Updated on July 6, 2023 in Remote access, Reviews, Security

10 Best VPNs for Small Businesses in 2023

Helga York Article author

• HelpWire
• →
• Blog
• →
• Best VPN for business

There are many different types of VPNs that businesses and individuals use, and there are certain differences between small business VPNs and consumer VPNs.

Business VPNs are designed to maintain privacy, safeguard organizations from online hacking and surveillance, and ensure data protection.

The primary difference is business VPNs cater to multiple users. This implies that employees will get to use a single universal account and the account manager with full control.

This article will introduce you to some of the best VPNs for small businesses.

Let’s start!

Best VPN for Businesses Comparison Chart

We have chosen and rated some good VPNs available in the market and have shown their key features in the below table. This will let you compare them and choose the best VPN for business that can meet your needs.

The Best VPNs for Small Businesses

We created our rating based directly on the business requirements for VPN parameters and evaluated them according to such criteria as:

• • Business-oriented
• • Security
• • Value for money
• • Speed
• • Reliability

We have collected here only top-notch VPN solutions for businesses and all of them worth your attention, you just need to learn about their features and make a choice.

Best VPN for Small Businesses

NordLayer

Formerly known as NordVPN Teams, NordLayer is the consumer VPN’s solution for businesses and corporate users. Many users consider it as the best VPN for small businesses.

Every user account can be managed from a single, centralized control panel. You can tunnel connections from work devices through 33 different countries.

Companies can also get a dedicated business VPN server for internal use, and each VPN account is assigned a fixed dedicated IP address regardless of the location, network or device.

Nord’s service uses 2048-bit double encryption. This encryption is the kind of overkill that means any business can trust NordVPN with their most sensitive data.

For people who want to be certain that all their internet traffic passes through a secure VPN server, Nord offers a kill switch. This kill switch means that as soon as Nord detects your internet or data connection dropping, it will stop any outgoing data until your device re-establishes a connection with the VPN.

Since this is a plug and play, cloud-based business VPN solution, companies of any size can onboard within hours.
Adding users is easy and won’t complicate billing.

Third-party authentication works with GSuite, OneLogin, Okta, And Azure.
Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and Linux.

Pros	Cons
Established and trusted provider	Desktop app can take some getting used to
Access to thousands of servers	Split tunneling only for Windows and Android
Fast and reliable connections
Strict no-logs policy ideal for privacy-conscious users
Unlimited bandwidth and no data caps
Apps for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Linux and Android
2048-bit encryption is as strong as it comes
Static IP

Best Alternative VPN for Small Businesses

Perimeter 81

Perimeter 81 is a specialist VPN solution for businesses. It allows businesses to deploy private VPN servers that staff can securely connect to from anywhere in the world. You can easily manage network activity for your entire staff without an IT degree from an online dashboard.

State-of-the-art security protocols, including OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2, along with a zero-trust network and auto Wi-Fi security make perimeter 81 one of the most secure business VPNs.

Perimeter 81 caters to businesses with unique security features like network segmentation to isolate sensitive data from breaches. If your business has offices in different locations, you can set up site-to-site VPNs to connect the two networks. Cloud VPNs allow remote access and can easily be scaled up as needed.

All data is encrypted with 256-bit AES. If you don’t deploy your own VPN, you can choose from 700 public servers in 36 locations around the world. Businesses can monitor access to the VPN by logging and inspecting all traffic that passes through it.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Chrome.

Pros	Cons
Customized option	Requires at least 5 team members
Team and network management console	Not the cheapest option in this list
Custom plan	Logs some data about user sessions for improvement purposes
Complete network security platform	Companies consistent growth may drive the license price higher
Caters specifically to businesses	Quote-based pricing
Deploy your own server or choose from public ones
Supports site-to-site VPNs
Host apps and files on the VPN server
Strong encryption
Supports network segmentation
Seamless scaling and simplified deployments
Static IP
Split tunneling

Best for Security VPN

OpenVPN Access Server

OpenVPN Access Server is considered by many the best business VPN in terms of security. It is popular among the large enterprise segment and has been the industry’s leading VPN protocol for well over a decade.

Currently, OpenVPN has no known vulnerabilities, so you can be sure your VPN connection is safe and private when using OpenVPN.

