8 Best VPNs for Safari in 2024 – With Browser Extensions

In today’s digital age, securing your online privacy is paramount, especially when cyber threats lurk around every corner. We’ve pinpointed the best VPNs for Safari through exhaustive research and rigorous testing, ensuring rapid and confidential browsing.

Whether you’re yearning to bypass geo-restrictions to devour international content or unblock censored services, we’ve got you covered. And for all you proud Mac or iOS users – you’re likely familiar with Safari, your trusty built-in browser. At the same time, it’s true that Safari doesn’t cater to Windows, Android, or Linux, its exclusive ecosystem warrants specialized protection. Dive into this comprehensive guide to discover the ultimate VPNs for Safari and unveil the compelling reasons to fortify your online fortress.

Are you pressed for time? We’ve got a snapshot of our top VPNs for Safari coming right up.

We’ll cover more details about the Best VPNs for Safari in this post, but here’s our quick summary.

We found these to be the best VPNs for Safari based on user testing:

1. NordVPN Our #1 choice Safari VPN. Superfast servers that deliver on streaming. Tight privacy and robust security. Includes 30-day money-back guarantee. TIP: In our testing we found that the cheapest NordVPN plan (Standard) works perfectly for Safari.
2. Surfshark: Great budget VPN for Safari. A no-logs VPN that works perfectly on iOS and MacOS. Excellent speeds and unblocking ability, and allows you to connect all of your devices at once.
3. IPVanish: Works well with Macs and iOS devices. Great speeds, privacy, and secure connections.
4. ExpressVPN: Secure and private connections. Unblocks restricted content with ease and great for streaming.
5. CyberGhost: Huge network of servers and robust security features. Works with Macs and iOS devices.
6. PureVPN: A fast, no-logs provider with thousands of servers and exceptional streaming ability. Offers 24/7 customer support over live chat and works great with Safari.
7. ProtonVPN: Delivers consistent speeds and includes a wide range of advanced security features. Works effortlessly with most region-locked sites. Connect 10 devices at once.
8. PrivateVPN: An increasingly popular Safari VPN service that’s good for streaming and allows port forwarding.

If you use the Safari browser to surf the web, you should know about extra protection that you can add on to your connections. A VPN will protect your privacy and allow you to get around regional restrictions that many websites impose on access. This means that you will be able to access video streaming services from other countries, even though your location would normally get you locked out.

Best VPNs for Safari – Our hands-on review

We’ve compared the most important features for the top VPNs here. Prefer to read the in-depth reviews? Start with NordVPN – our #1 choice for Safari.

Our criteria for Safari VPNs

There are lots of VPNs and plenty of them work with Mac and iOS devices. To help further differentiate between them, we evaluated providers in the following areas.

• Speed: To find the fastest providers, we carried out multiple speed tests while connected to each VPN’s US servers.
• Apple device suitability: We checked that providers had compatible apps, but also that they had WireGuard support, a kill switch and other protective features.
• Ease of use: To find which providers had the most user-friendly service overall, we evaluated them using 10 different metrics.
• Value for money: The most expensive VPNs aren’t necessarily the best. To find which were worth the money, we evaluated them against eight different criteria.
• Security and privacy: VPNs should be able to protect your connection while you’re using them. Some do this much better than others. We found out which had the most to offer by evaluating them against 16 different metrics.

Best VPNs for Safari

Here’s a list of the best VPNs for Safari:

1. NordVPN

Jan 2025 Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

NordVPN is our top pick for a Safari VPN. You get access to servers in over 113 countries and the app is excellent at getting around regional restrictions. NordVPN does not keep any logs, which helps hide your identity on the internet. You can connect to the service on 10 devices all at the same time, and the website has a long list of tutorials on how to install the VPN manually on your router — that counts as just one connection.

To find out how fast NordVPN servers were, we carried out several speed tests while connected. You can see the results below.

Download speeds were fast throughout the day, with an overall average of 199.99 Mbps. This is a great result and means you’ll be able to use Safari just as you would without a VPN.

You can install the NordVPN app on Mac OS X, macOS, and iOS, to cover your Safari browser. There is also an app available for Windows and Android and you can install the system manually on Linux computers and devices.

