What VPN do you use and why?

Mullvad because they don't need your name, and you can pay by cash anonymously.
- They also regularly have independent security audits
  and their servers run everything on RAM meaning the second it loses power all data is lost.
- Do they still not have port forwarding?
  
  Nope. I'd argue that Mullvad is not for most pirates, unless you're actually worried about being jailed for your piracy (depends on what country you're in). If you just want to get the letters from your ISP to stop, there are much cheaper VPNs that can do that.
  Mullvad is for actual privacy, which many VPNs don't really give you. If you gave them an email address and credit card, then it ain't private, kids!
  
  Check out AirVPN if you want port forwarding.

Mullavad
- I used Mullvad, found them great for everything and would be my only VPN if they were big enough to facilitate streaming via other countries. Due to smaller number of servers it isn't possible to use a lot of streaming services with them...I found this out when o/s and needing to VPN into my home country to access my geo-locked streaming service.

Mullvad because https://www.privacyguides.org/en/vpn/

Proton VPN
- Same. Since I am a paying Protonmail user I've switched to the Proton VPN. It has been fine.
  
  I see that Proton allows payment via PayPal. Is it possible to pay via PayPal anonymously? I don't use PP much at all so IDK.

AirVPN
- Port forwarding, relatively cheap, runs a good Black Friday sale, and I think its log policy is decent from what I remember.
- The airvpn client feels pretty outdated compared to something like mullvad. This might not be a big deal for everyone and there are ways around it but I always see airvpn recommended but noone ever mentions this
  
  I use the native wireguard client on Linux
  
  The Wireguard client is good enough. I wouldn't trust VPN providers' custom apps to be as secure, privacy-focused or reliable as the official client ones.
  
  Ever since I switched to Linux I don't really use Eddie as much, but I agree it could be more intuitive. Even on Windows I typically only spent 30 seconds or less with the client, though, so it didn't bother me.
- I also just switched from Mullvad to OpenVPN and I’m very happy with it. I grabbed the 3-year Halloween promo.

So.... at the risk of humiliating myself,
I've never once used a VPN in my entire life.
I pirated games, movies, shows, music, software... and the worst thing that happened to me was getting a letter from Telus once or twice saying "Hey. Don't do that."
That was 5 years ago
I know it's bad practice. But is a VPN 100% necessary? Even a free one?
- I find incredible that it's absolutely illegal for anyone to read your letters and only the police can do that and only if a judge grant them the right to do that case by case, and a private telecommunications company can read absolutely all your digital communication with no judge involved and no one blinks an eye.
  
  I'm gonna google "How to bomb Telus Headquarters and assassinate their board of directors" and see how fast they respond
  
  Generally CnD letters are not generated by the ISPs themselves. ISPs don't care what you do unless legally obligated to. When you get a CnD letter, it's usually because someone working for a copyright holder was on a torrent and snagged your IP, then sent an infringement notice to your ISP, who in turn sends a CnD to the current holder of the IP, i.e. you.
  At no point does your ISP have to read your digital communications themselves. Any one of your peers on a torrent can tell what your public IP address is, it's inherent to the BitTorrent protocol. Copyright holders take advantage of this to catch pirates.
  
  and a private telecommunications company can read absolutely all your digital communication
  Well maybe. It's one of the reasons e2e encryption is so imperative to online privacy. For instance, turning on https everywhere, then your isp can only see which servers you're connecting to, not what's in your traffic to them.
  And to point it out up front, yeah the distant end's servers likely have some for of that traffic captured, but now law enforcement has to dig up every company that they're trying to pull info from. Which is significantly more difficult than just relying on a one stop shop arrangement.
  And for the best privacy, like security, a multi-layered approach is better. So throw in a VPN, throw in something like a mullvad browser, throw in pseudonymous accounts, throw in different usernames + passwords across accounts, throw in...
  