Uses 2048-bit double encryption. The protocol is compatible with a wide range of encryption ciphers, including AES, Blowfish, and ChaCha20.

OpenVPN Access Server can provide a single sign-on (SSO) experience. Meaning you can use the same SAML IdP credentials to access various applications and services that support SAML authentication. This removes the need to add new credentials for each application or service. You can access your local network remotely and avoid doing all the port forwarding and redirections due a highly-configurable protocol.

To establish remote access for your team, you need to deploy Access Server and at least one client, via our OpenVPN client or Connect client.

You can deploy Access Server on Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Digital Ocean, Google Cloud, Azure.

Almost all VPN solutions for small businesses app natively support OpenVPN across most major platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Android, Linux, and iOS.

Pros	Cons
Industry leader in security	Slower than competitors
Enforce Zero Trust Access	Bigger VPN data usage
RSA 2048-bit certificates
Two-factor authentication (2FA)
Can provide a single sign-on (SSO)
Can accommodate Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile OS Android and iOS

VPN With Lots of Features for Businesses

TorGuard Business VPN

TorGuard business VPN account comes with a 24/7 dedicated account manager and access to a dedicated VPN management portal. Security-wise, TorGuard provided all the regular high quality security protocols, 256-bit AES encryption, and a ‘Stealth VPN’ option that avoids deep packet inspection.

TorGuard has a huge selection of servers, you should never have a problem finding a reliable connection. But testing revealed only average levels of performance, with some spikes in latency. Still, the speed trade-off might well be worth it as you get tons of options to set up your VPN experience on any OS.

For budding enterprises that need more than five simultaneous connections, business plans are available between $32.99 and $169.99 per month and come with at least one direct IP address, numerous email accounts and more.

Pros	Cons
Lots of servers	Average speed
Advanced features	Average performance
24/7 dedicated account manager	Unimpressive with latency
Expert-level configurability
Dedicated IP

Great Paid Plan for Small Businesses

Twingate

Twingate is a cloud-based service that differentiates itself from traditional VPN solutions thanks to zero-trust access control and making gateways invisible to the internet. This small business VPN solution can be deployed without changing network infrastructure and is easily scaled.

Twingate supports single sign-on (SSO) so that staff can only access the resources that IT admins give them. That includes on-cloud and on-premises apps and remote networks. Split tunneling allows traffic to pass through the network only if necessary, while more bandwidth-intensive activities like video calls go through a direct connection.

Twingate is also easy to set up and deploy and, because it has a simple web-based admin console, it is easy for IT managers to configure their network wherever they may be. Because devices only need to connect to the central admin console, a Twingate network can be scaled up to however many devices the organization wants to access the network.

With a reduced risk of embarrassing data breaches, reduced infrastructure costs, and rapid deployment, Twingate is a good solution for businesses.

Pros	Cons
Zero-trust access control	Not a VPN, strictly speaking
Supports most major single sign-on (SSO) providers	Can be expensive for enterprise users as the service is billed per user
Easily deployed	Support could be better
Centralized admin console that makes it easy to access settings and configurations
Protects an entire network instead of individual sessions which protects the network if one device is compromised
Built with IT admins and users in mind
Dedicated to security

Best Cross-Platform VPN

GoodAccess

GoodAccess offers apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus mobile device protection for iOS, Android, and Chrome OS. This provider offers a straightforward VPN for businesses that includes access to 35 gateways for free.

Business systems administrators get a list of security options that opens up new strategies for protecting traffic outside the home network. The tool can be activated on-site gateways, providing a protective tunnel for all internal business traffic that needs to cross the internet to other corporate locations. You can also implement zero trust access to implement application-by-application access controls.

Other administrative options in the GoodAccess menu include multi-factor authentication, a single sign-on environment, and split tunneling. Administrators get a central control panel through which to set up and manage user accounts and there is also an activity logging mechanism for standards compliance auditing.

Choose to facilitate user access to specific apps by presenting a portal to each user that provides single sign-on mechanisms. You can also improve access security by requiring multi-factor authentication. Choose to protect individual devices, including those of roaming workers, or entire sites. Split tunneling is also offered as a strategic option.

GoodAccess offers apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Chrome OS.

