Best Multi Device VPNs: Boost Your Privacy on All Your Devices

Surfshark is a solid option for anyone looking for a premium VPN experience at a budget-friendly price. Surfshark offers an impressive lineup of useful premium features that deliver a lot of value when you purchase a longer-term subscription. It can’t quite match NordVPN’s speed or ExpressVPN’s overall privacy position, but it comes remarkably close at a cheaper price. All in all, Surfshark is a top-notch VPN that demonstrates consistent improvement year after year.

Why we like it

Surfshark’s apps are slick, simple to use and deliver a consistent user experience across platforms, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Fire TV and Android TV. Streaming enthusiasts will appreciate that Surfshark does a good job of unblocking content on most platforms and streaming services and that it offers apps for smart TVs as well as streaming devices. Other than a few minor hiccups, Surfshark’s streaming performance was solid in our tests, which is what we would expect from a top-tier VPN provider. We like that it offers unlimited simultaneous connections, while many other VPNs limit you to 10 or fewer.

We’re impressed with Surfshark’s consistently fast speeds over the past few years, with an average speed loss hovering in the high teens. We measured an average speed loss of 21% in our 2025 speed tests — which is technically slower than previous years, but shouldn’t result in a noticeable difference in practice. Surfshark’s network of over 3,200 servers across 100 countries is large, but somewhat smaller than those provided by ExpressVPN (105 countries), Proton VPN (126 countries) and NordVPN (126 countries). A large network of servers like what Surfshark offers can help ensure fast speeds and stable connections by minimizing congestion and offering more options for more people to connect to servers nearby their physical location.

In addition to standard privacy protections like its kill switch, no-logs policy and DNS leak protection, Surfshark includes a few unique features that help it stand out from the pack. Dynamic Multihop lets you tunnel through any two server locations of your choosing for an added layer of privacy, and Rotating IP switches your IP address every few minutes, making it harder to track you online. Surfshark’s Alternative ID lets you create an alter-ego complete with full name, physical address, and email address that you can use online without divulging your true identity.

Following the lead of other VPN providers, including ExpressVPN, Mullvad and NordVPN, Surfshark recently rolled out post-quantum protections to protect against potential future threats from quantum computers. Even though Surfshark is still playing catch-up in terms of transparency, we’re encouraged that its latest audit report was published this year (its first since 2022) and that the company is committing to annual third-party audits.

While Surfshark’s $15.45 per month rate makes it one of the most expensive monthly subscription prices in the industry, pricing for its longer-term plans is reasonable. The yearly plan costs $48 for the first 15 months, while the 27-month plan costs $54 total for the first two years combined (the one- and two-year plans renew at $79 annually). Surfshark’s renewal prices increased this year. But it’s still significantly cheaper than the $75 for the first 15 months or $98 for the first 28 month that ExpressVPN starts at (the one- and two-year plans rewnew for $100 a year). Likewise, Surfshark undercuts the $60 for the first year or $81 total for the first two years that $NordVPN charges (the one- and two-year plans renew at $140 annually). Like many other VPNs, Surfshark offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you’re not satisfied with the service.  

NordVPN is the best VPN for users who need blazing-fast speeds for 4K video streaming, competitive online gaming or lag-free Zoom calls. It also offers a handful of privacy-boosting options and some innovative features like Meshnet. While Express remains slightly ahead in privacy and transparency and other VPNs offer cheaper long-term prices, NordVPN still provides an impressive all-around service that continues to improve. In July, 2025, NordVPN rolled out a scam call protection feature on Android, making it a compelling choice for folks who may want to reduce the number of spam calls they accidentally pick up.

Why we like it

NordVPN is the fastest VPN we tested by a long shot, with a best-in-class 3% average internet download speed loss — its closest competitor was Proton VPN at 16% speed loss. In our testing, we found NordVPN an excellent choice for streaming, with effortless unblocking of foreign Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus and Max libraries. Additionally, we had no issues watching BBC iPlayer, CBC Gem, Hulu, Crunchyroll and several other regional streaming services. Coupled with fast speeds, its excellent region-restricted content unblocking makes Nord one of the best VPNs for streaming. 

With a sizable roster of 8,000-plus servers throughout 126 countries, NordVPN is excellent for international travel and streaming — its global reach is slightly more than rivals Surfshark and ExpressVPN. Plus, its 10-device simultaneous connection limit is great for power users with multiple devices.  

