Hands-on VPN and privacy-tool reviews funded by affiliate commissions; by its own disclosure its corporate parent owns a VPN it reviews, so weigh the "100% impartial" promise accordingly.
What it's really for An affiliate-funded privacy-tool review site with hands-on testing.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its lab-tested VPN and privacy-tool rankings, not everything the site does.
Medium Scoring Confidence Mostly sourced, but a detail or two still needs a primary source, so the grade could shift slightly.
Revenue comes from affiliate commissions paid by the VPN and privacy services it links to; the site states reviews are "100% impartial" and that payment does not buy placement, but it does not publish the commission rates or partner list next to its rankings.
Source →- Operating since
- 2013 (13 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Affiliate-funded editorial review site that ranks VPNs and privacy tools and earns a commission when readers sign up through its links.
- What they do
- It publishes hands-on, lab-tested reviews and rankings of VPNs, secure email, password managers and other privacy services, plus guides and privacy news.
- What to watch for
- The catch: most recommendations are paid affiliate links, and the site's corporate parent (Pango/Aura) also owns a VPN brand, a conflict it discloses only on a separate disclaimer page rather than beside the rankings.
- Composite score
- 2.60 / 5.00 → grade C+
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- "We earn an affiliate commission if you purchase certain services via our site... All of our reviews are 100% impartial. We don't have any commercial relationships with most services we recommend and review." The page also identifies the owner as Comparitech Limited, part of the Pango group, ultimate parent WC SACD Holdings Inc. Source: ProPrivacy — How we make money (disclaimer) →
- ProPrivacy (formerly BestVPN.com) and Comparitech were acquired by Aura.com / Pango, the owner of the free VPN Hotspot Shield, in a deal reportedly worth US$50–100M; the article notes 'there is currently no clear mention of this ownership change on the site but instead a small mention on the disclaimer page.' Source: VPNCompare — Hotspot Shield owner acquires Comparitech & ProPrivacy →
- ProPrivacy describes running dedicated servers in the US and Australia that speed-test VPNs three times a day, weighting average download speed 60% and burst speed 40% into 7-day rolling averages — evidence of real hands-on testing, though it does not publish a fully reproducible methodology. Source: ProPrivacy — VPN Speed Tests methodology →