Which is the best Mac VPN for you to use in 2022? Why, what a good question that is. If you’re a Mac user you’re going to want to make sure that your virtual private network of choice will be optimised for your preferred platform – you don’t want to get something all set up, only to discover that it runs really slowly on macOS.
That’s why we’ve picked out our choice for the best Mac VPN, along with several other top contenders (because, hey, though we have our favourites, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a number of viable VPN options out there for Mac users). Our personal choice is ExpressVPN, and we’ve got an overview of the service below.
The best Mac VPN won’t necessarily be the same for everybody. We all have different needs and different providers each fulfil different requirements. To make things as easy to understand as possible, we’ve tried to highlight the best features of each service and then explain who that’s going to be most useful for.
Anyway, the best Mac VPNs are as follows:
1. The best Mac VPN
ExpressVPN may cost a little more than some of the other VPN providers on this list, but the reason for that is simple – it offers a truly fantastic service. It has over 3,000 servers, which is fairly standard, but what really sets it apart is the fact that these servers are located in over 90 different countries around the world, which gives it a range far beyond most VPNs.
Add router support to the mix, along with the fact that ExpressVPN refreshes its IP addresses more frequently than other providers, and you have a really solid service. It’s really easy to use on macOS too, with a simple app that you can download onto your laptop or desktop device of choice.
| ExpressVPN features | |
| Locations | 3,000+ servers in 94 countries |
|---|---|
| Services accessed | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | No free trial |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 5 |
| Router support | Yes |
2. The best family VPN
If you’re someone looking to keep the internet activity of a whole family safe online (be they relatives or a family of friends), then we think that you might get on well with Surfshark. What sets this provider apart from others is the fact that it allows users to use the VPN on an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. Even if your whole household are using multiple devices at once, Surfshark will be able to keep everything they do private and discreet.
Meanwhile, if you’re somebody who likes to get a feel for a service before they make any commitments, you may be pleased to know that Surfshark offers a 7-day free trial. If that’s not enough, the 30-day money-back guarantee will give you a huge window of time in which to decide whether or not it’s worth the cash.
| Surfshark features | |
| Locations | 3,200+ servers in 65 countries |
|---|---|
| Services accessed | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | 7 days |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | Unlimited |
| Router support | Yes |
3. The fastest VPN
NordVPN is the fastest VPN. Do you feel like the wi-fi in your house is egregiously slow? Well, the chances are that your internet service provider (ISP) is artificially slowing things down because you’re trying to use a lot of bandwidth. If your number one concern is getting things to go a bit faster, we recommend that you use NordVPN – it’ll stop your ISP from knowing what you’re doing and hopefully keep things running much more smoothly.
Nord may not allow as many simultaneous connections as other providers (only 6), but it does still have over 5,000 servers in more than 60 countries around the world. As with others here, if you plan on using this for Mac, there’s a dedicated app for desktop and laptop that makes your VPN management perfectly simple.
| NordVPN features | |
|---|---|
| Locations | 5,419 servers in 60 countries |
| Services accessed | Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube |
| Free trial length | No free trial |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 6 |
| Router support | Yes |
4. The best VPN for streaming
This little ghost is friendlier than Casper. CyberGhost is one to choose if you’re big on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney Plus. Not only is it compatible with all the major streaming platforms, but it also has more than 7,000 servers across more than 91 countries, so that’s a pretty big range. If you’re someone who travels a lot, you’ll always have an easy way to access the content libraries of your home region.
To sweeten the deal even further, you can use CyberGhost for a day-long card-free trial so that you can get a proper feel for it. On top of that, unlike many other services which offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, CyberGhost offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you’ll have plenty of time to think about whether it’s right for you or not.
| CyberGhost features | |
| Locations | 8,000+ servers in 91+ countries |
|---|---|
| Services accessed | Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Hulu, Prime |
| Free trial length | Card-free for 1 day |
| Money-back guarantee | 45 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 7 |
| Router support | Yes |
5. The most secure VPN
All VPNs are highly secure (well, the ones we’ve chosen for this article are anyway), so what sets Ivacy aside as the the most secure VPN? Well, the reason we gave it that distinction is because it uses 256-bit military-grade encryption in order to keep your search history as private as the government’s nuclear missile codes.
What helps to make this one even more impressive is the fact that it has well over 5,000 servers across 100 countries. That’s an impressive selection! If you’re after any optional extras, you can also pay more and get port forwarding and a dedicated IP. Of course, Ivacy also has a dedicated macOS client, so you don’t need to worry about any issues with your device.
| Ivacy VPN features | |
| Locations | 5,700+ servers in over 100 countries |
|---|---|
| Services unblocked | BBC iPlayer, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix |
| Free trial | No – $0.99 seven day trial instead |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Simultaneous connections | 10 |
| Router support | Yes |
6. The best free VPN
Need a VPN, but not got a lot of money to spare? Enter TunnelBear, the best free VPN. Of course, if you’re not paying for it, you’re not going to get a service on the same level as some of the other options on this list, but that doesn’t mean that what TunnelBear provides is bad by any means.
The biggest limitation of TunnelBear’s free plan is that you are limited to just 1GB of data per month. However, depending on your needs, this may be just fine – if there are certain online activities that you want to keep private, then just use it for them, or maybe you just want to use it when you’re connected to public wi-fi. Either way, there are some people for whom 1GB of VPN data will be plenty.
| TunnelBear features | |
|---|---|
| Locations | over 2,600 servers in 49 countries |
| Services unblocked | None |
| Free trial length | Has a free version that can be used indefinitely, but is limited to 500MB of data per month |
| Money-back guarantee | None, refunds assessed on a case-by-case basis |
| Simultaneous connections | Five |
| Router support | No |
We carefully consider all of the pros and cons of these VPN providers in order to determine which ones are best for different purposes. Due to the number of servers and their locations, the speed, macOS support, and many other factors, ExpressVPN was our choice for this article – but as explained, each of the other providers in this guide have their own strengths.
We hope that this has been a useful point of reference for anybody scoping out new VPN opportunities. Have a look at our guides on the best VPN service and the best gaming VPN if you want to learn more about VPN solutions.
