Best VPN Guide 2023 (Updated Monthly)

What is a VPN Used For? Lots! Here are 36+ VPN Uses

First, let’s back up a bit. Remember that, on a technical level, a VPN does 2 main things:

1. It gives you a different IP address
2. It encrypts the data on the connection between you and the VPN service’s servers

Together, these lend themselves to a ton of handy VPN uses.  Below, we list and describe more than 36 different VPN uses.

We think you’ll be impressed with all the potential VPN uses available.

These uses are all the more impressive when you realize that a VPN costs peanuts per month annually, from less than $3 to no more than $7 per month even for the very best VPN services, if you choose right.

I. VPN Uses from Hiding your Real IP Address

When you connect to a VPN service, all of your interactions with the Internet are first sent to a VPN server. The VPN server then interacts with the internet for you. This means that the websites you visit will associate your activities with the IP address of the VPN server rather than your true IP address. 🙂

Let’s dive in!

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1. Keeping your Online Presence a Secret

You can hide behind an IP address of a VPN when engaging in sensitive activities on the web.

These activities could be whether checking topics you want to keep private (health, financial problems, sexuality etc.), arranging a surprise holiday, conducting research on rivals or competitors, or any other circumstances where you would rather not leave behind a trail of your real IP address.

Using a VPN to hide your real IP address as often as possible is a good idea for general personal data protection. That’s because too many companies, sites and even apps are now storing your web browsing history based on your IP address.
 

2. Preventing Online Tracking & Profiling

A VPN can also cut down on and even stop third parties from following you online, tracking your activities and profiling you.

When many hundreds or thousands of other VPN customers are sharing the same IP addresses with you, this “confuses” Internet profiling firms and hides your activities from online detection, monitoring and tracking.If you don't think online tracking and profiling is a big deal, take these online privacy checks to see just how easily you and your activities can be followed across the Internet.
 

3. Safe & Even Anonymous Torrent File-sharing

Another reason to use a VPN is that it can keep your torrent file-sharing safe and hidden from snooping by third-parties.

Increasingly, torrent file-sharers are coming under scrutiny and their torrenting activities are subject to monitoring and surveillance. When snoops monitor torrent activity, they do so by IP address.

Because you download and share torrents with an IP address that is not your real one when using a VPN, you are safe from any snoops who might be trying to monitor your torrent downloads.

The right VPN can even anonymize your torrent file-sharing and protect you from these invasions of your privacy.

This mean you can avoid nasty copyright trolls (and their warnings, takedowns and threats) should you have downloaded copyright material by accident.
 

4. Anonymous Signups and Purchases

What’s the point of buying something with Bitcoin or Paygarden if your IP address will be stamped all over the online purchase?  

If you want to benefit from crypto-currencies and other private payment methods, make your purchases with a VPN enabled.

You could use Tor browser, but it’s a bit painful and slow. A VPN makes it easy to hide your IP address for these private online purchases. Just make sure it’s a zero-logging VPN service so there are no records that could unearth your real IP address and be traced back to you.

By using the right VPN together with a non-traceable email address and payment method (such as Bitcoin, gift cards or temporary credit cards), you can pay for goods and services that can't be linked back to you.

In other words, a VPN can help you achieve truly anonymous online purchases.
 

5. Prevent Search Engines from Tracking (and Profiling) You

It is no secret that the big Internet players are tracking everything you do online. That includes the searches you do on most Internet search engines, certainly the most popular ones, such as Google and Bing. Using an alternative search engine such as DuckDuckGo can help, but is not enough.

That’s because the online tracking is much worse than you think. For example, consider that every website with a Facebook “element” (such as a Like, Share or Follow button) is sending information back to Facebook and its reputable, cough, partners.

If you visit websites and do searches with your VPN on, you will be using a temporary IP address given to you by the VPN which will help obfuscate your activities online and make them harder to track and attribute to you.

We don’t want to exaggerate though: the tracking has gotten very sophisticated. A VPN will not fully prevent tracking in all circumstances. But it is certainly better than nothing and can help a lot, especially if you follow some other tips such as not staying logged into your online accounts and using Incognito mode (but knowing its limitations too).
 

6. Keep your Market Research and Competitor Analysis Secret

When checking up on your competitors, for example. by checking their websites or subscribing to their newsletters, we imagine you prefer that they not know about it.

But even just with the widespread analytical tools used by many websites, that’s entirely possible. Your competitors could see the IP address of each visitor to its site and other information, such as the location sometimes right down to the city. It wouldn't take much for them to figure out its you.

