Best VPN for Mac: Reviews and buying advice for Mac users

Macworld

If you are concerned about your privacy and security online using a VPN could give you some reassurance. Apple provides various measures in macOS that make Macs more secure, but if you want to ensure that the connection between your Mac and the internet is protected, rather than the computer itself, you need a VPN.

Using a VPN essentially makes you invisible on the web–your data is encrypted, your IP address is hidden, and you can even make it look like you are surfing from another country. This latter reason is the key motive many people using a VPN have: they want to access services that are locked to a particular region, such as accessing U.S. Netflix from the U.K or BBC iPlayer from the U.S.

While accessing locked content is a bit of a gray area, due to licensing agreements, we don’t blame anyone who is desperate to watch the latest season of their favorite program when it airs in the U.S. rather than waiting for it to come to their country. Paying to watch a streaming service that’s not available in your country has to be less morally wrong than actual piracy! For more information on the legalities and whether it is safe to use a VPN read: Is a VPN safe for Mac?

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If you are looking for a VPN to protect your privacy and security online, and to grant you a way to access content as if you are in a different country, we are here to help. There are a lot of VPN providers vying for your business, which can make finding the best one to suit your needs difficult. To help you sort out the right provider for you, we’ve committed to extensive research and testing of VPN services that cater to Mac owners in our guide to the top VPN services for Mac.

Updated: April 2024 to reflect our refreshed reviews of NordVPN and Surfshark.

Our top choice right now is NordVPN, which we feel stands out in many areas, from speed and privacy to unblocking and ease of use.

Get NordVPN here

Do Macs need a VPN?

Before we list our recommendations, there is a big question. Do Mac users even need a VPN? Since Apple introduced iOS 15 and macOS Monterey in 2021 the company has offered a handy private relay service. iCloud Private Relay acts a bit like a VPN because it encrypts your web-browsing traffic and sends it through a relay to hide your location, IP, and any information about what you were browsing. iCloud Private Relay solves part of the problem that Mac users have used VPNs for in the past–it means that companies cannot build a clear picture of you on the web, thereby protecting your privacy.

iCloud Private Relay has some disadvantages: it only works when you are using Safari, you have to be a subscriber to iCloud, and you can’t use it to pretend to be surfing from another country in order to access content that is locked to a particular region. Read more here: iCloud+ Private Relay explained.

If you are a subscriber to iCloud, and only use Safari, then iCloud Private Relay will provide you with some anonymity when you are surfing the web. You may therefore be thinking that this means you don’t need a VPN to hide your location and identity. However, iCloud Private Relay does not allow you to choose an IP address or a region, and you won’t be able to make it look like you’re coming from another location. So you can’t watch geographically locked Netflix content, for example.

Best VPN for Mac

Our current favorite service is NordVPN. But below you will find the top VPN services for Mac.

Most features: NordVPN

Best all-rounder: Surfshark

Most servers: Private Internet Access

Best premium: ExpressVPN

Most countries: PureVPN

Most of these will cost less than $5/£5 per month, with some less than $3/£3. However, once your first year is over the price often jumps, so it’s worth setting a reminder to shop around 11 months after you subscribe so you can search for a better deal, alternatively, you could cancel and sign up with another email address.

VPN apps are very easy to install and use but for a step-by-step guide, read how to set up a VPN on a Mac.

All of these VPNs will also work on your iPhone and iPad as well, but you might want to check out our separate guides to the best VPNs for iPhone and best VPNs for iPad.

Best VPNs for Mac: Reviewed & Ranked






1. NordVPN





















Pros


Easy to use

Impressive WireGuard speeds

Lots of servers



Cons


Two separate apps can be confusing










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 3,49 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€3.49 at NordVPN





NordVPN is one of the biggest and best-known VPN services. It’s a fully featured VPN option that’s secure, easy to use, and unbelievably fast compared to its competitors. There are cheaper options, with unlimited connections and more in-depth VPN features, but NordVPN is our top choice right now because it stands out in so many areas, from speed and privacy to unblocking and ease of use.

