Best VPN 2023 : How To Choose it Well?

To scan anonymously and make trades on the Internet safely, the use of a VPN has become elementary. Too limited, free VPNs often fail to meet consumer expectations.

That’s why we present here our selection of the best VPNs in 2023. And who says the best VPN says paid VPN? The VPN market is one of the multiple competitive. There are many solutions that compete in quality.

Suppliers do not hesitate to highlight their strengths to attract as many customers as possible. The price is obviously a determining criterion, but it is not sufficient on its own to decide.

This is why we offer you our buying direction to help you see more clearly the different offers on the market. And we have selected the best VPNs for you… Nothing but the best so that you can choose, once well-informed, the solution that best suits your needs.

Which are the main VPN Service Providers?

Confronted with the wide and varied offers of paid VPNs on the market, users can find themselves at a loss. Which solution fits my budget and best suits my needs? This is the question you need to ask yourself. We have selected for you the services that seem most relevant to us, to benefit from a VPN at an advantageous price-quality ratio.

1. Nord VPN

Whatever device you use, NordVPN is available: computer under any operating system (Windows, Linux, macOS), smartphone or tablet (Android, iOS), web browser (Chrome, Firefox), TV and box (Android TV), routers… everything is there. And you can connect up to six devices to the account simultaneously to benefit your loved ones or if you have a multi-device consumption.

With more than 5600 servers in 60 countries, you can access content only available abroad. As a result of this large volume of servers, there is no network congestion and you can enjoy excellent speeds. Bandwidth is unlimited, as with any self-respecting paid VPN.

NordVPN is also a benchmark when it comes to security. Based in Panama, it is subject to a strict personal data protection policy and does not record the connection and browsing logs of its users. We find AES 256-bit encryption technology to ward off any attempt at interception by a third party, OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols, protection against DNS leaks or when connecting to an unsecured WiFi network, and basic options such as the Kill Switch.

2. Express VPN

As with all the solutions we offer here, ExpressVPN works with almost all the devices you may use: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox One, Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chrome, Firefox or even routers.

 A subscription grants the ability to connect up to five devices simultaneously. The configuration is not the easiest for beginners, but activating ExpressVPN at the router level allows you to benefit from it on all your devices.

With more than 3000 servers distributed in 160 locations (including 94 different countries), the offer is complete from this point of view. Of course, no bandwidth limit. The speeds are very high, the connection speed is one of the main strengths of the service.

 The VPN hides the IP address and encrypts network data using AES-256 and classic VPN standards. The service does not write any data to its servers to protect its users’ information: traffic data, and DNS queries, all of which remain hidden. ExpressVPN runs its own private encrypted DNS for each of its servers to ensure security and performance.

The Network Lock emergency blocking option is similar to the Kill Switch functionality found on other platforms. There is also a VPN split-tunneling feature, which directs part of the traffic through the VPN and lets another part access the Internet directly.

3. Surf Shark VPN

Surfshark is interesting in many ways. It is a rather recent player on the market compared to a historical one like CyberGhost for example and has not been content to copy other services, but rather relies on differentiation to do well.

The VPN is available on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Android TV, or even Fire TV. And good news, there is no limit to devices that can connect to a Surfshark account at the same time. 

You can therefore without worries activate the VPN continuously on all your equipment and share your identifiers with your loved ones. Bandwidth is unlimited, no need to mess around with downloading.

With more than 3000 servers located in 65 countries, the offer in this area is quite honorable, even if it is not part of the top of the basket. As far as speeds are concerned, it is in the average of the genre. 

Surfshark’s headquarters are based in the British Virgin Islands, so the company is unaccountable to powerful governments who would like to interfere in its affairs.

Like any good self-respecting paid VPN, the service also adopts a strict no-logs policy for its users. Communication encryption is entrusted to AES-256-GCM technology, while the platform uses the IKEv2/IPsec protocols by default (OpenVPN is available in the options). Each server is equipped with private DNS and leak protection.

Surfshark also includes an ad and tracker blocker for faster browsing that respects your personal information. A whitelisted one makes it possible to draw exceptions for several services that one does not want to access via a VPN: an SVOD service to have access to the catalog of one’s country or the application of one’s bank so that it does not believe in hacking and blocking your account.

4. PureVpn

PureVPN is available on almost all platforms: Windows, Linus, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Android TV, Firestick, Roku, Kodi, Xbox, PlayStation, and routers. The service provides access to more than 6,000 servers located in more than 78 countries, enough to access any geo-blocked content.

A single account can be used on 10 devices simultaneously, to share with family or users who need VPN on many devices at once. All the servers available on the PureVPN network support connection speeds up to 1 Gbit, you will not see any difference in performance with the VPN active than without.

