Black Friday's VPN deals are now live, meaning it's currently the best time of year to get your hands on one of the best VPNs at a super low rate.
However, if you're unfamiliar with VPNs and what they can be used for, you may be unsure of whether or not you need one.
Here, we'll take you through all the different ways you can use a VPN to protect yourself online, both at home and on public Wi-Fi, gain access to geo-restricted content, and skirt past internet censorship.
Are VPNs for everyone?
Although we strongly recommend them, VPNs aren't necessarily for everyone. They provide you with online privacy – keeping your information hidden from prying eyes when you're browsing online, and changing your IP address.
If it's anonymity you're looking for, then VPNs don't grant that. Staying truly anonymous is far harder than protecting your privacy, and you may be better starting off by using something such as Tor. The Tor Browser allows you to access the encrypted Onion Network, which makes it more difficult to trace your internet activity, and enables anonymous communication. For the best protection, you should use Tor alongside a VPN.
On the flip side, if you don't care about any kind of online privacy (although you should), then you probably won't need a VPN. The same goes for if you have no electronic devices in your life at all – a mean feat in 2025.
If you've made it this far, then you're probably considering a VPN. So let's run through some scenarios they're perfect for.
Unblocking streaming sites
Streaming is one of the main reasons people get a VPN. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and others offer different content libraries in different regions because of varying licensing agreements across countries. For example, Netflix might have the right to stream a particular movie in the US, while the rights to that same movie might belong to Prime Video in the UK.
However, using one of the best streaming VPNs opens up a whole new world of streaming content by allowing you to access libraries from around the globe. All you have to do is choose a VPN server in the country where your streaming platform of choice is available. This tricks the platform into believing you’re physically located within that country, giving you access to content that would otherwise be geo-blocked.
Unsurprisingly, these providers also feature heavily in our fastest VPN list, as there's nothing worse than a slow VPN when you're settling down to watch your favourite shows.
Staying safe on public Wi-FI
Many of us enjoy working or browsing the internet from local coffee shops, co-working spaces, and public transport, with free public Wi-Fi a feature in all of them. If this sounds like you, then a VPN may come in handy.
Public Wi-Fi is often open (meaning it doesn’t require you to enter a password or login credentials) and unsecured (it doesn’t employ any form of wireless encryption to safeguard your data). This leaves you at great risk of being targeted by hackers who may not only read your unencrypted network traffic but also try to redirect you to fake phishing websites to deliver malware or steal your sensitive information, like card details, login credentials, your location, any files/photos you send, etc.
Then there’s the risk of rogue hotspots. These are fake networks set up by criminals using names that closely resemble legitimate Wi-Fi hotspots, say at cafes or airports. The idea is to trick users into thinking they’re connecting to a genuine public Wi-Fi network, when in reality it makes them vulnerable to cyber threats.
However, using a VPN on public Wi-Fi will encrypt your data, which makes it impossible to identify, even if collected by a hacker
Scams. phishing, and antivirus
As we spend more and more time online, protecting yourself from scams and phishing is more important than ever. You should be alert at all times, but especially around holiday seasons such as Black Friday or Christmas with things such as fake shops. Scammers prey on Black Friday buyers, so it is vital to ensure you're protected.
You should adopt best practices such as only shopping on reputable, well-known platforms, verifying the website’s URL before entering any personal or payment details, using strong, unique passwords for your shopping accounts and enabling two-factor authentication whenever possible, avoiding purchases over public Wi-Fi unless you’re connected through a VPN, and monitoring your bank statements during and after the sale period for any suspicious charges.
But alongside these habits, you can protect yourself with some of the best antivirus software, and some VPNs include protection features. Our top-rated VPN, NordVPN, includes Threat Protection Pro in all but its basic plan. Threat Protection Pro blocks phishing attacks, ads, and malware, protecting you from malicious websites and cybercriminals.
Even better, AV-Test’s recent evaluation, which put four competitors head-to-head, rated NordVPN as the best VPN for malware protection. It also performed very well in our own testing, blocking 87% of the 100 new malicious URLs we tried to open. To put this number in context, dedicated antivirus services like Bitdefender blocked 89%. What’s more, Threat Protection Pro was recently upgraded to include hijacked session alerts.