Pros	Cons
Free plan for up to 100 users	The number of gateway locations is not as big as that of other providers
35 gateway locations
Zero trust access and single sign-on with higher plans
Site-to-site protection options
Administrator controls
Split tunneling

Exceptional Performance VPN

VyprVPN

VyprVPN is a fast and secure VPN for businesses with packages available for business users. Enterprise users can choose between VyprVPN for Business and VyprVPN for Business Cloud. The former offers multiple user management and global business servers. The latter offers a dedicated IP and a dedicated server for secure remote access.

The user web-based user interface is very easy to use. The user can create and manage multiple user accounts from one location. Each user can be assigned access privileges. The absence of download caps gives you unlimited bandwidth for browsing online so your team isn’t restricted.

Privacy online is ensured through its 256-bit AES encryption standard. For additional security, VyprVPN comes with Chameleon technology, which is designed to scramble OpenVPN packet metadata so that it can’t be analyzed by deep packet inspection. Chameleon is very useful because it can stop VPN blocking your team from accessing any services.

The support offered is excellent, with a dedicated account manager and 24/7/365 included with the VyprVPN for Business Cloud package. There are applications available for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and TV.

Pros	Cons
Offers free trial 30 days	High-cost business packages
Exceptional performance
High speed
Excellent encryption
Global servers

Affordable VPN

Windscribe

Windscribe uses AES-256 cipher with SHA512 auth and a 4096-bit RSA key with perfect forward secrecy, a kill switch, and DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak protection. A new feature blocks ads and malware on all devices. The VPN service for business doesn’t log any information that can identify you.

Windscribe has an offering tailored specifically for teams and businesses, named ScribeForce. This is a low-cost service, ideal for business owners on a budget. The plan gives you all features of a Windscribe Pro plan.

For remote teams, ScribeForce offers team accounts. With ScribeForce a user can manage multiple accounts from one location.

You also get centralized billing and a panel from which you can configure and manage your entire team.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. Currently, an unlimited number of devices can be connected under each plan.

Pros	Cons
App has a native firewall that blocks all non-VPN traffic to avoid data leaks	Split tunneling available only for Windows and Android
Low-cost budget option for businesses	Limited support
High-quality encryption
Multiple browser extensions
Blocks ads and malware on all devices
Works in China
Fast server speeds and reliable connections

Great Reliability VPN With Multiple Locations

PureVPN

Choosing a reliable VPN for small business is necessary as it gives you the support you need while running your business. For this, PureVPN is a great option.

Trusted by organizations like Techradar, PCMag.com, Yahoo Finance, etc., PureVPN comes with solid feature sets and security and privacy capabilities. It seamlessly connects when you are online and moves incredibly faster when browsing.

PureVPN works with a wide range of operating systems, devices, and browsers. It includes Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad, Firefox, Chrome, and Linux. It has a global network having optimized servers spread in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. With 300,000+ IPs and 6500+ servers, PureVPN ensures better accessibility.

This VPN solution provides features that can fit users’ online lifestyles while maintaining security and privacy. With the multi-login feature in your VPN account, you can protect at most 10 devices at once. With their ultra-fast 20 Gbps connection, you can browse and stream faster.

In addition, split tunneling lets you have greater control over the data and applications you need protection for. Other features included in PureVPN are strong security protocols such as WireGuard, smart server selection, 1-click network protection, and hiding online activities and IP from ISPs and other monitoring entities.

Pros	Cons
A wide range of features and capabilities	Connection issues sometimes
Strong encryption	WireGuard is not compatible with all features
Incredible speeds
3+ million satisfied users, so, reliable
No-log policy
31-day money-back guarantee

Best Support VPN

IPVanish

IPVanish is a consumer VPN solution for small businesses that can be an excellent choice for small businesses. It supports unlimited device connections simultaneously, which enables organizations to cover each of their devices in just one plan. But each account is for only one household, so, avoid registering too many devices else your access could be revoked.

With 30+ million downloads, IPVanish ensures reliability and enhanced customer support and provides awesome features. It supports Mac, Windows, Android, iPhone, Chrome, and more. Its global network provides stable connections no matter where you stay.

