Last updated: September 2026
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A travel VPN is used differently from a home one. It lives on your phone, runs on hotel and airport Wi-Fi, switches between networks all day, and has to keep streaming, banking, and work apps behaving while you're far from home. Speed matters more on mobile, battery matters for long travel days, and the country list decides where you can actually connect (Gizmodo).
The comparison below is built on Gizmodo's September 2026 travel testing — all five VPNs tested on a Galaxy S26 Ultra and an iPhone 17 Pro against UK, US, and Japanese servers, with battery measured over 20 minutes of 1440p video playback — plus TechRadar's travel roundup. We ran no tests of our own; every measured figure below is attributed to its source.
| Provider | Mobile speed loss | Countries | Battery (20 min video) | Devices at once | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | 16.9% (fastest) | 149 | 2% | 10 | $3.49/mo |
| Proton VPN | 22.2% | 149 | 2% | 10 | $2.99/mo |
| ExpressVPN | 19.5% | 113 | 1% (best) | 10 | $2.99/mo |
| Private Internet Access | 26.7% | 91 | 3% | Unlimited | $2.19/mo |
| Surfshark | 23.6% | 100 | 3% | Unlimited | $2.49/mo |
Speed loss combines Gizmodo's Android and iPhone results; battery is extra drain over the baseline session. Prices are long-term-plan starting rates.
Lost the least speed on both phones (16.9% average, and the only app under 15% on iPhone), with the lead widening on long-distance connections — the exact scenario of a traveler connecting back home from another continent. Coverage is the other half of the case: 149 countries including at least one location in all 50 US states. Obfuscated servers and the NordWhisper protocol disguise the connection where VPNs are restricted; Double VPN and Onion over VPN cover the sensitive end (Gizmodo). TechRadar likewise names NordVPN its best travel VPN overall, citing the 9,000+ servers in 149 countries plus obfuscation for regions where VPN use is prohibited. The trade-off: $3.49/mo makes it the priciest of the five, renewals climb, and the mobile app is the busiest of the group on a phone screen (Gizmodo).
Matches NordVPN on coverage (149 countries across 20,798 servers), with a Swiss base and open-source apps that have passed five independent no-logs audits. Secure Core — routing first through a Proton-owned server in Switzerland, Iceland, or Sweden — is designed for exactly the "hotel network you know nothing about" scenario, and the Stealth protocol handles restrictive networks (Gizmodo reported it working well in Dubai and the UAE). At $2.99/mo it undercuts NordVPN; its notable gap is no Smart DNS option for hotel TVs (Gizmodo).
The gentlest on battery of the five — the same 20-minute video session that cost the others 2–3% cost ExpressVPN 1% — which adds up across airports and transfers with no charger. Second-fastest overall (19.5%) and automatic obfuscation on every connection: nothing to configure on a hotel network that filters VPN traffic. Lightway Turbo was built for the Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoff a phone makes constantly. Coverage is the weakness at 113 countries (214 locations), and pricing renews at $99.95/year (Gizmodo).
The cheapest here at $2.19/mo with a renewal that stays flat, and unlimited simultaneous devices — one subscription covers every phone, tablet, and laptop a family brings. Open-source apps, RAM-only servers, a no-logs policy tested in US courts twice, and Shadowsocks obfuscation. Weaknesses: slowest on both phones (26.7% average loss), the narrowest country list (91), a cluttered mobile app, and patchier streaming — Netflix worked in Gizmodo's tests, but Prime Video, Hulu, and HBO Max were blocked. It's headquartered in the US (a Five Eyes member) — the stated mitigations are the open-source code, RAM-only servers, and court-tested no-logs policy (Gizmodo).
Opened 13 of the 14 streaming platforms Gizmodo tried — second only to NordVPN and ExpressVPN (14 each) — making it the streaming pick for travelers whose main use is watching what they pay for at home. Unlimited devices, NoBorders mode, MultiHop, and a Deloitte-audited no-logs policy at $2.49/mo. The weakness is distance: slowest of the five on the Japanese server (38.2% loss on iPhone), so a trip to Asia-Pacific suits another pick, and connect times are long (Gizmodo).
A long stay changes the calculus: add a dedicated (static) IP as an add-on — NordVPN, PIA, and Surfshark sell one — so banks and work systems stop treating every login as suspicious. Coverage then has to include both your home country and the one you live in, which puts the two 149-country providers ahead, and renewal pricing matters more when the subscription runs for years (Gizmodo).
Only as a backup. Free plans cap data between 500 MB and 10 GB a month — one evening of streaming exhausts that — and uncapped free plans are usually funded by selling browsing data. Proton VPN's free tier is the exception worth keeping as insurance: no data limit, from a company with a five-times-audited no-logs policy. The trade-offs are one device at a time, no choice of server country, and no streaming access (Gizmodo). See best free VPN — the honest guide.
Gizmodo's September 2026 mobile testing points to NordVPN: least speed loss on both phones, 149 countries including all 50 US states, and obfuscated servers for the restrictive networks public Wi-Fi is replaced by in some countries.
Yes, from a UK server — Sky Go reads your location from your IP address, so a British one restores it. The Sky account behind it still has to be a UK subscription (Gizmodo).
It varies by country. VPNs are restricted or regulated in places like China, Russia, Iran, and the UAE — where obfuscation features matter most. Check the specific country's rules before you travel; this page isn't legal advice.
Private Internet Access at $2.19/mo with unlimited devices — one subscription covers the whole family's phones, tablets, and laptops (Gizmodo).