Best Mac VPN for 2024

The best Mac VPNs can keep your personal information secure and beef up your privacy online, whether you're rocking a desktop Mac or toting around a MacBook of either the Air or Pro variety. Installing a VPN can improve your privacy by masking your browsing and IP data from parties interested in those particular details.

ExpressVPN has been ranked by CNET as the best VPN provider and was named the best VPN for Mac computers by our experts. ExpressVPN has received high marks for the service's dedication to privacy and transparency, its quick connection speeds, and its superior Mac app. We put close to a dozen popular consumer VPN providers to the test to see how they perform on MacOS devices. If ExpressVPN isn't for you, we went ahead and highlighted a collection of great VPN services for Mac users as alternatives. Each provider has its own unique set of features and characteristics -- allowing you the ability to choose the one that would work best for your particular needs. 

Adding a VPN to your app arsenal on your MacOS device is great for several reasons. For general privacy, VPNs hide your IP address which, similar to your physical address, can indicate your general geographic region -- so a virtual private network can stop your ISP from tracking you. You can also use a VPN for streaming to unblock geo-protected content, like watching foreign Netflix libraries at home or streaming sports on YouTube TV while traveling outside of the US (normally, YouTube TV is only available Stateside). VPNs can also circumvent throttling restrictions or bypass censorship.

Most VPN providers offer an app for Mac computers, but it can be difficult to choose the right provider with so many options available. Based on our extensive research and hands-on testing of VPNs over the years, these are the most important factors to consider when choosing a VPN: 

Privacy

The primary consideration for any VPN -- including a Mac VPN -- should be privacy. If your Mac VPN is unable to sufficiently protect your online privacy, then your VPN is useless. At a minimum, your VPN should employ industry standard AES 256-bit encryption along with offering basic privacy protections like a kill switch, DNS leak protection and a no-logs policy. For critical privacy needs, you'll also want a VPN provider that's based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction, offers obfuscation and has a RAM-only server architecture. Additional privacy features to look out for include Tor over VPN capabilities, ad and tracker blockers and multihop connections. Also, look for a VPN that undergoes regular third-party security audits, as audits can help bolster trust in the VPN's ability to protect its users' privacy. 

Speed

Mac computers are generally known to be pretty fast, so you'll probably want a fast VPN that can deliver excellent speeds. The speed of your VPN can have a major effect on activities like streaming, downloading, video conferencing, gaming and general web browsing. To keep things running as smoothly as possible, you'll want to look for a VPN that will have as minimal an impact on your regular internet speeds as possible.  

Usability

MacOS is designed to be clean and intuitive, so if you're used to the feel of the operating system, you'd probably want a similar experience with the VPN software you use. A good Mac VPN should run smoothly and have a decluttered user interface that's easy to use regardless of your technical expertise. It should have a large network of servers around the world so you can connect easily and reliably from wherever you are, and it should be able to help you access geo-restricted content from various regions.     

Cost

VPN pricing varies greatly from provider to provider, so if you're on a budget, you may want to consider the cost and overall value of your MacOS VPN. Typically, you can expect to spend about $5 to $13 a month for a monthly VPN subscription plan. If you want to save money, you can opt for an annual subscription, where prices can range from roughly $30 to $100 a year. Be careful with free VPNs, though, because you may end up putting your privacy at risk instead of protecting it if you go with a free option. Proton VPN is currently the only free VPN that CNET recommends. However, most VPNs offer a money-back guarantee that can be anywhere from a week to 45 days. You can also get a seven-day free trial with many VPNs if you sign up through Apple's App Store. So you'll most likely have options to try various Mac VPNs risk-free before you decide whether to fully invest in one. 

When we determine the best Mac VPN for our readers, we address a number of factors that are fundamental to being a Mac user: First, if you're a MacOS user, you're used to a clean, intuitive user interface with a minimal learning curve and a well-organized set of digital tools. That's why we thoroughly test each VPN's features and overall usability. In addition, though not all Apple products are faster than a Windows or PC device, we test each VPN's connection speeds to see how it complements MacOS machines' reputation for being fast. 

We also know that for a lot of Mac users, a broad resistance to app-borne viruses and malware is a big reason for choosing that ecosystem over Windows. To that end, we assess a VPN's antitracker capacity and its general compatibility with Apple's increasingly bolstered privacy policies. We test for leaks and we test each service's kill switch functionality to ensure it's working as it should. We test each VPN's ability to circumvent geographical restrictions, and we evaluate each provider's pricing to determine the service's overall value. 

Of the numerous other VPNs we've tested, the three providers outlined below are the most notable alternative choices. Though none are the best of the best, each is a capable option for anyone looking for something other than what the top three Mac VPNs offer.    

Proton VPN

Proton VPN is a Swiss-based open-source VPN provider that offers excellent privacy features for Mac users. While Proton VPN's primary focus is on privacy and transparency, its Mac app is easy to use and it does a decent job unblocking content on various streaming platforms. And if you're looking for a free VPN, Proton VPN's free tier is the only one that CNET recommends. 

While Proton VPN's free tier doesn't include access to all of its servers, its ad-blocker tool or advanced privacy features (which include its Secure Core servers or Tor Over VPN function) there are no usage limits, and the encryption, obfuscation and leak protection is all the same for free users as they are for paid users. Premium plans are priced at $10 a month, $60 for your first year or $108 for your first two years (the one- and two-year plans renew at $80 annually), with a 30-day money-back guarantee included.   

Read our Proton VPN review.

Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is one of the most budget-friendly VPNs in the business. PIA offers a $12 monthly subscription, $40 annual tier and a three-year plan at $79. Unlike many VPN rivals including ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark, PIA foregoes price hikes, making it one of the cheapest MacOS VPNs. Like Proton VPN and Mullvad VPN, its apps are all open-source. However, PIA is a US-based VPN, which may be a deal-breaker if you have heightened or critical online privacy needs. Nevertheless, PIA issues semi-annual transparency reports, has been independently audited and has had its no-logs claims tested in the wild. 

PIA's Mac app is highly customizable, so it's great for anyone who likes to tinker with their VPN connection or have a dashboard with a lot of information at hand. PIA is decent for unblocking streaming services. But its high speed loss of 49% in our 2024 tests -- up from 24% in our 2023 benchmarks -- means it's not ideal for folks with slower or more unreliable connections, like satellite internet.

Read our PIA review.

IPVanish

IPVanish is another US-based VPN provider that's a good option for VPN newbies or casual users. Its Mac app is simple and user-friendly and offers a multitude of options to connect to a VPN server. IPVanish's Quick Connect feature is the quickest and easiest way to connect to a server. Speeds proved underwhelming, with a 44% average internet speed loss in our 2024 tests, and you can use IPVanish to access geo-blocked content, but its kill switch feature on Mac is limited to the OpenVPN protocol -- which means you could be sacrificing your connection speeds if you want to enable IPVanish's kill switch on your Mac.

Read our IPVanish review.