Business VPNs

The top 5 business VPNS for medium to small businessesA VPN — Virtual Private Network — is a vital tool for keeping your business communications and files safe and secure. Businesses have different VPN needs from consumers and business VPNs often provide different features and pricing structures to better reflect these requirements.

Quick Navigation: Top 5 Best Business VPNS

First, though, why do businesses need a VPN?

        
Businesses need a VPN for security

The primary reason businesses should use a VPN is to keep themselves safe. A VPN ensures that communication with clients is secure, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks that can leave your client data vulnerable — and your business liable for hefty fines.

If your staff have VPN on as standard on their work devices, they can even use insecure wifi networks at airports or hotels in perfect safety.

And a VPN can protect you from direct cyber attacks like hacking attempts too.

 

Provider
Features
Price
Website
  • Good Support
  • Great fro Organizations
  • Unlimited data usage
$ $8 per month

How common are cyber attacks on businesses?

61% of small and medium businesses experienced a cyber attack in 2017, up from 55% in 2016, resulting in average losses of $2, 235,000, according to a report from Ponemon.

Spear phishing attacks steal personal data from emails and other forms of communication, then use that data to attack the business. These are even more common: attacks like these have grown 65% in the last year and 95% of attacks on enterprise networks are achieved by spear phishing.

Keeping your IP concealed

VPNs conceal your IP address, the unique number that physically locates you on the internet. Without this, you’re much harder to attack. With your IP, someone can hunt down your address in the real world and use that knowledge to decide if you’re a fitting target for attacks. They can use that geographic data to build up a picture of your company so they know how to attack you more efficiently.

It’s also necessary to know your IP address to launch a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack that brings your website or network down — and potentially infects your company with malware.

Encrypting your traffic

VPNs encrypt your traffic, using powerful encryption algorithms that make it impossible or very difficult to hack into your communications with clients, suppliers, contractors and employees. Without a VPN, common communication tools like email are totally exposed to man-in-the-middle attacks, so criminals could be reading your ‘mail’ — you’d never know.

When we commonly carry out financial transactions, access sensitive client information and discuss vital business data online, it’s vital to have this protection.

What to look for in a business VPN

Every business is different, so every business VPN is a little different. In general, though, you should look at factors like:

Security

Does it have solid security measures, strong encryption and good reviews?

Server distribution

Server DistributionAre its servers where you need them to be? A VPN whose servers are primarily in Asia might not be the best fit for a US-based company.

Customer support

Costumer SupportDoes it look after its customers well? If you need help, do they come through for you?

Speed

Is the VPN fast enough to keep up with your business?

Pricing

The actual price is likely less of a concern than the pricing structure. If you’re planning to expand, you need to look at how much you’ll pay when you grow, not just what it costs now. Does the provider charge you to upgrade? Do they have an enterprise plan? Does their per-seat pricing plan still make sense when you have three or four times the number of staff you do now?

 

Perimeter 81

Nord

IPVanish

CyberGhost

ExpressVPN

Security

Excellent, business-oriented

Excellent: double VPN, TOR over VPN

Good: 256-bit AES over multiple protocols

Good: 256-bit AES over multiple protocols

Good: No logs, 256-bit AES encryption

Servers

Extensive server net, dedicated server available

Over 5,000 in over 60 countries.

1000+ in 54 countries

1,324 servers in 52 countries

Over 2,000 across 92 countries

Support

Excellent, but English only

24/7 priority support, English only

Email, phone, knowledge base, tickets, no live chat

Live chat, FAQs

Live chat, videos, FAQs

Speed

Excellent

Speed isn’t usually affected much by using Nord.

