Logging

VPNs that log session metadata

Providers that keep session-level metadata: when a connection started and ended, and often from where to where. No content, and still a record about a person.

11 providersC01 = session_metadataUpdated 14 September 2026

The HushFleet teamRegister of 26 September 2026

C01_linkable_retention asks what record exists that could link traffic to a person, and it is answered by a field with a source, not by a marketing page.

A page here is not a verdict. Whether anyone independent checked the answer lives in the audit fields and reaches the reader through the security score, where a documented persistent device identifier can pin the retention channel from below no matter how clean the report is.

Session metadata

Ranked by security

More retention levels

The other five retention levels

None linkable 26 Source IP 9 Connection timestamps 7 Aggregates only 6 Activity 56 providers in no term — the field is not published

All 77 answer this field — none is unknown, which is unusual for the contract. One of its six values, source_ip, is unoccupied: no record on file states that it keeps the address a connection came from. That is an absence of evidence rather than an absence of the practice, and an empty term gets no page.

Insufficient
1
hide.me
Commercial VPNMalaysia
Coverage57countries
Paying monthly$11.99monthly
Paying yearly$54.99yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
28 out of 100
Security
81 out of 100
Usability
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Not recommended
2
ExpressVPN
Commercial VPNBritish Virgin IslandsKape Technologies
Coverage106countries
Paying monthly$14.99monthly
Paying yearly$59.85yearly total
Free tierNopaid plans only
Devices10at once
14 out of 100
Security
70 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
3
ClearVPN
Commercial VPNCyprus
Coverage54countries
Paying monthly$9.99monthly
Paying yearly$44.99yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices6at once
12 out of 100
Security
71 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
4
Betternet
Commercial VPNUnited StatesPango Group
Coverage80countries
Paying monthly$12.99monthly
Paying yearly—no yearly plan
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
10 out of 100
Security
78 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
5
GNUVPN
Commercial VPNPortugalUsability: floor only
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly$6.99monthly
Paying yearly$41.99yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
Devices5at once
6 out of 100
Security
55 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
6
Mysterium VPN
DecentralizedLithuania
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly$10.49monthly
Paying yearly$44.28yearly total
Free tierNopaid plans only
Devices15at once
4 out of 100
Security
61 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
7
Bitdefender
Commercial VPNRomania
Coverage109countries
Paying monthly$6.99monthly
Paying yearly$34.99yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
3 out of 100
Security
74 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
8
HideMyAss
Commercial VPNCzechiaUsability: floor only
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly—no monthly plan
Paying yearly$59.88yearly total
Free tierNopaid trial only
3 out of 100
Security
66 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
9
Browsec
Commercial VPNRussia
Coverage45countries
Paying monthly$6.99monthly
Paying yearly$39.96yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices5at once
2 out of 100
Security
75 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
10
Turbo VPN
Commercial VPNSingaporeInnovative Connecting
Coverage80countries
Paying monthly$11.99monthly
Paying yearly$59.99yearly total
Free tierYesfree, no data cap
Devices10at once
1 out of 100
Security
67 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review
Not recommended
11
Hotspot Shield
Commercial VPNUnited StatesUsability: floor only
Coverage—not published
Paying monthly$1.99monthly
Paying yearly$29.00yearly total
Free tierYeslimited free plan
Devices10at once
0 out of 100
Security
73 out of 100
Usability
Visit Review