Beyond security and privacy, speed is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a VPN. If you want a smooth, stable connection while you're using your VPN, then you'll need one of the fastest VPNs.
Many of the best VPNs (and some not-so-good VPNs) all claim to be the fastest VPN on the market – but cutting through the marketing fluff can be tricky. To help you do that, we conduct a barrage of VPN speed tests to determine the real speeds VPNs can deliver on a range of connections.
We'll go into the top 5 fastest VPNs below, but if time is of the essence, check out the top 3 fast VPNs below – Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN.
The 3 fastest VPNs at a glance
How we chose the fastest VPNs
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
You may think choosing the fastest VPN is easy – just a speed test, and the one with the quickest speed wins, right? It's actually a lot more complicated than that.
We test all the VPNs multiple times on an uncontested 10 GB network, morning and evening, to check the fastest possible speeds they can deliver. We first do this from Dublin to the nearest server, and then from Dublin to the US. This also lets us measure their latency and jitter, which gives us a better idea of how stable the connection is.
That's not all, though. VPNs offer a number of different encryption protocols, with some having proprietary options that promise superior speed and security. So, we repeat the same tests when using WireGuard (an encryption protocol known for its speed), OpenVPN (an encryption protocol that tends to be slower but more secure), and any proprietary protocols.
In preparation for writing this article, I also conducted speed tests while connected to my (generally slow) domestic Wi-Fi. This helps give a more realistic idea of the impact each VPN has on domestic networks.
I also took into consideration what platforms these speeds were available on. For example, if a VPN had super-fast speeds when using an encryption protocol only available on a specific platform, this counted against it in the ranking.
This is because I consider being the fastest VPN to mean the fastest VPN overall, across all platforms, rather than having just one impressive speed while other platforms are lacking.
This update has seen the rankings have quite the shakeup, with Proton VPN moving to #1, Surfshark moving to #4 and ExpressVPN introduced at #2. I've included all the new results from our latest speed tests, as well as making sure that all the information below is as up-to-date as possible.
The fastest VPN overall: Proton VPN
What we like:
Over the years, Proton VPN has performed consistently well in our speed tests. However, its most recent results have cemented it as the very fastest VPN overall.
In our previous speed tests on a 1 GB line, Proton VPN achieved maximum speeds of 950 Mbps using the WireGuard protocol. However, on a 10 GB line these speeds have increased to an impressive 1,198 Mbps.
It's unlikely your connection is this fast, but Proton VPN also performs very well on slower connections. In my own speed tests on my home Wi-Fi network, Proton VPN achieved the fastest speeds of all the VPNs tested at 51 Mbps.
This is even more impressive considering my own Wi-Fi clocked in at 32 Mbps when not connected to Proton VPN. Of course, a VPN itself can't increase your base internet connection. Instead, it can reduce throttling from your internet service provider, which I believe is the case here.
As one of the most secure VPNs, Proton VPN offers an obfuscated encryption protocol called Stealth that aims to help users bypass internet censorship and conceal their VPN use.
Of all the obfuscated encryption protocols we tested, Proton VPN's Stealth was the fastest, with peak speeds of 479 Mbps. This can't match Proton VPN's WireGuard speeds, but when you take into account the fact that Stealth makes your VPN use practically undetectable, it's an excellent performance.
These speeds are likely due to a feature called VPN Accelerator. This ensures users get the fastest speeds possible automatically, no matter where they are. Proton VPN claims that VPN Accelerator can boost speeds by up to 400%.
Elsewhere, Proton VPN has impressive privacy credentials. Its Secure Core servers are the most privacy-hardened multi-hop servers of any VPN, and its no-logs policy has been proven by an independent audit.
What's more, if you fancy putting these speeds to work, Proton VPN is one of the best streaming VPNs. In our tests, it was able to unblock every streaming site we tested it with, and suffered from very few hiccups in the process.
What could improve:
OpenVPN is known for being a significantly slower encryption protocol to use, so it's unsurprising that Proton VPN's OpenVPN speeds are slower than its WireGuard speeds.
