A VPN for a computer or laptop: what to install on Windows, Mac and Linux

On a computer, as on a phone, it is not a program on its own that works but a pair: a client on the computer and whoever provides the servers. Below: how an app differs from a browser extension, what to install on Windows, Mac and Linux, and how to connect a computer in five steps. Everything here is as of 26 September 2026.

What a VPN on a computer is made of

The program you install on a computer is most often a client. It has no servers of its own: Happ’s publisher says plainly in its description that it does not sell access, and users get the servers themselves. The servers come from a provider — as a subscription link, a key or a settings file.

So the choice splits into two questions:

• Which client to install on your system. That depends on the system and on the form in which the provider hands out the settings. Windows, Mac and Linux are covered in the sections below.
• Who provides the servers, and do they work on your network. That depends on the network and the hour, not on the program. Why there can be no common list of “what works right now” — a separate article.

There is also a third kind — services with both their own program and their own servers. There both questions go to one service.

Browser extension or app: what each one covers

On a computer, unlike a phone, there is one more route — a browser extension. The difference is whose traffic goes through the server.

• An extension covers its own browser. Technically most such extensions are a proxy for one browser. The messenger, the mail program, a game and a second browser go online as they always did (more on why an extension is not a VPN).
• An app works at the system level. It can send the whole computer through the server: browsers, messengers, games. Happ does exactly that — everything goes through the tunnel.

Checking what an extension covers is easy: open the IP address check in the browser with the extension and in another browser that does not have it. The addresses will differ.

A VPN on Windows: five steps with Happ

Mayak has no Windows app of its own yet. The subscription link is taken by Happ, a free desktop client installed as a file from the developer’s page.

1. Download the installer from Happ’s release page on GitHub. For an ordinary computer it is setup-Happ.x64.exe, for Windows on an ARM processor — setup-Happ.arm64.exe (that is what the files are called in release 4.3.0). Which processor you have is shown under Settings → System → About, in the “System type” line.
2. Install and start Happ.
3. Take the subscription link. Mayak keeps it in your account: the “Connecting by link” card → “Show the link”. Copy it.
4. Add the link to Happ. The app loads the list of servers by itself.
5. Turn the connection on and pick a country.

When we change servers, it is enough to refresh the subscription in Happ — and it keeps working.

The last resort is the settings file (if Happ cannot be installed or you need a router): in your account, the “File for a computer” card → pick a country → “Get the file”, and open it in the official AmneziaWG app for Windows (the releases page on GitHub). That is how we ourselves connect on Windows 11 every day, but when the server changes, you have to get a new file.

Besides Happ, a few more apps take the same link — the list with buttons is on the “Where to tap” page for Windows. If it does not connect, the order for finding the break is in “Happ not working”: most of the causes there are common to any client that uses a link.

A VPN on Mac: Happ or INCY

Mayak has no macOS app of its own yet either. The path is the same as on Windows, and there are two apps:

• Happ — the Happ.macOS.universal.dmg file from the same release page. One build serves both Macs on Apple Silicon and Macs on Intel: that is how Happ’s description labels it.
• INCY — from the App Store of another country: it was removed from the Russian one on 27 October 2026 (where it is already installed it keeps working). It is the same app as on iPhone.

Then it goes as on Windows: the subscription link from your account → paste it into the app → turn it on; we recommend Happ. Buttons for both apps are on the “Where to tap” page for Mac. If you have both a Mac and an iPhone, that is two devices, and each takes its own slot in the plan.

A VPN on Linux: Happ, with a settings file as a last resort

Mayak has no Linux app of its own. Install Happ — it takes the subscription link from your account. Happ has official Linux builds: .deb and .rpm packages and one for Arch Linux, on the developer’s release page. The order is the same as on Windows: install the app → copy “Subscription link” in your account → paste it into the app → turn it on. When we change servers, it is enough to refresh the subscription in the app — and it keeps working. We have not yet checked Happ on Linux with a live connection — on Windows and Mac we have. Other Linux apps that take the same link are listed on the “Where to tap” page for Linux.

The last resort: a settings file for AmneziaWG

If Happ cannot be installed or you need a router, your account has a “File for a computer” card: it issues a .conf file and a QR code for the official AmneziaWG client, with no subscription link. We checked this path on Linux with a live tunnel. If the server changes, you have to get a new file.

1. Install the AmneziaWG client, version 3.0 or newer (the amneziawg-tools utilities). awg --version shows the version: older clients do not understand the header protection in our file and will refuse to open it.
2. Get the file in your account: the “File for a computer” card → pick a country → “Get the file”.
3. Bring the connection up with the same commands as WireGuard: awg-quick instead of wg-quick.
4. Do not change the MTU line in the file — it is calculated for the line the file was issued for.

