On a journey to improve your cybersecurity? Getting a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the first thing most people do for their privacy and freedom online.

But not all VPNs are cut from the same cloth. Some are better than others. And you don’t want to be coughing up a premium price for a service that is below par. By the end of this blog post, you will know how to choose a VPN provider and will be able to decide on the perfect fit for you.

Choosing the right VPN
Many factors should influence your choice. From speed and security to additional features and pricing, no stone should be left unturned. To make it easier for you, I have cut it down to 7 of the most important things to consider when choosing a VPN.

Free vs. paid VPNs
The promise of a free VPN sure does sound appealing. But at this point, you should know to be cautious of anything with a “free” label. A VPN infrastructure is not cheap to maintain, and they have to get that money from you one way or another.

A paid VPN covers those costs with the money you pay for the subscription. With a free VPN, the best-case scenario is that you will get many more ads. But it is not unusual for such service providers to sell your data and even have malware or malvertising within their apps.

On top of that, paid VPNs are much faster, safer, and have a lot more servers to connect to. All while offering unlimited data. The cost of a premium VPN is definitely one worth paying to avoid using a free VPN service.

Security features
The encryption process turns data and information into code. VPNs use it to encrypt all your traffic so that even if it gets leaked or intercepted, it is nearly impossible to decipher. 

AES-256 is the industry-leading encryption used by most premium VPN providers nowadays. It does the encryption work for all the best protocols, such as WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2, and others.

The use of AES-256 encryption is almost common-sense nowadays. But you should still make sure that a VPN provider uses it along with reliable, open-source VPN protocols before you buy their services. 

On top of the strong encryption, you should be protected by a strict privacy policy, a kill switch feature, and additional safety features. Ideally, the VPN should use RAM-only servers as well. That way, any little data they have about you is deleted every time a server restarts.

If you want to learn more, Surfshark’s YouTube channel offers a vast video library on all things VPN. Here’s one about encryption:

Connection speeds
In most cases, using a VPN will slow down your connection speed. Good VPN providers have found ways to make this change in speed barely noticeable by offering the fastest protocols and plenty of server locations.

Wireguard is the fastest VPN protocol currently available, so if speed is a priority, choose a provider that offers this protocol. 

Server count
There are two things you should look at when it comes to VPN servers – the number of available servers and the number of locations. 

The more servers there are to choose from, the less likely they are to get crowded. Overcrowded servers result in lower connection speeds, so you should make sure that there are plenty of options to choose from

The distance from you to the server also impacts connection speeds. Your chances of finding a server close to you increase if more locations are available. Having more countries to connect to also means you will have an easier time bypassing geo-restrictions.

Ease of use
This one is pretty straightforward. A VPN app is something you want to use whenever you’re online. It can get pretty annoying if an app you use every day is a hassle to use.

Choose a VPN with intuitive, easy-to-use apps for all your devices. It should be simple to set up and only take seconds to connect to a VPN server. 

Customer support
You hope you won’t ever have to use customer support. But if you do, it’s nice to have a competent customer support team behind the product.

Look for providers that have an extensive knowledge base, 24/7 live chat support, and a ticketing system. There is no good time to take a break from security online, so having a customer support team that helps you in a timely manner is very important.

Additional features
Nowadays, premium VPN services go above and beyond to provide you with the best possible browsing experience. Long gone are the days when all a VPN did was encrypt your traffic and change your IP address. 

Each VPN service provider is trying to offer things such as ad blockers, split tunneling, or double VPN. Surfshark even offers unlimited simultaneous connections, while many other providers limit the number of devices you can connect to at a single time.

You should check the list of VPN features that each provider has to offer. Some will suit you better than others and help you come closer to choosing a VPN provider.