Some other VPN providers include similar protection features. Proton VPN, one of the most secure VPNs, offers NetShield, and ExpressVPN, the best beginner VPN, has Threat Manager. However, both these features don't perform as well as Threat Protection Pro. In the same testing by AV-TEST, Proton VPN scored 4.43%, and ExpressVPN scored 2.77%.
If you do find yourself the victim of cybercrime, both NordVPN and ExpressVPN boast an identity protection feature. Nord has NordProtect, which offers up to $1 million for expenses incurred in restoring your identity, cyber extortion protection of up to $100,000, as well as 24/7 dark web personal information monitoring.
ExpressVPN's Identity Defender is made up of similar levels of protection. It also provides ID Theft Insurance of up to $1 million, and a personal information monitoring tool known as ID Alerts. As well as this, it includes Data Removal, which requests the removal of any personal data held by data brokers.
Reducing your digital footprint
Have you ever been talking about something, or searched for it online, and suddenly you're bombarded with ads for it? This will be the result of cookies and trackers. I'm sure you'll be familiar with cookies – almost every website you visit will be asking if you accept them – and you should be clicking "no!" They are just one part of an ecosystem of trackers and data that forms your digital footprint and paints a very detailed picture of your online habits.
A VPN is a life saver in this scenario, thanks to it keeping your browsing private and protecting your information. You should combine a VPN with using an incognito browser, and always reject third-party and non-essential cookies. Some sites require certain cookies to actually work, so it may not be possible to totally reject them. Many VPNs include ad blockers in their plans, and alongside the best ad blockers, these will improve your online experience and reduce your digital footprint.
Living under strict censorship
Global internet freedoms deteriorated in 2025, with 9 of the 18 countries that previously had a “free” internet freedom status losing ground. The biggest declines were seen in Georgia, Germany, and the US, while in Kenya the government carried out a violent crackdown on nationwide protests by shutting down the internet for the first time in the country’s history.
In the US, search interest for VPNs has been on the rise ever since 24 states enacted active age-verification laws. While these laws may be well-intended – aiming to restrict children from accessing adult-only content – they also pose a huge privacy risk by asking citizens to submit sensitive personal details such as Face ID and other personally identifiable information to sites that are in no position to guarantee the safe storage of that data.
In countries where governments are restricting rights and freedoms, VPNs are the best way to access blocked content. The best China VPNs, and the best Russia VPNs, are key to accessing foreign news, social media, and fighting censorship.
Holidays
We all love going on holiday, but you might find yourself missing your home comforts when you're abroad. Using one of the best travel VPNs will allow you to browse the internet as if you were sat on the sofa at home.
You can access country-specific streaming sites such as BBC iPlayer, meaning you never have to miss your favourite shows. Privacy is also often a concern, especially when abroad, and a VPN will keep you safe and reassure you when connecting to potentially insecure and unknown public Wi-Fi in foreign countries.
Torrenting
If you're looking to torrent and share P2P, you'll need one of the best torrenting VPNs. Peer-to-peer networks (P2P) allow two or more devices to connect and share resources, without the need for a separate server.
It’s also worth noting that torrenting (with or without a VPN) isn’t against the law as long as you use it for legitimate purposes, like decentralized file sharing, leveraging faster transfer speeds, or distributing open-source or public domain content. Torrenting only becomes illegal when you're sharing copyrighted material without permission – which we do not condone or encourage.
Most VPNs support P2P and torrenting, but Private Internet Access (PIA) is our pick, thanks to its stellar P2P support. PIA is also one of the best VPNs because of its excellent streaming power, over 20,000 servers, endless customization options, and great value.
So should you get a VPN?
If any of what I've said here applies to you, then yes, you should consider getting a VPN this Black Friday. They're a vital tool in keeping your browsing private, protecting yourself from trackers and malware, and great for accessing blocked streaming content. Whatever you need one for, there'll be a VPN for you.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
