this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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Privacy

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VPN Comparison (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by Charger8232@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
 

VPN Comparison

I made a spreadsheet comparing different open source VPN providers.

Part 2 here

Providers

Notes

  • Please do not start a flame war about Proton.
  • Please do not start a flame war about cryptocurrencies. Monero is the only cryptocurrency listed because of its privacy.
  • The very left column is the category for each row, the middle section is the various VPN providers, and the right section is which VPNs are the best in each category.
  • IVPN has two differing plans, which is why "Standard" and "Pro" are sometimes differentiated.
  • For accounts, "Generated" means a random identifier is created for you to act as your account, "Required" means you must sign up yourself. Proton VPN allows guest use under specific conditions (e.g. installed from the Google Play Store), but otherwise requires an account.
  • Switzerland is seen as more private than Sweden. Gibraltar is seen as privacy neutral.
  • All prices are in United States Dollars. Tax is not included.
  • Pricing is based on the price combination to achieve the exact time frame. For example, Proton VPN does not have a 3 year plan but you can achieve 3 years by combining a 2 year plan with a 1 year plan.
  • The availability section is security based. Availability is framed around a GrapheneOS and secureblue setup.
  • The Proton VPN Flatpak is unofficial, but based on the official code.
  • Availability on secureblue is based on the ujust install-vpn command. Security features must be disabled on secureblue in order to use the GUI for IVPN and Mullvad VPN, but not for Proton VPN. Mozilla VPN and NymVPN are available as Flatpaks, which are safer than layering packages.
  • I wanted to include more categories, such as which programming languages they are written in, connection speed, and security, but that became far too difficult and complex, so I decided to omit those categories.

Takeaways

  • NymVPN is very very new, but it's off to a strong start. It wins in almost every category. I actually hadn't heard of it until I started this project.
  • If you want a free VPN, Proton VPN is the only one here that meets that requirement.
  • If you want to pay week-by-week, IVPN is the only one that allows that.
  • If you're paying month-by-month on a budget, Mullvad VPN is the cheapest option.
  • NymVPN is the cheapest plan for anything past 1 month.
  • If you want to use Accrescent as your main app store, IVPN is the only VPN available there for now.
  • If you want to pay for a bundle of apps, including a VPN, Proton sells more than just a VPN.
  • Mozilla VPN is terrible. The only thing it has going for it is a verified Flatpak, but NymVPN also has that so it doesn't even matter.
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[–] nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Never heard of NymVPN. Does anyone use them?

I use Mullvad, and I really trust their devs. Not really looking to change, but having more options is always good.

[–] Brunette6256@sh.itjust.works 7 points 21 hours ago

Yeah me neither. This kinda feels like a nymvpn ad

[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same boat, Nym's long term costs seem to scale much better, but I'd be reluctant to leave Mullvad

[–] girsaysdoom@sh.itjust.works 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

I looked on the website. This is actually an "early bird" special price that is ~80% discounted. So after a while, it's going to be $162/year and $310/2 years.

[–] nothrone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I looked on the website. This is actually an “early bird” special price that is ~80% discounted. So after a while, it’s going to be $162/year and $310/2 years.

I don't really pay attention to these "discounts". It is, generally, just a marketing tactic. Plenty of services/websites/shops have the same discount 24/7.

[–] girsaysdoom@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

You're right, it is pretty common to do that but there's always the chance they just cancel the discount around renewal. If you have autopay then you probably already committed to the new price before you realized what happened.

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 3 points 23 hours ago

AirVPN needs some spotlight.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

Whats best for mainland China?

[–] tomsh@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Maybe adding number of servers and country diversity

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You probably dont want to use a super well known vpn for many reasons...

[–] dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 8 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure about your statement, but using a very unknown vpn could lead to possibly tracking you because theres less of a crowd to blend in with.

Assuming your statement is correct (idk if it is), then there's a middleground i guess.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 1 points 19 hours ago

Are you sure you can blend in? Depends on the vpn and the laws I guess... If they are able to identify your connection. As far as I know, they all have credentials connected to your account...

[–] FutileRecipe@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Using one only because it's super well known? Sure. It can be well known and scummy. But it can also be well known, trusted, vetted, etc.

And you also probably don't want to use one that is barely known as there's the lack of trust, getting, who runs it's, etc.

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What about logging policies? Seems like that would be an important category to visit - which providers store logs or don't etc. I've heard of some that use RAM-only logging that allegedly never gets stored on disk.

[–] Starkon@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Even so, you never knowif they're really no log. What guarantees that apart from a verbal promise?

[–] PolarKraken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago

Best way I know is to observe them being unable to comply with legal demands to supply data when they receive them. From what I've heard Mullvad has passed that test, but I've never tried to follow up and find details.

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

There is no guarantee unless you could personally audit their facilities and inspect what they did with your account etc. But I would still choose one that states they have a good policy versus one that says nothing on the subject.

[–] Rose@lemmy.zip 46 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Why is being on the Google Play store a feature worth highlighting? To use an F-Droid expression, that would be an anti-feature.

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

With the upcoming restrictions on third-party apps that Google has announced maybe? It'll be easier to get from Play, and may not be available otherwise at all.

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[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 26 points 2 days ago

I believe Wireguard/OpenVPN/etc profile availability is more important than Google Play Store.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have never heard of NymVPN

[–] FutileRecipe@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Most people haven't, till they have.

[–] apotheotic@beehaw.org 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why is proton VPN excluded from the winners for open source, license, and based on, despite having the exact same values populated as the other 4 winners?

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