How to pick a VPN

Firstly you could just follow my advice. I’ve been using NordVPN for years and have only good things to say about them.

But I don’t blame you for wanting to do your own due diligence, it’s a very good idea. Unfortunately as we saw there are a lot of competing claims made by VPN companies, and not all of them are as open and honest about their capabilities as others. So how do you cut through the fog?

Finding trusted review sites on the internet these days is all but impossible. Googling ‘VPN review’ will give you page after page of AI-generated summaries which are just lists of affiliate links masquerading as reviews. So I’ll point you at a few good sources to start your journey.

PC Magazine.

The glory days of magazines might be behind us, but luckily this is one of the institutions that does still continue. They actually test things, rather than just aggregate links, and explain their reasoning too. 

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-vpn-services

Wirecutter

Formerly an independent site, it was bought out by the New York Times, and isn’t quite as good as it used to be. However, they also test things themselves and explain the reason for the recommendations they make. They’re more focused on consumer items, but do include VPNs as a part of their remit.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/