Best VPNs for Ubuntu in 2024

1. NordVPN - Most Secure Ubuntu VPN

SecurityScore:

9.7 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

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User Experience

We found it odd that NordVPN didn’t have a GUI because it normally has some of the most pretty-looking and functional VPN apps for other platforms. For users of Ubuntu and other Linux distros, however, a CLI is all that’s available.

In fairness, the setup process took less than five minutes. It was actually just one line of command to fetch and install the app from NordVPN’s download page; just make sure you have the curl package.

When it came to using it, we had no trouble performing basic and moderately complex actions like connecting to the VPN, choosing a specific server, or turning features such as Threat Protection on and off. NordVPN keeps a list of Linux commands that we kept bookmarked for reference. It wasn’t as easy to use as Surfshark, for sure, but it wasn’t terribly hard to manage, either.

Security and Privacy

It seems unfair that NordVPN doesn’t offer a GUI for Linux users, but that doesn’t change the fact that it provides top-notch security and privacy through its RAM-only servers, “no-logs” privacy policy, and secure connections tunneled through OpenVPN and WireGuard (via NordLynx). It’s exactly for those things that we consider NordVPN a top-shelf VPN service.

Those features apply to all users, including Linux, so when you connect to NordVPN, you can expect to receive the utmost privacy you could get from a VPN. We enjoyed 256-bit AES encryption, a host of cybersecurity features like Threat Protection that kept ads, malicious websites, and trackers at bay, and effective tunneling that could bypass even the Great Firewall of China. It works on Ubuntu Kylin, too, the official Ubuntu version with a fully Chinese UI.6

>> Also See: VPNs That Can Work In China

Pricing

NordVPN’s top-shelf security and privacy comes at a higher cost than that of Surfshark, but it’s not bank-breakingly high if you purchase a two-year plan. Our NordVPN subscription cost us an average of $3.79 per month. Sometimes you can get up to four months free just by signing up for a one-year or two-year deal. That’s a nice way to sweeten the already sweet pot.

That said, NordVPN puts a limit on the number of devices you can use it on. You can install NordVPN on as many devices as you want, but only six of them can connect simultaneously. Fortunately, there’s a way around that. You can set up a VPN router with NordVPN; a router counts as only one device, and you can connect many devices to it.

>> Related: The Best VPN Routers of 2024

How To Use

To establish a connection or disconnect a NordVPN server, simply type these into the Terminal:

1. To connect: nordvpn connect
2. To disconnect: nordvpn disconnect

The ‘connect’ function automatically chooses a server for you; if you want to choose a specific server:

1. Go to https://www.nordvpn.com/servers/tools/
2. Select a country from the dropdown list
3. Copy the country code and server number from the left panel (e.g. uk2532)
4. Open the Terminal
5. Type in “nordvpn connect [country code, server number]” and hit enter. (e.g. nordvpn connect uk2532)

You can also manage the VPN settings by typing “nordvpn set” into the Terminal. From there, you can choose from a number of features you can activate/deactivate, such as auto-connect and Threat Protection, as shown below.

Having a CLI, NordVPN was a little harder to manage than Surfshark and Private Internet Access (another Ubuntu VPN with a GUI), but that didn’t limit it from providing a feature-rich VPN to Ubuntu users. For example, it offers some type of multi-hop connection, something that ExpressVPN doesn’t.

It also allows split tunneling. On Windows, split tunneling lets some apps or websites of your choosing bypass the VPN tunnel so you can use them alongside VPN-connected apps. On Ubuntu, NordVPN’s split tunneling (the “nordvpn whitelist add port/subnet” commands) enables the same, but instead of apps, it creates a split tunnel for network ports and IP addresses. This can have endless applications, like running a torrent server (NordVPN is also one of the best VPNs for torrenting). Much like anything Linux-related, it’s all up to your imagination.

We’d also like to point out that NordVPN’s Linux app has been open-sourced since March 2023, allowing anyone to alter its code for their own use of the app. If that’s something you’re interested in, you can access the entire source code on GitHub.7

2. Surfshark - Most User-Friendly Ubuntu VPN with GUI

SecurityScore:

9.5 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multi-hop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

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User Experience

Installing Surfshark on Ubuntu wasn’t quite as easy as setting up a VPN on Windows, but you already knew that, didn’t you? Relative to the other Ubuntu VPNs we tested, though, Surfshark was the easiest to install. It involved three lines of command, and that’s it! After that, the Surfshark GUI appeared in our list of apps.

