Android is one of the most popular operational systems which is utilized by millions of people around the world. However, its vast popularity doesn’t guarantee the safety of your sensitive information like personal correspondence or financial transactions. On the contrary, the popularity and flexibility of this OS increase its vulnerability.
Unlike iOS, Android is an open-source platform. Its code can be accessed by third-party developers, and hackers of all types can’t but take advantage of it. A popular way of malware distribution is through apps in the PlayMarket and outside it. Finally, with a huge audience and numerous brands covered, it’s difficult to release regular OS updates, which could reduce the risk of hacking.
In 2018, 6.5% of US resident were victims of identity fraud, and it is definitely something to be concerned of. Still, if the Android developers are incapable of providing the sufficient level of security, it is time for you to take this matter into your own hands. There is no better way of ensuring the safety and anonymity of your online activities via Android-based devices than by installing a best VPN on any gadget that runs on this popular software.
Best VPNs for Android
- 2,000 servers in 148 locations
- Strict no-logging policy
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Great for torrenting and streaming
- 3000 servers in 61 locations
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Blazing-fast speeds
- Kill Switch and Split Tunneling
- 1,100 servers in 60 locations
- 10 simultaneous connections
- Works on Smart TVs and routers
- SOCKS5 web proxy for torrenting
What is the best Android VPN app?
Virtual private networks (VPNs) have multiple benefits. With a good VPN service, you enhance your online privacy by turning yourself into an anonymous, nameless user. Not only does it help to feel protected, but also opens access to geo-restricted sites. As soon as you are connected to a VPN, nobody, including your ISP, can track you.
Top VPNs have to meet several requirements:
- help bypass regional restrictions and censorship;
- ensure safe torrenting and content streaming;
- guarantee the highest privacy level.
We have spent weeks trying to figure out what is the best VPN for Android and managed to come up with the list of the finest VPN clients (also read our top of VPN apps for iPhone).
- ExpressVPN – Zero logs and great for streaming
- CyberGhost – Affordable price, torrent-friendly
- IPVanish – 10 connections at a time & high price
- VyprVPN – Lightweight application, fast speed
- Avast SecureLine VPN – Secure & easy-to-use
ExpressVPN
- Zero logs policy
- High speed
- Good at unblocking Netflix and alike
- Steep price
- Only 3 simultaneous connections are allowed
Privacy and Security
ExpressVPN strictly adheres to its no-logging policies, so you can be absolutely certain that no information that concerns your online activity will ever get into the hands of a government or cyber perpetrators. The company is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, beyond the reach of the Five Eyes special services.
Netflix and Streaming
ExpressVPN provides unlimited traffic and bandwidth, so you can literally forget about ISP throttling or slow downloads. The ExpressVPN’s capability for unblocking geographically restricted services, such as Netflix, BBC, and Amazon (read best VPNs for Netflix), is up to the highest standards. It is one of the few VPNs that can effectively bypass US Netflix restrictions.
Android App Usability
ExpressVPN has been developed as a native client for Android. It very easy to use and its installation takes just a couple of minutes. ExpressVPN has one of the most comprehensible interfaces in the industry as well as a plethora of servers all around the planet (check our full ExpressVPN review).
Pricing Plans
Basically, ExpressVPN offers only one plan that includes all the features and options available. But you can obtain it with a substantial discount if you opt for a 6-month or a 12-month package.
- 1 month – $12.5, no discount;
- 6 months – $9.99 per month, discount 20%;
- 15 months – $6.67 per month, discount 49%.
Money-Back Guarantee
The money back period is 30 days, irrespective of the option chosen. CyberGhost
Privacy and Security
CyberGhost has a reputation of one of the safest VPNs around. Being headquartered in Romania, it guarantees a 100% zero-logging policy. With the strongest 256-bit encryption, your sensitive and personal data is reliably protected.
Netflix and Streaming
There are some more reasons why we’ve placed CyberGhost on our list of the top VPN services. CyberGhost is focused on providing seamless torrenting and streaming experience. Some users claim that this VPN provider is still incapable of unblocking BBC iPlayer, but the company is trying hard to resolve this issue in order to make CyberGhost even more efficient (more good VPNs for streaming).
Android App Usability
CyberGhost has a dedicated mobile app for Android devices, which is available on the provider’s official site. It takes just a couple of minutes to download and install the software. Right after that, you’ll be able to log in and connect the VPN, ensuring top-notch protection for your Android smartphone or tablet (more in our Cyberghost review).
Pricing Plans
The basic monthly fee for the full-featured CyberGhost VPN software is $12.99, which is comparable with the price for ExpressVPN. However, there is a possibility of getting an incredible discount of 73% by choosing a 2-year pack.
