The best VPN & Privacy
Every option ranked — open-source, self-hostable, and commercial — by our transparent Sovereignty Score, with honest trade-offs so you choose what fits you, not us.
Route your traffic through an encrypted tunnel — for privacy from your ISP, safety on public Wi-Fi, or a freer internet. Options run from privacy-first services to your own self-hosted tunnel.
L5Applications — layer 5 of the AI stack- 1
Mullvad VPN
Top pickOpen sourceThe privacy gold standard — flat price, no account, fully audited.
Flat €5/month, no tiers; anonymous 16-digit account number, no email · in our NordVPN comparison →
What is Mullvad VPN? →88sovereignty - 2
Self-Hosted (WireGuard / Algo)
Open sourceRun your own VPN on a server you control — total ownership.
Free software; ~$4–5/month for the small VPS you run it on · in our NordVPN comparison →
What is Self-Hosted (WireGuard / Algo)? →95sovereignty - 3
Proton VPN
Open sourcePartnerOpen-source, audited, with a genuinely unlimited free tier.
Free tier with unlimited data; paid Plus roughly $5–10/month · in our NordVPN comparison →
What is Proton VPN? →86sovereignty - 4
IVPN
Open sourceOpen-source, anonymous signup, a true privacy purist.
From about $6/month; anonymous account, no email required · in our NordVPN comparison →
What is IVPN? →85sovereignty - 5
Surfshark
CommercialPartnerThe cheapest full-featured commercial VPN — unlimited devices.
~$2/month on a 2-year plan; about $15/month month-to-month · in our NordVPN comparison →
What is Surfshark? →42sovereignty
Replacing a specific tool?
Head-to-head comparisons for each popular vpn & privacy product.
Straight head-to-heads
Two vpn & privacy tools, side by side — verified facts and a plain verdict.