NordVPN doesn’t offer a Safari browser extension. It’s unfortunately only available on Google Chrome, Firefox and Edge.. However, it does have a supplementary service, called an HTTP proxy, which you can set up on your browser. A tutorial on the website explains how to set it up. A web proxy isn’t as good as a VPN because it doesn’t give you any extra encryption or other security measures, it just changes your apparent location.

The NordVPN app includes many excellent online security features. These include encryption on all of your connections and there is also a kill switch. You can choose a double-hop route that will travel through two different VPN servers and encrypt your connections twice over. You may also connect to the Tor network through NordVPN. Your online privacy is protected further by NordVPN’s strict no-logs policy.

Read our full NordVPN review.

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2. Surfshark

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

Surfshark is a low-cost VPN that offers access to 3,200 servers across 100 countries, which alone would make it a robust choice. However, it also boasts a wealth of extra security features including 256-bit encryption, a kill switch, and protection against WebRTC, IPv6, and DNS leaks. Best of all, this service allows you to connect as many devices as you like, ensuring you never have to browse the web unprotected.

Speed-wise, the provider is extremely quick. When we tested its US servers, it averaged 205.37 Mbps — more than 41 Mbps faster than the combine average of the other providers that we tested.

Surfshark’s speeds make it a great choice for streaming in high resolution or gaming.

This service takes your privacy very seriously. Surfshark doesn’t log any personally identifiable information but if you’re worried about anonymity, you can sign up almost completely anonymously by paying in cryptocurrency (it accepts Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum).

Surfshark doesn’t have a Safari browser extension, but it does offer apps for MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux. Further, it can be manually installed on supported internet routers.

BEST BUDGET VPN:Surfshark lets you protect every device you own. Better still, with a no-logging policy, high speeds, and strong multi-platform support, you don’t have to trade security for convenience. This service has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full Surfshark review.

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3. IPVanish

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

IPVanish offers good speeds for accessing streaming video and the company’s server network extends to more than 60 countries. Although there isn’t an IPVanish Safari browser extension, there are apps for Mac OS X, macOS, and iOS operating systems, which will protect your browser traffic. You can also install an IPVanish app on Windows and Android, including manually on Amazon Fire devices and routers. The company gives you an allowance of five concurrent connections.

We’ve already mentioned that IPVanish was fast. You can see the results of our speed tests in the chart below.

The providers averaged 194.63 Mbps overall, which makes it suitable for multiple tasks — from streaming to gaming. Speeds fluctuated a little more than with the previous two providers, but that’s a minor niggle.

The company is based in the United States, which may worrisome because the NSA and other law enforcement are known to apply secret pressure to IT companies to access customer information. However, IPVanish offers strong security with the AES encryption system, using a 256-bit key through the OpenVPN methodology. The other VPNs in our list of the best VPNs Safari also use this level of protection.

A key privacy feature of the VPN service is that it keeps no logs. This is important if you want to download files with the BitTorrent protocol. Copyright lawyers in the USA are particularly active, so if your chosen VPN company retains activity or connection records, you would lose your privacy. The IPVanish app includes a kill switch and automatic wi-fi protection, which will prevent your real IP address from being detected by snoopers on the internet.

Basic IPVanish subscriptions cost a modest $2.19 a month. However, for just over a dollar a month more, you can get 1TB of cloud storage and a secure sandboxed  browser thrown in.

UNLIMITED CONNECTIONS:IPVanish has a large network of servers. Generally solid for Safari users. Adheres to the highest standard of privacy, unblocks a range of streaming sites. Thirty-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full IPVanish review.

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4. ExpressVPN

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

ExpressVPN fulfils all the requirements for a Safari VPN. You can install the VPN app and use that to cover everything on your device. The ExpressVPN app is available for all of the operating systems that Safari runs on: Mac OS X, macOS, and iOS.

You can also install the system on the Windows and Android operating systems, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire tablets, and Linux machines. You get an allowance of three simultaneous connections, so that you can have other gadgets covered by the VPN as well as your Safari browser at the same time.

ExpressVPN has an automatic installer for select routers. A router installation counts as only one of your five concurrent connection allowance even though it covers all of the internet-connected devices in your home.

We tested ExpressVPN’s speeds while connected to its servers in the US. As you can see from the chart below, the provider consistently achieved speeds greater than 160 Mbps.

