Best iPhone VPN in 2023

Want to know which is the best VPN for iPhone in 2023? Well, we’ve got you covered. Internet privacy is a hot topic, and you want to be able to keep your internet activities private and discreet – nobody wants to find that they’ve got a nosy little worm wriggling around in their Apple.

With a VPN, you connect to a server in another region, and in doing so, make it impossible for malicious parties to gather information on you. This list includes a number of the best mobile VPN services, all of which will work well on iPhones. If you’re a two-phoner who also has an Android device, we have a separate Android VPN list for you to look at as well.

Here are the best VPNs for iPhone in 2023:

• ExpressVPN – best for iPhone
• NordVPN – fastest choice
• CyberGhost – best for streaming
• PrivadoVPN – best new choice
• Private Internet Access – best cheap option
• TunnelBear – best free option

It goes without saying that every provider on this list offers their own dedicated app that’s well-optimized for use on Apple devices.

1. The best VPN for iPhone

ExpressVPN is the best VPN for iPhone.

ExpressVPN specs:

Pros:

• Uses the speedy Lightway protocol
• Spans 94 countries
• TrustedServer system provides extra privacy

Cons:

• Expensive
• Small cap on simultaneous connections
• No free trial

Our pick for the best VPN for iPhone is ExpressVPN – one of the all-around best VPN providers we’ve encountered. With more than 3,000 servers to choose from, spread across 94 countries, it boasts a really impressive range. These servers all use the TrustedServer system, which makes it impossible for them to write any data about your online activities, guaranteeing your complete privacy.

Speaking of speed, another reason to choose ExpressVPN is that it refreshes the IP addresses of its servers more frequently than many other VPN providers. It also uses multiple protocols (including Lightway, OpenVPN, and IKEv2) and then determines which will be the most effective one to use on your network for maximum performance.

The biggest drawback, of course, is the fact that it is quite a bit more expensive than most providers. Indeed, it’s the most expensive choice on this list by some distance. Generally speaking, it’s a case of getting what you get for, because it is great, although it does have to be said that its allowance for simultaneous connections is pretty low.

Our sister site, PCGamesN, has an excellent ExpressVPN review which we recommend reading for more information.

2. The fastest VPN for iPhone

NordVPN is the fastest VPN for iPhone.

NordVPN specs:

Pros:

• Fastest VPN
• Uses the excellent WireGuard protocol

Cons:

• On the slightly pricier side of the spectrum
• Offers no free trial

We reckon there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve heard of NordVPN before. It was founded back in 2012, and since then it’s grown to become one of the biggest fish in the VPN pond. One of the many reasons people choose NordVPN is that it is one of the fastest VPN services around, with an average server speed of 65.79Mbit/s.

In addition, it boasts an impressive 5,000 servers across more than 60 countries, giving you a vast selection of connection options. It is also known for using the WireGuard protocol, which enables it to encrypt your data much more quickly than many of its competitors. Meanwhile, its kill switch keeps your data private in the rare event that the VPN drops – even for a second.

Admittedly, it could do with a free trial. NordVPN is another of the more expensive providers and it’s understandable that you might want to get a good feel for what it can do before you’re locked in. At the very least you’ll still have the 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on.

Check out the NordVPN review from PCGamesN (our sister site).

3. The best VPN for streaming on iPhone

CyberGhost is the best VPN for streaming on your iPhone.

CyberGhost specs:

Pros:

• Decent server selection and range
• 45-day money-back guarantee
• Great for streaming

Cons:

• Free trial could be longer
• A little slower than some other top providers

Something that makes CyberGhost really stand out, is that it has a huge selection of servers (over 7,400 in over 90 countries) and is also compatible with all the major streaming platforms. These things combine to make it the best VPN for streaming, which is sure to appeal to anybody who loves watching TV and movies on their iPhone.

On top of that, it’s also a good choice for anybody who’s not fully committed to a VPN subscription, because it has a 45-day money-back guarantee, giving you a month and a half to decide whether it’s something you want to get locked into. If that’s still not enough, there’s also a one-day CyberGhost VPN free trial that you can take for a spin – admittedly, it’d be nicer if it was longer, but it is better than nothing.

The biggest real weakness of CyberGhost is the fact that it can be a little slower than some of the other top providers on this list. By all means, this is still an impressive service and the speeds will exceed many of the small, or free VPNs of the world, but it lags behind the likes of NordVPN or ExpressVPN.

Read the ExpressVPN review on our sister site, PCGamesN, to find out more.

4. The best new VPN for iPhone

PrivadoVPN is the best new VPN for iPhone.