Nord has an up-to-date independent audit. It also has specialty servers for specific purposes.

There are more than 5,300 servers (none of which are virtual) available across 60 countries, which sounds great. You probably only care about the servers where you want to unblock content, but the more servers the better as it means you have a better chance of finding one that’s not overloaded. You won’t have to figure out which one to choose thanks to the handy ‘Quick connect’ feature that picks the server best suited to your needs.

Connections are fast and reliable, and NordVPN unblocks popular streaming services around the world including Netflix and BBC iPlayer. You can connect up to six devices simultaneously including your Apple TV.

Nord has added support for the faster WireGuard protocol in NordLynx, making it one of the fastest VPN services out there. However, it’s only available on the ‘IKE’ version of the app, which only offers a permanently enabled kill switch. To have more control, you’ll need to download the ‘OpenVPN’ version, albeit with slightly slower speeds.

5,300 servers

6 simultaneous connections

24/7 tech support

Kill Switch

Works with Netflix & other streaming services

Nord frequently has deals on offer that save money on the usual monthly price if you take advantage of the two-year plan. NordVPN offers three tiers: Standard, Plus and Ultimate. Monthly plans start at $12.99/£10.39, and you can get Plus features (data breach scanner and password manager) for $13.99/£11.19. Then the $15.99/£13.39 Ultimate tier adds cloud storage and insurance options. The two-year plan brings the basic price to (around) $3.09/£2.49 a month, while the Ultimate plan is (around) $5.99/£5.19. Prices change all the time though, so take a look at the prices and plans at NordVPN.com.

Read our full

NordVPN pour Mac review





2. Surfshark





















Pros


Fast WireGuard speeds

Unlimited devices and connections

Easy to use



Cons


Kill switch can’t be customised

Expensive to renew










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 2,30 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€2.30 at Surfshark





Surfshark is a great-value VPN that offers quite a lot features beyond the core VPN service for a low monthly price. SurfShark has more than 3,000 servers spread across 100 countries, making its network one of the widest and most varied of any VPN,

Its apps are easy to use and it reliably unblocks streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. It’s missing the specialty servers offered by rivals such as NordVPN, who shares the same parent company, though.

Connection speeds are very impressive, and that’s thanks to the use of the WireGuard protocol. You really won’t notice any slowdown in your internet speed when Surfshark is running, so long as you have WireGuard selected and aren’t using servers the other side of the globe.

The company has upgraded all its servers so they run entirely in RAM, just like NordVPN and ExpressVPN. Running servers on RAM is better for privacy as data isn’t written to a hard drive. It’s also a member of the VPN Trust Initiative, while two-factor authentication (2FA) is a feature few VPN services offer. Being run from the Netherlands also means this is a privacy-friendly option.

The other reason to consider Surfshark is because it undercuts almost all of its rivals on price, yet doesn’t place any limit on the number of devices you can use simultaneously. Unfortunately, it can be pricy to renew once your initial contract runs out.

You can install and use it across many devices including your Mac, PC, Android and iOS devices, as well as browsers. It also supports multiple protocols (although OpenVPN is a little slower than we’d like) and excellent encryption, as well as a privacy-minded no-logs policy that’s regularly audited

There’s a kill switch and a Multi-Hop feature which routes your connection via two VPN servers for an extra layer of protection. However, there’s no GPS spoofing or split tunnelling on the Mac (the latter being very uncommon on Macs anyway). 

3,200+ RAM-based servers (some are virtual)

Multi-Hop connections

Unlimited simultaneous connections

24/7 customer service

Two-factor authentication

SurfShark offers three tiers of features at varying price points. The most basic option, aptly named SurfShark Starter, offers VPN functionality as well as an ad blocker and the option to generate a proxy email address and personal details for sites you don’t feel comfortable about giving your information to. SurfShark One adds email and payment detail breach alerts, as well as personal data security reports, antivirus and other malware protection, while the One+ plan adds data removal from company databases and people search sites. In addition to the VPN there are Alert, Search or Antivirus packages, that are available for an extra cost.