Although not quite as quick as some of the VPNs in this list, ExpressVPN is nevertheless more than capable of interruption-free streaming.

ExpressVPN includes military-grade encryption, which is essential if you want to connect to the internet in repressive countries. As well as using 256-bit AES encryption with the OpenVPN system, it also employs 4096-bit RSA encryption for session establishment, which is the strongest available on the market.

This service is also very good at evading detection, which makes it a good option for places like China and Iran. It will also help you securely access all kinds of services including Netflix. ExpressVPN has an impressive network of servers in 105 countries, which gives you many options when you want to appear to be in a different country. The company does not keep connection logs.

Security features include a kill switch, which will prevent all the apps on your device from connecting to the internet if the VPN is not active. You also get automatic wi-fi protection with the ExpressVPN app, which is essential if you tend to use wi-fi hotspots in public places.

GREAT UNBLOCKER:ExpressVPN is fast and reliable. It unblocks restricted content on all major streaming services. Strong security and privacy. The only VPN in this list with a dedicated Safari browser extension. Includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full ExpressVPN review.

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5. CyberGhost

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

CyberGhost doesn’t have a Safari browser extension, but you can install it on Mac OS X, macOS, and iOS. Apps are also available for Windows and Android, and you can install the system manually on routers and Linux computers.

The service gives you access to a massive and secure server network of over 10,000 in 100+ countries and a special cloaking option will help you in places that have tough government restrictions on internet access. The VPN connections are connected by AES 256-bit encryption and 4096-bit RSA encryption for session establishment. A kill switch and automatic wi-fi protection are built into the app.

Speed-wise, the provider achieved a respectable 192.13 Mbps in our tests. This makes it suitable for lag-free gaming, and streaming in 4K.

The company doesn’t hold any details on its customers. All payment processing is carried out by a third party and you are only identified on the CyberGhost system by an account number. The company does not keep activity logs and it is based in Romania where there are no data retention requirements.

The app’s interface opens with an activities screen where you can choose a VPN server adjusted for activities such as watching streaming videos or downloading. You get an allowance of five simultaneous connections with CyberGhost and the company gives all new customers a 45-day money-back guarantee.

GOOD FOR BEGINNERS:CyberGhost is easy to use. Fast and reliable internet connections with a good range of servers. Great privacy with zero logs and DNS leak protection. 45-day money back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost review.

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6. PureVPN

works with safariTested Jan 2025

PureVPN has more than 6,000 servers across 65 countries. It works effortlessly with major streaming platforms such as Prime Video and Disney+. We found PureVPN’s apps to be extremely user-friendly but if you run into any problems, staff are available 24/7 over live chat. Users can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously.

We tested PureVPN’s speed while connected to its servers in the US. You can see the results below.

PureVPN averaged 163.13 Mbps across the three tests, which makes it a solid option for data-intensive tasks like torrenting, making video calls, or watching TV.

The provider includes all of the tools you’ll need to browse the internet safely. For instance, it prevents DNS and IPv6 leaks, refuses to store any logs of your activities, and uses uncrackable encryption (no matter which protocol you choose). If PureVPN detects that you’re in a country with extreme censorship, it will automatically obfuscate your data, hiding any indication that you’re using a VPN in the first place. There are a couple of downsides, however; this service can’t block ads, and if you’d like to stop trackers, you’ll need a Plus or Max plan. Additionally, it doesn’t offer a kill switch on Mac or iOS.

PureVPN has its own apps for iOS, MacOS, Linux, Windows, and Android. Further, it can be manually installed on a wide range of routers, which lets you bypass the connection limit.

CAN HANDLE ANYTHING:PureVPN is a versatile service boasting impressive performance and a good set of security tools. That’s not all: it also comes with built-in traffic obfuscation, a proven no-logs policy, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Check out our comprehensive review of PureVPN.

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7. ProtonVPN

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

ProtonVPN is best-known for its free plan, but for the best experience, you’ll want to upgrade. Doing so provides access to 9,800 servers in 117 countries, allows you to secure 10 devices at a time, and removes the speed cap.

What’s more, paid subscribers can access just about any region-locked streaming platform, including Netflix, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video. You also get priority customer support, giving you the option to chat directly with staff should anything go wrong.

