iOS is known for its anti-malware protection. However, these features won’t secure the unsafe networks you connect to. A VPN will give you that extra layer of protection. Fortunately, installing a VPN on iOS is quick and simple. This article will tell you all about the best VPNs for iPhone and iPad.
The Best VPN Apps For iPhone and iPad: Our Top 3
Choosing the right VPN hinges on defining your personal needs. Do you want a fast VPN? Or would you sacrifice some speed for extra encryption and safety? What’s your VPN budget? With these factors in mind, we’ve listed three fantastic iOS VPNs for you. They will all work perfectly on your iPhone and iPad.
1. ExpressVPN: stable speeds and high security
ExpressVPN is a champion of safety, speed, and usability. This premium VPN virtually has no flaws. And it’s especially suitable for iOS users. ExpressVPN protects your data and offers thousands of servers in almost 100 countries. Moreover, its well-designed apps are easy to use and work perfectly on iPhone and iPad. In our opinion, ExpressVPN is currently the best VPN on the market. This is not only true for iOS, but also for other systems. Still, this VPN service is a bit pricier than many of its competitors. Fortunately, ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Meaning you’ll have a month to test the service cost-free. If it doesn’t work for you, you can request your money back. No questions asked.
2. CyberGhost: efficient user-friendly software
CyberGhost is a user-friendly VPN provider with a very reasonable price. It offers fast servers, high-level security, and user-friendly apps. It might just be the top iOS VPN pick if you haven’t used a VPN before. Another great advantage offered by CyberGhost is its 45-days money-back guarantee. This is a longer period than most other VPN providers offer. You could view it as a longer “trial period” with CyberGhost. The only negative: in our tests CyberGhost was slightly slower than ExpressVPN and Surfshark. Nevertheless, its results still proved surprisingly high in our most recent comparison. In short, CyberGhost is a great VPN for iPhone and iPad.
3. Surfshark: high quality for a low price
Surfshark is a relatively new VPN that climbed to the top of our lists very quickly. This VPN earned our recommendation as one of the best value-for-money deals out there. It’s very fast and has a simple but solid iOS app. Surfshark’s security and privacy are top-notch as well. With this VPN, you’ll be able to browse on your iPhone or iPad without worrying. Surfshark made a lot of positive changes in a short period of time. Especially when it comes to their customer support and extra options. They’ve handled their newfound success really well, with a minor occasional stumble. Surfshark, too, offers a 30-days money-back guarantee. So, you can try out their service without being roped into a year-long subscription.
What to Consider When Choosing a VPN for iPhone
There are several things you need to consider before you choose a VPN for your iPhone. Here are the most important factors we used to construct our list of top 3 VPNs for iOS:
Security and privacy: Best VPNs for iOS use strong encryption, have a strict no-logging policy, and haven’t had any past privacy mishaps. Additional safety features, such as a kill switch, were also considered in our tests. Speed: VPNs often affect the speed of your internet connection. Some providers will drop your speed more than others. To ensure your connection suffers as little as possible, we tested how different VPNs affect the internet speed on iPhones. Ease of use: An intuitive UI and ease of use are very important factors. Securing your connection should be as simple as possible. This means we paid extra attention to the UI design and the quality of the customer service teams. Servers: If you use your iPhone VPN to unblock sites, you want a large server network. For example, German VPN servers can’t access American Netflix. Also, the closer a VPN server is to your location, the faster the speeds you’re going to get. Extra features and options: Not all VPNs are the same. This also goes for the extra options offered by different VPN providers. Whereas some VPNs are “no-frills” privacy solutions, other providers go out of their way to offer extra options. These can range from adblockers to obfuscated servers. Some VPNs also have special geo-unblocking capabilities and Netflix compatibility. Price: While the speed and safety of a VPN are incredibly important, the cost of service can’t be ignored. Of course, everyone likes saving a little money. That’s why we also made sure to consider the price of different VPN providers.
Based on the above criteria, we came up with our top 3 best VPNs for iPhone/iOS. Which of these providers is best for you? That depends on which factors you consider to be the most important.
Free vs paid VPN apps for iOS
With so many VPNs out there, there are also some free options available. They might seem great at first, but most free VPNs come with significant drawbacks. For example, a lot of free VPNs enforce data, speed, and server limits. Because of these, you likely won’t be able to use your iOS VPN as freely as you’d like to. Moreover, their privacy and security packages are often very disappointing and even dangerous. This is the exact opposite of a good iOS VPN. If you download a random free VPN app on your iPhone, your personal data will be collected and shared. You might even be downloading malware onto your device. If you would still like to try out a free VPN, we advise picking one from our list of the best free VPN services. Also, check out our top 8 free VPNs for iPhone and iOS devices for more options. This way, you can be certain you’re at least working with a relatively safe and secure VPN. Even though you might still have to deal with speed or bandwidth limits. Also, note that we haven’t specifically tested these VPNs for iPhone compatibility.
Why use a VPN for iPhone and iPad?
VPNs come with countless benefits. As a result, there are many different reasons for iPhone and iPad users to start using them. Here are the three most important advantages of using a VPN on your iPhone.
Installing a VPN on iOS
There are different ways to install a VPN app on your iPhone. Most VPN providers have made it very easy to set up a connection. For more information, you can read everything about installing a VPN on your iPhone right here. Many VPN providers offer native iOS apps that can be installed by following these steps:
Now you’re connected to a VPN server and able to enjoy a freer, safer internet.
How to manually install a VPN on iOS
Apart from installing a dedicated app, you can also manually install a VPN on your iPhone. To do this, you’ll need a few details, which you can most likely find on the website of your chosen VPN provider. Keep in mind that you’ll still have to get a subscription to a VPN provider before you’ll be able to set up a connection this way. Follow these steps to manually install a VPN on your iPhone:
This way you can manually install a VPN on your iPhone. However, if your chosen VPN service has its own app, we strongly recommend you use it. This will make it much easier for you to change between servers and turn the connection on and off.
Conclusion: The Best VPN For iPhone and iPad
Briefly summarized, the best VPNs for iPhone, according to us, are: These VPNs are all great choices for iPhone and iPad. They all have fast, secure, and user-friendly apps downloadable from the App Store. ExpressVPN offers the most stable and reliable connections. CyberGhost is the perfect provider for beginners. Surfshark is incredibly cheap but still offers great quality. Would you rather choose a different VPN for your iPhone? Make sure to have a look at our overview of the best VPNs we’ve tested. There are even free VPNs that are great for specific purposes, like playing Fortnite. Whichever VPN you choose, it will provide you and your iOS device with more online safety, privacy, and internet freedom. If you want to consider all your options anyway, we’d advise you to choose one of the providers from our list of best free VPN services. It’s also possible to set up a VPN connection through the settings in iOS. This can be useful when you don’t want to use an app or if there’s no app available. In that case, simply enter your user data in the VPN settings on your iPhone and connect manually. You’ll have set it up in a matter of seconds.