The GUI looked exactly like the Surfshark Windows VPN (a top-class Windows VPN in our book), minus a few non-VPN features. For example, Surfshark antivirus, secure browser, and Alternative ID were not available. Still, as far as using the VPN goes, there’s no question that Surfshark’s Linux GUI is the most user friendly. We were able to choose a server, set automatic connection rules, and switch tunneling protocols in a snap.

Security and Privacy

Surfshark was more than just a pretty face; it was as functional as VPNs could get, giving us access to thousands of servers in all 100 locations where Surfshark operates. All connections were routed via either OpenVPN or WireGuard, both open-source VPN software, and our VPN traffic was encrypted using 256-bit AES (for OpenVPN) or ChaCha20 (for WireGuard).

One feature we appreciated having easy access to was the kill switch. Surfshark’s kill switch performs a system-wide network lock whenever the VPN is disconnected. We like keeping the kill switch on to avoid data leak, but for Ubuntu users, that’s something you might want at times, but not other times. For example, when you’re performing crucial system upgrades, you might want to turn the kill switch off to protect unsaved progress in case the VPN disconnects; or if you’re running an Ubuntu home server, you might want to keep it off permanently to keep the server online no matter what.

Pricing

How much did all those benefits from Surfshark cost us? Barely over $2 per month after we signed up for a two-year Surfshark plan. The subscription cost $59.76 – which was around $2.50 per month – without the discounts, but at the time we bought, there was an on-going deal that lowered the price to $55.

Surfshark doesn’t limit how many devices you can connect. That’s perfect if you’re running multiple homemade servers or Ubuntu devices, such as for mining cryptocurrencies, since you can connect all of them to the same Surfshark account.

>> Related: The Best VPNs for Cryptocurrency Trading

How To Use

To connect to Surfshark, simply follow these steps:

1. Launch the Surfshark Linux app
2. Log in
3. Type the location you want to access into the search field or select the ‘Fastest Location’ or ‘Nearest Country’ option
4. Click ‘Connect’

Surfshark is a highly-rated VPN with over 3,000 servers in 100 countries around the globe. That’s one of the most widely-dispersed server networks we’ve seen, next only to ExpressVPN’s 105 locations. More importantly, though, we know Surfshark for its impressive security, networking, and privacy.

Surfshark has a verified “no-logs” policy; the “verified” part comes from auditing firms that have performed security audits on its apps and servers. The list includes Cure53 and Deloitte, both members of The Big Four auditing group, who have looked at Surfshark’s apps, server infrastructure, and privacy policy.5 While Surfshark’s Linux app isn’t open-source, submitting them to third-party audits shows commitment to transparency.

Speaking of transparency, one you might not want so much about Surfshark is that it records IP addresses at the start of each session. We’re fine with this because the IP addresses are stored in an encrypted server, and they are deleted 15 minutes after disconnecting; but if you’re running a machine that’s constantly connected to a VPN, you may want to set it to refresh its connections occasionally.

Overall, though, we think Surfshark is a secure VPN for most Ubuntu users. It’s super user-friendly, and the Linux app offers about the same features as the Windows and macOS apps.

>> Also See: The Best macOS VPNs

3. ExpressVPN - User-Friendly Ubuntu VPN with CLI

SecurityScore:

9.1 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	No
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

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User Experience

ExpressVPN supports app installation via Ubuntu’s Software Install GUI – at least for the most part. Activating the app still required us to use the Terminal. We downloaded the software package from ExpressVPN, and here’s how we installed it.

1. Go to Downloads
2. Right-click the ExpressVPN file
3. Select ‘Open with Other Application,’ ‘Software Install,’ ‘Select’
4. Click ‘Install’
5. Enter your Ubuntu system password
6. Activate the app by typing “expressvpn activate” into the Terminal
7. Enter the activation code from your account dashboard

Bear in mind that ExpressVPN let us use a GUI only for the installation. We still had to use the Terminal to actually access the VPN. Also, while a GUI is often more user-friendly than a CLI, ExpressVPN’s setup process took longer than that of NordVPN due to the extra steps like activation and authentication. It wasn’t harder to install, per se, but the process was more tedious.

>> Related: How to Set Up And Install A VPN

Security and Privacy

Once installed, we enjoyed plenty of privacy features from ExpressVPN. It was actually rather similar to NordVPN in terms of features. It connected us to the Smart Location (nearest fast server) by default, while giving us the option to choose a specific server if we wanted to. It was actually easier to choose a specific location with ExpressVPN than NordVPN, as we didn’t need to include a server number in the command. For example, to get a UK IP address, we simply typed “expressvpn connect uk” into the Terminal, and it connected us to the fastest available U.K. server at the time.