SurfShark offers discounted pricing if you sign up for two years, starting at around $2.39/£1.79 per month (this price changes all the time). Just beware that at the end of the period the price will increase unless you cancel.

Sign up to Surfshark here.

Read our full

Surfshark pour Mac review





3. CyberGhost





















Pros


Impressive WireGuard speeds

Dedicated downloading and streaming servers

Affordable



Cons


No recent audit

Didn’t unblock BBC iPlayer










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 2,19 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€2.99 at CyberGhost





CyberGhost is one of the biggest names in the VPN industry. It’s affordable and user-friendly, so is perfect for anyone using a VPN on their Mac for the first time.

Like certain rivals, it is constantly adding new servers and the current tally of over 7,000 in 90 countries means you should always be able to get a fast connection. And in our tests, we’ve always seen great speeds from CyberGhost, especially following the introduction of the WireGuard protocol.

CyberGhost is based in Romania, which is good for privacy. Deloitte has audited CyberGhost’s privacy claims and found no issues.

It was able to unblock every streaming service we tried including Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer and ITV X (another UK-based service). You can use the service on up to seven devices at the same time

It works with phones, tablets, browsers and of course your Mac.

7,000+ servers in 90 countries

7 simultaneous connections

24/7 customer service

Kill switch

There are tempting deals on two- or three-year subscriptions–such as this 3-year deal, which currently gives you three months extra free. It is a capable VPN that represents very good value for money.

Read our full

CyberGhost pour Mac review





4. Private Internet Access





















Pros


Lots of servers

Fast WireGuard speeds

Split tunneling works well

Unblocks BBC iPlayer



Cons


Clunky Mac app

Based within 14-eyes










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 1,99 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€1.99 at Private Internet Access





Private Internet Access (PIA) is a compelling VPN at a relatively affordable price, making it a decent option for the Mac. Since 2019 it’s been owned by the same people as CyberGhost and Express VPN.

It has an incredible 33,665 servers across 73 countries–that’s far higher than almost any consumer VPN service. Many of the servers are in the U.S. but you’ll find all the most popular locations. There are also virtual servers, so for example you can choose a virtual server in India, while an actual server in India would have to log user data.

Earlier in 2023 PIA removed its 10-device limit on subscriptions, meaning that there’s now no limit on the number of devices you can connect. 

Speeds are excellent, thanks to the WireGuard protocol. PIA also benefits from a kill switch, a feature that is sometimes left out of Mac VPN services.

Split tunneling, a feature that allows you to choose which apps are routed outside the VPN tunnel, is available. This is one of the few VPNS that offers this feature for macOS.

It allows you to access international versions of Netflix, as well as BBC iPlayer while outside the U.K. 

The service doesn’t log any of your details or activity, so even though it is based in the U.S., there’s no data to hand over should the authorities order PIA to do so. It now has had a reassuring Deloitte audit, which should make its U.S. location a non-issue.

33,000+ servers (RAM only)

Unlimited connections

24/7 customer service

Kill switch enabled by default

Split Tunneling

PIA for macOS offers a large number of features that are the same as the Windows version, including a kill switch, advanced split tunneling, an ad- and malware blocker, multi-hop, and support for OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols. It’s so often the case that the macOS version of a VPN has fewer features than the Windows version.

However, it’s not perfect. PIA doesn’t support IPv6 connections, which will be frustrating for some, but not a deal-breaker for the great majority of VPN users.

Nonetheless, PIA is a solid VPN service at an affordable price. A  two-year subscription works out at only $2.91/£2.37 per month. You also currently get two months extra for free.

Read our full

Private Internet Access review





5. ExpressVPN





















Pros


Easy-to-use desktop program

Broad device support

Excellent speeds



Cons


ExpressVPN’s team is largely anonymous

Expensive










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 7,94 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€7.94 at ExpressVPN





ExpressVPN is one of the most accomplished VPN services you can buy. Everything you’d expect from a modern VPN is here, including an effective kill switch, and impressive device support. There was split tunneling for app-by-app protection, but, as with most VPNs, that hasn’t worked since macOS Big Sur. It is extremely easy to set up, with quick access via the menu bar one of the highlights.

