Best mobile VPN 2023

The best mobile VPNs can help to keep your data private when you’re browsing online using your smartphone. The internet is great for providing entertainment and information, but it’s also a platform many criminals use to steal personal data from innocent people and commit fraud – the right VPN can help to protect you from this.

VPNs are also useful for protecting you from hackers in games such as PUBG Mobile, as well as helping you to gain access to the streaming services of your home region when you’re traveling abroad. Whatever you want your VPN to do, this list should help, we’ve tried and tested the best services. Our recommendations are broken down for your different needs, such as the best VPN for streaming and the best cheap VPN. We’ve tried and tested all of the best mobile VPNs to help you find the right choice, but if you want to tailor your results to the best iPhone or the best Android, check out our best iPhone VPN and best VPN for Android guide.

Here are the best mobile VPNs:

• ExpressVPN – best for mobile
• Private Internet Access – best cheap option
• CyberGhost – best for streaming
• NordVPN – fastest option
• Surfshark – best for families
• PrivadoVPN – best for IP leak protection
• PureVPN – best for privacy

1. The best mobile VPN

ExpressVPN is the best mobile VPN.

ExpressVPN overview:

Pros:

• Servers span 94 countries
• Refreshes servers IP addresses regularly
• Uses the speedy Lightspeed protocol

Cons:

• Expensive
• Small cap on simultaneous connections
• Smaller server total than others

If you want a virtual private network that is both comprehensive and reliable, you should check out ExpressVPN. It has servers in more than 94 countries worldwide, providing you with substantial digital protection. If you’re still unsure, you can try the service risk-free thanks to the money-back guarantee which will let you get a full refund if you’re not satisfied within the first 30 days (no hassle).

If y0u’re only planning to use the VPN on your phone, then this will be a fine choice, but if you want to use it to protect multiple devices within your home, you may find that its allowance of only five simultaneous connections is a little restrictive. Other providers (that cost less) give you a more generous cap than this or have no cap at all.

What also helps make ExpressVPN an appealing choice is that it is known to refresh the IP addresses of its VPN servers on a more regular basis than other providers. What this means is that if you find that a certain app blocks access when its on, before long you should be able to get in once its done its latest refresh.

2. The best cheap VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the best cheap VPN.

Private Internet Access overview:

Pros:

• Cheap (with exclusive price for our readers)
• Enormous server selection
• Decent allowance on simultaneous connections

Cons:

• One of the slower providers on this list
• Based in the US (with less privacy-friendly laws)

The Private Internet Access service provides protection for both iPhones and Android devices, though it allows 10 devices across one account, meaning you could also protect your laptop, tablets, and PCs. While it remains a comprehensive service, it also provides the lowest rates of any of the VPNs featured in this list. A great option if you want to avoid high VPN costs.

If you’re thinking to yourself “Well, if it’s so cheap, it must be one of the poorer quality services” you’re wrong. Private Internet Access stands shoulder to shoulder with the other providers on this list, and in terms of the sheer number of servers at its disposal, it’s actually in first place by quite a significant distance.

It’s only real areas of weaknesses come from its speed (its a little bit slower than some other top providers) and the fact that it is based in the US. Why is this a downside? Well, a VPN can only give as much privacy as the law allows, and jurisdiction in the US is much stricter in this regard than, for example, somewhere like Switzerland. Still, there’s very little to criticise about Private Internet Access.

3. The best VPN for streaming

CyberGhost is the best VPN for streaming.

CyberGhost overview:

Pros:

• Compatible with most streaming platforms
• 45-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

• Free trial could be longer
• A little slower than some other top providers

CyberGhost has been part of the VPN game for a very long time, providing you with protection that keeps you untraceable and anonymous online. With such a long list of servers available, and compatibility with all the major streaming platforms, this is one to go for if you like to watch a lot of TV and movies on your smartphone.

Another string to its bow is the fact that it offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, which gives you a whole month and a half to test it out before committing. No other provider on this list gives you such a long grace period before you’re locked into your purchase.

It’s also one of the very few services that actually give you a VPN free trial. At just 24 hours long, it could certainly stand to be lengthened, but as offering a free trial at all is something of a rarity in the VPN world, this is still a note in its favor. It’s definitely worth taking CyberGhost for spin.

4. The fastest VPN

NordVPN is the fastest VPN.