- 1 month – $12.99, no discount;
- 1 year – $5.25 per month, 56% discount;
- 2 years – $3.69 per month, 73% discount;
- 3 years – $2.5 per month, 81% discount.
Money-Back Guarantee
The provider offers a generous 45-day refunding period, so you have nothing to lose. IPVanish
Privacy and Security
The security of IPVanish VPN is ensured through the active employment of various protocols, which range from the industry standard OpenVPN protocol to a more specific L2TP protocol. Moreover, IPVanish doesn’t share their servers with any third parties which is yet another reason for the users to remain unalarmed about the integrity of their sensitive data.
Finally, IPVanish encrypts all online activities by means of the military-grade AES-256 algorithm which serves as a last brick in the unbreakable security system elaborated the developers of this VPN. Though the company is based in the US, it keeps no logs and guarantees the highest degree of security.
Netflix and Streaming
Being one of the speediest VPNs around, IPVanish is a great option for hassle-free torrenting (best VPN for torrenting) and content streaming. Unfortunately, we can’t recommend it to active Netflix users, as its IPs are blocked by the system. That said, IPVanish works with some other popular platforms, including Hulu and BBC iPlayer.
Android App Usability
The app itself is really intuitive, allowing the users to change the servers straight from their mobile phones. By the way, IPVanish offers the choice of more than 400 servers which are located in 60+ countries of the world.
You can read more about this VPN in our IPVanish review.
Pricing Plans
What’s also great about this Android VPN client is that it is relatively cheap: the annual plan will cost you as little as $6.49 per month which is really a bargain for such an outstanding level of efficiency and security.
- 1 month – $10 (save 17%);
- 1 year – $6.49/mo (save 46%);
- 2 years – $4.12/mo (save 66%).
VyprVPN
- Very fast
- Servers in 70 countries available
- Chameleon protocol
- P2P has limitations
- Connection (metadata) logs issues
Privacy and Security
At the moment, VyprnVPN, which is headquartered in Switzerland, operates over 7000 servers at 70 locations. The Chameleon protocol is the VyprVPN’s exclusive technology that is capable of defeating the VPN blocking which is widely utilized in such online services as Netflix, BBC, Kodi and Amazon (check best VPN for Kodi here).
Thanks to several speed tests, we’ve managed to confirm that VyprVPN is one of the industry leaders in terms of download speed. Therefore, if you aren’t really worried about minor logging issues, then you can surely consider giving VyprVPN a try.
Netflix and Streaming
Being a consistently speedy service, VyprVPN is an excellent solution for downloading and streaming content. It effectively bypasses Netflix restrictions. However, the fact of collecting some logs make some people avoid using it as a torrenting tool.
Android App Usability
VyprVPN with its dedicated Android app is one of the most attractive options for the users of this operating system. The application is relatively small and lightweight; it is easy to install and use.
Read more about this VPN in our VyprVPN review.
Pricing Plans
VyprVPN has 2 service plans: the standard plan that costs $9.95 per month and the premium plan which is obviously a bit more expensive and costs $12.95 per month. The ordinary plan provides for 3 simultaneous connections from one user license whilst the premium one grants 5 connections as well as access to the VyprVPN Cloud and Chameleon protocol.
Before purchasing one of these plans, the user can opt for a 3-day free trial which will allow to understand whether or not VyprVPN is your best choice. Moreover, there is a great option to save up to 50% buying one of the two annual plans.
- 1 month (basic plan) – $9.95, no discount;
- 1 year (basic plan) – $5 per month, 50% discount;
- 1 month (premium plan) – $12.95, no discount;
- 1 year (premium plan) – $6.67 per month, 50% discount.
Avast SecureLine VPN
- Excellent privacy protection with strong protocols
- Decent DNS leak protection
- Even 1 month plan comes at affordable price
- Few servers available
- Average speed
- No dedicated IP servers
Privacy and Security
The Avast VPN uses two privacy protection protocols, namely OpenVPN and OpenSSL as well as the bank-grade AES-256 encryption to keep every single digit of users data away from prying eyes. In addition, they take the no-logs policy really seriously, at least they weren’t involved in any scandals concerning the transfer of private user data to the third parties.
After running a few tests, we can confirm that their DNS leak protection feature also works really well. At the moment, Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t have the dedicated IP servers, so they offer only the single shared IP feature which is acceptable for the newbie VPN provider but still leaves a lot of room for improvement.
Netflix and Streaming
As of now, Avast VPN has 54 servers in 34 countries which is obviously far less than the number of servers offered by their competitors. Due to the limited coverage and average download speed, it is not the best option for streaming (check best free VPN for Kodi) and torrenting. But we hope, the things will change for better over time.