However, with peak speeds of 202 Mbps, Proton VPN's OpenVPN speeds do leave a bit to be desired. While the security offered by WireGuard is more than enough to keep you safe online, I'd like to see an uptick in OpenVPN speeds.
If OpenVPN is your preferred VPN protocol and you want the absolute fastest speeds possible while using it, I'd suggest going for ExpressVPN or Surfshark.
Another thing to consider is price. At $3.59 per month for a two-year subscription, Proton VPN is one of the more expensive VPNs on this list.
That said, though, it does have a free version if you don't want to shell out. Proton VPN Free is one of the best free VPNs we've tested, although you should keep in mind that its speeds will not be as fast as its premium version.
With peak speeds of 335 Mbps, Proton VPN Free is not necessarily slow, but it doesn't match up to the top speeds of the premium version. If you want a cheaper VPN with fast speeds (although not as fast as Proton VPN), go for Surfshark.
🔒 Read our in-depth Proton VPN review for all the details.
Buy Proton VPN if:
✅ You want the most consistent fastest VPN. With speeds of 1,198 Mbps, Proton VPN is the most consistently fast VPN we've tested.
✅ You want the fastest obscured VPN. Proton VPN's Stealth protocol was the fastest obscured protocol we tested, with peak speeds of 479 Mbps.
✅ You want the fastest connection speed automatically. With its VPN Accelerator, Proton VPN will automatically connect you to the fastest possible connection, no matter where you are.
Don't buy Proton VPN if:
❌ You're on a tight budget. At $3.59 per month for a two-year subscription, Proton VPN isn't the cheapest VPN provider around.
❌ You exclusively use OpenVPN. In our tests, when using OpenVPN, Proton VPN couldn't quite match the competition.
Fastest VPN for Windows and OpenVPN: ExpressVPN
What we like:
If you're part of the Windows faithful, ExpressVPN is hands-down the fastest VPN you can download. When using Lightway Turbo, we saw peak speeds of 1,617 Mbps – far outstripping any other VPN we've ever tested.
However, there's a downside that we'll explore in a moment – Lightway Turbo is only available on Windows, and isn't compatible with some specific apps and games.
ExpressVPN had very impressive results in our OpenVPN tests, too, with peak speeds of 898 Mbps. This makes it the fastest VPN outright when using OpenVPN, with Surfshark, its closest competitor, being more than 450 Mbps slower.
This performance is particularly good when you consider the fact that OpenVPN is known for being slower but more secure. This means ExpressVPN offers a very rare mix of great speeds and the rock-solid privacy offered by OpenVPN. This has been achieved by the use of OpenVPN DCO, which allows part of OpenVPN to work in the kernel, rather than the application, reducing load and increasing speeds.
ExpressVPN is also very fast to connect, thanks to its Parallel Connections feature. This sees the app try all available connection methods simultaneously when connecting to a server, making its connection time the fastest of any VPN I've tested. This means you can get connected and protected incredibly quickly.
ExpressVPN has had more independent audits than any other VPN, ranging from its apps, its no-logs policy, and even its server infrastructure. This gives excellent affirmation that it's safe to use, and genuinely protects your data.
What could improve:
While ExpressVPN Lightway Turbo did have the fastest speeds recorded in our tests, ExpressVPN's performance in other speed tests wasn't consistent enough to rank it as the very fastest VPN overall.
For a start, the version of its proprietary protocol available on devices other than Windows (ExpressVPN Lightway) only hit peak speeds of 359 Mbps, which is disappointingly slow when compared to Turbo's performance – and very surprisingly far slower than OpenVPN.
Additionally, in mobile-based speed tests, ExpressVPN had one of the slowest performance of all the VPNs on this list at 36 Mbps.
What this essentially means is that while Windows users will benefit from its super-fast speeds, if you use other devices you won't.
While largely very reliable for streaming, in our testing ExpressVPN did have a couple more hiccups than other providers. I failed once when trying to unblock Aussie streaming site 10 Play, and struggled occasionally when unblocking US-only YouTube content.
However, it was very reliable for all the mainstream sites like Netflix and Disney Plus, and other regional sites like BBC iPlayer.
🔒 Read our in-depth ExpressVPN review for all the details.
