Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are in high demand as people scramble to maintain their online security and privacy. One of the primary considerations when choosing a VPN is speed.
Many VPN providers claim to offer the fastest speeds, but it is not always the case. A fast VPN will enable you to stream, torrent, and play online games safely and anonymously.
The side effect of using a VPN is a decrease in your speed. This is a sacrifice you have to bear with as it has to encrypt your traffic and pass it through remote servers. However, if you get a reliable service, the drop in speed will be minimal.
This guide presents an in-depth review of the fastest VPN services and tips to improve your overall speeds. NordVPN stands out from the rest as it only caused a slight drop in our speeds, even when connected to international servers.
Disclaimer: These speeds may vary greatly depending on where you are connecting from, your network, and the devices you are using. We did most of our tests in our London Office. Our correspondents in other regions such as Canada, the US, Australia, France, Pakistan, India, and Brazil also contributed to the tests.
Fastest VPN providers – Quick list
Are you short on time? Here is a quick summary of the three most speedy VPNs on the market.
- ExpressVPN: A well-established VPN service with blazing server speeds and strong security. It only exhibited a 4% decrease in connection speed from the normal rate.
- Private Internet Access (PIA) – A reliable VPN provider, It has an extensive number of servers all around the words and boasts impressive speed. We experienced only a 6% drop in the connection speed.
- NordVPN – Our number one recommended fast VPN service. It boasts a massive server network and offers fast speeds alongside robust security. We noticed only a 4% drop in our connection speed.
- Surfshark – High-Tech fast VPN with a focus on privacy and security. We experienced a 6% decrease in speed compared to our normal connection rate.
- CyberGhost: This is a reliable VPN service with a vast and speedy server network. It also includes dedicated servers for streaming and torrenting.
- IPVanish: A budget-friendly VPN provider with decent speeds for premium subscription plans. We only noticed a 7% drop in the connection speed from the actual rate.
- VyprVPN: The VPN has a diversified network and swift connection speeds. We noticed a slight drop in the connection speed from our initial speeds on some servers.
- PrivateVPN: It is popular for its commitment to the strict no-logs policy, which safeguards your privacy. Also, the provider offers adequate speed for streaming, torrenting, and online gaming.
- Windscribe: One of the top VPN service providers with sufficient speeds and reliable ad blockers. Additionally, it includes dedicated privacy and security features.
- TunnelBear: A moderate free VPN service with remarkable speed, privacy, and strong security features. The average speed drop on most servers is minimal.
Best fast VPNs in the market
Below we have compiled the top 10 fastest VPNs available today. They emerged as the winners after a rigorous testing process involving over 30 premium VPN providers. We used speed tests and other non-quantifiable parameters to create the list.
1. ExpressVPN

With its blazing-fast servers and dedicated security, you can enjoy streaming without buffering.









Pros
- Blazing-fast speeds
- Strong security
- Unblocks major streaming sites
Cons
- It does not offer an ad blocker
- A bit expensive
ExpressVPN is another well-established fast VPN service. While comparing ExpressVPN vs. NordVPN, you’ll find it has slightly fewer servers than the latter but more server locations. Besides, it offers high-end features and robust security to keep you safe.
The VPN showed varied speeds when we tried different servers during our tests. Its average download speed was 54.37 Mbps. We got the fastest speeds of 57.61 Mbps when connected to a nearby server, a 4% drop.
Connection | Ping | Average download speeds | Average upload speeds | Distance | Average speed reduction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starting speed- United Kingdom | 13ms | 59.76 Mbps | 15.87Mbps | – | – |
Manual Connect UK servers | 19ms | 57.61 Mbps | 13.54Mbps | 380km | 4% |
Quick connect UK servers | 21ms | 55.83Mbps | 12.89Mpbs | 567km | 7% |
Quick Connect US servers | 28ms | 48.78 Mbps | 10.54Mbps | 6,812km | 19% |
Manual Connect US servers | 35ms | 46.24 Mbps | 10.23 Mbps | 6,867km | 23% |
Quick Connect France servers | 19 | 37.73 Mbps | 9.54Mbps | 1120kms | 37% |
Quick Connect Brazil servers | 136ms | 24.69 Mbps | 6.59 Mbps | 8240kms | 59% |
Quick Connect Australia servers | 150ms | 23.12 Mbps | 4.87 Mbps | 15,190kms | 62% |
As you can see from the table above, ExpressVPN is not far behind NordVPN in terms of speeds. Many VPNs significantly lose speed if you connect to faraway servers. However, with ExpressVPN, the discrepancy will be minimal if you have good base internet speeds. We got a 62% decrease when we connected to Australian servers, but the speeds were still fast enough to stream in HD.
ExpressVPN is a powerful service, and its slowest connection is far better than most of its competitors. In fact, you won’t notice much difference between your regular ISP connection and when connecting to the VPN.
Its impressive speeds are due to its massive server network of more than 3,000 servers across 94 countries. Many servers mean that there won’t be any congestion that might lead to slow speeds. As a result, you will always get consistent speeds to do whichever task. ExpressVPN has a Smart Location feature that automatically connects to the fastest server available based on your latency and location.
The VPN has incredible unblocking capabilities and will bust through even the strictest geo-blocks. Currently, there isn’t any streaming site that it can’t open. We were able to access Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, HBO, and more. With the blazing-fast speeds, you can stream your favorite content smoothly.
ExpressVPN will protect all of your internet activities with AES 256-bit encryption. There is also SHA-512 HMAC authentication, perfect forward secrecy, a 4096-bit RSA key, and an AES 256-bit cipher to reinforce the encryption.