ExpressVPN has often led the way when it comes to security, but other providers are quickly catching up. It’s no longer the only one with RAM-based servers, while solid device and tech support are the norm whichever service you use. The company carried out almost a dozen audits in 2022, covering its apps and privacy policy

The Lightway protocol brings big increases to the speeds ExpressVPN is capable of, but its open-source technology many similar services will be able to make use of it. Many of these are significantly more affordable though, with ExpressVPN being one of the more expensive options here.

5 simultaneous connections

24/7 customer service

Works with Netflix & other streaming services

See ExpressVPN subscription plans here.

Read our full

ExpressVPN review





6. PureVPN





















Pros


Lots of servers

Impressive security credentials



Cons


Kill switch can’t be customised

PureVPN caused many websites to question whether we were “human”










Price When Reviewed:

Dès 2,29 €/mois




Best Prices Today:



€2.29 at PureVPN





PureVPN is a service to consider if you need to connect to one or more of the countries which aren’t covered by its rivals.

PureVPN is now registered in the British Virgin Islands, which is much more privacy friendly than Hong Kong, where it operated previously. There are more than 2,000 servers available across 141 countries (the most of all services listed here).

However, some of those are achieved using virtual server locations. Virtual servers are usually rented from a datacentre, which means the VPN company may have less control over them. PureVPN is transparent about which servers are virtual and which are physical – you can see a small ‘v’ next to each virtual server on the PureVPN website. Unfortunately, Mac users do not see this information in the app though, while their PC counterparts to.

Virtual servers will still unblock content as you’d expect. You can also take advantage of the following:

Kill switch in macOS app

140+ countries covered

5 simultaneous connections

24/7 customer service

Works with Netflix & other streaming services

PureVPN used to log session information but these days operates a strict no-logs policy.

Standard monthly pricing isn’t that attractive for any VPN service, but like its rivals PureVPN always offers great deals if you’re happy to sign up for multiple years.

You can find out more in our full PureVPN review, and see PureVPN offers here.

Read our full

PureVPN review





7. ProtonVPN





















Pros


Easy-to-use software interface

Secure Core helps hide your location

Built-in malware and tracker blocker

One of the fastest we’ve tested on a Mac



Cons


More expensive than rivals

Inconsistent speeds


















ProtonVPN is an impressive VPN. It starts with a free tier with very limited features, is easy to understand, offers a collection of interesting features and great speeds.

The free tier has restrictions on the number of servers you can choose, and the speeds on offer though. You just get a choice of three countries (U.S., Netherlands and Japan) and speeds aren’t as good as the paid-for version. The free version may be enough if you just want an extra layer of privacy, for which iCloud Private Relay may be sufficient. If you want more than that, say to unblock Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer and others, you will need to pay for it.

Those who pay for ProtonVPN get access to excellent speeds and can also use ‘Secure Core servers’ which route a connection through multiple servers improving privacy. As well as the standard options for connecting to the fastest server and a random server, you can create your own.

ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland, which has favorable privacy laws. Swiss law doesn’t require the saving of any logs, and won’t force ProtonVPN to spy on any specific users. The results of an independent audit by Securitum have been published online. ProtonVPN uses its own DNS servers to increase privacy. Proton’s also offers anonymous email addresses for signing up privately.

Other extras include NetShield with DNS filtering to offer protection from malware-infested websites, ads and trackers.

1900+ servers in 65+ countries

Use 10 devices at the same time

Includes NetShield malware and tracker blocker

Internet kill switch

One of the fastest VPN we’ve tested on macOS

ProtonVPN is an excellent service with fast speeds, the right privacy promises, a good amount of features including support for streaming services, and fair pricing. It’s well worth a look. Alongside the free tier are Plus (just the VPN) and Unlimited (a bundle that adds email, calendar and 500GB of cloud storage.)

If you aren’t a power user requiring a VPN for privacy and security, there are plenty of VPNs that will do what you need for less though. The high price is a big disadvantage here and the free version is too limited to be useful.

Read our full

ProtonVPN review





8. FastestVPN