How many providers qualify for this list?

7 of 11. The other 4 are excluded because they do not meet the requirement, and they are named at the bottom of the page rather than quietly dropped.

What does this ranking ignore?

Ownership structure, which is covered separately in each review.

7 of 11 qualify · Updated August 13, 2026

VPNs based outside the Fourteen Eyes

The Five, Nine and Fourteen Eyes agreements govern intelligence sharing between member states. A provider incorporated outside them is not beyond legal process, but it is outside the routine channel those states use with each other. This page filters on that single structural fact and does not pretend it settles the question by itself.

The rule for this page. Only providers incorporated outside the Fourteen Eyes agreement. Ordered by jurisdiction score, then audit.

Answer

Proton VPN, then NordVPN

Switzerland. The best-documented security stack in this dataset, and the only free tier we consider safe to recommend.

Visit Proton VPN

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Providers that qualify, ordered by the rule above
#	Provider	Deciding fact	Jurisdiction and ownership	Overall
1	Proton VPN	Switzerland	9/10	90.0
2	NordVPN	Panama	9/10	84.0
3	IVPN Unpaid	Gibraltar	9/10	82.5
4	ExpressVPN Unpaid	British Virgin Islands	7/10	74.0
5	CyberGhost Unpaid	Romania	7/10	70.0
6	FastestVPN	Cayman Islands	7/10	48.0
7	PureVPN	British Virgin Islands	6/10	69.0

Why these, in order

1. Proton VPN

90.0

Switzerland. The best-documented security stack in this dataset, and the only free tier we consider safe to recommend.

Against it: Refunds are prorated against usage, not returned in full.

Visit Proton VPN

2. NordVPN

84.0

Panama. The most complete all-round package here, provided you accept closed-source clients and a renewal price well above the introductory rate.

Against it: Client applications are closed source and cannot be independently inspected.

Visit NordVPN

3. IVPN

82.5

Gibraltar. A deliberately small, transparent operation that costs more than the market and makes no attempt to hide it.

Against it: One of the smallest server networks in this dataset.

Visit IVPN

4. ExpressVPN

74.0

British Virgin Islands. Polished software and a genuine router firmware, at a price the rest of the market has moved away from.

Against it: Highest two-year price here at $4.99/month.

Visit ExpressVPN

5. CyberGhost

70.0

Romania. The longest refund window in the market attached to a mid-tier privacy posture.

Against it: Owned by Kape Technologies alongside ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access.

Visit CyberGhost

What did not qualify, and why

Excluded providers are named rather than omitted. If one of them is the VPN you already pay for, this tells you exactly which requirement it misses.

Provider	Why it is not on this list
Mullvad	Based in Sweden, inside the fourteen eyes agreement.
Surfshark	Based in Netherlands, inside the nine eyes agreement.
Private Internet Access	Based in United States, inside the five eyes agreement.
Windscribe	Based in Canada, inside the five eyes agreement.

Questions

Which VPNs are not in a Fourteen Eyes country?: Proton VPN. Switzerland. Only providers incorporated outside the Fourteen Eyes agreement. Ordered by jurisdiction score, then audit.
How many providers qualify for this list?: 7 of 11. The other 4 are excluded because they do not meet the requirement, and they are named at the bottom of the page rather than quietly dropped.
What does this ranking ignore?: Ownership structure, which is covered separately in each review.