Android App Usability
The app offered by Avast is genuinely simple and intuitive. Even if you have zero experience in using VPN, you won’t face any difficulties with connecting a remote server and creating protected environment with the help of Avast software.
Pricing Plans
As of now, Avast offers the only pricing plan for the users of its VPN solution. It is $79.9 per year or about $6.66 per month. Under one license, one can establish up to 5 connections.
The Bottom Line
The growing threat that comes from individuals or the groups of people who want to lay their hands on the sensitive data forces ordinary Internet users to take additional protective measures in order not to fall victim to maleficent actions.
Installing a VPN app on your Android phone is one of the most efficient ways to make your actions undetectable and your online activities untraceable. Use this list of the best Android VPN apps to safeguard the information on your Android device.
Best VPNs for other devices
Here is our guides for other devices:
Well, I wouldn’t call ExpressVPN the best VPN for Android, just because it’s way too expensive for the average users. And the “only three simultaneous connections” rule is a joke. Besides, I’ve had some trouble with unblocking Netflix from the UK, which is total BS. Why didn’t you include NordVPN, though?
I don’t need more than two connections at once; so, ExpressVPN covers it all. Security and reliability are always #1 for me, which makes it the best Android VPN. The price is what’s bothering me, and as far as ease of use goes, pretty much every VPN out there is super intuitive.
On my personal list, CyberGhost is the greatest VPN app for Android. It puts very little “pressure” on the device and comes with a 7-day trial. A network I’d recommend to my friends.
What about the best free VPN for Android? Not every single user out there can afford or needs a full-fledged Network! Make sure to include something like HideMyAss or Windscribe next time, OK? I’m using Windscribe, and it’s more than enough to cover my privacy and security.
David, we understand your frustration and will make sure to fix that in the nearest future. At the same time, we wanted the list to be as compact and user-friendly as possible. Most users and experts in the field put ExpressVPN on the top of the list, and it really is #1.
David, you do realize that there’s no such thing as a 100% free service, right? Even the ones with 10GB traffic, like Windscribe, will drop that down to 2 or 1GB after the first month.
Actually, Kate, there is one: in my opinion, Betternet is the best free unlimited VPN for Android. Right, it does “attack” you with tons of ads, but as far as I know, it’s pretty harmless.
Nancy, you’re absolutely right – Betternet is free of charge. But do remember that it keeps logs on the users and will give them out if the government asks the company to do that.
Well, it’s obvious that top VPN apps for Android are also quite expensive. As the others pointed out, even though ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are great, they could’ve been a lot cheaper.
Say whatever you want about ExpressVPN, but with the 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, you can use it completely free of charge for a whole month!
Why didn’t you mention ZenMate? Right now, they offer a 2-year deal for just 70 dollars (2.91 a month)? To me, it’s an excellent bang for the buck.
No doubt there – CyberGhost is an advanced Virtual Private Network. I also like the fact that they have 3000+ servers at their disposal. The plans are expensive, though, and I don’t see myself paying for the yearly plans.
I see you guys are trying to find the best free Android VPN. To me, that’s also CyberGhost, because with it, you get seven days of free trial and they don’t even require any credit card information.
Thanks to the competition on the market right now, we, the users, can benefit from extremely cheap and capable Virtual Private Networks.
Grant, Karl, if you’re looking for the best free trial offers, make sure to take a look at our Best VPN With A Free Trial article.
I can’t understand why you decided to put Avast SecureLine on the list of the best of the best since it lacks a proper number of servers.
William, thanks to the zero-logs policy, industry-leading encryption protocols, and DNS protection, Avast managed to create a decent VPN. It’s not perfect, but definitely worth the spot.
If you’re not on Netflix 24/7, then TunnelBear might be the Android VPN client that fits you best. The 500MB limit is a bit harsh, though.
Yes, I wanted to mention TB as well. It’s quite amazing and will be perfect for the beginners.
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There are so many ratings for the best VPN for Android that I got lost in the whole pile of info. Can I get any suggestions here?
Sure thing, just pick any VPN from the top 3 in our list 🙂 they are the best
Im liking the whole mobile VPN vibe, it gets tiring opening up computers and all just to make use of a VPN service. Love it.
are all the Android apps easy to use? Can’t really rack my brains just to make use of VPNs for android
what is the best VPN app cause I really want to know why so many people rate Express VPN, IP Vanish and CyberGhost as the best…I think there are better options
Anyone can try VyperVPN’s Android app because it is not just lightweight, you do not have to be all nerdy to use it