The service uses military-grade 256-bit encryption technology for communication and data protection. It also includes protection against DNS, Web RTC, and IPV6 leaks. A Kill Switch option is present to guarantee the security of the connection even when the VPN is deactivated for any reason. You can also set the VPN to automatically turn on when you connect to an unsecured WiFi network.

5. Zenmate VPN

Our last suggestion is ZenMate, which offers really attractive value for money. It is present on most major platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Like Surfshark, this outsider offers the possibility of connecting an infinite number of devices to the VPN via a single account to stand out from more well-known platforms. With 3600 servers located in 74 countries, the platform leaves a wide choice to its users.

A large number of servers also makes it possible to distribute traffic congestion and thus offer high speeds. No bandwidth limit of course. ZenMate allows torrenting, with certain categories of servers especially optimized for this activity. There are also servers designed to benefit from the best streaming experience on SVOD services: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, HBO NOW…

The German firm practices a strict policy of non-archiving of data. Security is provided by military-grade 256-AES encryption. The user has the possibility to modify the protocol used whatever the server between iKEv2, L2TP/IPsec, and OpenVPN.

The Kill Switch is present, but we must admit that it is not the VPN that offers the most features. It’s perfect for users who want a hassle-free platform that’s easy to set up and use and launches with just one click. But the most demanding consumers can criticize it for being slightly incomplete, even if the essentials are present.

6. CyberGhost VPN

Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, game consoles, Android TV, Fire TV, Chrome, Firefox: there’s a CyberGhost app on all major platforms. This VPN is quite generous since it allows simultaneous connections on a maximum of 7 devices. 

A subscription allows you to connect to one of the 5700 servers offered in 90 countries. CyberGhost also guarantees to browse, stream, and download speed (Peer-to-Peer is supported), all without bandwidth limits. We also appreciate its worked and intuitive interface, effective while being less austere than many competitors.

The service does not compromise security. It uses 256-bit AES encryption as well as OpenVPN, L2TP-IPsec, and PPTP protocols to guarantee anonymity and the security of exchanges, payments, and banking transactions.

Of course, no storage of connection logs on the servers, these are not saved anywhere. There is also protection against DNS and IP leaks as well as an automatic emergency shutdown feature in the event of loss of the VPN connection to prevent data leaks.

What is a VPN?

VPN is the acronym for Virtual Private Network in English. In French, it means Virtual Private Network. This is a system that allows the software to create a direct link between remote devices while isolating their interactions from the rest of Internet traffic.

In this way, all information that passes through a VPN is secure and in most cases encrypted by different protocols. By connecting to a remote VPN server, your IP address is masked by a newly borrowed IP.

The VPN can be used on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets as well as on computers. In contemporary years, VPN providers have adapted to the market and offer almost all their services in the form of VPN applications available on the respective stores of each mobile device (Play Store, AppStore).

In addition, some web browsers offer VPN extensions that allow them to be used directly in them, without going through the installation of their software. This is the case, for example, of Nord VPN, which offers “Nord VPN Browser Extension” from the Chrome Web Store. Over the years, the use of VPNs has become essential for a large number of Internet users.

For the sake of security, a third of French people would use a VPN on a daily basis in 2023, considering that it is the most complete and effective solution. Like antivirus, VPN once activated is a program that runs in the background.

It allows you to further protect your personal data by increasing the level of security when browsing the Internet. Now that we’ve seen what a VPN is, the easiest way for you to really understand what it’s all about is to explain how it works.

How Does a VPN Work?

This part is for the most curious wanting to know in detail how a VPN works. You don’t need to understand or learn from A to Z how a VPN works to use it. Also, if you’re not a fan of the technical side of things, you can skip ahead to the next section.

If at first glance it seems quite complicated, the operation of a VPN is actually quite simple. The user purchases a subscription through a VPN provider. It is the latter that has a network of several servers spread all over the world. Through these servers, the VPN provider ensures reliable and secure browsing.

Once connected to your VPN, therefore to a server owned by your provider, all of your Internet traffic is redirected by the VPN server before arriving on the site you are visiting. Before redirecting you to the destination URL, your data first passes through a VPN server.

 It hides your IP address and changes it to its own. In this way, the VPN acts as an intermediary that hides your IP address from the website you are visiting. This is the assurance that your anonymity will be respected.

In addition to allowing you to be anonymous, the VPN also encrypts your data protecting it. It uses tunneling processes for this, using protocols such as Lightway, Wire Guard, OpenVPN, IPSec, IKEv2, and L2TP. This way, your internet traffic no longer goes through your internet service provider, but directly through the secure and encrypted tunnel.