When it comes to the quality of the connections, we were happy with our results from ExpressVPN. It unblocked websites banned from our office network (like Facebook during office hours), gave us access to different Netflix regions, and hid our real IP address from the websites we visited. Those all point to one thing – ExpressVPN’s tunneling works.

Pricing

ExpressVPN does a lot of things right, but their pricing could be improved. ExpressVPN subscriptions are a little on the expensive side, amplified by the fact that it doesn’t offer subscriptions longer than one year. NordVPN and Surfshark both have two-year plans that, when averaged, cost less than $4 per month. With ExpressVPN, the longest subscription is one year, and it costs $99.95 or about $8.32 per month.

We still think it’s worth it, but just know that you’ll be paying a more premium price for all that ExpressVPN offers.

How To Use

Once we got a subscription, the first thing we did was get an activation code from our account dashboard. It was under ‘Set up your devices.’

From there, we activated our app using the Terminal.

1. Open the Terminal
2. Type in ‘expressvpn activate’ and hit enter
3. Paste the activation code when prompted, and wait for the confirmation

The great thing about it was that we didn’t need to log in anymore. The activation code is unique to each account (kind of like the license key of antivirus software).

Once activated, connecting was easy. The commands were similar to NordVPN.

• To connect: expressvpn connect
• To disconnect: expressvpn disconnect
• To get a list of servers: expressvpn list
• To connect to a specific location: expressvpn connect [LOCATION] (e.g. expressvpn connect USA)
• To connect to the fastest server to you: expressvpn connect smart

We thought ExpressVPN highlighted one of its greatest strengths – the widespread availability of its servers – in its Ubuntu app. While connecting ExpressVPN to a specific location wasn’t as easy as doing so with Surfshark, the “expressvpn list” command offered a CLI version of Surfshark’s server menu that is well put together.

That came in handy because as one of our favorite streaming VPNs, we took advantage of ExpressVPN’s 105 server locations to devour as much geo-restricted content as we could on our Ubuntu. Coupled with ExpressVPN’s impressive tunneling, we were able to access different Netflix regions, unblock BBC iPlayer, and watch live programming on YouTube TV. (ExpressVPN is also one of our top YouTube TV VPNs).

ExpressVPN also offers browser extensions for FireFox and Chrome, and if you prefer a GUI, you can actually use the extensions for browsing and accessing those streaming platforms. Just keep in mind that the browser extension encrypts and tunnels traffic only from the browser; it doesn’t affect Ubuntu’s entire networking.

4. Private Internet Access VPN - Cheap Ubuntu VPN with GUI

SecurityScore:

9.4 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

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User Experience

Although Private Internet Access is the most affordable VPN on this list, it’s one of the only two options that provide a GUI. We downloaded the Linux app from the PIA Download page and then set it up using the Terminal. You could also run the Ubuntu Software Installer GUI a la ExpressVPN, but we’ve learned our lesson: It’s much faster to use the Terminal for installing software.

After the installation, the GUI launched automatically. It even gave us the option to take a quick tour; we recommend going through it if it’s your first time using a VPN, as it will teach you some basic VPN how-tos. If you skip it, no problem. Private Internet Access’ Linux GUI offers a similar interface as the Windows and macOS apps, which are as straightforward as VPN apps come.

Security and Privacy

There’s a lot to love about Private Internet Access if you’re a Linux user. One that really stuck with us was how much control it gives users over their VPN connections. Case in point: It’s one of the only handful of VPNs that let you switch between two encryption standards, 128-bit and 256-bit AES.

As you probably know, encryption is one of the main jobs of a VPN, but it’s also the aspect that makes VPNs slowdown your internet connection. And as we saw when we compared VPN speeds, PIA greatly affects internet speeds (particularly the upload speed) when using its most secure encryption standard.

We still recommend using 256-bit AES for absolute privacy, but for things that require a fast connection – for example, if you’re cloud gaming with your Linux machine – switching to 128-bit AES is still a secure but faster option.

>> Related: The Fastest VPNs for Online Gaming

Pricing

The icing on the cake are those affordable subscriptions Private Internet Access offers. Our own plan averaged just $2.19 per month, not counting the three additional months we received at no extra charge. We paid $79 in total for the three-year Private Internet Access subscription. To put that into perspective, we got a VPN subscription three times as long as the $99.95 one-year ExpressVPN plan while paying $20 less. We know a good deal when we see one; that one is.

