Which VPN should I use?

Mullvad gang

Mullvad yes, proton and riseup maybe

The only point of a commercial VPN is to do peer-to-peer without exposing your home IP address. If you are into Proton and their suite of services than you can get ProtonVPN but don't expect anything else since Proton is NATO-aligned, otherwise you can get AirVPN which does sales yearly (I got 6 months for only $15). The other use of VPNs is geo-spoofing (aka: using Netflix under a VPN to get access to other content), but I can't speak on that, Mullvad might be a good option since it sports a lot of server locations.

Avoid any VPN that requires an email account/personal details up front, it's likely a Israeli shell company (no youtuber sponsored vpns, they all suck).

If you want to use a VPN for home server stuff then you should look into Tailscale since they have a free tier for personal use (connecting to your home server while outside the network).

Otherwise, there are more useful things you can do to improve your security instead of using a VPN:

Use a libre web browser: Firefox+Derivatives or vanilla chromium/ungoogled variant
Make sure you have HTTPS everywhere or equivalent on.
Use services like email aliases for online accounts.
Use an up-to-date GNU/Linux or any other free/communal operating system instead of US State Dept. ones like Windows and MacOS.
Use Ublock Origin.

It bears mentioning that a VPN is not a magic bullet for privacy.

Also use a private DNS server even if not using a privacy VPN. I set Firefox to route through Mullvad always. It’s just another way your browsing activity gets fed back to your ISP or DNS provider company
Edit: Also I think VPNs have a lot more utility than that. E.g. hiding your real IP from websites to prevent geolocation or tying back to your real ID, preventing your ISP (and thus the US govt through PRISM etc) from logging your traffic, etc. Yes the details of what you do are encrypted through HTTPS but the servers you connect to and the times you do it are not. The CIA says they kill people based off metadata so I would at least try to shift the trust away from known collaborators like my ISP and towards groups like Mullvad to protect myself
- I use DNS.SB and use DNS over HTTPS.
  On Android, I use Nebulo, which I install through its F-Droid repository. It allows me to use DNS over HTTPS and offers DNS.SB as one of its options.
Make sure you have HTTPS everywhere or equivalent on.
This extension is no longer needed and obsolete.
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions#-dont-bother
HTTPS Everywhere
Redundant with HTTPS-Only Mode and scheduled for deprecation: maintenance mode only Sept 2021, sunsets Jan 2023
- Yeah the web extension thankfully got merged with Firefox's graphical settings. It eliminates a whole class of vulnerabilities right from the get go.

AirVPN if you need port-forwarding for torrents.

Otherwise Mullvad or IVPN (Mullvad is cheaper). Mullvad is also removing support for OpenVPN and will be just using WireGuard, so if you need OpenVPN for any reason, you will need to use one of the other two.

Cool links. I should go harden my system. Actually... I could make a nixos module with my changes so others can import these things easily... Hmmm.

put my hat in for mullvad

I recommend Mullvad bevause you can pay anonymously with cash or anonymously enough with a voucher.

Proton also accept crypto which can be anon
- Mullvad, IVPN, and AirVPN all support crypto. They all do not require email accounts, too.
  I do not recommend Proton for many reasons.
  They support Israel.
  https://proton.me/support/protonmail-israel-radware
  https://protonvpn.com/blog/israel-vpn-servers/
  They supported the 2020 Hong Kong protests.
  https://protonvpn.com/blog/hong-kong-servers
  This comment from Lemmygrad explains why Proton may be a honeypot and to be wary of VPN services in general.
  https://lemmygrad.ml/comment/361523
  Here is a list of potential issues with ProtonMail (including their onion site deanonymizing Tor users when they create an account by redirecting them back to their .com address):
  https://encryp.ch/blog/disturbing-facts-about-protonmail/

Mullvad was great until they got rid of port forwarding. Since I have used AirVPN and been pretty happy so maybe check that as an alternative option too :)

Correct me If im wrong but wasnt airvpn bought up with company with some isreali connections?
- Are you thinking about PIA or ExpressVPN? I hope AirVPN is not connected to Israel. I just paid a subscription.

Proton has been really fast for the high seas, but the app is kinda fucked on Linux.

Use wireguard directly, works better. just some time needed to set it up
- I had it set up, until it spontaneously decided that I need to enter the password every time I connect.. and it disconnects if my computer goes to sleep.

Watching this thread myself

I use Proton for general piracy, no complaints so far.

Proton requires you to run a looping script on Linux if you want to use port-forwarding, and it is prone to breaking.
https://protonvpn.com/support/port-forwarding-manual-setup/#linux
- i don't use linux so i just click a couple buttons
  https://protonvpn.com/support/port-forwarding

Whichever one has decent prices and the features you need. Mullvad, AirVPN. I know AirVPN seems to have multiple sales a year. I can almost guarantee they'll have a Black Friday sale or something by the Monday that follows so if you do go with them, don't buy more than a week right now to see if you like it and if you do buy a year or two for maximum discounts.

Avoid PIA and a lot of the others in that vein, they're owned by ad-tech companies with ties to "isreal".

Can someone explain to me why using one of these is better than hiding in plain sight

Hides ur IP address from the websites you visit and any peer to peer services, which otherwise could be used to geolocate you or identify whoever’s name is on the internet plan. They also block your ISP from seeing what connections you are making, but this is just a shift of trust as the VPN provider will then get that information so you need to trust that they won’t log it or sell it
- Thanks. What are your thoughts on Brave browser?
Your last-mile cable/fiber/wireless ISP is likely a subsidiary of one of the world's largest IP holdings companies, and if they aren't, they likely have big contracts with them and will bend over backwards to please them. They also have a lot of politicians under their thumb, which is necessary to maintain their extortionate regional monopolies. They have a financial incentive and the resources to observe your traffic and send you legal threats or disconnect you unilaterally.
When you use a VPN you are just letting some other company see what your ISP could see (i.e. every website and server you connect to, and how much data is being transfered, if not the plaintext of the data itself). Your ISP can still glean a lot based on the time and amount of data being transferred between you and your VPN, even though it is all encrypted. The VPN has different incentives than a multinational IP conglomerate, but at the end of the day still has to comply with the law. Some of them are legit. Some of them are literally run by Mossad. They generally solve the problem for media piracy, but should not be used thoughtlessly if there is any serious criminal or political risk involved.

Another Proton vote.

Proton is really cool, can get it with email too