StrongVPN is a long-running US VPN service that encrypts your internet connection, covers 12 devices per account and uses fast WireGuard connections by default. It is simple to use, and it handles US Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video well.
People look for StrongVPN alternatives for three plain reasons. The server network is small, the no-logs policy has not been independently audited, and the price climbs after the first year.
We compared seven alternatives against StrongVPN on speed, streaming access, audited no-logs policies, device limits and price. Each score below comes from that VPN's full review. Our top pick is NordVPN.
Why Look for a StrongVPN Alternative?
StrongVPN does the basics well, so the case for switching is about limits rather than failures. We connected five devices at once with no slowdown. StrongVPN's Trustpilot page is also full of praise for its steady reliability while traveling.
The first limit is reach. StrongVPN runs around 950 servers in about 30 countries, with no African locations at all. Its country count has shrunk over time rather than grown, and support has said there are no plans to expand the network.
Speed is the second limit, and it depends heavily on which server you pick. Nearby servers cost us about 18 percent of our download speed, and long-distance servers about 39 percent. Peak hours hit harder: a London server that averaged about 157 Mbps fell to about 76 Mbps in the evening. The apps show no server ping or load data, so you cannot see a busy server before you connect to it.
Privacy proof is the third gap. StrongVPN says it keeps no activity logs, but it has not published an independent no-logs audit. Every VPN on our list has let outside auditors check its privacy claims.
Streaming is mixed rather than broken. BBC iPlayer and Hulu were hit or miss on StrongVPN servers, and Netflix sometimes showed only Netflix Originals instead of the full US library. The last reason is cost. Renewal roughly doubles the first-year price, and the section on whether StrongVPN is still worth it breaks down those figures.
StrongVPN Alternatives Compared
Here is how the seven alternatives line up, with StrongVPN in the last row as the baseline.
| Provider | Buy | Best For | Starting Price | Servers | Simultaneous Devices | Audited No-Logs | Key Advantage over StrongVPN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Check price → | Overall | $3.49/mo (2 yr) | About 9,000 in 129+ countries | 10 | Yes: PwC and Deloitte, six times | Far bigger network, faster nearby servers |
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Check price | Free plan | Free; $2.99/mo (2 yr) | 140+ countries | 10 (1 on free) | Yes: Securitum, yearly | A free tier with no data cap |
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Check price | Streaming, polished apps | $2.99/mo (2 yr) | 113 countries | 10 / 12 / 14 by tier | Yes: KPMG, 2025 | More reliable Hulu and Netflix access |
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Check price | Value, unlimited devices | $2.49/mo (2 yr) | 4,500+ in 100 countries | Unlimited | Yes: Deloitte, 2023 and 2025 | No device cap, lower long-term price |
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Check price | Anonymous sign-up | EUR 5/mo flat | 566 in 50 countries | 5 | Cure53 infrastructure audit, 2024 | No email or name needed |
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Check price | Customization | $2.03/mo (3 yr + 3 mo) | 91 countries | Unlimited | Yes: Deloitte, 2022 and 2024 | Port forwarding and deep settings |
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Check price | Beginners | $2.19/mo (26 mo) | About 10,000 in 100+ countries | 7 | Yes: Deloitte, third in 2026 | Labelled streaming servers, 45-day refund |
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n/a | $3.97/mo first year | About 950 in about 30 countries | 12 | No | n/a |
The 7 Best StrongVPN Alternatives in 2026
We used StrongVPN as the baseline. We compared each VPN's download loss with StrongVPN's on nearby and long-distance servers where we had both figures. We also checked whether it could reach Netflix and Disney+, plus the services StrongVPN struggles with, such as BBC iPlayer and Hulu. Only VPNs with published independent audits made the seven, and we counted Mullvad's infrastructure audits while noting that they are not a formal no-logs opinion. The picks are ordered by the score each VPN earned in its full review.
1. NordVPN - Best StrongVPN Alternative Overall
NordVPN is the most complete step up from StrongVPN, and it scores 9.0 in our NordVPN review. It runs roughly 9,000 servers in 129 to 137 countries, depending on whether you include virtual locations. That is about four times the countries StrongVPN covers.