NordVPN overview:

Pros:

• Fastest VPN
• Broad streaming service compatibility

Cons:

• Servers span fewer countries than other top providers
• Is slightly more expensive than others

NordVPN has been on the scene for nearly 10 years, and is one of the best VPNs for Android devices and iPhones. If you’re someone that likes to do your work in a cafe, for example, and use public Wi-Fi frequently, NordVPN is a great choice to protect against hackers.

As ever, NordVPN makes you anonymous online – it’s your business what you do on the internet and nobody else’s, after all. Since it uses the WireGuard protocol, it encrypts your data much more quickly than many others, which is part of what makes this the fastest VPN.

When using your phone online at home, you may even find the internet is speedier than usual. Internet service providers (ISPs) will slow down your connection of specific apps or devices that are using a lot of bandwidth, but they are unable to slow down everything in your home. Since NordVPN masks your activities, your ISP won’t know what to slow down, and when you combine that with NordVPN’s quick download speeds, you may find everything goes a bit faster.

Read the NordVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, to find out more about this provider.

5. The best VPN for families

Surfshark is the best VPN for families.

Surfshark overview:

Pros:

• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Week-long free trial
• Cheaper solution

Cons:

• Smaller overall server count
• Fewer server locations available

Another established company in the cyber security field, Surfshark, provides a range of services, one of which is a virtual private network. At a cost-effective price, Surfshark’s VPN can be used across as many devices as you like, whereas other companies may limit the number of devices you can have on one plan. This makes it an ideal VPN for families.

Surfshark is the only provider on this list to provide a substantial free trial too. While CyberGhost lets you use it for a day for free, Surfshark lets you use it for a week for free, which should be more than enough time to test it thoroughly with all the different apps and services that you use regularly on your phone.

You can also get 24-hour support and an ad blocker, two great features, especially when bundled into one small cost per month. Surfshark also frequently has deals on, so keep an eye on this company.

6. The best VPN for IP leak protection

PrivadoVPN is the best VPN for IP leak protection.

PrivadoVPN overview:

Pros:

• Can notify you if your private details are breached
• Offers a free plan
• Allows a decent number of simultaneous connections

Cons:

• Paid plan slightly expensive
• No router support available
• Fewer servers in a small selection of locations

If you’re in the market for a new mobile VPN, you should take a look at PrivadoVPN. Like every other company on this list, it offers you complete anonymity online, making you untraceable and a difficult target for would-be fraudsters. What makes it especially appealing is its IP leak protection features, which will notify you in the event that any of your private details have been breached.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any kind of router support, but this shouldn’t be too much of a problem for anybody specifically seeking a mobile VPN, because you can just download the app straight onto your phone. With an allowance of ten simultaneous connections, you should also be able to download it onto all (or most) of your other devices to keep your activity on them protected at all times.

If you wanted to try it out, PrivadoVPN doesn’t have a free trial, but it does have a free plan that you can use indefinitely, but with the caveat that its features are limited. The free plan has a much smaller selection of servers to choose from, and most significantly, limits you to 10GB of data per month.

7. The most private VPN

PureVPN is the most private VPN.

PureVPN overview:

Pros:

• Regular third-party privacy audits
• Decent price

Cons:

• Charges for its trial
• Slightly buggy apps

No-logs VPNs are quite common, and if you don’t know what that means, it’s just a promise from the provider that it won’t keep logs about your online activity. That’s great, but how much faith can you place in the promise of a business? Well, if you go for PureVPN, you can place all your faith in it, because it submits itself to regular third-party audits, meaning that if they were secretly keeping tabs, everyone would know. That’s why we consider it the most private VPN. Of course, it has handy iOS and Android apps too.

There are a few little bugs in the app which can lead to it getting stuck, for example if you try and go to the ‘set up on other devices’ screen. On top of that, it also lacks the ability to activate split-tunnelling on mobile devices, but if you just want to choose a server and turn it on, you shouldn’t encounter any troubles.

With over 6,500 servers spread out across 78 countries, PureVPN got an impressive selection for its users. On top of that, it lets you use it on ten devices simultaneously, so even if you have a household of ten people who all want a VPN on their phones, you’ll all be covered.

How we chose the best mobile VPN

We carefully considered the strengths and weaknesses of several major VPN providers when we put this list together. Ultimately, we chose ExpressVPN as the best mobile VPN due to the number and range of the servers, as well as its compatibility with most major streaming platforms, and its excellent customer service. Though all the providers in this article are fantastic choices, it was for these reasons that ExpressVPN was our number one choice.