Hey, I’m looking for the best VPN for Mac and could really use some recommendations. After doing a bit of research, I’m currently torn between NordVPN and Surfshark. I’m looking for something that’s easy to set up, works well with macOS, and offers strong privacy without being too expensive. Basically, something in that sweet spot between premium features and affordability.
I’ve gone through this best VPNs list on Reddit, and both NordVPN and Surfshark seem to be high up.
What I noticed to like:
NordVPN: Strong privacy features, fast servers, and a no-logs policy. It’s also got a big server network and has been around for a while, plus I’ve tried another Nord product already. However, I’ve seen a few mentions about the app for Mac being a bit clunky at times, though others say it’s been fine for them recently.
Surfshark: More affordable than Nord, and the unlimited device connections are appealing since I’d be using it on my Mac, phone, and maybe a tablet. However, I’ve heard some users say Surfshark can be a bit slower during peak times.
What’s really important to me is good speed for streaming and something that integrates smoothly with macOS. I’d love to know if anyone here has used either of these on Mac specifically. Any issues with the Mac app or performance?
Mullvad is the best IMO, but on the pricier side at flat rate €5/month. Unlimited speeds (I can saturate my 2Gbit internet connection) and a nice macOS app with split tunneling.
Most people don’t need a VPN, and will only need one for work when accessing protected resources.
VPN providers are selling you the idea that you need a VPN for privacy and safety and are pushing their services to people who don’t really need them.
However, the truth is that nowadays privacy is rarely an issue because most of the network traffic (especially web, mail and messaging apps) is already encrypted.
For the vast majority of domestic users, a VPN only makes sense in a couple of specific situations:
Bypassing geographic restrictions, such as accessing content that’s not available in one’s location.
Connecting to untrusted wireless networks that may or may not be setting up fake DNS entries to try and steal credentials from the user
Unless you have a very specific reason for requiring a VPN, save your money and don’t pay for a service that you don’t really need.
I had a good experience with PIA VPN because of its strong security features, no-logs policy, and reliable performance. It offers a user-friendly macOS app, multiple VPN protocols (WireGuard & OpenVPN), and a large server network for global access. It would be a good option for Mac because it also works well for torrenting, gaming and streaming.
I had Mullavad for a month. It was great except it didn’t work with any streaming services. They seem to have no interest in getting services like Netflix to work with them. It’s great for privacy, but if you want a VPN to bypass location restrictions it’s a no-go.
I tried Proton as it has a free tier, but it just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t ever get it to connect.
Then I signed-up to Surf Shark for 2 years. The first thing I do when I subscribe to anything is go into settings and cancel auto-renew, yet with Surfshark they don’t allow you to cancel auto-renew by yourself - you have to contact support and ask them to turn it off. I thought this was such scummy practice I immediately cancelled and asked for a refund. They really dragged their heals on this, but I got a refund eventually. I never even got around to trying the VPN they seemed like such a shady company.
I eventually signed-up for ExpressVPN for 15 months. It was decent and connected well and got around the VPN blocks of most services, including Netflix and BBC iPlayer pretty reliably. One thing I didn’t like was they were very late in releasing an app for Apple TV. It was months after Apple allowed this and months after other services, and was around the same time they released a password manager, so my guess is they dedicated all their resources to creating a password manager no one wanted or asked for, and not making their VPN better. That rubbed me the wrong way, but all-in-all it worked pretty well.
I didn’t renew with ExpressVPN when it expired just because it’s way more expensive than its competitors. I’ve instead now signed-up for Nord VPN for 27 months. Nord for 27 months (with their current sale) is $20 cheaper than ExpressVPN for 12 months. I found Nord to be really easy to setup, and it’s worked well. I’d say so far it’s been comparable to use to Express VPN, but way cheaper. I’m pretty happy so far, so Nord’s the one I recommend.
Don’t forget about rolling your own. If you’re technically inclined you can use a service like Digital Ocean to setup a private VPN service that won’t get flagged by whoever you connect to.
ClearVPN has been great to me. Fast, sleek and effortless.
It’s from ukrainian company MacPaw that you might know for their other products. The devs have a really good reputation in our ukrainian dev community and a solid track record.
It has been free and robust for all ukrainian nationals since the beginning of the full-scale war which i really appreciate. Buying from them would support a good company that actually brings a lot of good to this world (check out their socials).
VPN Unlimited from Keep Solid. Took a chance and bought a lifetime subscription from the Stack Social deals page. Going on 12 years now and it has never let me down.
I have Nord vpn on my Mac and iPhone but you need to have good WiFi or 5g. From the moment the speeds are lowering it seems to have problems connecting.
I had surfshark, for the price it is good. The problems of lower speeds does not seem to exist on surfshark.
This is just my opinion.
Also I heard good things about proton vpn? Maybe check that out
Any of the paid ones are probably ok. I use PIA (Private Internet Access) and have for a couple of years. It works for me. Whenever it comes up for renewal I pick the one that’s the best deal.
Got a good deal on Adguards VPN I think 5 years for 60 euro or so. Great value. Also speeds are fine and lots of countries other vpn services don’t offer. Like Egypt for example.
If you’re just looking for privacy (not impersonating international addresses) tailscale is free and takes about 10 minutes to set up, just clicking through screens.