VPN & Security Software Comparison (2026)

Comparison charts are only useful when they show everything, so this one lists all 29 privacy & security tools we track in VPN & Security, not a hand-picked five.

For every tool you get its starting price, an honest free-plan verdict, its core audience and a one-line standout. Use it to draw up a shortlist, then click through to the full overview, review or pricing page for the detail.

Methodology: entry price is the lowest recurring paid tier we could verify; the free-plan column distinguishes a permanent free tier from a trial-only offer. The audience and standout are drawn from the tool's stated focus, not marketing superlatives. Figures reflect public pricing at the time of writing and can change. How we evaluate →

All 29 privacy & security tools compared

Tool	Entry price	Free plan?	Best for	Standout	Get it
1Password review · pricing	from $2.99/mo	No	families and teams	The Secret Key architecture means even a full server compromise leaves vaults unreadable.	Visit →
Aura review · pricing	from $12/mo	No	families and all-in-one	Folds identity protection, credit monitoring, VPN and antivirus into a single family subscription.	Visit →
Avast One review · pricing	from $50/mo	Free plan	free-tier and all-in-one	Long-standing free antivirus now rebuilt as the modular Avast One suite.	Visit →
AVG review · pricing	from $50/mo	Free plan	free-tier and budget	A long-standing free antivirus brand running Avast's proven detection engine.	Visit →
Bitdefender review · pricing	from $3.33/mo	No	windows and detection	Routinely tops AV-Comparatives/AV-TEST detection while keeping system impact low.	Visit →
Bitwarden review · pricing	from $0.83/mo	Free plan	open-source and free-tier	Open-source, self-hostable, and the only major manager with a genuinely full-featured free tier.	Visit →
CyberGhost review · pricing	from $2.03/mo	No	streaming and torrenting	Purpose-built streaming and torrenting server profiles with an unusually long 45-day refund window.	Visit →
Dashlane review · pricing	from $3.33/mo	No	dark-web-monitoring and all-in-one	Bundles a VPN and continuous real-time dark-web monitoring into a polished autofill experience.	Visit →
ESET review · pricing	from $39.99/mo	No	lightweight and power-users	Very low system impact paired with strong heuristic detection from the long-running NOD32 engine.	Visit →
ExpressVPN review · pricing	from $6.67/mo	No	streaming and ease-of-use	The most audited consumer VPN, with every server running diskless RAM-only via TrustedServer.	Visit →
Hotspot Shield review · pricing	from $2.99/mo	Free plan	speed and free-tier	Proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol designed for high throughput over long distances.	Visit →
IPVanish review · pricing	from $2.19/mo	No	torrenting and unlimited-devices	Unlimited connections on a largely self-owned network, now backed by repeat no-logs audits.	Visit →
Kaspersky review · pricing	from $45.99/mo	No	detection and feature-rich	Consistently top-rated lab detection, but unavailable to US users due to a federal ban.	Visit →
Keeper review · pricing	from $2.92/mo	No	business and secure-messaging	One of very few password managers with FedRAMP authorization, suited to government and enterprise use.	Visit →
LifeLock review · pricing	from $11.99/mo	No	identity-insurance and credit-monitoring	Among the highest identity theft insurance/reimbursement coverage, bundleable with Norton 360.	Visit →
Malwarebytes review · pricing	from $3.75/mo	Free plan	malware-removal and lightweight	The go-to specialist for removing active malware, with a famously light footprint.	Visit →
McAfee review · pricing	from $39.99/mo	No	families and unlimited-devices	One subscription covers unlimited household devices with AI scam protection built in.	Visit →
Mullvad VPN review · pricing	See pricing	No	privacy and anonymity	Sign up with no email using a random account number and pay in cash; privacy is the whole product.	—
NordPass review · pricing	from $1.39/mo	Free plan	budget and nord-ecosystem	Uses next-gen XChaCha20 encryption and ties neatly into the wider Nord ecosystem.	Visit →
NordVPN review · pricing	from $3/mo	No	streaming and privacy	One of the most frequently audited no-logs VPNs paired with consistently top-tier WireGuard speeds.	Visit →
Norton 360 review · pricing	from $49.99/mo	No	all-in-one and identity-bundle	Bundles antivirus, VPN, cloud backup and optional LifeLock identity protection in one subscription.	Visit →
Private Internet Access review · pricing	from $2.03/mo	No	torrenting and configurability	The most court-tested no-logs VPN, with 100% open-source apps and deep configurability.	Visit →
Proton Pass review · pricing	from $9.99/mo	Free plan	email-aliasing and privacy	The only major manager with built-in hide-my-email aliasing from the Proton privacy ecosystem.	Visit →
Proton VPN review · pricing	from $4.99/mo	Free plan	privacy and free-tier	The only major VPN combining fully open-source apps, Swiss jurisdiction and a no-data-cap free tier.	Visit →
PureVPN review · pricing	from $2.14/mo	No	budget and wide-coverage	Moved to an 'always-on' KPMG audit arrangement with publicly published no-logs reports.	Visit →
RoboForm review · pricing	from $1.99/mo	Free plan	form-filling and budget	Long-standing form-filling specialist at one of the lowest prices in the category.	Visit →
Surfshark review · pricing	from $2.19/mo	No	budget and families	Unlimited simultaneous connections at a budget long-term price.	Visit →
TunnelBear review · pricing	from $3.33/mo	Free plan	beginners and free-tier	One of the few VPNs publishing yearly independent security audits, wrapped in a beginner-friendly UI.	Visit →
Windscribe review · pricing	from $5.75/mo	Free plan	free-tier and budget	Build-a-Plan lets you assemble a custom-priced VPN, backed by R.O.B.E.R.T. DNS blocking.	—

Prices verified 2026-06-28 from public vendor pricing. Plans and prices change — always confirm on the vendor's own site. No price here is guaranteed.

Key takeaways

11 of 29 offer a real free plan — Avast One, AVG, Bitwarden, Hotspot Shield and 7 more let you start at $0, while 0 more offer a trial only.
Entry prices span $0.83–$50/mo — from Bitwarden at the low end to AVG at the top of the entry tiers.
Cheapest paid entry: Bitwarden from $0.83/mo (a free plan too).
Most documented feature set: 1Password — it lists the most features and integrations in our notes, which usually also means the steepest learning curve.

FAQ

How many privacy & security tools does this comparison cover?

All 29 privacy & security tools we track in the VPN & Security category are in the table above, compared on the same four points: entry price, free plan, best-for and standout. It's a full reference chart, not a curated shortlist.

Which vpn & security tool is the cheapest?

By verified entry price, Bitwarden is the cheapest paid option at $0.83/mo, and it also has a free plan.

Which of these privacy & security tools have a free plan?

Avast One, AVG, Bitwarden, Hotspot Shield, Malwarebytes, NordPass, Proton Pass, Proton VPN, RoboForm, TunnelBear and Windscribe offer a genuine free plan you can keep using at $0. The free-plan column above marks each one, and separates them from tools that only run a trial.

How is this different from your best-of guides?

This page lists every tool in the niche side by side so you can scan the whole market. Our best-of guides instead pick the five to eight privacy & security tools we'd actually recommend for a specific job, with a full write-up on each.

Sources

The standout lines, audiences and free-plan facts in the table above are drawn from these vendor pages and independent reviews:

VPN & Security Software Comparison (2026)

All 29 privacy & security tools compared

Key takeaways

FAQ

Sources

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