8 Best Business VPNs for Remote Workers and Teams in 2026

Employees sign in from home offices, coffee shops, airports, and co-working spaces, and every one of those connections is a potential entry point for attackers. That reality is exactly why a VPN for remote work has shifted from a “nice-to-have” to core infrastructure for IT and security teams.

But not all VPNs are built for the same job. Consumer VPNs are designed for individuals, including freelancers who want to hide their IP, travelers dodging geo-restrictions, or privacy-conscious users at home. A business VPN, on the other hand, is built for organizations that need to secure a distributed workforce, enforce policies at scale, and give IT a single place to manage access.

If you're evaluating the best VPN for remote workers this year, this guide compares eight leading options, starting with what to look for, then walking through how each stacks up for secure remote access for SMBs and enterprises alike.

What remote workers need in a business VPN

Before comparing vendors, it helps to nail down what truly matters when choosing a secure remote-access VPN for a distributed team. Four criteria separate a real business-grade solution from a repackaged consumer product:

• Speed and reliability

Remote employees live in video calls, cloud apps, and large file transfers. A VPN that adds noticeable latency or drops connections mid-meeting becomes a productivity tax — and worse, a tool users actively try to avoid. Look for modern protocols, global points of presence, and split tunneling so only sensitive traffic is routed through the VPN.

• Security and compliance

Strong encryption is table stakes. What matters more is how a VPN supports Zero Trust principles and your regulatory posture, whether that's HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI DSS, or GDPR. The right security and compliance features help you prove controls during an audit instead of scrambling for evidence. It should also extend to the way employees reach internal systems, including secure remote desktop access.

• Ease of management

A consumer VPN is just an app you install. A business VPN for remote teams has to give IT centralized controls: user and group management, policy enforcement, SSO integration, device posture checks, and visibility into who is connecting to what. If your admins are spending hours chasing tickets and tweaking per-device configs, the tool isn't pulling its weight.

• Scalability

Your VPN should fit a five-person startup just as comfortably as a 5,000-person enterprise. However, not every enterprise-level device is built to support a five-person startup. Cloud-delivered solutions tend to scale more gracefully than on-premises appliances, and they make it far easier to onboard new hires or contractors without shipping hardware. For a deeper look at the full playbook, see our guide on securing a remote workforce.

1. OpenVPN

What it is: OpenVPN delivers secure remote access built on the trusted, open-source OpenVPN protocol — the same protocol that powers much of the VPN industry. Its cloud VPN (CloudConnexa) brings that protocol into a modern, cloud-delivered platform designed specifically for distributed teams.

Why it works for remote: Scalable, Zero Trust remote access with centralized management without the cost and complexity of a full SASE re-platforming project.

Best for: Small and mid-size businesses securing distributed teams who want scalable, cost-effective security.

CloudConnexa features:

• Internet Gateway: Routes remote employee traffic through a protected internet gateway, keeping browsing and cloud-app usage safe from insecure Wi-Fi at airports, hotels, or coffee shops.
• Cyber Shield: Blocks malware, phishing, and risky content before it reaches remote workers — cutting down IT support tickets with Cyber Shield.
• ZTNA/SASE foundation: Grants access based on identity and context rather than network location, enabling true least-privilege control even when teams connect from home or public networks. Learn more about the Zero Trust VPN approach.
• Device posture and compliance policies: Automatically block or quarantine non-compliant devices (missing patches, no antivirus, no screen lock) before they touch company resources.
• Audit logs and change tracking: Keep detailed records of who changed what, when, and from where — supporting compliance audits, simplifying troubleshooting, and maintaining operational transparency.
• Global overlay network and split tunneling: CloudConnexa uses worldwide points of presence and a fully meshed region model for performance. Split tunneling lets remote users send only business traffic through the VPN, reducing latency for everything else.
• Want to learn more? See the full list of Cloud VPN features for CloudConnexa.

2. NordLayer

What it is: The enterprise version of NordVPN, rebuilt around centralized management and business controls.

Why it works for remote: Familiar Nord interface paired with SSO, dedicated gateways, and a consolidated admin console to manage an enterprise-level distributed workforce.

Features:

• Zero Trust and SWG: Identity-based access and secure web browsing for remote staff.
• Quick deployment: Set up remote access in minutes; easy to scale as an SMB grows.
• High-speed protocols: NordLynx (a WireGuard implementation) for fast, reliable connections.
• Device and user controls: MFA, kill switch, and device posture checks for stronger endpoint security.
• Threat protection: DNS filtering and malware blocking for safer day-to-day remote work.
• Admin dashboard and SSO: Centralized user management with identity-provider integrations.

Best for: Large companies that already trust the NordVPN brand but need IT-grade control over remote access.

3. Check Point SASE (formerly Perimeter 81)

What it is: A VPN built specifically for business and Zero Trust use cases — not a consumer product stretched into the enterprise.

Why it works for remote: Cloud-based VPN with role-based access and built-in compliance frameworks, which is part of the Check Point ecosystem.