IPVanish routes your web traffic through a secure server that you prefer in order to safeguard your identity on the internet and help mitigate risks. The VPN solution is also known for its fast speeds and WireGuard has further boosted the speeds. This enables users to enjoy high-speed HD streaming and browsing.

The VPN app by IPVanish can protect your data by uniting security with convenience via advanced settings. With anonymous IP addresses, you can shield your web traffic from 3rd-party spying. It also strengthens your Wi-Fi connection, secures your location information, and keeps online activities confidential using the best privacy shield.

Furthermore, IPVanish offers advanced encryption, unmetered connections, and WireGuard to power your online traffic and logs no traffic records. It’s great to use for small traders and businesses if your requirements are light.

Pros	Cons
Unlimited device support	Lacks business-focused features
High-speed connections
Advanced security
WireGuard support
No traffic logs

How to Choose a VPN for Small Businesses

There are many factors to consider when choosing a business VPN service if you want to get most of the service. Let’s understand those factors.

Security and Privacy

Cybersecurity and privacy concerns are rising as we speak. Attackers are deploying various means to attack businesses and individuals, leading to losses in terms of finances, data, and reputation. Thus, it’s necessary to choose a safe VPN that can protect you from security and privacy risks.

Security: The VPN you choose must secure your data and connections with the help of advanced technologies like military-grade encryption or at least AES-256 encryption. This will enable safer communications and restrict attackers from intercepting content.

In addition, you may want to look for more security features like:

• • The kill switch to forbid data transmission during VPN breakdowns
• • DNS servers to eliminate DNS leakage on the web
• • Malware detection
• • Firewalls have customizable rules,
• • Network filtering to spot malicious sites, etc.

Privacy: Always choose a VPN for small businesses that offers a solid commitment to online privacy. It must offer a no-log policy, which means the VPN provider doesn’t log or collect any data transmitted over the network. They must not save your personal information, what data your download, what sites you access, what things you search on the web, etc.

With a no-log policy, your identity will stay anonymous, thus, enhancing security and privacy. Apart from this, look for a VPN provider that also publishes transparent reports regularly, outlining the received data requests from the government and their compliance with the requests.

Say No to Free VPNs

Getting free business VPN services may look like the easiest pick when choosing a VPN for your business. However, it will come with a lot of limitations in terms of server locations, encryption standards, security and privacy features, etc.

So, when you visit a website wanting that it won’t identify your real IP address, your plan may get sabotaged. It will increase your chances of getting detected and banned from the website.

Therefore, it’s wise to invest in a paid VPN service that offers strong functionalities and features so that you don’t get detected or banned. Though it will cost you some bucks, your purpose of using a VPN will be highly likely to get fulfilled. As a result, you can access any site you want from any part of the world.

Needed Features

A good VPN solution offers a number of useful features to meet the demand of users. Some of the features include:

• • Multifactor authentication (MFA) ensures enhanced security by employing more than one proof of identity during the authentication process like biometrics, OTP, a security question, etc.
• • Kill switch to provide better privacy by preventing your device or app from sending any information if not VPN connected
• • Dedicated IPs instead of shared IPs for users that can provide security each time you make a new network connection
• • Split tunneling to route some network traffic via a VPN while other traffic can still have direct access. This enables businesses to perform normal operations as well as crucial operations with better security.
• • Encryption: Your VPN solution must offer stringer encryption standards such as AES-256 to safeguard your data and activities from online attackers.

Reliability

Conventional VPN services have a major flaw with how they’re built, running all traffic through a single connection.

Small businesses might need a lot of VPN access for multiple employees and devices. So, the VPN solution you choose must offer support for multiple simultaneous device connections and network stability. It must cover various global locations so that you can cater to your customers no matter where they are.

In addition, the network must be secure and private to continue so that you can continue using the VPN solution without worrying about blocks and restrictions.

Apart from that, the customer support you are getting from the VPN provider must be reliable too. You must be able to reach them at any time since issues can arise at any time. So, there must be someone to help you round the clock and solve the issues so that you can return back to normal operations.

Location

Choosing a VPN solution also depends upon how many locations they cover across the world. But if you choose a VPN solution with only a few locations and servers, it could result in low speeds, over-congestion, and getting the closest server.

The more number of global locations and servers they support, the better it is because you will be able to choose your preferred server from a specific region or country. This will enable you to access geo-restricted content.

