Best VPN by Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Split tunneling, kill switches, and obfuscation protocols don't work the same on every OS. The VPN that's strongest on Windows often isn't the one to pick for iOS.
Published September 26, 2026· Updated September 26, 2026· By Juan Martinez
Most VPN providers publish one feature list for the whole product. Split tunneling, obfuscation, a kill switch — all checked off on the marketing page, none of them qualified by operating system. The reality is that a provider’s feature set is five different feature sets, and which one you get depends entirely on where you install it. This guide picks a VPN for each of the five major platforms based on what actually runs there, and points at the gaps that the single feature list hides.
| VPN | Rating | Split Tunneling | From | Best Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surfshark | 8.0 | ✅ | $2.49/mo | macOS — Dausos protocol, macOS-only |
| IPVanish | 6.9 | ✅ | $2.19/mo | Windows — both split-tunneling modes at once |
| Private Internet Access | 7.7 | ✅ | $1.33/mo | Linux — open-source client and protocols |
| Windscribe | 7.8 | ✅ | $3.00/mo | Android — no feature reduction, free tier included |
| Proton VPN | 8.8 | ✅ | $2.99/mo | iOS — the only obfuscation that works there |
macOS
The only protocol in this roundup built for one OS. Surfshark developed Dausos, a proprietary protocol aimed at steady everyday speed, and shipped it on macOS only. No Windows build, no Android build, no Linux build. It’s the clearest example of the point this article is making, just running in the opposite direction from usual: a feature that exists solely on the Mac.
Around that, Surfshark is unusually consistent across platforms. Bypasser — its split tunneling — works everywhere with no per-OS carve-outs, the kill switch is on by default, simultaneous connections are unlimited, and Dynamic MultiHop and Rotating IP are included on every plan rather than reserved for a higher tier. That consistency matters more on macOS than it sounds, because macOS is where several competitors quietly drop split tunneling: IVPN doesn’t support it on macOS at all (Windows, Linux and Android only), NordVPN has no app-based exclusion on macOS either, and Mullvad supports it only on macOS 13 and newer.
Best for: Mac users who want the same feature set they’d get on any other platform, plus a protocol tuned for theirs.
Windows
Both split-tunneling modes, no platform trade-off. IPVanish ships split tunneling in two separate forms: domain-based, which sends chosen sites around the tunnel, and app-based, which excludes whole applications. Domain-based runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and visionOS. App-based runs on Windows, Android and Fire TV. Windows is the only place both exist at once — everywhere else you pick a mode and live with it.
The rest of the Windows build follows the same pattern. The kill switch is system-level rather than app-level, Double Hop lets you choose the entry and exit server separately instead of accepting a fixed pair, and OpenVPN Scramble disguises traffic as HTTPS for networks that filter VPN protocols. Threat Protection Pro — an actual antivirus engine from VIPRE, carrying an AV-Comparatives Advanced+ certification — is Windows and macOS only, and only on the Advanced plan. IPVanish is our lowest-rated pick in this set, and the reason is elsewhere in the product, not in the Windows client.
One Windows-only oddity worth knowing about: Astrill has a per-application kill switch called App Guard that exists on Windows and nowhere else — not on iOS, not on Android, and not when you’re using its OpenWeb protocol. It’s a genuinely unusual piece of engineering, but Astrill has no independent audit behind its no-logs claim, so treat it as a curiosity rather than a recommendation.
Best for: Windows users who want per-app and per-domain routing on the same machine, without choosing one.
Linux
Open source down to the protocol, not just the app. Private Internet Access is the only provider here that publishes both its client applications and its protocol implementations — WireGuard and OpenVPN — as open source. For a Linux user, who is more likely than most to read the code or build from source, that changes the claim from something you accept to something you can check.
Split tunneling works on every PIA platform without exceptions, simultaneous connections are unlimited, and port forwarding is available on selected servers — a rarity, and directly useful if the Linux box in question is a home server or NAS that needs to be reachable. Multi-hop runs through Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 proxies rather than fixed server pairs, which is more flexible to script around.
