Best VPN for iPhone: trial, refund, protocol

On an iPhone, where you buy the subscription decides what you can undo. This page ranks five VPNs on three things you can check before paying anything. Does the provider give you a real trial through the App Store? Does the money-back guarantee still apply once Apple has processed the payment? And what protocol does the iOS app actually run? It uses the same pricing and audit data as our overall VPN rankings, weighted differently for one device.

That different weighting moves NordVPN. It tops the overall rankings on network size and audit streak. But on an iPhone it has no trial at all — the vendor’s own FAQ limits the free trial to Android. And a subscription bought through the App Store gets refunded by Apple, not by NordVPN. That drops it to fifth. If the widest server network and the best-known name matter more to you than a trial you can undo yourself, choose NordVPN — it’s still that network, and the full rankings cover it.

The five iPhone VPNs compared

Trial, refund, and iOS protocol facts, as of 23 Jul 2026

VPN	iPhone trial	Refund after an App Store buy	Protocol	Devices	Intro price	Renews at
1. Proton VPN	Free plan, 1 device, forever	30 days, no App Store carve-out published	WireGuard, OpenVPN, Stealth	10 (1 free)	$2.99/mo	$83.88/yr
2. CyberGhost	7 days — CyberGhost's longest trial on any platform	45 days (14 on the monthly plan), no App Store carve-out published	WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2	7	$2.19/mo	$56.94/yr
3. Surfshark	7 days on 12-/24-mo plans, card required	Not covered — Paddle, Google Play, or Cleverbridge only	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN	Unlimited	$2.49/mo	$79.00/yr
4. ExpressVPN	3 days, mobile app only	Excludes App Store buys; suspended 11 Jul-11 Aug 2026	Lightway + customized WireGuard	10-14	$3.19/mo	$99.95/yr
5. NordVPN	None — trial is Android-only	Processed by Apple	NordLynx (WireGuard-based)	10	$3.49/mo	$139.08/yr

1. Proton VPN — free forever, on one iPhone

Proton VPN’s free plan isn’t a countdown. One device, no data cap, no ads, no logging — permanent, with no card on file and no trial clock running out. The catch is the same one every free tier carries: the server is assigned at random from 10 countries. You can’t pick a specific location without upgrading. Paid access opens 10 devices and the full iOS protocol set: WireGuard, OpenVPN, and Proton’s own Stealth obfuscation protocol. It costs $2.99 a month on the 2-year plan — $71.76 billed for the first 24 months. That rate renews at $83.88 a year, about $6.99 a month, more than double the intro price. Full pricing and audit detail sit in our Proton VPN review.

2. CyberGhost — the longest trial it gives any platform

CyberGhost runs a different trial length on every platform: 24 hours on Windows and macOS, 3 days on Android. iOS gets the longest of the three — 7 days. It also carries the longest refund window in this ranking: 45 days on plans of six months or more. The monthly plan gets only 14. Its published refund terms set that window by plan length and don’t name the App Store as an exception either way. The iOS app runs WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2. The trade-off is devices: 7 per subscription, the tightest cap in this top five. The 26-month plan runs $2.19 a month, $56.94 up front. It renews at that same $56.94 as a yearly charge — about $4.75 a month. Our CyberGhost review covers the rest.

3. Surfshark — unlimited devices, unless you buy it in the App Store

Surfshark offers a genuine 7-day free trial on iPhone, but only if you sign up for the 12- or 24-month plan. The trial caps you at 3 devices and requires a payment method up front — it auto-charges the full plan the moment the week ends. Once you’re past it, one subscription covers unlimited devices, the highest allowance on this page, over WireGuard, IKEv2, or OpenVPN. The 24-month plan runs $2.49 a month ($67.23 for the first 27 months) and renews at $79.00 a year.

The refund is where the iPhone route bites. Surfshark’s terms of service name the channels a refund can come through: “We are not able to grant you a refund if you obtained your Surfshark subscription via resellers other than Paddle, Google Play, or Cleverbridge.” The Apple App Store is not on that list. Buy Surfshark as an in-app purchase and the 30-day guarantee is not yours to claim — which is why the widest device allowance here still lands third. Buying from Surfshark’s own site keeps the guarantee. Our Surfshark review has the rest.

4. ExpressVPN — a trial, but a refund gap right now

ExpressVPN’s only free trial runs 3 days, and only inside the iOS or Android app. There’s no trial through the website. That’s real, but the safety net behind it has two holes. The money-back guarantee explicitly excludes Apple App Store in-app purchases outright. Separately, the entire guarantee is suspended for any purchase made between 11 Jul and 11 Aug 2026, during a sweepstakes promotion. Buy an ExpressVPN subscription on your iPhone in that window and there’s no refund route at all, trial or not. What the app itself runs is strong: a customized WireGuard build alongside ExpressVPN’s own Lightway protocol, both named explicitly for iOS. The 2-year plan runs $3.19 a month ($89.32 for 28 months) and renews at $99.95 a year. Our ExpressVPN review has the rest of the picture.

5. NordVPN — no iPhone trial, a refund routed through Apple

NordVPN is this site’s overall top VPN — 149 countries, RAM-only servers, a sixth independent no-logs verification from Deloitte completed in December 2025. None of that reaches the two criteria that matter most on an iPhone. NordVPN’s own FAQ states its free trial exists on Android only. An iPhone buyer has no way to test the app before paying. Buy it through the App Store, and NordVPN’s own guarantee page says the refund runs through Apple, not NordVPN directly — an extra step, and a different clock, than buying straight from NordVPN’s site. The iOS app runs NordLynx, NordVPN’s WireGuard-based protocol, across 10 devices. Pricing starts at $3.49 a month on the 27-month plan, renewing at $139.08 a year. If a bigger network and the deepest audit history matter more to you than a trial you can undo yourself, NordVPN’s case is made in our full VPN rankings. If you are choosing between platforms, our Android VPN picks rank the same providers on app audits instead.

