A high-traffic VPN review site whose parent, Kape Technologies, also owns several of the VPNs it ranks — a conflict it now discloses, after reporting noted its top picks shifted toward Kape-owned products post-acquisition.
What it's really for An affiliate VPN review site once owned by a company that also owns VPNs it ranks.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its ranked 'best VPN' lists, 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 when readers buy through vpnMentor's links; the site says it doesn't accept payment for positive reviews, but its own disclosure states rankings "may take into consideration" both affiliate commissions and the fact that parent Kape Technologies owns several reviewed VPNs.
Source →- Operating since
- 2014 (12 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- Affiliate-funded VPN and privacy-product review site that ranks services via hands-on testing, earning commissions when readers buy through its links.
- What they do
- Publishes tested reviews and ranked "best VPN" lists plus privacy news, monetized through affiliate commissions on the products it recommends.
- What to watch for
- By its own disclosure, several top-ranked VPNs (ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Intego) are owned by the same parent company, and rankings "may take into consideration" that common ownership and the affiliate commissions earned.
- Composite score
- 2.70 / 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
- vpnMentor's own About page discloses: 'We are in the same ownership group as some of the products reviewed on this site: CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, Intego, and Private Internet Access.' It adds that the 'rankings and reviews we publish may also take into consideration the common ownership mentioned above, and affiliate commissions we earn for purchases through links,' while stating it pays full price for VPNs tested and doesn't accept payment for positive reviews. Source: vpnMentor - About Us →
- Reporting documents that in May 2021 Kape Technologies (formerly Crossrider) bought Webselenese, operator of vpnMentor.com and WizCase.com, and that 'Since Kape purchased these websites, we see big rankings changes, with all of the top 3 recommendations given to Kape's own VPN companies' — having previously ranked NordVPN and Surfshark near the top. Source: CyberInsider - Kape Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, PIA and VPN review sites →
- Kape Technologies' VPN holdings include CyberGhost (2017), Private Internet Access (2019), and ExpressVPN (2021, ~$936M), the same products promoted at the top of its owned review sites — illustrating the structural conflict between owning both the reviewer and the reviewed. Source: CyberInsider - Kape acquisitions →