Overview
- Jump To Details
NordVPN
Best Premium Features - Jump To Details
TunnelBear VPN
Best for First-Time VPN Users - Jump To Details
ExpressVPN
Best for Global Location Spoofing - Jump To Details
Mullvad VPN
Best for Bargain Hunters - Jump To Details
Windscribe
Best for Many Server Locations - Jump To Details
PureVPN
Best for Frequent Travelers
Even before office workers began working from home en masse, VPNs had a place in the corporate arsenal. VPNs give employers a privacy tool to adopt for their workforce, and in some cases, the apps let remote employees access corporate resources as if they were physically sitting in their office. PCMag has done extensive testing of personal VPN services for more than 10 years and has been covering them for over 25. For this list, we've examined the business and team offerings of our favorite personal VPNs. NordVPN has the best set of premium features, while TunnelBear's friendly interface makes it ideal for beginners. But these aren't the only business-friendly VPNs we recommend, so read on for the rest of our top picks.
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Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
NordVPN
Best Premium FeaturesWhy We Picked It
NordVPN is a juggernaut in the VPN space, boasting an enormous number of servers and a strong global presence. It offers many additional privacy features that other VPNs ignore, including (but not limited to) multi-hop connections, which let you route a VPN connection through an additional server for added privacy, and VPN access to the Tor anonymization network. While your employees may not need all these extras, they're nice to have and add nothing extra to your NordLayer subscription cost!
Who It's For
NordLayer offers dedicated IP support, dedicated servers, single sign-on support, auto-connect options for employees connecting to the VPN servers, remote access to corporate resources, and can provide on-site deployment of its service. Like many other services on this list, it also offers flexible pricing that fits neatly into the IT budgets of both small and large organizations.
Pros
- Support for multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connections
- Bevy of available features and add-ons
- Good speed results
- Built-in antivirus tools
- Excellent design
- Friendly onboarding wizard
Cons
- Expensive
- Threat Protection Pro lacks full antivirus capabilities
- Deceptive annual renewal pricing
Learn MoreNordVPN ReviewTunnelBear VPN
Best for First-Time VPN UsersWhy We Picked It
We appreciate TunnelBear's simplicity, and your employees will, too, if they're not the most tech-savvy. Simplicity and user-friendliness are two major metrics we consider for every VPN we review, and TunnelBear does "friendly" like no other pick on this list.
Who It's For
TunnelBear embraces simplicity with its Teams option. The VPN does not offer access to distributed corporate resources like some other options here, but it does offer the same level of VPN protection for each corporate seat in its Teams network as it does for individual users. TunnelBear also pro-rates the cost of new seats added to team accounts in the middle of an annual subscription. The company even credits customers for unused time when employers remove a user, which can be essential for large organizations that go through ebbs and flows of employee counts.
Pros
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Excellent privacy policies
- Annual independent audits
- Friendly, approachable design (with bears!)
Cons
- No multi-hop connections
- Split tunneling not available on all platforms
- Data limit on free subscription
Learn MoreTunnelBear VPN ReviewExpressVPN
Best for Global Location SpoofingWhy We Picked It
ExpressVPN is notable for offering servers in 94 countries without relying on virtual servers to boost that figure. Among the services we have reviewed, it offers the most hardware in the most locations, making it a strong choice for companies with teams that require regular and broad travel.
Who It's For
ExpressVPN offers a discount model for teams that looks similar to Mullvad VPN. Depending on the number of licenses, corporate customers can expect up to 40% off the normal price. Unlike Mullvad, though, Express does offer centralized billing and license management. For large organizations that want to go with a large, trusted brand, ExpressVPN is a perfect pick.
Pros
- Large, diversely distributed fleet of servers
- Strong privacy and security practices
- Split tunneling
- Stylish interface
Cons
- Expensive compared with VPNs with similar feature sets
- No multi-hop connections
Learn MoreExpressVPN ReviewMullvad VPN
Best for Bargain HuntersWhy We Picked It
Mullvad VPN is a company of principles, one that is dedicated to customer privacy and customer anonymity in a way that many other VPN competitors aren't. When you sign up with Mullvad, you're issued a randomized number instead of a login or username, which you use in place of any identifying information. The company works hard to know as little about its customers as possible and to protect its customers above all else.
Who It's For
While we always recommend Mullvad VPN to standard users, its privacy stance may have some drawbacks in a business setting. The company says that the entire model of enterprise VPNs is antithetical to its security and privacy practices. A centralized billing system, a company representative pointed out, requires information Mullvad simply does not have. A company may also have to log hacking attempts, which Mullvad also does not do. Mullvad offers discounts on its base price for enterprise users. Small teams can expect around a 10% discount depending on size, while larger teams can get up to a 50% discount.
