The best VPN Chrome extensions

Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world. It makes sense, then, that there are dozens of Chrome virtual private network (VPN) extensions to wade through. While most Chrome VPN extensions are proxies rather than full-blown VPNs, they’re still popular picks with everyday web browsers. Basically, proxies hide your IP address while VPNs hide your IP address and encrypt your device’s internet data.

That’s why we recommend using one of the best VPNs instead of a browser extension. Still, for those after a VPN Chrome extension, prices range from free—with limited server options or speed and data limits—to premium priced products that can cost around $15 to $20 for a monthly subscription.

We’ll dive into the specifics of each Chrome VPN extension below. Before that, here’s a quick look at how the Chrome VPN extensions compare.

If you go searching for free Google Chrome VPN extensions, you’ll likely quickly come across Hola VPN. We don’t recommend that one for several reasons detailed in our in-depth Hola VPN review, but we do recommend starting with CyberGhost. As a full-fledged VPN, CyberGhost ranks as one of our top-pick VPN services. As a Google Chrome VPN extension, CyberGhost is a great place to start if you want to see what VPN proxies are all about without having to pay a cent. Click the big connect button or choose from United States, Romania, Netherlands or Germany. Neither are particularly fast from Australia, but they are fast enough for browsing and even some (slow-to-buffer) streaming.

Alternatively, consider free VPN trials from Hotspot Shield, TunnelBear, Windscribe VPN or PrivadoVPN.

Whenever we test a VPN in Australia, we check how well it handles Australian, US and UK streaming services. Windscribe is the best streaming VPN of more than a dozen services we tested. That’s great news for existing subscribers, but for anyone curious about what Windscribe has to offer, there’s a free version so you can try before you buy. There aren’t a whole lot of servers and there are occasionally inconsistent international speeds, but Windscribe is otherwise a great way to protect your IP address and stream content from Australian and global services. The Windscribe Google Chrome extension also has some neat optional features for blocking ads, trackers and malware.

For a reliable streaming alternative, consider the Google Chrome extensions for ExpressVPN, NordVPN and ProtonVPN.

Hotspot Shield is a great all-rounder VPN. It’s easy to use, fast in Australia and works well with most streaming services. There’s also a great free version, which can be used to test the service or Hotspot Shield Chrome extension. If you do pony up for a comparatively pricey subscription fee, you can remove the 500MB-per-day restriction. Plus, Hotspot Shield can be used on five devices simultaneously. Admittedly, that’s not the biggest number, but Hotspot Shield also offers a family plan for up to 25 simultaneous connections. In terms of the Hotspot Shield Chrome extension, there’s a great range of toggle-on options, including ad, tracker and malware blocking (among others).

For other VPN versatility options, consider Surfshark VPN, IPVanish and Windscribe.

If you already have an ongoing VPN subscription, we strongly recommend starting there. Most VPNs will offer a Google Chrome extension because it’s the most popular web browser. That said, if you pay for a VPN, we strongly advise using the full service instead of a Chrome extension.

Why? Because VPNs hide your IP address and encrypt your data, while browser extensions tend to be proxies that hide your IP address but don’t necessarily encrypt your data. If your main concern is convenience, VPNs can typically be configured to auto-connect on start-up (also true of browser extensions).

For those without a VPN subscription, start with a free service to see what it’s like. Options include Hotspot Shield, TunnelBear, Private Internet Access and Atlas VPN. Hola VPN is a popular alternative but we recommend looking at the aforementioned alternatives first as its free version uses device resources. A Chrome VPN extension should be easy to use and not interfere with typical web browsing. Note that free versions may have slower connections to faraway servers, which may impact browsing speeds.

Our analysis for the best Google Chrome VPN extensions starts with our ongoing list of VPN reviews. At the time of writing, that list was 17 services. While there are dozens of VPN Chrome extensions to scroll through, we prefer ones attached to renowned brands.

We appraised our list of top-scoring VPNs and used it to create a categorised short list. The next step was to visit the Chrome Web Store to see how the respective extensions scored with users. We paid close attention to ones that had the most downloads and the highest score, then ruled out certain options based on this, including Surfshark and NordVPN.

The next step was to put each extension through its paces. We checked how easy it was to connect, which servers were available, the simplicity and viability of streaming, and what extra options were tucked away.