Best VPN for iPhone 2025: Privacy Protection on the Go

Surfshark is the best VPN for iPhone overall. We like that Surfshark offers split tunneling on iOS and MacOS, not just Windows and Android -- a rarity among VPN providers. Beyond that, it doesn't compromise on features, like advanced privacy settings or speed. You can also use Surfshark on as many devices as you want simultaneously, which is great if you have a household full of devices you want to protect.

ExpressVPN is the best iPhone VPN for beginners, thanks to its excellent privacy protection and simple, user-friendly mobile interface on iOS and iPadOS (as well as Android, for that matter). It's a great overall VPN, though you'll pay more for that excellence.

NordVPN is the fastest VPN for iPhones, delivering blazing-fast speeds that are perfect for 4K video streaming or online mobile gaming. Plus, NordVPN’s track record with unblocking streams is among the best out there, especially considering it offers a global roster of locations to connect to in 118 countries.

ProtonVPN is the most versatile iPhone VPN, offering an impressive server network alongside customizable settings and features that are great for power users. Proton is privacy-focused and open-source, and it performed well in our latest speed tests, trailing only NordVPN.

Using a VPN on your iPhone and other devices is a great way to protect your privacy because a VPN encrypts your online traffic and masks your public IP address. Apple's iPhone has a reputation for privacy, but that doesn't mean you're automatically immune to privacy risks when you use one. With a VPN for your iPhone, you can boost your privacy whether you're at home or on the go. While using a VPN, your ISP or mobile carrier won't be able to see what websites and apps you're using. By the same token, apps and websites you use can't tell where you're really connecting from because it effectively replaces your public IP address with the address of the VPN server you're connecting through -- which can be in an entirely different location.

A VPN can make apps and websites think you're in a different city, state or even country, letting you unblock region-restricted content like foreign Netflix libraries, as well as shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus that would otherwise be unavailable in your location. If your carrier throttles your video streaming quality on mobile data, you may even experience faster speeds when streaming video on your phone using a VPN.

Our team of experts at CNET has rigorously tested dozens of the top VPN providers across multiple platforms, including iOS and iPadOS. We evaluate each service based on a host of factors, including privacy features, speed performance, ease of use and overall value for money. During iPhone VPN app evaluations, we were impressed with how responsively and intuitively each of our top picks performed on iPhone -- each being just as easy to use as basically any other VPN you'd install on your iPhone. We were also impressed with the seamlessness and stability of the connections, especially when switching between various Wi-Fi and mobile networks. Whether you're want to avoid mobile traffic-shaping, need to unblock region-restricted streaming content or are traveling internationally for the summer but need access to content from your home country, a VPN is a great addition to your app arsenal, so we've selected the best iPhone VPNs for your privacy and entertainment needs.

When we evaluate the best iPhone VPNs, we spend weeks testing the features offered on each VPN's iPhone app to see how they compare to the competition. We carefully consider the look and feel of the app and the overall usability of the software, including how easy it is to establish a connection, bearing in mind the generally smooth user experience iPhone users are accustomed to.

We test the performance and reliability of the VPN connection on each of the protocols available in the provider's iPhone app, while paying special attention to how the app performs when switching between Wi-Fi and a mobile network. We test for leaks and ensure each service's kill switch is working as it should, in addition to testing the functionality of every other feature available on the VPN's iPhone app. If a provider offers unique features (or includes a rare-to-iPhone feature like split-tunneling) we make sure to call them out and document our experience using them.

Many VPNs also offer easy access to customer support directly from their iPhone app, so we test that functionality and evaluate how seamlessly the app is able to connect the user with a support agent as well as the general effectiveness of the support itself.

We test each VPN's ability to circumvent geographical restrictions and access content on popular streaming sites on the iPhone, while taking into account previously-tested speed performance and noting any issues with buffering or stream quality. Finally, we evaluate each provider's pricing to determine the service's overall value.  

