NAS (Network Attached Storage) is becoming a popular storage method for people to take control over their data and move away from cloud storage companies that take advantage of their data for their own profits.

Although cloud storage is the mainstream storage option for families, businesses, and personal use, NAS storage is an option many are choosing due to more control over where data resides.

However, some cloud providers, such as Internxt, allow you to connect your cloud storage account to your QNAP or Synology NAS device, allowing you greater control over your data and improved flexibility in how you store, sync, and back up files across both local and remote storage.

Throughout this article, we will explain the differences between NAS vs. cloud storage, the pros and cons of choosing each option, and connecting Internxt to your NAS device.

We will also cover how NAS devices work, costs, benefits, plus the advantages and disadvantages.

First, we will explain what NAS storage is so you can decide whether it's the right storage option for you.

Table of contents

• What is NAS storage, and how does it work?
• NAS vs cloud storage costs
• NAS or cloud storage: Which one should you choose?
• When to choose NAS vs. cloud storage
• NAS vs. cloud storage comparison
• Related articles
• Frequently asked questions about NAS vs cloud storage

What is NAS storage, and how does it work?

NAS is a file storage system that allows multiple users to store and access data from a centralized disk capacity. It is a dedicated device connected to your home or office network that stores and shares files.  

NAS consists of multiple hard drives, and more can be added for greater capacity, which can be used for archiving and cloud backups.

NAS storage is accessed on a local area network (LAN) via an Ethernet connection, so files are accessed through a browser or app.

You can use NAS storage to store any files, including videos, photos, games, programs, legal documents, and more.  

Common use cases for NAS storage include:

• Share and access files among multiple users or devices on a local network.
• Automate backups for personal or business data to prevent data loss.
• Store and stream videos, music, and photos to your TV, computer, or smartphone.
• Access your files in the cloud without relying on third-party providers.

NAS vs cloud storage costs

If you’re considering choosing a NAS, the first thing to be aware of is that the upfront costs can be quite high, depending on your storage needs.

Therefore, when choosing NAS or cloud storage, you should be aware of the upfront costs and the time it takes for you to make money back compared to a cloud storage subscription.

NAS for Home users

Home NAS systems can be used for personal use for your media collection, streaming, or backups, and offer up to 16TB of file storage. You can buy a diskless NAS device and then purchase hard drives or SSDs separately to customize your setup to best meet your needs.

• QNAP NAS enclosure: €350–€600
• 2 × 8TB NAS drives: €280–€400 each → €560–€800

Total cost: €910–€1,400

Cloud storage for home users

For cloud storage for personal use, Internxt offers post-quantum and zero-knowledge encryption, so if you want the same control over the privacy of your files as your NAS system, Internxt offers the best encrypted cloud storage plus NAS and Rclone support for its Ultimate plans.

If you already have a NAS device, you don’t have to worry about subscription costs with Internxt, as it offers a lifetime cloud storage plan for €585, so you can combine your NAS device with your cloud storage with no more subscription costs and maximum privacy.

Internxt also offers a full privacy suite, which includes Antivirus, VPN, Meet, Mail, and rclone support, giving you everything you need to protect your privacy, take control of your data, and secure your devices.

Full features can be viewed below, and you can visit our website to learn more about Internxt NAS support and pick up your exclusive 85% discount on any Internxt lifetime plan.

Small businesses

Small businesses will likely have more needs for their file storage. As a result, this kind of use case for NAS storage will require additional features such as access controls, stronger encryption, and support for accessing and sharing folders between users

QNAP SMB NAS (4–8 bay): €600–€1,500

4 × 6TB–8TB NAS drives: €150–€250 each → €600–€1,000

RAM / SSD cache/network upgrades: €300–€1,000

Total cost: €1,500–€3,500

Cloud storage for business

Choosing a NAS for your small business is a solid option if you want full control over your data, but it comes with additional costs such as maintenance, hardware upgrades, backups, and ongoing management, which could cost an extra €1,030–€3,880 per year.

Enterprises

Enterprise NAS systems offer even more security control, performance, and storage for large-scale data needs. Therefore, they are commonly used in data centers and support thousands of simultaneous connections.

QNAP enterprise/rack NAS: €1,500–€5,000+

8–16 enterprise-grade drives: €200–€400 each → €1,600–€6,400

Redundancy/networking / SSD cache / UPS/expansion: €2,000–€5,000+

Total cost: €5,000–€15,000+

The initial costs also include ongoing maintenance and other costs, which may include:

• IT administration / managed services: €5,000–€20,000
• Hardware maintenance contracts/warranties: €1,000–€5,000
• Drive replacements and failure redundancy: €1,000–€4,000
• Electricity and cooling: €300–€1,500
• Software, backup, and security licensing: €2,000–€10,000

Total per year: €9,300–€40,500

Cloud storage for enterprises

If you want to avoid on-premises storage or are interested in migrating to the cloud, then Internxt also offers S3 enterprise cloud storage.

Internxt S3 is an object storage solution designed to store petabytes of data for enterprises that need to back up and access large data lakes.

Internxt offers a flat pay-as-you-go fee at €7/TB/month for full scalability, making it the perfect cloud storage for small businesses up to large enterprises. There are also no additional fees, so you can manage your cloud storage budget accordingly without worrying about any unexpected costs.

In terms of NAS vs cloud storage, S3 is the better option for storing unstructured data, whereas NAS is better for teams in a local or office environment.

NAS or cloud storage: Which one should you choose?

The good news is, you don’t have to exclusively choose between NAS vs cloud storage; you can combine both of them to set up a hybrid cloud storage solution, such as using your Internxt Drive account with your QNAP or Synology device.

However, in general, you should consider the following when choosing between NAS or cloud storage:

1. Cloud storage is best for users and businesses that need remote access from anywhere, automatic scaling without hardware limits, built-in backup and redundancy, easy collaboration across multiple locations, and minimal maintenance since infrastructure, updates, and security are managed by the provider.
   
2. NAS is best for users and businesses that need high-speed local file access over a private network, full control over hardware and data storage, predictable long-term costs with no subscriptions, customizable storage configurations like RAID, and the ability to operate independently of internet connectivity.

NAS vs cloud storage overview

When to choose NAS vs. cloud storage

Although NAS and traditional cloud storage offer the same storage, the main difference between NAS vs. cloud storage is data location and control. NAS stores data locally on your hardware, whereas cloud storage relies on third-party servers.

Many prefer NAS for their storage as it gives users full control over their data; they don’t have to rely on cloud storage to host their data on external servers because they own the device where the data is hosted.

In summary, choosing NAS vs. cloud storage often involves data location and control. Many users are concerned about data collection or other privacy concerns from companies like Google Drive.

Choosing to host from their own NAS system prevents these issues.

If you still want a cloud storage service that offers maximum security and privacy for your files and to store large-scale data, companies like Internxt offer post-quantum and zero-knowledge encryption for personal cloud use and S3 storage for a scalable, secure, and affordable method to store unlimited amounts of data for enterprises.

NAS vs. cloud storage comparison

To understand the differences between NAS and cloud storage, we will look at what each service offers to help you choose the best one to fit your needs.

Cost and return on investment

NAS storage may appeal to larger businesses that can afford the initial upfront cost of setting up a NAS system or those who use a hybrid cloud storage approach to data management. This avoids the subscription charges or hidden fees from other cloud providers, giving them a one-time payment and potential savings in the long term.

For individual use, NAS storage can be expensive, depending on the size of the data you want to store. However, the appeal for individual users is that you have full control and ownership of the device, giving you full ownership of your data and total control over the security of your files.

Choose NAS if you want long-term cost efficiency at scale, full data ownership, and can handle upfront investment and maintenance.

Choose cloud storage if you want low upfront cost, predictable pricing, or one-time lifetime plans, easy scaling, and no hardware maintenance responsibilities.

Security

Security for NAS storage and in the cloud work in similar ways, the difference being that NAS requires additional setup, tools, and maintenance to ensure files remain secure. NAS will require a team of experts to ensure security is maintained and the necessary access controls are implemented.

Cloud storage offers end-to-end encryption, 2FA, and other controls, which all come as standard with the provider, and they handle the infrastructure while the data owner secures the data.

However, not all cloud storage offers the same security, with many people choosing alternatives to Big Tech companies like Google Drive in favor of Internxt’s zero-knowledge encrypted cloud storage that doesn’t hold the encryption keys to your data.

Only you hold the keys to your files, meaning nobody else can access your files without permission, offering a higher level of security and more control over the privacy of your files.

So, if you’re considering NAS vs. cloud storage and don’t want the upfront costs of NAS but want the same security, Internxt offers the best security and privacy of your files with its business, family, or subscription plans.

Choose NAS if you need full control over encryption, access rules, and physical data security, and can manage security maintenance internally.

Choose cloud storage if you want managed encryption, automatic security updates, and enterprise-grade protection without handling security infrastructure yourself.

Backup

Endpoint backup is crucial to protecting data to avoid ransomware, loss, or corruption. Cloud storage backups store multiple versions of your files across servers for increased redundancy to ensure you can always access your files in case of accidental data loss, natural disasters, or cyberattacks.

NAS storage relies on on-premises backups on physical devices and may be more prone to hardware failure, theft, or other events such as fires, which would lose your data forever.

Choose NAS if you want local control over backups, fast recovery on-site, and are able to manage and maintain your own backup strategy.

Choose cloud storage if you want automated backups, version history, off-site protection, and disaster recovery handled for you.

Setup

If you want to enable remote access or cloud-like features, you need to handle network configurations, firewalls, and security.

Although this setup requires more investment in time and money, the benefits of setting up a NAS vs. cloud storage appeal to users or businesses that demand full control over their data.

Choose NAS if you want full control over configuration, are willing to handle setup and maintenance, and need a customized local storage system.

Choose cloud storage if you want a fast, simple setup with no infrastructure management and immediate access to scalable storage.

Maintenance

Once you are set up in the cloud, there is very little to do regarding maintenance, as the provider handles all updates.

In contrast, choosing NAS will be more demanding, and you must continuously monitor the health of your hard drives to prevent performance issues while accessing the cloud, monitor backups, and update the firmware to prevent hackers from exposing vulnerabilities in the system.

Choose NAS if you want full control and are prepared to actively manage hardware, updates, and system health.

Choose cloud storage if you want a low-maintenance solution where all infrastructure, updates, and security are handled automatically.

Scalability

Moving on to scalability, many cloud storage providers will have a limit on the amount of storage offered, which may not suit the needs of enterprises holding large data lakes or warehouses.

Although traditional cloud storage is easier to scale to meet business demands, the limited storage may not be suitable for bigger businesses.

Having said that, the ease of scalability in cloud storage is advantageous to smaller businesses or freelancers. Even with Internxt S3 storage, you can scale your storage more easily at a fixed cost and increase storage when required. It is a cheaper alternative to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

It is possible to scale NAS storage by adding more drives; it is a more manual process that includes installing additional hardware and managing the system configurations. Upgrading your NAS storage, therefore, will require more resources, planning, and money to ensure it is done correctly.

Choose NAS if you have stable storage needs, want predictable long-term capacity, and are prepared to expand hardware manually when needed.

Choose cloud storage if you need flexible, on-demand scaling with minimal effort and fast adaptation to changing storage requirements.

Related articles

Internxt NAS support for QNAP and Synology

Hybrid cloud storage

Benefits of cloud storage

Frequently asked questions about NAS vs cloud storage

What is the main difference between NAS and cloud storage?

NAS is local storage hardware you manage yourself, while cloud storage is hosted online and managed by a provider.

Which is cheaper, NAS or cloud storage?

NAS has a higher upfront cost but lower long-term cost at fixed capacity. Cloud storage has a low upfront cost but ongoing subscription fees.

Is cloud storage more secure than NAS?

Cloud storage includes managed encryption and security updates, while NAS security depends on how well it is configured and maintained.

Can NAS be accessed remotely like cloud storage?

Yes, but it requires additional setup, such as VPNs or remote access tools, unlike cloud storage, which works anywhere by default.

Which is better for business use?

Cloud storage is better for scalability and remote teams, while NAS is better for local high-speed access and full data control.

What happens if my NAS fails?

Data can be lost if backups are not properly configured, whereas cloud storage typically includes built-in redundancy.

Can I use both NAS and cloud storage together?

Yes, many businesses use a hybrid approach, storing active files on NAS and backups or archives in the cloud.

It’s 2026 and it’s time to get up to speed. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an absolute necessity for anyone working remotely or anyone who travels often. That said, there are plenty of other people who would benefit from a solid VPN.

VPNs work by providing an end-to-end encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN operator’s server. All of your traffic is then encrypted and routed through this tunnel. This means everything you upload and download effectively bypasses your ISP’s servers. Your IP address is also changed or randomized so you can no longer be tracked or located while online.

In short, VPNs encrypt and redirect your traffic making you a virtual ghost and rendering you invisible to anyone looking to track your web movements.

The Safest and Most Secure VPNs for 2026

There is no shortage of VPNs on the market. While almost all of them provide better privacy protection than going without one, some provide better built-in safety features than others. Again almost all VPNs encrypt your traffic, but how they encrypt it differs widely between providers.

To thin down the pack, we’ve assembled a list of VPNs we found that go above and beyond regarding security and privacy. Each of the VPNs listed below offers a unique factor that sets them apart from typical VPNs. We looked for VPNs offering transparency in how they operate and kept an eye out for providers who have built a strong reputation for protecting user data.

Here are the seven best VPNs to trust with your privacy:

Internxt VPN

Internxt VPN is a free, encrypted VPN that hides your IP address, protects your connection from hackers, and prevents Big Tech companies from creating profiles of your data.

Internxt VPN is an encrypted VPN that hides your IP address, encrypts your connection, and prevents Big Tech companies from creating profiles of your data.

Sign-up is free and anonymous, so your privacy is protected from the moment you download the VPN.

With a premium plan, you can connect up to 5 countries and access Internxt Drive with post-quantum encryption and Internxt Antivirus.

Surfshark

Surfshark is a VPN service focused on privacy, security, fast connections, and unrestricted internet access across unlimited devices on one subscription.

The VPN is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone, browsers, smart TVs, and operates more than 4,500 servers worldwide.

One of Surfshark’s core features is encrypted VPN tunneling, supporting modern VPN protocols including WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2, making Surfshark VPN a solid choice for speed and efficiency.

24, 12, and 1-month plans are available with the VPN, which also includes other features depending on the tier you choose.

IP Vanish

IP Vanish has all the features you expect from a VPN service. Split tunneling, encrypted web browsing, DNS leak protection, and more. A major perk of IP Vanish’s VPN is the inclusion of unmetered connections, meaning you can connect as many devices as you want to the service with no problems.

On the security and privacy side, IP Vanish supports multiple VPN protocols. While a bit technical, this allows users to change the protocol of their service to better fit their privacy needs and device restraints. While IP Vanish supports a total of five unique protocols, we love their addition of WireGuard, the newest protocol around that’s designed to be faster, stronger, and more lightweight than other connection types. WireGuard is an open-source project, so it’s verifiable and well-known as one of the most secure solutions in the VPN world.

TunnelBear

TunnelBear is another established VPN that is easy to use, has a solid free plan, and still ranks high in regard to protecting your privacy. First off, TunnelBear subjects itself to independent security audits that they publish publicly every so often, so you can be sure the service is doing everything it can to safely move your data.

TunnelBear has a couple of different “bears” or modes to boost its privacy and security score. GhostBear helps users in countries where internet access is censored to make their VPN encrypted data less detectable to governments, businesses, and ISPs. VigilantBear kicks in if your connection gets disrupted for any reason and will block all unsecured traffic until the connection is restored.

Fastest VPN

FastestVPN is not only suitable for personal use but also an excellent choice for small businesses. FastestVPN offers robust encryption protocols and advanced security features that are crucial for small businesses.

Also, your employees can securely connect to your business network from anywhere, allowing for remote work flexibility. FastestVPN's vast server network allows you to bypass geographic restrictions, giving you and your employees access to global resources and services.

Overall, FastestVPN offers the necessary security, accessibility, and affordability that small businesses require. It enables secure remote access, helps overcome geographical restrictions, and ensures the confidentiality and integrity of your business data.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN has everything you could want in a VPN: loads of features, a long and consistent track record, and insanely fast speeds. ExpressVPN provides steady, no-nonsense, quality service you can rely on.

We like the services Network Lock which acts as a kill switch making sure your data is safeguarded from interruptions like network changes and power surges. But we love ExpressVPN for its free tools committed to keeping you safer online. They have a “What is my IP?” tool, a DNS leak test, a webRTC leak test, and a password generator. All of their tools are super useful, very cool, and definitely worth checking out!

Ivacy VPN

Ivacy is another well-rounded and intuitive VPN service. Ivacy has all of the standard features you should expect a secure VPN to have like 256-Bit Encryption and a robust No Logs Policy, but what differentiates it from other similar services is its Secure Downloading.

Basically, Secure Downloading is Ivacy's real-time threat detector and eliminator. Everything you download through Ivacy VPN is scanned for dangerous malware or viruses. Anything suspicious is immediately removed during the downloading process. Secure Downloading is completely automatic and it's a brilliant feature that we hope becomes a widely adopted industry standard.

Mozilla VPN

You’ve heard of Firefox, which is a great secure web browser, but Mozilla’s VPN is a solid service in its own right. Built on a solid twenty years of reputation for putting the user first, Mozilla VPN is the only VPN with a full-on Privacy Manifesto. The company itself is also a non-profit and is super transparent regarding all of its inner workings.

Mozilla VPN is built on something they call a WireGuard protocol that encrypts your network traffic. Compared to other VPN protocols, WireGuard’s code is easier for developers, programmers, and security analysts to audit and review.

Mullvad VPN

Mullvad VPN is affordable and has “Privacy is a universal right” in its search meta description - we like that. Mullvad is a solid-built VPN that also gets externally audited, like TunnelBear, but it sets itself apart by allowing users to make a completely anonymous account. This is very useful if you are working remotely, as they also don't require email!

They also have a strict no paid reviews or affiliates policy which is pretty rare to see. Mullvad VPN is very clear with its policies and is one of the most transparent regarding the practices we’ve seen.

hide.me VPN

Hide.me VPN is the undisputed gamer’s choice for a full-service VPN. Hide.me’s niche is its ability to work on most gaming platforms and hide gaming traffic from a user's ISP.

Many ISPs throttle traffic after a certain amount of data is used, some even throttle certain types of traffic. Gaming is data-intensive and it is often targeted and throttled leaving gamers paying more or suffering lower slow speeds. Bandwidth aside, gamers are also at risk of encountering distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks from malicious gamers looking to disrupt internet connections and lower the ping speeds of opponents.

Why Should You Use a VPN?

There are many good reasons why you'd need to use a VPN. Hiding your location is always a valuable addition to your online security, as well as your personal security.

For example, people may try and stalk you online by placing an AirTag or SmartTag tracker by Apple and Samsung in your car, or somewhere without you knowing to monitor where you are, where you're going, or where you've been, so a VPN can hide that from them.

Maybe you live abroad and you want to check out some local news from another country, maybe you want to hide your browsing history from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or maybe you want to watch a TV from home, there are also many VPN for streaming.

Which is Best VPN For You?

We have listed the best VPNs in the market. Ultimately, what VPN you choose should be based on your specific privacy needs and how you plan to use it.

Before going all-in on one service, take some time to think about what kind of websites you're on what devices you want to protect, and whether you will use a VPN for work or pleasure. But don’t stress too much, you really can’t go wrong choosing any one of the safe and private VPNs from our list above.

Today, roughly 94% of enterprises are projected to use some form of cloud service, with 82% adopting hybrid models that combine cloud and on-premises infrastructure.

By 2030, around 60% of all corporate data is expected to be stored in the cloud, highlighting a major shift away from traditional storage systems toward distributed, on-demand infrastructure.

With such a huge amount of data, companies need a scalable, affordable, and secure method to store 1 PB. For this, the best option is object storage, as it allows for a platform to store large amounts of unstructured data, which is easily accessible.

Throughout this article, we will cover:

• How much is a petabyte of data?
• How much does a petabyte cost?
• Cloud vs local storage costs
• Best cloud storage for 1 PB and more

To understand the grand scale of 1 PB of data, we will first explain how much is a petabyte of storage compared to other storage sizes.

Table of contents

• How much is a petabyte of storage?
• Storage capacities explained
• The growth of global data storage
• How much does 1 petabyte cost?
• How much cloud storage do I need?

How much is a petabyte of storage?

1 petabyte (PB) is 1,024 terabytes (TB), or about 1,000,000 gigabytes (GB).

