If your team works remotely—even part of the time—a business VPN is one of the cheapest and most practical security investments you can make. Using a VPN for a small business allows your employees to work safely thanks to the encryption the service provides, and enables secure remote access to corporate resources whether at home or on public Wi-Fi networks. But not every VPN is up to the task. Many are designed for personal use, lacking features such as multi-user controls, centralized billing, and dedicated IP addresses.
This guide cuts through the noise. Below are the top business VPNs evaluated on admin controls, pricing, security architecture, and real-world usability for teams of 5–100 people.
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What to Look for in a Business VPN
Before diving into picks, here's what separates a proper business VPN from a consumer one:
- Centralized user management — Add, remove, and control access without emailing everyone a config file.
- Scalable, per-seat pricing — You shouldn't be renegotiating a contract every time you hire.
- Zero-trust or role-based access — Staff should only reach the resources their role requires.
- AES-256 encryption + kill switch — Table stakes for any paid product.
- SSO/MFA integration — Non-negotiable if you use Okta, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Entra ID.
- Dedicated IP option — Needed for IP whitelisting your internal systems or vendor portals.
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The Best Small Business VPNs at a Glance
| Product | Starting Price | Best For | Free Tier? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NordLayer | ~$8/user/mo | Most SMBs, zero-trust access | No |
| Twingate | $5/user/mo | Remote-first teams, ZTNA purists | Yes (up to 5 users) |
| Proton VPN Business | ~€5.99/user/mo | Privacy-sensitive industries | No |
| ExpressVPN | ~$3.49/mo (personal) | Tiny teams, freelancers | No |
| OpenVPN CloudConnexa | $7/connection/mo | IT-capable teams, self-hosters | Yes (5 connections) |
Prices reflect annual billing and are subject to change. Always confirm directly with the vendor before purchasing.
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1. NordLayer — Best Overall for Small and Mid-Sized Teams
NordLayer is a business-focused VPN designed to simplify security for remote and hybrid teams. It employs a zero-trust approach, enabling centralized management, role-based access, and site-to-site tunneling.
NordLayer offers three main pricing plans with discounts for annual commitments: the Lite plan starts at $8 per user per month, Core at $11, and Premium at $14. There's also a customizable Enterprise option starting at $7 per user per month for large teams, with a minimum of 50 users.
What makes it stand out: NordLayer relies on the NordLynx protocol with Web Protection, Download Protection, and Deep Packet Inspection to prevent potential threats. A notable feature—dark web monitoring—monitors the dark web for leaked company data and informs the administrator.
NordLayer supports SSO login methods with identity providers like Okta, Google, OneLogin, Entra ID, and JumpCloud, and has user provisioning integrations with popular SCIM platforms.
Watch out for: Some G2 users from small businesses note that pricing feels slightly high, particularly for dedicated servers at an additional $40/month, though they acknowledge that competitors are similarly priced. A handful of reviewers have also flagged billing transparency and seat reduction inflexibility as concerns.
Best for: Growing SMBs that want a managed, zero-trust-adjacent solution without building their own infrastructure.
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2. Twingate — Best for Remote-First Teams and Zero-Trust Purists
Twingate takes a different architectural approach from traditional VPNs. Twingate is a solid choice for business security and access control, but it doesn't change your IP or work like a classic VPN. Instead of routing traffic through a central server, it creates direct connections between users and private resources—making it very fast and secure.
Twingate's paid plans are Teams at $5/user/month and Business at $10/user/month. It also offers a free plan with limited features. Small businesses will particularly like the free edition of Twingate, which can manage access for a team of up to five members.
Twingate can be set up in 15 minutes or less, which is a genuine differentiator for a lean team without a dedicated IT department. The Business plan adds advanced SSO, Device Posture Check support, and user provisioning on top of the Teams tier.
Watch out for: Twingate doesn't include many features typically associated with a VPN—it's designed for business security and access control, not privacy and anonymity. If employees need to mask their IP for general browsing or access geo-restricted content, Twingate isn't the right tool.
Best for: Developer-heavy or remote-first companies that want granular, per-resource access control rather than a broad network tunnel.
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3. Proton VPN for Business — Best for Privacy and Regulated Industries
Proton VPN for Business is developed by the team behind Proton Mail, with a strong emphasis on privacy, open-source transparency, and Swiss-based data protection laws. It's designed for organizations that want a secure, no-logs VPN with centralized management, making it especially appealing to companies handling sensitive data or operating in regulated industries.