Slower than Nord on average

US and Oceania fast, rest of the world slower

Consistently the fastest VPN in tests

Pricing

$10/mo/seat or custom for enterprise

$3.99/mo/user (2-year plan), deals for multiple users

$3.74/mo/user (2-year plan)

$3.50/mo/user (2-year plan)

$8.32/mo/user (1-year plan)

Best for…

Midsize and enterprise

Growing SMBs, midsize business

SMBs where speed isn’t a major concern

Tech-oriented SMBs requiring international speed

SMBs that need fast connections

Best VPNs for business

1: Perimeter 81Perimeter 81 serious business vpn

Perimeter 81 offers:

  • VPN server management and monitoring
  • Activity and audit reports
  • Single Sign-On
  • Cloud management platform
  • Activity API
  • User and role management
  • Software Defined Perimeter architecture
  • VPN server deployment
  • Unlimited data, bandwidth
  • Automatic wifi security
  • Apps for Windows, OSX, iOS, Android
  • On-premise or cloud deployment
  • Enterprise support

Those features make it the single best option for businesses of any size. And it consistently gets solid reviews that stress ease of use, technical integrations, and great support.

Perimeter 81 offers two versions, one for smaller business and one for enterprises.

Perimeter 81 for SMBs

The SMB version is priced at $10/mo/seat, and comes with apps for Android, iOS, OSX and Windows to make adoption and compliance easy. Dedicated VPN servers are hosted in Perimeter 81’s secure cloud, located in the USA, UK, Netherlands, France, India, and Singapore; alternatively there are servers located across 35 countries. Unlike a consumer-level VPN, Perimeter 81 delivers audit and activity reports and permissioned access, as well as unlimited bandwidth and data.

Perimeter 81 for enterprise

Perimeter 81 gives custom quotes on its enterprise version, which comes with a host of additional features including Single Sign-on via AD/LDAP, SAML, and MFA, on-premise and cloud server implementation, management and monitoring, and on-demand worldwide server access as well as advanced configuration and enterprise support.

How does Perimeter 81 stack up?

Security

Excellent: business-oriented active security measures include unknown network threat monitoring, CASBs and automatic wifi security as well as AES 256-bit encryption.

Servers

Extensive international server net, dedicated cloud or on-premise server available

Speed

Excellent

Devices

 

iOS

OSX

Windows

Linux

Android

Web-based

Pricing

$10/seat/mo (business); custom quote (enterprise)

Features

Best in class for business features

Support

Excellent, but available currently in English only

Business types

SMBs, midsize and enterprises

Those features make it the single best option for businesses of any size. And it consistently gets solid reviews that stress ease of use, technical integrations, and great support.

Perimeter 81 positive reviewSource

Learn more about Perimeter 81 as soon as we have a review up.

{Get Perimeter 81 for your business now }

2: NordVPNNord VPN small business VPN

Nord has one of the best reps around in the VPN space. It’s been running over a decade and offers its consumer customers a features-rich, easy-to-use experience at a very low price

So how does Nord VPN stack up as a business VPN?

In addition to features like double VPN, obfuscation and powerful, AES-256 encryption, Nord for business comes with additional benefits:

  • Dedicated IP or server deployment
  • Centralized billing
  • Dedicated account manager
  • User administration and permissions
  • 24/7 priority support
  • License transferability between named individuals

Nord’s business VPN is essentially its consumer offering with additions and tweaks to make it more business-friendly. But that shouldn’t make you discount it: Nord is one of the most powerful and effective VPNs out there. And it scores in some ways even over Perimeter 81’s purpose-built business VPN service. It’s cheaper, for one thing; and it’s also extremely intuitive to use. Nord keeps no logs, and for business users, there are permissioned accounts and other advanced account management options, plus a price reduction when buying multiple accounts.

Nord gets good reviews from its users:

Nord VPN positive review

Source

How does NordVPN for business stack up?

Security

Top of the line: no logs, AES-256, double VPN.

Servers

Over 5,000 in over 60 countries.

Speed

Speed isn’t usually affected much by using Nord.

Devices

 

Windows

Linux

iOS

OSX

Android

 

Pricing

Low already — $3.99/mo for a 2-year deal — and even lower with multiple seats

Features

Best in class for security and ease of use

Support

24/7 priority support for business users, currently available only in English

Business types

Any size, but probably best for SMB/midsize businesses

Provider
Features
Price
Website

"A speedy VPN that's very easy to use and covers basic privacy needs well enough"

  • Excellent available variety of servers
  • Servers are fast and secure
  • Offers six connections
$11.95 $3.99 per month
Save 66%

3: IPVanishIPVanish small business VPN

IPVanish has over a thousand servers in 54 countries, and it’s known as one of the fastest VPNs around. It doesn’t keep logs (see below), and has apps for iOS, OSX, Windows, Linux and Android. As a reliable choice for a smaller business, it’s a sound option, though its interface is a little less user-friendly than some.

