To determine the best VPN extensions for Chrome of 2025, Forbes Advisor Canada looked at a number of factors. We considered cost, reputation, customer reviews, number of servers and server locations, speed, security features and customer support. We also looked at the number of IP addresses each service offered. These metrics were then weighted and scored to determine the rank of each of the leading Chrome extensions on the market today.
Here is a more in-depth look at the criteria we used to determine the best VPN extensions for Chrome.
Pricing
For pricing, we looked at the per-month pricing and the overall price when paying annually that a provider charged and considered them against the other competitors and whether they were cheap or expensive in relation to the others. Also, those VPNs that offered a free trial of its service were given bonus points in our rankings. This accounted for 15% of our weighted scoring.
Features
VPNs should provide users with a feature-rich experience and we looked at each provider’s plan and what came with them. We looked for features that we considered essential for a VPN to offer and then additional ones that fell into the nice-to-have category. The must-have features we looked for include ad blockers, AES 256 encryption, more than 200 servers overall and servers in 20 or more countries and allowing for five or more connections at the same time. Some nice-to-have features we liked to see included offering a dedicated IP address and a Google Chrome Marketplace extension. We weighted features at 40% of our total score.
Third-party reviews
We considered what real users of these VPN for Chrome extensions thought about them by turning to third-party review sites G2 and Trustpilot. We looked for providers that had several reviews on each site, especially those that were at least 3.5 out of 5, to give us the fullest picture of reality and reduce bias. These reviews accounted for 10% of the total score.
Expert analysis
Based on those same reviews, our panel of experts looked at additional criteria to come to a final conclusion about the best options for VPNs for Chrome extensions. These criteria included popularity, ease of use, stand-out features and value for the price. Altogether, this expert analysis made up 35% of the total score.
Canadian specific editing and research (including pricing) conducted by Anna Rey.