What’s the Fastest VPN in 2023?

What comes to your mind when you say ‘’VPN’’? Security, privacy, anonymity. And what about speedy connections? If you need a service for streaming, for example, it should be one of the fastest VPNs to enjoy streaming without lagging of the Internet. For this reason, I decided to test them and find 5 fastest VPNs among the ones I was using while travelling around the world. In this review, I will tell you today:

Learn which of the fastest VPNs are included in the list of the best VPN services.

Top 3 fastest VPNs with good speeds on US & EU servers

For this review, I tested most popular US and UK locations used for various tasks requiring fast speeds: streaming, torrenting, gaming, etc. All in all, I tested 17 VPN services and present you this top 5 VPNs with fast speeds on US and UK servers. How did I rank them? What did I start with? I measured the speed of my ISP, it was like this:

For each VPN I asked a couple of quick questions about them:

• How fast are US servers?
• How fast are EU servers?

How did I rank the speeds? According to the standards published on the website of Netflix, the minimum speeds for streaming SD, HD and 4K video are the following:

Still, when ranking VPN services according to their speeds, it’s necessary to take into account speed loss expressed as a percentage. Normal speed loss when using VPN is 20-30%. It depends on the level of protection: the stronger, the slower. In my review, the VPNs’ speeds are ranked according to this scale:

• Fast (speed loss – up to 30%)
• Average or mediocre (speed loss – up to 40-80%)
• Slow and very slow (speed loss – more than 80%)

Finally, I took into account the answers to these questions:

• Is it good for streaming?
• Is it good for torrenting?
• Is it good for gaming?

Without further ado, here is my top 5 VPN providers with fast speeds.

1. NordVPN – 1st in Best VPN List

View NordVPN

US server speeds

EU server speeds

Why I recommend it for streaming: NordVPN has the one of the largest server networks among the leaders of the industry – 5800+ servers in 60 countries around the world. For this review, I tested its US and EU servers and found them very fast. Taking into account the protocols and 256-bit encryption algorithm, it performs perfectly! Speed loss is within 20-30%. Thus, if the speed of your ISP is not too slow, you can stream films on Netflix, Hulu and others in HD and 4K. Is that all? No! For some locations (Netherlands, Germany, the UK), the provider offers dedicated IPs. That’s very useful if you live in those countries, but you always want to access streaming services available for your country. Still, be sure you don’t connect to DoubleVPN and obfuscated servers for online streaming. They provide advanced protection, but as a result they slow down the Internet too much.

Why I recommend it for torrenting: Firstly, the provider has special optimized servers for torrenting (you can easily find them in the app by clicking on ‘’P2P’’). There are quite a lot of them in various regions. Secondly, the download/upload speeds are fast enough to torrent even ‘’heavy’’ files. Finally, NordVPN’s jurisdiction and no-logging policy are very P2P-friendly. Why? Just because it’s located in Panama which has no laws on data retention for ISPs and VPN providers. What’s more, the provider of NordVPN doesn’t log users’ activities, so it makes your torrent activity not only private but also anonymous. Why I recommend it for gaming: NordVPN can be used for gaming as well. Why? It’s fast, secure and has a rich server park. High speeds provided by the services are quite enough for online gaming. Remember: in case you use different devices for gaming, you can configure NordVPN once on your router. Read in details how I tested NordVPN’s benefits and features.

2. ExpressVPN - Fast Speeds & Secure

View ExpressVPN

US server speeds

EU server speeds

Why I recommend it for streaming: Hotspot Shield is not ranked in the list of the best VPN services, but it successfully passed speed tests. Though its US servers aren’t so fast as the nearest EU servers, the speeds are quite enough for streaming even in HD an Ultra HD quality. The provider of Hotspot Shield emphasizes on the fastest speeds among the other providers. Let me suppose why this VPN service is so fast? The provider doesn’t apply such popular VPN protocols as OpenVPN or IPSec. It seems that the weaker level of protection (in comparison with other VPN provider) allows them to provide faster speeds. The servers are located in 25 countries, which can’t be compared with the server networks of NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Yes, there are actually US servers that work for Netflix, but there are few of them, so they are sometimes overloaded. Still, Hotspot Shield unblocks Netflix and most of my speed tests showed good speeds. Why I don’t recommend it for torrenting: The servers of Hotspot Shield are torrent-friendly, but I wouldn’t us I for downloading torrents. Firstly, its US jurisdiction is not a good one for torrent users. Secondly, its logging policy is quite contradictory, as they claim they don’t store users’ IPs and other personal information, but at the same time, it is mentioned that advertisers may collect the information about users via ads in the app. (more details in my review) Finally, the company was accused of selling users’ data. Taking into account excellent speed test results, Hotspot Shield is good for online games. But if you won’t to be private while playing online games, you’d better choose one of the VPNs ranked #1-4.

