Fastest VPN 2022 | Free VPN | VPNs
Three top VPNs battle it out to see which takes the privacy and speed crown.
You are gambling. You're working from home, you're listening to music, you're streaming video – and chances are if you're here, you're probably looking for a virtual private network that can handle huge amounts of data on the go. Can handle your coaxial cable. That's where this guide to the fastest VPNs comes in. We have compared and tested several VPN services to bring you the top VPN performers that will keep your information secure without compromising on speed.
Before we dig in, there are a few things to keep in mind: It's not easy to speed-test a virtual private network in a way that translates into practical consumer advice. For one, VPN speeds can change from day to day, prompting some review sites to create automated monitoring processes. Built-in internet speed in the US also has an effect, which varies widely depending on your state and your VPN provider. Not only this, using any VPN, no matter how fast, will reduce your browsing speed to some extent. In the end, if you eliminate all possible variables—from individual machine quirks to network interference—to create a lab-like test setting, you're essentially testing a product in a digital environment that is zero for the operating environment. maintains equality. live and work.
For these reasons and more, I like to create a VPN testing environment that looks like what you, the typical VPN user, are likely to experience. That's why I'm more interested in quantifying the amount of speed lost with virtual private networks (which, for most VPNs, is usually half or more) in both high-speed and slow connection types. I'd like to know how these services are going to perform when you have multiple devices - Windows or Mac - running on a residential internet connection, keeping an eye on how well they can't handle just browsing. , but also heavy traffic load of gaming, torrenting, streaming.
My speed tests to determine the fastest VPN service are currently conducted manually using the OpenVPN protocol – generally considered the most secure and most widely used open-source protocol. To be clear, some brands have their own proprietary protocols that may well offer faster speeds, but I wanted to keep it an apples-to-apples comparison. First, I test my internet speed without a VPN. Then, I connect my machines to the VPN and choose five servers in different locations around the world. I test those five servers through the widely used Ookla Speedtest, five times each, at intervals of two to three days. Then I average the download speeds of each to find out what percentage of my normal internet speed is lost from each VPN use. (Learn more about how we rate and review VPNs here.)
Top 3 Best Fastest VPN 2022
1. Surfshark ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
2. ExpressVPN ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
3. NordVPN ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
1. Surfshark ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
- 16.9% speed loss (faster than 27% loss in the previous test)
- Fastest VPN connections: US
- Slowest connections: Australia
As a relative newcomer to the VPN world, Surfshark ended 2019 with just a 27% speed loss in my review, putting it well ahead of all of its competitors — except for the seemingly unattainable speed leader ExpressVPN, which has a low Dominated my 2019 test with. More than 2% speed loss. But in late 2020, Surfshark was leading the pack with a 17% speed loss, as ExpressVPN speeds dropped to a 52% speed loss in my most recent tests.
The remarkable thing about Surfshark's speed is that its average speed hasn't been struggling to overcome major speed losses in any particular test area. This thing showed up on race day and stole the gold for the fastest speed, seemingly without breaking a sweat. During testing, my base non-VPN speed averaged 194 megabits per second, while Surfshark's overall averaged 161 Mbps. After taking an average of five test locations, I found that not a single one of those locations averaged less than 100 Mbps. It is an outright win against its competitors in every Test column.
While the competitors below were struggling with US speeds, Surfshark clocked an average of 204 Mbps on US connections. Because the VPN service provider allows you to choose which VPN server to connect to (each with an easy-to-view icon to indicate the overall congestion of the VPN server location), that's one way I'm going to hand-pick the stats here. could connect to the server. The US with the lowest VPN traffic load And I'd love to specifically report the speed of New York, for example. But it would not have been fair; NordVPN still disappoints lacks that feature, so I used Surfshark's automatic server selection option (as I did with the other test subjects). NordVPN couldn't get close to Surfshark's US speeds during testing, however, averaging just 89Mbps on a US connection by comparison.