Thus, only your VPN provider holds the key to decrypt the server information that travels through the secure and encrypted tunnel. Even your ISP will not be able to track your browsing, and this way all your online activities will become unreadable to everyone. 

That’s it for the technical part. Of course, all of this is done in an automated way and fortunately, a simple click of a button is enough to activate and use a VPN.

What is a VPN for?

Now that you know what a VPN is and how it works, let’s get to the practical part by exploring the different situations in which it is useful. Because even if you know that a VPN encrypts and protects your data while securing your information, one may wonder what is the point of changing your IP address, for example. What is a VPN for, what can you do, and in which cases? These are some questions that we will answer.

Protect your data on the Internet

The first reason to use a VPN is the protection of your data. Indeed, VPNs are renowned for their ability to offer secure connections to Internet users who use them. Traffic is encrypted whether it’s inbound or outbound, on whatever device you’re using. Access to your personal data is made much more difficult.

This means that you are safer than Internet users who do not use a VPN against malicious people who want, for example, to steal susceptible statements about you (usernames, passwords, bank details, web history, etc.).

Browse Anonymously

The guarantee of using the Internet anonymously is another reason why you might want to use a VPN. Indeed, as we previously pointed out, your IP address is hidden when you use a VPN server. This has a direct impact on your anonymity since all the IP addresses of a device make it possible to identify the latter and therefore its owner.

The best VPNs, those that are paid, offer thousands of servers, spread over dozens of countries with thousands of different IP addresses. So when you browse the Internet, you can rest assured that your IP is not exposed, your privacy is respected, and your online activity is completely anonymous.

Change your IP Address

Changing your IP address allows you to bypass many geographical blocks. For example, you are in Bulgaria and do not have access to Disney+. Setting your IP on a server located in France will allow you to easily access it.

Likewise, if you want to have access to certain content available only abroad, such as Netflix’s US catalog, it’s very practical. The list of countries in which the servers are located is therefore an important point to check before choosing a VPN provider.

Download or watch risk-free

Because unlawful downloading is trending, VPNs are also the best way to get past the various authorities that track it down. Remember at the same time that downloading content protected by copyright (Torrent, P2P, DLL) is prohibited in France and punishable by law.

For a large number of Internet users, the VPN turns out to be the most effective parade to avoid being “spotted”. Indeed, as we pointed out previously, the VPN makes it possible to mask its IP, therefore its identity.

What are the benefits of a VPN?

“For legal reasons, this video is not available in your location”. This frustrating message is displayed when you try to watch content whose source does not have permission to broadcast it in the country where you are. This can be French television abroad or on the contrary channels or content that cannot be viewed from France.

With a VPN, you can connect to servers located all over the world in order to trick sites and services into believing that you are located in a place where the content you want is accessible. Changing location has other benefits as well. 

For example, you can access stores in other countries to take advantage of lower prices on your digital purchases: subscription to an SVOD platform, video game, etc. Prices in Turkey, Russia, or Brazil are much lower than in Europe.

The other advantage of turning to a VPN is to secure your browsing. The sites can no longer trace you, the communications are encrypted, and the connection logs are not kept: the use of such a service reinforces your anonymity on the web. The best VPNs also include tools against malware and malicious software.

Finally, for those who are wondering if the use of VPNs in France is legal, the answer is YES. Large companies also use them to strengthen the security of their network(s).

Why is it better to use a paid VPN than a free VPN?

There are many paid VPNs, but if you plan to use this kind of platform regularly, we can only advise you to invest in a subscription to a paid service. If you buy 12 or 24 months of use directly, the cost price per month is very low, often a handful of euros per month for a long-term commitment.

A paid VPN allows you to take advantage of all the features and the best possible experience: use on several devices simultaneously, no bandwidth limit, high speeds, the possibility of streaming videos, and access to SVOD catalogs from other countries… don’t have to deal with all the limitations and barriers imposed on free VPNs.

On the security side, the paid VPNs that we present to you here offer guarantees that most free VPNs do not offer. Encryption, military-grade protocols, no-logs policy… So many protections that many free alternatives lack.

Conclusion

We cannot single out the best VPN on the market, because each one has its specificities and it is up to you to define which one suits you best according to your needs and your habits and according to the advantages and disadvantages that we have described for each. offer.

If you need a cheap VPN, Surfshark is for you. For the connection of an unlimited number of devices, turn instead to ZenMate.

If you’re looking for the best speeds and speeds, ExpressVPN should be the best fit for you. As for the interface, of CyberGhost seems particularly attractive to us. These platforms are in any case models in terms of security, functionality, and the possibility of accessing geo-blocked content.