How To Use

With a GUI, using the PIA Linux app was just as easy as using its Windows and macOS apps. In fact, we’d say that the app shares the same interface as the PIA smartphone apps.

• Log in with your PIA username and password (provided via email after buying a subscription)
• Choose a server from the list of locations
• Click ‘Connect’

It doesn’t get easier any easier than that.

Aside from connecting, you can also pull up the Settings page from the GUI and access customizations. As we mentioned earlier, you can change how Private Internet Access handles encryption. You can also turn the kill switch feature on and off, choose between WireGuard and OpenVPN, and set up auto-connect rules, among other things.

We discussed NordVPN’s makeshift split tunneling feature earlier, but if you’re looking for an Ubuntu VPN with actual split tunneling, look no further than Private Internet Access.

PIA’s split tunneling feature works two ways. You can set apps, IP addresses, or URLs that always bypass the VPN tunnel or that can connect to the internet only when there’s an active VPN connection. The latter is also called inverse split tunneling, as we explained in more detail in our split tunneling guide.

For example, if you’re using an Ubuntu machine to back-up media files from your other devices, bypassing the VPN makes data transfer faster. To do so, simply find your devices’ IP addresses and enter them into PIA’s bypass field. Now, let’s say you’re also backing up your files from your Ubuntu machine to a cloud server. Since some of those files might contain sensitive information, you want your machine to upload them only when there’s an active VPN connection. To make that happen, just enter the cloud server’s IP address or URL into the inverse split tunneling field.

It might take a while to get Private Internet Access to work exactly the way you want it to, but that’s usually the case with VPNs as customizable as PIA.

5. IPVanish - Fast Ubuntu VPN with Minimal Setup Required

SecurityScore:

9.3 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Multi-hop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes, with uTorrent

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User Experience

All the VPNs we’ve discussed so far offer their own VPN apps, but we know that a lot of Linux and Ubuntu users prefer open-source software. If that’s the case for you, IPVanish is a VPN you can set up manually using Ubuntu’s built-in VPN configuration.

First, we downloaded a manual configuration .zip file from IPVanish by typing “cd Downloads/” and then “wget https://configs.ipvanish.com/configs/configs.zip” into the Terminal. From there, we extracted the file (“unzip configs.zip”) to reveal a list of hundreds of VPN configuration files, each one corresponding to a VPN server location (country and city).

Finally, we went to Ubuntu’s Network Settings to set up a new VPN connection. We imported the configuration file for the location we wanted (use the search feature to make this easier), entered our IPVanish credentials, and finished the setup.

Security and Privacy

Since we used a manual set up, IPVanish didn’t offer much in terms of features out of the box. You could set up networking rules or use a third-party app to control how your VPN connections behave, but that’s beyond our expertise.

What we did was test IPVanish’s connections. All the configuration files we downloaded were OpenVPN files, so no matter which one you use for the setup, your VPN connection will go through an OpenVPN tunnel with 256-bit AES encryption. Of course, we did our own tests to verify that IPVanish was working. We checked that it changed our IP address, performed a WebRTC leak test on our Firefox browser, and saw to it that we got access to websites blocked by our IT guy. All tests showed that Surfshark’s connections were successful.

Pricing

We were able to set up IPVanish without a subscription, but to actually turn it on, we needed an account with an active plan. IPVanish cost $2.99 per month for two years – $71.75 for the entire plan.

It wasn’t the cheapest, but it’s smack right in the middle of the other VPNs we tested. It was slightly more expensive than Private Internet Access and Surfshark, but was more affordable than NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

How To Use

While IPVanish didn’t have a GUI, we easily connected to it through Ubuntu’s system tray.

1. Click the system tray (top-right corner)
2. If you have only one VPN configuration set up, click VPN to turn it on
3. If you have multiple configurations (for example, for multiple locations), select the arrow next to VPN and toggle on the VPN you want to use

Alternatively, we were able to access and run the VPN from the Settings.

1. Open Settings
2. Select Network
3. Under VPN, toggle on the switch next to your selected VPN location

As a VPN, IPVanish is more than decent. It’s one of the VPNs we use for torrenting due to its wide selection of P2P servers, available in over 70 countries. We’ve also verified that it offers good tunneling, both for normal and P2P VPN connections.

What really stood out, however, was IPVanish’s fast download and upload speeds. It’s one of the fastest VPNs all around. It gave us a near-lossless download speed – from 247 Mbps before we connected IPVanish to 238 Mbps after we connected. That’s a drop of less than 4%.

We recommend IPVanish if you want an easy-to-access and fast VPN for your Ubuntu machine, which can be useful for anything from streaming to gaming.