VPN Scoring Methodology: Our 100-Point Trust Score
See how we rate every VPN on 100 points across 11 criteria. Our VPN scoring methodology is fully transparent and traceable.
Bottom Line: The VPN.com Trust Score rates every VPN out of 100 across 11 criteria in two categories. Speed Lab rankings are based on download speed. Trust Scores are editorial assessments based on independent data. The formula is published here — every point is traceable.
The VPN.com Trust Score
The VPN.com Trust Score is a 100-point rating system applied uniformly to every VPN provider we review. It aggregates published third-party test data and publicly verifiable provider information to produce a consistent, repeatable score.
We don’t run our own speed tests. We aggregate results from Security.org, Cybernews, All About Cookies, VPN Mentor, Wizcase, and Cloudwards — review sites that do run the tests. No single source drives a score. Where sources disagree, we use the median. Where data is unavailable, we score conservatively and note the gap.
The system is designed to be transparent: if you disagree with a score, you can trace exactly where every point came from.
How the Score Works
Every VPN is scored across two categories, then converted to a 5-star rating.
| Category | Points | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Trust & Value | 30 | User satisfaction, pricing, refund policy, support quality |
| VPN Performance | 70 | Speed, server network, devices, protocols, streaming, security |
| VPN.com Trust Score | 100 |
Star rating = Trust Score ÷ 20 (e.g., 93/100 = 4.7 stars)
Worked Example: NordVPN
Here’s exactly how NordVPN’s Trust Score breaks down:
Trust & Value: 27/30
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| User Satisfaction | 10/10 | 4.7/5.0 average (App Store + Google Play, 500K+ reviews) |
| Value | 7/10 | $3.49/mo on the 2-year plan, which falls in the $3.01–$3.50 band (monthly price shown, not scored) |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 5/5 | 30 days (verified from terms page) |
| Support | 5/5 | 24/7 live chat |
VPN Performance: 66/70
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 15/15 | 730 Mbps — #1 in Speed Lab (Security.org, Cybernews) |
| Server Network | 10/10 | 8,900+ servers, 129+ countries |
| Simultaneous Devices | 10/10 | 10 devices |
| Connection Reliability | 10/10 | WireGuard + OpenVPN, stable across all platforms |
| Protocol & Encryption | 10/10 | NordLynx (WireGuard) + OpenVPN, AES-256 |
| Streaming | 8/10 | Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer (8+ platforms) |
| Security Track Record | 3/5 | Cure53 security audits, no breaches |
Total: 27 + 66 = 93/100 → 4.7 stars
For comparison, McAfee scored 53/100: Trust 19/30 (logs IP despite claims, no audit) + Performance 34/70 (320 Mbps, 600% latency increase, poor streaming).
Trust & Value: 30 Points
These criteria apply to any subscription product. Verified from public sources.
User Satisfaction — 10 points
Averaged from iOS App Store and Google Play ratings. Minimum 10,000 combined reviews required.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | 4.5 stars or higher |
| 6 | 4.0–4.4 stars |
| 2 | Below 4.0 or insufficient review volume |
Value — 10 points
The effective monthly price of the cheapest priced plan on a 2-year term: the 2-year total divided by 24. That is the price shown on each review page and the one most buyers end up paying. The month-to-month price is displayed beside it for reference, but it is not scored.
A provider with no 2-year plan is scored on its cheapest other term, and the label names that term (for example “1-year” or “3-year”), so a 1-year price is never passed off as a 2-year one. A provider that sells month-to-month only is scored on that monthly price. Free tiers are not priced plans. Prices are compared at face value in the currency the provider charges.
| Score | Effective monthly price |
|---|---|
| 10 | $2.00 or less |
| 9 | $2.01–$2.50 |
| 8 | $2.51–$3.00 |
| 7 | $3.01–$3.50 |
| 6 | $3.51–$4.00 |
| 4 | $4.01–$6.00 |
| 2 | Over $6.00 |
The $4.00 line is the industry average we used before, when Value was scored on the one-year price. Scores for this criterion are computed from each provider’s plan data by one script, not typed.
Money-Back Guarantee — 5 points
Refund window length, verified from the provider’s terms page.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5 | 30+ days |
| 3 | 14–29 days |
| 0 | Under 14 days or no guarantee |
Support — 5 points
Availability and quality of customer support.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5 | 24/7 live chat |
| 3 | Business hours chat or email only |
| 0 | No live support |
VPN Performance: 70 Points
Performance criteria are specific to VPN capabilities. Speed data is sourced from published third-party tests, not self-reported provider claims.
Speed — 15 points
Download speed retention on a 1 Gbps fiber baseline. Aggregated from a minimum of two independent sources. This criterion also determines the Speed Lab ranking (#1, #2, etc.).