It is a typical cloud storage plan for large businesses or enterprises. With this amount of storage, you can store, on average:

• Photos: about 200 million to 300 million photos (assuming ~3–5 MB per photo)
• Files/documents: about **200 million to 500 million files **(assuming ~2–5 MB per file)
• HD videos (1080p): about 13,000 to 20,000 hours
• 4K videos: about 2,500 to 5,000 hours

Storage capacities explained

Storage capacity refers to the amount of digital information a device or system can store. For both cloud and local storage, it is typically measured in bytes, kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), going all the way up to yottabytes (YB).

Each step up represents a larger amount of data, with storage needs increasing as files and applications become more complex and data-heavy.

Smaller storage capacities, such as megabytes and gigabytes, are typically found in smartphones, tablets, and everyday computers for storing apps, documents, photos, and videos.

A single photo might take a few megabytes, so for this, free cloud storage options would be enough. On the other hand, a high-definition movie can take up several gigabytes, so you would likely need between 1 and 3 TB of storage to store these files.

Larger capacities, such as terabytes and petabytes, are used in external hard drives, servers, and data centers.

These systems store massive amounts of information, including databases, cloud backups, and entire media libraries. As a result, businesses may choose cloud migration strategies to transfer these large data sets to the cloud, as it is more affordable, secure, and scalable.

For a more detailed view of storage conversions, check out our free byte converter tool on our website below.

Choosing the right capacity depends on usage needs, such as casual personal use, professional media work, or enterprise-level data management, which we will cover next.

The growth of global data storage

By 2030, global data storage is projected to reach approximately 500–600 zettabytes, or approximately 500 - 600 million petabytes of data.

This reflects a continuation of exponential growth driven by AI systems, cloud computing, video streaming, IoT devices, and enterprises migrating to the cloud.

By 2030, data storage will no longer be measured in tens or hundreds of petabytes at scale, but in hundreds of millions of petabytes globally, requiring massive distributed storage systems across hyperscale cloud infrastructures.

As a result, larger businesses considering moving to the cloud may wonder how much does 1 petabyte cost, and is it worth investing in the cloud, which we will answer below.

How much does 1 petabyte cost?

Local storage

Now that we know how much is a petabyte of storage, we will consider the following regarding 1 petabyte only for local storage and the average costs associated with it.

Regarding the storage requirements, these are the typical scenarios when storing such a large amount of data:

1. Data will be retained for five years under a typical storage contract.
2. Data will be in an unstructured format, stored in object storage.
3. Data is used for secondary purposes like backups, media, web content, and user-generated content, with infrequent access needs.

Here is the full breakdown, including the assumptions, formatted clearly and consistently:

• System hardware: $500,000, includes enterprise storage arrays, redundancy (RAID/replication), controllers, and spare capacity required for 1 PB OF usable storage.
• Maintenance: $375,000 15% plus annual maintenance costs which cover vendor support, replacements, firmware updates, and service level agreements.
• Facilities (space, power, cooling): $60,000, 1 PB requires approximately 25%–50% of a standard 42U rack. Power and cooling are estimated at $1,200 per square foot per year, using ~10 square feet (~$12,000 per year).
• Admin support (0.5 FTE): $375,000, a full-time IT/storage administrator at $150,000 annual salary over 5 years, covering monitoring, backups, security, maintenance coordination, and incident response.

Total 5-year cost: $1,310,000

Object storage

Estimated 1 PB storage cost of Internxt S3 per month

• €7,168 per month

Average costs for AWS Standard Storage

• €21,000–€23,000 (depending on region and pricing).

Internxt network fees (e.g., ingress & egress costs)

• €0

AWS network fees

• Ingress: €0
• Egress (1 PB fully downloaded in a month): about €80,000–€90,000 per month

Internxt data access fees (API calls/operations)

€0

AWS data access fees

• €1,000–€5,000 per month

Internxt 1 PB storage cost per month:

• €7,168

AWS:

• €102,000–€118,000

How much cloud storage do I need?

Personal, business, and enterprise storage all have different needs, which we will cover in more detail below, but below you can find a general overview.

Cloud storage for personal use

For personal cloud storage, requirements are usually moderate. Most users can manage well with free cloud storage plans, or paid plans offering from 200 GB to 1 TB of storage.

This is generally enough for apps, documents, photos, videos, and everyday use. People who mainly stream content or store files in the cloud can operate with lower local storage, while users who work with large media files, such as high-resolution video or photography, may need additional external storage.

If you have bigger storage needs, you may need to consider the different cloud storage or physical storage devices available.

Internxt Drive plans offer up to 5TB of cloud storage, and a full privacy suite of products including Meet, Mail, VPN, and more. You can also connect your Drive account to your NAS system or connect via native rclone support.

If you want cloud storage only, Internxt also offers up to 100TB with plans bought from Stacksocial.

Cloud storage for business and families

For small to medium-sized businesses, families, or teams, it may often require several terabytes of storage shared between users to handle documents, customer records, emails, financial data, and backups.

For these purposes, you can choose from Internxt Business plans or Internxt Family plans.

For enterprises

Enterprise-level storage is far more extensive, often ranging from hundreds of terabytes to petabytes. For this, object storage is the best use case, as it allows for storage and cloud backups of large amounts of data with low latency, meaning data can be accessed instantly.

Large organizations such as tech companies, financial institutions, and research facilities manage vast amounts of data, including user information, analytics, and large-scale digital services.

These environments require highly scalable and secure systems capable of handling constant data growth and high demand.

For petabytes of storage, Internxt offers 100% hot cloud storage for enterprises at a fixed cost of €7 / TB / month, with no extra data transfer fees, making it a cheaper option than AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud

So if you’re wondering how much 1 petabyte of cloud storage vs local costs with Internxt S3, it would be:

Internxt S3 1 petabyte storage cost: Total cost for 1 PB with Internxt S3 would cost €7,168 per month, no extra maintenance or data transfer costs

Local storage 1 petabyte storage cost: Roughly €15,000 to €30,000 upfront, depending on the hardware and setup, plus €1,000 to €3,000 for additional costs such as electricity, cooling, maintenance, drive replacements, or adding additional storage.

1 petabyte storage cost savings: About 24% to 48% savings when choosing Internxt S3 for 1 petabyte of storage compared to local storage.

S3 storage plans offer multiple compliance, offering the best security and data handling for multiple industries.

To contact our sales team about setting up our object storage plans, you can visit our website.

You can also benefit from our cloud storage reseller program and become an Internxt partner, which you can learn more about by visiting the page below.

Related articles

• How much is 1TB of storage?
• S3 storage costs
• Alternative to AWS
• Alternative to Azure
• Alternative to Google Cloud

Whether you’re a small start-up or a large-scale enterprise, data storage and backups are a necessity for a business to run smoothly.

While many businesses may need on-premises storage for maximum control, this can be expensive, so if you’re wondering about the cloud migration cost savings when using a company like Internxt S3, this article will cover everything you need to help migrate or store data in the cloud.

This transition not only improves financial efficiency but also allows companies to scale resources more easily, respond faster to demand changes, and focus more on core business activities rather than infrastructure management.

First, we will cover the differences between on-premises vs cloud storage, the costs, benefits, and savings if you store data in the cloud.

Table of contents

• On-premises vs cloud storage
• Benefits of cloud migration
• What cloud migration cost savings can you expect?
• How to migrate to the cloud
• What is the best cloud storage to migrate to?
• Frequently asked questions
• Related articles

On-premises vs cloud storage

On-premises storage means that all hardware and infrastructure are physically located within your own facilities and managed by your team or company.

This management can cover:

• Servers: these run applications, manage access to data, and handle requests from users and systems.
• Storage devices: this is the hardware that stores data and can include hard drives or storage arrays, where all files, databases, and backups are physically kept.
• Networking equipment: networking devices include routers and switches that connect servers and storage systems, allowing data to move.
• Backup systems: solutions that create copies of data and store them separately, so information can be restored in case of failure, loss, or cyber incidents

Unlike cloud storage, your organization is responsible for purchasing, installing, maintaining, securing, and ensuring all of these devices are updated correctly. On-premises storage is used by organizations needing strict control, high security, or compliance with specific and strict regulations.

Cloud storage is a system where data is stored on servers managed by a third-party provider and accessed through the internet. The provider handles maintenance, updates, and infrastructure management.

Cloud storage, especially object storage, is commonly used for its convenience, scalability, and reduced need for internal IT management. You can pay based on usage, reducing upfront costs and allowing flexible scaling.

Below you can find the average costs of setting up on-premises storage, not including future costs, highlighting the cloud migration savings you could benefit from when choosing to store your data in the cloud.

Benefits of cloud migration

Cost efficiency

Cloud migration cost savings start by reducing the need for large upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure.

If your organization switches to a pay-as-you-go model, such as Internxt S3, you only pay for the storage you use, with no additional egress or ingress fees.

Scalability and flexibility

Cloud services offering object storage allow businesses to scale resources up or down based on demand. This flexibility is especially useful during peak usage periods or rapid growth, as companies can quickly adjust without needing to install new hardware or overcommit resources in advance.

Improved performance

Cloud providers operate on high-performance infrastructure with optimized networks and global data centers. Internxt, for example, offers 100% hot cloud storage, allowing for rapid access to data with reduced latency thanks to our geographically distributed data centers.

Enhanced security

Leading cloud providers invest heavily in security measures such as encryption, identity management, and continuous monitoring. With Internxt, your data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and is supported by the HTTPS protocol and server-side encryption with customer-provided encryption keys (SSE-C).

While the security is handled by the cloud provider, there are still security best practices your company should follow when handling accounts and data. That being said, by migrating to the cloud, the security risks are far fewer than on-premises solutions, which require constant monitoring, updates, and specialists.

Disaster recovery and backup

Cloud solutions make it easier to implement reliable backup and disaster recovery strategies. When you store your data with Internxt S3, it is replicated across multiple locations, ensuring business continuity even in the event of hardware failure, cyberattacks, or natural disasters.

Accessibility and collaboration

One of the other important benefits of cloud migration is that cloud-based systems can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. As a result, remote work, real-time collaboration, and productivity become much easier when using the cloud.

Automatic updates and maintenance

Cloud providers handle routine updates, patches, and system maintenance. This reduces the burden on internal IT teams and ensures that systems stay up to date with the latest features and security improvements.

Sustainability

Cloud storage uses, on average, 30% to 60% less energy than on-premises storage for equivalent workloads. Your organization can therefore lower its overall energy consumption, reduce its carbon footprint, and save money.

To learn more about Internxt’s sustainability mission, visit our website.

What cloud migration cost savings can you expect?

Depending on the amount of data you store and other factors, you can expect greater cloud migration savings if you switch to cloud storage over an on-premises model.

The table below shows the average costs of using on-premises storage, which may also increase over time as storage demands grow.

What is the best cloud storage to migrate to?

Internxt S3

Internxt S3 is a European object storage solution for businesses and enterprises, offering a hot cloud storage solution for teams to access large amounts of data.

Unlike the major object storage providers such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud, Internxt offers a pay-as-you-go payment model of €7/TB/month, so you can scale your storage and plan your budget effectively without worrying about unexpected costs, as Internxt has no egress or ingress fees.

To ensure your data is secure, Internxt implements end-to-end encryption and is compliant with GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and HIPAA, offering extensive data protection and security for all industries.

For added security, all data is replicated and distributed across multiple European servers with technology that guarantees 99.999999999% (11 9s) of data durability for each object, ensuring you can always access your data.

To learn more about Internxt and our cloud migration cost savings, you can visit our website and fill out a form to contact one of our experts. We will get back to you as quickly as possible so you can start securing your data easily with Internxt.

Cloud migration cost savings with Internxt S3

Whether you want to start storing data with Internxt or migrate to our object storage solution, choosing Internxt offers many security, privacy, and financial benefits with an S3 subscription.

You can start with just 1TB of data for a fixed monthly price of €7. Should you need more storage in the future, you can easily add (or reduce) your storage based on your needs and budget.

If you want to store 10 TB and later upgrade to 50 TB, you can view the cloud migration cost savings from the table below.

There is no limit to how much data you store with Internxt. You can upgrade your plan to however much storage you need and pay for the terabytes you store, no data transfer fees, just a flat fee of 7€ per month.

Get started with Internxt for the best and most efficient object storage provider available!

Frequently asked questions

What is cloud migration?

Cloud migration is the process of moving data, applications, and IT resources from on-premises systems to cloud infrastructure.

How can cloud migration reduce company costs?

Cloud migration reduces company costs by removing the need for expensive hardware, data centers, maintenance, and large IT staff, replacing them with flexible pay-as-you-go pricing.

What is the advantage of cloud providers handling infrastructure updates and maintenance?

Systems stay secure, up to date, and reliable without requiring internal teams to manage hardware repairs, patches, or infrastructure upgrades, which are handled by the cloud provider.

Is cloud migration expensive?

Initial costs can vary, but many businesses save money over time due to reduced hardware, maintenance, and operational expenses.

How long does cloud migration take?

It can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the size and complexity of the systems being moved.

Related articles

S3 storage costs

Object vs file vs block storage

What is object storage

While traditional cloud storage is the normal method people use to store, share, sync, and back up their files online, there are many other options available to consider, especially if you want quick access to large amounts of data.

For this, many teams consider checking an object storage vendor list to choose the right service to meet this need.

To help you make your decision, we will cover:

• Top object storage vendors
• What are the most efficient object storage products
• Prices
• Features
• Egress/ingress fees
• Performance

In doing so, you will be able to choose the most efficient object storage to meet your needs with the features, costs, and scalability you need to manage and secure data effectively.

What is object storage, and how does it work?

Traditional cloud storage, or file storage, organizes data in a hierarchy of folders, with each file having a name and a path that shows its location within the folder structure.

When you access a file, the system navigates through the folders to find it. This method works well for structured data and smaller-scale storage, but can become slower and harder to manage as the number of files grows and is therefore not suitable for businesses or enterpriseses needed quick access to large amounts of data.

Object storage is a way of storing data where each piece of data, called an object, is stored with content, metadata, and a unique identifier.

This unique identifier allows you to retrieve the object directly without needing to know its physical location, which makes it highly scalable and efficient for large amounts of unstructured data, such as:

• Videos
• Images
• Documents
• Backups
• Logs

As a result, any data that doesn’t fit neatly into a database table or a strict folder hierarchy can benefit from object storage.

Object storage is often used in cloud services because it supports massive growth, redundancy,  accessibility across multiple locations, and allows more storage than traditional cloud storage, allowing for petabytes of data storage.

Who is object storage for?

Object storage is mainly for large enterprises or businesses needing to store large amounts of unstructured data reliably, access it from anywhere, and scale storage easily.

Object storage is particularly useful for media companies, technology, healthcare, research, or any other field generating a large amount of data, and has the following use cases:

• Backups and archives storage
• Managing large media libraries
• Handling big data analytics
• Supporting cloud-native applications
• Storing log files or IoT sensor data

Advantages of object storage

Scalability

With general cloud storage, plans can often be limited to a certain number of terabytes. In the case of Internxt Drive, for example, you can get a maximum storage amount of between 5 and 100 TB.

For object storage, however, you can start with as little as 1TB and get petabytes of data depending on your needs. You can modify this storage whenever you need to meet the demands of your business and keep costs under control, paying only for the storage you use.

Fast and flexible data retrieval

As we mentioned before, each object has a unique identifier, so you can access the object or data much faster, without navigating through folders or blocks, even when dealing with large volumes of unstructured data.

Data retrieval is made even easier by allowing you to store objects with descriptive information about the object, which you can use to search, filter, or categorize data efficiently.

Redundancy

The security and integrity of data for businesses are crucial. Redundancy helps reduce the chances of data loss by storing your data in multiple data centres, so in the unlikely event there is a server failure or any other natural disaster affecting one data centre, your files remain safe.

Cost effective

S3 storage costs can be quite complex to understand, depending on how you use the service, what you start paying for can quickly increase due to a number of factors, such as egress or ingress fees.

For other S3 storage providers like Internxt, you pay only for the storage you use with no additional fees at a fixed cost of €7 per TB per month.

API access

Object storage is also popular with developers, as it can be accessed programmatically through application programming interfaces (APIs), which allows software to read, write, and manage data directly without relying on manual file operations.

Developers can build apps that interact with storage at scale, perform automated backups, or serve content globally, making it highly flexible and adaptable for cloud-native environments.

The best and most efficient object storage products

Internxt S3

Internxt S3 is a cloud object storage platform designed for large businesses or enterprises and is one of the most efficient object storage products to manage large amounts of data.

Internxt offers S3 storage as a European and more affordable object storage solution to American big tech companies such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Internxt S3 pricing is simple and scalable; you only pay for the storage you need, which costs €7/TB/month, which you can adapt at anytime to meet your needs.

Thanks to Internxt’s commitment to privacy, our object storage solution offers a reliable, secure, and encrypted platform to store and back up files in total security.

Internxt is also compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 to meet your company's security and auditing needs for all industries and data types.

Advantages

• Data is protected from loss or corruption with technology that guarantees 99.999999999% (11 9s) of data durability for each object.
• In transit and at rest encryption supported by the HTTPS protocol and server-side encryption with customer-provided encryption keys (SSE-C).
• Multiple read and write operations allow for faster data retrieval.
• Internxt offers a fixed pay-as-you-go pricing model, and there are no additional egress or ingress fees.

Disadvantages

• Offers fewer integrations than those of AWS or Google Cloud.
• Fewer advanced features for complex data management or data analytics workflows, such as Artificial Intelligence.

Ideal for

• Individuals or medium to large-sized businesses that prioritize extremely high data durability
• Users who need strong encryption and advanced security for sensitive data
• Those who require fast read and write speeds for frequent data access
• Organizations looking to avoid data transfer fees and unpredictable costs

AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform that provides a wide range of on-demand services, such as computing power, object storage, databases, networking, and machine learning, making it the most well-known and one of the most efficient object storage products available for large enterprises.

It allows individuals and businesses to run applications, store and analyze data, host websites, and deploy scalable software without managing physical servers.

With AWS, you can build and deploy websites and apps, process large datasets, implement artificial intelligence, and create secure, reliable cloud infrastructure tailored to your needs.

Advantages

• Wide range of services including computing, storage, databases, AI, and analytics
• An extensive ecosystem of integrations, tools, and third-party services
• Different storage types including AWS, Glacier, block storage

Disadvantages

• Confusing pricing model
• Costs can be expensive for moving data in and out of the cloud
• Some services may have regional limitations, affecting availability or performance

Ideal for

• All types of businesses or enterprises that are already invested in the AWS system.
• Developers building cloud-native applications that require a robust, scalable storage solution.
• Organizations that need a wide range of storage options, such as cold storage, backups, and object storage.

Azure

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that provides a wide range of services, including virtual machines, storage, databases, networking, and artificial intelligence. It is highly scalable, allowing businesses and developers to build, deploy, and manage applications without maintaining physical servers.

With Azure, you can host websites and apps, store and analyze data, implement AI solutions, create virtual networks, and scale resources on demand to meet changing workloads.

Advantages

• Integrates perfectly with the Microsoft ecosystem: Azure Machine Learning, Azure Functions, and Azure Data Factory are all part of Microsoft’s storage option, which is perfect for businesses using Microsoft tools like Visual Studio, .NET, and Microsoft 365.
• Multiple storage options: The service provides multiple access tiers, Hot, Cool, and Archive, to meet multiple storage use cases.

Disadvantages

• Complex pricing model: Like AWS, Microsoft’s pricing can be difficult to understand.
• High egress fees: Microsoft charges for moving data out of Azure, which can significantly increase costs.

Ideal for

• Enterprises or large businesses that are already integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Developers who build applications using the .NET Framework can benefit from the native integration and tooling Azure offers.

Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud is also one of the top object storage vendors offering S3 storage, aside from its Google Drive and Google One cloud storage services.

With it, businesses and developers can build, deploy, and manage applications on Google’s global network without maintaining physical servers.

With GCP, you can host websites and apps, process and analyze large datasets, leverage AI and machine learning, create scalable cloud infrastructure, and access advanced data management and analytics tools.

Advantages

• Strong data analytics and big data tools like BigQuery
• Excellent AI and machine learning services powered by Google technology
• Integrates well with other Google services
• Fast, reliable global network infrastructure

Disadvantages

• Fewer services and integrations compared to AWS
• Egress fees for transferring data out of Google Cloud can be significant and unpredictable
• Steeper learning curve for users unfamiliar with Google tools

Ideal for

• Cloud-native application development for developers building modern, container-based applications with Kubernetes.
• AI and machine learning workloads for teams building applications using Google’s advanced AI services.

IDrive

IDrive cloud storage is a scalable object storage solution designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as backups, media files, and application data.

