Best VPNs for Windows 10 (and the worst) plus our handy set up guide

Windows 10 will stop receiving free software updates and security fixes on 14 October 2025. This makes Windows 10 users more vulnerable to malware and other security threats. If you can’t update to Windows 11, the smart move is to use a VPN while online.

There are plenty of options out there since almost every VPN service caters to Windows users. But too much choice can be a problem which is why we’re here to help you narrow down the options.

We used our tried-and-tested methods to find the best VPNs for Windows with the best all-around performance, security, design, and customer support. We list them here for you, explain how to use them, and answer some common VPN questions. We go into each of the providers we recommend in more detail, but in case you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary.

Best VPNs for Windows 10:

1. NordVPN: The best all-around VPN for Windows 10. Faster than its rivals, with solid security and privacy and a strict no-logs policy. Offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. TIP In our testing we found that the cheapest NordVPN plan (Standard) works perfectly for Windows 10.
2. Surfshark: The best budget VPN for Windows 10. A fantastic low-cost option that boasts high speeds and an impressive range of security and privacy features. Allows unlimited simultaneous connections.
3. IPVanish: Strong security paired with fast speeds and reliable connections. No logs are kept. Allows unlimited simultaneous connections.
4. ExpressVPN: Reliable VPN with fast speeds and airtight security. Works with all major streaming sites, including Netflix US and UK.
5. CyberGhost: Great security, fast speeds, vast server network. Makes it easy for Windows 10 users to enjoy online security and streaming sites like Netflix.
6. ProtonVPN: A more advanced service with powerful security features. Boasts top-tier performance, 24/7 customer support, and exceptional unblocking ability.
7. PureVPN: Quick and reliable VPN that’s simple enough for complete beginners. Suitable for almost any task and capable of keeping you safe.
8. Private Internet Access: Offers a user-friendly app for Windows 10 and works with all major streaming sites.

Why use a VPN with Windows 10

Windows 10 is a massive improvement on its predecessor, but with it comes a trove of privacy issues–some new and some inherited. Integrated advertising, Cortana, and information synchronization with Microsoft servers are all made to help personalize your experience, but Windows blurs the line between personalization and privacy. This gem from Microsoft’s privacy policy pretty much sums it up:

“We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to protect our customers or enforce the terms governing the use of the services.”

Most of these trackers and telemetry services can be disabled, but they can also be switched back on without your knowledge during an update. Some cannot be turned off at all.

So how can you protect your privacy and keep using Windows 10? First off, check out our giant list of privacy tools; there’s a section just for Windows 10 users.

Next, get a VPN. VPN software encrypts and anonymizes all your online activity. This is important for P2P filesharing so your internet access provider can’t snoop on torrents and other downloads. It also protects you on unprotected public Wi-Fi networks and works to access geo-locked websites and services like Netflix.

Best VPNs for Windows 10 compared

We’ve compared the most important features of the top VPNs here. Prefer to read the in-depth reviews? Start with NordVPN – our #1 choice for Windows 10.

Criteria for the best Windows 10 VPNs

In order to find the best VPNs for Windows 10 PC users, we looked for providers that performed well when tested in the following areas:

• Speed: A suitably quick VPN will ensure that you can stream, game or torrent without interruption. We found the fastest providers by carrying out multiple speed tests while connected to their US servers.
• Network features: VPNs with large server networks make it easy to access a wide variety of geo-restricted services while also ensuring congestion is kept to a minimum. With this in mind, we scored providers on the number of countries in which they operate as well as their overall server counts.
• Security and privacy: We evaluated providers using 16 different security and privacy metrics. These included checking for IP leaks, which are a known Windows 10 vulnerability.
• Ease of use: Setup and use of the native Windows client should be easy and intuitive. We also looked for providers with strong customer support. In all, we used 10 metrics to gauge each provider’s overall user-friendliness.
• Streaming: We evaluated each VPN against nine streaming-related criteria. Most importantly, this included checking each VPN’s ability to unblock geo-restricted sites and popular streaming platforms such as Netflix.

