How Do I Hide My IP Address? | The Best Ways to Hide Your IP

You’ll need a way to hide your IP address if you’re looking to protect your data and privacy online. Otherwise, your IP address follows you around the world, letting your ISP and online sites track your data — essentially spying on you. There are many ways to do this, ranging from a simple proxy, to using Tor, or our most recommended method — taking advantage of a reliable, high-performance VPN. If you’re looking for a quick, reliable, high-security VPN with an abundance of extra tools, look no further than this guide.

Today, we’ll be looking at 3 different ways to hide your IP address. If you’re looking for a quick answer, then just use ExpressVPN, which our in-depth testing and customer satisfaction reviews found is the best VPN to use in order to hide your IP address. With over 5,500 servers worldwide, military-grade encryption, and an ad-blocker to get rid of those pesky advertisements, there’s no way you can go wrong with ExpressVPN.

You can try ExpressVPN today and take advantage of their 30-day money-back guarantee, or you can read on to see how ExpressVPN compares to other top VPNs and IP-hiding solutions and make your own decision.

1. Use a VPN

The best method to hide your IP if you’re looking to ensure you hide all your data from your internet service provider (ISP) is to use a VPN or Virtual Private Network. A VPN is a service that’ll route and encrypt your traffic through a network of servers, thereby hiding your data.

Our shortlist of the best VPNs that helped me hide my IP online is:

1. ExpressVPN — Overall, the Best VPN To Hide Your IP Address | Bypass Great Firewall of China | From $8.32 per month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
2. NordVPN — The Best Mid-Tier VPN | Top Speeds With Military-Grade Encryption | Just $3.09/Month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
3. Private Internet Access — Best Cheap VPN | Over 10,000 Servers | Just $2.03/month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
4. Surfshark/SSOne — Best Software Package To Hide My IP | Dark Web Scanner | $2.49/Month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
5. PrivadoVPN — Best Free VPN | Premium Version | $4.99/Month | Best VPN to Hide My IP Address Free
6. CyberGhost VPN — Best VPN For Beginners | More Than a Decade of Experience | $2.29/Month| Longest Money-Back Guarantee at 45 Days!
7. PrivateVPN — Simple But Effective VPN | Unblocks Streaming services | Just $2.00/Month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
8. IPVanish — Most Customizable VPN | Supports Unlimited Devices | $3.33/Month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
9. VyprVPN — Best VPN For Avoiding Internet Censorship | Over 100,000+ IP addresses | $3.37/Month | 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee!
10. ProtonVPN — Secure & Free VPN | Made By CERN Scientists | From $3.29/Month | Hide My IP Address Free

We’ve compared these VPNs on a number of criteria, including:

• Speed and server network size
• Effectiveness at disguising or hiding your IP
• Overall data security
• The availability of a free trial or money-back guarantee
• Distribution of servers across the globe
• Price compared to value

Any of these VPNs will let you hide your IP address wherever you are. However, there’s still an abundance of differences between them. Read on to find out what they are!

How Do I Hide My IP Address? | The Best Ways to Hide Your IP

Now, let’s go over the best ways to hide your IP address. We’ll be ranking these ways from best to worst by their overall practicality and security.

1. Use a VPN

In our testing, using a VPN has proven to be the best way to keep your IP hidden, while not interfering with day-to-day internet use, and even opening up additional possibilities. Here’s a list of the best VPNs for hiding your IP address:

1. ExpressVPN — The Best VPN for Hiding Your IP Address and Unblocking Geo-Restricted Content

In addition to helping me hide my IP address, Express VPN is our top VPN for unlocking region-locked content so you can stream to your heart’s content.

ExpressVPN will do a great job hiding your IP while maintaining excellent speeds for streaming. It uses its own Lightway protocol in order to achieve lightning-fast browsing and streaming speeds without taking a hit to its security. If dealing with advanced features and interfaces isn’t your thing, ExpressVPN is perfect for you, as it’ll set everything up by itself with a single button press connecting you to its servers.

Another way ExpressVPN protects you is with its ExpressVPN Threat Manager feature — this is where the software keeps track of all websites that have trackers or malicious data on them. While other top-tier services have similar features, ExpressVPN is a bit different. Where most VPNs will immediately block you from accessing them, ExpressVPN will let you access them while making sure it’s safe. This makes it the perfect VPN for approaching potentially dangerous websites such as torrenting sites.

