Choosing the right VPN for Craigslist can be tricky. Most VPNs promise a lot but don't deliver. Many are slow, unreliable, or untrustworthy.
To make things easier, we've tested the most popular VPNs to see how they work with Craigslist. The seven we recommend in this quick guide ensure you can use Craigslist without interruptions, protect your privacy, and make your online experience better.
We'll give you more details about each VPN below, but if you're in a hurry, here are the seven best VPNs for Craigslist:
- ExpressVPN - The #1 VPN for Craigslist. Plenty of fast, reliable servers that deliver stable connections across the globe.
- Surfshark - A powerful, budget-friendly VPN for Craigslist. Use it on unlimited devices and enjoy open, secure, private internet.
- NordVPN - A massive global server network, with industry-leading security, low-cost plans, enhanced privacy, and much more.
- CyberGhost VPN - Beginner-friendly VPN with excellent connection speeds and simple apps for all your devices.
- IPVanish - Easy-to-use apps across unlimited devices, fast speeds, and airtight security.
TRY EXPRESSVPN FOR 30 DAYS FREE
ExpressVPN offers a comprehensive risk-free 30-day trial when you register on this page. Experience the top-rated VPN for privacy without any limits for an entire month—perfect for testing out the best VPN for Craigslist.
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Deep dive: The best VPNs for Craigslist
Now that we’ve got the technical stuff out of the way, we’ll focus on the best VPNs for Craigslist. We’ll explain what each one offers users, and why we consider them great choices for using Craigslist securely.
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Craigslist. It offers exceptional speed and security, ensuring a seamless and secure experience for your online classifieds activities. We were seriously impressed by ExpressVPN’s connection speeds. We downloaded its apps to Android devices and Macbooks and connected to servers all over the world, opening up Craigslist and browsing through the marketplace. Every time, ExpressVPN delivered! In fact, the internet connection actually felt smoother with the VPN turned on, probably because ExpressVPN hid our activities from our network providers. ExpressVPN’s privacy policies are amongst the most strict and comprehensive in the VPN industry, ensuring your private data is never compromised. It also accepts crypto as payment (including Bitcoin and Ethereum), and has an onion version of its website – in case you don’t want Craigslist to know you’re even using a VPN. It’s not the cheapest VPN available – the price tag might be a bit high for some people. But when you consider how fast and reliable ExpressVPN is, it's worth the investment for the combination of security, speed, and performance. With ExpressVPN, you can connect up to five devices simultaneously, making it versatile for all your Craigslist needs. Additionally, you'll benefit from a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee upon signing up. Surfshark is a budget-friendly VPN that still outshines many more expensive competitors. Its affordability doesn't compromise on security or performance, making it an ideal VPN for Craigslist. Surfshark is our top budget VPN for Craigslist for many reasons. Firstly, it's fast, secure, and works with most websites and online services. Every member of our testing team, located in different countries, could list and shop on Craigslist. Secondly, Surfshark comes full of advanced privacy tools missing from many more expensive competitors. You get built-in malware and spam detection, an ad blocker, dark web monitoring, an IP address rotator, and more. Its stealth mode has some of the best obfuscation software available. These tools go way beyond getting you access to Craigslist. They keep you safe from tracking, viruses, spyware, and every other online threat and annoyance. Finally, Surfshark stands out with its unlimited device connections. Plus, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all its plans, allowing you to test it first. NordVPN is a fast and reliable VPN for Craigslist. It also offers industry-leading security features to protect your data while you're browsing the marketplace. NordVPN is one of the most reliable VPNs for using Craigslist securely. It boasts an extensive network of servers, ensuring smooth and buffer-free access to Craigslist. NordVPN is compatible with various devices you might use for Craigslist, such as iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Additionally, its SmartDNS feature allows access on devices that don't naturally support VPNs, like smart TVs and gaming consoles. Alternatively, you can set up NordVPN on your router to connect all your devices at once. Regarding security, NordVPN offers top-notch protection for your data, location, and identity while using Craigslist. It employs robust 256-bit AES encryption, safeguards against DNS/IPv6 leaks, automatic kill-switches, and more. Notably, NordVPN’s exclusive NordLynx VPN protocol ensures all these security measures don't slow down your connection. NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. CyberGhost stands out as both the fastest and most user-friendly VPN on the list, making it an ideal choice for Craigslist. CyberGhost stands as the current market leader in VPN speed, boasting an impressive average speed of 548 Mbps in our tests. This high speed ensures a smooth experience while using Craigslist, with no worries about slow loading. Spanning over 9,600 servers across 90+ countries (on every continent but Antarctica), CyberGhost guarantees access to Craigslist. It’s compatible with major operating systems, including Linux, and offers browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. CyberGhost prioritizes security and privacy with a strict no-logs policy and incorporates features like automatic kill-switches and 265-bit AES encryption. However, note that it doesn't offer obfuscation, which may trigger detection by Craigslist and lead to blocked connections. To top it off, a generous 45-day money-back guarantee allows you to try it out. IPVanish is a reliable VPN for Craigslist with easy-to-use apps across unlimited devices, fast speeds, airtight security, and complete privacy. With unlimited device connections and a host of other cool features, IPVanish is an excellent option for optimizing your Craigslist experience. We tested IPVanish’s servers for accessing Craigslist, and it allowed us to use Craigslist without any significant impact on internet connection and speed, ensuring a smooth experience while browsing classified ads and listings on the platform. IPVanish offers robust protection with 256-bit AES encryption, a DHE-RSA 2,048-bit key exchange, and SHA512 authentication – all of which add multiple layers of security to your data, location, and browsing activity. It also follows a strict no-logs policy and undergoes regular independent audits. However, IPVanish is based in the US, which is part of the Five Eyes surveillance alliance. While we trust their policies, there