You can read more about how we test and rank the VPNs we recommend in our methodology section below. For now, let’s take a look at the ones that made the cut. 

Best VPNs for Windows 10 users

Here’s a more in-depth look at our list of the best VPNs for Windows 10 users:

1. NordVPN

Jun 2025

NordVPN is our number one VPN for Windows 10 users. This Panama-based VPN has a true log-less policy, meaning it keeps neither connection nor usage logs. Extra features include double-hop encryption, Tor over VPN, and a kill switch. Those, plus DNS leak protection, can be accessed via the app’s settings.

The Windows VPN service client is detailed but not overwhelming for new users. The server list comes with a handy map that enables users to quickly see available locations.

NordVPN can reliably access Netflix and most other popular streaming platforms. It’s fast enough to comfortably stream in 4K — even on multiple devices at the same time. In our tests for this article, its average download speed was 200.97 Mbps. This was more than 58 Mbps faster than the combined average speeds of the other tested providers.

Subscriptions allow up to 10 simultaneous device connections. If you have any issues, live chat is available 24/7.

BEST VPN FOR WINDOWS 10:NordVPN is our first choice. It excels in all categories, with strong security features and the fastest speeds we’ve seen. It even has a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our review of NordVPN.

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2. Surfshark

Surfshark is a great value VPN provider that excels at accessing region-locked content like Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video from abroad.

The service employs strong encryption and keeps zero logs. Torrenting is allowed, and kill switches prevent data leaks on both mobile and desktop apps.

In our speed tests, Surfshark averaged 189.37 Mbps. As a rough guide, this is fast enough for streaming 4K video on seven devices at the same time without issue. 

Live chat support is available around the clock. Best of all, Surfshark doesn’t put restrictions on how many devices you can connect at once, making it a great budget option for a family or group of housemates.

Apps are available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux.

BEST BUDGET VPN:Surfshark secures your Windows PC as well as all your other gadgets without worrying about hitting a device limit. Great value and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Surfshark review.

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3. IPVanish

IPVanish uses OpenVPN with strong encryption and features a true zero logs policy, meaning it records neither session nor traffic logs. It’s one of the only VPNs to sport a Tier 1 network, meaning it owns all of its own servers rather than renting physical or virtual space from someone else. Because of that, we’ve overlooked the fact that it’s based in the US.

Speed-wise, the provider is very quick. In our tests, it averaged 174.67 Mbps, which is fast enough for a wide range of online activities — including streaming, gaming and torrenting.

IPVanish is a solid option for streaming and is able to access Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney Plus.

Apps use strong encryption and all VPN connections are DNS leak protected.

LARGE NETWORK:IPVanish is great for families. Solid Windows app. Good at unblocking most geo-restricted content. Recommended for their high standard of connection privacy. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of IPVanish here.

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4. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN makes this list for its superb app. The Windows VPN software is the simplest option for those who want something that just works without fuss, and it has servers in an impressive 105 countries.

Connection speeds are decent, as the chart below demonstrates. The provider’s overall average download speed of 128.24 Mbps is fast enough for P2P filesharing and streaming.

Users can opt to use ExpressVPN’s DNS servers whenever connected by toggling it in the advanced settings. Other features include a kill switch, leak protection and automatic obfuscation.

ExpressVPN is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands beyond the reach of the GCHQ and NSA, and it keeps no usage logs.

HIGHLY SECURE:ExpressVPN is a privacy-focused provider that offers high speeds, a ton of security features, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of ExpressVPN.

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5. CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN offers easy-to-use apps and a large network that spans more than 10,000 VPN servers in over 100 countries. It also maintains a list of servers labeled with the streaming platforms that they work best with.