Features:

• Cloud-based ZTNA: Secure remote access without expensive on-premises hardware.
• Policy-based segmentation and Firewall-as-a-Service: Granular control over traffic between users, groups, and services, with device posture checks built in.
• Centralized management and activity monitoring: Unified admin console, real-time network monitoring, logging, and SIEM integrations.
• Platform and compliance support: Broad OS coverage, SSO with major identity providers, and HIPAA/SOC 2 readiness.

Best for: Growing businesses that need enterprise-grade security and tight admin control out of the box and are already part of the Check Point SASE environment.

4. Twingate

What it is: A modern Zero Trust remote access product positioned as an alternative to traditional VPN.

Why it works for remote: Identity-based access with a lightweight deployment model — users don't see a chunky VPN client, and IT doesn't rack a new appliance.

Features:

• Granular access policies: Application-level, per-user rules instead of broad network access.
• Identity integration: Works with Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin, and other major IdPs.
• Connector-based access control: Secure access via connectors deployed behind corporate firewalls, with no inbound ports opened.
• Granular device and identity controls: Posture checks for OS, encryption, anti-virus, screen lock, and MDM/EDR state.
• Component architecture: Controller, connectors, clients, and relays work together to secure traffic across distributed environments.

Best for: Teams that want ease of use and a simple on-ramp to Zero Trust without a heavy implementation project and without a VPN specifically.

5. Proton VPN

What it is: Proton's business offering, extending the company's well-known privacy stance to organizations.

Why it works for remote: Privacy-first by design, with SOC 2 compliance, strong encryption, and Swiss jurisdiction.

Features:

• Compliance and audited security: SOC 2 Type II certification, ISO 27001, and independent audits support regulated use cases in finance and healthcare.
• Global expansion and monitoring: New gateway regions plus a Gateway Monitor dashboard for real-time connection tracking.
• Efficient admin controls: Admin console with SSO, user provisioning, MDM setup, activity monitoring, and gateway configuration.

Best for: Privacy-focused large-scale organizations in regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and legal services.

6. Surfshark

What it is: The business version of the widely marketed Surfshark consumer VPN.

Why it works for remote: Affordable, supports unlimited devices per user, and adds an admin console for SMB-sized teams.

Features:

• Admin console for team control: Create and manage multiple accounts through a centralized dashboard — useful for small businesses coordinating distributed users.
• Unlimited device connections: Each user can connect laptops, phones, and tablets without extra license costs.
• Audit-verified privacy practices: Independent audits (including Deloitte) and a no-logs policy help ease data-privacy concerns.

Best for: Smaller teams that need affordability and flexibility above all else and who don’t mind consumer-driven features over a product made for business.

7. Zscaler

What it is: A cloud-native Zero Trust platform that secures remote workers by giving them policy-based access to internet, SaaS, and private apps without VPN concentrators.

Why it works for remote: Combines SASE and Zero Trust.

Features:

• Rich visibility and user-experience monitoring: Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) helps IT teams monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize remote workflows.
• Privileged Remote Access (PRA): Clientless, browser-based access for vendors and employees to sensitive SSH, RDP, and VNC systems, with full governance and minimal infrastructure overhead.
• Seamless SaaS and OT access: Fast, direct access to SaaS apps like Teams and Zoom, plus secure access to operational technology in industrial environments — all under Zero Trust policy control.

Best for: Larger companies that need full-stack security. It's often overkill — and over-budget — for SMBs.

8. Fortinet

What it is: Fortinet combines traditional VPN access with integrated endpoint and network security — a strong fit for enterprises standardizing their security stack on a single vendor.

Why it works for remote: Integrates VPN with the broader Fortinet Security Fabric, trading simplicity for deep enterprise credibility.

Features:

• IPsec and SSL VPN support: Proven VPN protocols let remote users reach corporate resources securely through the FortiClient agent.
• Zero Trust and integrated endpoint security: Part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, combining VPN access with EDR, next-gen firewalls, and SD-WAN/SASE for work-from-anywhere use cases.
• Centralized provisioning and management (EMS): Push VPN configurations to endpoints, control which features users see, and manage policies at scale.

Best for: Mid-to-large enterprises already invested in the Fortinet ecosystem.

Choosing the best VPN for your remote team

Consumer VPNs like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark do what they're designed to do — they protect individual users on untrusted networks. But a business is a different problem. When you're securing dozens, hundreds, or thousands of remote employees, you need a VPN for remote employees that was built for teams from day one.

When you evaluate options, prioritize:

• Centralized management that gives IT one pane of glass for users, devices, and policies.
• Zero Trust access that grants permissions based on identity and context, not network location.
• Compliance readiness so audits become a checklist instead of a fire drill.
• Consistent performance across geographically distributed teams on every kind of connection.

That's where OpenVPN stands out. As a business VPN for remote teams, it balances enterprise-grade security, Zero Trust architecture, and centralized management with the scalability and cost-effectiveness SMBs and growing companies actually need. Whether you're rolling out secure remote access for SMBs or tightening controls across a global workforce, OpenVPN meets teams where they are.

Get Started with OpenVPN

Ready to give your remote workforce the secure remote access VPN it deserves? Sign up for OpenVPN and get your distributed team connected — securely — in minutes.