A Virtual Private Network creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a VPN server. Traffic between you and the server is encrypted, protecting it from snooping on public Wi-Fi, and websites see the VPN server’s IP instead of yours.
A VPN does not make you anonymous to the VPN provider, does not stop malware or phishing, and can leak your real address via DNS, IPv6 or WebRTC if misconfigured.
See our VPN Check tool to see how a network is classified, and the VPN guides in the Learning Center for honest comparisons.