It offers remote access and backups for multiple computers, as well as integration with Google Drive, Box, or Dropbox to migrate your files. IDrive's safety offers default or private encryption so you can set up the security of your accounts based on the sensitivity of your files.

Advantages

• S3-compatible API makes it easy to integrate with existing applications
• Predictable, low-cost pricing with no hidden fees
• High data durability and reliability
• Supports encryption for secure data storage

Disadvantages

• Fewer advanced features compared to AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Limited integrations and ecosystem
• Not ideal for complex analytics or AI workloads
• Smaller global infrastructure footprint

Ideal for

• Companies that need a platform to backup large amounts of data.
• Organizations that do not require advanced cloud features like AI or complex analytics.

Backblaze

Backblaze B2 cloud object storage is a cloud-based service designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data. It is one of the top object storage vendors for cloud storage backups, as this is its main service to back up media files and application data.

It provides S3-compatible access, making it easy to use with existing tools and workflows that support Amazon S3. With Backblaze B2, users can store, retrieve, and manage data securely, build applications, host content, create backups, and archive data without managing physical servers.

Advantages

• Low-cost storage compared to major cloud providers
• S3-compatible API
• Predictable pricing with generous free egress allowances
• High durability and always-hot data access

Disadvantages

• Fewer global regions than hyperscale cloud providers
• Smaller ecosystem of integrations and services
• Not designed as a full cloud platform like AWS, Azure, or Internxt

Ideal for

• Backblaze B2 is ideal for long-term data retention at a low, predictable cost.
• It works well for storing and delivering large files such as videos, images, and assets.

Hetzner

Hetzner is the final option for our most efficient object storage products that also provide scalable and secure storage for large amounts of unstructured data.

It stores files as objects in buckets that can be accessed via an S3-compatible API, making it easy to integrate with existing tools and workflows. Like Internxt, it is hosted in European data centers and complies with GDPR.

Advantages

• Low and predictable pricing with included storage and traffic quotas
• S3-compatible API for easy integration with existing applications and tools
• Scales automatically with growing data requirements

Disadvantages

• Fewer global data centers than major cloud providers, which may affect performance outside Europe
• Limited advanced cloud features compared with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud
• Some technical setup may be required for beginners

Ideal for

• Hetzner Object Storage is ideal for securely storing backups and archives without complex configuration.
• It is well-suited for hosting and serving large media files and digital assets at a predictable price.
• It works well as part of a larger storage strategy alongside other cloud and infrastructure services.

Object storage vendor list comparison

S3 compatibility, location, redundancy

Security & pricing

Fees & use cases

Which of the most efficient object storage products is right for you?

For large amounts of data via object storage with fixed pricing, Internxt is the best choice for medium to large-sized businesses.

It includes backups, multiple compliance, and is based in Europe. You can scale your storage to meet your needs with no unexpected costs for moving data in or out of the cloud.

If you’re integrated in the Google or Microsoft ecosystem, then Google Cloud or Azure will be a good choice.

For advanced features, AWS is the best option, and if you only want backups, Backblaze is the best to focus on backing up large amounts of data.

To learn more about Internxt S3, visit our website or contact a member of our team to schedule a call.

We also offer Internxt Drive, with VPN, Antivirus, Meet, and Mail, to offer you the best online privacy for your personal data and files.

Related articles

Block storage vs object storage

Enterprise cloud storage

Cloud storage for business

Top object storage solutions for enterprises

Open source object storage

Frequently asked questions

What is the best object storage?

Internxt S3 is the best object storage for affordability, speed, and data security. It offers multiple compliance and is based in Europe for maximum data protection and privacy.

There are no additional fees with Internxt, making scalability, affordability, and budget planning easy for large enterprises, small businesses, and personal use.

What is object storage, and what is it used for?

Object storage is a storage architecture for large amounts of unstructured data. It is used for backups, media files, big data, AI workloads, and application data.

What are the top object storage vendors?

AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform are the most popular object storage solutions, with Internxt offering the same S3 storage up to 80% cheaper, with multiple compliance industry standard security protocols, and European servers.

Can I migrate data between object storage providers?

Yes, most providers support data migration using S3-compatible tools, sync utilities, or third-party migration services.

What is the difference between object storage and cloud storage?

Cloud storage is a general term for storing files online, while object storage is a specific type designed for scalability, durability, and fast access to large datasets.

Is object storage secure?

Yes, most providers offer encryption at rest and in transit, access controls, and compliance certifications like GDPR and ISO standards.

AI has since become an integral part of our lives, whether it’s for work or personal use; we all use AI in some form or another.

However, deciding which is the best AI depends on how you want to use it. Whether it's for general questions, coding, deep research, or image creation, we’re lucky enough that there is an AI model available to help you out.

Therefore, if you’re looking to expand your AI knowledge and find out which is the best AI for you, this list has everything you need to choose the right service for privacy, research, or summarizing your documents, emails, or PowerPoints.

Table of contents

• How do AI chatbots work?
• How to choose the best AI tools
• Best AI chatbots overview
• The best AI chatbots of 2026
• Which is the best AI for me?
• Related articles

How do AI chatbots work?

AI models take your prompts you write and pass them to their AI model, which breaks down your text into small pieces (called tokens). The AI then returns the results to the app, so you can read them in a conversational style.

When the app sends your message to the model, it also includes your conversation history for context, hidden system instructions that shape how the model behaves, and sometimes extra data from tools like web search, databases, or document retrieval systems.

Many of the best AI tools are powered by multiple models. For example, one model might be optimised for fast responses, another for deeper reasoning, and others for specific tasks like image generation or coding.

You can also adjust settings such as creativity, strictness, or response length, which means different apps can give different answers even when using similar underlying models.

Depending on your prompt, AI will work in different ways.

Text prompts

For general messages/queries/ requests:

• Your message is converted into tokens, which are small pieces of text
• The tokens are turned into numerical data that the model can process
• The model predicts the next most likely token based on patterns learned during training
• It repeats this process, token by token, until a full response is generated
• The response is sent back to the app and displayed as natural language
• Conversation history is included so the model can stay consistent with earlier messages

Image generation

If the AI can generate images, it will take your request and perform the following actions:

• Your text prompt is converted into numerical representations (embeddings)
• A diffusion process starts with random visual noise
• The model gradually removes noise step by step
• Each step adjusts the image to better match the prompt
• The process continues until a final image is formed
• The result is decoded into a viewable image

Code

For developers, AI can help produce or debug code. When prompted, the AI takes the requests and does the following:

• Code is treated as structured text and split into tokens
• The model is trained on large datasets of programming languages and examples
• It predicts the next token based on common coding patterns
• It uses context from your prompt to choose the correct language and structure
• It can follow logical patterns like loops, functions, and APIs
• The final output is generated as executable or readable code

How to choose the best AI tools

Intelligence

The best AI is better at reasoning, following instructions, handling long or complicated prompts, and reducing mistakes. A weaker model may be faster or cheaper but can miss context, give shallow answers, or make more errors.

Some models may be outdated or give incorrect answers, so always check the sources.

Conversation ability

It’s important for an AI chatbot to use context and remember past prompts so it can respond appropriately and keep the flow coherent.

The best AI can track what you said earlier in the chat and use that context correctly without repeating itself or getting confused. It can also adjust its tone and level of detail based on how you respond.

Plug-ins

Some AI services, like CoPilot, can integrate into your workspace, such as email, messaging apps, or office workspace. In practice, this can mean drafting and sending emails, summarising long chat threads, creating meeting summaries, or generating task lists from conversations.

Pricing

All AI models offer a free version, but if you want extra features or more advanced models and answers, you would have to upgrade to either a monthly or annual plan.

ChatGPT subscriptions only focus on AI, whereas CoPilot and Google offer their AI with other features, such as cloud storage and video conferencing, like Internxt.

Internxt AI is completely free to use and has no limitations or restrictions on how you use its AI.

Privacy

Prioritizing your online privacy with AI is vital, especially if you want to analyze business data or other sensitive information. Still, you should always take great care with the information you share with AI chatbots and never share personal information about yourself or others.

This is because some AI models have humans that review chats, and although measures are taken to protect data, many people do not feel comfortable with this invasion of privacy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some AI providers may use conversations to improve or train future models unless users opt out or use specific plans where data is not used for training.

Best AI chatbots overview

The best AI chatbots of 2026

Internxt AI

Internxt AI is the first European and open-source AI chatbot dedicated to protecting the privacy of your chats and data.

Internxt AI keeps your conversations fully private by encrypting your chats locally on your device, meaning nobody but you can access them. Due to these privacy measures, none of your data is used to train AI’s language learning models.

With Internxt AI, you can ask it anything about any topic, research advanced topics, or create code.

Internxt AI is free to use with no login or personal details required. Your chats are saved locally on your device to return to whenever you need, and you can clear the cache to delete them.

This AI is part of Internxt’s mission to create privacy-focused products for everyone to protect their data online, and our AI forms part of our flagship product, Internxt Drive, a secure and encrypted cloud storage solution.

With a paid plan, you can also access VPN, Antivirus, Meet, Mail, and more for 85% off all annual and lifetime plans with the exclusive link below.

Gemini

Gemini is part of the Google Drive and Google One workspace, offering prompts for writing, research, data analysis, image creation, and much more.

When you open the Apps settings in Gemini, you can integrate it into the Google Workspace to search your emails, calendar, or manage documents. For deep research, Gemini creates an in-depth report with sources that you can then convert to a web page, infographic, or audio overview.

Like ChatGPT, Gemini offers Gems, which are customized AI models designed to carry out specific tasks like coding assistants or writing assistants, customer support bots, or research tools.

However, despite its many features, Gemini falls short in one important area: privacy.

As part of Google’s services, Gemini falls under Google's privacy policy, which collects and monitors your data for profiling, and it can also decrypt and view your chats.

In fact, Gemini alerts you that humans can read and monitor, as shown below

To prevent human review in Gemini, go to your Google account:

• Open Data & Privacy
• Find Gemini Apps Activity (sometimes called “Keep activity”)
• Turn it off

If you want a fully private alternative to Gemini, try Internxt AI for free.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT arguably started the AI boom when it was made available to the public in November 2022.

Since then, ChatGPT offers different models, and can base its answers based on the complexity of your question by giving itself more time to answer these questions. It also has a voice activation mode and a voice companion for you to have conversations with, which is useful for areas such as language learning.

You can also ask ChatGPT to search the web for you, so you get the best results based on your question.

However, ChatGPT has had security issues and vulnerabilities in the past, including:

March 2023 bug (ChatGPT)

• A software bug caused some users to see other users’ chat titles in the sidebar
• In rare cases, limited billing information was also exposed

2025 breach

• A third-party analytics provider used by OpenAI was compromised
• Attackers accessed data like names, email addresses, and user IDs
• OpenAI said no chat content or sensitive credentials were exposed

Grok

Grok AI was launched in 2023 and was developed to integrate into the X social media platform to combine normal AI reasoning with real-time information from X, which offers more up-to-date or live results compared to some other chatbots.

It can also create videos or images for you, and its model offers personality-driven responses that are often more informal or humorous, depending on how you use it.

The problem with this, though, is that X can scrape the social media platform to use content from user tweets, which could lead to false information or the use of users’ data without their knowledge.

The free model offers access to the core Grok AI chat features, while advanced plans offer higher or unlimited messages, priority access during peak times, and access to the more advanced Grok models for deeper search and analysis, which costs $30/month.

Copilot

Microsoft CoPilot is deeply integrated into the Windows ecosystem, so if you have a Windows device or OneDrive account, this may be the best AI tool for you as it is integrated into the following Windows apps:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• Teams

Therefore, if you need AI to summarize emails, spreadsheets, or Word documents, CoPilot can do all of this for you, helping you to increase productivity. Aside from that, you can search the web, analyse files, create images, or ask questions as you would with a typical AI chatbot.

There is also Copilot Analyst for multi-step research or Copilot Groups for up to 32 people to collaborate with AI in a shared thread.

DeepSeek

DeepSeek is an AI model based in China, so the main concern regarding this service is privacy. As your data is handled by DeepSeek, it falls under Chinese law, which can require companies to provide access to your data under certain conditions without you realising.

Unlike Western companies like Google, Microsoft, or others, which must clearly state in their privacy policy how their data is used, with DeepSeek, this information is less publicly available.

Important privacy concerns, such as data retention periods, conversations used for model training, or how data is anonymized, are less clear with DeepSeek than with other companies, making it much harder to control your privacy with DeepSeek.

However, one of the main advantages of DeepSeek is that all its models are open source, meaning you can create your own self-hosted AI model for increased control over your privacy for free.

Which is the best AI for me?

Now that we have taken a look at the best AI models of 2026, you can switch between whichever models you like, as most offer free plans, and if you need more advanced features, you can choose the best one based on your device or current subscriptions.

• Internxt AI: best for privacy, 100% free and no login required, based in Europe, and all chats are encrypted and kept locally on your device.
• Gemini: best for productivity, research, and working across Google tools like Docs, Gmail, and Sheets, especially when using images, audio, or video as input.
• ChatGPT: best for general use such as writing, brainstorming, learning, coding help, and custom GPTs.
• Grok AI: best for X integration and real-time information, trending topics, and quick insights tied to live data.
• CoPilot: best for workplace productivity in Microsoft tools like Word, Excel, and Teams, especially for business and office tasks.
• DeepSeek: best for self-hosting and API access.

Internxt AI is the perfect tool for private chats. When combined with our secure cloud storage plans, you can get everything you need to stay safe online. Check out our plans and get 85% off all annual and lifetime accounts by following the link below!

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• ChatGPT vs Gemini
• Character AI
• How can you protect your online privacy

Sometimes, we need to do some spring cleaning when it comes to our devices, as over time, leftover files can be left on our devices, or junk files could be slowing down our computer and taking up our local storage.

While you can clean up your device yourself, this can be time-consuming and risky, as you could delete an important file essential to keeping your device running.

To make things easier, these best PC cleaners give you complete ease of use and peace of mind when optimizing your device and freeing up storage.

• What does a PC cleaner do?
• Why you should choose the best PC cleaner
• The best PC Cleaners of 2026
• What is the best PC cleaner?

What does a PC cleaner do?

A PC cleaner is a type of software designed to find and remove unnecessary or problematic files from your computer so it runs faster, smoother, and with fewer errors. Basically, it’s like cleaning clutter out of a room so you have more space, and everything is easier to find and use.

The kind of junk files that may build up on your PC storage over time may include:

• Temporary files created by programs and the system
• Leftover files from uninstalling apps
• Cache files from web browsers
• Broken or outdated system entries
• Duplicate files or large unused files

It is important to note that while PC cleaners can help free up space and tidy your system, not all features are equally useful.

Cleaning temporary files and managing startup programs is generally safe and helpful, but aggressive registry cleaning can sometimes cause problems if done incorrectly. If you’re unsure which files to save or delete, it’s best to double-check before deleting them

How a PC cleaner works

The best PC cleaner, like Internxt’s, uses advanced algorithms to help you identify and clear junk files.

Once you run a scan, the system:

• Checks your computer for files and data that might be unnecessary
• Looks in places like storage, system folders, and settings
• Finds items that are safe to remove or fix

Next, it finds problems or junk

• Identifies temporary files, leftover data, and broken entries
• Detects things that are no longer useful or working properly

Then, it shows a summary

• Displays how much space can be freed
• Let you choose what to remove

Then, it cleans the system

• Deletes selected files
• Fixes or removes broken entries
• Clears things like browser cache if included

Next, it may optimize performance

• Reduces startup programs
• Stops unnecessary background activity

With Internxt Cleaner, you can save up gigabytes of space and increase performance for your PC or Mac.

Why you should choose the best PC cleaner

Improve device health

By removing unnecessary files and fixing small system errors, a device cleaner can help your computer run more smoothly by reducing the amount of work your system has to do.

This way, your device can find, load, and run programs more quickly and with fewer conflicts.

Free up storage

You can free up gigabytes of space on your device by identifying and deleting temporary files, cache, and unused data, so more space is available for important files and applications. This also prevents the system from wasting space on data that is no longer needed or used by apps.

Increased battery health

A cleaner can also show improvements in your overall battery health by removing unnecessary startup items and background processes that some apps leave behind, which can slightly reduce overall system load.

Prevent device crashing or freezing

If your device or apps regularly crash or freeze, a device cleaner can help by clearing out corrupted or conflicting files that can cause programs or the system to stop responding.

It also reduces system strain by removing clutter from your local storage that can interfere with normal operations.

Increased start-up times

Finally, a cleaner can also remove unnecessary programs from launching when the computer turns on, allowing it to load faster.

This means fewer apps compete for system resources during boot, so the system becomes usable sooner, which will in turn help battery life and overall performance.

The best PC Cleaners of 2026

Internxt Cleaner

Pricing: Get an 85% discount

Best for:

• Cleaning files for PC and Mac
• Combine with other privacy products
• Includes encrypted cloud storage
• Descriptive interface

Internxt Cleaner is part of Internxt Drive’s encrypted cloud storage suite, offering a way to clean up your device by removing junk, duplicate, or unnecessary files from your PC or Mac device.

With Internxt Cleaner, you can run scans directly from the Internxt Drive app for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Once scanned, you will get detailed results showing you where unnecessary space is being taken up on your computer, allowing you to select the junk files to delete.

You can also click on each section, showing you a detailed report of what files are taking up space, as well as the size of these files.

Internxt Cleaner is available for Premium or Ultimate annual or lifetime plans, which offer 3TB and 5TB of ppost-quantum encrypted cloud storage, plus the following features.

You can choose which files to save and which to delete, so you don’t have to worry about deleting important files. Once complete, your device will get more space and faster speeds by deleting these unnecessary files.

To get started with Internxt Cleaner, Antivirus, VPN, and more, get an exclusive 85% discount at the link below.

CCleaner

Pricing: From €44.95

Best for:

• Cleaning files for PC and Mac
• Keep browsing history private
• Clean files from OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox

CCleaner is available on PC, Mac, Android and iOS devices. It offers free and paid plans. With a free plan, you get basic access to its features, which include:

• Standard privacy protection
• Standard cleaning
• Basic health checks

CCleaner offers other features depending on whether you buy a Pro, Pro Plus, or Premium bundle.

These advanced features include private browsing, automatically deleting internet trackers, and the option to get back deleted files.

In terms of privacy, however, CCleaner has some issues. It doesn’t encrypt traffic or block trackers in real time as Internxt offers; its focus is on cleanup and optimization, so users seeking additional tools such as VPNs, which are included with an Internxt Drive plan.

In 2017, a legitimate CCleaner installer (version 5.33) was compromised by attackers who inserted a backdoor into the software’s build, which was then distributed to users. This affected millions of users and could execute remote code and collect system information

CCleaner’s Premium bundle costs €64.95 compared to Internxt’s Premium plan of €60.

You can also access all of Internxt’s features, including the best PC cleaner, rclone support, Meet, Mail, and more for €90/year, giving you everything you need to keep your device and online privacy protected.

CleanMyMac

Pricing: Try free for 7 days, prices from €3.35/month, billed annually

Best for:

• Mac devices
• Annual or lifetime plans
• Remove malware

CleanMyMac is a device cleaner for Mac and Windows (despite the name), focusing on features to help you clean up your device, free up space, and increase performance for up to 5 devices.

Like Internxt, it also offers a feature to remove malware from your device.

It also helps clean up storage from iCloud, Google Drive, and OneDrive, as well as an intuitive dashboard to visualise malware scans, performance, and space saved.

As CleanMyMac focuses solely on clearing files from your device, if you want a full product suite alongside the best PC cleaner, then you may want to consider Internxt.

What is the best PC cleaner?

Internxt offers the best PC cleaner to get the best performance, security, and privacy for your device and personal data.

It is the only service offering a PC cleaner alongside encrypted and secure cloud storage, plus Antivirus, VPN, NAS support, Meet, and Mail.

Internxt is fully security audited open source, and complies with GDPR, SOC2, HIPAA, and ISO 27001, ensuring maximum data protection no matter what data you manage with Internxt.

When combining Internxt Drive, Cleaner, and other features of an Internxt plan, you ensure that you get the best cloud storage, cloud backups, and privacy-focused services to make the switch from multiple subscriptions and get everything you need with an Internxt annual or lifetime plan.

Try Internxt's secure cloud storage for free, or take advantage of our 85% special offer on our website to find the perfect plan for you!

A lot of times, people only worry about the best antivirus software before it’s too late; they may have accidentally downloaded or opened a file containing malware, causing file corruption, data loss, or even encrypting their device.

There are many free antivirus software options, and the best antivirus products out there also offer additional features to help further protect your device.

In fact, if you’re also looking for a secure VPN, then the antivirus products on this list also include a VPN, with others offering cloud storage, cleanup tools, and more.