The same goes with subscribing to their email newsletter, even if you use a fake email address. That’s because the IP address will be stamped on the subscription request and can be easily obtained from a similar email analytics tools supported by the subscription service.

In other words, whenever sussing out your competition, do so when safely tucked behind a VPN so your IP address and geographic location will be obfuscated and cannot be directly traced back to you.
 

7. Anonymous Commenting and Posting

Maybe you consider the whole world your potential adversary or you are distrustful or perceive yourself as downtrodden or vulnerable? Or maybe Edward Snowden spooked you? Or you just like sticking it to the powers that be?

Whatever the case, you may want to keep your real IP address off online comments you make. This might make you feel more free to express your views, opinions and thoughts, especially on forums such as Reddit where you don't (yet) need to provide any verified personal information to set up an account.

You should assume that everything done online is logged and could be traced by IP address. In that case, if you keep your real IP address out of logs by using a VPN, you will be harder to trace and track. And if you use a truly non-logging VPN provider, anyone trying to track your activities will hit a dead end at your VPN provider. Of course, make sure to use a fake or disposable email address too when signing up for accounts that require an active email address!
 

8. You Can Open More than One Account on the Same Website

Some websites want to limit you to only one account. While it's easy enough to use a second, fake or disposable email to do this, some sites have tougher policing and will try to enforce this policy by IP address together with cookies.  

You can overcome these restrictions by signing up for a second or even more accounts while using a VPN and, if needed, doing so in an Incognito window in your web browser to prevent cookies from being saved.
 

9. Keep Your Politics Private

In these unsettling times, you might especially want to keep your political views, preferences and allegiances under wraps.

It seems that the online political ad targeting scandals discovered thus far are just the tip of the iceberg. Goodness knows what super PACs or other shady elements might do in the future with profiles about us that know our political views (or secrets) even better than our friends or families. 
 

10. Avoid Fake News and Get out of the ‘Filter Bubble’

Recently there's been a lot of justified outrage over "fake news" and the fact that many people are living in an echo chamber when online.

Companies, like Facebook and Google, use your profile to filter the results you are shown and to display what they think you are most likely to click, like or comment on. This is commonly known as the “filter bubble".

It's even been described as a form of censorship as it can influence public opinion (even unintentionally), such as election outcomes and other political issues.

Using a random IP address each time you connect through a VPN service will help mess up these profiles and ensure you are served up more variety of posts and escape the filter bubble. 
 

11. An Extra Layer of Protection from Hackers

Hackers most often target their victims by IP address. But any hacker trying to target you while you are connected to a VPN service will be in for a surprise. That’s because the hacker’s attacks will be directed against the VPN server you are connected to and not you.

Instead of attacking your home network (which, let’s face it, is probably a little weak and vulnerable), they will be railing against your VPN service's infrastructure.

If you are with a good VPN provider, they will be a big, well-protected and well-resourced collection of global servers run by professionals with the latest equipment and software. So even if the hacker does get through the mighty defences of the VPN service, it’s still not you that’s exposed to danger.

In other words, a VPN service is an additional shield against hackers trying to do you harm. It acts as a virtual firewall that provides you with protection against attacks from hackers and malware thanks to your VPN’s superior and often cutting-edge resources. 
 

12. Just Because

Some people, like us here at Cogipas, are just a little geeky and like this privacy stuff. 🙂

II. VPN Uses from Encrypting your Data Connection

As we’ve already mentioned, one of the great benefits of a VPN is that it encrypts all the data travelling between your devices that are connected to the VPN service. If you choose a reliable VPN, everything travelling in that “tunnel” will be encrypted by military grade encryption and your ISP will not be able to tell what you are up to.

Your ISP will be able to see that you are using a VPN, but not what you are doing online while connected to it.  To stick with the tunnel analogy, your ISP can see that you’ve got access to a tunnel and that you are entering and exiting it, but your ISP cannot see where you go or what you do while you are inside the tunnel.

In other words, the encryption offered by a VPN keeps your activities private from anyone monitoring your connection, whether your own ISP or third party snoops, even governments.

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13. Preventing ISP Slow Downs (Bypass ISP Throttling & Traffic Shaping)

It is common for ISPs to monitor what you are doing online and then “adjust” your download speeds according to their needs, not yours.

Believe it or not, some ISPs will even slow you down if you are watching HD videos on YouTube. You can imagine what they’ll do to your connection if you are downloading tons of content via torrents, streaming or Usenet! ISPs also issue warnings and, in some cases, cancel accounts if they don't approve of your online activities.

