Working from everywhere sounds kind of cool until it actually means working from everywhere. But that’s just business travel for you, because maybe today you’re just at home in your home office, and maybe a couple of days from now you have a meeting in another city, a couple of weeks from now you have a conference in a whole other country, and future international trips are on the horizon too. That, all while working from hotels, cafes (while using public WI-FIi), client offices, a train, a plane, an airport, well, you get the point now.
And of course, once somebody runs a small business, the internet setup usually gets messy fast. You can usually count on there being a work laptop, a personal phone doing work stuff too, way too many saved logins, client portals, payment tools, cloud files, email platforms, banking, social media accounts, and at least one tab that’s been open for three weeks for no good reason. Now, does any of this sound like you at all? After all, you’re trying to save business time and money here.
So, if you don’t have one already, and you should, you absolutely need to have a VPN, especially if you’re traveling and using public WIFI. While sure, nobody running a business from all over the place wants one more thing to babysit. It needs to cover enough devices, fit into a workday that already feels a little all over the place, and really help if apps and sites get weird about connections. There are just a lot of things that a VPN needs to do, but is there one that’s best for you if you’re constantly traveling around for your small business?
So, there’s a reason to start right here. Mysterium VPN makes a lot of sense for small business owners because the way it’s set up actually matches how messy work life can get. Some days the job happens from home, some days it happens from a coffee shop, some days it’s all phone hotspot energy and trying to answer emails before the next thing starts. You get the point; some examples were already brought up. But if you’re out, you’re working outside of your house (well, technically, you need one inside your house, too), then you need a VPN.
So, Mysterium covers up to 15 devices on its top plan, works across 100+ countries, and starts at $2.59 a month on the longer subscription, with a 7-day money-back guarantee if it just doesn’t feel right. If you think about it here, that’s already pretty practical for someone juggling a work laptop, a personal phone, maybe a tablet, maybe another browser-based setup, and all the rest of the digital clutter that somehow becomes normal when somebody works for themselves.
The bigger thing, though, is the residential IP side. Mysterium has more than 7,500 residential IPs, and that part feels especially useful for people whose workday depends on logging into a bunch of tools and services without everything getting twitchy. Some platforms are way too quick to get suspicious about known VPN traffic, which is incredibly irritating when somebody’s just trying to do basic business-owner stuff. But Mysterium separates residential IPs from high-speed datacenter IPs, which makes the whole setup feel more thought through, so there’s less inconveniences for you.
If you watch enough YouTube, then chances are, you’re familiar with this one, considering that they try to reach out to nearly all medium and large-sized YouTubers out there. But Surfshark is still one of those very easy picks for small business owners because the unlimited-device part solves a problem before it even has time to become annoying, especially if you see yourself in the future, maybe getting an employee, for example. So, there’s no counting, no trying to remember what’s connected already, and no little panic when a tablet or second laptop needs to go online too.
Proton VPN works really well for the small business owner who just wants things to feel steady and sensible. Since you’re a small business owner, chances are pretty high that you’re just trying to simplify things wherever possible, especially when it comes to all the tools you’re juggling (even digital tools) while you’re traveling around.
Now, sometimes business owners need multiple devices, and they need to pack and use multiple devices. The Plus plan covers up to 10 devices, which is still a generous amount once all the usual work screens get added up. And that really happens faster than people think. There’s the main laptop, the phone, probably a backup or older device still hanging around, maybe a tablet, maybe a home setup, and then somehow the numbers are already getting higher than expected.
As in, you’re ALWAYS on the movie, and some business owners are like that, especially if they’re a specialist in a niche. So in that case, ExpressVPN makes a lot of sense for the kind of business owner whose work setup is always a little bit in motion. The Pro plan supports up to 14 simultaneous devices, but not all small business owners need something like that, of course. But for some, it can work, because maybe there’s a home office setup, a travel setup, a laptop bag with too many chargers, and at least one trip where work still has to happen between flights, calls, and trying to find decent Wi-Fi.
So, the other ones were for businesses and just anybody (so business and non-business purposes), but NordLayer is quite literally made only for businesses. Basically, they lean into remote access and company-style control, which won’t be necessary for everybody, but definitely will be for some people, especially if you have a team.
Sometimes there’s a contractor involved, then another one, then sensitive files start moving around more often, and so clearly a business setup starts needing a bit more structure than a regular personal VPN usually gives. Each member can use up to 6 devices on the same account, and there are shared and dedicated IP options, plus location coverage that works well for remote access setups.
Well, a lot of this comes down to what kind of work-from-everywhere problem is the biggest one. Maybe when it comes to your business, you have way too many devices, and every single one needs to be protected? Maybe you need the smoothest possible day when logging into all the usual tools. Some are already getting to the point where the business setup needs a little more structure. So, clearly, it’s going to vary based on your needs, the tools you use, and just the business you have in general. Those are 5 best VPNs for small business owners and each of these have their own perks that makes them stand out.
