Are you enjoying the beautiful operating system named Elementary on your computer? Would you like to install a VPN that is beautiful, fast, cheap, and at the same time cutting edge? Which is the best VPN for the Elementary operating system?
As you can see above, I am writing this article using Elementary OS, built on the Ubuntu operating system. It is very important to understand that this is an operating system based on Ubuntu, because it means that the programs developed for Ubuntu mostly will work on Elementary OS as well. But,. if you want specific information for the Elementary OS, you are in the right place.
What makes one VPN better than other VPN services?
This is a question that needs to be answered before I can tell you which is the best VPN for Elementary OS. Why is that? Let us imagine that you ask someone which is the best chocolate in the world? One person might say Snickers, because it is crispy and soft at the same time. Another will say Twix because of the caramel. A third person prefers chocolate with “air bubbles”, while the fourth prefers simple milk chocolate. The best is a relative thing, depending on what you are looking for.
So, what makes one VPN better than another for Elementary OS?
- A great VPN for Elementary OS is easy to install and easy to use.
- Fantastic VPN services always have many servers with great download and upload speeds.
- If privacy is important, a VPN should accept anonymous cryptocurrency payments.
- Are you looking for a VPN to stream BBC iPlayer or Paramount+? A fantastic VPN will unblock these and hundreds of other streaming services and TV networks.
- It is up to date. What does this mean? The best VPN providers have all implemented the newest VPN protocol named Wireguard.
- You should feel safe as you buy a VPN subscription. That is why great VPN providers all come with solid refund policies, valid for 30 days (at least).
- If you read about a VPN with a bandwidth limitation, forget about it immediately. A great VPN doesn’t set any limitations to your bandwidth usage.
- It is also important that you can use the same subscription on multiple devices simultaneously, and that they have applications for other operating systems in addition to Elementary OS.
These are some of the aspects I have taken into consideration as I have been looking for the best VPN for Elementary OS. Are you ready?
The best VPN for Elementary OS.
Take a look at the screenshot above. Doesn’t Elementary OS look beautiful? It truly is, and it reminds many a bit of the traditional macOS interface. Are you a fan? I can easily understand why. Which VPN should you install on your Elementary OS system? Here you have my suggestion!
Surfshark is great VPN for Elementary OS.
Surfshark released a brand new client for Ubuntu systems (including Elementary OS) in 2022. This was finally a VPN client with a graphical interface, making it so much easier to use than the command line-based applications. If you use a beautiful operating system like Elementary, isn’t it nice to accompany it with a nice-looking VPN with a graphical interface?
There are many reasons why I consider Surfshark to be the best VPN for Elementary OS right now. Let me share them with you immediately.
Surfshark is very easy to install.
You can download the package directly from the website and with a total of three commands in the command line the application is installed. After this, you will no longer have to use the command line to use and run Surfshark.
How to install Surfshark in Elementary OS?
It is very easy to install Surfshark.
- Go to the Surfshark website and purchase a subscription.
- Download the application for Linux (Ubuntu).
- Open the terminal window and run the following commands. Make sure to change the first command to make it suitable for your system with the correct path to the file and the correct filename.
sudo apt install /pathto/installation_file_name.
In my case, the command looked like this:
sudo apt install /home/thomas/Downloads/surfshark-release_1.0.0-2_amd64.deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install surfshark- When you have run the commands above the application is installed and you will find it among the list of installed applications on your system.
Do you see? It is very easy to install the Surfshark application on the Elementary OS and it is easy to use afterward.
Surfshark has great download speeds.
When I first tested Surfshark in 2018, they had some trouble with their download speeds. Since then the service has greatly improved and during speed tests, I often get download speeds exceeding 100 Mbps. That is quite amazing! This makes Surfshark ideal for streaming, but also for P2P/Torrenting, and other activities requiring high speeds.
Surfshark takes care of your privacy.
Surfshark is registered in the British Virgin Islands. This means that they do not share your data with any other government. They also allow payments with cryptocurrencies, which means that you can purchase your subscription without giving away any data about yourself. To continue, they have a strict no-logging policy, meaning that they do not store information about your online activities or whatever you do online while using their services.
It is also a nice extra that they run their own DNS servers. This makes it even harder for people with bad intentions to spy on your activities.
Surfshark gives access to websites blocking other VPN services.