That’s why it is a good idea to hide what you are doing from your ISP inside the encrypted tunnel afforded by a VPN.

With a VPN, all of your activities are sent via an encrypted tunnel which even your own ISP cannot see inside of. This protects you from these potential outcomes and keeps your connection fast and unaltered by your ISP. 
 

14. Be Safe from your ISP when Torrent File-sharing

VPN encryption is especially essential for torrenting because many ISPs are aggressively anti-torrent.

If your ISP detects you are downloading and sharing torrents - for example using BitTorrent - they may slow down your connection or even terminate your service, or sometimes worse. Plus, ISPs will disclose the identity of their customers in response to complaints or court requests.

Indeed, an EFF study found that ISPs are all too keen to disclose or share information about their customers. 

Even if your ISP hasn’t taken any action against you for torrenting yet, that doesn't mean it won’t tomorrow. Don't take any chances and always torrent with a VPN.

Not all VPN services support torrenting (because of the high bandwidth involved), so make sure yours does. Here are our recommended torrent VPNs.
 

15. Use Public and Open Wi-Fi Hotspots without Worry or Risk

A VPN can protect your passwords, banking data and other sensitive information from eavesdroppers and criminals at airports, cafes and anywhere else you use open or public wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet hotspots.

That’s even true for unsecure Wi-Fi connections - those hotspot websites not starting with https, with an ‘s’ at the end. Using a VPN provides the encryption that is missing from unsecured Wi-Fi connections.

In fact, you should use a VPN when using any network you may have reason not to 100% trust. 
 

16. Bypass State-Sponsored and In-Country Censorship

The encryption afforded by a VPN allows you to access sites and content otherwise blocked from your location.

Perhaps you live in a place where the authorities don't believe in free speech and the government imposes censorship to limit your ability to access certain websites.

Or perhaps you are travelling and want to access websites or content located “back home” that are blocked from where you are currently staying.

With a VPN, you can get around this kind of censorship and access blocked websites and censored content because your traffic is shrouded in strong encryption. Choosing the right VPN can even let you enjoy the same kind of censor busting benefits of Tor (the Onion Router).

Countries like China, Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and others go to great lengths to censor the websites you can visit inside their borders. Whether you are an expat living there, you are travelling there temporarily or you are a local activist fighting for change, you want to break through this censorship and use the Internet the way it was intended without restriction.

These strict countries employ military-standard blocking techniques which analyze and block Internet traffic at the smallest level possible, the packet level. This is called deep packet inspection (DPI).

The best VPN services can help you beat even the most aggressive DPI techniques, but not many. If you need a VPN to overcome this kind of heavy censorship, there are only a handful of standouts such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN and VyprVPN.

These VPN services use obfuscation techniques which act like a “super VPN” to hide your data at the packet level. Even when this works, you can expect your Internet speeds to be substantially slower and sometimes experience reliability issues. That’s because of the “cat and mouse” game happening at a technical level between the government trying to detect and block the packets versus the VPN trying to bypass it. 
 

17. Keep your Streaming Private

Many streaming sites are controversial and operate in a grey zone of legitimacy.

Too many ISPs throttle streaming - especially to sites they deem dodgy - which slows you down, causes lag and results in those annoying buffer delays just at the best part of movies and TV shows.

Don’t give your ISP any reason to keep on eye on what you like to stream. Connect to a VPN before streaming to hide it.

Keeping your streaming hidden is not only good from a privacy point of view, but it can mean faster, lag-free streaming too. 
 

18. Unblock a Workplace, University or School Network

Quite apart from government-style censorship (discussed above), there is plenty of network blocking going on at places of work and school too.

While these settings don't employ the same kind of deep packet inspection, monitoring and blocking that countries like China does, the result can be the same: you are prevented from visiting the websites you want.

Because a VPN encrypts your connection and hides the websites you visit, a VPN can be a very successful way of overcoming blocks at work or school.

It can be as easy as connecting to your VPN service and presto! the block is no more.

Sometimes workplaces or school settings will try to block VPN connections themselves. But don't worry, we have a full tutorial on how to overcome VPN blocking too. 
 

19. Enjoy Online Games with Better Pings & Less Lag

As we’ve seen, connecting to a VPN prevents your ISP from messing with your connection. This can make for a more stable and faster online gaming experience.  

Some VPN services, like PureVPN, even have dedicated VPN servers optimized specifically for gaming. Better yet, a VPN-driven service like Outfox has servers optimized even for specific games. Nice!
 

