AdGuard VPN

AdGuard VPN is the VPN service from the makers of the AdGuard ad blocker. The Windows client connects your machine to a remote server, replacing your visible IP address with the server's and encrypting the traffic in between with AES-256. The vendor lists more than 70 server locations, and the client can pick one automatically or let you choose.

The feature that sets it apart from most VPN clients is its exclusion list. Instead of an all-or-nothing tunnel, you can name individual websites and installed applications and either exclude them from the VPN or restrict the VPN to only those. That is useful when a banking site or a local network service breaks under a VPN, or when you only want a handful of programs routed elsewhere. AdGuard also uses its own transport protocol rather than OpenVPN or WireGuard, which the vendor says makes the traffic harder to identify as VPN traffic.

The free tier is a real, non-expiring plan rather than a countdown trial, but it is capped: a monthly traffic allowance and two simultaneous devices. Paid subscriptions lift the traffic cap and raise the device limit to ten, and bundle AdGuard DNS Personal. Accounts work across the Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS clients plus browser extensions, so one subscription covers several machines.

It suits people who want a straightforward consumer VPN with fine-grained control over what gets tunneled, and who may already use other AdGuard products. It is less suitable if you need an audited open-source client, standard protocols your firewall or router already understands, or a self-hosted setup. Note also that the VPN itself is not an ad blocker; that is a separate AdGuard product.