Therefore, if you’re in the market and wondering which is the best antivirus to meet your needs, by the end of this article, you will be able to pick the perfect one for you.

Table of contents

• How does an antivirus work?
• Advantages of using an antivirus
• Best Antivirus options of 2026
• Which is the best free antivirus software for you?

How does an antivirus work?

The best free antivirus software works by detecting, blocking, and removing malicious software from a device. Ideally, they are free from ads, pop ups, or any other means of collecting your data.

The type of malware it scans for includes:

1. Viruses: malicious programs that attach themselves to legitimate files and spread when those files are shared or executed, often damaging or altering data.
2. Worms: standalone malware that spreads across networks by exploiting security weaknesses, without needing to attach to a file or program.
3. Trojans: these types of viruses disguise themselves as legitimate software to trick users into installing them, often creating backdoors for attackers.
4. Ransomware: one of the most common cyberattacks that target individuals, small businesses, and huge enterprises. Ransomware encrypts a user’s files or locks access to a system and demands payment in exchange for restoring access.
5. Spyware: secretly monitors user activity and collects information such as passwords, browsing habits, or personal data.
6. Adware: displays unwanted advertisements, often tracking user behaviour to target ads more effectively.

The first known virus in cybersecurity history was launched in 1971, and the first antivirus came in 1987.

Since then, antivirus software has become more advanced and now works by scanning files and programs on your computer and comparing them to a database of known malware signatures.

More modern antivirus software uses behaviour monitoring, heuristic analysis, and cloud-based detection to identify and stop both known and unknown threats by analysing how programs act, detecting suspicious patterns, and checking files against online threat data.

Some antivirus software often includes additional protection like web filtering, email scanning, and ransomware protection to prevent infections before they reach your system for increased online protection.

Advantages of using an antivirus

Protection against malware

One of the main and most clear advantages of having an antivirus is protection from malware. Without an antivirus, malware can corrupt your data, delete files, lock you out of your system, or allow attackers to take control of your device.

This can result in lost work, expensive recovery efforts, or permanent data loss. An antivirus prevents this by detecting malicious software early and removing or isolating it before it can cause serious damage.

Real-time threat detection

As viruses can strike at any time without you knowing and may be discovered after the damage is already done, it can cause your device to become encrypted and cause data loss.

Antivirus software constantly monitors your system, stopping suspicious activity as it happens, preventing malware from executing and causing damage to your files or device.

Protection from the latest threats

New malware is created constantly or even being sold on the dark web, so anybody can spread it even without advanced knowledge of hacking.

Providing you regularly check and update your antivirus software, it will use behaviour analysis to catch unusual activity, allowing it to stop new or modified threats even if they are not yet widely known.

Data and privacy security

Antivirus is often overlooked when it comes to protecting our privacy online, but it’s an essential tool to ensure you get maximum protection.

Certain types of malware target your sensitive information, like passwords, personal files, or financial data, which can be silently collected and sent to attackers via keyloggers or other advanced software.

Safer internet and downloads

Many infections happen when users unknowingly visit malicious websites or download infected files, particularly from phishing, AI scams, or other cyberattacks that target employees. Without protection, a single click can compromise the entire system.

Antivirus software warns against dangerous sites and blocks harmful downloads, reducing the risk of accidental infection.

System stability and performance protection

As malware often runs in the background, it will consume system resources and have a heavy impact on your device by slowing down performance or causing crashes and errors, so a reliable antivirus increases the longevity of your device.

The Best free antivirus software and paid options of 2026

Internxt Antivirus

Pros

• Run full or custom scans
• Includes Internxt Drive, VPN, Meet, Mail, and more
• Windows, Mac, Linux support
• Malware and virus detection

Cons

• No iOS or Android app

Internxt Antivirus is included in all Internxt annual and lifetime plans, which also include access to Internxt’s open source and zero-knowledge suite, including encrypted cloud storage with Internxt Drive and Internxt VPN, offering full protection for your device, data, and internet connection.

With Internxt’s Antivirus, you can run full or custom scans to remove spyware, ransomware, and other common threats to your device. Once complete, you will get a detailed report of the infected files to eliminate them from your device before they cause data loss.

You can also combine Internxt’s Antivirus with other features from its paid plans, such as Cleaner, which eliminates duplicate and junk files from your computer, available with Premium and Ultimate plans.

Get started with Internxt for just €9.99 a month, or pay once with our lifetime plans which are 85% at the link below.

All scanned files managed by Internxt Antivirus are protected with zero-knowledge encryption to give you the best security and privacy compared to other competitors.

You can also use Internxt’s free virus scanner, the best free antivirus software to quickly scan documents you suspect may contain viruses from suspicious emails.

Avast

Pros

• Available for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows
• Includes VPN
• Blocks scam websites and emails

Cons

• Not open source
• Privacy concerns related to data collection practices
• Intrusive ads and frequent upgrade prompts

Avast is one of the well-known companies providing the best antivirus software. If you want the best free antivirus software with basic features to protect your device, which include:

• Malware, virus, and spyware protection
• Basic web protection
• Manual and scheduled scanning options
• File quarantine for suspicious items

On the free plan, you will get ads and other marketing prompts asking you to upgrade to the paid plan, which starts at €77.99 for a year, offering protection for 1 PC and mobile device.

It also includes other features such as spam calling protection and a VPN, but this is limited to a 5 GB-per-week bandwidth limit, approximately 730MB a day.

While Avast is a popular free antivirus, there are concerns about the level of intrusive ads in the free plan and worries about data collection practices, referring to the fact that Avast has been reported to collect and share certain user data, such as browsing behavior and usage patterns, through its analytics services.

AVG

Pros

• Includes Antivirus, VPN, and tune up
• Available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS
• Offers real-time malware detection using behavior-based analysis

Cons

• Free version includes limited features
• Known history of selling data

AVG offers a free plan for virus, spyware, ransomware, and malware protection, real-time security updates, and scanning. Paid plans start at €46.68 for the first year, and include spam protection, an enhanced firewall, and other features.

It may not be the best antivirus for a full stack of features compared to other paid services, and like Avast, many features of the free edition, such as identifying junk files or other performance issues, won’t be fixed unless you upgrade your plan.

AVG has also faced some controversies in the past, with a history of using browser extensions and antivirus data to collect detailed information about users’ online activity, including websites visited, search queries, and interaction patterns.

This data was then passed (in some cases in a re-identifiable or weakly anonymized form) to a subsidiary called Jumpshot, which packaged and sold this data to third-party companies for analytics and marketing purposes.

Bitdefender

Pros

• Free Antivirus features are the same as the paid version
• Malware recovery
• Includes free VPN

Cons

• Free version for Windows only
• Occasionally flags legitimate software as false positives

Bitdefender provides protection against viruses, malware, ransomware, and phishing. It offers a free version, but only on Windows, so this may be the best free antivirus software if you work exclusively on Windows.

Paid plans starting from €59.99 for one account and 5 devices.

Bitdefender combines traditional signature-based detection with AI and behavioral analysis to identify and block new threats in real time for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Malwarebytes

Pros

• Free version available for basic malware scanning
• Removes malware and potentially unwanted programs
• Lightweight and fast scanning

Cons

• The free version does not include real-time protection
• Can be resource-heavy depending on your device

Malwarebytes provides protection against viruses, malware, ransomware, and phishing for individuals, small businesses, or enterprises.

It offers a free version for on-demand scanning, or paid plans starting from around €59.99 per year for three devices or €39.99 if you need protection for one device only. Paid plans include VPN, scam and ad blockers in your browser, and identity protection.

It is based in California, and isn’t open source, so the potential that the company can view your files or have other backdoors to your data is quite high, as the security or privacy of the platform cannot be verified.

McAfee

Pros

• Advanced AI protection against current AI attacks
• Identity monitoring and VPN
• Protection for up to 10 devices

Cons

• Reports of high CPU and RAM usage
• Intrusive pop-ups and ads

McAfee is one of the best antivirus software programs for automatically spotting and alerting you to scams, offering annual or bi-annual plans starting from €24.99/year for one device.

McAfee also offers additional products to secure your accounts online, including email, social security, and bank account monitoring, which alerts you in case any of your personal data has leaked online. It also offers online protection for children, as you can activate parental controls for your accounts.

One of the major complaints of McAfee users is the intrusive apps and difficulties of removing the software or cancelling your renewal plan, which becomes much more expensive after the first year.

Like other antiviruses on this list, McAfee is also based in California, so less stringent US privacy laws apply.

Norton

Pros

• High malware, virus, and spyware detection rates
• Password manager and dark web monitoring are included in paid plans
• Parental controls and cloud backup for premium plans

Cons

• The free version is limited and mainly for scanning only
• Some users report occasional false positives on safe files

Norton is also one of the best antivirus systems if you want a brand that has been around for a long time.

Norton 360 Deluxe and higher-tier plans provide additional features such as webcam protection, PC optimization tools, and advanced privacy controls.

Norton paid plans include advanced online privacy tools like deepfake, AI scams protection, phishing monitoring, identity theft restoration, and credit score reports. It also offers parental controls and social media monitoring, which is useful for parents worried about cyberbullying online.

Like Internxt, Norton is the only other antivirus service on this list offering cloud storage. However, it focuses on backups, only offers up to 200GB, and doesn’t use the same privacy-focused zero-knowledge encryption as Internxt.

TotalAV

Pros

• Anti-malware, ransomware, and spyware
• System tune-up tools
• Browser protection

Cons

• May cause system lagging
• Some users report occasional false positives on safe files

TotalAV is the final addition to make our list of the best Antivirus products available in 2026. IT advertises 100% malware detection for 100% of malicious samples in all tested sample sets, along with a 0% false positive score.

Aside from antivirus protection, you also get ad-blocker protection for browsers, schedule scanning, and data breach monitoring.

Prices start from €99/year for 3 devices up to €149/year for 8 devices.

Total AV also offers a VPN, which claims a no-logs policy, but its privacy policy allows some metadata collection and lacks a public independent audit and open source software, so its security claims cannot be verified.

Which is the best free antivirus software for you?

Internxt

Best for users who want full privacy, lifetime plans, and open source software. Internxt Antivirus comes with Drive, VPN, Cleaner, Meet, Mail, and more, giving you everything you need to stay protected online in one lifetime plan or annual subscription.

Get 85% off any Internxt plan from our website, and to learn more about Internxt’s privacy mission.

Avast

Best for individuals who want a free antivirus with strong malware detection and additional security tools.

AVG

Best for casual users who need simple, lightweight protection combined with web and email threat scanning.

Bitdefender

Best for users looking for comprehensive protection with minimal system impact and advanced ransomware defenses.

Malwarebytes

Best for users who need a focused malware and spyware removal tool to complement other privacy tools.

McAfee

Best for families or small businesses who want multi-device protection with identity theft safeguards and VPN access.

Norton

Best free antivirus software for users seeking all-in-one protection, including VPN, cloud backup, parental controls, dark web monitoring, and identity protection.

TotalAV

Best for beginners who want a user-friendly interface with a focus on antivirus, but with added optimization tools and secure browsing features.

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• What is malware
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Some free Chrome VPN extensions protect your privacy. Others collect the browsing data they claim to secure and sell it to advertisers. The difference is not obvious from the Chrome Web Store listing: it sits in the audit record, the ownership structure, and the privacy policy language that most users never read.

Internxt VPN is among the five extensions reviewed here. Each review covers what the free tier actually gives you, whether the no-logs claim has been independently verified, and what a Chrome extension can and cannot protect, because browser-level encryption is not the same as full-device privacy.

Quick comparison: best free Chrome VPN extensions in 2026

Is a free VPN Chrome extension actually safe?

Some are. The category has a real trust problem because the business models vary significantly across providers, and a privacy policy is not the same thing as an independently verified claim. Three signals separate a trustworthy free Chrome VPN from one that monetises user data: an independently audited no-logs policy, transparent corporate ownership, and a privacy policy that explicitly prohibits the sale of browsing data.

Legitimate free VPN extensions work on a freemium model: the free tier builds a user base, and paid tiers fund the infrastructure. Windscribe and ProtonVPN both operate this way. Their no-logs policies have been tested by independent security firms, their ownership is transparent, and their privacy policies explicitly prohibit the sale of browsing data. The free tier is a constrained version of a real product.

The problematic tier of the market works differently. Urban VPN operates as a peer-to-peer bandwidth network: free users route other users' traffic through their device. Urban VPN's own privacy policy states it "may share, sell, or make a commercial use of the aggregated coded data" it collects, and independent security research published in 2025 documented the extension harvesting complete AI conversation data from users and exfiltrating it to the company's servers. That model is not a VPN.

Independent audit of the no-logs policy. A company stating it keeps no logs is a marketing claim. An independent security firm verifying that claim against the server architecture is evidence. The audit report should name the firm, the scope, and the year. Extensions without a published audit should be treated as unverified.

Transparent corporate ownership. Nord Security owns both NordVPN and Surfshark. This is not a disqualifying fact, but it is a relevant one: a single corporate owner across multiple "competing" VPN brands means a single privacy policy failure could affect all of them. Knowing who owns what is the baseline for an informed choice.

A privacy policy that explicitly prohibits data sale. The policy should state, in plain language, that the provider does not sell or share browsing data, DNS query logs, or connection metadata with third parties for commercial purposes. Vague language about "anonymised analytics" is not equivalent.

What a Chrome VPN extension protects, and what it doesn't

A Chrome VPN extension encrypts traffic through a VPN tunnel that applies only to traffic Chrome generates. That covers websites you visit, form data submitted through the browser, and DNS queries made from within Chrome. On a public Wi-Fi network, where the most common attack is traffic interception at the router level, a browser extension covers the most exposed surface.

What it does not cover: any other app running on your device, other browsers, system-level DNS queries made outside Chrome, or traffic from apps like email clients, Spotify, or any software that connects to the internet independently of Chrome. If a piece of software on your device communicates without going through the Chrome browser, the extension does not encrypt it.

Two situations make this concrete. First, if you use multiple browsers: Firefox, Safari, or Edge traffic is not routed through a Chrome extension. Second, if you are on a corporate or school network where traffic monitoring happens at the OS or network adapter level rather than at the browser: a Chrome extension alone does not protect against that. For full-device coverage, a system-level VPN app is required.

One specific case where browser-only coverage is enough: protecting a single browsing session on a network you do not control, such as a hotel or airport Wi-Fi. For that use case, a free Chrome extension does the job the user actually needs.

What changes about your IP when the extension is active is scoped to Chrome only: other browsers and apps continue using your real IP regardless of the extension's status.

The best free Chrome VPN extensions reviewed

Internxt VPN: best for zero-knowledge architecture on a free tier

Internxt VPN is a Chrome extension with post-quantum encryption and a no-logs policy built on zero-knowledge architecture: the server stores no browsing logs and no connection metadata that could be reconstructed. Post-quantum encryption uses cryptographic algorithms designed to resist attacks from quantum computers, which can break the RSA and ECC algorithms that most current VPNs rely on.

For most users today the difference is theoretical, but for users handling data with a long confidentiality horizon, such as legal, medical, or financial records, it is a forward-looking choice. The free tier connects to one location (France) at unlimited speed. An independent security audit is in progress; the current no-logs claim is based on the zero-knowledge architecture and open-source client code publicly available on GitHub, not a published audit result.

Spain is a Fourteen Eyes member. Internxt's GDPR obligations under Spanish and EU law place strict data minimization requirements on what can be collected, and the zero-knowledge architecture means there are no browsing logs to disclose regardless of jurisdiction. The extension is Chrome-only: no system-level app is available. Users who need more than one server location can upgrade to Premium (France, Germany, Poland) or Ultimate (those three plus Canada and UK); users who need full-device coverage will need a different provider entirely.

Best for: privacy-first users who want zero-knowledge architecture and open-source code on a free tier, and whose browsing is contained within Chrome.

Windscribe: best free data allowance

Windscribe offers 10 GB of free data per month across 10 server locations, which is the most generous free tier in this category by a significant margin. The free plan includes an ad and tracker blocker, and the extension works on any Chromium-based browser. Windscribe's server infrastructure (FreshScribe) was audited by Packetlabs in June 2024; the desktop application was separately audited by Leviathan Security Group in September 2021 and the mobile apps in March 2022. All audit reports are publicly available on Windscribe's GitHub. Windscribe also publishes a real-time transparency report of government and copyright data requests, and has complied with none of them, citing lack of relevant data.

The main constraint on the free tier is data volume: 10 GB covers standard browsing but not video streaming at any meaningful length. Users who exceed the limit mid-month have to wait for the reset or move to the paid plan at $9/month. Windscribe is Canadian, placing it within Five Eyes jurisdiction, a factor privacy-focused users weigh alongside the audited no-logs policy and absence of GDPR obligations.

Best for: users who want a generous free data allowance and a proven audit record.

ProtonVPN: best free tier for unlimited bandwidth

ProtonVPN's free tier is the only one in this comparison with no data cap: unlimited bandwidth across five server countries. Free servers run at medium speed relative to paid servers, but there is no artificial speed cap. Proton AG, based in Switzerland, developed ProtonMail before expanding into VPN, and its no-logs policy was independently audited by Securitum in 2022. Switzerland sits outside EU GDPR and outside Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes treaty obligations, requiring a Swiss court order for any data disclosure.

The free tier limits users to one simultaneous connection and excludes the Tor-over-VPN servers available on paid plans. The Chrome extension routes browser traffic only; a separate system app is available for full-device coverage and supports WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2, each suited to different use cases. ProtonVPN's open-source clients are publicly auditable on GitHub.

Best for: users who want unlimited free bandwidth from an audited, transparency-focused provider.

Browsec: most accessible free option

Browsec has approximately 8 million Chrome Web Store installs and offers access to 46+ countries on its free plan with no data cap. Setup requires no account creation: install, toggle on, and the extension connects. The interface is minimal and the performance on nearby servers is adequate for standard browsing.

Browsec Inc has no published independent audit of its no-logs policy. The privacy policy states that personal information is not disclosed unless required by law enforcement, but makes no explicit prohibition on the sale of browsing data, and the no-logs claim has not been verified by a third-party security firm. The company's jurisdiction is not publicly disclosed in its privacy policy. For users whose primary concern is casual privacy on untrusted networks rather than verified no-logs assurance, Browsec is functional. For users who want an audited claim, it is not the right choice.

Best for: users who want a no-signup, no-cap free option for casual browsing and accept that the no-logs claim is unverified.

TunnelBear: best audit record, limited free data

TunnelBear is the only VPN in this comparison with a consecutive annual independent security audit record: Cure53 has audited TunnelBear every year since 2016, with the 2023 audit covering all apps, VPN infrastructure, website, and backend across 43 days of work by seven senior auditors. All reports are published in full. The privacy policy explicitly states the company does not sell or trade personal data for commercial purposes, does not store originating IP addresses, and does not log DNS queries or browsing activity while connected.

The free tier is 2 GB per month, the most restrictive in this comparison. That covers occasional browsing sessions but not daily use. TunnelBear is owned by Gen Digital (formerly McAfee), a US-based cybersecurity corporation. Canada is a Five Eyes member, the same jurisdiction as Windscribe: the audited no-logs architecture means there is no browsing data visible to the ISP or provider to disclose regardless.

Best for: users who weigh audit track record above all other factors and can work within a 2 GB monthly limit; the 7-year consecutive audit history is unmatched in this category.

Free versus paid: when the free tier is enough

The free tier is sufficient in one specific situation: you need to protect browser traffic on a network you do not control, and you are using Chrome as your only browser on that device. The extension encrypts what passes through Chrome, which covers the most common exposure point on an untrusted network.

Whether you need a VPN at all in your situation determines whether a free Chrome extension is enough or whether the trade-offs require a paid system-level app.

If you need more than one server location, the free tiers here vary widely: Internxt's free tier covers France only, TunnelBear gives access to all countries but at 2 GB per month, Windscribe offers 10 countries with 10 GB, ProtonVPN covers 5 countries with unlimited bandwidth, and Browsec offers 46+ countries but with no published audit. For an audited free tier with meaningful location choice, Windscribe or ProtonVPN are the stronger options.

If you use more than one browser or need full-device coverage, a Chrome extension is the wrong tool regardless of which provider you choose. The extension does not route traffic from other apps. A system-level VPN app is required, which means moving to a paid plan with a provider that offers one. ProtonVPN's free tier includes an unlimited-bandwidth system app for this reason, making it the strongest free option for users who need more than browser coverage.

If you are using a VPN for work or handling sensitive data, a free single-location tier is unlikely to meet the requirement. Business use cases typically need multiple simultaneous connections, a verified no-logs audit, and kill switch functionality that cuts the connection if the VPN drops. These features sit behind paid plans across all providers in this comparison.