Surfshark again outperformed its peers during the UK and European tests, averaging 165 Mbps and 171 Mbps each, respectively. While future tests may include other regions of Europe, I currently go for a mix of German and French connections. Typically, no matter the VPN, Frankfurt speeds fall below average, while connections in Orange and Paris bring a sizable number of boosts. This was still the case with Surfshark's speed, but German numbers of Surfshark also exceeded the average speed of their competitors.
Australia is generally where we see dive numbers - the continent's distance from my test site in Kentucky means major latency. Latency was still high, but this fast VPN service seemed to marvel, considering the 126 Mbps average download speed. For comparison, this is closer to the 122Mbps average I measured for ExpressVPN's European connection.
Singapore is where speed is always competitive. The speed-testing site that I and most other reviewers use, Ookla, ranked Singapore's internet speeds as the fastest in the world in 2018, with an average national speed of 181 Mbps. How did Surfshark do it there? An easy, tempting 142Mbps average.
Was it a whisper? Was my VPN connection just having a good day? Was Surfshark's overall server traffic particularly light that day? All those things are possible. That's why my goal is to keep this new fresh speed queen, and that's why I recommend you always choose a VPN that offers a money-back guarantee and allows you to test their services in your normal use for 30 days. allow. But these are speeds I haven't seen from any of the VPNs I've tested so far.
Surfshark is a beast. If you're shopping for pure high speed right now, this super-fast VPN is the service provider you're looking for. Read our Surfshark review.
2. ExpressVPN ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
- 51.8% speed lost (slower than previous 2% loss in the previous test)
- Fastest VPN connections: Western Europe
- Slowest connections: US
It killed me to see ExpressVPN's speed drop from the jaw-dropping speeds seen for it last year. Not only did this VPN receive an Editors' Choice award, but—because it's one of the few VPNs that keeps no usage logs during geopolitical test-of-fire—it's my own personal favorite VPN. Its history and durable encryption, combined with its then-untouchable speeds, non-Five Eyes jurisdiction, and streamlined user interface make this VPN well worth the higher-than-average subscription cost.
Last year, ExpressVPN gave me less than a 2% speed loss overall. This year, I saw a 52% speed loss. Although this is a big drop, it still scores better than average compared to other VPNs. To be clear, ExpressVPN is still a speed demon that consistently ranks in the top 10 sites with largely automated VPN speed-testing processes. Just because Surfshark beat it to the finish line this time, it doesn't mean that ExpressVPN is downright sluggish. It still flies, and most people will have no problem gaming, streaming, or even heavy torrenting.
During testing, my non-VPN speeds averaged 193 Mbps, and ExpressVPN's overall global average speed was 93 Mbps. Peak speeds were reached on European connections, averaging around 122 Mbps between Frankfurt, Berlin, and Paris.
Australian speeds surpassed the UK with an average of 101 Mbps and 86 Mbps respectively. However, between the two, the UK caught the better individual high score, topping out at 157Mbps in the singles test compared to Australia's highest single-round score of 136Mbps. Singapore's score also trailed the UK's score at 89Mbps by just three points. The US scores were where ExpressVPN's average dragged on: US speeds were only 66 Mbps, despite reaching 134 Mbps in a single test round.
Because of ExpressVPN's history of smoking out its opponents on speed tests, my first instinct was to investigate a test issue on my side. So I went back through my testing process, double-checked my setup, and retested to make sure I wasn't accidentally throttling ExpressVPN's numbers.
When my results appeared consistent, I checked with a few sites that offer automated speed tests I trust and compared notes: of course, as of the end of October, Top10VPN and ProPrivacy Speed tests both show that ExpressVPN is struggling with stability and has slipped to the bottom. Rankings in the last few months.
I contacted ExpressVPN recently to find out what's going on with its speed drop. The company looked into this and said that several of its in-house tests were seeing speeds between 200Mbps and 275Mbps using the OpenVPN protocol. Those results were far above my own.
