Fastest VPNs in 2026 (Speed-Tested Monthly)
Speed claims are cheap; measurements are not. Every month we run each VPN through the same download, upload and latency tests on a 940 Mbps line to servers in four regions, three runs each, and this page ranks by the average download speed retained.
NordVPN was fastest in every region this month at 712 Mbps average. The gap to Surfshark is small; the gap to the bottom of our list is large — and every VPN here is faster than a typical home connection needs.
The 5 best VPNs for fastest vpns, ranked
- 1Fastest overall#1 overall · 9.7/10
NordVPN
712 Mbps average — first in US East, UK, Singapore and Australia — and only 4 ms added latency. NordLynx is the protocol doing it.
- Avg download
- 712 Mbps
- Speed
- 712 Mbps
- Devices
- 10
- Refund
- 30 days
−73% + 3 months freeends soon - 2Fastest per dollar#2 overall · 9.4/10
Surfshark
655 Mbps average, within 8% of NordVPN, on the cheapest top-three plan.
- Avg download
- 655 Mbps
- Speed
- 655 Mbps
- Devices
- Unlimited
- Refund
- 30 days
−86% + 3 months freeends soon - 3Most consistent#3 overall · 9.1/10
ExpressVPN
598 Mbps average with the smallest variance between runs; Lightway reconnects almost instantly.
- Avg download
- 598 Mbps
- Speed
- 598 Mbps
- Devices
- 8
- Refund
- 30 days
- 4Fastest privacy-first VPN#8 overall · 8.0/10
Mullvad
590 Mbps on WireGuard from a provider that doesn't even ask for your email. Weak for streaming.
- Avg download
- 590 Mbps
- Speed
- 590 Mbps
- Devices
- 5
- Refund
- 30 days
- 5Fastest with a free plan#4 overall · 8.9/10
Proton VPN
541 Mbps on the paid plan with VPN Accelerator; the free plan is slower but usable.
- Avg download
- 541 Mbps
- Speed
- 541 Mbps
- Devices
- 10
- Refund
- 30 days
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Side by side
| VPN | Score | Avg download | Speed | Devices | 2-yr price | Refund | Port fwd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 9.7 | 712 Mbps | 712 Mbps | 10 | $3.39 | 30 days | |
| Surfshark | 9.4 | 655 Mbps | 655 Mbps | Unlimited | $2.19 | 30 days | |
| ExpressVPN | 9.1 | 598 Mbps | 598 Mbps | 8 | $4.99 | 30 days | |
| Mullvad | 8.0 | 590 Mbps | 590 Mbps | 5 | $5.40 | 30 days | |
| Proton VPN | 8.9 | 541 Mbps | 541 Mbps | 10 | $4.49 | 30 days |
How we picked
Ranked purely by average download speed retained across four regions, three runs per server, median reported, measured this month on the rig described on our methodology page.
All scores come from the same monthly tests on the same rig — how we test. Rank order on this page is by the category criteria, not by commission.
Questions
What is the fastest VPN?
NordVPN in our tests: 712 Mbps average on a 940 Mbps line, first in all four regions. Surfshark and ExpressVPN follow.
How much speed does a VPN lose?
The top three kept 64–76% of our baseline on average. Long-distance servers lose more; a nearby server on a good VPN loses under 20%.
Which VPN protocol is fastest?
WireGuard and its derivatives — NordLynx, Surfshark's WireGuard, ExpressVPN's Lightway. OpenVPN is noticeably slower and IKEv2 sits between.
Does a faster VPN mean lower ping?
Not necessarily. Throughput and latency are different measurements; we publish both. NordVPN happened to lead on both this month.