Best no-log VPNs 2024: Keep your online activity off the record
A VPN that keeps records leads to questions over privacy, so if you want a VPN to protect your browsing, only the best “no-log” VPNs will do
VPNs (or virtual private networks) are designed to mask your IP address and prevent anyone from spying on your browsing activity and building a picture of what you do online. However, you still need to trust that the VPN service itself won’t store information about your online activity while using their service. This is where “no-logs” VPNs come into the picture. If you’re ready to start down the path of no-log nirvana, here are a few of the best no-log VPNs we’ve tested and reviewed.
Best no-log VPNs: At a glance
| Best mainstream secure no-logs VPN | NordVPN (~From £2.39/mth) | Check price at NordVPN |
| Best security and privacy no-logs VPN | Proton VPN: (~From £8.53/mth) | Check price at Proton VPN |
| Best no-logs VPN for streaming | Private Internet Access (PIA) (~From £1.67/mth) | Check price at Private Internet Access |
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The best no-log VPNs you can buy in 2024
1. ExpressVPN: Best user-friendly no-logs VPN
Price when reviewed: From £6.84/mth (12mth subscription) | Check prices at ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is quite possibly the closest thing to a household name in the VPN business, and we awarded it five stars in our review for being an overall great VPN that offers high levels of security and effective geo-unblocking with all the streaming services we tested.
In terms of its no-log credentials, ExpressVPN was independently audited by PwC in 2019 and again in 2022 by KPMG. So you get a fantastic mainstream VPN that also has the resources to provide legitimate privacy protection.
Read our full ExpressVPN review
Key specs – Based in: British Virgin Islands (safe); Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Devices (simultaneous): Unlimited (5); Locations: 3,000+ in 94 countries; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes
2. NordVPN: Best mainstream secure no-logs VPN
Price when reviewed: From £2.39/mth (2yr subscription) | Check prices at NordVPN
A few years ago, NordVPN was in the news for all the wrong reasons: the company suffered a serious data breach. However, there’s no evidence that any user logs were part of that breach. In the years following that event, the company seems to have learned from its mistakes, and in our opinion, NordVPN is safe to use.
NordVPN markets itself as a no-log VPN and, with regards to that aspect of its technology, the company has undergone at least three independent audits. Given that NordVPN is otherwise an all-around excellent VPN, we have no issue recommending it as one of the best no-log VPNs around.
Read our full NordVPN review
Key specs – Based in: Panama (safe); Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Devices (simultaneous): Up to 10 devices; Locations: 6,000+ servers in 111 countries; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes
3. Proton VPN: Best security and privacy no-logs VPN
Price when reviewed: From £8.53/mth | Check prices at Proton VPN
Proton VPN is another VPN service that has passed a no-logs audit and impressed us with its excellent security features. The app is easy to use, connection speeds are excellent and overall, this is one of the best VPNs for anonymity thanks to many unique features, including the option to route your data through Tor.
The only real downside is that, at the time of writing, Proton doesn’t offer 24/7 live help. So, if your VPN service is mission-critical and you can’t wait to be helped, you may be better looking elsewhere. Especially since Proton is priced at the higher end of the VPN market.
Read our full Proton VPN review
Key specs – Based in: Switzerland (safe); Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Devices (simultaneous): 1 device (Proton Free), 10 devices (Proton VPN Plus); Locations: 90+ countries; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes
4. Private Internet Access (PIA): Best no-logs VPN for streaming
Price when reviewed: £1.67/mth (3yr subscription) | Check prices at Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access, or “PIA” as it’s more commonly known, is a well-established company that’s garnered a fair amount of respect among VPN users – and it has strong policies against keeping logs. In 2022, the company announced the completion of an independent audit, which also confirmed that the no-logs policy is what PIA promises.
As we noted in our full review, one potential snag is that PIA is within the US jurisdiction, and so doesn’t enjoy the legal benefits to privacy that some other VPNs do. However, given that the no-logs policy is implemented as described, this doesn’t make too much of a practical difference.
As a VPN, we like the range of security features PIA offers, the specialised streaming servers, and the cost-effective pricing of its long-term contracts. That said, performance could be a little better; but if you want an affordable and effective no-log VPN, PIA is one of the top choices.
Read our full Private Internet Access review
Key specs – Based in: United States (caution); Money-back guarantee: 30 days; Devices (simultaneous): 10 devices; Locations: 91 countries; 24/7 customer support: Yes; Streaming service access: Yes
How to choose the best no-log VPN for you
What is a “no-log” VPN?
In general, web servers (which include VPN servers) keep detailed logs about how they’re accessed. This means that someone could later request those logs, find your IP address and derive your identity and location from that information.
This is especially true for governments and law enforcement, since they can compel both the VPN service and your ISP to hand over specific information that will almost certainly identify you.
A no-log VPN gets around this entire hot potato by never keeping logs in the first place. So even if a judge or a hacker was able to get access to the servers, the information they would want simply wouldn’t be there. You can’t compel someone to hand over something that doesn’t exist.
How do no-log VPNs work?
Each VPN service that claims to be a “no-log” VPN will have a slightly different approach to how any logs are handled. Make no mistake – the data that would appear in such logs existed at some point, or else the server couldn’t do its job. However, the trick is to prevent that data from persisting when your VPN session ends.
Usually this means that personal data about your session is only ever kept in RAM (Random Access Memory); it’s never written to an SSD or HDD. Once data is overwritten (or the power is turned off) data in RAM is lost forever.
This sounds simple enough, but it’s actually difficult to ensure that any personal user data isn’t written to a drive where it could be recovered by a data forensics expert. Modern operating systems take many opportunities to log activity, so VPN providers need to carefully engineer their servers to prevent even accidental logging.
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How are no-log VPNs legal?
You may be wondering how it’s even possible for no-log VPNs to get away with not keeping records, and the answer is location, location, location.
By basing servers in countries that have strong privacy laws, or at least those that lack anti-privacy laws, the VPN provider can offer a no-log service. This is the reason you’ll see VPN services advertise that they have servers in Panama or the British Virgin Isles. There are no laws compelling them to keep records in those territories.
However, do be aware that some governments in the world have banned or strongly regulate VPN use. As such, you could still get in trouble for using a VPN in principle if you happen to live in one of those countries.
What is the importance of independent auditing?
It’s one thing for a VPN to claim that it doesn’t keep any logs of user-identifiable data, but quite another for you to verify that. VPN providers are aware of this fact, and so enlist the help of independent auditing firms to show prospective customers that they really are a “no-log” VPN provider.
Until a VPN provider is actually hacked or legally directed to provide logs, an independent audit is the best guarantee you have that no data of your only activity is actually being kept. However, we’d still advise that you consider carefully about the level of sensitivity of your online activity, since even an audit may fail to uncover issues with logging. Also, you should use other privacy enhancing technologies such as Tor to add more layers of obfuscation – at least for online activity that you absolutely don’t want tracked back to you, such as whistleblowing or banned political commentary.