Speed is where the gap shows first. On nearby servers NordVPN cost us only about 7 percent of our download speed, against about 18 percent on StrongVPN, and we streamed 4K video and held video calls with no buffering. Long-distance servers held up as well, staying above 60 Mbps on our Australia and South Africa connections. Regular servers unblocked Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+, ESPN+ and YouTube TV without any hunting for special streaming servers.
NordVPN is based in Panama. Deloitte completed NordVPN's sixth no-logs assurance, published in February 2026, and PwC ran earlier checks in 2018 and 2020. Double VPN cuts speed by roughly 80 percent, so we keep it for occasional high-privacy sessions. Installation can also hit a first-run glitch that needs an uninstall and reinstall to clear.
The two-year Basic plan costs $3.49 a month, and the monthly plan is $14.99. You get 10 devices, two fewer than StrongVPN, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
2. Proton VPN - Best Free StrongVPN Alternative
Where NordVPN wins on reach, Proton VPN wins on the cost of getting started. StrongVPN has no free trial and no free tier. Proton VPN offers a genuinely usable free plan and still scores 9.0 in our Proton VPN review.
The free plan covers 1 device and servers in 10 countries. It picks the server for you, does not let you choose a country, and does not support streaming or torrenting.
The paid VPN Plus plan is where Proton matches StrongVPN and then passes it. Paid servers cut our download speed by no more than about 8 percent, and VPN Accelerator lifted throughput on distant servers. Netflix libraries, Disney+, HBO Max and BBC iPlayer unblocked consistently, and StrongVPN could not deliver that last one reliably. The app installed in under two minutes and explains every setting in plain language.
Proton is based in Switzerland, and Proton AG is majority-owned by the nonprofit Proton Foundation. Securitum has audited its no-logs policy every year from 2022 to 2026. Secure Core multi-hop connections run about 35 percent slower than standard ones, and live chat is not available around the clock.
VPN Plus costs $2.99 a month on the two-year plan or $9.99 monthly, with 10 devices, servers in 140-plus countries and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
3. ExpressVPN - Best for Streaming and Polished Apps
ExpressVPN's first-term price matches Proton's, but it renews at $99.95 a year. It earns 8.8 in our ExpressVPN review mainly for its streaming and app quality. Its apps are the most polished of the group, and in our streaming checks Netflix libraries in several countries, ESPN+ and Hulu all played without issues. Hulu is one of the services that StrongVPN only handles some of the time.
Network Lock, ExpressVPN's kill switch, fired correctly when a server timed out and again when we changed networks. The trade-off is speed. Downloads fell by roughly 37 to 39 percent on nearby servers, a bigger nearby loss than NordVPN, Proton VPN or even StrongVPN showed.
The Basic plan costs $2.99 a month for the first 28 months, billed $83.72. Device allowances depend on the tier: 10 on Basic, 12 on Advanced and 14 on Pro. Servers cover 113 countries. KPMG assessed ExpressVPN's TrustedServer setup and privacy policy in a report published in June 2025. ExpressVPN is registered in the British Virgin Islands and has been owned by Kape Technologies since 2021. Email support can take close to two days to reply, so live chat is the faster route.
4. Surfshark - Best Value With Unlimited Devices
If ExpressVPN is the premium choice, Surfshark is the value one. It scores 8.6 in our Surfshark review, and it allows unlimited simultaneous connections on every plan, where StrongVPN stops at 12.
Surfshark slowed our downloads by only about 10 percent, even on a transatlantic server. Netflix worked reliably across several regions, and the native Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV apps made TV setup simple. The macOS app performed noticeably better than the Windows app, where ping spiked on some servers. MultiHop also slows connections significantly, so it is best left off for streaming.
The Starter plan costs $2.49 a month on the two-year term, billed $67.23 for 27 months. The month-to-month plan runs roughly $15 to $16 depending on region and tax, one of the priciest monthly rates in the category. The value only shows on the two-year term. Surfshark runs 4,500+ servers in 100 countries, is based in the Netherlands, and had its no-logs policy verified by Deloitte in 2023 and again in 2025. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies.
