Should You Use Two VPNs At The Same Time?

VPNs can be confusing on their own, but using two of them can get even more complex quickly. Still, people try, typically to protect their privacy. But the practice does have its downsides to consider, including cost and speed.

Using two VPNs typically comes in two forms: The first form is as a feature from one VPN service provider, where that company routes your traffic through different parts of its network, a practice also called multi-hopping. The second form is rigging two VPN services together, routing your internet traffic through one VPN provider and then a second, separate provider. This practice, also called VPN chaining, typically requires you have access to subscriptions from two different VPN providers.

Because VPN multi-hopping is typically powered by one provider, it's cheaper (one subscription), and easier to do. It's also a clever way to use a VPN to safeguard your privacy. Chaining two VPNs together, however, is usually not recommended, especially not on the same device. While some are willing to do this for the extra privacy, it can also slow your connection as the VPNs try to manage traffic from one another. You'll likely notice technical hiccups like slower-than-expected speeds, more latency, and connection dropouts.

These issues don't apply if you're using one VPN on one computer, and another on a second one. You can also split two VPNs across two separate elements of a computer such as virtual machines or containers. 

As previously stated, people who use double VPN or chaining from different services do this because they want to improve their privacy footprint. When using multi-hopping from a singular VPN service, it routes internet traffic through two services (or one) in sequence; it encrypts, decrypts, and repeats the process with the second server. Chaining merely uses two services for the task. 

In theory, using two VPNs can reduce reliance on a single company or connection, which is a key disadvantage of using VPNs overall. When your traffic is routed through the first VPN server, it masks the IP address associated with it, providing more confidentiality. That's how a normal VPN works. With a second VPN, the associated IP is completely gone by the time it connects to the wider internet again. 

If you are tempted to use multiple VPNs to encrypt your data multiple times, you ought to consider just using one trusted VPN service. Even if you're getting blocked by the site you're accessing, you can use obfuscation features from some VPNs that make their traffic look much more normal. Otherwise, you risk slowing your connection, and ultimately paying more than you need for privacy that's only theoretically better.