The Best ZenMate Alternative for 2025
ZenMate has several shortcomings, including that it’s based in Germany, which is a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance. Better options exist, and in this guide, we help you find the best ZenMate alternative.
Written by Arjun Ruparelia (Writer)
Reviewed by Sandra Pattison (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Jasna Mishevska (Lead Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated:
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Key Takeaways: Best ZenMate Alternatives
- NordVPN — Best overall & fastest VPN. Explore NordVPN’s features with a 30-day return policy, and grab extended plans at a 72% discount.
- Surfshark — Unlimited simultaneous connections. Get 66% (plus 3 months free) off the first two years with Surfshark, covered by its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- ExpressVPN — Beginner-friendly VPN for streaming. ExpressVPN’s best deal is available at a 25% discount.
- CyberGhost — Massive server network.
- PrivadoVPN — Free ZenMate alternative.
Facts & Expert Analysis: The Best Alternatives to ZenMate
- ZenMate has various shortcomings, including a lack of security protocol options, inability to work in countries with heavy censorship, the absence of features like split tunneling, and the fact that it’s based in Germany, a Fourteen Eyes member.
- NordVPN is the best ZenMate alternative. However, if you’re looking for something very low cost, consider Surfshark.
- PrivadoVPN is the best free alternative to ZenMate, and also offers low-cost pricing if you want to upgrade.
ZenMate is a VPN service that offers decent speeds and various security protocols. However, the feature set isn’t impressive, especially when compared with major VPN services like NordVPN. In this guide, we help you select the best ZenMate alternative.
The downfalls of ZenMate VPN is not just the lack of features, though. The website has some conflicting information. All pages, including the checkout page, tout a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, the refund policy states that subscribers only have a 14-day window to claim a refund.
If you’re looking for a better alternative, we have you covered. Below, we provide an overview of five of the best VPN services as potential ZenMate VPN alternatives.
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10/01/2024
We adjusted the provider rankings to account for recent changes in the VPN landscape.
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01/26/2025 Facts checked
We’ve updated our recommended VPNs to include PrivadoVPN as the best free service.
The Top Alternatives for Zenmate
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What Makes the Best ZenMate Alternative?
The best ZenMate Alternative should have a wider range of features or give you better value for your money. We did some legwork to find the best ZenMate VPN alternatives, and picked out the five services you’ll read about farther down.
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ZenMate offers OpenVPN and IKv2 combined with AES-256 encryption. That’s an excellent combination for online security, but other VPNs also offer newer protocols like WireGuard. ZenMate fails to offer more options outside of OpenVPN and IKEv2.
With ZenMate, you also don’t get split tunneling, an increasingly common feature. While the VPN will help you access major streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, you might need to switch between servers to find one that works.
ZenMate’s pricing isn’t all that great given its feature set. For only a few cents more, you can get much better performance from other low-cost VPNs like Surfshark or CyberGhost. We talk in greater detail about ZenMate in our ZenMate review.
The 5 Best ZenMate Alternatives
We looked at ZenMate’s shortcomings and picked the best alternatives. We give you an overview of the top picks below.
1. NordVPN — Best ZenMate Alternative
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NordVPN is a very popular VPN service and the best alternative to ZenMate. With over 5,500 VPN servers across 59 countries, NordVPN lets you acquire IP addresses for all popular locations, so you can access other countries’ content libraries on streaming platforms.
Speaking of streaming, NordVPN gets into all major platforms. More importantly, NordVPN is the fastest VPN as per our speed tests. Fast speeds translate to a pleasant, buffer-free streaming experience.
NordVPN fills in all the gaps in ZenMate’s feature set. For example, you get split tunneling with NordVPN, and it offers three security protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2 and NordLynx (NordVPN’s proprietary protocol inspired by WireGuard). You also get to choose between two ciphers — AES-256 and ChaCha20 (when you use NordLynx).
The NordVPN app comes with a kill switch, offers DNS leak protection and has excellent security protection. More importantly, NordVPN provides several types of VPN servers to increase your online security.
