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.
(page 3) 35 comments
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[–] cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

no love for windscribe? :(

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[–] pound_heap@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago

This is great, thanks for sharing! You've got a few useful feedback points, let me add one more: does a provider have an onion address. This allows decoupling of payment from usage. Not a big thing, but good to know.

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Why is Tor never compared to vpns for most people? Like 90% are just wanting an encrypted tunnel to a proxiy right?

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

Isn’t Mozilla VPN built on Mullvad? Also, why this instead of https://thatoneprivacysite.xyz/#detailed-vpn-comparison

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[–] pineapple@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Nymvpn seams great! I've never heard of it either. I just hope it stays around and gets a name for itself.

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[–] superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Would Nym work with Glueten? It seems bewz so its not listed on their github but it supports wireguard so maybe it does.

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[–] lemmyknow@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Okay, what exactly are the benefits of a VPN for the average user (non-corporate), besides pretending to be somewhere else?

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[–] Lemmchen@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Can Nym be used on an OpenWrt router? Does it require a special app or can it be used with a standard wireguard config?

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Can Nym be used on an OpenWrt router?

A guide is in the works.

Does it require a special app or can it be used with a standard wireguard config?

It supports WireGuard.

[–] eclipse@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Nym looks interesting and I hadn't heard of it before, but based on my reading I wouldn't say it supports wireguard.

It implements wireguard but it still looks like you need to use their client instead of a vanilla wireguard one.

Cool, thanks for sharing.

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Wow, Nym’s payment model past month-to-month looks good. I don’t really need port forwarding, so the advantage I see they have over Mullvad is the decentralized nature of their servers. Mullvad does have multi-hop but it goes through Mullvad owned or rented servers. Does anyone know if Nym really does use servers that aren’t leased/rented by them for decentralization? Otherwise, they are no different from Mullvad and only the payment model is better.

[–] Lemmchen@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago

Mullvad does not offer port-forwarding anymore.

[–] Clark@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

Nym pays users to be a relay as far as I know. There are 5 relays or 2 relays with your preference (depends on the speed and security you want). Maybe they own some servers that I don't know but their encryption techniques are quite advanced. There are articles on their websites that they cannot log anything.

[–] maximumbird@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I was grumped by not seeing PIA on this break down. I’ve been using it for years and have always had a good experience with it. But I’m not so sure I know their privacy side now that I see this great break down

Edit: just re read the post again and I think PIA isn’t on here cause it’s not open source?

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

I'm having problems opening the image, is it just me?

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I've included it both as a post image and as an embedded image for maximum compatibility (e.g. for RSS readers), so there shouldn't be any problems. I've tested it on multiple browsers on multiple devices just fine.

Edit: It seems lemmy.world is breaking all lemmy.ml images

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

also doesn't work on sh.it

[–] maccentric@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

I can see it there? On Voyager, if that matters.

[–] muzzle@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Missing category: android TV support

[–] florge@feddit.uk 1 points 2 days ago

Can just use the wireguard app

[–] stupid_asshole69@hexbear.net -1 points 2 days ago

Posts you have to squint at to figure out if they glow or are just inexperienced.

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