Five best VPN services

In the light of events related to the restriction of Internet access, censorship and blocking of sites, I consider it necessary to provide you with a translation of a comparative article on VPN services from LifeHacker.

Private internet access

This is our favorite service, and judging by the number of awards that they have collected - and yours too. PIA provides not only traffic encryption, but also anonymization, coupled with unlinking from a regional location. You can select an output server from a list of almost 1000 pieces (in 10 different countries). PIA does not store logs, does not prohibit any protocols and IP addresses, and does not store information about user actions. They also support several authorization methods, almost all OSes (mobile and desktop), and the cost of services starts at $ 7 per month. You can connect up to five different devices.

Torguard

The service offers a choice of different types of servers for different types of actions. Servers that support the torrent protocol - for downloading data, servers with encryption and anonymity - to ensure safe and private visits to the network, etc. Particular attention is paid to the issue of DNS leaks - they even offer their test for checks. The cost of a full VPN service starts at $ 10 / month, and if you need specialized ones, they will be a bit cheaper. The service has more than 200 exit points in 18 countries, there are no logs, and moreover, they claim that their network is set up in such a way that they themselves have no idea what their users are doing at the moment. They also support almost all operating systems (mobile and desktop), and they also offer an encrypted email service.
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IPVanish VPN

An interesting feature of the service is the use of shared ip-addresses. Because of this, it is really difficult to establish which user is doing what. In addition, the service has more than one hundred output servers in 47 different countries and the user can choose an output server if, for example, he needs a specific country. The software supports OS X, Windows, Ubuntu, iOS and Android. In addition, the service provides configuration utilities with which you can configure your home router to work with it. The cost of the service is $ 10 / month, and it is possible to connect two different devices if they use different protocols.

CyberGhost VPN

The service has been around for a long time, and, like the other participants in the rating, claims the absence of logs and restrictions on the types of protocols and traffic. The service offers a choice of output servers in 23 different countries. Interestingly, the service also provides free services, and free users not only can use it without traffic restrictions, but even choose the country of the output server (the free choice consists of 14 countries instead of 23, which is not bad either). The service supports almost all OSes.
The only difference between free accounts is that they disconnect after 3 hours of work and can work only with an official client. The cost of the service starts from $ 7 / month, if you need to connect more than one device, you will need to pay extra.

Do-it-yourself

Some people think that if you need to do something right, it is better to do it yourself; and those of them who are sufficiently savvy in IT matters, may well make their own VPN server. If you do not need output servers in different countries, you can organize your service using OpenVPN or other open source options. Many routers support the OpenVPN protocol, while others can install custom DD-WRT or Tomato firmware. This option gives you full control over encryption, access and other connection issues.

Other services

Other services include the following:

Hideman VPN - cross-platform, without logging

Tunnelbear - among other things, offers an addon for browsers

AirVPN is perhaps the most feature-rich service.

VyprVPN is a good service, but they keep user activity logs.

Mullvad is a Swedish provider who accepts payment in bitcoins for greater anonymity. The cost of services is 5 euro / month, a choice of four countries for output servers is provided.

User voting results for selected VPN services on LifeHacker website:

25% Private Internet Access
24% TorGuard
23% IPVanish
19% CyberGhost
09% DIY