How much do VPNs cost?

So you’ve decided you need a virtual private network to hide your browsing activity from your ISP, change your virtual location, stay safe on public Wi-Fi and enjoy all the other benefits. The next inevitable question is: “Should I pay for one? If so, how much?”

All of the best VPNs cost money, but it can be hard to separate an overpriced service from one that’s worth the money. On this page, I will share the cost of the top VPN services, calculate the industry average and explain what makes VPNs as expensive as they are. Finally, I’ll share a few tips to make a VPN fit your budget.

How much is a VPN?

I would like to start by introducing the complexity of the problem. If you’re just looking for numbers, you’ll find them in the sections below.

The main thing that makes VPNs so difficult to budget for is that providers are not always honest about what they charge. They rarely outright lie, but often overcomplicate their pricing structures and hide increases in the fine print.

Let’s take CyberGhost as an example, as I recently reviewed it. A one-month subscription to CyberGhost costs $12.99 – simple enough. However, you can also get a six-month subscription by paying $41.94 up front, although the website calls this “$6.99 per month.” Finally, you can pay $56.94 for a 28-month subscription, but only once; after that, it will be $56.94 for the year.

As you can see in the picture, the website emphasizes the monthly price, in the text which reduces the actual price you will pay at checkout. This gets worse with services like NordVPN which have multiple subscription tiers and multiple sessions. It’s not uncommon to see 10 or more prices quoted for the exact same VPN.

The best way to cut through the confusion and shop on your terms is to compare different VPNs at the same time as the signup section. For example, you can find the cost of one year of the basic plan available, as most basic subscriptions still include a full VPN service. In the next two sections, I will compare and rate the basic categories of my top seven VPNs on a monthly and yearly basis.

Average monthly cost of a VPN

Here’s how much the best VPNs cost per month. The numbers below are for one-month subscriptions at a time, without any discounts and special deals.

• Mullvad: $5.98 (depending on dollar/euro rate)

As you can see, $12.99 is the typical price for one month of VPN – but the price is somewhat lower, as several providers sell monthly plans for less. In general, expect to pay in the range between $10 and $13. Companies like Surfshark sometimes raise their monthly rates in order to drive more traffic to longer programs.

Mullvad is also out there, as you can subscribe to it on a monthly basis. There are other things out there, like Astrill, which costs $30 a month. But the above is true for all the top rated providers.

Average annual cost of a VPN

If you choose to register for a year at a time, you will probably save money but you will have to pay up front. VPNs offer long-term deals to pump up their cash flow and active user numbers. The annual costs of the top seven VPNs are listed below as a total, as several of them add extra months to the initial subscription period to be able to quote a lower monthly price. Since CyberGhost doesn’t have a one-year plan, I replaced it with Windscribe.

• ExpressVPN: $52.39 for first subscription, $99.95 thereafter

• NordVPN: $59.88 for first subscription, $139.08 thereafter

• Mullvad: $71.82 (depending on dollar/euro rate)

For one year of VPN service, you can expect to pay somewhere between $45 and $70. Note that at least two services, ExpressVPN and NordVPN, raise prices after the first year, so add that to your budget if you really want to.

Why are VPNs so expensive?

The length of the subscription is a big factor in determining how much you will pay. Other than that, it’s all a bit weird. Commercial VPNs are still a relatively new industry, so there isn’t much of a freeze on pricing.

Most of the cost differences come from the competition: VPNs consider themselves low enough to offer a better deal than their competitors, or more if they think they have a differentiator. Astrill stops charging $30 per month due to the widespread belief that it is the best VPN for China (in fact, no VPN can be guaranteed to work in China 100 percent of the time).

Another factor that may affect the price of a VPN is the cost of maintaining its infrastructure. For each new server location, the provider must rent space in an existing data center, build its own physical server farm or set up a virtual server with an IP address from a specific location.

Once the domains are in place, they must be maintained, including regular changes to their IP address so that firewalls do not identify and block them. Loads in environments need to be balanced between servers and technology must be improved as faster solutions become available.

Since VPNs can have hundreds of server locations, all that storage isn’t cheap, and customers often eat the cost. Factor in the price of additional features outside of the core VPN functionality and you’ll understand why these companies are so eager to pay that they’ll offer you discounts of over 80 percent – as long as you pay the full amount right now.

What about free VPNs?

VPNs can get expensive, especially if you want high quality. But some VPNs don’t charge anything at all. Is there a reason not to go with free VPNs all the time?

The answer is a clear yes; paying for a VPN is almost always a better idea. When we rounded up the best free VPNs, only three received our unqualified recommendation. All three had paid services with free plans, and all came with strict restrictions on server locations, data usage and other rights.

The sad truth is that free VPNs come with downsides no matter which one you use. Most of them are low-cost bundled apps, thrown together to make a quick buck. Others make a profit by selling your data to advertisers or by renting your home IP address. Some drop any pretense and plant malware directly on your device.

These risks, which are often invisible to the end user, are the reason why I always advise to go with a free VPN supported by a paid plan, such as Proton VPN, hide.me or Windscribe. Those plans may be limited, but at least the provider’s motivations are clear: they’re making money from a paid plan and want you to switch to it.

How to save money on a VPN

If you’ve decided to pay for a VPN but want to stretch your budget as much as possible, the tips below can push your cybersecurity dollar further. First, the general advice for choosing a VPN always works: read expert opinions, check reviews and use a free trial to test its speed and security.

Find a long-term plan. If you’re sure you’ll actually be using the VPN the entire time, there’s no reason not to go with a 12- or 24-month subscription. These are winning deals that really save you a lot of money.

Cancel automatic renewal. VPN accounts are set to renew automatically. In some cases, this can inadvertently lock you into a high-cost long-term plan. I recommend canceling auto-renewal after signing up even if you’re sure you want to continue. From there, you can create a new account to get the introductory price again — or go with a different VPN to get a better deal.

Check out the re-registration deals. Another advantage of canceling immediately is that the VPN will often try to entice you with special discounts. Hold tight until your subscription is a month or two away from expiring, then check for emails that offer better rates.

Wait for seasonal discounts. If you can hold out until November, many VPNs offer steep discounts from the Black Friday season until the New Year. Check with other holidays, as VPNs will take any marketing excuse; CyberGhost is offering a Valentine’s Day deal as I write this. We also keep track of the best VPN deals you can find at any time of the year.

Use a VPN to save money on streaming. Most streaming services are more expensive than VPNs. If you use a VPN to access more content without adding a new streaming subscription, you’ll come out on top. For example, if you only have Netflix but want to watch it Schitt’s Creek, you can pay $16.99 a month for Peacock without ads — or $9.99 a month for Proton VPN to unblock Netflix Canada, which has features that reflect that.

Shop for regional discounts. As with the previous point, this won’t save you money on the VPN itself, but it may save you enough money for other profitable expenses. Changing your physical location can get you discounts on purchases where prices vary by region, especially transportation costs.