CyberGhost stores no identifying logs and protects your data with 256-bit AES military-grade encryption, leak protection, and a kill switch. Live chat is available should you encounter any issues.

Tested speeds were excellent, with the overall average of 140.21 Mbps being fast enough for everything from video calling to multiplayer gaming. In addition, the difference between the slowest and fastest results was only 1.79 Mbps, which is remarkably consistent.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. Users can connect up to seven devices at the same time.

BEGINNER FRIENDLY:CyberGhost has an easy to use Windows app. Streams HD video reliably. Strong encryption and privacy features. 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost review.

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6. ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN has a first-class Windows app and is fast enough for uninterrupted streaming, torrenting, or gaming. It’s a little more complex than some of its rivals but don’t worry; staff are available 24/7 via live chat if you need them. This provider has servers in 117+ countries and lets you protect 10 devices simultaneously – far more than most of its rivals. There are even specially-designed Secure Core servers that are kept underground for maximum privacy.

We’re big fans of ProtonVPN’s security toolkit. By default, it keeps you safe using uncrackable encryption, leak protection, and a kill switch, but there’s also automatic ad and tracker-blocking.

Experienced users will appreciate its split tunneling and port forwarding support. If you need a little extra speed, you can activate the accelerator tool. However, our tests suggest that, with an average download speed of 142.55 Mbps, ProtonVPN is plenty fast enough already.

ProtonVPN has been independently-audited to prove it doesn’t keep logs. Not only that, it accepts Bitcoin and cash payments so you can sign up as anonymously as possible.

ProtonVPN has its own apps for Windows, Android, iOS, MacOS, and Linux. This service also works with most routers though you’ll have to follow the manual setup instructions on its site.

FAST AND RELIABLE:ProtonVPN delivers impressive speeds and a network covering 117 countries. It’s very privacy-conscious, excels at unblocking stubborn websites abroad, and includes many advanced features.

Interested? Find out more in our full ProtonVPN review.

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7. PureVPN

PureVPN is a great choice for anyone looking to try their first VPN. Its Windows app is extremely easy to use and it can help you access platforms like Netflix without breaking a sweat.

There are more than 6,000 servers to choose from (spread across 65+ countries). In our tests for this article, the US servers provided an average download speed of 139.78 Mbps. This is fast enough for all of your everyday online activities. 

Users can secure up to 10 devices at the same time and if anything goes wrong, support staff are only ever a quick message away.

So how does PureVPN help keep your browsing habits private? Well, it uses unbreakable encryption, DNS and IPv6 leak protection, and a kill switch to ensure that nobody, not even your service provider, can see what you get up to. There’s also a proven no-logging policy and automatic obfuscation.

PureVPN offers apps for Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, and iOS. If you need to connect more than 10 devices at once, just install it on your router – there are detailed setup guides in the help section of its website.

GREAT FOR NOVICES:PureVPN takes the stress out of digital security. It’s fast, works with most region-locked services, and offers 24/7 customer support. Not only that, you can use it just about anywhere (even China).

Read our comprehensive PureVPN review.

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8. Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is a popular VPN for Windows 10 users thanks to its intuitive and lightweight app that works with little user input. For expert users, it offers the option to adjust the level of encryption needed, which is helpful for apps like Kodi. AES encryption is used alongside a network kill switch and DNS leak protection to further enhance your privacy.

PIA operates from the United States with thousands of servers in over 91 locations capable of accessing popular streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu.

Its use of the WireGuard protocol helps ensure decent speeds for high resolution streaming. In our tests, PIA’s average of 82.08 Mbps is fast enough for streaming in 4K on three devices at the same time.  

Subscriptions allow unlimited simultaneous device connections, which is great for sharing an account. You can try PIA for 30 days, and if you’re not happy, request a full refund.

ADJUSTABLE ENCRYPTION:Private Internet Access offers a lightweight app for Windows 10 with customizable encryption settings for advanced users. All plans include a 30-day refund policy.