Specialty Servers
NordVPN offers four types of specialty servers: double VPN, P2P, Onion over VPN and obfuscated servers. Connecting to a specialty VPN server translates to an even more secure network.
Double VPN is the most commonly used type of the four, in which your internet traffic goes through two secure servers, adding an extra layer of security. Learn more about NordVPN in our comprehensive NordVPN review.
Considering how impressive NordVPN’s feature set and performance are, the two-year plan offers great value. You can still try it out before committing for the long term, using its 30-day money-back guarantee to see if it fits your needs.
- **VAT may apply
- Unlimited GB
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- *The prices are charged in the first billing cycle only. Renewal prices vary.
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- *The prices are shown only apply for the first 12 months.
- Unlimited GB
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- **The prices are applicable only for the first 24 months. Secure, high-speed VPN Threat Protection Pro™: Anti-malware and advanced browsing protection Threat Protection Pro™: Ad and tracker blocker Password manager with Data Breach Scanner 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage Identity and SSN monitoring and alerts Credit monitoring services Up to $1M in identity theft insurance Up to $100K in cyber extortion insurance
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2. Surfshark — Best Budget ZenMate Alternative
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Surfshark is a feature-rich VPN that also allows unlimited simultaneous device connections, just like ZenMate. As with most major VPN services, Surfshark has all the essentials including a kill switch, split tunneling, unlimited devices and a large network of servers of over 3,200 servers across 95 countries.
Even though Surfshark arrived to the market after most VPNs on the list, it has managed to build a strong feature set. You get an ad blocker called CleanWeb that blocks ads on the browser and other apps, and a feature called NoBorders mode that enables users to bypass restrictions in censorship-heavy countries like China.
With Surfshark, you can also access geoblocked platforms more easily than you can with ZenMate. You won’t need to switch between servers to find one that works for a particular streaming platform.
Extra Features
Unlike ZenMate, Surfshark offers several security features such as double VPN (called Multihop on Surfshark) and IP address rotation. You can use double VPN by selecting one of the 12 predefined pairs of server locations to make your connection more secure.
The IP address rotation feature automatically changes your IP address every few minutes. If you need even more features, you can get Surfshark’s security package — called Surfshark One — as an add-on. The app also has the Camouflage Mode, which ensures that not even your ISP can detect the VPN.
Surfshark is more affordable than NordVPN and ExpressVPN, our third pick, especially when you consider you have unlimited devices. You can also try it out with its 30-day money-back guarantee. Find out more about Surfshark in our comprehensive Surfshark review.
- Unlimited GB bandwidth, Unlimited devices, Secure VPN, Ad blocker, Cookie pop-up blocker. Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
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- Everything in Starter, plus Antivirus protection, Identity protection, Email Breach and Credit Card Alerts, Online Alias Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
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- Everything in One, plus Data removal Pricing for the annual and biennial plans only apply for the first payment. Renewal fees vary.
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3. ExpressVPN — User Friendly ZenMate Alternative
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ExpressVPN is among the best VPN services currently available on the market. It performs well across the board in terms of streaming, connection speeds, torrenting and security.
You get several security protocols to choose from, including OpenVPN, IKEv2, IPsec, PPTP, L2TP and Lightway — ExpressVPN’s proprietary protocol that optimizes performance. With ExpressVPN, you also get split tunneling, a feature that’s not available on ZenMate. ExpressVPN also offers all the essentials like a kill switch and DNS leak protection.
If you want to view geoblocked content on your gaming console or a Chrome OS device, ExpressVPN has an app for those devices and many more, while ZenMate doesn’t. You can still view geoblocked content on those devices as a ZenMate user, but you’ll need to take the tedious route of first installing the VPN on a router.
Excellent Streaming Capabilities
ExpressVPN is a powerful VPN for streaming. It gets into most streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and Hulu. In addition to easily getting past geoblocks, ExpressVPN also offers excellent download speeds. You won’t experience any buffering, even when you’re streaming in 4K.
You also get a feature called MediaStreamer that spoofs your location without additional encryption. Your VPN connection may become less secure and you won’t have an option to choose an IP that belongs to a specific country. However, you’ll enjoy faster connection speeds and better streaming performance. Learn more about ExpressVPN in our ExpressVPN review.
