Windscribe. Another non-Chinese VPN app for Android and iPhone, Windscribe is headquartered in Canada. Plus, it offers a lot of desirable features including double-hop encryption, which encrypts your data, and routes it through two servers. You also get a kill switch here, along with support for split-tunnelling.
ExpressVPN is a VPN service offered by the British Virgin Islands-registered company Express Technologies Ltd.
NordVPN Is Not Owned By China
Long regarded as one of the most dependable and secure VPN services on the market, NordVPN offers users an unmatched level of online anonymity and protection. Concerns have been raised, however, about the company's ownership structure and its possible ties to China.
Surfshark's headquarters is in the Netherlands with additional offices in Lithuania, Poland, and Germany.
NordVPN History
Founded in 2012, NordVPN is owned by Nord Security (earlier Tefincom S.A.), a company registered in Panama. It is, therefore, subject to the data retention laws of that country. For users, this also means that it's not under the pesky and watchful eyes of a 14-eyes country.
This is because a powerful VPN like NordVPN helps you bypass those practices by hiding your IP address and online activities from authorities and internet service providers (ISPs). Some governments demonize VPN services, claiming that they are primarily used for illegal activities, so they declare VPNs illegal.
Proton VPN is a service provided by Proton AG, an employee-owned company based in Switzerland.
Surfshark comes in at No. 10 in our rating of the Best VPNs of 2023 with a score of 3.6 out of 5. Professional reviewers have praised it for having one of the widest server networks, with 3,200+ servers in 100 countries, including locations in South America and Africa – areas often ignored by other VPN companies.
Surfshark has received rave reviews from leading experts in the field. Techradar, PCMag, and CNET are just a few of many names that have recognized Surfshark as one of the best players in the VPN game. According to cybersecurity pros, top-grade encryption and feature-packed apps are second to none.
Although ExpressVPN has offices around the globe, it is based in the British Virgin Islands, meaning it is out of the jurisdiction of Five Eyes and other surveillance alliances. It's easy to use and has all the features most people need.
NordVPN ties for No. 2 on our list of the Best VPNs of 2023. Founded in 2012, this VPN provider is based in Panama, thus putting it outside the jurisdiction of Five Eyes and other surveillance alliances. In addition to VPN services, it offers password management and encryption along with cloud storage.
Not all VPNs can get through the Great Firewall of China, and NordVPN is no exception. Online censorship can change in an instant, but it's always worth trying to use NordVPN through the app. Luckily, NordVPN is extremely easy to use. If you're currently in China, it can't hurt to see if the app works anyway.
Outside of obfuscated servers, NordVPN mainly uses its NordLynx protocol, which has no ability to bypass censorship efficiently. As such, not using obfuscated servers will most likely result in being blocked and not being able to use NordVPN in China.
Although using a VPN won't get you thrown in jail in China, authorities do what they can to limit access to them. One way they do this is by removing VPN apps from app stores. As with all Google services, Google Play is blocked in China.
Connect to servers in a major city near you. Surfshark VPN has Australian servers in: Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth.
Since your ISP knows you're using a VPN, they can direct the police to them. Whether your VPN provider gives up that information depends on factors such as the jurisdiction and the VPN's privacy policy.
Surfshark shuts down servers in India in response to data law. In response to the new Indian data regulation laws, Surfshark is shutting down its servers in India.
NordVPN is owned by Nord Security. The company was initially supported by a Lithuanian business incubator called Tesonet, also owned by Nord's founder Tom Okman.
Who owns Surfshark? The founder of Surfshark is Vytautas Kaziukonis. In 2022, Surfshark and Nord Security merged under one holding company to form a cybersecurity powerhouse while still operating independently.
Surfshark VPN encrypts your data, making it impossible for hackers to access your browsing information.
Your data is encrypted, so your ISP can't see its contents. This includes DNS requests, which are sent through the VPN tunnel and resolved by the VPN provider. Your ISP can see the IP address of the VPN server you're connected to, but it can't see any connections made after that.
Proton VPN is as safe and secure as VPN services go. It's equipped with powerful AES military-grade encryption and tunneling protocols. All of their apps are open-source so everyone can inspect their code to verify that it's safe to use.
Proton VPN's secure core is slower than other servers. You can see the ping (latency) is somewhat high. This would not be the best VPN for gaming, where low ping is important.