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 14–15 | Under 5% speed loss (700+ Mbps retained) |
| 10–12 | 5–20% speed loss (500–700 Mbps) |
| 6–8 | 20–40% speed loss (400–500 Mbps) |
| 2–4 | Over 40% speed loss (under 400 Mbps) |
Server Network — 10 points
Geographic coverage based on the provider’s published server list.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | 80+ countries |
| 8 | 50–79 countries |
| 6 | 30–49 countries |
| 2 | Under 30 countries |
Simultaneous Devices — 10 points
Number of devices allowed on a single subscription.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | Unlimited or 10+ devices |
| 8 | 6–9 devices |
| 6 | 5 devices |
| 2 | Under 5 devices |
Connection Reliability — 10 points
Protocol flexibility and connection stability across platforms and network conditions.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | WireGuard + OpenVPN, stable across all platforms |
| 8 | WireGuard or OpenVPN with good stability |
| 6 | OpenVPN only or proprietary with decent performance |
| 2 | Proprietary only, frequent disconnects, or poor stability |
Protocol & Encryption — 10 points
Security standards and protocol options.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | WireGuard + OpenVPN with AES-256 or ChaCha20 |
| 7 | OpenVPN only with AES-256 |
| 4 | Proprietary protocol with undisclosed details |
| 2 | Outdated protocols or no encryption verification |
Streaming Capability — 10 points
Ability to access geo-restricted content, verified through published third-party testing reports.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10 | Reliably accesses 8+ major platforms |
| 8 | Accesses 4–7 platforms |
| 6 | Accesses 1–3 platforms inconsistently |
| 2 | Widely blocked or not streaming-optimized |
Security Track Record — 5 points
History of breaches, audits, and privacy incidents.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5 | Independently audited no-logs policy, no breaches |
| 3 | No-logs claimed but not independently verified |
| 1 | Major breach, data-selling incident, or confirmed logging |
What We Note But Don’t Score
Some factors are important context but don’t fit a point scale. We include these as qualifiers in every review.
Jurisdiction — Country of incorporation and whether it falls under Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances.
Kill Switch — Whether the VPN includes a functional kill switch. We consider this table stakes — it’s noted, not rewarded.
No-Logs Policy — The provider’s claimed logging policy. We note whether it’s independently audited, court-verified, or just claimed.
Speed Lab Ranking vs. Trust Score
The Speed Lab table shows two different metrics:
# (Rank) — Based on download speed only. The fastest VPN is #1. This answers: “Which VPN is fastest?”
Review (Trust Score) — The full 100-point assessment across all 11 criteria. This answers: “Which VPN is best overall?”
A VPN can rank #2 in speed but score 59/100 overall if it has privacy concerns, high pricing, or poor support. Hotspot Shield is the second-fastest VPN we track (710 Mbps) but scores 66/100 due to metadata collection and its no-logs policy caveats. The two metrics are intentionally independent.
What Triggers a Score Change
Trust Scores are reviewed quarterly. A score changes when:
- Price changes — Provider raises or lowers pricing (affects Value criterion)
- New audit published — Independent audit confirms or contradicts no-logs claims (affects Security Track Record)
- Breach or incident — Security breach, data-selling exposure, or logging confirmation (can drop score significantly)
- Infrastructure change — Server network expansion, new protocol support, device limit changes
- New speed data — Updated published third-party test results from our data sources
Minor changes (±2 points) are applied immediately. Major changes (±5 or more) are published with an explanation in our monthly update.
Data Sources
Speed and performance data is aggregated from published third-party tests:
| Source | Speciality | Independence |
|---|---|---|
| Security.org | 12-VPN head-to-head comparison | Independent editorial, ad-supported |
| Cybernews | VPN performance benchmarks | Independent, researcher-led |
| All About Cookies | Speed, latency, and privacy testing | Independent editorial |
| VPN Mentor | Provider reviews and testing | Affiliate-funded, editorially independent |
| Wizcase | Performance comparisons | Affiliate-funded, editorially independent |
| Cloudwards | Independent VPN testing | Affiliate-funded, editorially independent |
Provider specifications (servers, countries, pricing, protocols) are verified directly from each provider’s official website. App ratings are sourced from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Where we have checked a provider’s own claims against two independent sources, the evidence is published as a research record. See every one in the VPN research index.
All tests are conducted using WireGuard where available, on connections ranging from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps. Where a source is also affiliate-funded (as VPN.com is), we cross-reference with at least one non-affiliate source.
Structured Data
The VPN.com Trust Score data is available in machine-readable format:
- llms.txt , AI-friendly index of all pages and providers
- llms-full.txt , Complete page index with titles and descriptions
- Speed Lab , Interactive comparison table with all 22 providers
Affiliate Disclosure
VPN.com earns affiliate commissions when you purchase through our links. This revenue supports our research and operations.
Trust Scores come from the formula published on this page, applied the same way to every provider. Commission rates are not an input to that formula, and providers cannot pay for a higher score.
We are also direct about the limits of that promise. Our Disclosures page explains that compensation may influence which providers are included, how they are ordered, and what is highlighted elsewhere on the site, so read the two together. The score is the part you can check line by line on this page.
If a provider scores poorly, we publish it. See our reviews of McAfee (53/100) and Avast (52/100) for examples of household brand names that sit at the bottom of our ranking.
22 providers · 11 criteria · VPN.com Trust Score reviewed quarterly · Scores last updated 2026-10-08