20. Throttle-proof Your Usenet Downloads

Any Usenet provider worth its salt will provide you with SSL connections. SSL connections are encrypted and prevent your ISP and third parties from snooping on your Usenet downloads.

But your ISP will still be able to “see” that you are connecting to a Usenet news server and it doesn't take a genius ISP to figure out what’s going on. Like torrenting, ISPs also don’t like their customers downloading from Usenet newsgroups.

So, go one step further than SSL and use a VPN with Usenet to completely hide your newsgroup downloading from your ISP.

Your ISP will still be able to measure how much data you are downloading, but not what it is or where it is coming from.  For all they know, you are restoring a large backup from the cloud or downloading the latest version of Linux or OpenOffice. 

21. Protect your VOIP Calls from Eavesdropping

Many VOIP providers, like Skype, make it too easy for third parties to eavesdrop on your calls.

With a VPN, you can add the protection that Skype and other VOIP providers are missing. Encrypt your VOIP calls by first connecting to a VPN and stay safe. 
 

22. Protect Yourself Even More on Tor

If you like using Tor (The Onion Router), for example to surf the Dark Web, you might think you don't need a VPN. Wrong.

The major benefit of using Tor over VPN is to make sure your ISP cannot detect or “see” that you are using Tor. For example, if you are the only customer of your ISP accessing Tor at a given time, your activities while using Tor could still be traced.

You can eliminate this risk by first connecting to your VPN and then to Tor. This will hide from your ISP that you are accessing Tor at all and protect you against traffic analysis. 
 

23. Get the Most Out of In-flight Wi-Fi

In-flight Wi-Fi is famous for throttling bandwidth.

For example, you may notice lots of lag when viewing HD videos on YouTube. This is the airline’s way of nudging you to much less bandwidth-heavy activities, such as forcing you to access nice small web pages, such as news articles.

Connecting to a VPN while using inflight Wi-Fi will sidestep the airlines’ throttling and let you access what you want. 
 

24. More Secure Online Cloud Syncing and Backup

If you have any synching or backup tools continually working, such as Google Drive Sync & Backup, it is too easy for this to remain running while connected to unsecure networks, especially public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Imagine a hacker’s luck when your backup tool happens to be uploading your latest credit card statement or that scanned copy of your passport during your quick stop to the local coffee shop.

Using a VPN will ensure your connection is always encrypted when syncing even when your Internet connection itself is not.
 

25. Accessing Your Home Stash

If you like to use remote access apps to download files or stream media from a server at home (NAS - “network attached storage”), using a VPN when doing so ensures that the connection remains encrypted and safe from hackers and prying eyes.

Many remote access or streaming apps are not encrypted or use weak encryption to be as fast as possible. A VPN will plug that encrypted gap.

Any small downgrade in speed you experience from using a VPN is well worth the extra security it provides. This is especially true if the files or media you are accessing are controversial and might be of interest to snoops, trolls or hackers. 

26. Keep Your Online Erotica Habits Private

What websites you visit or just peek at out of curiosity when feeling randy are your business and nobody else's.  

But, before you know it, you will start to see ads that may be revealing or embarrassing. If your partner or co-workers see you are being served these kinds of ads, it won’t take them long to figure out what you’ve been up to.

These website visits may also be reflected in invisible profiles that could be hurting you in ways you will never know about (such as impacting on your job opportunities, health insurance, loan applications, security clearances, etc).

Side-step all this unnecessary risk by using a VPN when embellishing your wild or darker side. 

III. VPN Uses from Geo-Shifting your Location

Geo-shifting is when you use a VPN to make it seem like you live in a different place. This is also sometimes called geo-spoofing.

We have created this seperate section of VPN uses even though some would argue it’s closely related to a VPN hiding your real IP address.  

These VPN uses apply where you choose a specific country or location for a specific purpose, and are not just trying to merely hide your real IP address from detection.  

Whether it’s a result of the VPN saving you big bucks when cutting your cable package or planning your next holiday, these VPN uses make the decision to buy a VPN a no-brainer. A VPN costs a measly $2 to $7 per month, but you will recoup that small investment in no time using a VPN.

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27. Cut the Cable for Good

Instead of subscribing to cable TV to watch sports, why not use a VPN to watch free local broadcasts of the same events? Millions of people are now doing this and "cutting the cable".

This is as easy as connecting to a VPN server located in the country of the match and then tuning in to the local streaming broadcast of the game. Learn more.

