That can be a privacy concern on its own. Can You Trust Chrome VPN Extensions?īy default, all Chrome extensions have access to more or less of your browser data. Fortunately, all the extensions we tested secured IP and DNS data. We also used the DNS Leak Test tool (Opens in a new window) to determine if the extension had hidden our IP address (a good thing) and if it was leaking DNS information (a bad thing). We installed and tested all these VPNs in the latest version of the Chrome browser running on a 2020 MacBook Pro.įor each service, we explored its features and tried to access Netflix. That leaves NordVPN, Surfshark VPN, Private Internet Access VPN, CyberGhost VPN, TunnelBear VPN, and ExpressVPN. Keep in mind all these services offer desktop apps and mobile apps in addition to these extensions. Editors' Choice winner Mullvad VPN offers a Firefox plug-in, not a Chrome extension. Less surprisingly, perhaps, there’s also no Chrome VPN from Mozilla-the company does, after all, focus most of its efforts on the Firefox browser. Surprisingly, two of our Editor’s Choice winners, IVPN and ProtonVPN, do not offer any browser options. From these, we looked at which offer a Chrome extension and which don't. To compile this list, we started with our roundup of the best VPN services. If you want actual VPN protection for your machine controlled by your browser, ExpressVPN is your best option. Conveniently, you don't need the ExpressVPN desktop app open in order to use the Chrome extension. This is a real VPN connection that affects not just your browser traffic, but also all the web traffic from your device. Once you do that, you can use either the desktop app or the Chrome extension to control your VPN connection. To use the ExpressVPN Chrome extension, you first need to download and log in to the ExpressVPN desktop app. ExpressVPN describes its Chrome extension as a "remote control" for your VPN and that seems pretty accurate. ExpressVPN's Chrome extension isn't a proxy, but it also isn't a VPN app either. Granted this distinction is confusing, but VPN services should do a better job of explaining exactly what these tools do. Most do note their product will protect your browser traffic, but not all of them say it will only protect your browser traffic. Irritatingly, most VPNs do not make it clear their Chrome extensions are anything other than a full-fledged VPN. We've reached out to the individual vendors to confirm their Chrome extensions function as proxies. We confirmed all the services listed here (with one exception) only encrypt browser traffic. For more on the topic, you can read our explainer, VPNs vs. But it's not a VPN and shouldn't be mistaken for one. If you're only concerned about unblocking online content or adding additional privacy to your web browsing, a proxy is fine. Rerouting your traffic can also unblock some websites and sometimes let you access streaming content from other countries.Īll the other web traffic generated by your machine-from apps, the OS itself, everything-travels as usual. This keeps your ISP from seeing what you're up to (and they can see a lot) and makes you harder to track online by hiding your IP address. In the case of a Chrome extension, only the browser traffic is encrypted and routed. While a VPN uses a VPN protocol to encrypt all the traffic coming off your device and route it through a VPN server, a proxy can only encrypt and route the traffic from one app at a time. It's more likely it's an encrypted proxy. With exceedingly rare exceptions, a Chrome browser extension from a VPN service is not actually a VPN. Most Chrome Browser VPNs (Probably) Aren't VPNs Not all these extensions are as powerful as their sibling apps, however, and almost none of them work the same as true VPNs-they function differently and only protect your browser's traffic. Most VPN services provide apps for just about every platform, and many provide extensions for Google's Chrome browser. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.
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