If you want VPN and encrypted storage under one account, Internxt's paid plans combine both: Premium adds France, Germany, and Poland with 3TB storage; Ultimate adds Canada and UK on top of that with 5TB storage. No privacy-first competitor with open-source clients offers that combination in the same price range.

If a free Chrome extension covers your use case as described above, use one. If it does not, comparing paid VPN plans by location count, full-device coverage, and audit record will identify the right fit.

Is your VPN extension working?

Three checks confirm the extension is doing what it claims. Run these after connecting, before you browse.

1. IP address check. Visit an IP lookup tool such as ipleak.net or browserleaks.com/ip. The IP address shown should match the country you connected to, not your real location. If your home IP appears, the extension is not routing your traffic correctly.

2. DNS leak test. Visit dnsleaktest.com and run the standard test. The DNS servers listed should belong to your VPN provider, not your ISP. A DNS leak exposes the sites you visit to your ISP through unencrypted domain name queries even when the extension appears connected.

3. WebRTC leak test. Visit browserleaks.com/webrtc. WebRTC is a browser protocol that can expose your real IP address even when a VPN extension is active, because it communicates at the browser level rather than through the extension's tunnel. If your real IP appears here, check whether your extension includes WebRTC leak protection, or disable WebRTC manually in Chrome's settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a free VPN extension for Chrome safe to use?

Internxt VPN, Windscribe, ProtonVPN, and TunnelBear are safe choices: all four have transparent ownership, explicit no-data-sale policies, and open-source or independently audited architectures. Extensions with no published audit and opaque ownership should be treated as unverified.

What is the best free VPN for Chrome?

For users who prioritize privacy architecture, Internxt VPN offers zero-knowledge encryption and post-quantum protection on a free tier with no data cap. For maximum free data allowance, Windscribe offers 10 GB per month; for unlimited bandwidth across five server countries with a published audit, ProtonVPN is the alternative.

Is there a 100% free VPN for Chrome with unlimited data?

Internxt VPN and ProtonVPN both offer unlimited-speed free tiers with no monthly data cap; Browsec also offers unlimited data but has no published audit of its no-logs policy. Internxt VPN's no-logs claim is based on zero-knowledge architecture and open-source code.

What VPN works with Google Chrome?

Any VPN that offers a Chrome extension works directly in the browser, including Internxt VPN, Windscribe, ProtonVPN, TunnelBear, and Browsec. VPNs without a Chrome extension can still protect browser traffic if a system-level app is installed and connected on the same device.

Does a Chrome VPN extension protect my whole device?

No: a Chrome extension encrypts only the traffic that passes through the Chrome browser. Traffic from other browsers, apps, and system-level processes on the same device is not routed through the extension and remains unprotected.

Does a Chrome VPN extension work on a Chromebook?

Yes: because ChromeOS runs Chrome natively, a Chrome VPN extension installed on a Chromebook encrypts browser traffic in the same way it does on Windows or macOS. For traffic from Android apps running on ChromeOS, a system-level VPN connection is required in addition to the extension.

What is the difference between a no-logs VPN and a zero-knowledge VPN?

A no-logs VPN promises not to record your browsing activity, but that claim is only as strong as its verification: an unaudited no-logs policy is a self-declaration. A zero-knowledge VPN goes further at the architecture level: the server is designed so that no browsing logs or connection metadata can be reconstructed, regardless of whether the provider intended to store them. Internxt VPN is built on zero-knowledge architecture, meaning there is no data to disclose even under a legal request.

What is the difference between a browser VPN extension and a full VPN app?

A browser VPN extension encrypts only the traffic passing through that browser, while a full VPN app encrypts all network traffic leaving the device regardless of which app or browser generates it. For complete device-level privacy, a full VPN app is required; a browser extension covers only the browser session it is installed in.

Protecting more than your browser

Protecting your browser traffic is one layer of online privacy. Your stored files, documents, and photos are another. Internxt Drive is secure cloud storage built on zero-knowledge encryption: files are encrypted client-side before upload, and the provider holds no key to their contents.

Most cloud storage services encrypt files in transit and at rest, but hold the encryption keys themselves, which means they can read your files, hand them to a third party, or expose them in a breach.

With zero-knowledge storage, the provider never receives a key that decrypts your data. For users who are already thinking carefully about who can see their network traffic, applying the same standard to stored files is the logical next step.

Since COVID hit in 2020, video conferencing has become a booming industry, allowing individuals, businesxses, and enterprises to host video calls, webinars, classes, and more.

In a similar manner to cloud storage and local storage options, there are many video calling platforms available with different features available depending on personal or business needs.

For this reason, we will cover the best video conferencing tools and apps available by covering:

• Features
• Pricing
• Security and privacy
• Collaboration tools

So whether you’re looking for a dedicated video conferencing tool such as Wire or a full privacy product suite such as Internxt, this article will help you choose the best video conferencing platform for you.

Table of contents

• How to choose the best video conferencing tools
• Overview of the best video conferencing apps
• The 6 best video conferencing tools
• Which of the best video conferencing tools is right for you?
• Related articles

How to choose the best video conferencing tools

Video and audio quality

Check whether calls stay stable without dropping, how clear and noise-free the audio is, whether it supports HD video, how much delay there is between speakers, and whether the quality automatically adjusts to different internet speeds, browsers, or mobile devices.

Collaboration

If you only need to chat with friends or family, then simple video calling is enough, but if you need more, you should check whether the platform supports screen sharing, file sharing, chat, whiteboards, or breakout rooms.

Privacy and security

If you want to keep your video calls private, then it's best to stay away from big tech companies such as Google or Microsoft. This is because they manage the encryption and could access your chats or use your calls to train their AI learning models.

Therefore, for maximum privacy and security, the best video conferencing calls will use zero-knowledge encryption to ensure your chats and calls remain private. For this, the best option is Internxt Meet, which has zero-knowledge and post-quantum encryption to ensure your video calls are totally private.

Support

Check whether the service offers live, email, phone, or other methods of support so you can get the help you need as soon as possible.

Pricing & other features

Check whether there are limitations for free plans, and what other services are offered within the subscription. Some services only offer video conferencing, whereas other providers, like Internxt, offer encrypted cloud storage and a full privacy suite to ensure you get the best protection online.

Overview of the best video conferencing apps

The 6 best video conferencing tools

Internxt Meet

Internxt Meet is a video conference platform with an emphasis on privacy thanks to its zero-knowledge and post-quantum encryption.

Meet is part of Internxt’s privacy-focused product suite, and if you have an Ultimate plan, you can share a secure link with up to 5 participants, and they can join your call, or you can schedule a meeting for participants to join at a time that suits you.

If you have an Internxt Ultimate plan, you can share your meeting link; other users do not need an Internxt account to join your meeting. Meet also users AI to ensure you get the best video speeds and audio quality.  

With an Internxt Ultimate plan, you not only get access to Meet, but all of Internxt’s products, including encrypted cloud storage, Mail, Photos, and more.

Annual and lifetime plans are available, and the full services of Internxt can be viewed below.

Stand-out features

• Post-quantum encryption
• Screen sharing
• Private chats
• Open-source and audited

Best for

• Fully private video calls
• Privacy-focused users
• Combined with secure cloud storage and sharing

Limitations

• Maximum 5 participants
• No dedicated mobile app

To get started with any of our Internxt plans, visit our website for 85% off all annual and lifetime plans, and for the best video conferencing platform, choose our Ultimate plan to get access to Meet, Drive, Mail, and more!

Google Meet

Google Meet is part of the Google Workspace ecosystem, which includes Google Drive, Photos, Gmail, Gemini, and more.

Google Meet is free to use, but it also comes with premium features, which include:

• Host longer calls
• Live stream to YouTube
• Capture and share recordings
• Intelligent noise cancellation

Stand-out features

• Integration with the Google Workspace ecosystem
• Live captions and real-time translation
• Recording and meeting transcription
• High participant capacity

Best for

• Team meetings and workplace collaboration
• Users already using Google Meet within Google Workspace
• Large group calls, webinars, and classrooms

Limitations

• Advanced features require a paid Google Workspace plan
• No zero-knowledge encryption
• Google can view your chats and calls
• Limited customization compared to some competitors

Zoom

Zoom gained huge popularity during the COVID era, with over 300 million daily meeting participants using the service to connect with friends and family during the lockdown period.

It also became widely used due to online classrooms, thanks to its breakout room feature, allowing learners to chat in separate video conferencing rooms to discuss topics.

Since then, Zoom has expanded its service by offering features such as webinars, cloud recording, team chat, virtual whiteboards, AI-powered meeting summaries, and integrations with third-party apps for collaboration and productivity.

However, there have been past security concerns regarding Zoom’s platform, which have included:

Uninvited users were able to join meetings as they were set up with publicly shared links with no waiting rooms or passwords enabled by default. This led to disruptions in schools, businesses, and public meetings.

Zoom marketed end-to-end encryption, but it was later clarified that meetings were not fully end-to-end encrypted in the strict technical sense at the time. Zoom later updated its security architecture and introduced true end-to-end encryption options.

Stand-out features

• Webinars and large meeting add-ons
• AI-powered meeting summaries and smart features
• Screen sharing with advanced controls
• Recording and transcription options

Best for

• Remote teams and business meetings
• Online classes, webinars, and large events
• Flexible collaboration tools

Limitations

• 40-minute limit on group meetings for free plans
• Advanced features require a paid plan
• Resource-heavy on low-end devices

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s addition to the video calling industry and is the best video conferencing tool for Windows and OneDrive users.

Teams works especially well for its Business Basic and Business Standard plans, which have built-in access to Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can also add its generative AI assistant, Microsoft CoPilot.

Teams does not offer a free plan, but the Essentials plan starts at $4 per user/month, allowing for video meetings of up to 30 hours, 10GB of cloud storage, and several advanced features, including recording, transcripts, live captions, and polling.

Stand-out features

• Webinars and large meeting capabilities (with Microsoft 365 plans)
• AI-powered meeting summaries, Copilot integration, and smart collaboration tools
• Screen sharing with advanced presenter controls
• Recording, transcription, and live captions

Best for

• Remote teams and business collaboration
• Online classes, webinars, and large-scale meetings
• Windows users who need workflows with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Limitations

• Free plan has meeting duration limits (typically up to 60 minutes for groups)
• Advanced features (webinars, Copilot, enhanced security) require paid plans
• Limited privacy; videos encrypted by Microsoft

Wire

Wire is a secure messaging system that also allows you to make video calls over the internet using the Wire app.

Wire is designed with privacy in mind, using end-to-end encryption to keep conversations safe. It can be used on phones, tablets, and computers, making it useful for personal calls, teamwork, and business communication.

It also includes features such as group video calls, screen sharing, file and message sharing, and voice calls within the same app. Users can create group chats, collaborate in real time, and switch easily between messaging and video, making communication simple and flexible.

In larger meetings, however, media is decrypted on Wire’s servers and then re-encrypted for delivery. This means Wire can access unencrypted streams, so it does not provide true zero-knowledge encryption like Internxt Meet.

Stand-out features

• End-to-end encryption for all calls and messages
• Ability to enable strong privacy controls
• Cross-platform use on mobile, desktop, and web

Best for

• Privacy-focused users and organizations
• Secure business communication and teamwork
• Teams that need encrypted messaging and video in one place

Limitations

• Fewer large-scale webinar and event features
• Less integration with widely used office tools
• No zero-knowledge encryption for large meetings

Whereby

Whereby offers a simple way to meet face-to-face online directly in your web browser using the Whereby platform without needing to download or install anything.

This makes it quick to set up and accessible for people who want a straightforward calling experience.

Whereby includes features such as customizable meeting rooms, the ability to lock rooms for privacy, and integrations with tools like Google Docs and Trello. It supports group video calls, screen sharing, and recording options on certain plans.

Whereby is designed to work smoothly across different devices, making it suitable for casual meetings, small team collaboration, and client calls where simplicity and convenience are important.

It’s important to note that Whereby uses cookies and third‑party tracking technologies for analytics, advertising measurement, and improving services.

These include tools from Google Analytics, Amplitude, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, which limit the privacy and security of your personal data.

Stand-out features

• End-to-end encryption for all calls and messages
• Strong privacy controls and secure communication design
• Cross-platform use on mobile, desktop, and web

Best for

• Privacy-focused users and organizations
• Secure business communication and teamwork
• Teams that need encrypted messaging and video in one place

Limitations

• Whereby exposes personal behavior and usage patterns to multiple external companies, increasing privacy risks.
• Whereby is not open source, so it is not possible to verify the security or privacy of its platform
• Videos are encrypted by Whereby

Which of the best video conferencing tools is right for you?

Internxt Meet is the best video conferencing platform, as it is the only service that offers post-quantum and zero-knowledge encryption, ensuring nobody can access your personal meetings, and chats are automatically deleted once you leave the meeting for increased privacy.

As Meet is included in Internxt’s full privacy plan, you also get access to Internxt’s full privacy suite, including cloud storage with rclone, WebDAV, and NAS support, Antivirus, VPN, Mail, and much more.

Therefore, if you want to host private video calls, interviews, or team meetings, Internxt Meet offers everything you need for secure and private video calls.

If you want to host larger meetings and more collaboration tools, the best options are Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.

Try Internxt for free, or get 85% off our website with our exclusive special offer to check out what our plans have to offer to start protecting your personal files and online data.

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• Best apps for remote workers
• Best tools for digital nomads
• Best free antivirus software

Yes. When you connect to a VPN, websites and services see the VPN server's IP address instead of yours. Your public IP changes. Your local IP address, GPS location, browser fingerprint, and any traffic running outside the VPN do not.

This article covers what specifically changes, what stays the same regardless of which VPN you use, and three points where your real IP can still reach destinations even with a VPN running.

What a VPN changes about your IP address

Every device connected to the internet has a public IP address: the address your internet provider assigns to your connection. When you visit a website without a VPN, the website's server receives a request that includes this IP. The server uses it to send data back to you, and it can log it.

When a VPN is active, your traffic travels through the VPN provider's server before it reaches its destination. The destination sees the IP address of that server, not yours. From the website's perspective, the request came from a server in Frankfurt, not from your actual location.

When a VPN is in the path, the VPN's encrypted tunnel is what makes the substitution possible: your real IP never reaches the destination because the VPN server makes the request on your behalf.

This is what changes:

• Your public IP address is replaced by the VPN server's IP for the duration of the session
• The apparent location of your connection shifts to wherever the VPN server is located
• Your ISP can see you are connected to a VPN server, but not which sites you are visiting through it.

What a VPN does NOT change

A VPN changes your public IP. It does not change several other identifiers that websites, advertisers, and services use to track or locate you.

Your local (private) IP address

Your router assigns a local IP to every device on your network, typically something in the 192.168.x.x range. This address is used for communication within your home network and never reaches the internet. A VPN has no effect on it, and it does not need to.

Your GPS location

A VPN changes your IP-based geolocation, meaning the location inferred from your IP address. It does not change your device's GPS coordinates.

On a phone or tablet, apps that request location permission use the GPS chip, not the IP address, to determine where you are. Google Maps, ride-share apps, weather apps, and anything that uses the device's native location service will still see your actual physical location regardless of which VPN server you are connected to. A VPN can make a website think you are in Canada while your GPS-enabled apps accurately report that you are in London.

Your browser fingerprint

Websites can identify browsers by combining dozens of signals: screen resolution, installed fonts, browser version, time zone, language settings, WebGL renderer, and more. This combination, your browser fingerprint, is often unique enough to identify you across sessions without any IP address involved. A VPN changes the IP but leaves the fingerprint intact.

Cookies and logged-in sessions

If you are signed into Google, Facebook, or any other service, that service already knows who you are. A VPN does not log you out or erase session cookies. Connecting through a VPN server in Germany while signed into your Google account means Google still associates your activity with your account.

Non-browser traffic (for extension-based tools)

A native VPN app installed at the operating system level routes all traffic from all applications through the VPN server. A browser extension routes traffic from that browser only. Other browsers, desktop applications, system updates, and background services all continue to use your real IP address while the extension runs.

Internxt VPN is a Chrome extension. It changes your IP for websites you visit in Chrome. Everything else on your device, including other apps, other browsers, and system processes, uses your real IP while the extension is active.

Every Chrome VPN extension operates this way: browser scope only, no coverage of system-level traffic regardless of which provider runs the extension.

Does a VPN hide your IP address from websites?

Yes, within the scope above. A website you visit through a VPN receives the VPN server's IP address. It cannot recover your real IP from the VPN connection itself.

What the website can still do:

• Log the VPN server's IP and use it for geo-restriction or fraud detection
• Identify you through fingerprinting, cookies, or logged-in account data
• Detect that the IP belongs to a known VPN provider, as many commercial VPN server IPs are publicly listed in databases that streaming services and fraud systems query

Masking your IP from the destination is the core function a VPN performs. The other tracking vectors require separate tools: cookie management, fingerprint-resistant browser configurations, signed-out sessions. None of those fall within what any VPN does.

Does a VPN change your location?

A VPN changes your apparent location based on IP geolocation. It does not change your GPS-reported location.

IP-based geolocation

Most websites determine your location by looking up your IP address against a geolocation database. These databases map IP ranges to approximate cities or regions. When a VPN assigns you a server IP in Poland, the database returns Poland for that IP and the website treats your request as coming from there.

This is why VPNs can bypass certain geo-restrictions on websites and web-based services. The accuracy of IP geolocation varies across databases, and some VPN server IPs are already flagged as VPN addresses, which can trigger additional verification steps or outright blocks on services that actively work to detect VPN usage.

GPS location

GPS is determined by satellite signals received by your device's hardware. No software layer, whether a VPN client, browser extension, or proxy, changes what the GPS chip reports. Location-aware mobile apps, emergency services, and anything that uses native device location will see your real coordinates regardless of your VPN status.

If you need to change the GPS location your device reports, that requires a separate process specific to your operating system. It is outside the scope of what any VPN or privacy extension does.

Three ways your real IP can still leak through a VPN

A VPN can be active and still allow your real IP address to reach destinations through three specific channels.

1. DNS leaks

When you type a website address into your browser, a DNS resolver translates it into an IP address. If those DNS queries travel outside the VPN tunnel to your internet provider's default resolver, your ISP can see every domain you look up, even if the rest of your traffic is protected.

This is a DNS leak. Whether it happens depends on how the VPN handles DNS. A native app with proper DNS leak protection forces all queries through its own resolvers. A browser extension may not control DNS at the operating system level at all, which means queries can bypass the extension entirely.

Before assuming DNS is protected, test it: run a DNS leak test at dnsleaktest.com with the VPN active and confirm the resolver shown belongs to the VPN provider, not your ISP.

2. IPv6 leaks

Most internet traffic still uses IPv4, but IPv6 adoption has grown significantly. If your network has IPv6 enabled and the VPN only tunnels IPv4 traffic, your real IPv6 address can reach destination servers directly, bypassing the VPN tunnel for any IPv6 connection.

A VPN that does not explicitly handle IPv6, either by tunneling it or disabling it at the OS level, leaves this channel open. Checking whether your provider addresses IPv6 is worth confirming before relying on IP anonymity, particularly on home networks where IPv6 is enabled by default by many ISPs.

3. WebRTC leaks

WebRTC is a browser technology used for video calls, voice chat, and peer-to-peer file sharing. It can expose your real IP address to websites through JavaScript at the browser level, not the OS level. This means WebRTC can bypass a VPN's IP masking even when the VPN is working correctly for all other traffic.

The risk applies to any VPN that operates at or below the browser level. Check your VPN provider's documentation for whether WebRTC leak protection is included, and test it independently — the VPN connection status indicator does not confirm whether WebRTC is covered.

Does your IP address change every time you connect?

This depends on the VPN provider's server infrastructure.

Shared IPs

Most VPN providers assign shared IPs: multiple users connect through the same server IP simultaneously. When you connect to a server in France today and again tomorrow, you typically get the same France server IP both times: it is the address of that physical server, not a personal address assigned to your session. The IP changes if you switch to a different server location or if the provider updates their infrastructure.

Shared IPs carry a mild anonymity benefit: because many users share the same address, it is harder to tie any specific browsing activity to a single user based on IP alone.

Internxt VPN uses shared server IPs. The IP assigned does not change between sessions on the same location.

Static (dedicated) IPs

Some providers offer a dedicated IP option: a fixed address assigned to your account. You get the same IP every session. This is useful for whitelisting scenarios: remote server access, corporate VPN access, or services that require a trusted, consistent IP. The tradeoff is reduced anonymity: the IP is uniquely linked to your account rather than shared across thousands of users.

