Who owns the VPN review sites?
3 companies own the 10 review and comparison sites in our data. Some of the best-known VPN review sites belong to the same companies that sell VPNs, or earn a commission on every sale they send.
Ziff Davis Digital Media (tech publishing)
subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc.
Ziff Davis's technology publishing brands that review and rank VPNs and earn affiliate commissions. Because the parent also sells IPVanish and StrongVPN, readers should know these outlets share an owner with VPN vendors. CNET (with ZDNET) was bought from Red Ventures in 2024 for a reported ~USD 100m.
Webselenese
subsidiary of Kape Technologies
Tel Aviv-based content business that runs VPN and security review sites (vpnMentor, WizCase, Safety Detectives). Kape bought it in March 2021 for about USD 149m. Its sites rank VPNs that share its owner, which is the central conflict of interest in this industry; the sites now disclose the common ownership in their about pages.
Comparitech Limited
subsidiary of Point Wild (Pango group)
UK company that runs the review sites Comparitech and ProPrivacy. It was bought by Aura/Pango around 2021-2022 without a public announcement (reported value USD 50-100m), and is now listed among Point Wild's brands. ProPrivacy's disclaimer states the Pango ownership and claims editorial independence.
| Site | Bought | Price | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comparitech comparitech.com | 2021 | reported USD 50-100m | verified source |
| ProPrivacy proprivacy.com | — | — | verified source |