ExpressVPN is one of the strongest performers among major VPN providers, but it doesn’t come cheap. The one-year plan is its best value. If you don’t mind spending a little extra to get the best VPN service, ExpressVPN is a good choice. If you’re not entirely confident, try it out risk-free using the 30-day money-back guarantee, and if you don’t like it, you can claim a full refund.
- Pricing for the annual and biennial plans applies only on the first year.
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4. CyberGhost
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CyberGhost offers a massive server network with over 8,900 servers spread across 91 countries. You don’t get as many security protocols to choose from as with other services, but you still get one more than ZenMate. CyberGhost offers OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard with AES-256 encryption.
CyberGhost’s apps for desktop and mobile devices have a quick-connect button on the main screen and a list of servers. The app shows you the distance between your physical and server location, as well as the server load.
The information is especially helpful in CyberGhost’s case, given that speed isn’t the service’s strongest suit. The interface also makes selecting a server easier by allowing you to sort them by distance or server load.
Automation Features
None of the major services listed here offer anything in the way of automation. However, CyberGhost lets you automate VPN-related tasks using “smart rules.” For example, you can set a rule for connecting to a specific server location automatically whenever you launch the VPN app. Learn more about CyberGhost’s features in our CyberGhost review.
CyberGhost is the lowest priced service on the list with its three-year plan, its best value. It also offers a generous 45-day money-back guarantee on all annual plans. You can claim a full refund if you’re not fully satisfied.
- *The 2-year plan includes 4-months free which breaks down the 56.94 t0 $2.03 per month. *The price under the 2-year plan is billed yearly after the first two years.
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5. PrivadoVPN
PrivadoVPN is a free ZenMate alternative. In most cases, we don’t recommend using free VPNs. They’re generally slow, unreliable and even insecure, unless they’re on our best free VPNs list — and PrivadoVPN is at the top of that list.
Even on the free version, you get top-notch connection speeds and no bandwidth cap. The free plan gives you access to servers in 10 countries and unlimited data — plus 10GB of high-speed monthly data ideal for streaming and torrenting.
You’ll also have strong and private connections with PrivadoVPN, with tools that include a kill switch and split tunneling. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to access Control Tower features though — you can read more about all tools in our thorough PrivadoVPN review.
Access to All Streaming Platforms
Not many free VPNs can help you access Netflix U.S., but PrivadoVPN can. It can also unblock other major platforms. Since PrivadoVPN offers fast connection speeds, you won’t need to worry about buffering even when you’re on the free plan. Just remember, speeds are slower after the first 10GB of monthly use.
To access all of PrivadoVPN’s servers and security tools, you can upgrade to its paid plan. Subscriptions are very affordable, starting at $1.11 per month for a two-year plan with three months free. All plans are backed by a 30-day guarantee for your peace of mind.
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Is ZenMate a Trusted VPN?
ZenMate has a no-logging policy, and for the most part, it should ensure your privacy online. However, it’s based in Germany, which is a Fourteen Eyes alliance member. If you’re looking for airtight privacy, you should consider a different service like NordVPN or Surfshark.
Final Thoughts: ZenMate VPN Alternatives
The best ZenMate alternatives offer various security protocols, can easily unblock streaming platforms and come with a bunch of extra features like browser extensions — such as NordVPN. You don’t have to take our word for it, trying NordVPN yourself is completely risk-free, thanks to the 30-day refund period.
You also don’t have to shell out a lot of extra money either when you pick the right alternative to ZenMate with Surfshark and other VPNs on this list.
Have you switched to any of the ZenMate VPN alternatives? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ
ZenMate VPN has a free browser extension that allows you to use a VPN connection only for the browser. It also comes with several restrictions, like access to a maximum of four server locations for IP addresses and a top speed of 2 Mbps. However, the extension is only available on the paid version.
ZenMate is an average VPN, and better options exist. For only a few extra cents per month, you can get a ton of extra features and much better performance.
You can get the ZenMate VPN for free by using its free browser extension. The extension comes with limited functionality and offers a maximum speed of 2 Mbps and access to four server locations.