VPN questions, answered honestly
The questions people actually ask us, including the ones where the honest answer is that a VPN is not the right tool.
Do VPN providers pay to be ranked higher?
No. Commission rates have no weight in any of our five scoring components, and nobody here can accept payment in exchange for a rank, a badge or a score. The weights are published in full on our methodology page and never change to suit a provider.
Do you actually test the VPNs you review?
Partly, and we are precise about which parts. We research the provider's own documentation, audit reports and terms, and we assess network architecture directly. We have not run our own throughput benchmarks, so we do not publish invented speed numbers — our speed score is a disclosed architectural estimate instead.
Why is one VPN rated 9 and another 7 if both say they keep no logs?
Because a privacy policy is the weakest form of evidence. We grade what is verifiable: the named auditor and the date of their report, whether servers are RAM-only, which country the provider is registered in, and whether they have ever been legally compelled to produce data and failed.
What does "RAM-only servers" actually mean?
The servers boot from a read-only image and never write to a disk. Everything in memory is wiped on every restart, including one caused by a physical seizure. It means logs cannot be retained even if the provider wanted to retain them, which is a stronger guarantee than a policy asking you to trust them.
Is a VPN illegal in Sweden?
No. Using a VPN is entirely legal in Sweden, and using one to access content you have the right to access is not an offence. What is illegal is using one to infringe someone else's copyright, which is exactly as true without a VPN.
Will a VPN slow my connection down?
Some, though far less than most people expect. With WireGuard on a modern protocol you will typically lose single-digit percentages of throughput on a fast Swedish broadband line. The overhead is much smaller on long routes than in the widely repeated claims that a VPN always cuts speed by half.
What is the difference between a no-logs policy and an audited no-logs policy?
A no-logs policy is a promise in a document. An audited no-logs policy is a promise that a named independent firm inspected and confirmed, on a date we list. The second is worth more, though it only tells you the systems were configured correctly on the day of the inspection.
Do you sell my data?
No. We do not run advertising, we are not in the business of selling or renting personal data, and we do not fingerprint your device. Our own privacy policy covers what the site itself collects, which is deliberately close to nothing.
How do you make money?
Affiliate commissions, when you choose to buy through one of our links. The prices you pay are set by the provider. Some providers offer affiliate-only discount codes, in which case our link may give you a lower price rather than costing you more.
Do I need a VPN at all?
Honestly, for most people on Swedish home broadband, probably not for privacy against your own internet provider — Swedish operators are under the same EU legal framework as everyone else in Europe. A VPN earns its place when you travel on untrusted networks, when you need to reach a service from another region, or when you want to stop your ISP seeing what you access.
Do free VPNs collect my data?
Often, yes — free tiers subsidised by data collection are the norm, and even paid providers with free tiers may have weaker logging practices on those free accounts. Two of the eleven providers we list have a free tier we consider genuinely usable.
How often do you update the site?
Prices are verified on a fixed cycle and each figure carries its own verification date. Provider facts — server counts, audit history, ownership — are re-checked whenever we learn something has changed. Nothing on this site is evergreen without a date on it.