We like that NordVPN’s strong privacy chops go beyond the basics. Alongside the industry-standard NordLynx (WireGuard-based) and OpenVPN VPN protocols, Nord offers its proprietary obfuscation-oriented NordWhisper, which masquerades as traditional web traffic to try slipping through firewalls. NordWhisper could be helpful in situations like on school Wi-Fi, when the network you’re on doesn’t play nicely with VPNs. You’ll get double VPN (which uses a second VPN connection) and Onion over VPN servers (which use Tor) to make it even more difficult to trace your traffic back to its source compared to a standard VPN connection. Meshnet lets you create a virtual local network of PCs, mobile devices and streaming devices for secure file sharing, hosting LAN parties or accessing services like Netflix without pesky multi-factor authentication.

Initially, NordVPN is a great value at $13 per month, $60 for the first year or $81 total for the first two years. However, the one- and two-year plans renew at an astronomical $140 per year, which is considerably more than the $79 to $80 that Surfshark and Proton VPN renew for, but in the same ballpark as ExpressVPN’s $100 annual renewal rates. Although you can avoid a pricey renewal price hike by stacking subscriptions, we’d like to see Nord’s pricing model be more transparent. Despite its extortionate renewal price, NordVPN is a superb VPN for everyone, from streaming fanatics to folks with critical privacy needs. 

ExpressVPN is an excellent VPN for everyone from beginners to privacy buffs thanks to its intuitive app design. With 10 simultaneous connections, you should be able to use most if not all of your devices with a VPN at once. But if not, ExpressVPN offers its AirCove and AirCove Go routers, so you can easily use a VPN with more than 10 devices — or devices like game consoles and Rokus that don’t natively support VPN apps. It’s a safe choice for privacy-conscious VPN users, and also a fantastic option for casual users because it’s extremely simple to use, fast and excellent for streaming. In July 2025, ExpressVPN expanded its server network to include all 50 US states, so it’s a great choice for travel to and within the United States, or unblocking regional sports streaming content, like NFL games or WNBA matches.

Why we like it

With ExpressVPN, you’ll get a simple interface and consistent user experience across platforms, making ExpressVPN an ideal choice for beginners. Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV Stick, as well as a GUI app for Linux. ExpressVPN’s streaming performance is impressive. We were able to access content from popular streaming sites like Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max and Amazon Prime Video across all devices we tested. You can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously with ExpressVPN, which matches NordVPN and Proton VPN but falls short to Surfshark’s unlimited allowance, but it should still be enough for most users.

You’ll want fast speeds for streaming and other data-heavy activities like gaming and torrenting. Thankfully, ExpressVPN delivers. We measured an 18% average speed loss in our latest speed tests with ExpressVPN, which represented significant improvement over our previous testing. The provider was able to remedy some earlier speed woes with a couple of inventive solutions on both Lightway and OpenVPN protocols on its updated Windows app.

If you have heightened privacy needs, you’ll appreciate ExpressVPN’s approach to transparency and user privacy. The provider leads the industry with 23 independent audits since 2018 and sets a standard by consistently rolling out innovative privacy improvements. ExpressVPN has kept pace with post-quantum security standards and integrated ML-KEM into the Lightway protocol in addition to rolling out post-quantum encryption on WireGuard to beef up its post-quantum protections. IP Shuffle is another helpful feature that works in the background and changes your IP address each time you load a website, which helps make it even more difficult to track you online. ExpressVPN’s kill switch works as advertised and we encountered no leaks in our latest tests. The VPN employs industry-standard AES 256-bit and ChaCha20 encryption with its Lightway protocol and also supports OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2 protocols. Its TrustedServer technology takes the RAM-only server infrastructure to the next level by reinstalling the entire server stack in addition to wiping any data with every reboot.

ExpressVPN is a well-rounded VPN and one of the very best you can buy. But the catch is that you’ll pay a premium. The monthly subscription plan costs $13, which is pretty standard across the industry. If you choose the yearly subscription, you’ll pay $75 for the first 15 months. The two-year plan costs $98 total for the first 28 months. The one- and two-year plans renew at $100 annually. Those prices are approximately in line with what NordVPN charges: $13 per month, $60 for the first year or $81 total for the first two years combined (the one- and two-year plans renew at $140 per year). Other top VPNs, such as Surfshark and Proton VPN are considerably cheaper. Surfshark costs $48 for the first year or $54 total for the first two years combined (the one- and two-year plans renew at $79 per year). Proton VPN charges $60 for the first year or $108 total for the first two years combined (the one- and two-year plans renew at $80 per year). ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you have the opportunity to try the service before fully committing.