Read our full review of Private Internet Access.

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Do these VPNs work on Windows 11?

The good news is that you can use all of the best VPNs for Windows 10 on Windows 11. This is because quality VPN providers design their software to be compatible with multiple versions of Windows. Besides, when Windows launched Windows 11, they maintained a high level of compatibility with Windows 10, particularly regarding software and applications.

Aside from Windows, you can use the above recommended VPNs on mobile (Android and iOS) and other desktop operating systems (MacOS and Linux). In some cases, VPNs provide an app for Linux, and in others you’ll need to manually configure the connection yourself.

Related: How to set up a VPN on Windows 11

Methodology: How we found the best VPNs for Windows 10

While most VPNs offer an app for Windows, few are worth your time and money. Our methodology for finding the best VPNs for Windows 10 involved assessing each VPN in the following key areas.

Speed

Whether you’re browsing, streaming, or torrenting on your Windows device, high-speed connections are essential. Without these, you’re likely to suffer performance issues such as low resolution, lag, and buffering. To objectively measure how fast each VPN was, we carried out three speed tests: one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the afternoon.

Measurements were taken using the desktop version of the Ookla speed-testing app. This was installed on our test machine, which we rate-limited to 250 Mbps in order to better approximate the average user’s experience (the median broadband speed in the US is 291.18 Mbps).

The speed results for each provider were averaged and then converted to an overall score out of 10 relative to the other tested VPNs. This makes a meaningful side-by-side comparison possible.

NordVPN was the fastest provider overall. While all VPNs slow your connection down, NordVPN is fast enough that you’re unlikely to notice it. Surfshark was also notably quick.

Network features

Windows users can be found in almost every country around the world, so having access to a global network of servers just makes sense. We scored providers on the number of countries they supported as well as scoring them on their overall server counts. These scores were combined to generate overall scores out of 10 for comparison.

ProtonVPN‘s score of 9.7 was highest. The provider seems to continually up its server count, which now stands at more than 12,000 in 117 countries. NordVPN came second, with a score of 9.3. It has fewer servers overall, but has a presence in one more country than ProtonVPN.

Security and privacy

From DDoS attacks to malware, there is a multitude of security threats online. Using a VPN ensures your data is encrypted and inaccessible to cybercriminals. We looked for providers that also include a kill switch, DNS leak protection, and other security and privacy features. These are shown below.

To make a direct comparison easier, we took the scores for each of the above metrics, weighted them, and then combined them into overall scores out of 10.

NordVPN and Surfshark each scored a near-perfect 9.5. Both providers have independently audited no-logs policies and only use RAM-only servers in their networks. They use strong encryption and can effectively obfuscate user-generated traffic. ProtonVPN and PIA are the next best options, though be aware that neither provider works in China.

Ease of use

We looked for VPNs with apps that were quick and easy to use. We also prioritized those offering detailed setup guides as well as 24-hour live chat and email support.

To give you a better idea of each provider’s overall user-friendliness, we combined the scores from the table above and used the results to generate the following chart:

NordVPN and PIA were the easiest-to-use providers overall. Their cleverly designed apps cater to users with a broad range of experience, and feature useful task-specific servers. IPVanish and ExpressVPN are also good calls if you don’t like steep learning curves.

Streaming

Region-locked content affects us all, particularly when it comes to streaming services. We tested VPNs with a wide range of restricted websites and services, as well as scoring them on the other metrics shown in the table below.

Each of these metrics was assigned a score based on its relative importance. These scores were combined to generate an overall score out of 10 for comparison.

NordVPN, Surfshark and ExpressVPN all achieved an equally high score of 9.2. All three providers excel at unblocking notoriously difficult-to-access platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer. Furthermore, they provide a smart DNS service so that you can stream on VPN-incompatible devices like old smart TVs and games consoles.