Linux is where the platform gaps get widest. OVPN restricts split tunneling to its Windows x64 desktop client — it doesn’t exist on Linux, macOS, iOS or Android. TunnelBear goes further and doesn’t ship a Linux client at all; its platform list stops at Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It’s the only provider in this article with no Linux support whatsoever.
Best for: Linux users who want to verify the client and the protocol themselves, and who need port forwarding for something they host.
Android
Everything works, on the free tier too. Windscribe has no Android asterisks. Split tunneling works, the kill switch works — the app calls it Firewall — and simultaneous connections are unlimited on every plan including the free one, which is rare enough that most providers cap even paid accounts.
Two things stand out beyond the basics. R.O.B.E.R.T. blocks ads, trackers and malware domains at the network level rather than inside a browser extension, which is how you get that filtering on a phone in the first place. And Pro accounts get port forwarding above port 1024, useful if the Android device is doing something that needs an inbound connection. Windscribe also lets you sign up with no email address at all, so the account itself holds nothing identifying.
IPVanish’s app-based split tunneling is equally present on Android, and if you’re already running it on Windows that’s a reasonable reason to stay. Windscribe wins the platform on completeness — nothing in the Android build is a reduced version of the desktop one — and on what it knows about you.
Best for: Android users who want the full feature set on a phone, and an account that isn’t tied to an email address.
iOS
The obfuscation protocol that actually exists on iPhone. Proton VPN is the only pick here whose obfuscation — Stealth, which wraps traffic to look like ordinary HTTPS/TLS — runs on iOS. Astrill’s App Guard is absent from iOS entirely. TunnelBear’s GhostBear obfuscation covers Windows, legacy macOS and Android, and skips iOS. If you need a VPN to survive a network that actively blocks VPN traffic, and the device is an iPhone, the field is small.
Split tunneling works on iOS with WireGuard or Stealth selected; it’s unavailable on IKEv2, but that limitation applies identically on every platform and isn’t an iOS quirk. The kill switch is on for free accounts as well as paid ones. The server network — over 20,000 servers across 140+ countries — matters more on a phone than on a desktop, because a phone changes networks several times a day and benefits from having a nearby endpoint wherever it lands. Proton VPN is the highest-rated VPN on this site.
iOS is also where the feature gaps stack up. NordVPN has no split tunneling on iOS. Mullvad supports it on Windows, Linux, Android and macOS 13+, but not iOS. IVPN limits it to Windows, Linux and Android. Three large providers, three independent decisions, all landing on the same platform — iOS loses split tunneling more often than any other OS in this comparison.
Best for: iPhone users who need working obfuscation, and anyone who wants split tunneling on iOS at all.
The Pattern Across Platforms
Two shapes repeat. Windows gets the complete build almost every time — when a provider ships a feature on exactly one platform, that platform is usually Windows, whether it’s IPVanish’s dual split-tunneling modes, Astrill’s App Guard or OVPN’s desktop-only exclusion list. iOS gets the thinnest build: three separate providers drop split tunneling there, and obfuscation is missing on iOS more often than it’s present. Linux sits in between, with support ranging from PIA’s fully open-source stack down to TunnelBear, which doesn’t ship a Linux app at all. Surfshark’s Dausos is the exception that proves the rule — a macOS-only protocol, and the only case in this set of a platform getting something the others don’t.
None of this appears on a provider’s feature page, because that page describes the product rather than any particular build of it. “Split tunneling included” is true of NordVPN, Mullvad and IVPN, and useless to someone on an iPhone.
Which One Should You Actually Use
On macOS, Surfshark — it has no macOS carve-outs where three competitors do, and Dausos is a protocol you can only run there.
On Windows, IPVanish, because it’s the only build where domain-based and app-based split tunneling coexist and you never have to decide which routing model you care about more.
On Linux, PIA, for the auditable client and protocol code plus port forwarding on selected servers. If you’re comparing against OVPN or TunnelBear, the comparison ends early: one has no Linux split tunneling and the other has no Linux app.
On Android, Windscribe, for a build with no reduced features relative to desktop, network-level domain blocking, and signup that requires no email.
On iOS, Proton VPN, because it’s the only pick here with working obfuscation on the platform, and one of the few that still gives you split tunneling once you’re on an iPhone.