PrivadoVPN specs:

Pros:

• Has a free plan you can use indefinitely
• Allows up to ten simultaneous connections

Cons:

• Expensive
• Fewer servers than others

From some of the best-known VPN providers to one of the smaller ones. PrivadoVPN might not be as popular as the likes of NordVPN, but that’s no reason to think that its service is anything less than excellent. Founded in 2019, PrivadoVPN has been doing a fantastic job of establishing itself over the last few years.

So what can PrivadoVPN offer you? Well, for one thing, it has a free plan which is sure to catch the eye of budget shoppers. It may limit you to just 10GB of data per month, but if there are just certain searches that you’d like to keep private, then it might be enough to get you through the month.

Its paid plan is also decent. While it does have a notably small server count, it also gives you an allowance of up to ten simultaneous connections, which is more than a lot of others will give you. Indeed, it’ll probably cover most households.

5. The best cheap VPN for iPhone

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the best cheap VPN for iPhone.

Private Internet Access specs:

Pros:

• Absolutely enormous server selection
• Low price for our readers

Cons:

• Slightly slower than some others
• No free trial

If you want to go for a cheap VPN, but are worried about scrimping on quality, then we recommend Private Internet Access. Even though its monthly rates are amongst the lowest, it still has an enormous selection of 35,000 servers to choose from, which is by far the largest selection of any of the providers on this list.

It also lets you have up to ten simultaneous connections, which also edges it above many other VPNs. Besides this, it offers all the essentials of a top-notch VPN, including a kill switch, a no-logs policy, and split-tunnelling to allow you to use the VPN on one app, while using the native connection elsewhere.

What makes this cheap option especially appealing is that its low price is exclusively available to our readers. In fairness, this isn’t the most expensive choice even without our deal, but we’ve helped push it a little further for you. It’s only real downside is that, similar to CyberGhost, it’s a bit slower than the likes of NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

6. The best free VPN for iPhone

TunnelBear is the best free VPN for iPhone.

Tunnelbear specs:

Pros:

• No-logs policy intact on free plan
• Decent selection of servers for a free plan

Cons:

• Tiny 500MB data allowance
• No router support, even if you pay

Our last entry on the list is another VPN that might appeal to anyone seeking a free VPN solution. TunnelBear limits you to just 500MB per month if you opt for the free plan, which may not sound a lot, but if you’re primarily concerned with protecting your privacy whenever you connect through public wi-fi connections, then this should be plenty.

So what makes TunnelBear worth using? Well, one of the best things about this provider is that it has an annual security audit, the results of which are published online for all to see. If privacy is your number one concern, and you want to be completely sure that you’re not just swapping one private data-guzzling service for another, TunnelBear could be the way to go.

Also as free VPN services go, while the data allowance is limiting, it’s a pretty good service in that it lets you have a number of simultaneous connections and even has a handful of servers for you to choose from (rather than just one or two, as you’ll find with many other free plans).

How we chose the best iPhone VPN providers

We compiled this list by looking at several of the top VPN providers and then assessing them based on a number of criteria, including:

• Pricing: Some VPN providers can be pretty darn expensive, and so we wanted to include a range of choices to accommodate readers on different budgets.
• iOS compatibility: This is obviously a big one. Some providers offer services which haven’t really been properly optimized for iOS, and so they wouldn’t deserve a spot on this list.
• Free plans: Some providers allow you to use a free plan indefinitely, and we wanted at least one option with a fully free plan for anyone on a smaller budget.
• Kill switch: A kill switch severs your internet connection if the VPN goes down even for a second. This helps to prevent even a little of your data from leaking out, and so any provider offering one of these is a VPN that stands out from the crowd.
• Compatibility: Many VPNs are not compatible with major games and streaming services, which severely limits the usage you can get out of them. Generally speaking, we’ve tended only to include options that offer quite broad compatibility.

Read our how we test page for more about how we determine what deserves a spot in these lists. If you have any more questions, check out the FAQs below:

Does iPhone have a built-in VPN?

No, it doesn’t. If you want to protect your privacy on our iPhone, you’ll need to download an app and sign up for a service.

Do I need VPN turned on on my iPhone?

We would advise that you have a VPN switched on if you ever use public Wi-Fi hotspots. You never know who might be exploiting these locations to maliciously harvest personal data from innocent people.

Should I leave my VPN on on my phone?

Generally speaking, this is a good thing to get into the habit of if you want to protect your private internet data. Having said that, if you’re using a free VPN with a limited data allowance, you might want only to switch it on during particularly sensitive searches. Meanwhile, everyone might want to avoid switching it on for internet banking, just in case the seemingly overseas access causes your account to be locked.

Does a VPN drain your battery?

Yes, it does, but not in any major way. It’s the equivalent of a messenger or social media app that’s always running in the background ready to notify you.

Still want more VPN guidance? Our lists on the best iPad VPN providers and the best VPN apps are also worth a read.