How We Review VPNs

This page explains how VPN Guard Dog researches, compares and updates information about VPN services. It applies to our reviews, comparison pages and guides.

What we look at

Privacy and trust

Logging policy, company jurisdiction and ownership, independent audits (who performed them, when and what they covered), transparency reports and server technology such as RAM-only servers.

Restricted networks

Whether the provider offers obfuscation or anti-censorship features, which apps support them, and what the provider itself says about their limits.

Security features

Protocols, encryption, kill switch, DNS and leak protection, multi-hop and other options that matter in practice.

Apps and platforms

Availability on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, routers and browsers, and how easy the main features are to use.

Performance

We only quote speed figures when there is a named, dated source. Speeds vary a lot by location, network and time of day.

Price and terms

Plan prices, what the first term costs versus the renewal price, device limits and refund policy — always with the date we checked.

Our sources

  1. Official sources first: pricing pages, help-centre articles, privacy policies, feature pages and published audit summaries from the provider.
  2. Independent auditors and reputable testing: when we cite third-party test results, we name the publisher and the test date and treat them as a snapshot, not a guarantee.
  3. Our own checks: where we have tested something ourselves, we say so and note the date.

Every comparison page lists its sources at the end.

What we will not claim

  • That any VPN makes you “completely anonymous” or “100% secure”.
  • That any service is guaranteed to work in a particular country or on a particular network. Blocking methods change, sometimes overnight.
  • That one provider is better than another without explaining the criteria and the evidence.

Updates and corrections

Prices and features change often. Each comparison page shows the date its information was last checked. We aim to recheck our main comparison pages regularly and whenever we learn of a significant change. If you spot an error, please tell us via the Contact page — we correct mistakes and update the date.

Independence

We may earn commissions from some providers. Commercial relationships do not decide which services we include, how we rank them or what we write about their limitations. Providers cannot pay to review or edit our content before publication.

Responsible editor: Alex Chang. Read more about VPN Guard Dog.