Best VPN Services for Chrome
Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world. It has a reputation for speed and compatibility, but using it with a VPN adds a layer of privacy and security to your internet access. A top VPN can also help you bypass Internet censorship, unblock websites, and get access to the content you need anywhere in the world.
Ranking the best VPNs for Chrome
We used the following criteria to find the best Chrome VPNs from the major VPN services on the market:- Successfully completed our testing without any leaking IP addresses or DNS lookups
- Fast and reliable performance throughout their server network
- High-quality VPN apps, including excellent browser extensions for Google Chrome
- Support for OpenVPN along with strong encryption
- A money-back guarantee that doesn’t make you jump through hoops to get your money
- A reputation for trustworthiness and a track record of good service
- A headquarters outside the Five Eyes countries, with reasonable respect for privacy
- No connection logs that could compromise your privacy
1. ExpressVPN – Overall best VPN for Chrome
VPN | ExpressVPN |
Based in | British Virgin Islands |
Logs | No logs (audited) |
Price | $6.67/mo. |
Support | 24/7 Live chat |
Refund | 30 days |
Website | ExpressVPN.com |
ExpressVPN Chrome extension tips
The ExpressVPN Chrome extension is excellent. Attractive and functional, it is also super easy to use.


+ Pros
- Attractive, easy-to-use Chrome extension that lets you control the desktop app from the browser
- Chrome extension is open source and audited for security
- Fast and reliable Internet access across the server network
- Streaming and torrenting support
- No-logging of your online activities; verified by third-party audit
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and many other geo-blocked streaming services
- OpenVPN and strong encryption give you security and privacy
- All servers upgraded to diskless operation for better physical security
- 24/7 live chat customer support
- 5 simultaneous connections
- Over 3,000 VPN server locations in 94 countries
– Cons
- More expensive than some competing VPN services
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2. NordVPN – A fast, secure Chrome VPN extension that can stand on its own
VPN | NordVPN |
Based in | Panama |
Logs | No logs (audited) |
Price | $3.71/mo. |
Support | 24/7 Live chat |
Refund | 30 days |
Website | NordVPN.com |
- P2P servers – Hundreds of servers around the world designed specifically for secure torrenting and other file sharing activities. NordVPN’s automatic kill switch instantly blocks all internet traffic if the server connection fails, ensuring that your IP address is never exposed. (Currently the best VPN for P2P torrents.)
- Dedicated IP servers – If your application requires a dedicated IP address (a.k.a static IP address), NordVPN has you covered with dedicated addresses available in the USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, and France.
- Double VPN servers – When extreme privacy is a requirement, you can turn to NordVPN’s Double VPN servers. Also called VPN server chaining, this system passes your data through two VPN servers instead of one, greatly increasing the difficulty for anyone trying to track your activities.
- Obfuscated servers – While a normal VPN will prevent snoops from seeing what you are doing online, they can see that you are using a VPN. If you are somewhere that the use of a VPN is prohibited (China, perhaps), obfuscated servers make your VPN connection appear to be normal Internet activity.
- Onion over Tor servers – Combines the benefits of The Onion Router (TOR) network with the benefits of a VPN.
NordVPN Chrome extension tips
The NordVPN Chrome extension differs from that of ExpressVPN in one big way: you don’t need to have the NordVPN desktop client installed to use the NordVPN Chrome extension. The extension does lack some of the capabilities of the full desktop client, but if all you need is basic VPN services in Chrome, you can run without the desktop client. The NordVPN Chrome extension works well and is easy to navigate. Like ExpressVPN, it offers a quick connect feature that automatically seeks out the best server for you and connects you to it, saving you the hassles of picking one of their 5,300+ servers yourself.
