First-party test data

VPN Benchmark Matrix 2026-2027

NordVPN retained the most speed in our current cycle at 94% of the unencrypted baseline, followed by ProtonVPN at 88%, Surfshark at 86% and ExpressVPN at 85%. All six providers below were measured on the same client connection, and every column is either a measurement we took or a vendor claim we label as such.

Six providers · 11 measured attributes · Last updated

Affiliate disclosure: links to provider sites on this page may earn us a commission. The benchmark data is measured independently of those relationships, and providers cannot pay to change a figure. Read the full disclosure.

What does the benchmark matrix measure?

The matrix tracks eleven attributes per provider: throughput retention, post-quantum handshake support, RAM-only server status, independent no-logs audit history, legal jurisdiction, simultaneous connection limit, DNS/WebRTC/IPv6 leak results, notable features, two-year effective monthly price, and the full review link. Throughput retention is the number that drives the ranking, which is why a provider with a lower overall score can place above one with a higher score.

94%
Highest throughput retention in this cycle (NordVPN)
3 of 6
Providers shipping post-quantum handshakes today
0
Leaks detected across all providers and protocols tested
$2.03
Lowest effective two-year monthly price (PIA)

2026-2027 VPN benchmark table

# Provider Rating Throughput retained Post-quantum RAM-only No-logs audit Jurisdiction Devices 2-yr price
1 NordVPN 4.7 94% Kyber-768 hybrid Yes PwC & Deloitte (4x) Panama 10 $3.09
2 Proton VPN 4.4 88% Secure Core PQ Yes Securitum Switzerland 10 $3.59
3 Surfshark 4.4 86% In deployment Yes Deloitte Netherlands Unlimited $2.19
4 ExpressVPN 4.5 85% Lightway PQ Yes KPMG & Cure53 British Virgin Islands 8 $6.67
5 CyberGhost 4.4 82% No Yes Deloitte Romania 7 $2.19
6 PIA 4.2 81% No Yes Deloitte United States Unlimited $2.03

Ranked by measured throughput retention. Ratings are our editorial scores after full testing, not a restatement of the speed figure. Prices are the advertised effective monthly rate on a two-year plan and exclude taxes, currency conversion and promotional expiry.

What the data shows

  • Protocol choice now matters more than server count. The three fastest providers in this cycle are also the three running WireGuard-derived or custom lightweight protocols. Providers still leaning on OpenVPN in the default configuration sit 8 to 13 percentage points lower.
  • Post-quantum is a differentiator, not a standard. Three of six providers ship a post-quantum handshake today. NordVPN uses a Kyber-768 hybrid over WireGuard, ProtonVPN folds it into Secure Core, and ExpressVPN implements it in Lightway. Surfshark lists deployment in progress. CyberGhost and PIA offered none at test time.
  • RAM-only infrastructure is now the norm at the top. Every provider in this matrix except two reports RAM-only server fleets. It matters because diskless servers cannot persist session data across a reboot.
  • Audit depth varies widely. Audit counts range from a single Deloitte engagement to four separate audits across PwC and Deloitte. A no-logs claim with no audit behind it should be treated as marketing.
  • Price does not track performance. The cheapest provider in the matrix (PIA at $2.03) is also the slowest, while Surfshark at $2.19 retains five points more throughput. The most expensive, ExpressVPN at $6.67, is fourth on speed.

Post-quantum VPN support, compared

Harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks assume an adversary records encrypted traffic today and decrypts it once a cryptographically relevant quantum computer exists. A post-quantum handshake protects the key exchange, not the bulk cipher. In this cycle, NordVPN, ProtonVPN and ExpressVPN complete a post-quantum key exchange by default on at least one protocol, Surfshark is rolling it out, and CyberGhost and PIA do not offer one.

We publish our own measurements of ML-KEM and Kyber handshake behaviour in the post-quantum VPN research paper.

How these numbers were produced

Throughput retention is measured as a percentage of the unencrypted baseline on the same client and network, using repeated runs rather than a single sample. Leak testing covers DNS, WebRTC and IPv6 using the browser-based checks in our leak test tool. Audit and jurisdiction entries come from the providers' published reports and legal filings, and are labelled by auditor name so you can verify them independently.

Limitations, stated plainly. Results are from one client, one network and one region per cycle, so they describe relative performance rather than a guaranteed speed for your connection. Distant servers, ISP peering and local congestion will all move the numbers. Review the full protocol in how we test VPNs before treating any figure as universal.

Download the raw matrix (CSV) Eleven columns, six providers, no paywall. Reuse it with attribution to VPN Security Blog.
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Frequently asked questions

Which VPN is fastest in the 2026-2027 benchmark?
NordVPN retained the highest share of baseline throughput at 94%, followed by ProtonVPN at 88%, Surfshark at 86% and ExpressVPN at 85%. CyberGhost (82%) and PIA (81%) were the slowest in this cycle.
Which VPNs support post-quantum handshakes?
In this cycle NordVPN, ProtonVPN and ExpressVPN ship post-quantum handshakes, with NordVPN using a Kyber-768 hybrid over WireGuard and ExpressVPN using Lightway. Surfshark lists post-quantum key exchange as in deployment. CyberGhost and PIA did not offer one at test time.
What does throughput retention mean?
Throughput retention is the percentage of the unencrypted baseline speed that survived the encrypted tunnel on the same connection. A 94% figure means roughly 6% of raw speed was lost to tunnelling overhead and server routing.
How often is this benchmark updated?
The matrix is refreshed when a provider materially changes protocol, server fleet or pricing, and at the start of each test cycle. The current cycle is 2026-2027 and the page shows the last modified date.

Maintained by the VPN Security Blog editorial team. Cite this page as: VPN Security Blog, VPN Benchmark Matrix 2026-2027, https://vpnsecurity.blog/vpn-benchmarks/. See our testing methodology and disclosure.