3. Private Internet Access - 3rd in Best VPN List

View Private Internet Access

US server speeds

EU server speeds

Why I recommend it for streaming: While your connection is protected when you use PIA, the speeds aren’t excellent. Most of the US and EU servers’ speeds are mediocre or average. Nevertheless, there’s an opportunity to turn the encryption off and get maximum speeds. But you have to choose what’s more important to you: security or fast connections? I tested different servers of PIA and most of them unblocked Netflix and other streaming services. Why I don’t recommend it for torrenting: One of the most important reasons why I don’t recommend you to use PIA for torrenting is its jurisdiction. It’s another US-based VPN service, and now you already know that it’s not a good idea to use American VPNs for such tasks as torrenting, for example. Why I don’t recommend it for gaming: To enjoy perfect speeds, you will have to disable encryption, but in such a case you aren’t protected enough which also important for online gaming. Read in details how I tested PIA’s benefits and features.

The VPNs that showed the slowest speeds

1. PureVPN

• How fast are US servers? – Very slow
• How fast are EU servers? – Slow
• Is it good for streaming? – Only via the nearest servers
• Is it good for torrenting? – No
• Is it good for gaming? – No

This VPN service has a tarnished reputation after its provider helped the authorities to find a criminal. It was revealed that the company was logging their users’ activities. My tests showed that PureVPN sometimes leaks IP addresses, which is not good for any activity: streaming, torrenting or gaming. Finally, it slows down the Internet too much. In case you have your Internet connections aren’t speedy, you won’ be able to stream without lagging.

2. VPN Unlimited

• How fast are US servers? – Very slow
• How fast are EU servers? – Very slow
• Is it good for streaming? – No
• Is it good for torrenting? – No
• Is it good for gaming? – No

The speed loss is critical – more than 80%. In case you ISP doesn’t provide fast connections, they will be even slower via VPN Unlimited. It’s not a good variant for torrenting or online gaming not only because it’s too slow. The provider is based in the USA and keeps user logs. I don’t recommend it as those tasks require privacy, and you won’t be private with Unlimited VPN.

3. ibVPN

• How fast are US servers? – Very slow
• How fast are EU servers? – Very slow
• Is it good for streaming? – No
• Is it good for torrenting? – No
• Is it good for gaming? – No

This VPN service passed my security tests successfully, and it’s located out of ‘’14 Eyes’’. Still, it slows down internet connections too much. It depends on the speeds of your ISP and real geo-location, but I tried different locations and was changing security settings, and it was not successful.

4. Steganos

• How fast are US servers? – Very slow
• How fast are EU servers? – Very slow
• Is it good for streaming? – No
• Is it good for torrenting? – No
• Is it good for gaming? – No

It’s the slowest VPN service I have ever tried. The speeds are too slow even for SD video. Its speeds aren’t enough for streaming in HD or Ultra HD. Besides, the provider is located inside of ‘’14 Eyes’’. The network of servers is poor as well.

When do you need a fast VPN?

In this section, I will give you several tips on how to choose not only the fastest VPN but also the one that will protect you online and make your virtual activities private.

What fastest VPN to use for torrenting?

Torrenting is one of the most delicate tasks. Many countries don’t allow it because of copyright infringement. But it doesn’t mean that you break copyright laws each time you torrent. Still, the authorities keep an eye on such internet users and apply advanced technologies, like DPI, to monitor user traffic. How to choose a speedy VPN for torrenting? First of all, you should check if the provider allows P2P connections via its servers Lots of them ban them or allow only for several dedicated servers. Then make sure user or connection logs aren’t kept by the provider an it’s located out of any spying alliances (5/9/14 ‘’Eyes’’). Taking into account everything I mentioned above will help you to choose a good VPN for torrents.

What fastest VPN to use for streaming?

Online streaming requires good minimum download/ upload speeds. Let me remind you of the recommended speeds or SD/HD/Ultra HD video content through Netflix:

• SD video – minimum 3.0 mbps
• HD video - minimum 5.0 mbps
• Ultra HD - minimum 25 mbps

But that’s enough for streaming via Netflix and other online streaming services. The provider should offer a wide server park with a great number of IPs. The company of Netflix is very strict about bypassing geo-restrictions, so it would be useful if a VPN provider offers dedicated IPs so that you can use it only for Netflix.

What fastest VPN to use for gaming?

Online games require fast internet connections. But is that all you need for this activity? No. First of all, you should look for secure VPNs for gaming that apply speedy, but strong protocols and encryption algorithm. This will protect you against hackers within online gaming networks. It will perfect if a VPN service is compatible with multiple platforms and can be configured on PlayStation, Xbox and routers.