 

(There has been some controversy over IPVanish’s logging practices, with TorrentFreak reporting that the company had supplied Homeland Security with customer information.)

How does IPVanish for business stack up?

Security

Powerful encryption including 256-bit AES across multiple protocols

Servers

1000+ in 54 countries

Speed

Mixed reputation. Slower than average download speeds for this quality of VPN.

Devices

 

iOS

Android

OSX

Windows

Windows Mobile

Linux

Pricing

$6.49/mo for a 1-year plan, $3.74/mo for 2-year plan (special offer)

Features

Top-end VPN features set including SockS5 tunnel proxy

Support

Email, phone, a knowledge base and tickets. No live chat

Business types

Best for smaller businesses, as there’s no dedicated business plan

Provider
Features
Price
Website
  • Servers number into the hundreds
  • BitTorrenting allowed
  • Offers a kill switch
$11.99 $6.49 per month
Save 46%

4: CyberGhostCyberghost Business VPN

CyberGhost is probably a better choice for smaller businesses that don’t require a full enterprise service. It doesn’t have a dedicated business service at all, but it’s reliable, fairly fast and has decent security and no logs. It runs over 1300 servers, distributed across 52 countries.

If security is a really major concern, though, you might want to shop elsewhere. Cyberghost was recently sold to a company called Crossrider which is based in the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency which is likely to be compliant with British security services and police.

It gets good reviews:

Cyberghost positive reviews

Source

The app is pleasant and easy to use, but it does load slower than some others.

One thing CyberGhost does have in its favor is an unusual variety of devices: if you’re using Raspberry Pis in your business, or you want to install your VPN on a router, CyberGhost is a good choice.

How does CyberGhost for business stack up?

Security

AES 256-bit encryption, no logs

Servers

1,324 servers in 52 countries

Speed

Fastest to US and Oceania, slower to the rest of the world, but still respectable

Devices

 

Windows

OSX

iOS

Android

Linux

Chrome OS

Raspberry Pi

Routers

Pricing

$3.50/mo for a 2-year plan, $6.49/mo for a 1-year plan

Features

DNS leak protection, killswitch, unlimited bandwidth and traffic

Support

Live chat support, FAQs

Business types

Best for smaller businesses

Provider
Features
Price
Website
  • Highest Encryption Available
  • No Logs Policy
  • 2200 Servers Located in 60 Different, Countries
$11.99 $2.75 per month
Save 77%

5: ExpressVPNExpressVpn Business VPN

ExpressVPN bills itself on its speed. When we tested five popular VPN services for speed, that’s what we found: Express was slightly but consistently faster than everything else we tried.

Other than that, it’s a standard first-rate VPN: no logs, easy to use, 256-bit AES over OpenVPN, IPSec and IKEv2, and over 2,000 servers across 90+ countries.

It gets great reviews:

ExpressVPN positive reviews

Source

 

How does ExpressVPN for business stack up?

Security

No logs, 256-bit AES encryption, OpenVPN, server authentication

Servers

Over 2,000 across 92 countries

Speed

ExpressVPN is almost always at least slightly faster than the competition.

Devices

 

Windows

OSX

Linux

Chrome OS

Android

iOS

Kindle

Nook

Routers

 

Pricing

$8.32/mo for a 1-year plan, $9.99/mo for a 6-month plan

Features

Supports a wide range of devices, fast, easy to use

Support

Live chat, video tutorials, FAQs

Business types

Best for smaller businesses that need fast internet

Provider
Features
Price
Website
  • 256-bit AES Encryption
  • Blazing Fast Connection Speed
  • No Logs
$12.95 $8.32 per month
Save 35%