  The letters from your ISP have nothing to do with them monitoring your traffic. When you torrent, you're connecting to a public network of seeders and leechers. Copyright holders pay people to monitor that public list of IP addresses, and they record your IP (because you connected publicly, in the open, and uploaded or downloaded). Then, they send your ISP a letter reporting that your did an illegal thing, and asking them to punish you. Finally, your ISP sends you a letter making some vague threats and asking you to stop. They might make you do a training course to educate you on why piracy is bad, and they might cut off your internet until you pass a quiz and promise not to pirate stuff again. They go through this charade not because it actually accomplishes anything, but because they don't give a shit, and they're just doing the bare minimum to keep lawyers off their back.
- While people sometimes suggest ignoring it because they say that your ISP is only sending you those notices because the laws compel them to and you downloaded something that was tracked, you may want to evaluate your risk.
  Nothing has happened so far. Could something happen in the future?
  Your ISP has built an entire portfolio of the things you’ve done online and which content you pirated. Who know how long your ISP retains that data, or which companies or regulatory bodies it shares this data with?
  Laws may change.
  Up to you on what you want to do with this information.
  
  ISP can’t track bittorrent content without downloading the same torrent as you. They only see domain names of trackers and ip addresses of peers. The content itself is either obfuscated or encrypted.
- That's because you're in Canada. We don't need to worry like Americans can. It's not really necessary for us.
- I think of it like having sex with or without a condom. If you don't use a condom, there's a chance to get an STD (or get "caught"). It's not a guarantee to get caught, your IP address needs to end up in the pool of addresses they collect to send out DMCA notices so it won't happen every time. But having a "condom" (VPN) reduces your chances by nearly 100%, assuming it's properly setup which usually is a very simple process
- I've only gotten two strikes in my life, 7-8yrs ago. And I feel like this was because my brother was downloading then recent, popular movies (which I almost never do). But before that, never did, without a VPN, and I used to pirate a lot more. Even further back, used to have a roommate who would go on movie and show torrenting sprees. We never got strikes. And that was when commercial VPNs weren't really a thing yet, but copyright strikes were well known. I've known others who've never gotten strikes either.
  So I'd say no, not 100% necessary at all. But it's free or cheap enough to mitigate the risk. So that's why I use one when I do pirate, which is rare these days.
- Same here. Started with IRC, then private trackers. Always force encryption. Zero issues. VPN is a waste of money for piracy.
- No, you don’t need it if you have trustworthy private trackers. Most people on here just use Pirate Bay or some shitty public alternative that’s seeded with all the planted stuff that the RIAA looks for

PIA, just because I’m lazy and it’s been fine for like a decade. If there is something better, happy to hear about it.
- PIA was sold to Kape Technologies a few years back and they have somewhat questionable history and that made me switch to Mullvad. Not because I thought it's better VPN per-se, but because I wanted away from PIA and Mullvad seemed popular.
  The issue is who he sold it to -- the notorious creator of some pernicious data-huffing ad-ware, Crossrider. The UK-based company was cofounded by an ex-Israeli surveillance agent and a billionaire previously convicted of insider trading who was later named in the Panama Papers. It produced software which previously allowed third-party developers to hijack users' browsers via malware injection, redirect traffic to advertisers and slurp up private data.
  Source
- Yeah it’s cheap as shit too
  
  I’m on pia too I have a seed box anyway so it’s just for https queries. The seed box transfers locally via ssh

Currently proton its decent though I'm thinking of moving to mullvad even though they've removed portforwarding.
- I've used both and much prefer Proton for sailing the seas. Connecting through France (highest speed + p2p) with port forwarding is the best torrent speed I've had on a VPN. The only slight annoyance is it switching the forwarded port every time it reconnects, but I run it 24/7 anyway.
  Just skip the "official" client and run it through gluetun. It's a much better experience.
- I did this and found it worked way better in terms of stability. Bonus is that Mullvad has a proper Linux client whereas Proton's is just a cobbled-together mess that's not worth using and is no where close to feature parity with the Windows client
  
  And in the case that your Linux distro doesn't have a client in their repos, you can very easily use Mullvad with wireguard in the terminal.
- Mullvad is great. Also check out IVPN, they are kinda similar to Mullvad (they also allow for anonymous registration without an Email address and they accept anonymous Monero payments). Maybe take a look at AirVPN if you need port forwarding.

Proton because I have their Unlimited plan.

AirVPN because of port forwarding.
- What do you use it for?
  
  The port forwarding? It makes torrenting work better.

AirVPN, limited on details for signing up, can pay in crypto and easy port forwarding.
Good config generator as well

ProtonVpn

You should add an option for Mullvad.