If you live in a country where censorship is widespread, you’ll be happy to know ExpressVPN works anywhere in the world, including in countries like China and the UAE. This is because the VPN is superb at avoiding firewalls and region-locks. This also makes it one of the best VPNs to use if you’re looking to unlock streaming services like Netflix or Disney Plus while abroad.

ExpressVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can give it a go without paying a dime!

2. NordVPN — The Best Mid-Tier VPN | Top Speeds With Military-Grade Encryption

NordVPN is unquestionably one of the best VPNs out there and a huge name in the VPN space with over 8 million users and more than 5,500 servers.

If you’re looking to hide your IP address, you’ll want to do so in the most secure way possible while maintaining speed. Thankfully, NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs out there thanks to its proprietary NordLynx protocol. When used alongside military-grade AES-256 encryption, NordVPN is capable of completely concealing your IP address without compromising your speed.

If you’re really serious about your privacy, you’ll know that with most traditional VPNs, sites can correlate your requests to you even if they don’t know your IP explicitly. They do this by looking at what server is sending what requests, and since most VPNs including NordVPN use public data centers, they’re able to identify your activity. However, NordVPN has an answer to this in its multi-hop feature, encrypting your traffic in multiple layers by sending your data through 2 or more servers. This gives you complete peace of mind in regard to your data.

NordVPN’s final boons to your security are its killswitch and anti-malware filters. The killswitch shuts down your connection in case the VPN goes down, ensuring you don’t accidentally surf the internet unprotected. The anti-malware filter, meanwhile, will stop you from accessing dodgy sites or downloading malicious files. Furthermore, NordVPN adheres to a no-logs policy, meaning they won’t keep any of your data.

NordVPN is quite affordable given its features, with its price starting at just $3.09/month on a 2-year plan. However, if you’re not sure it’ll do the trick for you, you can take advantage of its 30-day free trial to test it out for free!

3. Private Internet Access — Best Cheap VPN | Just $2.03/Month

Private Internet Access (PIA) has maintained its status as a high-quality VPN ever since it was founded back in 2009.

PIA has an astounding network size, sitting at over 10,000 servers across more than 83 countries worldwide. This gives it an edge if you live in a country with few VPN servers, as you might have a nearby PIA server you can connect to. This makes it a great pick for people living in the further reaches of the world. It’s also one of the few VPNs on this list to have a fully functioning Linux app with a GUI, making it our top pick for the best Linux VPN.

In terms of hiding your IP, PIA is a world-class VPN with a variety of modular settings to let you take full control over your VPN experience. It packs AES 256-bit encryption, DNS leak protection, a killswitch, and a variety of VPN protocols to ensure that your IP is well hidden from view.

Many people have concerns on whether their VPN will sell their data, as such events have happened multiple times. While most VPNs on this list have succeeded in 3rd party audits, PIA is the only one to show the trustworthiness of its no-logs policy in court several times.

Finally, PIA is the best cheap VPN, coming up at just $2.03 a month, and giving you 3 months for free with its three-year subscription plan. It even has a 30-day free trial if this isn’t enough to convince you!

4. Surfshark/SSOne — Best Software Package To Hide My IP | Dark Web Scanner

If you’re looking for a full security package that comes with a VPN to help you hide your IP address, look no further than Surfshark One- providing you with a VPN, antivirus, dark web scanner, and safe search engine for the price of a VPN!

The Surfshark VPN is excellent, with multiple modes tailored to what you need. If you want supreme anonymity, you can use the “camouflage” mode to hide all of your internet activity even from your ISP. One of the main draws of this VPN, however, is that it supports unlimited devices. This makes it perfect for families or users with lots of devices, as VPN costs can add up when used on multiple devices.

Surfshark One really shines when we get into what else you get for the price of a VPN. Firstly, you’ll be given a high-quality antivirus with one of the best gaming performances on the market. Since the two are integrated, this VPN is ideal for playing games on foreign servers while staying protected.

The tool also gives you a dark web scanner, which constantly scours the internet and dark web for traces of your information. This lets you act immediately in case any of your important accounts are breached. Alongside its CleanWeb feature blocking all infected sites, adverts, and malware, Surfshark One provides a full security package.