VPNs to avoid

When deciding which VPNs Windows 10 users should avoid, free options top the list. We listed a couple here that the typical person would likely find on Google, but the same goes for pretty much all free VPN services.

We passed on several paid VPNs as well because they don’t protect against DNS leaks or because they are based in the US without strict enough no-logging policies to ease our privacy concerns.

Betternet

If you Google “free VPN for Windows,” Betternet will be one of the top search results. Betternet doesn’t collect user logs, but the app itself is part of an ad platform that accesses your cookies to target you with advertisements, videos and suggested apps. It also doesn’t protect users from DNS leaks. It’s not that Betternet is malicious–in fact, it’s quite transparent in how it operates. We might even recommend the mobile app as a decent free alternative. But for Windows, we have to say pass.

Hide.me (free)

Hide.me is the other free VPN for Windows that ranks high on Google. While it has premium plans that aren’t so bad, the free version limits speed and data transfers to 3 Mbit/s and 2GB, respectively. It also doesn’t support OpenVPN, which is our recommended protocol for security. Free users are limited to three server locations, and port forwarding is not available (useful for torrenting). On the plus side, Hide.me is completely log-free.

Hola

Hola is a peer-to-peer proxy browser extension that works sort of like a free VPN but has no centralized servers. Instead, users route their internet traffic through other Hola users’ devices whenever idle bandwidth is available. Depending on your local laws and regulations, that could make you responsible for the activities of other users. Furthermore, Hola once hijacked the computing resources of its users, turning them into a botnet army, to carry out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on websites and distribute pirated materials.

Double-check for DNS leaks

If you want to double-check that your DNS leak protection is working, you can run a DNS leak test here. Run the test with your VPN enabled and then again with it disabled to get an instant readout of the test results.

Can’t unblock Netflix and Hulu? Try disabling IPv6

Even if a VPN advertises DNS leak protection, websites like Hulu and Netflix can sometimes still force a request to leak out over the IPv6 protocol. By default, most VPNs force all DNS requests onto IPv4 and avoid IPv6 altogether. But if IPv6 is enabled on your device, this might not stop an IPv6 DNS leak on Windows 10.

First off, make sure you ask your VPN provider’s customer support if they have servers that unblock US Netflix and Hulu. If it does and you are connected to one of those servers, but the site still detects you are using a VPN service, then you may need to disable IPv6.

To do so, follow these instructions:

1. Right-click the wifi or LAN icon in your system tray and click “Open Network and Sharing Center”
2. On the Window that appears, click the link for your network next to “Connections”
3. Click Properties
4. Uncheck the entry for “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)”
5. Press “OK” to save changes, then restart your computer

IPv6 is now disabled, and you should no longer leak IPv6 DNS requests.

Related: What’s the best VPN for Netflix?

How to manually set up a VPN on Windows 10

With all of the above providers, you need only download and install software to get up and running with a VPN on Windows. Connecting is as simple as logging in, choosing a location, and hitting the Connect button.

But if an app doesn’t suit you, Windows 10 has built-in VPN support that can be manually configured. The OS doesn’t support OpenVPN, however, so we recommend choosing from L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, or IKEv2. Avoid PPTP; even though it can be faster and is slightly easier to set up, it has known security vulnerabilities.

To get started, you’ll need to get the following information from your VPN provider according to your chosen protocol:

• Username
• Password
• VPN server address
• Pre-shared secret or certificate

1. In the search bar, type “VPN” and click the menu cog at the top of the search results.
   
2. On the menu that pops up, click Add a VPN connection
3. Under VPN provider, choose Windows (built-in). Fill in all of the other information mentioned above accordingly.
4. Hit Save
5. The VPN should now be listed in the VPN menu. Click it and then hit Connect
6. Wait a moment for the VPN connection to be completed, and that’s it! You’re connected.
7. After you set your VPN up the first time, you can access it more quickly by clicking the wifi icon in your system tray. It should be listed near the top.

VPNs for Windows 10: FAQs