Internxt VPN does not offer a dedicated IP option.

Which VPN is right for your situation?

Provider comparison only helps after the question of whether to use a VPN at all is settled by your specific risk profile

For all-device traffic protection, a native VPN app routes every application's traffic through the tunnel, including other browsers, desktop apps, and background processes. NordVPN, ProtonVPN, and Mullvad all do this. If anything outside Chrome needs IP protection, a native app is the right category.

For the strongest anonymity, Mullvad requires no email address to sign up and accepts cash and cryptocurrency. Its no-logs infrastructure was independently verified by Cure53 in 2022, 2023, and 2024. It does fewer things than the Tier 1 providers but executes the anonymity function with more rigour: no email required, cash and cryptocurrency accepted, RAM-only servers, annual independent audits.

For privacy-first users who want a full app with audit documentation, ProtonVPN operates under Swiss jurisdiction with independently audited no-logs claims and open-source clients. Switzerland sits outside both EU and Five/Nine/Fourteen Eyes treaty frameworks.

For lightweight browser-level IP masking without installing a separate application, Internxt VPN is a Chrome extension included with every paid Internxt plan. It routes Chrome traffic through servers in five locations, keeps no connection logs, and operates under Spain's GDPR jurisdiction with open-source clients.

Beyond IP type, VPN services vary widely on protocol support, simultaneous connections, and refund policies, which the table above doesn't cover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a VPN change your IP address?

Yes. When you connect to a VPN server, websites and services receive the server's IP address instead of yours. Your real public IP is replaced for the duration of the session.

Does a VPN hide your IP address from websites?

Websites see the VPN server's IP, not yours. They cannot recover your real IP from the connection itself, though they can still identify you through cookies, logged-in accounts, or browser fingerprinting.

Does a VPN change your GPS location?

No. A VPN changes your IP-based geolocation, meaning the location inferred from your IP address. GPS is determined by satellite signals received by your device's hardware and is unaffected by any VPN or browser extension.

Can my real IP address still leak with a VPN active?

Yes, through three channels: DNS leaks (queries routed outside the tunnel to your ISP's resolver), IPv6 leaks (real IPv6 address bypassing an IPv4-only tunnel), and WebRTC leaks (browser-level IP exposure through audio and video APIs). Each requires separate testing to verify.

Does a VPN change your IP address on iPhone and Android?

A native VPN app installed on iOS or Android changes the IP for all traffic from that device. A browser extension VPN only changes the IP for traffic within that specific browser and has no effect on other apps or system traffic.

How often does a VPN change your IP address?

With shared IPs, you typically get the same server IP each time you connect to the same location. The address changes if you switch server locations or if the provider updates their infrastructure. Some providers offer a dedicated IP option that stays fixed across every session.

What is the difference between changing and hiding an IP address

Changing your IP means replacing your real public IP with a different one, which is what connecting to a VPN server does. Hiding your IP means preventing the real address from reaching destinations, which is the result of that change. The two phrases describe the same outcome from different angles.

Can police track someone using a VPN?

A VPN prevents websites from seeing your real IP, but law enforcement can request connection logs from VPN providers through legal channels. A provider with a verified no-logs policy has no connection data to hand over. Providers that claim no-logs but have not been independently audited offer a weaker guarantee, because the claim has not been tested by a third party.

Your IP address is one layer of your online identity

A VPN handles one specific thing: it replaces your public IP address with the server's. It prevents destinations from logging your real address and shifts your apparent location to wherever the server sits. It is not a complete privacy solution on its own.

The gaps are predictable. Fingerprinting, cookies, logged-in accounts, DNS queries, WebRTC, and non-browser traffic all operate outside what an IP address change touches. Knowing which layer each tool covers, and which gaps remain, is more useful than assuming any single product closes all of them.

For browser-based browsing, a privacy extension that masks your IP covers the most common exposure point without requiring a full VPN installation. Pairing it with secure cloud storage that encrypts files before they leave your device covers a second layer, what you store and share, that a VPN does not touch.

Your internet provider cannot see your browsing history when you use a VPN. With a VPN active, your ISP sees only that you're connected to a VPN server, not which sites you visit, what you search, or what content you access. Without a VPN, your internet provider can see every domain you visit and log that data indefinitely.

This article covers exactly what your ISP can and cannot see when a VPN is running, what your VPN provider can see (and how to verify their privacy claims), how the same protections apply to WiFi owners and network admins, and how to confirm your VPN is not leaking data.

If you want a VPN where even the provider cannot reconstruct your activity, Internxt VPN applies zero-knowledge principles at the network layer, bundled with encrypted cloud storage starting at €24/year.

What your ISP can see without a VPN

Every request your device makes to the internet passes through your internet provider's infrastructure before it reaches its destination. Without a VPN, that means your ISP has visibility into your activity at the network level, regardless of what browser you use or whether you're in incognito mode.

Specifically, your internet provider can see:

• Every domain you visit (for example, reddit.com or nytimes.com), logged with timestamps
• The IP addresses your device connects to
• How much data you transfer and when
• Unencrypted content on HTTP sites, including the full URL and page content
• Your DNS queries, which reveal which domains you looked up even if you never completed the visit

What they cannot see, even without a VPN, is the specific content on HTTPS sites. Encryption at the HTTPS layer protects page content and URLs on secure sites. Your ISP sees that you visited a domain, but not which article you read or what you searched within that site.

Most of the internet now runs on HTTPS. The realistic threat without a VPN is domain-level visibility and DNS logging, not full content interception. A VPN addresses both.

What can ISPs legally do with your browsing data?

Knowing what your ISP can see is one question. What they are legally permitted to do with that data depends significantly on where you live.

United States

In 2017, Congress voted to roll back FCC privacy rules that had required ISPs to obtain customer consent before selling browsing data to advertisers. US internet providers can legally sell browsing history, location data, and app usage to third-party advertising networks without notifying you. Several major carriers have operated data-monetization programs built on customer traffic patterns, selling aggregate or anonymized browsing data to advertisers and data brokers.

European Union

GDPR classifies browsing history as personal data. EU-based ISPs must have a lawful basis to process it, cannot sell it to advertisers without explicit consent, and are subject to data minimization requirements, meaning they can only retain what is necessary for providing the service. Logging for network management purposes is permitted, but commercial data resale is not.

United Kingdom

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 requires UK ISPs to store internet connection records for 12 months. These records are accessible to a broad range of government agencies without a warrant in every case. The data retained is connection-level: which domains were contacted and when, not page content.

What a VPN changes in each jurisdiction is what data exists to act on. When your ISP only sees an encrypted connection to a VPN server, the browsing history that could be sold, retained, or disclosed does not exist at their network layer.

What your ISP can and cannot see when you use a VPN

When a VPN is active, your device encrypts all traffic before it leaves your network. Your internet provider receives that encrypted data but has no way to read it.

Your browsing history becomes invisible to your internet provider. What remains visible is the fact that you're using a VPN, not what you're doing through it.

The VPN server's IP becomes the address your ISP sees the connection going to: your public IP changes while your local network IP and GPS location do not.

How the encrypted tunnel works

When you connect to a VPN, your device establishes an encrypted tunnel to a VPN server before any traffic reaches your ISP's infrastructure. Every request you make, whether to a website, a search engine, or an app, gets wrapped in encryption at the application layer and travels through that tunnel. Your internet provider sees an encrypted stream of data moving between your device and the VPN server's IP address.

The VPN server is the only point that decrypts your traffic, looks up the destination, retrieves the content, and sends it back to you through the same encrypted tunnel. The specific protocol handling that process, whether WireGuard or OpenVPN, affects speed and security characteristics but not what your ISP can see.

When you connect to a VPN, your device first opens an encrypted tunnel to a VPN server before any traffic reaches your ISP's infrastructure.

Does HTTPS change anything?

HTTPS already encrypts the content of your connection between your browser and the destination website. What it does not protect is the DNS query your device makes to look up that site's address, or the IP address your device connects to. Both of those are visible to your ISP on a standard HTTPS connection without a VPN.

A VPN fills those gaps. It routes your DNS queries through the VPN server rather than your ISP's DNS resolver, and it masks the destination IP address behind the VPN server's address. HTTPS and a VPN are complementary protections, not alternatives to each other.

What your VPN provider can see

Moving your traffic through a VPN shifts the visibility question from your internet provider to your VPN provider. Your ISP can no longer see which sites you visit, but the VPN server now sits between your device and the internet. Whether that server logs your activity depends entirely on the provider's architecture and whether that architecture has been independently verified.

A VPN does not make your browsing invisible. It moves trust from your ISP to your VPN provider. Choosing a provider with an audited no-logs policy is what closes that gap. The best VPN services guide covers which providers have had those claims independently verified.

No-logs policies: what they claim and how to verify them

Every major VPN provider claims not to log browsing activity. A self-declared no-logs policy carries no independent weight. The only claims worth treating as verified are those backed by an audit from a named third-party firm that reviewed the actual server infrastructure, not just the privacy policy document.

The audit scope matters as much as the auditor. An audit that reviewed only the privacy policy text is weaker than one that included live server inspection and confirmed no logging mechanisms were present. When evaluating any no-logs claim, the questions to ask are: who audited it, what did they inspect, and when was it last conducted.

VPN provider comparison: who logs what and who verified it

Key points:

• All five providers below have no-logs policies, but the verification behind each claim differs significantly
• ProtonVPN and Mullvad are Internxt VPN's closest competitors in the privacy-first segment
• Spain is a Fourteen Eyes member; Internxt's zero-knowledge architecture means there are no browsing logs or connection metadata to disclose regardless of jurisdiction
• Open-source clients allow independent code review, a meaningful additional layer of verification beyond audit reports

Sweden and Spain are both Fourteen Eyes members. For both Mullvad and Internxt, the architectural protection (no logs stored on the server) is more practically relevant than jurisdiction alone, since there is no browsing data to disclose in response to a legal request. Switzerland, where ProtonVPN operates, sits outside the Fourteen Eyes framework entirely, which removes that variable for users who consider jurisdiction a deciding factor.

Can your WiFi provider or router admin see your history with a VPN?

The question of who can see your browsing history is not limited to your internet provider. A router admin, a workplace IT department, or a public WiFi operator sits between your device and the internet in the same structural position as your ISP. A VPN handles all of them the same way: traffic is encrypted before it leaves your device, so the network operator sees only an encrypted connection to a VPN server regardless of which network you're on.

Home router admin

Anyone with admin access to your home router can view connection logs if logging is enabled. Without a VPN those logs include every domain your devices contacted. With a VPN active, the router log shows a single persistent connection to a VPN server IP. The domains you visited are not recorded anywhere on the router.

Workplace or school network

Corporate and institutional networks frequently run monitoring software at the network layer. The scope of what IT departments log varies, but the structural position is identical to an ISP: they see DNS queries and destination IPs for unprotected traffic. A VPN encrypts that traffic before it reaches the network monitoring point. Whether using a personal VPN is permitted on a workplace network is a separate policy question that varies by employer.

Public WiFi

Public networks at hotels, airports, and cafés are the highest-risk environment for unprotected browsing because the operator and other users on the same network can both attempt to intercept traffic. A VPN eliminates that exposure. Your device establishes an encrypted tunnel immediately on connection, before any browsing traffic is sent, so neither the network operator nor other users on the network can read your activity.

Mobile carrier

Everything covered above for home broadband applies equally to mobile carriers. When you browse over cellular data, your carrier sits in the same infrastructure position as a home ISP: every domain your device contacts, every DNS query, and every connection timestamp passes through carrier infrastructure before reaching the internet.

A VPN handles cellular connections the same way it handles any network. Your phone encrypts traffic before it leaves the device, routes it through the VPN server, and the carrier sees only the connection to that server.

One practical difference from home broadband: mobile connections pass through more network hops before reaching the VPN server, which can add slightly more latency. This does not affect what the carrier can see. Encryption is applied at the device level before the data reaches any carrier routing equipment.

If you use your phone as a mobile hotspot, the same rules apply to every device connected through it. Your carrier sees the hotspot's total traffic as a single encrypted stream to the VPN server, with no visibility into individual device activity on the connection.

Does incognito mode affect what your ISP sees?

Incognito mode does not affect what your internet provider sees. It prevents your browser from saving local history, cookies, and form data on your device. It has no effect on network-level traffic, which means your ISP still receives and can log every DNS query and domain connection your device makes during an incognito session, exactly as it would in a normal browser window.

The same applies to your router admin, your workplace network, and any other network-layer observer. Incognito is a local privacy tool. A VPN is a network privacy tool. They operate at different layers and address different threats, and using one does not substitute for the other.

What if your VPN has a DNS leak?

A DNS leak occurs when your device sends DNS queries outside the encrypted VPN tunnel, routing them through your ISP's DNS resolver instead of the VPN's. The result is that your internet provider can see which domains you looked up even though a VPN is active. The browsing history you assumed was private is partially visible.

DNS leaks typically happen due to VPN misconfiguration, a VPN app crash that does not trigger the kill switch, or a protocol fallback where the VPN temporarily drops and the device reverts to its default DNS settings. Some older VPN clients on Windows are also prone to sending DNS requests through the system resolver in parallel with the VPN tunnel.

Three things worth checking if you suspect a leak:

1. Visit a DNS leak test site with your VPN connected and confirm the DNS server shown belongs to your VPN provider, not your ISP
2. Check that your VPN's kill switch is enabled so traffic stops entirely if the tunnel drops rather than falling back to your regular connection
3. Confirm DNS leak protection is turned on in your VPN app settings, which forces all DNS queries through the encrypted tunnel

IPv6 leaks

Most VPN apps tunnel IPv4 traffic by default. If your device has an active IPv6 address, which most modern networks assign alongside IPv4, and the VPN client does not handle IPv6 traffic, your device may send IPv6 requests outside the encrypted tunnel. Any site you visit that supports IPv6 will see your real IPv6 address instead of the VPN server's address.

The failure is silent: your VPN appears connected and your IPv4 traffic is protected, while IPv6 traffic leaves the device unmasked. To check, run an IP leak test that reports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses with the VPN active. If the IPv6 address shown belongs to your real network rather than the VPN server, you have a leak.

The fix depends on your VPN client. Some apps include a setting to disable IPv6 on the device while the VPN is connected. Others route IPv6 through the tunnel alongside IPv4. If neither option is available, disabling IPv6 at the operating system level stops the leak until the client handles it natively.

WebRTC leaks are a third failure mode, distinct from both DNS and IPv6. Browsers can use WebRTC to establish direct peer connections that bypass the VPN tunnel and expose your real IP address, even with the VPN active. Testing for all three leak types together is part of the how to check if your VPN is working process.

Can you use a VPN with any internet provider?

Yes. VPNs work with all consumer internet providers including Spectrum, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and every major ISP in the US and internationally. A VPN runs as software on your device and routes traffic through the provider's network like any other application. The ISP has no mechanism to block it at the account level.

Your ISP can detect that you are using a VPN. The connection pattern to a known VPN server IP is identifiable. Some providers have historically throttled VPN traffic on congested networks, though this is distinct from blocking it. No major US internet provider has terminated or penalized a residential account for using a VPN.

Using a VPN on your home router is also legal in the US and in most countries. Installing VPN software on a router is a configuration decision, not a terms of service violation with your ISP. The question of legality applies to what you do through the VPN, not to the VPN itself.

Frequently asked questions

Can my ISP see what sites I visit if I use a VPN?

No. With a VPN active, your ISP sees only that you're connected to a VPN server, not which sites you visit or what you search. All traffic between your device and the VPN server is encrypted.

Can my WiFi owner see my browsing history with a VPN on?

No. A VPN encrypts your traffic before it reaches the router, so the router admin sees only a connection to a VPN server IP. This applies equally to home routers, workplace networks, and public WiFi.

Can my VPN provider see what I'm doing online?

A VPN provider with a verified no-logs policy cannot reconstruct your browsing activity. Internxt VPN uses a zero-knowledge architecture, meaning no browsing logs or connection metadata are stored that could be accessed or disclosed.

What information does my ISP still collect when I use a VPN?

Your ISP can see that you're connected to a VPN server, the server's IP address, connection timestamps, and approximate data volume. They cannot see which sites you visited, your search queries, or any page content.

Does incognito mode stop my ISP from seeing my history?

No. Incognito mode only prevents your browser from saving local history on your device. Your ISP still sees all DNS queries and domain connections made during an incognito session.

What is a DNS leak and does it expose my browsing to my ISP?

A DNS leak occurs when your device sends DNS queries outside the VPN tunnel to your ISP's resolver, revealing which domains you looked up. Enabling DNS leak protection in your VPN app settings forces all queries through the encrypted tunnel.

What is the difference between a no-logs VPN and a zero-knowledge VPN?

A no-logs VPN claims not to record your browsing activity, a claim that only carries independent weight once verified by a named third-party auditor. A zero-knowledge VPN is built so that browsing logs and connection metadata are never stored on the server at all, meaning there is nothing to disclose regardless of jurisdiction or legal request. Internxt VPN uses this architectural approach.

Keeping your data private beyond the network layer

A VPN protects your browsing history from your internet provider and network observers. What it does not protect is the data you store and share online once your connection is private. Files uploaded to standard cloud services, emails sent through unencrypted providers, and documents stored on third-party platforms remain visible to those providers regardless of whether a VPN is active.

Internxt Drive applies zero-knowledge encryption to file storage, meaning files are encrypted on your device before they are uploaded and Internxt cannot access their contents. The same zero-knowledge principle applies to your network traffic through Internxt VPN, covering both layers under one account.

The status light in your VPN app says connected. That doesn't mean it's working. Your VPN is actually doing its job when three things are true: your real IP address is hidden, your DNS requests are routing through the VPN tunnel, and your kill switch cuts your traffic if the connection drops. You can check all three in under five minutes using the four tests below. No technical knowledge needed, just a browser tab and the tools listed at each step.

The tests below work with any provider. Steps that vary by app call out Internxt VPN specifically, as it runs as a Chrome browser extension bundled with every paid Internxt plan, so the extension install and server selection look different from a full desktop app.

Is my VPN actually working? Quick 3-step check

If you want a 30-second answer before running the full tests, open each tool in a new tab with your VPN connected.

Step 1: Check your IP addressGo to whatismyipaddress.com. The location shown should be your VPN server's city, not your actual location. If it shows your real city or ISP, the tunnel is not routing your traffic.

Step 2: Run a DNS leak testGo to dnsleaktest.com and click Standard Test. Every server in the results should belong to your VPN provider, not your home internet provider. If you see your ISP's servers listed, your DNS is leaking outside the tunnel.

Step 3: Verify the kill switchDisconnect your internet for three seconds (toggle Wi-Fi off and back on), then check your IP again immediately after reconnecting. If your kill switch is working, the IP check should either show a connection error or return to your VPN server's IP, not your real one.

All three pass? Your VPN is working. If any step fails, the sections below walk through each fix.

How to test if your VPN is working: 4 tests explained

Your VPN can show a green "connected" status and still be leaking data in three different ways. Each test below catches a different failure type. Run them in order the first time you set up a new VPN, and again any time you switch servers, update the app, or change devices.

Test 1: IP address check

What it confirms: Your traffic is exiting from the VPN server, not from your home internet connection.

Tool: whatismyipaddress.com or ipleak.net

Steps:

1. Note your current IP address with the VPN disconnected (open the tool, write it down or screenshot it).
2. Connect to your VPN and choose a server in a specific country.
3. Reload the tool. The IP address and location shown should now match your VPN server, not your real location.

Pass: The tool shows a new IP address and location belonging to your VPN provider's server, not your home ISP.

Fail: The tool still shows your real IP or your real city. This usually means the VPN tunnel did not establish correctly. Disconnect, reconnect, and test again. If it keeps failing, try a different server.

Test 2: DNS leak test

What it confirms: Your domain name lookups are routing through the VPN tunnel, not bypassing it.

A DNS leak happens when your device sends a domain lookup outside the VPN tunnel. That lookup is the step that translates "google.com" into an IP address, and when it leaks, your ISP sees it even though your traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel. It's the most common way a VPN can appear connected while still exposing your browsing activity.

Whether your ISP can see your browsing history when a VPN is active comes down almost entirely to whether DNS queries are leaking outside the tunnel.

Tool: dnsleaktest.com

Steps:

1. Connect your VPN.
2. Go to dnsleaktest.com and run the Standard Test. Run the Extended Test if you want to check for IPv6 DNS exposure as well.
3. Look at the server names and ISP column in the results.

Pass: All results show your VPN provider's DNS servers. For Internxt VPN, the results should show Internxt's servers, not your home internet provider.

Fail: Results show your home ISP's DNS servers (e.g., Comcast, AT&T, BT). Your DNS is leaking. Fix: disconnect the extension, disable and re-enable it, reconnect, and run the test again. If it persists, try a different server location or reinstall the extension.

