Most of us here are quite keen on spreading the word on how even the simplest steps toward online privacy is a huge leap forward for our online security. Having in mind the extensive tracking and targeting by almost everything we use online (ISPs, search engines, social media, streaming sites, ads, etc.), we’re able to use these VPN-related subreddits to try and make it as simple as possible for people to choose and start using the best VPN that can help avoid at least some part of that.
The goal of all of this is to make sure that even those who don’t understand much about tech are aware of the risks and challenges we face these days when it comes to online privacy. We’re all aware that a VPN isn’t an ‘all in one’ tool which fully protects our privacy, but it’s surely a good place to start.
It’s probably obvious to people who have been following this topic for a while that this table is inspired by That One Privacy Guy. He did an amazing job back in the day but unfortunately the information hasn’t been updated in ages so it isn’t as reliable as it used to be. It was a very important and useful tool, so I thought we could make it a community effort to bring it back. Anyone who would like to collaborate on this please get in touch with me over DMs. Also, in case you notice any mistakes - feel free to point those out, too.
You will see a table with scores, explanations on how each score was calculated, as well as detailed information by provider for each criteria. As I mentioned before, if you notice any mistakes or outdated information - please DM me with the source so we can fix it. Let’s make sure it’s up to date and as helpful as it can
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Table last updated: August 22, 2024 (several provider prices were updated).
To not make the comment section a war front with people asking about providers that are not yet included, the automod will still be removing comments mentioning specific ones on this thread. I’ve read them all, thanks for all the ideas! I will definitely consider them and see what I can add pretty soon and which ones will need more serious research. Thanks for being so active!
Also, if you’re writing about a specific provider or criteria that should be added to the table in your opinion, please add the sources if you have as this would make the process much easier and quicker!
Most providers mentioned in the spreadsheet are quite expensive nowadays. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option, I recommend: https://totalvpn.com/buy-now
It’s only $19 for the first year, and when I asked a friend in cybersecurity about it, he said it’s totally fine for basic day-to-day use like browsing, streaming, and staying protected on public WiFi.
I’d like to see you add (perhaps in the “Ethics” section) a consideration of the number of trackers and persistent cookies that are used on the VPN’s website. Can one really trust a VPN that is tracking your website visit?
Thanks for the effort in investigating this, I did want to make an easier decision when choosing a new VPN, so I used the top couple of items to make a small radar chart so I can compare them more easily - here’s a link to it.
Why is copying disabled? This should really be broken up into multiple sheets or you can’t properly filter and sort the data!! Since copying is disabled, I can’t even just bring it into excel to make it more usable
All the extra tables below the main table should be on their own sheet. Can’t sort, filter, or use any of the tools that make spreadsheets inherently valuable. I hope others appreciate the irony that download/copy/print are disabled. I appreciate that you made this, but it’s frustrating how poorly available the data is.
Great work … Thank you for sharing .. if it’s possible I would like to add a GUI Linux support .. most of them are using CLI client . For people who use Linux it will be very helpful when they decide which provider to use .