About FrankVPN: Who We Are and How We Work
FrankVPN is an independent VPN research publication. We test VPNs by purchasing our own subscriptions, score them on six weighted criteria, and disclose every affiliate relationship on every page. We earn commissions from Surfshark, NordVPN, PureVPN, and BlancVPN. Those commissions do not affect rankings — we rank brands we earn nothing from (CyberGhost, IPVanish) exactly where their scores put them, and Surfshark held #1 before it became a partner.
Who We Are
FrankVPN is an independent VPN research and comparison publication launched in 2026. We are not a VPN provider, not affiliated with any VPN company, and not funded by the industry we cover.
Ownership: FrankVPN (frankvpn.com) is owned and operated by Oksana Shkliarchuk, an independent publisher based in Ukraine. It is a personal publication rather than a registered company, and no VPN provider or affiliate network holds any stake in it. Business and legal enquiries: contact@frankvpn.com.
We ask VPN companies to disclose who owns them — we keep a map of it — so it would be hypocritical not to say who owns this site.
Content is produced by the FrankVPN Editorial Team — a collective byline that reflects how this work actually happens: research, testing, writing, and fact-checking are collaborative, not the work of a single individual. We don't manufacture expert personas or assign fictional reviewers.
What we are: people who test VPNs by buying them, run them through a documented methodology, and write honestly about what we find — including the parts that reduce our own affiliate income.
How We Test
Every VPN we review is purchased independently. No provider supplies a free account in exchange for coverage, and no provider is told in advance what their score will be.
Our scoring system uses six weighted criteria:
- Privacy & Security (25%) — no-logs audit status, jurisdiction, protocols, kill switch, DNS leak protection
- Speed & Performance (20%) — download, upload, latency, speed retention, tested across multiple sessions
- Streaming Capability (20%) — unblocking results across Netflix US/UK/CA, Disney+, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, tested monthly
- Price & Value (20%) — introductory pricing, renewal pricing, features per dollar, money-back guarantee
- Usability & Support (10%) — app quality, platform coverage, simultaneous connections, support response time
- Transparency & Trust (5%) — published audits, disclosed ownership, affiliate relationships disclosed, refund track record
The full methodology — including exactly how each criterion is measured — is documented on our How We Test page. That page exists because vague claims of independence are easy to make and impossible to verify. Specifics are verifiable.
How We Earn Money
FrankVPN earns revenue through affiliate commissions. When a reader purchases a VPN subscription through a link on this site, we receive a commission from the provider. This is our primary and only revenue source.
Our active affiliate partners as of 2026-06-30:
- Surfshark — via the CJ affiliate network.
- NordVPN — via the CJ affiliate network.
- PureVPN — affiliate ID 49387798, plus our exclusive code FRANK20.
- BlancVPN — referral tag
ref=father.
Commission rates vary by provider and plan, and they never affect our rankings, scores, or which products we recommend. We rank strictly by our six weighted criteria — see how we test. Providers we earn nothing from (currently CyberGhost and IPVanish) are ranked on exactly the same basis.
Every page that carries affiliate links shows a disclosure: a commission note in the footer of every page, an "Available at [provider]" label above each outbound button, and a transparency line at the top of our ranking pages. We follow FTC guidelines on affiliate disclosure.
Why Commissions Don't Change Our Rankings
The most important check on affiliate bias is our published scoring methodology. Rankings are produced by applying weighted scores to measured data. A VPN cannot improve its score by paying us more.
The clearest demonstration: Surfshark ranks #1 on our best cheap VPN page, and it held that rank before it became one of our affiliate partners — the partnership didn't move it. Brands we earn nothing from (CyberGhost, IPVanish) sit exactly where their scores put them. If commission rates determined rankings, neither of those things would be true.
Similarly, BlancVPN scores 7.2/10 — lower than PureVPN's 8.1 — in part because it lacks an independent no-logs audit. We earn a commission on BlancVPN sales. Its score reflects the audit gap, not the commission rate.
What We Do Not Do
- We do not accept paid placements or "sponsored rankings."
- We do not accept free VPN accounts in exchange for reviews.
- We do not use fake countdown timers, manufactured urgency, or false scarcity.
- We do not suppress negative information about affiliate partners.
- We do not invent test data. Where testing is incomplete or results are pending, we say so.
Corrections Policy
If we publish incorrect information — a wrong price, an outdated audit status, a factual error in a review — we correct it. Corrections are noted on the relevant page with an updated date. We do not silently edit errors without acknowledgment.
If you find a factual error, contact us. We read every message and act on substantiated corrections.
About the Author Attribution
Content on FrankVPN is attributed to the FrankVPN Editorial Team — an Organization in schema.org terms, not a fictional individual. This reflects the actual structure of the operation. We do not assign content to invented personas with invented credentials.
Author blocks on every page link to this page or to /how-we-test/, where the full methodology is documented.