Top 10 Fastest VPNs in 2023 (Tried and Tested)

Ruheni Mathenge  - Streaming Expert
Last updated: June 19, 2023
Read time: 40 minutes Disclosure
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Which is the fastest VPN service in 2023? Read on to find out the winner and how to improve your speeds to enjoy streaming or any other activity online at the very best level.

Although, VPNs are expected to deliver slow speeds due to the underlying encryption technology. However, such speed lags can be a turn-off for customers, hindering their activities. Thankfully, some resilient VPN providers exist today, offering these fantastic privacy tools without compromising speed. Many of the fastest VPNs of today save you from ISP throttling, hence improving your overall connectivity. This article lists those fast VPN services that can effectively serve you well during resource-intensive activities like streaming, torrenting, or gaming.

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. CyberGhost: This is a reliable VPN service with a vast and speedy server network. It also includes dedicated servers for streaming and torrenting.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Windscribe: One of the top VPN service providers with sufficient speeds and reliable ad blockers. Additionally, it includes dedicated privacy and security features.
  10. 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

ExpressVPN new features block logo 120 by 120 now

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

servers A network of 3,000 sppedy-VPN servers scattered in 94 countries
encryption Military-grade AES 256-bit encryption
protection Solid safety for DNS leaks
P2P optimized servers P2P enabled servers
Kill switch Network lock (kill switch) feature
Trusted servers nord Enhances security by TrustedServer technology
tor compatible Has tor compatibility
simultaneous connections Maximum connection for five devices at once
money-back guarantee Money-return assurance of 30 days
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.

ConnectionPingAverage download speedsAverage upload speedsDistanceAverage speed reduction
Starting speed- United Kingdom13ms59.76 Mbps15.87Mbps
Manual Connect UK servers19ms57.61 Mbps13.54Mbps380km4%
Quick connect UK servers21ms55.83Mbps12.89Mpbs567km7%
Quick Connect US servers28ms48.78 Mbps10.54Mbps6,812km19%
Manual Connect US servers35ms46.24 Mbps10.23 Mbps6,867km23%
Quick Connect France servers1937.73 Mbps9.54Mbps1120kms37%
Quick Connect Brazil servers136ms24.69 Mbps6.59 Mbps8240kms59%
Quick Connect Australia servers150ms23.12 Mbps4.87 Mbps15,190kms62%

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.