Surfing the web on a public WiFi can be dangerous business, opening your iPhone or iPad up to spying eyes. To avoid that, you could use a VPN to stay private and anonymous.
A VPN also hides your location online, which can allow you to access blocked content and blocked sites such as US Netflix when you are in the UK or BBC iPlayer when you are abroad. Here we talk you through the best iOS VPN options.
It’s important to note that it is against Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other blocked content’s terms and conditions to access them using a VPN, so proceed with caution as you risk getting your account blocked.
If you’re concerned and want more advice about using a VPN, read our VPN buying advice here. If you intend to use a VPN to watch Netflix, click here to find out more.
PureVPN
- RRP: From £2.30 per month, From US$2.95 per month
- Buy from PureVPN
Our pick of the best VPN for iPad or iPhone is Pure VPN. It’s a popular and trusted option, and it’s competitively priced too.
PureVPN includes a built-in auto-redial that will automatically reconnect should your connection drop for uninterrupted browsing, and there are more than 500 servers available across 140 countries.
Its iPhone and iPad app is simple and smart, and lets you tailor your connection based on the internet activity you intend to do.
To use it, you’ll need to sign up to a subscription package starting at $4.99 for the year-long subscription. The money-back guarantee is seven days.
Read our PureVPN review.
CyberGhost
- RRP: Free version available; £3.74 per month, Free version available; US$5.83 per month
- Buy from CyberGhost
CyberGhost is another great option, and it’s also brilliantly priced. It’s headquartered in Romania, which is outside the 14-eyes group of countries that share signals intelligence (find out more here).
One of the great things about CyberGhost is its ease-of-use. It’s simple and intuitive, and does lots of the hard work for you. There are more than 800 servers available to connect to over 29 different countries, although they don’t always work with Netflix US.
There is a free version of CyberGhost but that won’t give you access to the mobile apps. For that you’ll pay £3.74 per month on the Premium Plan.
Read our CyberGhost review.
Private Internet Access
- RRP: From £2.60 per month, From US$3.33 per month
- Buy from Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access is another of the best VPNs that also comes a low price tag.
At around £3 per month, it offers anonymous browsing and access to blocked content including Netflix US.
The iPhone and iPad app is incredibly simple and easy to use, and it’s also super-speedy. A solid option.
Read our Private Internet Access review.
NordVPN
- RRP: From £5 per month, From US$5.75 per month
- Buy from NordVPN
Based in Panama, NordVPN is outside of the jurisdiction of the ’14-eyes’.
There are more than 500 servers available across 51 countries, and encryption levels are among the highest available in a VPN.
You can connect to up to six devices at one time with your NordVPN account, which offers pricing starting at around £4 per month.
Supported devices include iPhone and iPad, but also Mac, Windows, Linux and Android.
Read our NordVPN review.
IPVanish
- RRP: £5 per month, US$6.49 per month
- Buy from IPVanish
Another option that offers lots of great features is IPVanish, which is both good-looking and easy to use. It has 750 servers in 60 countries.
It’s going to appeal to beginners, as it’s one of the most intuitive VPNs we’ve used, but it does have one downside and that is that it’s located in the US. That’s not a problem for most casual users, but if 100% privacy is your main concern then you might want to look elsewhere. The company does promise that it doesn’t keep any logs, though.
IPVanish costs around £5 per month.
Read our IPVanish review.
ExpressVPN
- RRP: From £6.50 per month, From US$8.32 per month
- Buy from ExpressVPN
Another popular and trusted VPN option is ExpressVPN, which offers apps for all operating systems including iOS, which means you can use it on your iPad and iPhone.
You can connect to three devices at once, and there’s no limit to bandwidth, server switching or speed.
The recommended plan ExpressVPN plan is the year-long subscription, which works out at $8.32 per month and will save you 35% over the less committed month-long option at $12.95. There is, however, a 30-day money back guarantee with no questions asked.
Read our ExpressVPN review.
TunnelBear VPN
- RRP: Free option available | $7.99 monthly | $49.99 yearly, Free option available | US$7.99 monthly | US$49.99 yearly
- Buy from TunnelBear
TunnelBear offers a limited free version of its VPN service that you can try before you commit to the year-long option for $49.99 which works out to just over $4 per month, or a one month option for $7.99.
Once signed up, you can connect to up to five devices simultaneously, and there are apps available for iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac and PC.