are VPNs on this list based in more privacy-friendly locations. IPVanish offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. PrivateVPN focuses on privacy and speed, particularly for P2P and torrenting. These qualities also make it a great option for using Craigslist efficiently and securely. Despite PrivateVPN’s smaller network of 200+ server locations worldwide, our comprehensive tests revealed impressive results. PrivateVPN excelled in providing access to every major Craigslist feature, including listings and transactions. The connections were consistently fast, ensuring seamless accessibility and browsing. PrivateVPN’s servers are equipped with the same robust security features you get from bigger VPNs on this list: military-grade encryption, DNS and IP leak protection, kill-switches, and much more. So just because it’s smaller, doesn’t mean it's less safe to use. PrivateVPN also offers excellent value, allowing installation on up to 10 simultaneous devices, including smart TVs, select routers, and game consoles. This flexibility ensures comprehensive coverage for your Craigslist-related tasks. Additionally, PrivateVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to explore its offerings first. While Atlas VPN is the newest VPN on this list, it works seamlessly with Craigslist, is growing fast, and outperforms many bigger VPNs. With Atlas VPN, you can connect as many devices as you want with just one subscription. It consistently provides fast and reliable connections, which is great for using Craigslist. While Atlas VPN is much smaller than most other VPNs on this list – it only has a little over 750 servers in 30+ countries, it's gaining popularity quickly because it's good at accessing restricted content and protecting online privacy. During our tests, we were impressed with its performance, especially considering its size. Atlas VPN offers excellent value, particularly in its premium tier. While it's most known for its free plan, the premium plan, which covers unlimited simultaneous devices, comes at a reasonable cost and packs a host of outstanding features. This flexibility ensures that you can optimize your Craigslist usage while maintaining a high level of security and privacy. The provider’s paid plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. 1. ExpressVPN
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Methodology: How we tested the best VPNs for Craigslist
We put every VPN we recommend through a series of rigorous tests to confirm they live up to their sales pitches. We check every feature and tool, read all the privacy policies and fine print, and grill their customer support with questions and concerns.
When using a VPN for Craigslist, we had to look at several factors, including:
- Large server network: We’ve only recommended VPNs with a global network of fast, reliable servers. This guarantees you a speedy, reliable internet connection via your VPN, no matter where you are.
- Fast connections: VPNs will always impact your connection slightly, especially if you’re connecting to servers far away. But we’ve only included VPNs that have invested in providing fast connections. In most cases, you won’t notice a difference, even when streaming.
- Excellent security: Every VPN on this list provides military-grade 256-bit AES encryption to keep your data and location hidden. We also tested their leak protections and additional features like automatic kill-switches to ensure they lived up to their promises.
- Access content from anywhere: Most VPNs get blocked by major platforms. We tested each one to ensure they worked with Craigslist and other websites that use geo-restrictions.
- Ease of use: Just because VPNs are complex pieces of software doesn’t mean they should be difficult to use. We downloaded every VPN on numerous devices and tried them out extensively. Any that we struggled to use, we didn’t include.
- Good value: Despite everything they offer, the best VPNs for Craigslist don’t have to be expensive. We’ve only included VPNs with simple, affordable pricing, generous discounts, and risk-free money-back guarantees.
Read our complete VPN review process to see the full list of criteria. It can guide you when choosing a VPN for Craigslist and anything else.
How to set up a VPN for Craigslist
Setting up a VPN for Craigslist isn’t complicated.
It’s similar to downloading any piece of modern software and only takes a few minutes. Here are the quick steps involved:
- Sign up to a VPN with plenty of fast servers. We recommend ExpressVPN.
- Download and install the app onto your device.
- Open the app and follow the setup instructions.
- Connect to a server. Most VPNs have a "Smart server” option to pick the fastest server close to you. But if you want to pick one in a specific country (i.e., the USA), that’s also really easy.
- Sign up to Craigslist. That’s it!
To make the most of your VPN, download it to all of your devices and install an extension on your web browsers. You should set it to run every time you start your devices and save your favorite servers for quick access.
If you still can’t access certain content after turning on the VPN, clear your browser’s cookies and cache and refresh the page. If that still doesn’t work, contact your VPN directly.
Can I use a free VPN for Craigslist?
In theory, yes, you can use a free VPN for Craigslist – but we don’t recommend it.
VPNs are sophisticated and constantly evolving software that must stay ahead of the latest online threats and advanced hacking methods. This necessitates significant investment from VPNs, which is why premium services like ExpressVPN and Surfshark require a small monthly fee.
Free VPNs, on the other hand, typically compensate for their shortfall in two ways:
1. They provide a low-quality product.
Free VPNs are usually slow, unreliable, and unable to access websites with geo-restrictions. They’ll also probably cap your data so only a tiny amount is covered by the VPN before you’re left unprotected.
2. They practice shady, dishonest business practices.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad actors in the VPN space – especially among free VPNs. If they’re not charging you a subscription fee, VPNs often profit from you by recording and selling your private data, injecting ads into your browsing, or even hosting malware on their networks.
VPNs for Craigslist FAQs
Conclusion
VPNs offer a secure and convenient way to access Craigslist, providing a layer of privacy and security for your online activities. However, it's essential to be aware that Craigslist may take measures to block VPN servers, and using a VPN may go against their terms of service.
Let's recap the benefits of our best VPNs for Craigslist: you not only gain access to Craigslist but also benefit from enhanced online security, privacy features, and tools to block ads and tracking.
You can try these VPNs risk-free through their trial periods or money-back guarantees. Once you discover the right VPN that suits your Craigslist needs, you'll enjoy seamless access to the platform no matter where you are.