5. Mullvad VPN - Best for Anonymous Sign-Up
Surfshark and the picks above still want an email address. Mullvad VPN does not, and it earns 8.5 in our Mullvad VPN review. StrongVPN, by contrast, stores your account email and payment details.
Signing up was as close to anonymous as a paid VPN gets, and it took seconds. Mullvad issued a random 16-digit account number and asked for no email or name, and you can pay with cash, crypto or a voucher. Mullvad's flat monthly price is EUR 5, with no tiers and no multi-year discounts. It covers 5 devices and comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee, except on cash payments.
Mullvad is based in Sweden and has run WireGuard only since its OpenVPN servers went offline in January 2026. Cure53's 2024 audit of Mullvad was its fourth infrastructure audit and found no issues that compromise user privacy. That is a security audit of the infrastructure rather than a formal no-logs opinion. Still, when Swedish police visited the company in 2023, they found no customer data to take.
Streaming is the weak spot. Netflix US and BBC iPlayer blocked Mullvad servers with a VPN or proxy error, and access that worked in one session could fail minutes later. Websites often threw CAPTCHA challenges at us, and speeds varied a lot from server to server. Support is email-only. The network has 566 servers in 50 countries.
6. Private Internet Access - Best for Customization
Mullvad strips the settings down, and Private Internet Access hands you all of them. It scores 8.4 in our PIA review. The Windows app exposes kill switch levels, protocol choice, encryption strength and port forwarding, which suits tinkerers more than beginners.
Port forwarding is a clear gain over StrongVPN. StrongVPN allows torrenting on every server but offers no port forwarding. On its VPN, a 1.62 GB file took about 5.5 minutes, versus about 3 minutes without it. PIA's speeds are less predictable, though. Some US and UK servers lost around three quarters of a fast gigabit line, while other servers lost closer to 12 percent. Netflix US streamed on the first attempt, and HBO Max blocked a standard US server before playing in 4K on a streaming-optimized one. Live chat answered quickly and knew the product well.
PIA costs $2.03 a month on the three-year plan with three extra months, billed $79, or $11.95 monthly. It allows unlimited devices, covers 91 countries and passed Deloitte no-logs audits in 2022 and 2024. Like StrongVPN it is US-based, and it has been owned by Kape Technologies since 2019. The 30-day money-back guarantee excludes app-store purchases.
7. CyberGhost - Best for Beginners
PIA rewards tinkering, while CyberGhost removes the need for it. It scores 8.4 in our CyberGhost review, and the app connected to a nearby server in under ten seconds on first launch.
Its streaming servers are labelled by platform, so there is no guesswork. The Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video servers each loaded on the first try without server-hopping, which is a simpler routine than StrongVPN's trial and error. Long-distance connections are the weak spot: downloads dropped by more than 55 percent on our Australia and South Africa servers, while nearby servers lost about 20 percent.
The 26-month plan costs $2.19 a month, billed $56.94 for the first term, and the monthly plan is $12.99. The monthly plan's refund window is only 14 days. Watch the first renewal, though: the long plan rolls into a 12-month term at the same dollar amount, which roughly doubles the effective monthly rate.
CyberGhost allows 7 devices, which fills up quickly in a household with phones, laptops, a TV stick and tablets. It runs around 10,000 servers in 100+ countries, is based in Romania and has been owned by Kape since 2017. It published its third Deloitte no-logs audit in February 2026.
What About IPVanish, TorGuard and Other StrongVPN-Style Providers?
Several familiar names missed the seven, and the closest is IPVanish. It is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company that bought StrongVPN from StackPath in 2019 and later folded Encrypt.me into it. Unlike its sister brand, IPVanish has had its no-logs claims audited, by Leviathan Security Group in 2022 and by Schellman in February 2025. It also allows unlimited devices. It feels quick on nearby servers, but streaming was occasionally inconsistent. Its record also includes a 2016 case in which it handed connection logs to authorities under prior ownership. It scores 8.0 in our IPVanish review, just below our seventh pick.