Buy ExpressVPN if:
✅ You want the fastest VPN for Windows. As the fastest provider in our last round of speed testing, ExpressVPN will protect you without slowing you down.
✅ You prefer using OpenVPN to other VPN encryption protocols. With peak speeds of 898 Mbps, ExpressVPN was the fastest VPN using OpenVPN on this list.
✅ You want a VPN with super-fast connection speeds. ExpressVPN's Parallel Connections will get you up and running super-fast.
Don't buy ExpressVPN if:
❌ You're not a Windows user and need ultra-fast speeds. Lightway Turbo, ExpressVPN's fastest protocol, is not available on iOS, Android, Linux or macOS.
❌ You want a fast VPN for streaming. While it was generally able to unblock everything I tested it with, ExpressVPN did have some minor issues during streaming testing.
Fastest VPN with full malware protection: NordVPN
What we like:
We rate NordVPN as the best VPN overall, and although it has marginally dropped to #3 in this guide, it's still a very capable all-round VPN that's very fast in most situations.
NordVPN has previously achieved speeds of 950 Mbps on a 1 GB line, and in our new tests it achieved a respectable 901 Mbps on a 10 GB line.
While this may not be quite as fast as in previous tests, it's still more than fast enough for just about every conceivable purpose..
Additionally, in my domestic Wi-Fi tests, NordVPN had the third-fastest result at 43 Mbps. This should be more than fast enough to stream video in 4K.
This speed and stability is down to NordVPN's proprietary encryption protocol, NordLynx. NordLynx is a modified version of WireGuard, and is specifically designed to offer faster speeds and more secure connections.
In NordVPN's words, NordLynx is: "A new-generation VPN protocol that offers an improved connection, faster speeds, and better security measures than other VPN protocols, including WireGuard."
NordVPN also offers another proprietary protocol, NordWhisper. Just like Proton VPN's Stealth protocol, NordWhisper is designed to help users navigate around network restrictions and connect to VPN servers in situations and locations that otherwise block VPNs.
Despite this increased level of obfuscation, it achieved speeds of 455 Mbps, making it the second fastest obfuscated encryption protocol we tested.
What could improve:
In testing, NordVPN's obfuscated servers achieved speeds of around 116 Mbps, which is slow when compared to NorVPN's NordLynx speeds. However, this is to be expected when considering the additional levels of security these obfuscated servers offer.
Likewise, NordVPN's OpenVPN speeds were a lot slower than its NordLynx speeds at 179 Mbps. This is a significant downside when compared to ExpressVPN, which delivered OpenVPN speeds more than four times as fast.
Another thing to consider is that while NordVPN's price ranges from around $2.50 to $3.50 per month for a two-year subscription depending on deals, this price is only available for your first two years.
After these two years are up, your subscription will renew at full price, which is significantly more expensive. If you want to avoid this, you'll have to cancel your subscription before it ends and sign up for a brand-new subscription – or purchase another deal and add it on to your account before you auto-renew.
🔒 Read our in-depth NordVPN review for all the details.
Buy NordVPN if:
✅ You want to use the best overall VPN. All things considered – speed, streaming, privacy, apps – we rate NordVPN as the very best VPN overall.
✅ You want a VPN with a fast obfuscated protocol. NordVPN's NordWhisper achieved speeds of 455 Mbps in testing.
✅ You want to use a VPN with exclusive encryption protocols. NordVPN's proprietary encryption protocol is built specifically for speed and security.
Don't buy NordVPN if:
❌ You want to avoid price hikes. While NordVPN initially offers decent value for money, after your first two-year subscription is up you'll be subject to steep price hikes.
❌ You use OpenVPN regularly. NordVPN's OpenVPN speeds aren't disastrous, but there are much faster options like Surfshark and ExpressVPN available.
The cheapest fast VPN: Surfshark
What we like:
Surfshark may have fallen from its #1 spot on this list to #4, but that doesn't mean it's not worth considering – especially as a cheap fast VPN.
In testing, Surfshark's peak WireGuard speeds were decent at 848 Mbps. Its OpenVPN speeds were also impressive in testing, with peak speeds of 431 Mbps. This makes it second only to ExpressVPN when using this encryption protocol.