To find out how fast the provider was, we carried out several speed tests while connected to its US servers.

As you can see from the above, ProtonVPN performed well throughout the day. Its average download speed was 148.43 Mbps. This was a little slower than some of the providers in this list, but still plenty fast enough for the vast majority of users.

One thing is clear: ProtonVPN service takes your security seriously. For starters, it uses effectively uncrackable encryption and has been independently audited to prove that it doesn’t keep any logs of your activities. Additional safeguards include a kill switch, leak protection, automatic ad and tracker-blocking, and Secure Core servers designed with anonymity in mind. Experienced users will appreciate the more advanced features, such as port forwarding and split tunneling functionality, but it’s also a good choice for anyone looking to sign up without providing personal information since you can pay with Bitcoin or cash.

ProtonVPN offers apps for iOS, MacOS, Windows, Android, and Linux. Alternatively, you can follow manual setup instructions to get this VPN running directly on your router.

NEXT-LEVEL PRIVACY:ProtonVPN is a reliable service that goes above and beyond where privacy is concerned. Great choice for day-to-day usage thanks to its fast speeds and powerful security tools. All paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Why not read our full, exhaustive ProtonVPN review?

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8. PrivateVPN

Works with SafariTested Jan 2025

PrivateVPN is based in Sweden, but its support staff all speak excellent English. The support team can be contacted online during European office hours via a live chat window on the service’s website. The team is very competent and can even take control of your computer remotely to fix problems for you.

However, you are unlikely to encounter any problems installing this app because it comes with an install wizard that will get the VPN operating without much input from you.

To get an idea of how fast PrivateVPN was, we tested its speeds while connected to its US servers. You can see the results in the chart below.

PrivateVPN averaged 88.53 Mbps, which is fast enough for streaming in 4K provided that you have a decent base connection speed (ours was 250 Mbps). If not, then we’d recommend opting for one of the faster providers in this list.

You can protect the Safari browser by installing the PrivateVPN app on Mac OS X, macOS, and iOS devices. Apps are available for Windows and Android, and you can install the VPN manually on routers, Amazon fire devices, and the Linux operating system.

PrivateVPN runs servers in 63 countries. This is a particularly good option if you like to download with torrents because the company does not keep any logs. The OpenVPN protocol is protected with 256-bit AES solid encryption. You also get a kill switch and automatic wi-fi protection options with the PrivateVPN app.

The service gives each customer an allowance of 10 simultaneous connections and you get a 30-day money-back guarantee to try out the system.

CHEAP SUBSCRIPTIONS:PrivateVPN is a good family choice. Great for streaming and allows port forwarding for torrenting. Works in China. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PrivateVPN review.

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How we found the best VPNs for Safari: Our testing methodology

In order to find the best VPNs for Safari, we had to test them out for ourselves! After all, not all VPNs offer apps that are compatible with the browser. Others may prove too slow or simply be lacking security. We tested providers in the following areas:

Speed

A fast VPN won’t speed your connection up, but neither will it noticeably bog it down. It’s particularly important to choose a fast provider if your base connection speed is already relatively slow.

To find which providers were most capable of preserving users’ base connection speeds, we carried out multiple speed tests while connected to each VPN’s servers in the US.

Measurements were taken using the desktop version of the Ookla speed-testing app. This was installed on a virtual machine that had been rate-limited to 250 Mbps — a figure chosen due to it being the median average of fixed broadband speeds in the US. This helps us replicate the average user’s experience.

As you can see from the above chart, Surfshark was the fastest provider overall. NordVPN, IPVanish and CyberGhost were also notably quick. All of these providers are more than capable of providing users with a smooth Safari experience.

Apple device suitability

We scored providers on whether they had a dedicated macOS app, kill switch and WireGuard support. We also scored them on the number of additional protective features they had. These scores were combined to give an overall score out of 10 for comparison.

NordVPN scored highest overall, with more additional protective features than any other provider. Surfshark and PureVPN were also particularly suitable for Apple devices.

Ease of use

To ensure that the Mac or iOS app you use with Safari is quick and easy to install and use, we scored providers on all of the criteria in the table below.

We then combined these scores to give us an overall score out of 10. We used this score to more easily compare providers.