PIA is a wallet-friendly VPN that’s cheaper than most competitors at $12 per month, $40 for the first year (renewing at $50 annually) or $79 total for three years of service. PIA also offers unlimited simultaneous connections, a benefit that pricier VPNs like Proton, ExpressVPN and NordVPN don’t have. It’s suitable for streaming service unblocking, provides a solid network of 35,000-plus servers in 91 countries and has highly customizable apps. Folks who live in or frequently travel to the US may appreciate PIA’s servers in all 50 of the United States — this can be helpful for streaming regional sports, like NFL games. 

Why we like it

We like that its apps are open-source, meaning anyone can inspect the source code for bugs or vulnerabilities. Only a few other providers, including Proton VPN and Mullvad, have open-source apps. While PIA largely sticks to covering the basics, it features some neat privacy amenities, including split tunneling on MacOS (which lets you use a VPN for certain apps and services but not others) — a rarity among VPN providers. Notably, Surfshark also offers split tunneling on MacOS. 

However, PIA was rough around the edges in our latest round of testing. We clocked its internet speed loss at an underwhelming 49% average, meaningfully higher than the 25% average we like to see. Additionally, we encountered many CAPTCHAs while trying to perform basic tasks like running a Google search. Although streaming was largely decent, we had to change servers more often than with other providers, like NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN or Surfshark. You can get Surfshark, which delivers far faster speeds, a better streaming experience and more forward-thinking privacy features, for a little more money. Still, PIA can be good on a budget for folks who need comprehensive US server coverage. Otherwise, your money is probably better spent on Surfshark or Proton VPN, both of which offer faster server performance and robust privacy while charging slightly more than PIA.

Proton VPN is the best free VPN — and the only zero-dollar VPN on the market that we wholeheartedly recommend. And its paid plan is impressive, competing directly with top VPNs like Surfshark and Mullvad for overall performance. While its apps aren’t quite as streamlined as Surfshark’s and it can’t quite meet the same privacy protections as Mullvad, Proton comes close and offers customization that should appeal to VPN power users.

Why we like it

Unlike many other free VPNs, Proton doesn’t sell your data, plaster your screen with ads or limit your monthly usage. But you’re restricted to using one device at a time, can only connect to servers in five countries and can’t manually pick a server. In comparison, PrivadoVPN’s free tier lets you choose a server while capping your monthly usage at 10GB. But Privado, unlike Proton, hasn’t been audited, making it a poor choice for anyone remotely concerned about privacy. If you need more servers, additional simultaneous connections and greater manual control, Proton’s paid plans allow for up to 10 connections at once and provide 15,800-plus servers in 126 countries, which is helpful for international travel or streaming.

Proton is fast, extremely private and exceptional for streaming. You’ll find a slew of unique privacy features, like discreet app icons on Android that let you disguise the Proton app on your phone as a calculator, notes or weather app, which could be helpful when traveling to countries where VPNs are frowned upon. But it’s not all work and no play with Proton VPN. Its 16% average internet download speed loss, which was second only to NordVPN in our testing, is great for streaming. You can expect to keep most of your baseline internet speeds, which should help you stay clear of buffering or low-res video. Moreover, Proton unblocked virtually every streaming service we threw at it, including Netflix Egypt, which only a few VPNs, including ExpressVPN, could also unlock. 

The Proton VPN app is pretty easy to use on most platforms, regardless of whether you’re a privacy pro or this is your first time using a VPN. It supports nearly every device you can think of, from Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android to streaming devices like the Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. There’s even a Linux GUI app, which is simpler to navigate for beginners than a command-line-only app. Its apps aren’t quite as intuitive as ExpressVPN’s minimalist app, but Proton remains uncomplicated. Unfortunately, considering the privacy implications, we were disappointed in a design flaw with Proton’s MacOS app that failed to properly warn users that their online activity and IP address may be unmasked when switching servers. The company has promised a fix in a forthcoming update. Additionally, Proton VPN lacks 24/7 live chat (but plans to offer it by the end of the year), so if you expect to regularly need help outside of regular business hours, you may want to consider another VPN until then. Ultimately, Proton VPN is hands-down the best free VPN on the market, with a compelling premium plan that’s private and great for streaming.