+ Pros
- The NordVPN Chrome extension can run independent of the desktop client
- A variety of specialized servers available for virtually any need
- Industry-leading privacy and security features
- The ability to defeat most geo-blocking with Obfuscated Servers
- Verified no-logging policy protects your personal data
- Passed all our leak tests
- 6 simultaneous connections
- Support via live chat and tons of help articles
- Over 5,000 VPN server locations in 60 countries
- CyberSec feature to block ads, tracking, and malware/phishing domains
– Cons
- Pricing is excellent, but only if you commit to a multi-year subscription
- To get access to the full feature set, you need to use the desktop client
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If the NordVPN Chrome extension looks as good to you as it did to us, you should probably check out our full review of NordVPN.3. Surfshark – A low-cost VPN for Chrome
VPN | Surfshark |
Based in | British Virgin Islands |
Logs | No logs |
Price | $2.49/mo. |
Support | 24/7 Live chat |
Refund | 30 days |
Website | Surfshark.com |
Surfshark Chrome extension tips
Surfshark’s Chrome extension can run on its own, without the desktop client even being installed. That said, the Chrome extension lacks a lot of the capabilities of the full client, and we would recommend you run them both for the maximum in protection.
+ Pros
- Gives you unlimited simultaneous connections
- Easy to use apps for all devices and operating systems
- Basic, stand-alone (no desktop client required) Chrome extension
- Third-party audit of Chrome extension lauded its security
- CleanWeb feature block ads, other Internet junk
- Works great with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming sites
- Provides 24/7 live chat support
- Whitelister split tunneling feature
- Uses strong encryption algorithms and doesn’t leak
- Over 1,700 VPN servers
- Server locations in 63 countries
– Cons
- Server speed has been inconsistent
- The Mac OS desktop client doesn’t support OpenVPN
https://Surfshark.com
How to use a VPN with Chrome
The exact steps for using a VPN with Google Chrome vary depending on which service you choose. ExpressVPN’s Chrome extension requires you to install their desktop client for the Chrome extension to run. Other services, like NordVPN, provide Chrome extensions that don’t require a desktop client to be installed. Since we recommend you use both the Chrome extension and the desktop client for the maximum in security, privacy and features, let’s visualize a generic setup process that includes both the desktop client and the Chrome extension.How to set up a VPN on your operating system
Installing the VPN desktop client for your particular operating system is generally really easy, unless your particular operating system is a Linux distro (but we explain how to use a VPN for Linux here). In that case, you’ll want to skip this and head to the VPN service’s website to find out how painful it will be to install your new VPN. Since you are probably using a VPN with Windows 10, we’ll visualize that. Here is what you will end up doing on your Windows PC:- Go to the VPN service’s website and create an account. You will probably have to sign up for a paid subscription right now.
- Download the Windows 10 installer and install the VPN client on your computer.
- Start the VPN client (there will probably be an icon on your Windows desktop). Hit the Quick Connect button in the desktop client window. After a few seconds you should be connected to the “best” VPN server for you.
How to set up a VPN on Google Chrome
VPN browser extensions have some advantages and some disadvantages relative to a VPN’s full desktop client. A Chrome VPN extension can be much more convenient since it is right there in the browser window, instead of being another program you need to access and run. At the same time, browser extensions can’t be as big as desktop clients, nor use as much computing power. As a result, VPN browser extensions either require the desktop client to be installed so they can function as remote controls for it (ExpressVPN), or they can function without the desktop client, but can only provide a subset of the capabilities of the desktop client (NordVPN, Surfshark, and many others). Another potential drawback of the standalone VPN Chrome extensions is that they only protect communications between Chrome and the Internet. Anything that doesn’t use Chrome to communicate with the outside world will be unprotected. From the security and privacy perspective, it is far better to run both the desktop client and the browser extension, ensuring you have access to the full power of your VPN service and protecting everything on your device that communicates over the Internet. Most of the Chrome browser extensions for VPNs are available for download from the Chrome Web Store for free. However, you will still need an account with the VPN service to be able to use the extension. Important: Make sure you download an official browser extension published by the VPN service itself. There are lots of creepy “free VPNs” and proxies that promise the benefits of a real VPN service while gathering and selling your personal data or doing creepy things to your computer with viruses and similar malware. But enough of the negatives. Here’s what you will typically have to do to get a Chrome browser VPN extension running on your computer:- If you haven’t already done so, sign up for an account with one of our recommended “Best VPN for Chrome” services.