NordVPN was the easiest to use provider overall. It combined cleverly designed iOS and macOS apps with excellent feature parity. IPVanish and ExpressVPN were also notable for providing a hassle-free service.

Value for money

Ideally, a VPN should offer multiple subscription options. The longer the subscription, the lower the monthly amount you pay. The best VPNs for Safari offer this flexibility and also come with a money-back guarantee and other money-saving features. You can see which providers offer the most in the table below.

We assigned a score to each of the above criteria and combined them so that we were left with an overall score out of ten. This makes directly comparing providers easier.

Surfshark was the best value overall, with cheap subscriptions and no connection limit. IPVanish also scored highly for the same reasons.

Security and privacy

A VPN is supposed to secure the internet traffic traveling between your browsing device and the internet. Somewhat surprisingly, some fail to do this! However, you can rest assured that all of the VPNs recommended here provide encryption, a kill switch, and DNS leak protection. Some — as you can see from the table below — provide additional protective features.

Each of the above metrics was given a score, which we combined to create an overall score out of ten. This makes it easier to compare providers.

NordVPN and Surfshark scored highest for security and privacy. Both providers offer powerful obfuscation, together with audited no-logs policies and anonymous payment options.

Do free VPNs work with Safari?

It is better to avoid free VPN services. You won’t find any that will give you full privacy protection. Keeping ahead of restrictions and the detection systems of governments and websites costs a lot of money. So, you should be suspicious of companies that claim to offer a full VPN service for free. How do they pay their bills?

Some free VPNs are scams and rather than protecting your personal information, their VPN apps actually harvest it to sell to advertisers. A VPN is not a VPN without encryption and, surprisingly, many free VPNs don’t include any encryption at all. These services give you a false sense of security and can actually prove to be dangerous. All of the internet traffic that passes through your connection is available for any interceptor to read if your VPN does not use encryption.

Many reputable VPN services offer a free version to lure in new customers. Obviously, these free versions are not as good as the paid VPNs offered by the same company, otherwise, those providers would never be able to persuade anyone to pay for the service. Usually, those bona fide free services have restrictions imposed on them. These include a limit on the servers that you can access, a limit on the throughput speed, or a limit on the amount of data that you can use each month.

Although free VPNs are tempting, they are usually a waste of time. This is why we do not recommend that you spend precious online hours hunting for bargains. The VPNs on our list offer outstanding value for money.

VPN browser extension or app?

You will notice that ExpressVPN is the only service on our list that actually has a browser extension for Safari. You also get an app with ExpressVPN and nine times out of ten, you would be better off using the app rather than the browser extension. This is because the browser extension only covers the internet transmissions that go from and to your browser. In the meantime, lots of background processes and apps on your computer will also be accessing the internet.

When you only use a browser VPN, all of the other internet activities on your computer are not protected. This means that they all communicate using your real IP address and all of the computers that they connect to can also be recorded by your internet service provider. So, if you have a downloading client running on your computer and you are only using the browser extension VPN, those transactions performed by the downloader will all be visible to anyone on your network.

The HTTP proxy offered by NordVPN will change the location of all of your browser transactions, but won’t give you any encryption. As with the browser VPN extension, a web proxy set up in your browser won’t cover any of the other apps running on your computer that also connect to the internet. Overall, when you have a choice between a VPN app and a VPN browser extension, it is better to use the app.

Is browsing in Safari’s private mode the same as using a VPN?

No, the Private Mode on Safari is not the same as a VPN. The browser Private Mode deletes cookies and trackers from your hard drive when you close the browser window. A VPN secures the connections between your computer and the web servers of the websites that you visit by hiding your location and encrypting the connection.

VPNs for Safari – The conclusion

So, there you have it – our list of the best VPNs to use with Safari. All of these services will keep your connections encrypted and safe from prying eyes, and they will help you to bypass any regional restrictions that are stopping you from accessing your favorite websites or streaming services.

Take advantage of the money-back periods offered by the services on our list to give a few of them a spin without any risk.

Let me know in the comments below which VPN you decided to go with and how it is working out for you.

See also:

• Best VPN for Mac
• Best VPN for iPhone
• Does Mac need antivirus?
• Best antivirus for Mac