How much speed will I lose when using a VPN?

Many factors can affect the VPN's speed. They include its network size, server load, and distance from the server to your location. Services with more extensive networks can handle big traffic because servers aren’t overloaded easily. A good example is NordVPN which is so fast that you won’t notice any loss in your speed.

Why should I choose a fast VPN?

A fast VPN will enable you to do more tasks securely and anonymously. For example, you can stream high-definition content without buffering or lags. Also, if it supports P2P sharing, you can torrent smoothly, even with large files. Moreover, a fast VPN will enable you to play heavy online games such as Fortnite.

What is the fastest free VPN in 2023?

Unfortunately, no utterly free VPN can offer fast speeds. Many free VPNs cannot afford the infrastructure required to run and operate a VPN network. As a result, they’ll have fewer slow servers due to overcrowding. If you are on a budget, we recommend the free version of premium VPNs like Windscribe and TunnelBear. Although you may not get all the features like paid subscribers, you are guaranteed full security and privacy. Sadly, they both limit monthly data usage to only 10GB and 500 MB, respectively.

Will I get in trouble with authorities for using a VPN?

It will depend on the regulations of where you live. Most countries around the world allow VPN usage. This means you won’t get in trouble if you don’t do illegal activities. However, other countries such as North Korea, Russia, and China have banned the use of VPNs. Luckily, some VPNs such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN have devised a way to bypass the geo-restrictions known as obfuscation. It will disguise your VPN activities and make you feel like you are in regular traffic.

Are VPNs complicated to use?

The technology behind the VPN is very complicated to comprehend. However, many VPN providers offer intuitive interfaces for you to use, even if you are a beginner. You can use the quick connect feature if you don't know how to connect to a server manually. It will connect you to the fastest server available, suitable for activities like torrenting or playing online games. However, you will have to select your choice server location if you want to bypass geo-restrictions.

What do I do if my speed starts to slow down when using a VPN?

Anything can happen, even with the best service. If your connections suddenly become slow, switch to another server in a different location. We recommend connecting to the nearby server for increased speeds because your traffic will have a shorter distance to travel. Alternatively, you can try to change the connection protocol.

Will my ISP know that I am using a VPN?

It will depend on the VPN service you are using. Many premium VPNs have strong encryption that hides your traffic to keep your online activities completely anonymous. For instance, if the provider uses AES 256-bit encryption, your ISP or government agencies can’t see what you are doing. On the other hand, your IP address and traffic can be exposed if you use free VPNs. This means your ISP can easily track your activities and even throttle your speeds.

Will a VPN always affect my speeds?

Usually, all VPNs will affect your speeds in one way or the other. This is because it must encrypt your data and pass-through servers, which takes time. A fast VPN will have advanced servers, and the change in speed will be barely unnoticeable. Many VPNs will slow down your connections because of inferior server networks that cannot handle the traffic. In most cases, they have a few mediocre servers that get overcrowded quickly, resulting in reduced speeds. The VPNs we have highlighted above have plenty of servers and thousands of IP addresses to give you more options. Thus, there will be less congestion, and your encrypted traffic will route through their servers with minimal loss in speed.

Top 10 Fastest VPNs in 2023 (Tried and Tested)

Sneak peek at the fastest VPNs

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.

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.

Visit ExpressVPN

A network of 3,000 sppedy-VPN servers scattered in 94 countries

Military-grade AES 256-bit encryption

Solid safety for DNS leaks

P2P enabled servers

Network lock (kill switch) feature

Enhances security by TrustedServer technology

Has tor compatibility

Maximum connection for five devices at once

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.

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.