“We think one possible explanation is that there was network saturation between your ISP and our data center during the time period you tested, which again should not be a typical result,” an ExpressVPN spokesperson said.
The company also pointed to its new protocol, which is currently in development.
“We are converting our old OpenVPN infrastructure to Lightwave, a VPN protocol we developed in-house to deliver WireGuard-like speeds, but better security,” the spokesperson said. “It is in beta right now as we are still implementing changes so that we can provide our customers with the massive Lightway benefits, but once it is fully released in the next few months, we are confident whether it will deliver speeds equal to or better than the fastest WireGuard setups from other providers."
Is ExpressVPN still my favorite? Absolutely. And while the call isn't mine alone, I'd argue it takes more than a single-speed dip to contradict an Editors' Choice Award. All the same, if Surfshark ever gets its servers seized by a government and is found logless in public, ExpressVPN is going to have a problem on its hands. Read our ExpressVPN review.
3. NordVPN ( Fastest VPN 2022 )
- 53% speed lost (slower than previous 32% loss in previous tests)
- Fastest VPN connections: Singapore
- Slowest connections: US
Right out of the gate, it must be said that NordVPN has been steadily improving its speeds since I first tested it last year. While my latest tests show that the VPN provider lags 2 percentage points behind ExpressVPN, other speed-testing sites have regularly seen it lead. Since its embarrassing third-party server breach last year (which caused minimal damage), NordVPN has gone on the offensive. It has revamped its engine, along with a suite of comprehensive privacy improvements to its servers.
Granted, some of that may have to do with a new security protocol NordVPN rolled out, called NordLinks. It is built on the still-developing protocol WireGuard, which some argue is less secure than OpenVPN (an option available in all the VPNs listed here, and the one I use in testing), but which ultimately creates a faster VPN tunnel. . The improvements earned recommendations from both Ookla and AV-Test.
Even with praise from others, NordVPN had an overall global average speed of 91 Mbps during my testing, with the average non-VPN speed 194 Mbps in one dataset, for a speed loss of about 53%. While it's normal for a VPN to cut your internet speed in half or more, the noteworthy reference here is that in the average of my five test regions, I never saw NordVPN drop below 85 Mbps. It's still one of the most consistent, stable VPNs I've worked with.
Singapore-led VPN speed test averages at 98Mbps, while UK speeds beat European speeds by a hair's breadth. At 99.93Mbps, UK VPN connection speed squeaked ahead of French and German ones, which averaged 91.90Mbps. NordVPN also had another photo finish during testing, with Australia beating US scores, 88Mbps to 86Mbps. None of these are scores that you can look down your nose at. Read our NordVPN review.
Boosting your speed
No matter which VPN you are using, certain configurations can help you maximize your speeds. However, these suggestions are not intended to improve overall privacy and may come with some privacy cuts, depending on which VPN you are using. But in case you are interested, here are three ways to increase your VPN speed:
Check Your Protocol: If a VPN works by sending your Internet traffic through encrypted tunnels, the VPN's protocol is the method it uses to ditch that tunnel. VPNs use different types of security protocols for different reasons, and most VPNs allow you to switch between protocol options at will. Generally, the more secure the protocol, the slower your VPN speed. We generally recommend choosing the OpenVPN protocol as it is secure without being cumbersome, but you can increase your speed by switching your VPN app to the IKEv2/IPsec protocol.
Choose Nearby Servers: The closer you are physical to a server, the faster your information will travel. Select a server as close as possible to receive rapid-fire data returns. If you're using a VPN that visually displays how crowded an individual server is, like IPVanish, make sure you're choosing a server that's handling a small amount of traffic.
Split-tunneling: Split-tunneling is a feature offered by most of the major VPNs that allows you to decide which of your apps' internet traffic is being sent through your VPN. Reducing the amount of device data you are sending through your VPN can improve speeds. All of the VPNs listed in this article offer split-tunneling directly through their app, except for NordVPN, which offers split-tunneling only through its mobile app, and via desktop browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
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