Why buying through the App Store changes your refund

An in-app purchase on iPhone bills through Apple, not the VPN company directly. Five of the eight providers this site tracks address that in their own terms, and no two handle it the same way.

• NordVPN and Private Internet Access say the store processes the refund. You’d claim it from Apple under Apple’s process, not from the VPN company’s page.
• ExpressVPN removes the guarantee for App Store purchases outright, on top of its current promo-period suspension.
• Mullvad states its 14-day guarantee is not available for Apple App Store purchases, because Apple handles them.
• Surfshark restricts refunds to subscriptions bought through Paddle, Google Play, or Cleverbridge. The App Store is not among them.

Proton VPN’s and CyberGhost’s published guarantee terms don’t mention App Store purchases either way, so their stated windows are what you have to go on. The safe move on any of the eight is the same: buy from the provider’s own site, where the guarantee you read is the guarantee you get.

How we picked

Three criteria decided the order, each one an iPhone owner can check before paying:

1. A trial that actually exists on iPhone. Not “a free trial” in general — several providers only offer one on Android. Proton VPN’s free plan has no clock at all; Surfshark and CyberGhost both give a real 7 days; ExpressVPN’s is 3 days, app-only; NordVPN has none.
2. What happens to a refund after an App Store purchase. Five of the providers this site tracks say something explicit about it, and it isn’t the same thing at any two of them — laid out above.
3. The protocol the iOS app runs, from each provider’s own protocol pages: WireGuard, a protocol built on it, or an equivalent in-house design.

Criterion two is what separates CyberGhost and Surfshark. Surfshark has the better hardware story — unlimited devices against seven — but its refund terms leave out the Apple App Store, and CyberGhost’s don’t. On a page ranked by what you can undo, that outweighs a device count most iPhone owners will never reach. All prices are current as of 23 Jul 2026; see our guide to choosing a VPN for the broader framework.

Who should skip these picks

• You want more than 10 devices, without Surfshark’s specific plan. Private Internet Access also allows unlimited simultaneous connections, at about $2.03 a month across a 39-month term. Its refund works the same way NordVPN’s does on iPhone. App-store purchases are refunded through the store, per PIA’s own terms. It’s not ranked above because its iOS-specific trial terms aren’t published the way the top five’s are.
• You want a flat price and no trial to think about. Mullvad charges a flat €5 a month — about $5.68, converted 24 Jul 2026 — at every term length. There’s no trial and no free tier at all. Its 14-day refund explicitly excludes Apple App Store purchases — “handled by Apple,” in Mullvad’s own words — the clearest exclusion of any provider here. It also caps at 5 devices, the lowest of any VPN this site tracks. Its iOS app has been WireGuard-only since Mullvad removed OpenVPN in January 2026.
• You want a free plan with more than one device. Windscribe’s free tier allows unlimited connections, unlike Proton’s one-device limit. It caps data at 10 GB a month, 2 GB without a confirmed email — a real ceiling if it’s your only VPN. Its refund policy is the strictest of any provider this site tracks: 7 business days, under 10 GB used, and an unresolved technical issue reported to support.

Our Mullvad review, Private Internet Access review, and Windscribe review have the full pictures on each.

iPhone VPN questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

What's the best VPN for iPhone?

Proton VPN, on the criteria this page uses: a free plan with no time limit, a standard 30-day refund, and an iOS app that runs WireGuard alongside Proton's own Stealth protocol. NordVPN, this site's overall top pick, has no iPhone trial. It also routes App Store refunds through Apple, which is why it ranks fifth here instead.

Is there a free VPN for iPhone that doesn't expire?

Yes — Proton VPN's free plan has no time limit: one device, no data cap, and a server picked at random from 10 countries. Windscribe's free plan allows unlimited devices but caps usage at 10 GB a month, or 2 GB without a confirmed email.

Does buying a VPN through the App Store change my refund?

It can. NordVPN and Private Internet Access both say Apple processes the refund for App Store purchases instead of the VPN company. ExpressVPN and Mullvad exclude App Store purchases from their guarantees entirely, and Surfshark limits refunds to purchases made through Paddle, Google Play, or Cleverbridge, which leaves the App Store out. Proton VPN and CyberGhost don't mention it either way. Buying from the provider's own site avoids the question.

Which iPhone VPN apps support WireGuard?

All five ranked here. NordVPN runs NordLynx, its own protocol built on WireGuard. ExpressVPN runs a customized WireGuard build alongside its Lightway protocol. Surfshark, CyberGhost, and Proton VPN's iOS apps all list WireGuard directly, and Proton adds its own Stealth obfuscation protocol on top.

Can I try a VPN on my iPhone before paying?

For a real trial, yes, with three of the five. Proton VPN's free plan never expires, and Surfshark and CyberGhost both offer 7 days, though Surfshark requires a payment method upfront. ExpressVPN's trial is 3 days, through the app only. NordVPN's only free trial is on Android — there's none on iPhone.

What happened to ExpressVPN's money-back guarantee this summer?

ExpressVPN suspended its 30-day guarantee for any purchase made between 11 Jul and 11 Aug 2026, during a sweepstakes promotion, on top of its standing exclusion of Apple App Store purchases. Buying during that window leaves no refund route until the promo ends.