Mullvad doesn’t do a great job in terms of value for money due to its lack of features. Valentina Bravo is a managing editor at Cloudwards with a rich background in technology topics, particularly productivity tools and online security. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and a triple Master’s degree in Literary and Cultural Studies. Outside of work, she is a travel enthusiast, music lover and avid learner interested in global cultures, spirituality, psychology and neuroscience. Hide.me’s apps make it simple to connect to a server to browse the dark web. The interface is simple to navigate, so it never took me more than 5 seconds to find and connect to one of its servers.
Up to 6 devices at once can be connected simultaneously to the service. The provider’s speedy connections are well-protected thanks to military-grade encryption and their Stealth VPN option. PrivateVPN’s proprietary “VPN over Tor” feature routes your connection through the Tor network, doing an excellent job of protecting your online activities and your privacy. Privacy is well-protected here thanks to a strict no-logs policy that never records your online travels. Plus, a Bitcoin payment option can be paired with a disposable email address to make your VPN account totally anonymous. Surfshark offers high levels of protection and reliability while charging a low price.
Secure Your Dark Web Sessions
That said, if you’re serious about staying secure and anonymous long-term, NordVPN is clearly the best VPN for accessing the dark web. With long-term plans starting at just over $3/month, it’s also one of the most affordable ways to get premium-level privacy while browsing the dark web. We got consistent performance on European and US free servers, and Tor connections stayed stable even when flipping between sites. It’s not as fast as NordVPN or Proton VPN, but for free access, it was smoother than expected — especially compared to some “free forever” VPNs that are borderline unusable.
It’s lightweight, privacy-focused, and gives you more flexibility than most other free options, without sacrificing speed or leaking your data. That means you can access .onion sites without even opening the Tor browser. For deeper access or full Tor anonymity, you can also stack NordVPN with the Tor browser for double encryption, and during testing, everything stayed stable. This area of the web is arguably best known for the illegal activities that are conducted here, such as black markets and the exchange of illegal items or services.
Best Free VPNs For The Dark Web For Up To 30 Days
ExpressVPN is stationed in the British Virgin Islands and has over 15 third-party security audits. With its addition of a dedicated IP address and data removal service, ExpressVPN is a complete pick. The provider is one of the most affordable, making it a no-brainer in our book.
Dark Web Chat/Social Networks
Stay informed, avoid questionable undertakings, and use a secure VPN to explore safely from the comfort of your glowy screen. The choice is yours on how to proceed – now with your privacy fully protected. Always enable extra protections like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) using browsers like Firefox. Stay vigilant for any leaks or lapses that could compromise your identity. And most importantly – remember that logging into personal accounts, sharing confidential info, or engaging in illegal activities could still expose you, VPN or not. Without a trustworthy VPN, almost nothing you do on the dark web is truly anonymous.
- We can conclude that this portion of the internet can be dangerous but again, you’re in control and decide which websites you want to visit.
- Many make unsubstantiated security and privacy claims, which is why we methodically test them against 15 different security and privacy criteria.
- In the same fashion, it has native clients for all major platforms coupled with 10 simultaneous connections.
- If you connect to a VPN and then use the Tor Browser, it’s known as Onion over VPN.
- Do not log into any of your personal accounts, such as social media platforms, email inboxes, or bank accounts, when exploring the dark web.
Configure Tor Before You Begin
Visiting .onion forums or encrypted marketplaces isn’t a crime on its own, but accessing illicit content, buying restricted items, or interacting with criminal services definitely is. Always stick to legal use, and don’t click random links without protection. IPVanish protects your internet connection well with military-grade encryption. The provider also offers kill switch protection, auto-reconnect, “scramble,” and IPv6 leak protection. Like NordVPN, Proton VPN, too, offers built-in Tor support for accessing Onion sites.
Useful Features
However, because it’s almost completely anonymous, there are a lot of illegal images, information, products, and services on the dark web. Attempting to even view these can be illegal in many countries and states, so stay well clear of them if you want to keep a clean record and conscience. Venturing into the dark corners of the internet can be risky business. The dark web, while valued by some for its anonymity, is also notorious as a hotbed of illicit activity.
They can add 5GB of data to the monthly bandwidth if they tweet about the VPN. With so much bandwidth, users won’t face any speed issues while accessing the dark web. It protects against IP and DNS leaks and ensures the ISP doesn’t know about your activities. However, it doesn’t allow users to use the kill switch and the Smart VPN feature, which is only available in the paid plan. Technically yes, if your VPN supports Onion Over VPN, like NordVPN does.
Best VPNs For The Dark Web In 2025
IPv6 and DNS leak protection are optional, though they’re enabled by default in the apps. We tested these and also looked for any evidence of IPv4 and WebRTC leaks. ExpressVPN uses strong encryption and robust leak protection that ensures your data never escapes the secure tunnel.
This lightweight operating system was designed to keep private data private and leave no trace of information behind. It even deploys cryptographic tools to encrypt your e-mails and instant messages. Not all VPN services provide the same level of security, however.
You provide your email and password when subscribing to the provider. The 2-year plan with 4 free months is the absolute banger and includes everything the company has to offer. No doubt, this is one of the most impressive VPNs to use for the dark web that you can test risk-free below.
Get yourself a thumb drive; 8GB will do, but you can buy one with more space if you plan on using it for anything else. This multi-layered redirection ensures your actions leave no trace, offering a high level of anonymity. Choosing Tor over standard browsers is crucial for dark web navigation due to its unique privacy features. A VPN for the darknet will also help you unblock Tor in countries where it’s blocked so that you can enjoy the dark web no matter where you live.
- But that’s not recommended from a security standpoint and requires far more technical understanding to set up.
- There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee if you want to take it for an obligation-free spin.
- Download Tor Browser to experience real private browsing without tracking, surveillance, or censorship.
- This will allow you to take action right away and reduce the risk of any further damage to your data or identity.
- However, the use of Threat Protection Pro will block ads and trackers often found on Onion websites.
If you want to improve your security further, you could also use a VPN at the same time as Tor. For the most security-conscious, you can even install the Tails operating system on a flash drive and run Tor from that. Protect private web traffic from snooping, interference, and censorship. All plans are covered by a no-hassle 100% money-back guarantee for your first 30 days of service. Leaving apps (especially banking and streaming apps) open on your device can give prying eyes on the dark web access to your personal information. How you’ll access the dark web with ExpressVPN differs for PC and mobile devices.
We used the key criteria below to find VPNs that deliver a higher level of privacy for users curious about the dark web. The internet we’re familiar with is only a fraction of what’s really out there. Just below the surface lies the deep web and the dark web, areas that contain countless difficult to find websites, marketplaces, blogs, social sites, and more. So, it’s necessary to disable it before surfing the dark web to ensure your details aren’t hacked. We also have RAM-only NoSpy servers located in Romania, outside the Eyes jurisdictions. Neither your ISP nor the government will be able to see what you’re doing online when the VPN is turned on either.
This means you can directly open the dark web and start exploring after you’ve connected to a NordVPN or Proton VPN server from their app. Proton VPN is last on my list, primarily because it’s a bit more expensive than the others. Under the hood, though, it’s just as secure as the best of them. Last year, it joined hands with the Tor Project to help build a more secure internet, as well as to improve the user experience of its apps when connecting to the Tor network.
