this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
478 points (98.0% liked)

Privacy

42484 readers
1369 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

VPN Comparison

After making a post about comparing VPN providers, I received a lot of requested feedback. I've implemented most of the ideas I received.

Providers

Notes

  • I'm human. I make mistakes. I made multiple mistakes in my last post, and there may be some here. I've tried my best.
  • Pricing is sometimes weird. For example, a 1 year plan for Private Internet Access is 37.19€ first year and then auto-renews annually at 46.73€. By the way, they misspelled "annually". AirVPN has a 3 day pricing plan. For the instances when pricing is weird, I did what I felt was best on a case-by-case basis.
  • Tor is not a VPN, but there are multiple apps that allow you to use it like a VPN. They've released an official Tor VPN app for Android, and there is a verified Flatpak called Carburetor which you can use to use Tor like a VPN on secureblue (Linux). It's not unreasonable to add this to the list.
  • Some projects use different licenses for different platforms. For example, NordVPN has an open source Linux client. However, to call NordVPN open source would be like calling a meat sandwich vegan because the bread is vegan.
  • The age of a VPN isn't a good indicator of how secure it is. There could be a trustworthy VPN that's been around for 10 years but uses insecure, outdated code, and a new VPN that's been around for 10 days but uses up-to-date, modern code.
  • Some VPNs, like Surfshark VPN, operate in multiple countries. Legality may vary.
  • All of the VPNs claim a "no log" policy, but there's some I trust more than others to actually uphold that.
  • Tor is special in the port forwarding category, because it depends on what you're using port forwarding for. In some cases, Tor doesn't need port forwarding.
  • Tor technically doesn't have a WireGuard profile, but you could (probably?) create one.

Takeaways

  • If you don't mind the speed cost, Tor is a really good option to protect your IP address.
  • If you're on a budget, NymVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark VPN are generally the cheapest. If you're paying month-by-month, Mullvad VPN still can't be beat.
  • If you want VPNs that go out of their way to collect as little information as possible, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, and NymVPN don't require any personal information to use. And Tor, of course.

ODS file: https://files.catbox.moe/cly0o6.ods

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm on ProtonVPN because it's ran by CERN people, so definitely an important information IMO.

[–] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Their CEO is a Trump supporter

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Show me where he endorses Trump.

Oh, you can't? But you read it on Facebook or something so it must be true?

Common, show me your information.

This is bullshit based on some old tweet Andy Yen did about trump doing good going against big tech. You can read about it here or search for it elsewhere.

It always comes out when someone says something nice about ProtonVPN, who have an amazing track record IMO.

[–] porcoesphino@mander.xyz 4 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

That write up does seem to ignore the doubling down here:

https://lemmy.ca/comment/13913116

Calling out that JD Vance was the only one to answer is pretty troubling to me after reading about some of his new-right ties. It's way, way too close for my liking to a mouse telling everyone that will listen that the cat was amazing for inviting him and all his friends to his house in a week. ie. Playing into what just seems like an obvious strategy.

That said, I'm pretty ignorant about the CEO. I just remembered this lemmy comment and I didn't notice it included in the write up that was being linked.

[–] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ok, just read the artlce cited on wikipedia and it sounds like calling him a Trump supporter is a bit of an exaggeration. He seems basically centrist. Which is not great but not nearly as bad.

[–] MangioneDontMiss@feddit.nl 1 points 8 hours ago

he seems like a moron if he thinks republicans are going to "tackle big tech abuses" before democrats will.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Thank you!

And sorry if I came around a bit agressively. Kudos to you for checking the link and updating your view.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 0 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

A company's CEO gets to determine the path their company takes and the tweet is indicative of where he plans to steer proton.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 0 points 13 hours ago

Stop spreading this bs because this is not what's happening.

[–] ehyuman@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In steins;gate, cern is evil...

[–] olenkoVD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yes but that book sucks ass

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

who do you make of proton's support for trump?

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

They are not, see my response below.

[–] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

do you use windows? what do you make of microsoft's support for trump? what mobile phone do you use, because both of them support trump.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 0 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I do not use Windows and I do everything in my power to use non American phones.

The difference is that proton's founder voiced support whereas Microsoft has always had a relationship w my govt and it's dragnet for the Gazan genocide is quiet.

[–] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 3 points 19 hours ago

so it's OK because they're quietly nazis?