Real hands-on lab testing and a published method, but it earns affiliate commissions from the very VPNs it ranks — independence rests on a firewall the reader has to take on trust.
What it's really for A VPN review site with real in-house testing, funded by affiliate commissions from the VPNs it rates.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its multi-week hands-on VPN test scores, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Revenue comes from affiliate commissions paid by VPN vendors (the "How We Make Money" page lists 16 paying providers including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark and CyberGhost); the site states paying does not buy a better review rating but acknowledges compensation may influence placement order on its advertising-only comparison pages.
Source →- Operating since
- 2016 (10 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- A VPN review and ranking site that funds itself with affiliate commissions paid by the VPN providers it tests and recommends.
- What they do
- It runs in-house, multi-week hands-on tests across nine weighted categories (privacy, speed, security, streaming, etc.) on paid-for subscriptions and publishes scored reviews plus original research like its free-VPN Risk Index.
- What to watch for
- By its own disclosure, the company earns referral fees from many of the VPNs it ranks, and while it says those fees don't affect editorial ratings, compensation can influence the order of products on separate ad-only comparison pages.
- Composite score
- 4.00 / 5.00 → grade A-
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
- Top10VPN states it earns affiliate commissions from VPN providers and lists 16 compensating partners (including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, CyberGhost); it says referral fees do not influence review ratings but that compensation may influence how, where and in what order products appear on pages used solely for advertising, accessible only via ads. Source: Top10VPN — How We Make Money →
- The site describes a data-driven methodology with 40+ hours of initial hands-on testing per VPN across nine weighted categories (Privacy 20%, Streaming 15%, Speed 15%, Security 15%, etc.), says it never accepts money to review a VPN or improve a rating, buys its own subscriptions ($25,000+ since 2016), and claims findings are largely reproducible by following the published method. Source: Top10VPN — How We Test & Rate VPN Services →
- Top10VPN is described as an independent VPN review website founded by Antonio Argiolas in 2016 and part of PrivacyCo Ltd., registered in England & Wales (Company No. 09435976); its original research, including the VPN Risk Index, has been cited by outlets such as Forbes, the BBC, The New York Times and Freedom House. Source: Top10VPN — About Us →