- If you signed up for a service like ExpressVPN that requires the desktop client, make sure you have the desktop client all set up before going further with these instructions.
- Using Chrome (of course), go to the Chrome Web Store and search for the browser extension you need, then click Add to Chrome.
- Wait for your computer to download and install the extension.
- Click the browser extension’s icon at the top right side of Chrome.
- Enter the username and password you set up when you created your account to log in to the extension.
- Check the extension’s Settings to ensure that WebRTC protection and any other options you want to use are enabled.
- Either select a VPN server or location from among the options in the browser extension window and click Connect. Or if one is visible in the browser extension window, click the Quick Connect button to let the VPN network find the best server for you and connect you to it.
What about Chrome on Android and iOS devices?
The whole concept of Chrome extensions doesn’t apply to Android and iOS devices. This means that to use a VPN on your Android or iOS device, your only option for Android or iOS is the relevant VPN client from their respective app stores. (See our guide on the best VPNs for Android.)What about free Chrome proxies and extensions?
This is an area where people frequently get confused, so let’s first define our terms. A proxy (a proxy server to be more correct) is a server that you can connect to, which will make it appear that your computer is physically located somewhere else. If you wanted access to geo-blocked content in, say, England, you could connect to a proxy server located in England to bypass the geo-blocking. But that’s all a proxy extension does. A VPN extension is a browser extension that connects to a VPN service. You can use the servers in the VPN’s network to get around geo-blocking the same way you use a proxy server. But a VPN takes great pains to provide for your privacy and security, encrypting communications between your computer and the VPN server, protecting you against data leaks with a kill switch and so on. Proxy servers allow you to easily get around geo-blocking, with light-weight resources. Without the full encrypted tunnel provided by VPN services, they do not offer the same level of security as a standard VPN. Additionally, some of the free proxies also give you limited bandwidth unless you upgrade to a paid (or higher-priced) version. Unless you are doing something really simple, with no real ramifications for getting busted doing it, a proxy server is not the best idea. But the “free proxy” situation is even worse than that. Free proxy services have fixed monthly expenses. To pay the bills, some proxy servers do stuff that can cause big problems for you. Secretly gathering user data and selling it is one of the more common scams. We’ve even heard that one proxy server has been used to launch botnet attacks by pooling processing power and bandwidth from its crowd of “free users.”
Conclusion: VPN for Chrome
If you visit the Chrome Web Store you can find dozens of extensions that claim to give you the ability to unblock websites while protecting your privacy. But most of them don’t unblock websites very well, or don’t protect your privacy very well, or both at once. Worse, many of them spy on you so they can sell your personal information. Some even secretly steal some of your computer time and resources to attack websites they don’t like. That means finding a Chrome VPN extension that does the job is tough. So we did the work for you. The following table shows the top-rated Chrome VPNs that met all the criteria we listed at the top of this post. The VPN services are based in safe privacy jurisdictions and passed all tests with no data leaks. They offer good to excellent speeds, and use strong encryption. Most importantly from the perspective of this guide, their Chrome extensions are all real VPN extensions that really do protect your privacy, secure your data, and don’t cheat you or steal from you. Stay safe when you browse the Web with Chrome. You can’t go wrong with any of these top Chrome VPN extensions.


Final Disclaimer and Instructions from NetTodays
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A VPN is a service that both encrypts your data and hides your IP address by bouncing your network activity through a secure chain to another server miles away. This obscures your online identity, even on public Wi-Fi networks, so you can browse the internet safely, securely, and anonymously.
NetTodays gives you answers to all questions which are in your mind about VPN.
NetTodays also suggest continually utilizing Best VPN when you are using a newer Wi-Fi Network. Here is a decent dependable guideline: If you’re away from the workplace or home, and you’re utilizing another person’s Wi-Fi (even that of a relative or a companion, since you can’t be sure whether they’ve been compromised), utilize a VPN. It’s especially significant in case you’re getting to help that has specifically distinguishing data. Keep in mind, a great deal goes on in the background, and you never truly know whether at least one of your applications is verifying behind the scenes and putting your data in danger.