List of VPN Service Providers - 2025

[apogio]

I refuse to pay to get rid of ads. That feels like paying for protection. For years, I was okay with ads, as I understand websites need to earn something, but "they" went completely overboard and now I'm done seeing ads. My browser has blocked millions of them, which kinda proves it's too much.

YouTube subscription offers offline viewing which for some people is very important. I am not going into personal details but primarily that’s the reason she needs it. For everything else I totally agree, I m using ad blockers everywhere.

[LTU_btc]

Are you sure about that? Netflix and Spotify, both have monthly subscription model only, they don't have annual subscription. When it comes to hosting companies, there are millions of them with different style of marketing, so I don't agree with you here too. There are lots of hosting companies that don't have crazy annual deals and have a normal monthly plans and there are also those, who have expensive monthly plans and cheap annual plans. In hosting companies, it's also very common to pay as you go instead of paying upfront.

Ok, that's my bad. I mentioned first streaming services that come to my head and I was sure that they have annual plans. But someservices do have. Like I recently tried HBO Max where by choosing annual plan you can save 16%.
In general, I agree with your arguments, I also would prefer if more VPN services would have cheap monthly plans. I'm just trying to find reasons why they don't offer it.

[SFR10]

I am surprised, but IVPN much faster when I was connected to Swiss servers. The ping was almost double with Mullvad (constantly) which means I could stream much faster with IVPN.

Did you use both of them under the exact same configuration and providers ^{[M247 and PrivateLayer]}?
^{Note: Mullvad uses four providers (including themselves) while IVPN uses two providers to offer Swiss servers.}

I recently discovered that some countries aren't monetized by Youtube. That means no ads
On my normal system my browser takes care of this, but on TV a VPN in Albania works like a charm.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on my end when I tested an Albanian server using Mullvad ^{[perhaps IVPN has something else in the mix]}: Screenshot

[apogio]

Did you use both of them under the exact same configuration and providers ^{[M247 and PrivateLayer]}?
^{Note: Mullvad uses four providers (including themselves) while IVPN uses two providers to offer Swiss servers.}

That's what I mean when I say I am an average user. I used them with the default configuration, so I can't really answer your question. It's reasonable that you ask though. M247 and PrivateLayer don't really ring a bell, I hope I didn't do anything wrong.

What I did was that I just opened up the VPNs and clicked on Switzerland. It must have auto-connected to a Swiss server afterwards. I checked for leaks online and it showed I was in Zurich.

[RickDeckard]

Did you use both of them under the exact same configuration and providers ^{[M247 and PrivateLayer]}?
^{Note: Mullvad uses four providers (including themselves) while IVPN uses two providers to offer Swiss servers.}

That's what I mean when I say I am an average user. I used them with the default configuration, so I can't really answer your question. It's reasonable that you ask though. M247 and PrivateLayer don't really ring a bell, I hope I didn't do anything wrong.

What I did was that I just opened up the VPNs and clicked on Switzerland. It must have auto-connected to a Swiss server afterwards. I checked for leaks online and it showed I was in Zurich.

You can check the provider for each Mullvad VPN server here[1]. Switzerland specific providers are here[2] - this is where you'll see that some server providers are PrivateLayer and M247.
Tip - Whenever I used Mullvad services, I always made sure that I was connected to a Mullvad owned server, even it they were from PrivateLayer or any other provider. Just adds a extra layer of comfort from my perspective.
[1]https://mullvad.net/en/servers
[2]https://mullvad.net/en/servers?country=ch

[LoyceV]

I recently discovered that some countries aren't monetized by Youtube. That means no ads
On my normal system my browser takes care of this, but on TV a VPN in Albania works like a charm.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on my end when I tested an Albanian server using Mullvad

I'll check which Albanian server I used on TV:

Code:

Albania, Tirana
al-tia-wg-002

I just tested several videos on Youtube: no commercials.
I don't know why it's not working for you. Just guessing here: could it be the Google account you use has a home address set?

[apogio]

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on my end when I tested an Albanian server using Mullvad

Open a browser and go to geolocation.com

If you see your real address there, this could be the reason. It's almost what LoyceV said above.

For example the website for me gives this because I am connected to an Italian VPN server. But, if geolocation was turned on on my computer, it would leak my real country IP.



