You may wonder why you should care what Reddit has to say about VPNs and why we should make a “best VPN by Reddit” list instead of updating our own. Well, here’s an answer to that.
Reddit is a place where only the good reach the top and only the best stay there long enough to gain worldwide attention. What’s more, a community as large as Reddit is difficult to manipulate.
We already know that there’s no point in taking the “user reviews” on a VPN provider’s website for granted. Reading what users comment about each VPN below news articles is also becoming a waste of time. In this light, Reddit remains the place where user opinions on VPNs still matter.
With that in mind, we decided to check which VPNs are recommended by the Reddit community and see if our opinions match. Here are the results of our research – the best VPN by Reddit list.
Best VPN service according to Reddit
1. ExpressVPN – best VPN by Reddit ‣
We wish Reddit had surprised us with a non-conformist opinion about ExpressVPN, but it didn’t. Even though we’re seeing more reservations among Reddit users than we did last year, we can still say that ExpressVPN is still the best paid VPN by Reddit. This service is far from cheap, but it delivers on every promise.
Redditors praise the provider’s speed and long server list (over 9.3 in more than 90 countries). Torrenting capability is also one of the critical areas where this VPN manages to deliver. What’s even more, it’s known to work in China.
While Reddit users often ask about Netflix issues that ExpressVPN faces, most of the time these are temporary. In any case, Reddit users collectively agree that finding a better VPN for streaming would be tough, especially one with apps for multiple devices like Apple TV, Fire TV, or PlayStation.
2. CyberGhost – best user interface by Reddit ‣
We’re not surprised to see CyberGhost on the list as it’s one of the best VPNs overall, and Reddit users seem to really like it. It’s user-friendly, allows torrenting, and unblocks various streaming platforms. CyberGhost also has a 24/7 live chat and offers good security. All things considered, it offers one of the best VPN services we’ve seen recommended on Reddit and clearly the one with the best interface.
At the moment, the majority of Reddit posts that mention CyberGhost are dedicated to Kape Technologies (their parent company) acquiring Private Internet Access.
However, other comments praise CyberGhost being great for torrenting and its Romanian jurisdiction, which adds more privacy.
While this provider is among the fastest VPNs, it’s the pricing that separates it from the likes of ExpressVPN – you can get CyberGhost for $2.75/month. There’s also a 24-hour free trial for you to see whether CyberGhost will spook you out. Finally, all subscribers get a generous 45-day money-back guarantee.
3. Surfshark VPN – best cheap VPN by Reddit ‣
Surfshark is considered to be the best cheap VPN by Reddit users. And rightfully so – at $1.99/month, you won’t find a better deal. But Surfshark is not about low prices only – one of it’s biggest pros is an unlimited number of simultaneous connections.
Among other Surfshark qualities, Redditors mention user-friendly app design, which indeed is well-thought of. However, Reddit users have some concerns as well. The first one is speed, but this one highly depends on your location, your ISP, and your hardware.
Another Surfshark issue mentioned on Reddit was blocked Netflix. However, it seemed to be a specific problem that didn’ get many upvotes. Besides, we have tested Surfshark VPN and put it on our best VPN for Netflix list.
To sum up, Surfshark VPN has a positive reputation on Reddit despite some concerns that will soon belong to the internet archive.
4. NordVPN – safest VPN by Reddit ‣
Arguably the safest VPN by Reddit, NordVPN also is powerful enough to provide great speeds for browsing, torrenting, and streaming with the help of its 5500+ servers.
Numerous Reddit VPN reviews praise NordVPN’s 24/7 live chat, which is almost regrettable as you probably won’t have to contact the support team at all.
However, this year NordVPN drops a few places down on our list due to an event that caught Redditors’ attention. In early 2019, one of their servers got hacked, and although no harm was done, it didn’t go well with the privacy-minded Reddit community.
Our guess would be that users will forget this privacy issue as time goes by and we’ll see NordVPN take back its position on our list of best VPNs by Reddit.
5. VyprVPN – best VPN for China by Reddit ‣
Reddit discussions concerning VyprVPN were mostly about unblocking streaming platforms. It’s not that Reddit users think it has more issues with that than any of the others mentioned above. VyprVPN works well with US Netflix – it’s only the other countries that this provider struggles with.