TorGuard is the provider most often compared with StrongVPN, and it shares several of the same gaps. It is US-based in Florida, has no independent no-logs audit, and runs 3,000+ servers in about 50 countries. Port forwarding, dedicated IPs and 8, 12 or 30 devices depending on tier are real draws for power users. Its apps were buggy for us: connections were slow to start and sometimes failed with network or driver errors. Its 7-day refund window is also short. It costs roughly $10 a month and scores 7.4 in our TorGuard review.
The rest fell further short:
- CactusVPN is a small Moldova-based provider with unlimited devices but a network measured in dozens of servers across 22 to 25 countries. Its first Securitum no-logs audit in 2026 covered only four servers, its kill switch slipped in our testing, and DNS leak protection is off by default.
- Hotspot Shield is US-based with an unaudited privacy policy and a past FTC complaint. Premium costs $7.99 a month on the annual plan, billed $95.88.
- Avast SecureLine VPN has no monthly option on desktop, and its renewal of around $99.99 a year is roughly double the first year.
- Astrill is a censorship specialist with premium pricing: $30 for one month or $15 a month on the one-year plan.
- PureVPN is budget-priced and has an audited no-logs policy. Its longest plan costs around $1.99 a month, depending on the promotion running when you buy.
Which StrongVPN Alternative Should You Pick?
Start with the StrongVPN limit that bothers you most, then match it to the provider that fixes it.
- You want more countries and faster nearby servers: NordVPN.
- You want to try a VPN without paying: Proton VPN's free plan.
- You stream Hulu, ESPN+ or several Netflix libraries: ExpressVPN.
- You have more than 12 devices in the house: Surfshark or Private Internet Access.
- You do not want to hand over an email address: Mullvad VPN.
- You torrent and need port forwarding: Private Internet Access.
- You want a VPN that works without any reading: CyberGhost.
How We Chose These StrongVPN Alternatives
The short version of our method sits above the picks, and this section fills in the rest. On speed, we also checked evening performance where peak-hour slowdowns showed up, as they did on StrongVPN's London server. We checked kill-switch behavior where it mattered most, on StrongVPN's Windows app and ExpressVPN's Network Lock. We also contacted support over live chat and email, and we compared each company's refund terms. Privacy carried the most weight in the final order.
Every score on this page comes from our full review of that VPN. When two providers tied, we ordered them by how well they fix StrongVPN's specific weak spots.
How to Switch From StrongVPN
Once you have picked a replacement, switching is simple, but the order matters so you are never left without protection or billed twice.
- Sign up for your new VPN first and install it on every device you currently protect with StrongVPN.
- Test it inside its money-back window: connect to the locations you use most and open the streaming services you rely on.
- Log in to your StrongVPN account on the website and turn off auto-renewal before the next billing date.
- Check your bank or card statement after the renewal date to confirm StrongVPN did not bill you again.
- Uninstall the StrongVPN apps, and remove its configuration from your router if you set one up there.
Use the new provider's refund window as your free trial. NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark and PIA give you 30 days, CyberGhost gives 45 days on its longer plans, and Mullvad gives 14 days. PIA's guarantee does not cover app-store purchases, so buy directly from its website if you want the refund option.
Is StrongVPN Still Worth It?
Switching is not for everyone, and StrongVPN is still a sensible choice for a narrow group of users. It scores 7.5 in our StrongVPN review, which is a good result. Its Trustpilot TrustScore is 4.4 across 2,695 reviews, and long-time subscribers are common on that page.
The price is fair in the first year and less so afterwards. The monthly plan costs $11.99, and the annual plan costs $47.69 for the first year, about $3.97 a month. Renewal is roughly double the first-year price, around $80 to $90 a year, which puts StrongVPN above most of the alternatives on long-term cost. You get 12 devices, and a router counts as one.
The apps feel dated next to bigger rivals, though they are simple to use. Picking "Best Available" needs a separate connect click, which confused us at first. There is also no favorites list. Its Scramble obfuscation works only over OpenVPN and slows speeds significantly. If you mainly stream US Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video, stay within about 30 countries and value a stable connection, StrongVPN still does that job. If you want an audited no-logs policy or a wider network for the same money, one of the seven picks above is the better use of your subscription.