I use PIA because it was the cheapest on their 3.3 year plan, and it has a good node geographically close to me with port forwarding. I only use it for torrenting, so I don't care if it's a CIA Honeypot or whatever.

If you are a pirate VPN is an essential tool
Lol naw. Private trackers only + small fiber isp that doesn't give af.
VPNs cost money. I'm a pirate.
- You can always add this blocklist for extra protection: https://www.iblocklist.com/list?list=ydxerpxkpcfqjaybcssw

I love seeing these posts because I’ve been pirating for almost 20 years and never once have I paid for or used a VPN. I’ve never received a letter from my ISP about it. If you use a trustworthy private tracker you don’t fucking need it. Downvote me all you want but I’m not wrong.
- Do you have any invites? I'm a good seeder.
  
  I do have invites but 2/3 people I’ve invited were banned for HnR so generally I don’t invite people unless I know them. If I invite another user who doesn’t seed I’ll lose my invites completely so I’m understandably wary about handing them out
  
  Okay so appereantly you have exclusive sources trackers. I would also love to join one and seed but I never do, cause I thought the most illegal thing was the sharing/seeding part. What id you guys thoughts on that?
- Same but in Austria those letters aren't a thing.

I know you are asking for a VPN, but you could give a try i2p for bittorrent it is free and secure. And if you want just DDL, you have Tor.
- Come on, don't waste Tor resources for downloading pirated content. That's what VPNs are for. Journalists and activists in countries like Russia, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. rely on Tor in order to do their work, just use a VPN for downloading, it's also much faster.
  
  Tor is for privacy and to circumvent censorship. What OP is asking is privacy...You could help them running a relay or bridge, it is easy, I have a few running.

Proton VPN since it's cheaper than ExpressVPN but apparently faster than other paid VPN options, while also having port forwarding to improve torrent connectivity.

Currently testing Windscribe because they had good offer for a yearly subscription and some interesting features like ad block (mostly useful for mobile). Their privacy level is sufficient for what I'm doing currently, but if I ever need I'll just Mullvad.

I use IVPN and I'm very happy with them. They allow you to make an account without giving out your Email address, you just get a random-generated Account ID (Mullvad does the same btw). They also allow you to pay with Monero, an anonymous crypto currency. I used Mullvad before, Proton VPN and AirVPN are great options as well.
- IVPN Looks really good, does it have port forwarding so you can torrent with it?
  
  They recently removed it, I recommend AirVPN if you need port forwarding.

Windscribe. Mainly because I scored a cheap lifetime deal many years ago. It works well enough. Got two ISP copyright strikes before using Windscribe. Have yet to get another since using Windscribe (knock on wood). But I also don't pirate as much as I used to.
- This is me. Stacksocial had that lifetime deal for approx $35. I said why not?

Mulllvad VPN on my Hardened Void Linux and GrapheneOS mainly to hide my real IP address plus I use NextDNS paid version too.

AirVPN - privacy respecting (although their attitude towards audits is a bit off putting). They also had the best port forwarding offer at the time Mullvad announced it was ending its support.

I hope my own because why pay for a VPN service when I already rent a VPS
- How do you pay the VPS Provider? The Cops can simply go to the VPS Provider and ask what Bank account or paypal is linked to the Account who runs the Server with the IP address they tracked. And what if the VPS Provider is logging your traffic? They can Monitor anything that leaves your VPS (their network) because a VPS is just a Virtual Machine like KVM thats why its called VPS = VIRTUAL Private Server. OPSEC my friend... I think you are safer if you just use Mullvad and pay with XMR and only access the mullvad site from Tor. (I know i am paranoid xD)
  
  With my credit card, I'm not worried about the police coming after me. Pirating is a civil issue not a criminal issue.
  But how do you think they are running their VPNs? As we have seen from the past, Paid VPNs can track what you do any way. Just make sure you're using HTTPS and you have setup your OS to encrypt your data and you're fine. No one's going through the effort to catch youre suspected of doing something serious enough.

Torguard.net
- Torguard has port forwarding which is essential if you belong to private trackers. Wireguard connection is very fast and stable. Plenty of 50% off coupons that are easy to find via Google. This summer, they had a 70% off coupon. I opened a ticket and they quickly applied the coupon to my existing account.
- Torguard is the best! $30 per year with my current plan and it's reliable enough to play games.

