The best cheap VPNs for security and streaming

Surfshark takes a bite out of expensive VPN services by offering lots of features for less, including a kill switch, DNS protection, an ad blocker, and AES 256-bit encryption. 

It's capable of handling even high-bandwidth activities like torrenting, offering a fleet of P2P-friendly servers and split tunneling for fast speeds. Moreover, the company is located in the British Virgin Islands — a country where there are zero data retention laws — so you can rest assured that your data will never fall into the wrong hands.

Surfshark has a small server network compared to the other VPNs on this list with just over 1,700 of them spread throughout 63 countries. The only other downside we see to Surfshark is that it's a really, really young company that's still solidifying a reputation among users. Based what we've read in preliminary reviews, we think it's more than capable of competing with older VPN services like PureVPN and NordVPN, which have been around since 2007 and 2008, respectively. 

So, here's the thing: It's really hard to find a good VPN for Netflix. The streaming service cracks down hard on VPNs because they help people access the content that's geo-restricted by its licensing deals (a violation of its terms of service), and typically bans any providers it detects. As a result, VPNs that actually work with Netflix nowadays are quite rare — CyberGhost VPN is one of them.

CyberGhost's massive global network of more than 6,300 servers includes dedicated streaming servers that have been optimised for speed and stability. These servers can also help you bypass geo-restrictions on movies and shows on platforms like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, NBC, Hulu, and the BBC.

CyberGhost users have access to a split tunnelling tool that keeps their connections fast, as well as a robust support site with step-by-step tutorials on how to connect to its Netflix servers on almost any device — an amazing resource for VPN newbies.  

PureVPN has a decent-sized network of more than 2,000 servers that are scattered across 180 locations in 140 different countries, including places in Asia, Central America, and Africa. 

Most impressively, its 150 servers in Africa are spread throughout 18 different countries there, which is basically unheard of as far as VPNs go; most of the other VPNs on this list have only one or two server locations on the whole continent. The only catch is that some of PureVPN's African servers are virtual, not physical, which sometimes (but not always) results in slower speeds. 

Overall, though, PureVPN is a highly qualified provider, offering a split tunnelling feature to conserve bandwidth, a kill switch, multiple logins for up to five devices, DNS leak protection, 256-bit encryption, and support for all security protocols. 

If you've been around the VPN block a few times, so to speak, you should take advantage of everything Private Internet Access has to offer.

Boasting more than 3,300 servers in 46 countries, PIA (as it's commonly known) is a simple yet powerful VPN with a moddable interface. Among other adjustable settings, it also lets you customise your data encryption and authentication algorithms and change the configuration of its ports.

Just like the other VPNs on this list, PIA upholds a no-logging policy and offers unlimited bandwidth on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices. Plus, it can support an impressive 10 connections at once — that's double what most of its peers can handle. 

But for all the perks PIA affords its users, it appears to be lacking reliable support for both Netflix and torrenting. According to reviews, its service is very hit or miss in those departments. 

The peer-to-peer (P2P) mechanisms of torrenting make your IP address visible to everyone in the group of people who have the other pieces of the file you're downloading. If that freaks you out, you should definitely download NordVPN, an affordable, Panama-based VPN provider with tons of security offerings and a bunch of BitTorrent-optimised servers.

Offering up to six simultaneous connections with apps for Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android TV, and Linux as well as browser extensions, NordVPN keeps your connection secure with double AES 256-bit encryption, an automatic kill switch, and DNS leak protection on all your devices. It's also one of the few VPNs that lets you route your traffic between its own secure VPN servers and the Tor network, which creates an extra secure connection and makes your online activities super difficult to track. 

The downside to enabling all of these privacy features while you're torrenting on a NordVPN server is that they can seriously slow down your connection — but if you're comfortable sacrificing a little security for speed, you can always tinker with your settings and temporarily disable certain tools. 

If you had no clue what VPN stood for prior to clicking on this post, Ivacy VPN is the provider for you. 

Its app is extremely easy to navigate thanks to its Smart Purpose Selection feature, which chooses the right server for you based on your VPN needs (secure download, streaming, or unblocking). Better yet, it's supported on basically every platform you can think of — even Kodi, Raspberry Pi, Xbox, Playstation, Roku, and Blackberry — and maintains a sizable network of more than 1,000 servers in over 100 locations.

If you're still floating the idea of a VPN, Ivacy's price tag might be the thing that wins you over. Yet despite its low price, it doesn't skimp on security features like 256-bit encryption, a kill switch, and leak protection.