place." You can bounce around the world, while your true location remains private. This is one of the reason why Surfshark is so good at unblocking geographic restrictions on streaming services. Whether you use Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix, or any other major provider, Surfshark will allow you to watch content from around the world.

Among its other great features is Surfshark's CleanWeb, which blocks most ads, though it doesn't yet work against YouTube. It also prevents most phishing and tracking attempts, which also means you'll enjoy faster browsing speeds. Also, you can conduct anonymous searches using Surfshark Search, which works on Firefox and Chrome. Camouflage Mode is another interesting feature: It hides that fact that you're even on a VPN. Surfshark offers clients for all the major operating systems, browser types, and TV protocols (including Fire TV).

In terms of its static-IP offerings, Surfshark has found an interesting medium: They don't sell actual static-IP addresses, but they provide access to static servers that assign you to the same VPN IP each time you connect to them. The difference is someone else might also get that IP on occasion, which means it's not ideal for businesses with remote employees. Regardless, the feature works with Windows, AndroidOS, iOS, and macOS, and doesn't cost any extra.

You know why all the clandestine operators in all the spy movies have "Swiss bank account?" It's because Switzerland has codified some of the strictest privacy laws in the world, including digital privacy. That's why the founders of Golden Frog, the company that created VyprVPN, house their company in Switzerland, and why the service is trusted for its privacy and safety. No one is going to spy on your VPN activity, because it's constitutionally illegal in Switzerland. Just to make things even more secure, Golden Frog owns and operates its own server farms—700 units in 70 countries—to avoid the exposure inherent in renting servers.

Golden Frog is an industry leader in digital solutions, from privacy to performance. Their product list includes private VPNs , business VPNs, an optimized gaming networks (called Outfox), and a secure cloud. The basic VPN service is quite good: It suffers minimal speed loss (around 30%), which is more than enough for streaming in 4K, torrenting, and gaming. You should have no trouble watching Hulu, Amazon, YouTube, Disney+, and other popular streaming services without the annoying geo-restrictions.

Golden Frog develops their own software, and uses the most sophisticated protocols around. Users with a "basic" subscription can choose between OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, and WireGuard. Premium users can also access the proprietary "Chameleon" protocol, which is an upgraded version of OpenVPN with the added ability to resist Deep Packet Inspections (DPIs) from government agencies. VyprVPN offers clients for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux. Even with a basic subscription, users can connect on as many as 30 devices at a time, which is one of the most generous offerings from any VPN.

The bad news is that you have to purchase a premium/business subscription to access static-IPs, and the premium costs are quite high. Whereas the basic plan costs a mere $100 per year, the premium option runs around $350. We understand that's a lot of money, which is why at 9Ranks we only recommend this option to those running a business with payment software, and to those who have several offsite employees.