Ranked on proof, not promises: who audited each VPN and when, which no-logs claims held up in court or a server seizure, and whose servers cannot store anything.
Hands-on tested No pay-to-play scores Updated October 3, 2026
NordThe most audited no-logs policy on this page: six independent assurance checks by Deloitte, on servers that run from RAM only.
Proton VPN
Swiss privacy from the team behind Proton Mail, with every app open source and a no-logs policy audited five years running.
Private Internet Access
A no-logs claim tested by a real subpoena: in an FBI case PIA had no user activity to hand over. Audited three times by Deloitte since.
ExpressWhen Turkish investigators seized one of its servers, it held no user data. Its TrustedServer network runs from RAM only.
Surfshark
Cyber| # | Product | Score | Best for | No-logs audits | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nord |
9.8/10 | Most Audited No-Logs VPN | 6 by Deloitte | from A$4.89 /mo | Visit Site |
| 2 | Proton VPN | 9.2/10 | Best Open-Source Privacy | 5 by Securitum | from $2.99 /mo | Visit Site |
| 3 | Private Internet Access | 9.0/10 | Court-Tested No-Logs | 3 by Deloitte | from A$2.49 /mo | Visit Site |
| 4 | Express |
8.7/10 | Seizure-Tested Servers | Audited by KPMG | from $2.99 /mo | Visit Site |
| 5 | Surfshark | 9.6/10 | Best Audited Value | 2 by Deloitte | from A$3.49 /mo | Visit Site |
| 6 | Cyber |
8.9/10 | Audited and Easy to Use | 3 by Deloitte | from A$3.27 /mo | Visit Site |
Every VPN says it keeps no logs. This page ranks the ones that have shown it: an outside firm that checked and put its name to the result, a claim that held when a court or a police force came asking, servers that have nowhere to store anything, and apps anyone can read the code of. VPNs we rate elsewhere that have not published an independent no-logs audit are left off this page. The order follows the strength of that evidence; the score beside each name is our overall rating, carried over unchanged.
This page is ordered by the evidence behind each no-logs claim, not by our overall score. We weigh, in order: real-world tests on the public record, the number and recency of independent no-logs audits by a named firm, RAM-only servers, open-source apps and regular transparency reports. Every fact is taken from the provider's own audit and transparency pages or from public court records, and we date the page when we refresh it. The score beside each name is our overall rating from our main VPN comparison, carried over unchanged so you can see where privacy evidence and overall quality do and do not line up.
We earn a commission when a reader buys, which costs the reader nothing. A provider cannot buy its way onto this page: one with no independent audit is left off it.
A VPN sees every site you connect to, so the real question is what it writes down. A strict no-logs policy means no record of the sites you visit, the traffic you send, the IP address you connected from or the times you were online. It does not mean the company knows nothing about you: your email address and payment details sit with the account, and every provider here keeps them. If that matters, pay with a method that does not carry your name.
A real-world test. The hardest evidence is a demand for data that came back empty. In a US bomb-hoax case, an FBI subpoena to Private Internet Access, quoted in a public court complaint, produced nothing that identified a user. Turkish investigators later seized an ExpressVPN server and found no user logs on it. Only two providers on this page have a test of that kind on the public record.
An independent audit. A firm such as Deloitte, KPMG or Securitum inspects the server configuration, the code and the staff and signs a report. NordVPN has done this six times and Proton five years in a row. An audit is a snapshot of the systems on the days it was carried out, which is why repeat audits count for more than a single one.
Servers that cannot keep anything. RAM-only servers run without a hard disk, so a reboot or a power cut wipes them. NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, PIA and CyberGhost all use them. Proton does not, deliberately: it uses full-disk encryption instead and argues that RAM-only servers are overstated. That is a defensible position, but it is a different one.
Code you can read. Open-source apps let anyone check what the software on your device sends home. Every Proton app is open source, and so are PIA's.
A kill switch. It blocks traffic while the tunnel reconnects, the few seconds when a VPN that is switched on is not actually protecting you. Every VPN on this page has one; check that it is turned on.
Post-quantum encryption. Traffic recorded today could be decrypted by a future quantum computer. ExpressVPN has this on by default in Lightway, Surfshark on WireGuard, and NordVPN offers it as a setting. The others have not shipped it yet.
Transparency reports. PIA, CyberGhost, Surfshark and ExpressVPN publish how many legal requests they received and what they handed over. A report that keeps saying nothing is a quieter kind of proof that adds up over time.
A VPN hides your traffic from your network and your internet provider. It does not stop a site you are signed into from knowing it is you, it does not block browser fingerprinting on its own, and it does not make a phishing link safe. Treat it as one layer, not the whole of your privacy.
One that does not record the sites you visit, the data you send, your real IP address or when you were connected. The account email and payment details are still kept, at every provider.
There is no single answer, which is why this page shows the evidence. NordVPN has the most independent no-logs audits, Private Internet Access and ExpressVPN have had their claims tested by a subpoena and a server seizure, and Proton has open-source apps and five annual audits.
Yes. In an FBI case a subpoena to Private Internet Access produced nothing that identified the user, and a server ExpressVPN ran in Turkey was seized by investigators and held no user logs.
It is strong evidence, not a guarantee. An audit checks the systems on the days it runs, so a provider audited every year by a named firm is worth more than one audited once.
Servers that run with no hard disk, so nothing survives a reboot and a seized machine holds nothing to recover. Most providers here use them; Proton chooses full-disk encryption instead.
No. It hides your traffic from your network and your internet provider, but a site you are signed into still knows who you are, and browser fingerprinting still works. Use it as one layer of privacy, not all of it.
It has not published an independent no-logs audit. It is on our other VPN pages, where the ranking is about overall quality or price rather than proof of privacy.
NordThe most audited no-logs policy on this page: six independent assurance checks by Deloitte, on servers that run from RAM only.