You can also check for the geolocation here: https://ipleak.net/

This website will give you a good overview of possible leaks.

[SFR10]

I'll check which Albanian server I used on TV:

Code:

Albania, Tirana
al-tia-wg-002

I just tested several videos on Youtube: no commercials.
I don't know why it's not working for you. Just guessing here: could it be the Google account you use has a home address set?

Thank you for the details, but it appears that both of us were using the same server with different end results ^{[I also tried the other Albanian server (al-tia-wg-001), but had no luck]}.
^{- I just finished checking my Google account, and it doesn't seem I've ever set a home address there.}

• If you see your real address there, this could be the reason. It's almost what LoyceV said above.
  ...
  This website will give you a good overview of possible leaks.
  

  Thank you for mentioning these websites, but at the moment, there aren't any leaks with my current setup.
  ^{- It looks like I have to settle on other paid options to get rid of the annoying ads.}

[LoyceV]

it appears that both of us were using the same server with different end results

Let's see if anyone else can test this.

[Synchronice]

Haha, I equally like Mullvad and IVPN, no need to switch if you enjoy Mullvad. I experience better speed with IVPN though.

In terms of privacy, I was not able to find any leaks with both services, but I am not an expert.

No, I mean the fact that Mullvad is based in Sweden and IVPN is based in Gibraltar, which is a dependent territory of the United Kingdom.

I am surprised, but IVPN much faster when I was connected to Swiss servers. The ping was almost double with Mullvad (constantly) which means I could stream much faster with IVPN.

I tested multiple servers in Europe (other than Switzerland) and I couldn't see notable differences in speed.

For me, IVPN is significantly faster when I try to connect to US servers. European servers are slightly faster but nothing gamechanger. Actually, NordVPN has been the fastest for me. I've tried all of them on gaming and NordVPN was the beast, my ping was very low there.

I recently discovered that some countries aren't monetized by Youtube. That means no ads

I found that loophole too but recently, I even see ads on such locations.

Cool, I didn't know that. To be honest, we have a paid subscription with Google (my wife), so the ads don't really bother us because we 're connected with her account. But definitely, your point should be important for the great majority of people.

Turkish accounts solve every problem easily

For years, I was okay with ads, as I understand websites need to earn something, but "they" went completely overboard and now I'm done seeing ads. My browser has blocked millions of them, which kinda proves it's too much.

What YouTube does is really ridiculous. Ads after ads, without a skin button. I hate to see videos on YouTube. Now I use TikTok, I mostly watch UFC fights and there are no ads and it feels so much better. I know that TikTok is bad for privacy but anyways, it is what it is Use a different smartphone for that when I'm at home.

[LoyceV]

I hate to see videos on YouTube.

On desktop or mobile I use Firefox with uBlock Origin or Brave browser for Youtube without ads.

[Zwei]

What YouTube does is really ridiculous. Ads after ads, without a skin button. I hate to see videos on YouTube.

youtube is one of the worst cases of enshittification i have seen, ever since their new CEO took over, it's only got worse.
ads are out of control (mainly to push you to buy premium), they keep updating the UI for no reason, search barely works anymore, sometimes i would look for something and get zero related results or a full page of stupid shorts or AI slop videos.

i hate to see videos on youtube too.

[dkbit98]

By the way, I want to mention here that I hugely dislike the fact that they ask you to add your email to get additional free GBs on free plan. Privacy-focused VPN shouldn't be asking for emails to my mind.

This is the reason why I love NYM and Mullvad VPN services, they literally don't ask you for any information for purchasing and using them.
However, it is trivial to get temp email address or alias email and use it only for that VPN purpose.

So, I 've tried NYM and Mullvad.

Mullvad is the better option because it is older and more mature, but I NYM have some advantages and I think it is going to be much better in future. 

On desktop or mobile I use Firefox with uBlock Origin or Brave browser for Youtube without ads.

Or you can use open source FreeTube app.
Youtube started adding more restrictions when adblockers are used.

[LoyceV]

Or you can use open source FreeTube app.

This one? With just 10K+ downloads, I wouldn't dare install it. I barely install apps anyway: I don't trust them.

[dkbit98]

This one? With just 10K+ downloads, I wouldn't dare install it. I barely install apps anyway: I don't trust them.

