About VPN Comparison Guide
VPN Comparison Guide is an independent comparison and information site covering VPN services by use case — streaming, torrenting, privacy, business, router-level and free vs paid. We’re not a VPN provider ourselves, and this niche is dominated by large established publishers, so our aim isn’t to out-market them — it’s to give honest, specific, plain-English explanations of the real trade-offs involved, including the ones that make a provider look worse, so you can make a more informed choice.
Understanding jurisdiction and data-sharing alliances
One factor privacy-conscious users genuinely weigh when choosing a VPN provider is the country the provider is legally based in, because that determines what laws and international data-sharing arrangements it could be compelled to comply with. The best-known of these are the “5 Eyes,” “9 Eyes” and “14 Eyes” intelligence-sharing agreements — alliances of countries (the 5 Eyes core being the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with additional countries in the wider 9 and 14 Eyes groupings) that have agreed to share certain intelligence with one another.
A VPN provider legally based in one of these countries could, in principle, be subject to a legal data request from its home government in a way a provider based outside those alliances would not be. This is worth being precise about: VPN services themselves aren’t a regulated trade in the way some other industries are, so there’s no legal requirement tied to jurisdiction the way there is for, say, gas engineers needing Gas Safe registration. It’s a genuine, verifiable factor some users choose to weigh — not a compliance requirement — and it’s exactly the kind of specific, checkable detail we think is more useful than a generic “best VPN” ranking.
How this site makes money
VPN Comparison Guide is free to use. Some provider links on this site are affiliate links — clearly marked “Partner offer” or “Approved” — and we may earn a commission if you sign up through one, at no extra cost to you. Cards and links without that marking are shown for comparison only and are not affiliate links. Commission never changes the factual claims we make about a provider, and we don’t rank or recommend a provider more favourably because it’s a paying partner. Full detail is in our Terms & Conditions.