The file holds a secret key — keep it like a password. You cannot download the same file again: each new file for a country switches off the previous one. One file, one computer: on two at once the connection starts dropping on both. What every line of the file means — in “How to configure AmneziaWG”.

How to check that the computer goes through the server

Open the IP address check before and after turning it on: the country and the address should change to the server’s country. The other checks, including a DNS leak, are in “How to check that a VPN works”. How to turn the connection off on Windows and macOS — a separate section.

Which VPN to choose for a computer: five questions instead of a ranking

There is no “best” VPN for a computer: the clients do the same job, and what decides is who provides the servers and how they behave on your network. We keep no rankings and do not measure other services. Instead of a ranking — five questions to ask before paying:

1. Is there a client for your system, and where does it install from. The safest is the developer’s own page or a store, not a software bundle site (where to install from).
2. The whole computer or just the browser. An extension covers one browser, an app covers the system (above).
3. How you get the servers. A subscription link updates itself; a key or a file has to be replaced by hand (subscription or key).
4. How many devices the plan allows. A phone, a laptop and a home computer are already three devices, and each takes a slot.
5. Does it work on your network. Only you can check that: at home, on someone else’s Wi-Fi, in the evening at peak load. That is what the trial is for.

Free services live on something too. What you pay them with is covered twice: in the article on free extensions and in the one on paid and free access.

Mayak on a computer: what there is now

• We have no Windows or Mac app of our own yet, and we give no dates.
• You can connect right now: on Windows, Mac and Linux — Happ (on Mac also INCY) with the subscription link from your account; we have not yet checked Happ on Linux live. The last resort is a settings file for AmneziaWG, if Happ cannot be installed or you need a router.
• What comes over the link. The protocol is X-ray (VLESS with REALITY), the servers are ours, and new servers and settings reach Happ without you (what is in our link). One connection method arrives: a third-party client has no automatic switching between paths like our Android app.
• One subscription for all devices, and each takes a slot in the plan: Start — up to 3 devices, Family — up to 5, Max — up to 10. What it costs — on the home page. The trial is 3 days on two devices: a computer and a phone both fit into the trial, and a third device already needs a plan.
• What we do not promise. That it “always works” for us: your network is your own, and the answer on it will be your own. When mobile internet is in whitelist mode, Mayak will not connect — neither through the app nor by link (why). That also applies to a laptop that gets its internet from a phone: it goes through the same mobile network.

What we checked

• Happ on Windows and on Mac with a Mayak subscription link — with a live connection, 25 September 2026.
• Happ on Linux — not checked: we know it has .deb, .rpm and Arch Linux packages from the developer’s release page, but there is no live connection.
• The AmneziaWG settings file on Linux — with a live tunnel using the amneziawg-tools client. This is also how we check our own lines: the last time — across all four countries on 24 September 2026.
• The Happ file names, and that the Mac build is one for Apple Silicon and Intel — from Happ’s release page and description on GitHub: release 4.3.0 of 15 September 2026, read on 26 September.
• The AmneziaWG settings file on Windows 11 — in the AmneziaWG app, by daily use (as of 24 October 2026). We have not checked the file on a Mac.

What we do not know

• When our own Windows and Mac app comes out. We give no dates.
• How other people’s apps will change. Happ, INCY and the rest are released by their developers: file names and buttons may change in new releases — check against the release page.
• How the services you ask about behave on Russian networks. We do not measure other services.
• How the connection will behave on your network. Only you can see that — that is what the trial is for.

Short answers

Which VPN should I install on a computer? A client for your system plus a provider of servers. With Mayak: on Windows, Mac and Linux — Happ with the subscription link. The AmneziaWG client with a settings file is the last resort: if Happ cannot be installed or you need a router.

How do I install a VPN on a computer? Download the client from the developer’s page, get a subscription link from the provider, add it to the app and turn it on. Five steps for Windows — above.

Does Mayak have a Windows app? Not of its own yet, and we give no dates. You can connect right now — through Happ with the subscription link.

Can one subscription cover a phone and a computer? Yes. One link serves all your devices, and our Android app signs in with an email and password, no link needed. Each device takes a slot in the plan.

Can one settings file serve two computers? No: the connection starts dropping on both. Each computer gets its own file.

Is a browser extension enough? If you only need the browser — yes, but the other programs will go past it. To cover the whole computer you need an app.

How is a VPN on a laptop different from one on a desktop? It is not: what matters is the system — Windows, macOS or Linux — not the case.