Surfshark did perform well on my very slow domestic Wi-Fi connection, with speeds of 48 Mbps. That figure puts it in second when using domestic Wi-Fi, coming in after Proton VPN.
Anecdotally, Surfshark offers some of the smoothest connections I've experienced during testing. When checking its unblocking ability for my best streaming VPN ranking, Surfshark was the only VPN that didn't experience even slight lag or buffering while streaming.
A great thing about Surfshark is that it offers unlimited simultaneous connections, a much more generous offer than all the other VPNs on this list.
With its speeds, you should be able to use Surfshark across as many devices as you like without experiencing any slow-down.
If you want a fast VPN without breaking the bank, then Surfshark is a great option. It's the cheapest VPN on this list, with prices coming in at under $2 per month for a two-year subscription.
What could improve:
While Surfshark's speeds aren't slow by any means, they're definitely not as fast as they have been previously.
Surfshark used to sit at #1 on this list, down to its speeds of 950 Mbps on a 1 GB line and speeds of around 1,300 Mbps on a 10 GB line.
While speeds of 848 Mbps are certainly nothing to be sniffed at, they are significantly slower than Surfshark's previous performance.
With this being said, in my own personal use and experience, Surfshark's connections have felt fast, strong and stable. It's one of the few VPNs that I haven't experienced any lag or buffer whatsoever during streaming testing.
You should also keep in mind that while Surfshark is definitely great value for your first two years, just like with NordVPN, you will be subject to price hikes once your subscription renews.
If you want to avoid this, you'll have to cancel your subscription before it ends, then sign up for a brand new one.
🔒 Read our in-depth Surfshark review for all the details.
Buy Surfshark if:
✅ You want a cheap fast VPN. At under $2 per month, Surfshark is the cheapest VPN provider on this list.
✅ You prefer to use OpenVPN. At 431 Mbps, Surfshark's OpenVPN speeds were the second fastest we tested.
✅ You want to cover a lot of different devices. With unlimited simultaneous connections, you can cover as many devices as you want, with no restrictions.
Don't buy Surfshark if:
❌ You want the absolute fastest VPN. Surfshark's speeds in our tests are a lot slower this time round than in previous tests.
❌ You want to avoid price hikes. While Surfshark's initial prices are excellent value, you will be subject to price hikes upon renewal.
Best monthly fast VPN
What we like:
Rounding out our ranking is Windscribe, which hasn't moved from its #5 spot since our previous round of tests.
In our speed tests, Windscribe achieved peak speeds of 840 Mbps on a 10 GB line. This is up from 785 Mbps in our previous round of tests.
Its OpenVPN speeds were decent, too, at 365 Mbps. This puts it behind ExpressVPN and Surfshark, but ahead of both Proton VPN and NordVPN when using this encryption protocol.
Since OpenVPN is known for being slower than others, decent speeds in this area are beneficial to those who still want to use it but need to keep up the pace.
Like Surfshark, Windscribe offers unlimited simultaneous connections. This means that with just one Windscribe account you can cover as many different devices as you want,
Plus, if you're someone who only wants or needs a VPN for a short amount of time, Windscribe is one of the cheapest monthly VPNs at under $10 for one month's use.
This is a great option for those who want a fast VPN but don't necessarily want to make a multi-year-long commitment.
What could improve:
Windscribe only achieved speeds of 27 Mbps during my domestic Wi-Fi tests. While this is fast enough to stream video in 4K (speeds of roughly 25 Mbps are needed to do so), it is significantly slower than every other VPN on this list.
Additionally, it was the only VPN that was actually slower than my base internet speed of 32 Mbps. This doesn't mean that the other VPNs increased my base connection, but it does mean that Windscribe wasn't able to overcome any throttling my ISP was subjecting my network to.
With prices starting from around $5.75 per month for a yearly subscription, Windscribe is the most expensive VPN on this list.
While other more expensive VPNs like ExpressVPN justify a higher price with increased features (for example, ExpressVPN includes Threat Manager and a password manager in all of its subscriptions), there are cheaper VPNs than Windscribe available that offer lots more features.