Although not strictly geo-shifting, many TV series and movies are also now available through alternate means, other than expensive cable. However, many of these alternatives, from online streaming, cloud content services, Kodi, torrent file-sharing or Usenet - can be controversial, so connect to a VPN to protect yourself while using them.
 

28. Unlimited Online Streaming

Because a VPN lets you choose (and change) the geographic location of your Internet connection at will, you can use a VPN to dissolve national boundaries when it comes to watching and streaming online content

This means you can use a VPN to obtain a better and wider selection from premium streaming services such as Netflix, HBO and Hulu. While it is true that some of these services, notably, Netflix, have been cracking down on VPN use, some VPN services such as NordVPN, still work fine with Netflix.

You can also use a VPN while travelling to tune into your favourite local broadcasts from back home, whether sports, news or entertainment. 
 

29. Better Online Shopping Deals and Selection

You would be amazed to learn how much the price and selection of the same goods and services vary by location. This happens because many businesses offer different selections and charge different prices depending on where you live.

With a VPN, you can choose your country location and make it seem like you are based in that country. By doing this, you can access better prices and a wider selection of online goods and services.

For example, you can use a VPN to obtain cheaper prices for airfares & hotels, online games, VOIP providers, software apps and more! 
 

30. Save Money Booking your Next Vacation

Flights, car rental and hotels are often cheaper when booked from other countries.  

And don't think it’s “poorer” countries that get the cheaper pricing. This detailed example from ExpressVPN showed that the same plane ticket cost $2,000 less if booked from a Norwegian IP address. That’s highway robbery!

If you Google around, you will see many of these examples and not just for airfare, but for hotel bookings and car rentals too. Finding the best deal will mean experimenting a bit and choosing different server locations offered by your VPN service, but the savings you can achieve make these efforts well worth the time.

31. Cheaper VOIP Calls

When you use a VPN, “local” calls can be initiated virtually anywhere, so chose the cheapest jurisdiction from which to place your Skype call.

Check the VOIP service’s list of local call rates and connect to a VPN server in the same location that has the cheapest rates. Sweet! 
 

32. Save Money on Online Software and Services

Just like the other geo-shifting, money-saving techniques presented here, online software and services are no different. Very often the price or selection can be better simply by using a VPN and choosing a different location.

But this is tougher than it used to be because many online software services, including Steam, now check that your chosen location matches your billing address of the purchase.

So, if you choose a location that has a cheap price but your billing address doesn't match this same location, the service may catch this and disallow your purchase either right on the spot or afterwards.

Paying with PayPal (which doesn’t share any information other than your email address) is usually a good way to get around this. 
 

33. Get Even More Free Stuff Online

Whether you like taking advantage of the free articles every month available from the New York Times, The Economist or your local newspaper, a VPN lets you get even more freebies.

Once you reach your free limit, activate your VPN (for a new IP address) and open an Incognito tab in your web browser (to start with a fresh, clean cookie). Now revisit the site. Presto! The limit is lifted and you can start over.

This technique can also work with contest entries, limited free searches on otherwise pay sites, and plenty of other limited freemium-type services. 

34. Very Handy for Travelling

In addition to all the money-saving VPN uses above, a VPN is also super useful in general when travelling.  

Anytime you are on the road, consider these further geo-shifting benefits from using a VPN:

• Stop your bank from blocking your credit or debit card when ordering online while overseas by first connecting to a home country VPN server
• Access your home Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other online streaming accounts when out-of-country
• Generally browse like you never left home and use the Internet as usual when abroad 
   

35. Gamble or Play Lotteries from Anywhere

Geo-shift and play poker or lotteries even from places where they are banned. 
 

36. Skip Those Annoying Adult Filters

If you are in a country, like the UK, that insists on age verification before you can access adult content on websites, you can use a VPN to get around this.

Age verification may be laudable, but it adds steps and time and also has worrying privacy implications since the verification usually involves providing credit card details.

Use a VPN to avoid all this extra hassle.

Bonus VPN Uses

But wait there’s more!

Depending on the VPN service you choose, you might enjoy additional VPN uses too.
 

Bonus: Block Ads while Browsing Websites without an Ad Blocker

Some VPNs, like NordVPN and Private Internet Access, have extra features for free which block ads before they get to your computer, mobile or other device.

This is especially great on mobile devices, because it will actually save you data (and money since it cuts back on your data usage).

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Conclusion

Heard enough? Did we miss any?

For the small investment in a VPN service you can unleash all of the benefits and protections above. Grab the right VPN service for you. You can't go wrong with NordVPN, but we have reviews on lots of excellent VPN providers you can read up on.