It may sound strange to you that we’re talking about VPNs for the USA. But, even the country with the least amount of geo-restrictions needs a service like this. It’s true that this country holds the largest number of geo-blocked websites but some websites are inaccessible for its residents, too. Not to say that government surveillance represents a big problem there, so you want to always be safe and secure online. If you stick with us until the end, you can find out how to do that and what providers to use.
Why You Should Use a VPN for the USA?
Before banging out our list, we need to take a quick detour. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be boring. In fact, it’s always important to know why you need a Virtual Private Network for a certain country. This time, we’ll see why do you need it in the US.
Avoiding Government Surveillance
When a country has free internet access, it doesn’t mean that it’s not under surveillance. Many countries that have free internet access have, in fact, a high rate of surveillance. One of them is the United Kingdom, for example. Unfortunately, this country is the same.
Edward Snowden, back in 2015, revealed that the US government lied about poking around on the citizens. Immediately after that, the government came up with a new law that allowed ISPs and other agencies to perform data surveillance throughout the whole country.
As we know, this country has some of the strongest espionage agencies in the world – CIA and NSA are the prime examples. The government allowed these two to conduct regular surveillance on the citizens, taking away even the slightest bit of privacy.
Furthermore, it’s speculated that other agencies are involved in this, so we don’t know how many of them are in this ballpark. All we know is that this is real and that millions of Americans have their data handed to the government without even knowing it.
Thankfully, there’s a solution for that, so your hopes and dreams aren’t crushed. If you have a Virtual Private Network, you can obfuscate your IP address, making it untraceable.
Accessing Geo-Restricted Websites
Who would believe that you’ll face geo-restrictions in this country? Well, geo-restrictions are ever-present, although here, at a much smaller degree. Why do you need to bypass them, then? Let’s say you’re from this country and you have subscribed to Netflix and/or Amazon Prime Video.
If you’re traveling abroad, you won’t be able to access these platforms because they’re available mainly in this country. This means that your subscription will go to waste, simply because you didn’t have the means to access it.
The same applies to internet banking. If you have a bank account in a certain bank in your home country, accessing it from abroad is impossible. You’ll have to somehow change your IP to the American one and then access the websites you wanted.
Don’t forget that with a VPN, you can unblock Disney+ and many other streaming platforms. Even if you live in this country, you’ll still have this benefit for accessing the local content in other countries.
Torrenting Safely
What about torrenting here – is it safe? Well… not exactly. Although using BitTorrent and engaging in P2P downloads is legal in this country, the content you’re trying to download might not be. And since the government conducts surveillance on you, it means that you’re not safe.
There’s another issue that plagues this country when it comes to torrenting – copyright trolls. Copyright trolls are the main threat to torrent users that can empty your wallet like a machine gun magazine. We’re talking about companies working for the big music labels or movie studios.
Their goal is to expose torrent users, raising the case on the court, and getting a couple of thousands of dollars from the user. In some severe cases, a user can get time in jail! The worst thing is that they can target you even when downloading royalty-free content.
Despite torrenting being legal here, it falls flat on its face because of this concept. Just for the reference, 3,300+ lawsuits were directed in 2018 for BitTorrent users. In 2019, it’s even higher, and in 2024, we can only imagine how big this number will be.
Some people compare it to extortion, which is logical when you think about it. Nevertheless, this trend is only going to grow in the future and you must protect yourself if you plan on using BitTorrent in this country.
ISP Throttling
Aside from copyright trolls, your Internet Service Provider can throttle your bandwidth. Let’s use torrenting as an example. When downloading a huge game, it puts “stress” on your bandwidth. Downloading huge chunks of data fully utilize your internet speed, making doing anything else online impossible in some cases.
This is where your ISP takes advantage. You’re using more bandwidth than they want you to use, so they’ll slow down your internet speed. Now, you’re using less bandwidth in the same period. If you’re thinking this is happening sporadically, think again.
We know about bandwidth throttling when watching Netflix or any other streaming platform. Because of that, many streaming platforms are forced to pay fees to some ISPs, so they can stop this nasty habit. It seems unfair and it is. But, this is how the internet world functions and we’re also forced to play this game.
Best Providers With Servers in the USA
If you’re often traveling abroad, you’re probably missing your favorite shows on Netflix and HBO. But, with the right set of tools at your disposal, it doesn’t have to be the case. Here are the best providers with servers in this country:
- ExpressVPN: ExpressVPN is the fastest provider at the moment. It has servers at multiple locations in this country, effectively covering the entire USA soil. We deem it the best provider overall, especially for a country like this.
- NordVPN: NordVPN has 1,800+ servers in this country and is the best option for privacy and security. Given its blazing-fast speeds, it’s a decent all-arounder that isn’t expensive, even for countries with the lowest standard.
- CyberGhost: CyberGhost comes from Romania, a European country, which grants a no-log policy. Aside from that, it has 1,080 servers in this country, in 11 locations. These are Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.
Using this service is very easy, regardless of your location. Visit the provider’s website, buy a subscription with the desired payment method, and install the apps. Now, you’re free to enjoy your anonymous internet browsing.
Should You Use Free Providers in the United States ?
Before giving you the best providers for this country, let’s see why free providers aren’t that good for this case. As mentioned, this country is known for its high rate of government surveillance. Because of that, you want a provider with strong privacy and security features.
