The Best VPNs for iPhones in 2025

Mon, April 28, 2025 at 6:29 PM UTC

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iPhones offer top-of-the-line privacy protection when it comes to incoming data. Apple has developed its ecosystem with malware prevention and malicious applications in mind. However, those protections are meaningless in terms of the data you put out onto the internet. Sensitive information, such as online banking details, is still susceptible to bad actors or leaks. A VPN helps fill these gaps by making it harder for outside entities to monitor your mobile connection. We've been testing VPNs for more than 10 years, so we know which ones are best for just about any platform, including the iPhone. Currently, Proton VPN is our Editors' Choice winner thanks to its free and reliable service, but it isn't the only service we recommend. Read on for all of the best iPhone VPNs we've tested, followed by the factors you should consider when choosing one for yourself.

Do You Need an iPhone VPN?

Regardless of device, advertisers can track your online habits. This data is valuable, and companies sell it to each other all the time. These aggregators and data brokers take your data and use it to target users like yourself with advertisements. It's not as though this is a dark practice only done by a few bad actors that you can avoid. Most companies are wheeling and dealing user data until they get slapped with an injunction or fine that says otherwise. Even then, most do not stop entirely.

Even your (ISP) can about online activity. Social media has been built on the back of customer data. Every algorithm you engage with uses your preferences and choices to target you. These powerful companies do not want their house of cards to come crumbling down and will fight until the end to maintain their ability to collect your information. So, it is up to you to take measures to safeguard your personal data.

You can on the iPhone through the Ask App Not to Track feature. Just keep in mind that the feature needs to be manually enabled for every app you install on your device. This feature won't stop all information from being collected either. Apps can still collect "first-party data," which includes in-app purchases, account details, and interactions within the app.

For example, can't use your phone's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) number to track your behavior. However, it can still see what you're doing on its own app. TikTok can then transmit that activity back to home base for use in third-party advertisement targeting. If you'd like to take back some of that privacy, .

How to Use iPhone VPNs for Encryption and Location Spoofing

When your VPN is active, all your network traffic—whether from browsers, apps, or iOS itself—gets encrypted before leaving your phone. This encrypted data travels to a server owned by the VPN provider, where it's decrypted and sent on its way.

Without a VPN connection, information such as your IP address and location can be obtained by anyone spying on your connection or aggregating data from users in your area. Encryption makes that data unreadable on its way to the VPN's server. After that, the decrypted data is linked to the VPN's server, thus removing your connection to it entirely.

Since VPNs route your data to a different location, you can and tunnel past local internet restrictions. Journalists and political activists working against repressive regimes have long relied on VPNs to communicate safely with the outside world. Just know that in some countries, you may break local laws just by using a VPN. For example, Russia and have banned most VPNs.

Spoofing your location can also circumvent regional streaming restrictions. often offer content in one region but not another. A VPN can get you access to shows not normally available to you. However, location spoofing may violate the terms of service for that platform. Platforms like Netflix have been blocking VPNs left and right, and there is no telling if this back-and-forth content war will ever end. What this conflict means for you is that what your VPN can access may change overnight. Even the best VPNs need time to reassess new blocking technologies that streaming services implement.

What an iPhone VPN Can't Do

Even when paired with an iPhone, a VPN doesn't make you invincible to online threats. We highly recommend enabling wherever possible, creating unique logins with , and .

Aside from apps, you should take the time to read the privacy policy for the services you use and adjust your privacy preferences on your mobile browser. Removing permissions does work, and that will mean there is less data for apps and sites to pull from.

Consider a VPN with multi-hop connection support, such as Proton VPN. Multi-hop connections repeat that initial routing step through multiple VPN servers, making it even harder to track back to you. TOR is often a good choice for advanced privacy protection , but iPhones struggle to take full advantage of it. Apple lags in support for the TOR browser, which can cause sluggish speeds and broken sites.

Does Using a VPN Slow Your iPhone's Internet Connection?

A VPN almost always increases the latency of your internet connection and slows your uploads and downloads. We have also noticed, but have not confirmed with testing, that VPNs seem to disconnect and reconnect more frequently with mobile devices than desktop machines. This makes using a VPN with an automated kill switch critical. Such a switch will sever your internet connection the moment your VPN drops, ensuring no sensitive data is leaked.

To understand the impact a VPN may have on your internet connection, we compare the results from a series of with and without the VPN active. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com 's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our .)

Network speeds vary greatly depending on the time of day, the network conditions, and your location, so we consider our results to be a snapshot for comparison rather than the final judgment on a service's performance. The latest data is in the chart below:

We rely on a Windows desktop and a wired connection for testing because we've found it more reliable than testing on individual mobile devices. But as we said above, there appear to be some unique issues with VPNs on mobile. Also, not all VPN providers use the same protocol on every platform, which can impact performance.

Can You Trust Your iPhone VPN Service?

Trust is best lent to a VPN service and not handed over entirely. VPNs change. We've seen once great services fail to deliver as the years go on, and we've seen once dubious providers correct course. We can't verify all the encryption claims providers make. Instead, of VPN companies and not just the technology they provide. We read the privacy policies in our testing and discuss company practices with VPN service representatives.

As part of our research, we also determine where the company is based and under what legal framework it operates. Some countries don't have data-retention laws, making it easier for them to follow through on their no-logs policy. Knowing what personal information the VPN collects and under what circumstances a VPN provider will hand over that information to law enforcement is critical. The best options won't collect any data that could be handed over in the event of a search. If it is kept long enough to hand over to law enforcement, it is kept long enough to be at risk of a data breach. We look for services with privacy policies that spell out what the service does, what information it collects, and what the company does to protect your data.

We also like to see policy backed up by some verifiable effort. VPN providers can do this by undergoing third-party privacy audits to verify their privacy and security claims. These audits, while imperfect themselves, do provide some peace of mind.

Which Free VPN Is Best for Your iPhone?

While it's possible to get a or cheap VPN, even the best no-cost services have some limitations, such as bandwidth caps. However, data caps will likely be the least of your worries with a free service. Payment is often in the form of your personal data, which is precisely what a VPN is supposed to prevent. If you must use a free service, it is best to use a free trial version of a premium, reputable VPN instead.

Proton VPN offers the only free service without data restrictions, making it the only truly free VPN on our list. However, the free tier limits your server location to five random countries, and you can only use the free VPN service on one device at a time.

Chris Stobing contributed to this article.

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