Teams connect to 20,000+ servers in 140+ countries for fast, low-latency internet access, wherever their members are. The VPN Essentials plan starts from €5.99/user/month (covering up to 10 devices with WireGuard), while VPN Professional from €8.99/user adds 2FA enforcement, ad-blocker NetShield, and a browser extension.
Admins can enforce security rules like two-factor authentication, manage devices remotely, and monitor authentication and connection events.
Watch out for: Proton's enterprise support is lighter than that of dedicated security vendors, so teams requiring hands-on onboarding may find it limited. Note also that Proton's pricing is in euros; your actual cost will fluctuate with exchange rates.
Best for: Healthcare, legal, or financial teams where Swiss privacy law and a strict no-logs policy matter as much as performance.
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4. ExpressVPN — Best for Solo Operators and Micro Teams
ExpressVPN doesn't have a dedicated business plan, but it's the best consumer VPN available, which makes it a solid choice for remote workers and single business users. It's known for its high-performance Lightway protocol and RAM-only servers, which enhance privacy by never writing data to disk.
Advanced and Pro plans are available at $4.49 and $7.49/month, with up to 14 simultaneous connections—viable for a small business. An ultra-reliable kill switch and ExpressVPN's secure DNS servers protect internet traffic at all times, and multiple independent security audits have verified app quality and the company's no-logging credentials.
Watch out for: ExpressVPN offers middling business features compared to purpose-built business VPNs. There's no centralized admin dashboard, no per-user access controls, and no SSO integration. If you have more than 3–4 employees, you'll outgrow it quickly.
Best for: Freelancers, sole traders, or owners of 1–3-person shops who need reliable encryption on the go without admin overhead.
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5. OpenVPN CloudConnexa — Best for IT-Capable Teams
Unlike a consumer VPN, which targets mainly personal users, a business VPN is intended for remote and secure access to business resources on corporate private networks, with centralized control capabilities. OpenVPN embodies this distinction well.
OpenVPN has plans starting at $7 per month per concurrent connection and offers a free trial to get started. OpenVPN offers up to 5 free seats and a free trial for CloudConnexa, and 2 free connections for Access Server—making it possible to use a free VPN for small teams.
Access Server is best for businesses that prefer an on-premises VPN server or want full flexibility managing their infrastructure through a cloud server.
Watch out for: Setup requires technical chops. If your team doesn't have someone comfortable with networking, this will become a time sink rather than a security asset.
Best for: Startups with a technical co-founder or IT contractor who wants maximum control and the option to self-host.
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How to Choose: A Quick Decision Framework
You're a team of 1–5 people with no IT staff → Start with Twingate's free tier or ExpressVPN.
You're scaling from 10–50 users and want a centralized admin panel → NordLayer (Lite or Core plan) is the most balanced option.
You handle sensitive client data or operate in a regulated industry → Proton VPN for Business, for the Swiss legal protections and audited no-logs policy.
You have an IT manager and want full network control → OpenVPN CloudConnexa or Access Server.
You're developer-heavy and want per-app, per-resource access over a broad tunnel → Twingate Business.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a business VPN or can I use a personal one? Personal VPNs lack centralized billing, user access controls, and admin dashboards. If you have more than two or three employees, a purpose-built business VPN will save you significant headaches as you grow.
What's the difference between a VPN and ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access)? A traditional VPN tunnels all traffic through a shared gateway, granting broad network access once a user is authenticated. ZTNA (used by tools like Twingate and NordLayer's higher tiers) grants access only to specific resources on a per-request basis—a meaningfully stronger security posture.
Is a free VPN safe for business use? Generally, no. Free VPNs often fund themselves through data collection. The free tiers from Twingate and OpenVPN are exceptions worth considering for micro-teams, but they come with seat or connection limits.
How much should a small business expect to spend? For a 10-person team on an annual plan, budget roughly $80–$140/month for a proper business VPN like NordLayer or Twingate Business. That's well under $15/user/month and a fraction of the average cost of a data breach.
Does a business VPN replace a firewall? No. A VPN encrypts traffic in transit and controls remote access. You still need endpoint protection, a firewall, and ideally an email security layer. Think of a VPN as one layer in a broader security stack, not the whole stack.
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Bottom Line
For most small businesses, NordLayer hits the best balance of business-grade features, ease of administration, and scalable pricing. Teams with a strong zero-trust mindset or developer-heavy workforces should look hard at Twingate, especially given its generous free tier. Privacy-first companies—particularly those in regulated industries—will find Proton VPN for Business hard to beat. Whatever you choose, confirm current pricing and trial availability directly with the vendor before signing a multi-seat annual contract.