🔒 Read our in-depth Windscribe review for all the details.
Buy Windscribe if:
✅ You want a fast monthly VPN. At less than $10 a month for one months' coverage, Windscribe is one of the cheapest monthly VPNs.
✅ You use OpenVPN. Windscribe has peak speeds of 365 Mbps while using the OpenVPN encryption protocol, which is faster than both NordVPN and Proton VPN on the same protocol.
Don't buy Windscribe if:
❌ You're on tight budget. At just under $6 per month for a two-year subscription, Windscribe is the most expensive VPN on this list.
❌ You have slow Wi-Fi. Windscribe was the slowest in my domestic Wi-Fi tests, meaning it could slow down your connection if it's unstable to begin with.
Which VPN is the fastest?
While ExpressVPN did achieve the fastest speed in our tests of 1,617 Mbps while using ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo encryption protocol, Proton VPN takes the #1 spot as fastest VPN.
This is due to achieving speeds of 1,198 Mbps with an encryption protocol that is available to all users (WireGuard), as opposed to Lightway Turbo, which is only available to Windows users.
Additionally, Proton VPN has consistently achieved speeds of over 950 Mbps in previous tests, giving it a good track record in terms of performance.
When it comes to the OpenVPN protocol, ExpressVPN is the fastest, with speeds of 898 Mbps. This is especially impressive considering the fact that OpenVPN tends to be significantly slower than other encryption protocols due to its age and large code.
Is a VPN faster than Wi-Fi?
The speeds a VPN can reach is dictated by how fast your Wi-Fi is. A VPN can't go faster than your connection allows, and generally it will slow peak speeds down a little because your traffic has to travel through an extra server between your device and the website you're visiting.
However, a VPN can sometimes make your base connection appear faster if you're experiencing throttling from your ISP.
This is because your ISP can choose to throttle your connection if you're using too much bandwidth, or undertaking activities that might compromise other users. When using a VPN, your internet traffic is hidden from your ISP. This means it can't make the decision to throttle your connection based on online activity, and you may see better speeds with it connected.
How does a VPN work?
Using a VPN creates a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet, which all of your internet traffic is routed through. This means that your data is kept safe from anyone who may be trying to intercept it, for instance your internet service provider (ISP) or the government.
If you're experiencing throttling from your ISP then using a VPN can increase your connection speed, as your ISP cannot see your internet traffic. This means it cannot limit your bandwidth based on online activity.
When you use a VPN, you connect to a VPN server before connecting to the internet. This assigns you a different IP address from your home IP address, and means your online activity cannot be traced back to you.
This also means that you'll virtually appear to be within a country if you connect to a server within that country, giving you access to any geo-restricted content within that country (e.g. on streaming platforms).
How to choose the right fast VPN
While you might think this is as easy as checking to see which VPN got the fastest possible result in our testing (it was ExpressVPN, by the way), there are a few things to take into consideration when looking for the fastest VPN.
You'll need to look at the speeds achieved on different protocols, and where these protocols are available. It's no good going for a VPN which offers top speeds but only on an encryption protocol that isn't available on any of the devices you use (like ExpressVPN's Lightway Turbo only being available on Windows).
If obfuscation is important to you, it's also a good idea to check out the top speeds of your chosen VPN while using more secure protocols that are designed to be undetected.
Price might also be a factor for you, and you'll have to decide if you want to go for the absolute maximum speeds possible no matter the cost, or go for a slightly slower, less expensive VPN.
The experts that test VPNs at Tom's Guide
Olivia joined Tom's Guide in October 2023, and is currently VPN Commissioning Editor. She regularly uses VPNs to make sure they deliver what they promise, and specializes in testing VPNs with streaming sites. For this guide, they tested all the VPNs listed on their domestic Wi-Fi in order to determine their speed in a real-world environment.
Mo has written about VPNs for Tom's Guide, day-in, day-out, for five years. He's an expert when it comes to what makes a VPN truly usable, and loves it when a VPN makes staying safe online as easy as possible. He is also a contributor to TechRadar, T3, and What Hi-Fi?.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