Internxt VPN: DNS protection is handled automatically by the extension. There is no separate setting to toggle. If the DNS test fails, disconnect and reconnect, or switch to a different server location.

Test 3: WebRTC leak test

What it confirms: Your browser is not exposing your real IP address through WebRTC, a separate communication channel that VPN tunnels don't always cover.

WebRTC is a browser feature that handles real-time communication like video calls. It can bypass the VPN tunnel entirely and send your real IP address directly to websites, even when everything else is encrypted. Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are affected. Safari handles this differently and is less exposed.

Tool: browserleaks.com/webrtc

Steps:

1. Connect your VPN.
2. Go to browserleaks.com/webrtc.
3. Look at the "Public IP Address" and "Local IP Address" fields.

Pass: The Public IP field shows your VPN server's IP, not your real one. The Local IP field may show a private network address (like 10.x.x.x), which is normal.

Fail: Your real public IP appears under "Local IP Address" or "Public IP Address." Fix options:

• In Firefox: go to about:config, search for media.peerconnection.enabled, set it to false.
• In Chrome or Edge: install a WebRTC control extension like "WebRTC Leak Prevent."
• Alternatively, use a browser with WebRTC disabled by default. Brave has this built in.

Test 4: Kill switch test

What it confirms: Your internet traffic stops completely if the VPN connection drops, rather than falling back to your real IP.

A kill switch is only useful if it actually fires. The only way to know is to simulate a dropped connection and check what happens.

Steps:

1. Connect your VPN and open whatismyipaddress.com in a browser tab.
2. Confirm the IP shown is your VPN server's IP.
3. Turn off Wi-Fi (or unplug your ethernet cable) for three seconds, then turn it back on.
4. The moment Wi-Fi reconnects, reload the IP check page immediately. Do this before the VPN has time to reconnect.

Pass: You see a connection error page, a blank page, or the same VPN server IP. Any of these means the kill switch held.

Fail: The IP check page loads and shows your real IP address. The kill switch did not fire during the gap.

Note: This test applies to standalone VPN apps only. Browser extension VPNs, including Internxt VPN, do not have a kill switch. If you use Internxt VPN, skip this test and focus on Tests 1, 2, and 3.

Internxt VPN: included with every paid Internxt plan

Most VPNs are sold as standalone subscriptions. Internxt bundles the VPN into its paid plans alongside post-quantum encrypted cloud storage and antivirus protection, all under one account and one zero-knowledge architecture.

What Internxt VPN does and doesn't do

Internxt VPN is a Chrome extension. It is not a standalone VPN app like NordVPN or ProtonVPN.

What that means in practice:

• It protects your browser traffic only. Other apps on your device (email clients, torrent software, desktop apps) route outside the tunnel.
• There is no kill switch. If the VPN connection drops, your browser continues without interruption rather than cutting traffic.
• It works on any device running Chrome or a Chromium-based browser. No separate mobile app required.
• Server locations are limited to 5. No US servers are currently available.

If you need whole-device VPN coverage, a kill switch, or US server access, a standalone VPN app is the right tool.

If you want browser-level privacy on public Wi-Fi, protection while travelling, or geolocation shifting for regional content, Internxt VPN covers that use case.

Which tests apply to Internxt VPN

How to check if your VPN is working on each device

The four tests above work in any browser on any device. The steps below cover how to find the VPN status indicator on each platform, and what to look for before running a full test.

How to check if your VPN is working on iPhone

The quickest way: look for the VPN icon in your iPhone status bar. It appears as a small "VPN" label at the top of the screen when a connection is active.

For a more thorough check:

1. Go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management → VPN.
2. Your VPN should show "Connected" under the provider name.
3. Open Safari and go to whatismyipaddress.com. Confirm the location matches your VPN server, not your real city.

One thing to watch: iOS can reconnect to a VPN silently after an interruption without telling you the connection was dropped and re-established. The status indicator will show "Connected" either way. Run the IP check to confirm, not just the status screen.

How to check if your VPN is working on Android

1. Pull down the notification shade. If your VPN is active, you'll see a key icon and a "VPN" notification.
2. Go to Settings → Network & Internet → VPN to see the connection status.
3. Open Chrome and go to whatismyipaddress.com. The IP and location should match your VPN server.

Same caveat as iOS: the system VPN indicator tells you the connection state, not whether the tunnel is routing your traffic correctly. Always confirm with the IP check.

How to check if your VPN is working on Windows

1. Look for the VPN app icon in the system tray (bottom right of your taskbar). Most providers show a lock or shield icon when connected.
2. Go to Settings → Network & Internet → VPN. Your provider should appear with "Connected" status.
3. Open any browser and go to whatismyipaddress.com to confirm the IP matches your server.

For Windows built-in VPN connections: Settings → Network & Internet → VPN → click your connection name → Properties → shows connection status and duration.

How to check if your VPN is working on Mac

1. Check the menu bar at the top of your screen for your VPN provider's icon.
2. Go to System Settings → Network → VPN. Your connection should show a green dot and "Connected."
3. Open Chrome and go to whatismyipaddress.com to verify the server IP.

How to check if your VPN is working on Firestick

Fire OS does not have a system-level VPN status screen. All verification has to go through the VPN app itself.

1. Open your VPN app from the Firestick home screen. The app dashboard should show a connected server and a timer.
2. Open the Silk browser and go to whatismyipaddress.com. The location shown should match your VPN server, not your real location.

VPN not working? How to fix the most common test failures

Failing one of the four tests doesn't mean your VPN is broken. Each failure type has a specific fix. Work through the one that matches what you saw.

DNS leak

Symptom: dnsleaktest.com shows your home ISP's servers instead of your VPN provider's.

1. Disconnect from the VPN.
2. Go to VPN settings and toggle DNS leak protection off, then back on.
3. Reconnect and run the DNS leak test again.

If it still fails: open your system DNS settings (Windows: Control Panel → Network → Adapter Settings; Mac: System Settings → Network → DNS) and check whether a custom DNS server is configured at the OS level. A system-level DNS override will bypass the VPN's DNS protection regardless of what the app setting says. Remove the custom DNS entry, let the VPN control DNS, and re-test.

IP address not changing after connecting

Symptom: whatismyipaddress.com still shows your real IP after you connect.

1. Disconnect and reconnect. Try a different server location.
2. Check whether split tunneling is enabled in your VPN settings. If the browser you're using is excluded from the tunnel, it will show your real IP even when the VPN is active for other apps.
3. Clear your browser cache. A cached IP lookup can show your previous location even after the tunnel connects.
4. If you're on IPv6, run the Extended test on dnsleaktest.com. Some VPNs only tunnel IPv4 traffic, which means your real IPv6 address can still be visible even when the rest of your connection is protected.

Kill switch not firing

Symptom: During the kill switch test, your real IP appeared after reconnecting Wi-Fi.

1. Open VPN settings and confirm the kill switch toggle is on. On many standalone VPN apps this is not enabled by default.
2. On Windows, check that the VPN app has the network permissions it needs (it may prompt on first install).
3. Repeat the test: VPN connected, open IP check tab, drop Wi-Fi for 3 seconds, reconnect, reload immediately.

If the kill switch still fails after enabling it, the app may need to be reinstalled with full permissions, or the platform may have an OS-level restriction. Check the provider's support documentation for your specific OS version.

VPN blocked by your network or a website

Symptom: VPN connects but certain websites block access, or the VPN connection itself won't establish on a specific network.

On corporate or school networks: These networks often block VPN protocols by default. Switch from WireGuard to OpenVPN using TCP on port 443. Traffic on port 443 looks identical to standard HTTPS and is not filtered by most corporate firewalls.

On streaming services: Services like Netflix and iPlayer block known VPN IP ranges rather than VPN protocols. If you get an error screen, try a different server in the same country. If the provider doesn't actively maintain unblocked server IPs, no settings change will fix it. The issue is on the provider's infrastructure side.

On ISPs that throttle bandwidth: Some internet providers throttle high-bandwidth connections. If your VPN drops frequently, switching from WireGuard to OpenVPN TCP on port 443 can help. That traffic type is treated as standard HTTPS and is less likely to be subject to throttling rules.

Whether a VPN actually speeds up or slows down your connection when throttling is involved depends on whether the ISP is targeting traffic types or capping total bandwidth.

What your internet provider can see when a VPN is active is a separate question from whether the tunnel is routing correctly, and depends more on which leak types are present than whether the connection status shows green.

Does my VPN work for specific use cases?

Does my VPN work for Netflix?

Connect to a server in the country whose Netflix library you want to access, then open Netflix. If the regional library loads, the VPN is working for that purpose. If you get the proxy error screen ("You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy"), the server IP you're using has been flagged. Try a different server in the same country. Not all VPN providers maintain servers that reliably unblock Netflix. Check your provider's website for confirmed streaming server locations before testing.

Does VPN work for Grok?

A VPN changes the IP address Grok reads, which affects its geolocation. Connect before opening Grok and confirm the IP at whatismyipaddress.com. If the location matches your server country, the VPN test passes. Note that some Grok restrictions are tied to the account registration country rather than the connecting IP, in which case the VPN test passes but the platform applies its own rules separately.

Does my VPN work for torrenting?

A browser IP check is not enough to confirm VPN coverage for torrenting. Torrent clients use a different network stack and can leak your real IP to trackers even when the browser IP check shows the VPN server.

The right tool is ipleak.net. Use the "Torrent Address Detection" section. It provides a magnet link. Add it to your torrent client while the VPN is running, and the tool shows which IP your client is broadcasting to trackers.

Pass: The IP shown matches your VPN server.

Fail: Your real IP appears. Check whether your torrent client is excluded from split tunneling, or whether your kill switch is enabled. Torrenting without a kill switch means any connection drop will expose your real IP to trackers automatically.

Which VPNs include a kill switch and DNS leak protection?

The answer depends on whether you're using a standalone VPN app or a browser extension. Full VPN apps include both features. Browser extension VPNs include DNS leak protection but not a kill switch, because the browser handles connection continuity rather than the extension.

If a kill switch is a requirement for your use case (torrenting, journalism, or any situation where a dropped connection must not expose your real IP), a standalone VPN app is the right choice.

Across standalone VPN apps, kill switch and DNS leak protection are universal, so the choice between providers comes down to track record, server count, and price rather than feature parity.

If you want browser-level privacy bundled with post-quantum encrypted cloud storage and antivirus under one plan, Internxt's privacy suite covers that use case.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a VPN is working?

Your VPN is working when your IP address changes to your VPN server's location and your DNS requests route through the VPN's servers rather than your home ISP. Visit whatismyipaddress.com with the VPN connected: if the location shown matches your server and not your real location, the first check passes.

How to check for an active VPN connection?

An active connection indicator (the VPN label in iPhone's status bar, the key icon in Android's notification shade, or the shield icon in your Windows system tray) confirms the connection was established, not that the tunnel is routing correctly. Always confirm with an IP check at whatismyipaddress.com.

Can my VPN be connected but not actually working?

Yes: the "connected" status confirms the connection was established, not that your IP is hidden, your DNS is protected, or your kill switch is active. DNS leaks and WebRTC leaks can both expose your real location and browsing data while the app shows a green indicator.

What is a DNS leak and how do I test for one?

A DNS leak happens when your device sends domain name lookups outside the VPN tunnel to your ISP's servers, which means your ISP can see which sites you're visiting even if your traffic is encrypted. Test for one at dnsleaktest.com with your VPN connected: if the results show your home ISP's servers rather than your VPN provider's, your DNS is leaking.

What is a WebRTC leak?

WebRTC is a browser feature used for video calls and peer connections that can send your real IP address directly to websites, bypassing the VPN tunnel entirely. Check for WebRTC leaks at browserleaks.com/webrtc: the Public IP Address shown should match your VPN server, not your real IP.

How do I check if my VPN kill switch is working?

Connect your VPN, confirm the IP at whatismyipaddress.com matches your server, then turn Wi-Fi off for three seconds and back on. If the kill switch held, you'll see a connection error or your VPN server's IP when you reload immediately after reconnecting, not your real IP.

Does a VPN work for Grok?

A VPN changes the IP address Grok reads, which affects location-based access; connect first and verify the IP at whatismyipaddress.com to confirm the location matches your server country. Some Grok restrictions are tied to the account registration country rather than the connecting IP, so the VPN test can pass while the platform still applies its own account-level rules.

Can I use a VPN on an ISP that throttles bandwidth?

Yes. If your VPN connection drops frequently due to ISP throttling, switching from WireGuard to OpenVPN TCP on port 443 is the most reliable fix, as that traffic type is treated as standard HTTPS and is less subject to bandwidth throttling rules.

Which VPNs include DNS leak protection and a kill switch?

All major standalone VPN apps, including NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, and Mullvad, include both DNS leak protection and a kill switch. Browser extension VPNs include DNS leak protection but not a kill switch; if a kill switch is required, a standalone app is the right choice.

Beyond the network: encrypting the files you store and share

Keeping your browsing private is one half of the equation. The files you store and share are the other. Secure cloud storage with zero-knowledge encryption means your data is encrypted on your device before it ever leaves it. Internxt Drive and Internxt VPN work under the same account, the same system architecture, and the same GDPR jurisdiction, so you're not managing two separate privacy tools from two different providers.

Using a VPN takes about two minutes once you have an app installed: choose a provider, download the app, connect to a server, and you are done. What most guides skip is everything that comes after: the settings that actually matter, how to verify the connection is working, and how to set up a VPN on devices that do not support apps at all.

This guide covers the full setup process for iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, smart TVs, Firestick, PS5, and Xbox, plus the post-install settings worth configuring before you browse. Internxt VPN is a Chrome extension that encrypts browser traffic and pairs with Internxt's encrypted cloud storage under one account, a lighter option for users who want browser-level protection without a system-level app.

How to use a VPN: the basics

These four steps work for any VPN provider on any device with an official app. Device-specific instructions follow in the sections below.

Whether a VPN is worth setting up depends on the networks you connect from and what your ISP is permitted to log under your jurisdiction.

Step 1: Choose a provider

Verify a provider's audit claim by checking the firm and year against a current VPN service comparison rather than the provider's marketing copy.

Also check that the provider has apps for all the devices you use. Most mainstream providers cover Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android under a single subscription, with five to ten simultaneous connections depending on the plan. If you only need protection in your browser rather than across your whole device, a VPN extension for Chrome is a lighter alternative. Internxt VPN is one option in this category, available free from the Chrome Web Store with no system installation required.

Free Chrome VPN extensions trade off differently on data limits, audit history, and country selection, so the right choice depends on which constraint matters most for your use case.

Always download from your provider's official website or your device's official app store. On Windows and Mac, go to the provider's site directly. On iPhone, use the App Store. On Android, use the Play Store. Third-party sources for VPN software carry a real risk of modified or malicious builds.

Step 3: Connect to a server

Open the app, sign in, and tap or click Connect to turn the VPN on. Most apps connect you to the fastest available server automatically. Once connected, your internet traffic routes through the VPN via an encrypted tunnel and you browse normally, no change to how you search or use the web. If you need to appear in a specific country, for example to access a service from another country, open the server list and select that location before connecting.

What changes about your IP when you connect to a server, and what stays the same like your local network IP and GPS location, depends on whether you're using a system-level app or a browser extension.

Step 4: Check it worked

Once connected, take 30 seconds to confirm the VPN is active and not leaking. The Is your VPN actually working? section below has a three-step check that takes under a minute.

How to use a VPN on iPhone

The steps below apply to both iPhone and iPad. iOS and iPadOS use the same VPN configuration system, so the setup is identical on both devices.

Setting up a VPN app on iPhone

1. Open the App Store and search for your VPN provider by name.
2. Download and install the official app.
3. Open the app and sign in with your account credentials.
4. Tap Connect. iOS will prompt you to add a VPN configuration to your device. Tap Allow. The permission creates a secure tunnel and does not give the app access to your other data.
5. A VPN icon appears in the iPhone status bar when the connection is active.

To disconnect, open the app and tap Disconnect, or toggle off the VPN from Settings > VPN.

Using the Control Center shortcut

Once a VPN configuration is installed, you can connect and disconnect directly from Control Center without opening the app.

1. Go to Settings > Control Center.
2. Find VPN in the list and tap the green plus icon to add it.
3. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open Control Center and tap the VPN icon to toggle it.

Note: this shortcut toggles the most recently used VPN configuration. If you have multiple VPN configurations installed, manage them from Settings > VPN.

Enabling Always-On VPN on iOS

Always-On VPN ensures your connection is encrypted before any app sends data over the network, including in the background. On personal devices, enable it inside your VPN app's settings. Most providers label it Auto-connect or Always-On. Set it to activate on all networks, or on untrusted networks only if you want your home Wi-Fi excluded.

On devices managed through an MDM profile (company or school devices), Always-On VPN can be enforced at the system level by an IT administrator.

How to use a VPN on Android

Chromebooks running ChromeOS also support Android VPN apps through the Google Play Store, and the setup process is the same as on Android. Open the Play Store on your Chromebook, install your provider's app, sign in, and connect.

Setting up a VPN app on Android

1. Open the Play Store and search for your VPN provider.
2. Install the official app.
3. Open the app, sign in, and tap Connect.
4. Android will ask you to confirm the VPN connection. Tap OK.
5. A key icon in the status bar confirms the VPN is active.

To disconnect, open the app and tap Disconnect, or go to Settings > Network & Internet > VPN and toggle off the connection.

Using Android's system-level Always-On VPN

Android includes a built-in Always-On VPN feature that routes all device traffic through the VPN and cuts internet access if the VPN disconnects unexpectedly. It runs independently of the app and persists even if the app is force-stopped.

To enable it:

1. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > VPN.
2. Tap the gear icon next to your VPN configuration.
3. Enable Always-On VPN.
4. Optionally enable Block connections without VPN. With this on, your device will have no internet access until the VPN is connected, which is useful on public or corporate networks where unencrypted traffic is a risk.

This setting is available on Android 8 and later. The exact path varies slightly by manufacturer, but it is always within the VPN settings menu.

How to use a VPN on Windows (desktop or laptop)

Using your provider's Windows app (recommended)

1. Go to your VPN provider's website and download the Windows client.
2. Run the installer and follow the prompts. Windows may ask for permission to install a network driver; this is required for the VPN tunnel to function.
3. Open the app and sign in.
4. Click Connect. The app selects the fastest available server by default.
5. To connect to a specific country, open the server list and select it before clicking Connect.

Before using the VPN regularly, open the app's settings and enable the kill switch. This blocks your internet connection if the VPN drops, preventing unencrypted traffic from leaking through your regular connection in the gap before the VPN reconnects.

Using Windows built-in VPN (no app required)

Windows 10 and 11 include a native VPN client that supports IKEv2/IPsec and L2TP/IPsec connections without any third-party software. Use it if you cannot install applications on a work or school computer, if your employer has issued VPN credentials for a corporate network, or if you want a VPN connection that persists across user accounts on a shared machine.

To set it up, you need three things from your VPN provider or IT administrator: the server address, the protocol type, and your account credentials.

1. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > VPN.
2. Click Add a VPN connection.
3. Set VPN provider to Windows (built-in).
4. Enter a Connection name (any label you choose) and the Server name or address.
5. Set VPN type to IKEv2 if your provider supports it. IKEv2 is faster and more stable than L2TP. If unsure, check your provider's manual setup documentation.
6. Set Type of sign-in info to Username and password and enter your credentials.
7. Click Save.
8. Click Connect on the VPN settings page, or select the connection from the system tray network icon in the taskbar.

Once connected, the system tray network icon shows a shield indicator. To disconnect, click the network icon, select the VPN connection, and click Disconnect.

The Windows built-in client does not support WireGuard. For WireGuard connections on Windows without a provider app, download the official open-source WireGuard for Windows client and import a configuration file from your provider.

WireGuard and OpenVPN trade off differently between speed and audit history, with WireGuard prioritizing speed and OpenVPN holding the longer track record of public audits.

How to use a VPN on Mac (desktop or laptop)

Using your provider's Mac app (recommended)

1. Download the Mac client from your VPN provider's official website.
2. Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag the app to your Applications folder.
3. Launch the app from Applications or Spotlight.
4. Sign in with your account credentials.
5. Click Connect.

macOS will ask for your system password the first time the app installs a VPN configuration or network extension. It is a one-time prompt and does not grant the app ongoing elevated access.

Using macOS built-in VPN (manual setup)

macOS supports IKEv2, L2TP over IPsec, and Cisco IPsec natively through System Settings. As with the Windows built-in client, use it when you cannot install a third-party app: on a managed work Mac, a shared machine, or when connecting to a corporate VPN using credentials provided by your IT team.