In addition, if you want your data to be transmitted through a given country’s jurisdiction, it will be helpful. So, more number of server locations will give you more options to choose your most desired one.

Moreover, the closer your server will be, the better will be the network performance and the lower the ping. With the flexibility of choosing the server you want, you can choose the closest one to ensure you always have the best speeds and eligible connections.

Performance and Speed

It’s always desirable to use a high-speed, superbly performing VPN solution. It will allow you to browse content faster and save you plenty of time.

Speed is a crucial factor when you choose the best small business VPN since it impacts the overall VPN performance and how effectively you can do activities online.

But if you choose a slow VPN, it could lead to frequent buffering in video streaming, severe delays in page loading, and difficulty in using applications in real-time like video conferencing or gaming. So, the overall performance affects negatively.

So, always look for high-speed VPN solutions. However, speed could vary across devices since some devices come with better connectivity and faster processors than others. But a good VPN must perform faster and offer reliability no matter what device you use.

You can look for other performance-expressing factors such as low latency, high bandwidth, and greater uptime.

To check a VPN’s upload and download speed, jitter, and latency, you can use a speed testing tool like Ookla. These tools can also check a VPN’s uptime information to give you an idea about its performance.

Apart from that, any conventional VPN solution can add overhead to the web traffic to encrypt it. So, find a VPN with fast encryption mechanisms and minimal impact on the speed.

Cross-Compatibility

The VPN service you choose must be cross-compatible, meaning it must support a wide range of operating systems and devices. Some of the common ones it must support are Mac, Windows, Linux, Android phones, iPhones, iPad, Google Chrome, etc.

This will enable you to use your VPN solution from where, be it your office, home, or hotel during your vacation. You can use the VPN service to get things done on the go and also change settings or get issues fixed quickly. It offers better flexibility, instead of keeping you constrained by a device or two.

Ease of Use

No matter how good a VPN service is, if you face trouble using it, there’s no point in buying it. Although some VPN services will require you to learn many things before you get a hand of the system, the learning curve must not be steep.

So, choose a VPN solution that’s easy to use for your team. It must come with an intuitive user interface where you can find options easily and use them. It must also be easy to navigate.

Pricing

Pricing of a VPN service is also an important consideration. Since small businesses have limited resources and budgets, look for a VPN solution that’s perfect to meet your needs and is affordable.

For this, look for the features you require and the pricing of each VPN solution you are shortlisting. Compare the price against the features to choose the best VPN solution for small businesses that can give you the best bang for your buck.

Differences between Consumer and Business VPNs

Both business VPNs and consumer VPNs provide security and privacy by masking your real IP address with a different one, encrypting the traffic, and letting you bypass geo-restrictions so you can access content from any site from any part of the world.

However, they are still different from each other on many grounds. Here’s how:

• • Goal: Consumer VPNs are primarily about concealing your IP address to access sites but business VPNs focus on creating a safe route to protect your data, systems, and networks from unauthorized access.
• • Users: Business VPNs are designed to offer support for multiple users and devices. They enable account managers to create accounts for each individual user and control what happens to each account. This adds more security. However, consumer VPNs support a limited number of users and devices.
• • Features: Business VPNs come with a wide range of features to support the needs of businesses. They also offer enhanced security and privacy capabilities such as encryption standards, MFA, etc. However, consumer VPNs come with limited features and might be suitable for an individual user.
• • Dedicated IP: Business VPNs often come with dedicated IPs that only your team can use. This provides better privacy and security since you don’t have to share it with anyone else. However, consumer VPNs come with shared IPs that many users share. This could be risky for your identity, privacy, and data.
• • Pricing: Consumer VPNs are cheaper than business VPNs given the difference in offerings.

Set Up a Business VPN Correctly

VPNs are quite easy to set up. Just download the installer and run it. Next, you will need to open the application and select your preferred location. Once done, just connect.

However, before you do all of that, ensure you don’t have an old VPN service installed on your device. The reason is VPNs don’t get along that well with each other, which can cause some issues. So, uninstall any VPN you no longer use and then only try installing a new VPN.

In addition, a network firewall might block your network connection sometimes. So, when connecting the VPN with a router, ensure the VPN support such connections.