VyprVPN allows torrenting and has a pretty good 24/7 live chat. But where VyprVPN really shines is bypassing online censorship in China and other countries with restricted internet access. Many Reddit users name VyprVPN the best VPN for China, which wouldn’t be possible without the in-house Chameleon protocol.
Those few negatives that get mentioned are no longer applicable. The first one is a fact which quite some still love to remind that VyprVPN logged user activity in the past. The second complaint is about the “3-day free trial,” which is actually a money-back guarantee and charges you at the end of the period. Overall, VyprVPN is one of the least criticized providers on Reddit.
6. TorGuard – best VPN for torrenting by Reddit ‣
TorGuard is the best VPN for torrenting as assured by thousands of Reddit users. It offers excellent security, good speeds, and decent pricing. But is it good for streaming?
Despite being posted a few days ago, this review is based on a few years old data. Thing is, TorGuard still has glaring issues with unblocking Netflix, which are well-documented by Redditors trying to help each other out. This means that you won’t be able to unblock Netflix or any other streaming platform without adding a dedicated IP to your shopping cart for $7.99/month – the price of a second VPN.
Later in the review, this Redditor praises TorGuard for not hiding the true owners of the company. While we appreciate the transparency, there is some concern with having a VPN company in the US, which is not exactly a privacy bastion. In any case, if you’re not a journalist or a political activist, you should be fine.
Finally, this Reddit review states that TorGuard has “one of the best support teams in the industry.” However, it fails to mention that there’s no 24/7 live chat, only 24/7 US phone line, which is far from optimal.
7. Windscribe – best marketed VPN by Reddit ‣
Redditors love Windscribe – you can tell that by the way they react to posts and comments from this VPN. In fact, it’s one of the most active providers on Reddit, answering a bunch of user questions. And it’s definitely the funniest VPN overall that loves to tease the audience on their website and even during app installation.
Some of the common Windscribe issues mentioned on Reddit are random speeds when switching between multiple servers and the overall speed is half of what ExpressVPN delivers. While we do believe that the latter is generally faster service, Windscribe is still among those that offer top speeds.
Other Reddit users praise Windscribe’s user-friendly apps, the ability to unblock Netflix, and great features. One of them is a free version with a 10 GB limit that certainly had something to do with Windscribe’s popularity on Reddit. And if Windscribe continues to be the best marketed VPN, its popularity should continue to grow.
8. IPVanish – the best multiplatform support according to Reddit ‣
We were a bit surprised to find IPVanish this high among the most upvoted VPNs on Reddit. After all, it’s not among our Top 10 overall services. So what is there to like about IPVanish apart from it offering the best multiplatform support according to Reddit?
For starters, IPVanish is highly recommended on torrenting-related subreddits. It has apps for all popular platforms, and if it doesn’t, it most likely supports them anyway. What’s more, IPVanish allows ten simultaneous connections, which is higher than most other services.
When it comes to the negative, Redditors often cite IPVanish as a VPN that’s unable to unblock Netflix (which is true). Furthermore, its speeds are mediocre at best and nowhere near the leaders of this list. Finally, the money-back guarantee is only 7-days long – four times shorter than the industry’s standard.
9. Hotspot Shield – best the under-the-radar VPN by Reddit ‣
Despite having a free version, Hotspot Shield is not that popular on Reddit. We were able to find three threads not older than one year that had more than a few upvotes. The most popular one turned out to be a complaint that should have been directed to customer service:
Finally, there’s an outdated review that praises the 45-day money-back guarantee and attention to privacy, even though Hotspot Shield was accused of logging connections in 2017. Later, this service is rightfully bashed for not supporting the OpenVPN protocol and erroneously described as one that doesn’t support P2P.
Our take is that Hotspot Shield should garner more attention this year after a bunch of users running away from Private Internet Access with no intent on joining any Kape Technologies product. Therefore, we can only agree with Reddit users that this provider is the best under-the-radar VPN.