You can try out all of its features risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

5. PrivadoVPN — Best VPN to Hide My IP Address Free

PrivadoVPN launched in Switzerland in 2019, and is our top pick when it comes to the best free VPNs.

Finding a trustworthy free VPN is a task in and of itself, but PrivadoVPN has proven itself here, funding its free experience from its paid version’s profits. If you’re looking for a free VPN to hide your IP address, look no further than PrivadoVPN.

If you want to watch US Netflix from abroad or get around a similar region-lock, you’ll be glad to know that PrivadoVPN is the only free VPN to successfully get around these restrictions 100% of the time. With 9 P2P-friendly servers across 9 countries, it’s the best free VPN for torrenting too.

Many free VPNs only offer limited bandwidth, or compromise security. PrivadoVPN only limits you to 10GB of high-speed data each month, enough for over 120 hours of browsing with a hidden IP, and only lowers your speed when that data’s up. It also uses the fast and secure WireGuard protocol, hiding your IP without compromising speed.

With features like split tunneling and a killswitch, PrivadoVPN brings many premium features to its free users.

However, if you’d like to give its premium version a shot, it also has a 30-day money-back guarantee!

6. CyberGhost VPN — Best VPN For Beginners

CyberGhost VPN has over a decade of experience in the space with a massive network of more than 9,000 servers in over 90 countries.

The VPN emphasizes simplicity, letting you hide your VPN or use one of its many servers with the click of a button. It is one of the few VPNs where you can choose a specific server simply by clicking on it from a drop-down menu. They even split their servers by their intended use, so that you can use the perfect servers for your needs.

CyberGhost VPN will also constantly monitor the dark web to ensure that in case your credentials get leaked, you can immediately change them. This can be a lifesaver in case an important app like PayPal or your banking app is hacked.

If you’re simply concerned with protecting as much of your data as possible, you can simply select a NoSpy server, and know that you’re protected from trackers, your IP is hidden, and all of your data is well-encrypted by their servers.

CyberGhost VPN has the longest money-back guarantee on this list, sitting at a massive 45 days!

7. PrivateVPN — Simple But Effective VPN

If what you’re looking for in a VPN is simply a cheap way to hide your IP and a simple and quick overall experience — PrivateVPN might be just the one for you.

PrivateVPN is an extremely simple VPN where one click will completely hide your IP, as well as your other data from your ISP and sites you visit. This makes it a great choice for the less technically inclined, or if this is simply what you’ll be using the VPN for the most.

The VPN is excellent at bypassing region-locks, even being capable of bypassing the Great Firewall of China. All you need to do to watch a show on US Netflix with PrivateVPN is press a button and let it pick a server!

The VPN features one of the most secure encryption protocols out there, using 2,048-bit AES-256 encryption. However, while this makes it an excellent VPN for privacy, it’s worth noting its killswitch is only available on Windows devices.

Finally, it’s extremely cheap at just $2.00 per month on a 3-year plan, and even offers a month-long money-back guarantee for you to try it out!

8. IPVanish — Most Customizable VPN

IPVanish is one of the most customizable VPNs out there, giving you complete control over your VPN experience.

With 4 protocols, split tunneling, multihop, and other advanced features, IPVanish is the best way to hide your IP if you’re tech-savvy and want to fine-tune your VPN experience. This VPN service will allow you to optimize the VPN for speed, security, or a balance of the two with ease.

If you use a lot of devices, or want to hide the IP of your Wi-Fi routers or gaming consoles, IPVanish might be the perfect VPN for you. Not only does it support these devices, but the default subscription will let you install the VPN on as many as you need.

IPVanish also excels at streaming Netflix and using local servers, with speeds up to 890Mbps. However, its server network is quite small, so keep that in mind.

You can try IPVanish today with its 30-day money-back guarantee!

9. VyprVPN — Best VPN For Avoiding Internet Censorship

If you live in a country like China, the UAE, Russia, or another country that enforces internet censorship, your main use of a VPN might be to get around these restrictions. For this, VyprVPN is an excellent choice.

It has a proven track record of getting around internet censors like the Great Firewall of China, as well as unblocking a myriad of different sites, even letting you watch US Netflix from these countries. Its servers are also P2P-friendly, ensuring you have access to torrenting no matter what country you go to.

