{"description":"Seven points to check before you buy a VPN, from countries and price after the first term to company seat and website trackers, each linked to the archive's data.","language":"en","latest_measurement":"2026-10-17","method":"latency-v3","method_page":"https://crackthe.net/method/","source":"https://crackthe.net/","text":"Key points\nThere is no single best VPN. The right one depends on the countries you need, your budget, and how much you care about privacy. Check seven points: countries, price after the first term, refund period, devices, company seat, what its website tracks, and whether its server list is honest about virtual locations. The VPN finder filters the 13 providers in this archive by these points. The checklist Countries you need. List the countries you want servers in. The providers here list between 20 and 150 countries each. Is the server really there? Some locations are virtual: the server stands in another country. Check whether the provider\u0026rsquo;s list says so, and what our measurements show. Price after the first term. The advertised monthly price usually applies only to a long first term. Look at the renewal price. Refund period. 5 of 8 pricing pages that name one promise 30 days or more. Devices at the same time. Pricing pages that allow an unlimited number of devices: 2. The others name a fixed number. Who is behind it. Company, owner, and the country of the company seat. What its own website tracks. 5 of 12 provider home pages load advertising or analytics services on a first visit. Point 1 and 2: countries, and whether they are real A long country list looks good, but it can include many virtual locations. The provider with the most countries in this archive lists 150. In some lists, many countries have only virtual locations.\nCountries listed per provider NordVPN150 Proton VPN149 ExpressVPN113 Private Internet Access112 CyberGhost100 Surfshark100 Windscribe72 hide.me57 Mullvad50 IVPN42 AzireVPN36 AirVPN23 OVPN20 From each provider\u0026#39;s own server list. Countries with only virtual locations are included.\nIn the finder, pick a country and tick \u0026ldquo;the provider does not mark its location there as virtual\u0026rdquo; to see only providers that claim a real server there.\nPoint 3 and 4: what you will really pay ProviderPlanInitial termInitial term per monthAfterwards per monthChange NordVPNNordVPN Complete24 months€4.89€18.29+274 % SurfsharkSurfshark One24 months + 3 months$2.49$8.25+231 % Proton VPNProton VPN Plus24 months$3.49$6.99+100 % Private Internet AccessPIA VPN36 months + 3 months$2.03$2.19+8 % hide.mehide.me Premium12 months + 1 month$4.23$4.230 % These are the offers with the biggest price rise after the first term, one per provider. More in What a VPN really costs.\nPoint 6 and 7: trust you can check Trust cannot be measured directly. But you can check facts: where the company is based, who owns it, whether it describes a published audit, and what its website loads. The archive has recorded a published audit for 6 providers so far; for the others, audits are not recorded yet, which does not mean there are none.\n12 Provider home pages: advertising or analytics services on a first visit advertising, analytics, tag manager, session recording: 5 (42 %) no advertising or analytics: 7 (58 %) What this checklist leaves out Speed, apps, and customer support are not tested here. Use the refund period to try those yourself.\nCompare two providers side by side on the comparison page: every pair has its own page with countries, measurements, networks, trackers, and prices.\nNext step When you have picked a provider, read How to set up and use a VPN.","title":"How to choose your first VPN: a 7-point checklist","url":"https://crackthe.net/learn/how-to-choose-a-vpn/"}