10. Private Internet Access – a VPN with the best price according to Reddit ‣
Private Internet Access (PIA) is one of the most popular VPN services and the one with the best price according to Reddit. Therefore, the latest deal with the UK-based Kape Technologies, a company with a dubious past, has really caught attention. The general feeling is that PIA users will be looking for another provider with a better reputation.
But other than that, it’s been about PIA being blocked in Hong Kong, allowing P2P and providing decent customer service (which is not 24/7 and not live). According to the community, it is (or was) a VPN service with the best price, charging half of what other, pricier VPNs cost. In fact, one VPN list had PIA winning in the “best price-to-value” category.
Surprisingly, many Reddit users are ready to forgive PIA for their lack of live chat support or their user-unfriendly official website. But what really keeps PIA from the top of the best Reddit VPN list is its lack of Netflix unblocking outside the US.
Bottom line
We can safely say that when it comes to choosing the right VPN provider, Reddit has its very own opinion. It’s not always in line with what you read on all the review sites (including ours) and tech blogs, but that’s for the better in our mind as it gives everyone another opinion and allows you to reflect your own position.
We personally believe that a VPN is something you should put some money into because the quality difference between the free and the paid is significant, especially in a country like the US.
How we made this best VPN by Reddit list
Looking at the best VPNs on Reddit was pretty simple – we went to Reddit and searched for VPN reviews and user comments. Then we found the VPNs that are mentioned most often while also having the most upvotes or the best review scores.
This was somewhat arbitrary as not all Reddit users give a numeric score. In those cases, we did something similar to what MetaCritic.com does, assigning the rating according to the overall tone of the review. In the end, all the Reddit reviews and comments fell into a four-point scale of “favorable,” “generally favorable,” “generally negative,” and “negative.” We also looked at the lists that Reddit users created themselves to see how often a VPN gets the No.1 spot and whether it ends up among the Top 5.
We must note that the criteria the Reddit community finds the most important somewhat differ from our own. While security is always the top priority for us, Redditors often cite the speed ratio and the ability to unblock Netflix, with “no logs” being the make or break feature of any VPN service.
See how the best VPN by Reddit list compare to our own Top 10 VPN Rankings. Surprised? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.
I have been using CyberGhost for some time and I’m quite happy with the service it offers. I wouldn’t change them for a cheaper vpn provider. I think people on Reddit are probably right in considering CG a top 3 vpn. I feel that way. The torrenting especially works very, very well with high speeds that are almost unmatched. Netflix unblocking, user-friendliness, the wonderful live-chat (honestly, you need to try it) – they all make CG one of the best vpn around.
NordVPN has much better prices than most other VPNs out there and they are also better than all of them. I’ve been using them for a few months and I’m extremely happy with their service so far. There’s nothing I think needs improving really (although any company should strive to be better); maybe offer a 10 year plan or a lifetime option (I may go with them for the long run).
A lot of things found on Reddit are very helpful and it’s always a good idea to check it before paying for a service. In this case, I partially agree with them because I think that NordVPN is better than ExpressVPN. But that’s just me.
These two VPNs are always neck-and-neck for the best VPN service on review sites, and Reddit is no exception. Which means you can’t go wrong with either of them.
I wasn’t expecting PIA to be this high. I know they’re good but I wouldn’t say they are top 3 material. I would have placed CyberGhost, Astril or Surfshark well above PIA. Maybe some people don’t trust these companies as much? I don’t know. What I do know is that they are better imho.
I am a little shocked to not see Surfshark on this list. I know they are very new to the game but I was hoping more people knew about them. They’re very good and have low prices and I’m sure they’ll catch on soon enough. I don’t know if they are better than the top spots, but they’re very good nonetheless.
Considering the fact that Surfshark is a relatively new service, it might place higher on Reddit given more time. After all, it’s a damn good VPN.
Yes, I also think that time is needed for Surshark to get the recognition it deserves. Let’s hope they invest in the service and make it better. Right now, I think it’s probably among the top 4-5 VPNs out there. They have great torrenting capacities, nice speed and a very competitive pricing range.
I found this to be an interesting list. I always take a look at what people are saying on Redditt before I buy a LOT of stuff so this is up my alley. It looks like ExpressVPN it is then.