Which VPN providers have independent audits confirming no‑logs claims and are recommended for use with Tor?
Executive summary
Independent audits have become the clearest signal that a VPN’s “no‑logs” marketing means something measurable, and several large providers have published third‑party reports that corroborate their claims; standout names repeatedly cited across industry reviews are NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark, each with independent reviews or court‑tested claims that bolster their no‑logs statements [1][2][3][4]. For users who want to pair a VPN with Tor, Proton VPN and NordVPN are repeatedly noted for explicit “Tor‑over‑VPN” or “Onion over VPN” integrations, while ExpressVPN and others emphasize audited no‑logs policies and RAM‑only server architectures that reduce persistence risk [2][5][3][6].
1. Which providers have independent audits that confirm no‑logs claims — the short list
NordVPN has submitted its no‑logs practices to multiple independent auditors including PwC and Deloitte across several reviews and is repeatedly described in trade coverage as having its no‑logs policy verified multiple times [7][1][8]. Proton VPN’s no‑logs posture has also been independently audited — Securitum performed a verification of Proton’s claims in 2022 (and reporting cites consecutive verifications and SOC 2 Type II signals) — and Proton advertises Tor‑over‑VPN servers as part of its privacy tooling [2][9]. ExpressVPN has undergone multiple independent audits and publishes a transparency report; reviewers note it uses RAM‑only servers and independent attestations dating back to 2019 that support its no‑logs stance [3][5][6]. Surfshark is cited as having a Deloitte audit in 2023 that confirmed it collects minimal user data consistent with its no‑logs policy [4].
2. Which of those are recommended specifically for use with Tor
Proton VPN is explicitly recommended for Tor users because it offers Tor‑over‑VPN functionality and has been independently audited for no‑logs behavior, making it a strong match for users who want a VPN that integrates directly with the Tor network [2][9]. NordVPN likewise supports an “Onion over VPN” option and is frequently called out for combining audited no‑logs assurances with these specialty servers, which simplifies using Tor while adding a VPN layer [5][1]. Reviewers also discuss the general role of audited VPNs such as ExpressVPN and Surfshark as trustworthy intermediaries, but their marketing and technical stacks are less commonly framed as having first‑party Tor routing features than Proton and Nord [3][4].
3. Caveats: what independent audits do — and don’t — prove
Independent audits vary: some are full SOC 2 or technical penetration tests, others are policy reviews or code audits, and press summaries often conflate these different scopes as a single “audit” metric [9][7]. RAM‑only server setups and repeated audit cycles increase confidence that logs cannot be retained, but audits are snapshots in time and depend on the auditor’s scope and the provider’s transparency about findings [6][5]. Court cases or real‑world legal requests — Proton’s denials of 59 data requests and ExpressVPN’s published transparency reports — provide complementary evidence when audits alone are insufficient to judge operational practice [9][3].
4. Practical guidance for Tor users who want to add a VPN
Choose a provider that combines a verifiable audit history, a technical feature set that explicitly supports Tor (Tor‑over‑VPN or Onion‑over‑VPN), and technical protections such as RAM‑only servers and a kill switch; NordVPN and Proton VPN repeatedly check all three boxes in industry reporting, while ExpressVPN and Surfshark offer strong audit pedigrees and infrastructural protections that make them reasonable alternatives depending on threat model and needed Tor integration [1][2][3][4]. Final choice should be informed by reading the actual audit reports and the provider’s transparency reports because media summaries can amplify marketing language into a more definitive claim than the audit supports [7][5].
5. Bottom line for privacy‑minded Tor users
For users who plan to combine Tor with a VPN and want an audited no‑logs guarantee: Proton VPN and NordVPN surface most consistently in reviews as both independently verified and explicitly Tor‑friendly, while ExpressVPN and Surfshark offer audited no‑logs claims and strong operational protections that make them defensible options; readers must, however, inspect the actual audit scope and recentness before equating a single audit with perpetual no‑logs assurance [2][9][3][4].