VPN Comparison

After making a post about comparing VPN providers, I received a lot of requested feedback. I’ve implemented most of the ideas I received.

Providers

Notes

  • I’m human. I make mistakes. I made multiple mistakes in my last post, and there may be some here. I’ve tried my best.
  • Pricing is sometimes weird. For example, a 1 year plan for Private Internet Access is 37.19€ first year and then auto-renews annually at 46.73€. By the way, they misspelled “annually”. AirVPN has a 3 day pricing plan. For the instances when pricing is weird, I did what I felt was best on a case-by-case basis.
  • Tor is not a VPN, but there are multiple apps that allow you to use it like a VPN. They’ve released an official Tor VPN app for Android, and there is a verified Flatpak called Carburetor which you can use to use Tor like a VPN on secureblue (Linux). It’s not unreasonable to add this to the list.
  • Some projects use different licenses for different platforms. For example, NordVPN has an open source Linux client. However, to call NordVPN open source would be like calling a meat sandwich vegan because the bread is vegan.
  • The age of a VPN isn’t a good indicator of how secure it is. There could be a trustworthy VPN that’s been around for 10 years but uses insecure, outdated code, and a new VPN that’s been around for 10 days but uses up-to-date, modern code.
  • Some VPNs, like Surfshark VPN, operate in multiple countries. Legality may vary.
  • All of the VPNs claim a “no log” policy, but there’s some I trust more than others to actually uphold that.
  • Tor is special in the port forwarding category, because it depends on what you’re using port forwarding for. In some cases, Tor doesn’t need port forwarding.
  • Tor technically doesn’t have a WireGuard profile, but you could (probably?) create one.

Takeaways

  • If you don’t mind the speed cost, Tor is a really good option to protect your IP address.
  • If you’re on a budget, NymVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark VPN are generally the cheapest. If you’re paying month-by-month, Mullvad VPN still can’t be beat.
  • If you want VPNs that go out of their way to collect as little information as possible, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, and NymVPN don’t require any personal information to use. And Tor, of course.

ODS file: https://files.catbox.moe/cly0o6.ods

  • stupid_asshole69 [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    21·
    6 hours ago

    Last time I said it was hard to figure out if this was some kind of malice or just someone without much experience/knowledge.

    I been thinking about what this post and the one before it actually are though. They’re not disinformation, I don’t think they’re misinformation although I think that argument could be made if there was actual intent (and a person could also make the argument that there is intent).

    This just kind of seems like white noise or what would be called slop if it were generated by ai.

    It’s not useful in making a decision.

    A vpn is a tool and you use the right tool for the job. A chart comparing the various similarities and differences between a box and open end wrench, flare nut wrench, socket set, power drill, impact driver and torque wrench would be useless for decision making about what tool to buy because they’re for different jobs.

    If you need to take the lug nuts off a truck the right tool is an impact, if you need to replace brake lines you’re gonna use a flare nut wrench.

    It’s not useful to compare pia and mullvad. If all you need is a cheap way to reliably bypass geofencing then pia is the right tool. If you need deniability and trust then mullvad is the right tool.

    It makes no sense to compare air and nord. If you need the cheapest per device service for bypassing content blocks then the tool is nord. If you need port forwarding for torrents, soulseek and usenet all at once then the tool is air.

    The problem with posts like this is that they don’t really provide any useful understanding or decision making process and wouldn’t be useful from an educational perspective like the comparison between various wrenches made above (if it were in some kind of Tools for Dummies publication) because they’re not even contextualized as such.

    A better start for this kind of post would be “here are some reasons to use a vpn service” or “here are some actual important differences between different vpn services apps”, not weather they’re available on Jim’s cut rate Secure I Promise ™ alternative android App Store.

    • hellinkilla [they/them, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      2·
      1 hour ago

      Last time I said it was hard to figure out if this was some kind of malice or just someone without much experience/knowledge.

      Totally disagree with the first few paragraphs. Someone makes a post you feel has inadequate depth and you think they’re the goddamned CIA? I don’t see any basis for the hostile tone.

      If you need port forwarding for torrents, soulseek and usenet all at once then the tool is air.

      But like it’s nice to be able to have a reference to quickly exclude certain options without having to wade through all their various websites. If you already know that you need port forwarding, then a chart like this will help you exclude several mainstream options. If there is some other criteria you already know about it could save you a lot of time.

      A better start for this kind of post would be “here are some reasons to use a vpn service” or “here are some actual important differences between different vpn services apps”

      Those do exist elsewhere and I don’t think there is much wrong with summarizing the current state of things for an informed audience. We are on lemmy here! I wouldn’t mail this chart out to the whole neighbourhood or anything, it’s probably not a good very first intro for most people. Although even for a person just getting started, having the column of criteria on the left could be useful to point out “what are the things to consider”. Like maybe you wouldn’t even guess that the number of devices would be limited.

      Long narrative comparisons can be hard to follow. They are good for understanding the differences but then once you are having an understanding how do you pick? It’s very convenient if someone else goes to the trouble to sift through the information. On wikipedia there are some subjects that have tables comparing things and I find them very helpful. Otherwise I’d just have to spend hours making my own tables.

      BTW wikipedia has a table comparing different kinds of wrenches so obviously someone thought it would be useful!!

      The main issue is that the information could become out of date or erroneous in the first place so you need to verify for yourself whatever is key to your decisions. That’s just the nature of third party info.