Yes, it's open source app and it works great for desktop Linux, MacOS, wind0ws... and you wont have any ads or tracking by g00gle.
There are probably better alternatives for smartphones, something like NewPipe app is very popular last time I checked.
https://github.com/FreeTubeApp

Another nice bonus is they accepting Bitcoin donations:


https://freetubeapp.io/

[Synchronice]

I hate to see videos on YouTube.

On desktop or mobile I use Firefox with uBlock Origin or Brave browser for Youtube without ads.

Don't you watch from their app on your mobile? I really like their mobile app but I'll try your approach. On my computer, I do that but I rarely use YouTube on my PC these days. I mostly use YouTube when I'm on a long road or travelling.

This is the reason why I love NYM and Mullvad VPN services, they literally don't ask you for any information for purchasing and using them.
However, it is trivial to get temp email address or alias email and use it only for that VPN purpose.

I'll try NYM soon. You like it very much, so I really wonder how good the experience is.

This one? With just 10K+ downloads, I wouldn't dare install it. I barely install apps anyway: I don't trust them.

Yes, it's open source app and it works great for desktop Linux, MacOS, wind0ws... and you wont have any ads or tracking by g00gle.

No, you don't mean the one that he shared, that's a completely different app but the later one that you shared it the app that he needs to download. By the way, I can't read the code and can't say anything about that app, so can't suggest it to anybody.

Since there is a talk about YouTube, I'll share the app that I use on my smartphone to download youtube videos. The name of the app is YTDLnis, here is the link: https://github.com/deniscerri/ytdlnis

[joniboini]

Since there is a talk about YouTube, I'll share the app that I use on my smartphone to download youtube videos. The name of the app is YTDLnis, here is the link: https://github.com/deniscerri/ytdlnis

I feel familiar with this, even though I can't recall when I used it. I guess it's more about the yt-dlp familiarity since I used to download videos from the terminal on my Linux PC. Is ease of use the reason you use this compared to running the command through Termux or something similar? I guess it's easier to use this if you already know which video is useful for you, so you don't have to change your IP to avoid ads (if you can't use an ad blocker or were blocked by the uploader). CMIIW.

[SFR10]

Are there any Windscribe users here who have recently tried their latest anti-fingerprinting feature to see its effectiveness? Introducing Anti-Fingerprinting: Because “Incognito” Isn’t Fooling Anyone
^{- FWIW, I have mixed feelings about using it, since it requires using an extension (I rarely trust them) while appearing to be free (making me the product) and lastly, a Reddit user mentioned getting a "slightly worse result"!}

[Synchronice]

Are there any Windscribe users here who have recently tried their latest anti-fingerprinting feature to see its effectiveness? Introducing Anti-Fingerprinting: Because “Incognito” Isn’t Fooling Anyone
^{- FWIW, I have mixed feelings about using it, since it requires using an extension (I rarely trust them) while appearing to be free (making me the product) and lastly, a Reddit user mentioned getting a "slightly worse result"!}

I don't believe in them being a privacy-focused VPN because if they are so, then why do they offer me 10GB bandwidth per month if I enter my email? It clearly indicates that they want some statistics for marketing and for that, they offer me 10GB free monthly bandwidth. If they didn't have this offer, I would probably trust them more but this would be a psychological trick that would work on me.

By the way, that guy on Reddit said that he had a nearly-unique fingerprint and Windscribe gave him an unique fingerprint, so he doubted that Windscribe was improving things in this case.
I wonder if he cleared cookies and absolutely everythin in Browser before using Windscribe? Also, what Browser was he using?
I am no expert but I also think that it should make your fignerprint identical to other Windscribe users to protect you from identifying.

[ABCbits]

Are there any Windscribe users here who have recently tried their latest anti-fingerprinting feature to see its effectiveness? Introducing Anti-Fingerprinting: Because “Incognito” Isn’t Fooling Anyone
^{- FWIW, I have mixed feelings about using it, since it requires using an extension (I rarely trust them) while appearing to be free (making me the product) and lastly, a Reddit user mentioned getting a "slightly worse result"!}

Only expert can actually tell how effective their anti-fingerprinting feature, although i expect extension can't be that effective. For those who have concern about browser fingerprint, they should consider using either Tor Browser or Mullvad Browser. Mullvad Browser is fork of Tor Browser, without using Tor connection and you can use it without touching Mullvad service at all.