Although free providers often have standard features like 256-bit encryption or DNS leak protection, one feature is often missing. Did you guess it? A no-log policy. When we talk about no-log policy, we think about the 100% one, where even the provider doesn’t keep your browsing history.
Unfortunately, free providers often do this, making them uneligible for countries like these. Plus, this data can also be sold to some third-party companies, making all the privacy features pointless. And not to forget to mention bandwidth limitations.
You get 500MB to 2GB of bandwidth at a very limited speed. If you want to stream or just watch YouTube videos, this is simply very little to work with.
So, to conclude this section, we don’t recommend free providers for this country.
Best Providers for the United States
What are your choices, then? Well, the premium providers we mentioned before represent the best options for this country, plus two more. If you’ve already forgotten, here are our top picks:
- ExpressVPN
- NordVPN
- CyberGhost
- Surfshark
- Hide.me
That’s not all, though. Let’s review them and see why you should get one of these.
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN comes from the British Virgin Islands and as such, it grants a zero-log policy from the get-go. Speaking of this country, the provider has many servers in the United Kingdom, too! In terms of server count, this is the third-largest provider, owning 3,000+ servers in 94 countries. But, there’s something unique to this company – the speed.
As many experts from this industry know, this is the fastest provider at the moment. These speeds are accompanied by 256-bit encryption and OpenVPN protocol, to grant maximum security. Complementing to security are also DNS and IP leak protection, as well as Bitcoin payments, that the company accepts.
Unblocking geo-blocked websites is also a breeze, so you can access Netflix when traveling abroad. The provider also supports every major platform, including routers, which can cover up your entire house. Finally, ExpressVPN offers a 49% discount and 3 months free for the annual plan. That’s 15 months in total!
If you don’t like it, you can use your 30-day money-back period to get a refund. However, we don’t believe that’s going to happen.
2. NordVPN
NordVPN is a rock-solid performer in terms of security and privacy. It’s built like a tank, equipped with a rich arsenal of weaponry. For the start, the provider offers 256-bit encryption, DNS leak protection, and no-log policy. Given its location in Panama, we’re not surprised. On top of that, however, there are some unique features.
For example, CyberSec that blocks ads and malware while online. This feature will keep you safe not just from the government but also from hackers. You also get a Tor Over VPN and DoubleVPN features. These two combined will add another thick, juicy slab of security that you desperately want.
The provider lets you connect 6 devices simultaneously using a single subscription. But, since you can use it on your router, you can get 16 to 32 devices protected simultaneously! They also offer an eye-watering 80% discount, so you might want to press the button below.
3. CyberGhost
CyberGhost is the largest provider of all on the list. With 6,000 servers worldwide, you’ll be able to change your online location to almost any location in the world. The company is based in Romania, which is a country far away from the 5 Eyes or 14 Eyes. You know what that means – an instant zero-log policy.
Plus, the provider doesn’t keep any of your metadata or browsing activity. The OpenVPN protocol used here is firmly secure with 256-bit AES encryption, also used by the government. In case something goes wrong with the servers, there’s a kill-switch, as well as DNS and IP leak protection.
Like NordVPN, CyberGhost offers an additional feature for blocking those annoying malware-laden pop-ups. We also like that you get dedicated servers here. For example, if you want to stream, you can choose the one meant for that. There are tons of servers for different purposes.
Whether you’re torrenting, streaming or just browsing the internet casually, you can do that with blazing-fast speeds.
4. Surfshark
Surfshark comes from the same country as ExpressVPN. If your memory doesn’t serve you well, it’s the British Virgin Islands. Thankfully, you also get a zero-log policy here, which is very important in this country. You don’t want CIA and NSA sniffing around your internet activity – don’t you?
The slight downside is that the provider operates “only” 1,000+ servers in 50+ countries. However, these servers are very fast and great at unblocking the popular streaming platforms. Surprisingly, you can even unblock Amazon Prime Video and DAZN, for example. Needless to say, Netflix, Hulu, and HBO all fall into this ballpark.
Where the provider exceeds is the number of simultaneous connections. One word can describe it – unlimited! Unlimited are also your possibilities if you decide to visit the provider’s website and get a subscription.
5. Hide.me
Hide.me is is a perfect provider for hiding your ass. Oops, wrong one! But, don’t think that this provider is bad. If it was bad, we wouldn’t list it here! Let’s introduce you to this Malaysian giant that comes with the zero-logs policy from the start. On top of that, this is one of the fastest providers we’ve tested, too.
For the residents of this country, there are some neat security features implemented. There are a couple of protocols to choose from, although we recommend IKEv2 or OpenVPN. Each of these connections will automatically stick 256-bit AES encryption on top, making you safe and secure online.
Although it can bypass geo-restricted websites like Netflix and Hulu, Americans probably don’t care about that. If you’re traveling abroad, though, this might come in handy. And if you want to avoid copyright trolls, some of the servers support P2P activity and are very fast.
Summary
So, if you’re from America, you can thank God or your parents for that… to some extent. You’re going to suffer the least geo-restrictions and you’ll be able to access popular streaming platforms. Simply put, you’ve achieved what many from the foreign countries can’t without a Virtual Private Network.
This doesn’t mean you don’t need it, too! If you often travel or if you don’t want the government seeing what you’re watching on the internet, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Our recommendation for this country is ExpressVPN, our favorite provider.
It’s very fast, reliable, and secure, which is what Americans need. You can get the subscription for a discounted price and see that we aren’t joking. All things considered, this was an easy win for ExpressVPN.