Pros
- Affordable
- Requires no email or account information
- Radically transparency
- Open Netflix access in all regions tested
Cons
- Awkward desktop interface
- No transparency report or warrant canary
- Servers in a small range of countries
Learn MoreMullvad VPN ReviewWindscribe
Best for Many Server LocationsWhy We Picked It
Windscribe VPN has much to like, including an industry-leading approach to personal (and corporate) privacy. It also offers reasonable pricing for access to its networks, including its Teams plan, which starts at just $3 per seat and goes down as more seats are added to the account.
Who It's For
For those who want to work with a VPN company that's doing all the right things both for individual users and larger organizations, it's hard to do better than Windscribe. It's a great pick who want a simple, clean interface for the non-techy crowd in your business, but it still features a plethora of setting customization for those who want to customize it to function smoothly with an in-house network.
Pros
- Industry-leading company transparency and communication
- Large number of payment options
- Best free plan of any VPN we've tested
- Helpful AI support bot
- Open Netflix access in all regions benchmarked
- Unlimited number of simultaneous connections and devices
- Anonymous signup allowed
Cons
- Middling speed results
Learn MoreWindscribe ReviewPureVPN
Best for Frequent TravelersWhy We Picked It
PureVPN boasts an array of server locations across the globe, meaning there’s always one close at hand (or far away for spoofing your location in a distant land). When we spoke with the company, it emphasized its dedicated servers and IPs available with PureVPN for Business. It notes that administrators can also assign sub-admins and shared or dedicated IPs to team members.
Who It's For
For system administrators who want a dedicated support representative, custom business packages, and the ability to assign dedicated servers to their employees, PureVPN is hard to beat. The company caters well to larger organizations that need enterprise-level coverage and offers discounts based on the size of your organization and the number of devices you need to protect.
Pros
- Geographically diverse servers
- Quick upload and download speeds in our testing
- Smart, snazzy client design
- Globally unblocked Netflix
- Numerous, affordable add-ons
- Transparent privacy policy
Cons
- Confusing pricing
- Unclear where virtual servers are located
- Few additional privacy features
Learn MorePureVPN Review
Buying Guide: The Best Business VPNs for 2024
How Do Business VPNs Work?
All of the VPNs on this list ensure your privacy when connecting to the internet via your favorite devices or with a router that's been configured to tunnel your traffic over the VPN's network. When anyone on your team connects to one of these services, their traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel between their machine and a server operated by the VPN company (or your company). Nobody, not even those on the same Wi-Fi network, can monitor or intercept their traffic.
That said, a VPN is not a corporate productivity or security tool; a VPN connection will not keep your employees from getting hacked or phished while working. Some VPN companies claim that routing corporate traffic through a VPN connection can help protect sensitive files and corporate data. We'd argue that sensitive data shouldn't be sent over any system that isn't encrypted or protected. Your best bet to protect corporate data is to confine it to your secure network.
So, does your workplace need a VPN? That depends. If your workforce travels often or works remotely, they may frequently be in situations where the available Wi-Fi is far from trustworthy. Similarly, if there are remote workers on your team, they may need to spoof their locations to access localized versions of internal websites and systems.
However, keep in mind that your employees and your companies will still need basic security protection. Using a password manager and multi-factor authentication can help protect your team against account takeovers, which expose corporate data. Antivirus software also protects machines against malware that could cost valuable time and money to repair.
How to Use a VPN to Connect to Your Office Network
Some VPNs let you access your office's local network as if the employees were inside the building. While terminology sometimes differs, the companies we spoke with usually call this a "site-to-site VPN." With this setup, all VPN traffic is routed through a server controlled by your company, usually on company premises. This lets employees access resources like shared drives and work as if connected to their office internet.
Jack Murray, a senior researcher at NordVPN, told PCMag that this model has some issues. The on-premises server requires upkeep and can become a bottleneck since all the VPN traffic has to flow through the corporate network. "The connection between the outside networks and the company network gets jammed at the edge," said Murray.
To combat the issue, VPN companies have moved to the cloud. In this scenario, traffic is routed from employees through a dedicated server operated by your VPN provider. "Allocating different connection capacities, the traffic is split into the flow that goes to the local network and the rest of the internet, instead of sending all traffic through local network as traditional corporate VPNs do," explained Murray.
Among the VPNs listed here, NordVPN allows for accessing corporate resources remotely. In some cases, this can include on-site, dedicated server deployment. Contact these companies for more information if this sounds right for you and your corporate network setup.
Remember that routing employee traffic through corporate networks can lead to embarrassing situations. An employee could easily forget they're connected to the corporate VPN before streaming porn or accessing any content that's inappropriate for the workplace. When using corporate VPNs that connect to private networks, be sure you know how they work, how to tell when they're active, and how to shut them off.
The Best VPNs for Remote Employees
If you're exploring purchasing a VPN for your company, it's important to consider the primary use cases for a VPN on your team and what kind of privacy protection you expect from the VPN service. Once you understand that, you can work with potential vendors and ensure you get what you pay for.
A VPN can keep your internet activities private at home and at work. While you can set up your own VPN, opting for a team or business account from a consumer VPN means you'll get more servers, more support, and apps made for everyday use.