What is a VPN?

The most important quality to consider when choosing a VPN service is trust. A trustworthy VPN provider:

• is transparent in its privacy policy

• has been independently audited

• designs its systems to avoid storing personal data

• shows a consistent commitment to internet privacy and digital freedom

Thereafter, choose your VPN based on the features you need, such as VPN server locations, compatibility with all the devices you own, and unlimited bandwidth.

It’s hard for a free VPN to match the features and service of a quality paid provider. With free VPNs, you are more likely to experience slow connections bogged down by a flood of users on suboptimal networks, no customer support, weak security, and a small number of VPN server locations to choose from.

As a premium paid provider, ExpressVPN can offer connections optimized for speed, security, and stability, as well as a wide selection of server locations in 105 countries around the world. Plus, our dedicated Support Team is available 24/7 to help.

VPNs are legal, and they are consistently used by individuals and companies around the world to protect their private information and online activity, including in countries with highly restrictive governments. Even where VPNs are seen as discouraged, many governments tacitly endorse their use by officials, academics, or business leaders as a necessary measure to stay competitive in an interconnected world. It is not practical for any country to ban all VPNs.

Having said that, illegal online activity remains illegal, whether you are using a VPN or not.

With apps for iOS and Android, ExpressVPN is easy to use on mobile devices. As more of our digital activity—including banking, photo-sharing, and messaging—happens on our phones and tablets, it is becoming more important to safeguard our data with a VPN on these devices, especially when using public Wi-Fi.

VPNs have the potential to slow your internet connection, but ExpressVPN’s industry-leading speeds mean users rarely notice a difference. In fact, use of a VPN may actually improve your connection if your ISP has been throttling your traffic.

In any case, if you do notice that your connection has slowed down, try selecting a server location that is geographically closer to you.

Like all apps, a VPN will consume some amount of power on your device. That’s one reason ExpressVPN developed Lightway, our exclusive, custom-built new VPN protocol, which is designed to use significantly less battery than other protocols. It’s also faster and easier to audit and maintain.

ExpressVPN believes everyone has a right to privacy. When you connect to our network, strong encryption prevents your activity from being observed by your internet provider, Wi-Fi operators, or other third parties. ExpressVPN collects no activity or connection logs, and our groundbreaking TrustedServer technology ensures that no data is ever stored on any server. In short, no specific network activity or behavior can be traced to any ExpressVPN user.

Using a VPN is not only safe, it can add a valuable layer of security to your online banking, especially on public Wi-Fi networks. And because some financial institutions will suspend access to users who appear to be visiting from somewhere unexpected, connecting to a server location in your home country before you log in to your bank or PayPal account can save you from getting locked out.

We recommend that you keep ExpressVPN on anytime your device is connected to the internet, even if you’re not actively using it. By leaving the app running in the background, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your privacy is always protected.