Before starting, have the following ready: the server address, the VPN type your provider supports, your username and password, and if using L2TP, a pre-shared key or certificate from your provider or administrator.

1. Open System Settings > VPN.
2. Click Add VPN Configuration and select the protocol. IKEv2 is preferred where available.
3. Enter a Display Name of your choice.
4. Enter the Server Address and Remote ID as provided by your administrator or VPN provider. For IKEv2, the Remote ID is usually the same as the server address.
5. Under Authentication, enter your username and password. If your provider requires a certificate instead of a password, select Certificate and locate the file.
6. Click Connect.

macOS adds a VPN status indicator to the menu bar when the connection is active. To disconnect, click the indicator and select Disconnect, or return to System Settings > VPN and toggle it off.

The macOS built-in client does not support WireGuard or OpenVPN. For those protocols, use your provider's app, or install the official open-source client for each protocol separately.

How to use a VPN on a Smart TV, Firestick, PS5, or Xbox

Most major VPN providers publish apps directly on the Amazon Appstore and the Google Play Store for Android TV.

On a Firestick:

1. From the home screen, go to Find > Search and type your VPN provider's name.
2. Select the app from the results, then choose Get or Download.
3. Once installed, open the app, sign in, and tap Connect.

On Android TV (including Sony, TCL, and Philips smart TVs running Android TV or Google TV):

1. Open the Play Store from the TV's home screen.
2. Search for your VPN provider and install the app.
3. Sign in and connect.

How to use a VPN on PS5 (and Xbox)

Neither the PS5 nor the Xbox supports native VPN apps. Two methods work:

Router method (permanent): Install the VPN directly on your router. Every device connected to that network, including consoles, is automatically covered. Most VPN providers publish step-by-step guides for common router firmware including DD-WRT, Tomato, and OpenWrt. No setup is needed on the console itself.

Shared connection method (temporary): Connect your Windows PC or Mac to the VPN, then share that connection to the console.

On Windows:

1. Connect your PC to the VPN.
2. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile hotspot.
3. Set Share my Internet connection from to the VPN adapter and turn on the hotspot.
4. On the PS5 or Xbox, go to network settings and connect to the PC hotspot as you would any Wi-Fi network.

On Mac:

1. Connect your Mac to the VPN.
2. Go to System Settings > General > Sharing > Internet Sharing.
3. Share your VPN connection via Wi-Fi or Ethernet to the console.

Roku and Apple TV

Neither Roku nor Apple TV supports native VPN apps, so the approach is the same as for game consoles: use a router-level VPN or share a VPN connection from a computer.

Roku: Roku does not allow sideloading or third-party apps outside its own store, and no major VPN provider has a Roku app. The only reliable option is installing the VPN on your router so all traffic from the Roku passes through it, or creating a Wi-Fi hotspot on a VPN-connected computer and connecting the Roku to that hotspot instead of your regular network.

Apple TV (4th gen and later): Apple TV supports a native L2TP configuration under Settings > Network > Wi-Fi > Configure DNS, but the setup requires manual credentials from your provider and is limited to protocols Apple TV natively supports. For WireGuard or OpenVPN, the router method is more practical. On Apple TV 4K (2022) and later running tvOS 17+, you can install VPN apps directly if your provider has published one to the App Store. Check your provider's tvOS support page before choosing a method.

Router-level VPN setup (covers all devices at once)

Installing a VPN on your router is the only practical option for devices that do not support apps: smart TVs on non-Android platforms, game consoles, and other network-connected devices.

The setup process depends on your router model and firmware. Most VPN providers document the steps for popular firmware versions. The main consideration is that all devices on the network share the same VPN server and connection capacity. To run some devices on the VPN and others off it, you either need two routers or a split-routing configuration in your firmware.

How to get more out of your VPN

Most people connect and never open the settings again. These five options are worth configuring before you start browsing.

Kill switch

A kill switch blocks your device's internet access if the VPN connection drops unexpectedly. Without it, your traffic routes unencrypted through your regular connection for however long it takes the VPN to reconnect. Usually that is seconds, but enough to expose your real IP address and activity.

Enable the kill switch in your VPN app's settings. It is usually labeled Kill Switch, Network Lock, or Internet Kill Switch depending on the provider. On Android you can also enable it at the system level through Settings > Network & Internet > VPN (see the Android section above).

DNS leak protection

When you connect to a website, your device first sends a DNS query to look up the site's IP address. Without DNS leak protection, these queries can bypass the VPN tunnel and go directly to your ISP's DNS servers, revealing which sites you visit even when the VPN is active.

What your ISP can still see when a VPN is active depends on whether DNS leak protection is doing its job, which is why testing it matters before you trust the connection.

Enable DNS leak protection in your app's settings, then run the DNS leak test in the verification section below to confirm it is working.

Split tunneling

Split tunneling routes only specified apps or destinations through the VPN, while everything else uses your regular connection. Use it when you need VPN protection for some activity but your banking app, streaming service, or local network device blocks or performs poorly over VPN.

Most desktop VPN apps and Android apps support split tunneling. Due to iOS system restrictions, per-app split tunneling is not available for third-party VPN apps on iPhone. Browser-based VPN extensions protect only the traffic inside that browser by nature, so split tunneling is not a relevant setting for extension-based VPNs.

How to change your location with a VPN

To use a VPN from another country, open your VPN app's server list and select the country you want to appear to be in. The VPN replaces your visible IP address with the server's, so websites and services see the server's location instead of yours. This works whether you are at home accessing content from another region or travelling and connecting back to a server in your home country. Fully hiding your IP address also involves checking for DNS and WebRTC leaks, which the verification section below covers.

Not all VPN providers work reliably with streaming services that actively detect and block VPN connections. Check your provider's documentation for confirmed streaming support before assuming it will work.

Auto-connect on untrusted networks

Auto-connect is the practical answer to the risks on public Wi-Fi: most VPN apps include an option to connect automatically when you join a network that is not on your trusted list.

Enable it in your app's settings under Auto-connect, Trusted networks, or Network protection depending on your provider. Set your home Wi-Fi as trusted so the VPN does not run unnecessarily at home, but activates automatically on airport, hotel, cafe, and any other unfamiliar network.

If your concern is connecting before any app or service sends data, for example on a corporate network that logs traffic from the moment you join, the system-level Always-On settings on Android and iOS are more reliable than the app-level auto-connect. Always-On VPN at the OS level blocks all network traffic until the VPN tunnel is established, so nothing leaves the device unencrypted during the window between joining the network and the app opening. The Android and iOS sections above cover how to enable this.

On Windows and Mac, the app-level auto-connect is the only native option short of a third-party network management tool. For most uses the practical difference is small, as a modern VPN app connects in under two seconds. If traffic-before-VPN is a hard requirement, Android or iOS with Always-On enabled at the system level is the more complete solution.

Is your VPN actually working?

Run this three-step check immediately after connecting to confirm the VPN is active and not leaking data.

IP address check: Visit ipleak.net or whatismyipaddress.com. The location shown should match your chosen VPN server, not your real location. If it shows your real IP, the VPN is not connected.

DNS leak test: On ipleak.net or at dnsleaktest.com, run a standard test. All DNS servers listed in the results should belong to your VPN provider. If your ISP's DNS servers appear, DNS leak protection needs to be enabled in your app settings.

Kill switch test: With the VPN connected, disconnect it manually while loading a webpage. The page should stop loading immediately. If it continues loading, the kill switch is either not enabled or not functioning. Check your app settings.

WebRTC and torrent leak tests catch leak types the 3-step check above misses, especially when you're switching servers or reconnecting after an app update.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to use a VPN for beginners?

Install your VPN provider's app from the official app store, sign in, and tap Connect. The app handles all technical configuration automatically, and a status indicator in the app and your device's menu bar confirms when the connection is active.

How to use a VPN for free?

Most reputable providers offer a free tier with data or server restrictions, or a paid plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Proton VPN's free tier has no data cap but limits connections to servers in three countries. Completely free VPNs with no paid option typically cover their costs through data collection, which works against the reason most people use a VPN in the first place.

How can I use a VPN without installing software?

Both Windows and macOS include native VPN clients that connect using IKEv2 or L2TP without any third-party app. The Windows built-in VPN and macOS built-in VPN sections above walk through the process step by step. Particularly useful on work or school computers where installing new software requires administrator approval.

Does a VPN change my IP address?

Yes. When you connect, your traffic routes through the VPN server and websites see that server's IP address and location rather than yours. Your real IP address is not visible to the sites you visit while the VPN is active.

Can my ISP see my browsing history if I use a VPN?

A VPN encrypts your traffic between your device and the VPN server, so your ISP can see that you are connected to a VPN but cannot see which sites you visit or what you do on them. The VPN provider itself can see your traffic, which is why an audited no-logs policy matters.

Which VPN has an independently audited no-logs policy?

Several providers have completed third-party audits: Mullvad was audited by Cure53 in 2022 and 2023; ProtonVPN was audited by Securitum in 2022; Internxt VPN was audited by Securitum in 2024/2025. Note that Internxt VPN is a Chrome browser extension rather than a system-level app, so it protects browser traffic only.

One more layer worth adding

A VPN covers your connection. For a complete privacy setup, the other question is where your files live and who can access them. Secure cloud storage built on zero-knowledge encryption means files are encrypted before they leave your device. The storage provider cannot read them even if compelled to. That is the same principle that makes a no-logs VPN worth using in the first place.

A VPN almost always adds some overhead to your connection. With a premium provider on a nearby server, independent testing has consistently put download speed loss below 10 percent. The exception is ISP throttling: if your provider is intentionally slowing certain types of traffic, a VPN masks the traffic type from your ISP and can restore full speed.

This article covers why encryption and routing add latency, the one scenario where a VPN actually speeds things up, how to test which situation applies to you, and what to change in your settings to keep the impact minimal. Choosing a provider? Internxt VPN pairs a no-logs VPN with post-quantum encrypted cloud storage under one account.

The short answer: does a VPN speed up or slow down internet?

It depends on the situation. Most of the time a VPN adds a small overhead. In one specific case, it removes a restriction your ISP has already placed on your connection. The table below covers the five scenarios you are most likely to encounter.

The throttling row is the only scenario where a VPN can produce a real speed increase. The others are degrees of slowdown, ranging from imperceptible to significant depending on the variables below.

Why a VPN usually slows down your connection

Encryption overhead

Your device encrypts every packet before it leaves and decrypts it again on the other side, which is how a VPN works at the network layer. That work takes time, and it happens on every single packet regardless of how fast your internet plan is.

The choice between WireGuard and OpenVPN determines how much that encryption work actually costs. WireGuard runs directly inside the operating system, which keeps the overhead low. OpenVPN runs as a separate process and shuffles packets across an extra boundary to do the same job, and that older design adds measurable processing time. Independent testing published in August 2025 confirmed WireGuard outperformed OpenVPN on throughput and resource use across tested environments.

Some providers use post-quantum cryptography instead of standard AES-256. It does more computation per packet because it's designed to hold up against future quantum attacks, not just current ones. On a modern device the difference is small, but it exists.

Server routing and distance

Without a VPN, your traffic goes straight from your device to wherever it's headed. With a VPN, it makes a detour through the VPN server first. That detour costs time, and the further the server, the more time it costs.

Cloudflare calls this the "trombone effect": if you're in Oregon and your VPN server is in Texas, every request travels Oregon to Texas and back before it goes anywhere useful, even if the website you're visiting is five miles away. More bandwidth does not fix this. It's a distance problem, not a capacity one.

Server load adds to this. When a VPN server is handling too many connections at once, packets queue up. Most providers show server load in their apps; picking one below 50 percent is the quickest way to rule that variable out.

When a VPN can actually make your internet faster

ISP throttling

Most ISPs don't slow down all your traffic equally. They use deep packet inspection to identify specific types of traffic, such as streaming video, gaming, or torrenting, and apply speed limits to those flows while leaving everything else untouched. That's why you can have a fast speed test result and still buffer constantly on Netflix.

A VPN encrypts your traffic before it leaves your device. Your ISP can see that encrypted data is moving, but it can't tell what kind. With no traffic type to act on, the throttle doesn't trigger.

Deep packet inspection is the same mechanism that lets ISPs see what kinds of activity you're doing on an unprotected connection: identifying traffic to throttle is identifying traffic to log.

How to tell if throttling is the issue:

1. Run a speed test without your VPN connected and note the result.
2. Connect to a nearby VPN server, confirm the VPN is actually working and not leaking, then run the same speed test again.
3. If the VPN result is lower, throttling is not the cause. The VPN is adding overhead, not removing a restriction.
4. If the VPN result is equal or higher, your ISP was likely throttling your connection based on traffic type.
5. To confirm, run the test a third time specifically during the activity that felt slow: streaming, gaming, or large downloads. A meaningful speed improvement there with the VPN on points clearly to traffic-specific throttling.

One caveat: this only works for content-based throttling. If your ISP throttles all encrypted traffic, or caps your speed based on total data usage, a VPN will not help and may make things slightly worse by adding its own overhead.

Routing around congestion

One more scenario: occasionally a VPN routes your traffic through a less congested path than your ISP's default routing would take. This is not something you can reliably count on or engineer for, but it is the reason some users report speed improvements even without throttling being the cause.

How much does a VPN slow down internet?

It varies enough that a single number doesn't tell you much. What the data does show is a clear split between premium and free services, and between nearby and distant servers.

A Security.org survey of 12 premium VPN providers in 2026 found all of them kept download speed loss below 10 percent on nearby servers. Premium VPN providers overlap heavily with the names that perform best on speed, which is why the same shortlist works for both criteria. Free VPNs in the same testing ranged from 30 to 70 percent slower, driven by congested servers and bandwidth limits rather than encryption overhead.

Those percentages also mean very different things depending on what you start with:

The practical implication: if you're on a fast fibre connection, a well-configured premium VPN will be effectively invisible to your daily use. If you're on a slower plan, the same percentage loss lands differently.

Protocol choice shifts these numbers more than any other variable. Tom's Guide's VPN speed testing consistently shows WireGuard-based connections running at a fraction of the overhead of OpenVPN on the same hardware and server. Switching protocol is often the biggest single speed improvement available without changing providers.

VPN protocols and speed: which is fastest?

Protocol is the single variable with the biggest impact on VPN speed, bigger than server location or provider. Two people using the same VPN on the same server in the same city can get very different speed results just from running different protocols.

WireGuard is the current standard for speed. It runs inside the operating system rather than as a separate process, which keeps its overhead low. Independent testing published in August 2025 confirmed it outperforms OpenVPN on throughput and resource use, and Tom's Guide's ongoing protocol testing consistently places WireGuard-based connections at the top of speed rankings.

NordLynx and Lightway are proprietary protocols built on WireGuard's foundations by NordVPN and ExpressVPN respectively. Both add provider-specific routing improvements on top of WireGuard's core. They are only available on those providers' apps.

IKEv2/IPsec is fast and handles network switches well, which makes it reliable on mobile where you move between WiFi and cellular. Speed is close to WireGuard on most connections.

OpenVPN UDP is slower than WireGuard but well-established and widely supported. It's the fallback for situations where WireGuard isn't available or supported.

OpenVPN TCP is the slowest option. TCP adds extra confirmation handshakes that UDP skips. The reason to use it is not speed but compatibility: it runs on port 443, the same port as standard web traffic, which makes it harder for restrictive networks to block.

If your VPN app lets you choose a protocol, switch to WireGuard first. If WireGuard isn't available on your provider, check whether they offer a WireGuard-based proprietary option. OpenVPN should be a last resort for speed purposes.

How to speed up your VPN connection

Most VPN slowdowns come down to a small number of fixable variables. Speed is one of several trade-offs to weigh against the benefits a VPN actually provides for your specific use case.

Work through these in order before concluding that your provider is the problem.

1. Switch to WireGuardOpen your VPN app settings and look for a protocol selector. Open your VPN app settings and look for a protocol selector. On providers like NordVPN (NordLynx) and ExpressVPN (Lightway), use their proprietary option instead. This one change tends to produce the biggest speed improvement of anything on this list.

2. Connect to a closer serverPick the server geographically nearest to your physical location. If your app has an auto-select feature, try it, but also test a manual selection in your own city or region. Distance is the main driver of latency, and closer means faster.

3. Choose a less loaded serverIf your provider shows server load percentages, avoid anything above 50 percent. High load means your packets are queuing behind everyone else's. Most apps let you sort servers by load or flag busy ones.

4. Close background apps using bandwidthCloud sync, backup software, and streaming services all compete for the same connection your VPN is running on. Pause or close anything actively uploading or downloading before you test your VPN speed or do something that needs a stable connection. Background processes are often the reason a VPN feels slower than it actually is.

5. Switch from WiFi to a wired connectionWiFi adds its own variability on top of VPN overhead. A wired Ethernet connection is more stable and typically faster, which gives the VPN less noise to work against.

6. Restart the VPN appLong-running VPN sessions can accumulate connection issues that don't show up as errors but do affect speed. Disconnecting, closing the app fully, and reconnecting takes thirty seconds and clears most of these.

7. Try a different server in the same regionIf one nearby server is slow, another in the same city or country may not be. Most apps let you browse by location. Try two or three before concluding the region itself is the issue.

Does a VPN slow down WiFi?

A VPN runs on top of whatever connection you already have, WiFi or wired. It doesn't interact with your WiFi signal directly, so it won't make your WiFi faster or slower in the radio sense. What it does is add encryption overhead and routing delay to the traffic that passes through it, regardless of how that traffic reaches your device.

The practical issue is that WiFi already has its own variability: interference from neighbouring networks, distance from the router, congestion from other devices on the same band. When you stack VPN overhead on top of an already inconsistent connection, the variability compounds. A wired connection gives the VPN a stable base to work from.

One setup that does add meaningful overhead is a router-level VPN, where the VPN runs on the router rather than on individual devices. All traffic from every device goes through the tunnel, and the router's processor handles the encryption. Most home routers are not built for that workload, and the result is a more noticeable slowdown than you'd see running the same VPN app directly on a laptop or phone.

If you're on WiFi and your VPN feels slow, switch to a wired connection before adjusting anything else. It eliminates a variable and often resolves the issue without changing VPN settings at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a VPN slow down internet speed?

Yes, in most cases a VPN adds a small amount of overhead from encryption and server routing. With a premium provider on a nearby server using WireGuard, the slowdown is typically under 10 percent and imperceptible on fast connections.

Can a VPN make my internet faster?

Only in one specific scenario: if your ISP is throttling certain types of traffic, a VPN encrypts those packets so the ISP cannot identify and slow them down. Outside of throttling, a VPN adds overhead and does not increase your base connection speed.

How much does a VPN slow down internet?

It depends on the provider, protocol, and server distance. Premium providers on nearby servers using WireGuard typically stay under 10 percent speed loss. Free VPNs and distant servers can produce much larger slowdowns due to server congestion and longer routing paths.

Why is my internet faster with a VPN turned on?

This almost always means your ISP was throttling your traffic before the VPN was connected. The VPN encrypts your data so the ISP cannot detect the traffic type, which prevents the throttle from triggering. Run a speed test with and without the VPN to confirm.

Which VPN protocol is fastest?

WireGuard is currently the fastest widely available protocol. It runs inside the operating system rather than as a separate process, which keeps its overhead low. NordLynx (NordVPN) and Lightway (ExpressVPN) are proprietary protocols built on WireGuard's foundations and perform at a similar level.

Does a VPN slow down WiFi?

A VPN does not affect your WiFi signal directly. It adds encryption overhead and routing delay to the traffic passing through it, which applies whether you are on WiFi or a wired connection. If your WiFi connection is already inconsistent, that variability will compound the VPN overhead.

Does a VPN use more data?

Yes. Encryption wraps each packet in additional data, which increases the total bytes transferred for the same content. The overhead is small on modern protocols like WireGuard but worth knowing if you are on a metered connection.

What is the difference between a no-logs VPN and a zero-knowledge VPN?

A no-logs VPN claims not to store records of your browsing activity or connection data. A zero-knowledge VPN goes further: its architecture is designed so that no usable data exists on the server to log in the first place. Internxt VPN uses a zero-knowledge model, meaning there is no connection metadata a provider could hand over even if compelled to.

Your connection is one part of the picture

A VPN protects traffic while it moves. What you store once it arrives is a separate layer that a VPN does not cover. If the files, photos, and documents sitting in your cloud account are also part of what you want to keep private, secure cloud storage built on zero-knowledge encryption handles that side of it.

Internxt Drive uses the same architectural principles as Internxt VPN: nothing stored on the server can be read, reconstructed, or handed over, because the encryption happens on your device before the file leaves it.