ITT a ton of people not reading the OP 🤦‍♂️
- OP’s request was needlessly complicated especially once the thread got big.

I use Mullvad because I don't need port forwarding. If you are using a VPN specifically for piracy I would use a seedbox, cheap ones aren't that much more expensive.

I use Nord VPN. Might switch to Proton when my sub is done.

I don't, I use usenet

Mullvad VPN, its pretty good and is a flat fee per month. It works good with Linux Mint.

Is it just me that using a VPN on my android, everything becomes much faster ? Apps load faster, the internet is faster, etc. Is it because it cuts out some s****y connection ?
- likely DNS filter that your VPN forces

hide.me for UPnP port forwarding support (TLDR you can have access to more peers)

Expressvpn. Everything is stored on RAM

Fastvpn by namecheap, it's shit.

- Basically what @MetalZealot and you have to worry about are if you've downloaded enough to make a profitable case going after you in a civil suit.
  As for using the VPN, any worthwhile VPN has split tunneling with inclusion and exclusion lists. I use Windscribe personally
  
  Thanks for the info and suggestion :) I will check out windscribe!

Be n sailing the high seas for 15++ years, never once used a VPN.

PIA

I've been using AzireVPN for several years. Mostly because they have ipv6 and externally accessible IPv4. They also accept cryptocurrency and this is crucial.

I've been using cyberghost and it seems easy and works well. Am I screwing up?
- Am I screwing up?
  Yes.
  
  My two years I bought renews in like 5 days. Guess I'll cancel and switch.

I don't use VPN

NordVPN. I use it to access iPlayer and a couple of torrent sites my ISP blocks. It's works fine. I chose Nord due to the brilliant adverts by the Internet Historian. The Internet Historian's adverts are up there with John Green's life assurance ads. Just brilliant!

Hey OP, maybe switch to your alt if you're gonna be weird and fake online.
- Read their post mate, they said they would be replying with common VPNs and wanted people to up/down vote and comment on each one.

Windscribe
- No Non-sense VPN. Plenty of servers and decent speed. FOSS clients for all the major platforms including linux and android.
  
  For a noob, can anyone explain why this one is getting downvoted? Is it bad?
- Why are you replying a bunch to your own post with the name of different VPNs?
  
  Did you read their post? They explained that they are posting lead comments with the names of different VPNs, and they want us to vote and comment on the ones we use with our reasoning.

- Hahahahah

IVPN
- Fully anonymous account, purchased with crypto, has a warrant canary, open source clients, regular server audits to verify no logs, relatively cheap, fast, works on all my devices, VPN bypass for things like steam, killswitch, and a choice of VPN protocols.
  It also has multihop, but that's just a gimmick.
- This is what I'm currently using. It's been great, but they just ended port forwarding. I will not be renewing.

Tunnelbear

Cyberghost
- Shoot. Does this mean I need to switch?

Nord VPN
- Apparently people don't like Nord but a few years ago several privacy sites advocated for them. I wonder what changed.
  
  their handling of a data breach if i remember correctly
  
  They had a server breach and didn't tell anyone until a few years after the fact.
  
  NordVPN pays people to advocate for them.
- i will never trust a company that had so much investor money on hand to run such a massivr ad campain like Nord did.
  It was missleading, agressive and anoying.
  The pressure behind that ad campaim kind made me feel like the whole thing was just the biggest honeypot we have ever seen.
- Nord is the reason I’m under investigation. Wouldn’t recommend
  
  Lol wtf is this comment? You're under investigation because of NordVPN? Press X to doubt.

Surfshark
- i see downvotes, can i know why not surfshark?
  
  Owned by media marketing company, Ziff Davis.
  https://kumu.io/sobeyharker/vpn-relationships#vpn-company-relationships/
- Got them because they're cheap. Just need to hide the IP a little, arr.

Free tier VPN

Expressvpn
- It was bought up by Kape recently its not recommended anymore. It would be good to switch to mullvad they are quite trusted so far. Video from mental outlaw. https://piped.video/watch?v=hfjCB_oPIuo
- they are very committed to not save any of your data, to the point that their servers run entirely in RAM and get cleared daily. but i am considering switching to mullvad when my subscription runs out.

Adguard VPN