With VyprVPN having over 100,000 different IP addresses available, and a watertight no-logging policy, tracking your online data will be nigh-impossible. Any remaining security concerns are immediately alleviated with its killswitch, excellent DNS, and the usage of the secure WireGuard protocol.

If this appeals to you, you can give it a try risk-free using VyprVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee!

10. ProtonVPN — Secure & Free VPN

ProtonVPN is a freemium VPN developed by CERN scientists in Switzerland, and is one of, if not the most secure free VPN out there.

The VPN alleviates the main concern people have with free VPNs — them stealing and selling their data. It has maintained a pristine record since 2014 and has undergone 3rd party audits in order to ensure it’s completely secure.

ProtonVPN has absolutely no data limits, letting you access the VPN at full speed on limited servers for browsing at all times. However, it’s worth noting that ProtonVPN’s free version doesn’t support streaming or torrenting. So if you’re looking to do these things for free, you might want to look at PrivadoVPN instead.

ProtonVPN also has an excellent premium version that might be worth your money and offers an abundance of additional advanced features.

2. Use Tor to Hide Your IP Address | What is Tor?

Tor (short for The Onion Router) is a free network made up of thousands of volunteer-run server nodes made to hide your online identity including your IP through the use of multi-layered encryption. The most popular Tor offering is the Tor Browser — an internet browser where all of your traffic is relayed and encrypted by 3 relay nodes, with each decrypting one layer of encryption to find the next node. By the time your traffic exits the last node, it’s completely decrypted and goes to its destination.

While you can use Tor browser to hide your IP address like this, it’s quite costly in terms of performance. The added anonymity of Tor is useful in truly dangerous situations such as matters of national security, however, it takes away too much speed to be practical for everyday use. Because of this, I always hide my IP with a VPN.

3. Use a Proxy | Is a Proxy Safe?

A web proxy is essentially a middleman for online traffic. First your traffic goes to the proxy, and then the proxy sends it to its destination. This process is repeated quickly so that you can keep browsing the web without revealing your information.

However, proxies are significantly less safe. For one, they won’t encrypt your traffic, nor will they hide your IP from anyone capable of intercepting your traffic before it gets to the proxy. Because of this, web proxies are considered significantly less reliable than VPNs, and are better off only being used in a pinch.

What is an IP address?

An IP address is a unique series of numbers identifying your specific device or network online. All internet activity is facilitated through two-way communication between clients (web browsers and similar software) that requests data, and servers that respond to those requests with data. In order for servers to know what data to send to which client, they need to have a unique identifier- the IP address.

How To Find My IP Address?

“What’s my IP address?” used to be a way harder question back in the day. Today, it’s as simple as typing “Find my IP” or an equivalent like “What’s my IP” into Google, and you’ll see a result like:

Why Should I Hide My IP Address?

Your IP address identifies you on the internet, and the information obtained from it can be quite valuable. There are a few distinct reasons why you might want to hide your IP address:

• You don’t want corporations to know your shopping habits
• You don’t want your physical location inputted into algorithms
• You want to avoid governmental censorship
• You want to be safer from hackers
• You’d like to preserve your online privacy
• You’re looking to access region-locked content like Netflix
• And many more.

What’s The Difference Between IPv4 and IPv6?

There are many differences between IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) and IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) IP addresses. A lot of them are technical details such as IPv4 using checksum fields while IPv6 doesn’t. However, the main difference is simply the number of addresses that can be generated.

IPv6 is more technically advanced and has superior features than IPv4, however, its biggest perk is in how it represents addresses.

Warning, this gets a bit technical.

IPv4 uses 1 byte decimal numbers separated by a dot to represent addresses, such as 62.4.55.84. On the other hand, IPv6 uses hexadecimal (base-16) numbers separated by a colon, such as fe80::d4a8:6435:d2d8:d9f3b12. The IPv4 method can only generate 4.29 billion addresses, and while this may seem like a lot, we have already gone through them all, leading to the IP address shortage we have today.

IPv6 was developed in part to resolve that, providing us with access to 2^128- an unfathomably large number that’ll most likely serve us forever. IPv6 is also slightly faster than IPv4 in most cases. In addition to this, there are many technical differences.

Hide my IP FAQs