Some people use a VPN to access social media sites blocked in their own countries. Maybe you live in Russia or in China and want access to Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram. Those services are, however, blocked by the government and unreachable. What can you do about that? A VPN will hide your activities and give you access to such services, even though they are blocked by your government.
Other will use Surfshark to gain access to streaming services and TV networks unavailable at their present location. What if you want to stream a movie on Canadian Netflix while residing in France? Maybe you want to watch a Premier League match on PeacockTV in the USA while traveling to Israel?
Surfshark is a great VPN for solving all the problems mentioned above. I often consider Surfshark to be the best of all VPNs for unblocking streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, BBC iPlayer, and many others.
Surfshark is always up-to-date!
This is very important to know as you purchase a VPN subscription. Ten years ago, IPVanish and HideMyAss were among the best VPN providers on the market. Then Netflix came and blocked thousands of IP addresses used by VPN providers. Instead of upgrading and developing, both IPVanish and HideMyAss stayed behind. As a result, they lost customers and today they are by many considered to be poor VPN services.
Surfshark has since its inception worked hard to keep its server park up to date and to always give access to important services. They quickly implemented the Wireguard protocol after it was released and considered it to be the best VPN protocol on the market.
For this exact reason, it was also the first VPN to come with a beautiful-looking VPN client for Elementary OS (and other Ubuntu-based systems).
Some other extras worth knowing about.
Would you like to use the VPN on more than one device? It might be that Surfshark is the best VPN for Elementary OS, but they also have very similar applications for Windows, iOS, Android, FireTV, macOS, and also browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. Besides this, they protect you with their 30-day full-refund policy.
That isn’t all. You can use one subscription on an unlimited number of devices, meaning that you can even share your subscription with the rest of your family. It is nice to remember that they do not have any bandwidth limitations, meaning that you do not have to worry about that at all.
What are the negatives with Surfshark?
Do you feel like I have been way too positive in this article? The truth is, Surfshark really is a favorite VPN of mine. What are the negatives? If I would have to say something, then the fact that you have to run three commands using the command line during the installation might scare some people away. It would be better if the entire process could be run in the normal Elementary OS interface without the need for the command line at all.
Some might say that Surfshark is expensive (especially if you purchase a one-month subscription). But, if you look further and purchase a 24-month subscription (and use the button below to get an additional discount), it suddenly becomes one of the cheapest VPNs on the market.
Click the button above to get an additional discount on Surfshark as you visit their website.
Are there any other VPNs worth considering for Elementary OS?
Have you read something bad about Surfshark? Or are you desperately looking for some other VPN to use? If you really want to use some other VPN, here are my recommendations.
- PureVPN: This is the only VPN that has a VPN client for Elementary OS that is 100% GUI based. You don’t have to use the command line anything at all during the installation process, nor later. But, PureVPN has slower servers than Surfshark and it isn’t nearly as good for unblocking. The Wireguard protocol hasn’t been implemented in the Linux application yet. This is a VPN worth considering, but I’d much rather use Surfshark myself.
By default, Elementary OS doesn’t have a package installer, meaning that you will have to run one command in the terminal window to install PureVPN. For me to install PureVPN, I had to run the following command:
sudo apt install /home/thomas/Downloads/PureVPN_amd64.deb
After that command, the application showed up among the other applications on the Elementary OS and I didn’t have to use the terminal window anymore. - ExpressVPN: If I had to select some other VPN for Elementary OS, I would probably use ExpressVPN. They do not have a graphical interface at all, but the command line is easy to use and you’ll get used to it quickly. Once you get it going, ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPNs available and also one of the biggest as they have servers in almost 100 countries. Just like Surfshark, it is extremely good for unblocking, and they also have great customer service available 24/7 at their website.
- NordVPN: This is a third alternative to Surfshark. It is very similar to both ExpressVPN and Surfshark. They do not have any GUI application for Elementary OS yet, so you will have to remain in the command line. But just like with ExpressVPN, it is easy to use and get used to. Once you get going, NordVPN has fast servers in 60 countries, and you can use the same subscription on six devices at the same time.
Above you can see a screenshot of the PureVPN application for Elementary OS (and other Linux distros).
Enjoy Elementary OS and your selected VPN.
I hope this article has inspired you and given you some answers. If you have further feedback, some thoughts, or maybe a question or two, please use the comment field below.