PIA

Private Internet Access is a decent cheap VPN that undercuts most of its rivals at $12 per month, $40 for the first year (renewing at $50 annually) or $79 every three years. We like its customizable apps and privacy-forward design that includes open-source apps as well as a reader-friendly privacy policy. PIA is one of the few VPN providers that offers split tunneling on MacOS, so Apple aficionados may appreciate the flexibility to route some apps but not others through a VPN. 

However, PIA’s high 49% average speed loss is about double what you can typically expect from a fast VPN, making it a tough sell for folks with slow or unreliable internet connections. Additionally, we experienced many CAPTCHAs with PIA when trying to access websites like Google. And its app design, while mostly user-friendly, felt outdated compared to most of the competition. While PIA is a good budget VPN, for a little bit more money, you can get a lot more value with a VPN like Surfshark or Proton VPN.

Read our PIA review.

IPVanish

IPVanish's iPhone app is fairly easy to use and includes a prominent "Connect" button on the home screen that'll get you connected quickly. If you navigate to the "locations" screen to select a specific server, you can either connect to the "optimal location" or choose from a list of servers. However, after you've connected, there's no indication of whether you're connected or not unless you navigate back to the home screen. Even if you connect to the optimal location, the Connect button on the locations screen still says "Connect" -- which can lead to some confusion. 

Although IPVanish's iPhone app isn't as streamlined as the others on this list, it includes split tunneling functionality -- a feature most VPNs don't offer with their iPhone apps. Even so, it's difficult to enthusiastically recommend IPVanish to iPhone users considering that far superior services are available for the same price or cheaper. IPVanish costs $13 per month, $40 for the first year or $53 for the first two years combined. However (as this information is not made sufficiently clear on IPVanish's pricing page), be advised that the price of the annual plan more than doubles to $90 after the initial term, and the two-year subscription renews at $180 every two years after the first two years. Also, IPVanish's 30-day money-back guarantee only applies to the annual and two-year subscription plans, not the monthly plan. (Disclosure: IPVanish is owned by CNET's parent company, Ziff Davis.)  

Read our IPVanish review. 

The only free VPN for iPhone that we recommend is Proton VPN. Its free tier employs the same encryption standards as its premium tier, doesn't impose any usage or speed limitations and doesn't sell your data. There's no shortage of free VPN options available for iPhone, but we generally don't recommend most free VPNs for a number of reasons. First, many free VPNs make money by collecting your personal data and selling it to third parties -- putting your privacy at risk and defeating the purpose of using a VPN in the first place. Many free VPNs may also inundate you with annoying popups and unwanted advertisements, and some may even contain malware. Additionally, free VPNs impose limitations on usage, are burdened by overcrowded servers (which can negatively affect speeds and stability), typically lack streaming support and often employ substandard encryption.

In our testing, ExpressVPN was the VPN that performed the best for streaming on iPhone as well as on every other device we tested. If your main priority is to unblock international streaming content on your iPhone with a VPN, we recommend going with ExpressVPN because it has proven year after year in our tests to be the most reliable service for geo-unblocking content from all over the world.

The best VPNs for iPhone are already highly intuitive and deliver exceptional performance on iOS devices. But you can expect even more refinements throughout 2025 and beyond in terms of performance and features. Specifically, many of the top VPNs have been rolling out additional services like password managers, antivirus protection, secure email and identity protection features that you can bundle with the VPN service. We've started seeing many of these additional features added to existing VPN apps, but we're likely to see them integrated more into a single app for each provider instead of having multiple apps for each of your bundled services. We're also likely to see a greater degree of parity between apps on different platforms (especially with more providers re-implementing split-tunneling on iPhone and other Apple apps), so users can have access to the same set of features regardless of which operating system they're using. Additionally, we'll see providers committing to more regular audits, refining their pricing structures and a wider implementation of forward-thinking privacy features like post-quantum protection.