The best VPN, graded on evidence you can check.
Highest Gauge Score
Proton VPN
Best overall — audited, open-source, Swiss
Independent VPN review desk
An independent VPN review desk. We score providers 0–100 on audit dates, jurisdiction, protocols and price — and we recommend the two providers that pay us nothing when they earn it.
The Tunnelgauge leaderboard
Eight providers, scored 0–100 from published evidence across five pillars. One of them — Mullvad — pays us nothing, and still makes the board.
Full methodology →Best overall — audited, open-source, Swiss
Switzerland (outside 14 Eyes)Securitum no-logs, Aug 2025 (5th)
2 NordVPN
Best all-rounder — biggest feature set, 6 audits
Panama (outside 14 Eyes)Deloitte no-logs, Dec 2025 (6th)
3 Mullvad
pays us $0Best for privacy purists — and it pays us nothing
Sweden (14 Eyes; mitigated)Assured / X41 app & infra, 2024–2026
No affiliate link — we earn nothing hereRead the review →Best value — unlimited devices
Netherlands (9 Eyes)Deloitte no-logs, Jun 2025
Best court-tested no-logs — cheapest of the majors
United States (5 Eyes; court-tested)Deloitte no-logs, 2025 (3rd)
Best for beginners — 45-day refund
Romania (outside 14 Eyes)Deloitte no-logs, Q4 2025 (3rd)
Simplest apps — but the priciest
British Virgin Islands (no retention)KPMG TrustedServer, Feb 2025 (2nd)
8 IPVanish
Cheap and unlimited — but a 2016 logging incident
United States (5 Eyes)Leviathan no-logs, 2022 (re-run 2025)
Re-add the weights
Pick a provider. Each line is a pillar grade times its weight; the lines sum to the score.
91Proton VPN
90NordVPN
88Mullvad
87Surfshark
86Private Internet Access
83CyberGhost
79ExpressVPN
71IPVanish
No speed tests we never ran. Audit dates, jurisdiction and price — cited and dated.
Proton VPN
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 95 × 30% = | 28.5 |
| Security | 93 × 25% = | 23.25 |
| Value | 80 × 20% = | 16 |
| Features | 90 × 15% = | 13.5 |
| Transparency | 95 × 10% = | 9.5 |
| Gauge Score | 90.75, rounded | 91 |
NordVPN
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 92 × 30% = | 27.6 |
| Security | 94 × 25% = | 23.5 |
| Value | 85 × 20% = | 17 |
| Features | 95 × 15% = | 14.25 |
| Transparency | 75 × 10% = | 7.5 |
| Gauge Score | 89.85, rounded | 90 |
Mullvad
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 98 × 30% = | 29.4 |
| Security | 93 × 25% = | 23.25 |
| Value | 70 × 20% = | 14 |
| Features | 75 × 15% = | 11.25 |
| Transparency | 100 × 10% = | 10 |
| Gauge Score | 87.9, rounded | 88 |
Surfshark
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 85 × 30% = | 25.5 |
| Security | 90 × 25% = | 22.5 |
| Value | 95 × 20% = | 19 |
| Features | 88 × 15% = | 13.2 |
| Transparency | 70 × 10% = | 7 |
| Gauge Score | 87.2, rounded | 87 |
Private Internet Access
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 83 × 30% = | 24.9 |
| Security | 90 × 25% = | 22.5 |
| Value | 95 × 20% = | 19 |
| Features | 78 × 15% = | 11.7 |
| Transparency | 80 × 10% = | 8 |
| Gauge Score | 86.1, rounded | 86 |
CyberGhost
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 80 × 30% = | 24 |
| Security | 85 × 25% = | 21.25 |
| Value | 85 × 20% = | 17 |
| Features | 85 × 15% = | 12.75 |
| Transparency | 75 × 10% = | 7.5 |
| Gauge Score | 82.5, rounded | 83 |
ExpressVPN
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 83 × 30% = | 24.9 |
| Security | 90 × 25% = | 22.5 |
| Value | 65 × 20% = | 13 |
| Features | 75 × 15% = | 11.25 |
| Transparency | 70 × 10% = | 7 |
| Gauge Score | 78.65, rounded | 79 |
IPVanish
| Pillar | Grade × weight | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy & trust | 60 × 30% = | 18 |
| Security | 80 × 25% = | 20 |
| Value | 80 × 20% = | 16 |
| Features | 70 × 15% = | 10.5 |
| Transparency | 65 × 10% = | 6.5 |
| Gauge Score | 71, rounded | 71 |
Latest reviews
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Oct 13, 2026Best VPN for Mac (2026): App Store vs Direct-Download Builds Compared
Which Mac VPN to install, and which build of it: the App Store and website versions are not always the same app. Dated prices included.
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Device limits read from each provider's own page, what counts as a device, and the cost per device for 4-, 8- and 12-device homes.
Oct 13, 2026Best Value VPN 2026: Most Protection Per Dollar
Value is what you get per dollar, not the smallest price. Surfshark, PIA and CyberGhost lead — and sometimes the best value is a $0 audited free tier.
Sep 21, 2026Best VPN for Beginners 2026: Easiest to Start
For a first VPN, ignore server counts. What matters is one-click apps, an audited no-logs policy and a long refund window — CyberGhost leads on all three.
Sep 21, 2026A review desk, not a billboard
Tunnelgauge scores VPNs on evidence a reader can check for themselves. That means published third-party audits and the dates they were signed, the jurisdiction a provider answers to, the protocols it actually ships, and the price you pay on the plan most people buy. It does not mean speed charts we cannot reproduce or vague promises of total anonymity, because a VPN cannot deliver that.
Every provider gets a Gauge Score out of 100, built from five weighted pillars — privacy and trust, security, value, features, and transparency. We show the pillar breakdown next to the number so you can re-add the weights and argue with our maths. When we get something wrong, that is how you will catch us.
Why our two top-of-mind picks pay us nothing
Most of the sites that rank at the top of a search for best VPN are owned by the companies they review. Kape Technologies owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost and Private Internet Access — and also owns the review sites vpnMentor, Wizcase and SafetyDetectives. Ziff Davis owns IPVanish and also owns PCMag and CNET. We are not part of that circle, and we prove it by recommending Mullvad and Windscribe where the evidence supports it, even though neither runs an affiliate program and neither pays us a cent.
Start with the full ranking of the best VPNs for 2026, read how the Gauge Score is built, or jump to the best VPN for privacy if that is the only pillar you care about.