Expert or no expert, but when it comes to choosing a VPN provider, anyone would scratch their head first thinking exactly how much does a VPN cost, what should be the bar of choosing a VPN service, and what qualities and features would I need from a VPN? Well, don’t worry. We’ll give you exactly everything to measure your VPN needs and then you can decide on your own if you want that VPN service or not.
Short on Time? Here’s a Short Summary of How Much Does a VPN Cost
- On average, a reputed VPN provider would charge $5 – $12 for a regular plan of one month use.
- The longer-term VPN plans offer a discount to customers.
- If you subscribe to a longer-term plan, a VPN may cost you an amount of as little as $3 or $4 for a month, but the real catch is that you have to pay the money upfront for that long-term subscription plan.
How Much Does a VPN Cost
A good and safe third-party VPN can almost cost you between $5 to $12. You may get a discount and get the same VPN subscription cheaper if you sign up for their longer-term plans, the longer the subscription plan, the cheaper you will get the VPN service. But the real catch is that you have to pay the money upfront. A VPN that costs you $11 a month will eventually be $3 or $4 if you get their annual plans.
Although, you should not consider one VPN provider better than the other because it is more expensive. It doesn’t work that way. You have to check all its features, does it have a large set of servers around the world? does it come with a built-in kill-switch feature? whether or not it has compatibility for all the devices you use. These all things should be considered before getting a subscription plan.
In this guide, we will cover all the things from which you’ll be able to comprehend how much a VPN costs and why you should have it, how it works, and how you can choose the right VPN for you. We’ll compare the market competitive VPN providers for you to take a firm decision while choosing a VPN service, we’ll compare prices and draw a clear picture for you to know how much you should be paying for a VPN service so you don’t end up overpaying!
Price Comparison Table
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VPN Provider |
1-Month Plan | 6-Month Plan | 1-Year Plan | 2-Year Plan |
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$12.95 |
$59.95 | $99.95 | – |
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$11.95 |
– |
$59.00 |
$89.00 |
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$12.95 |
– |
– |
$59.76 |
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$12.99 |
– |
$47.88 |
$83.76 |
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$10.99 | – | $44.99 |
– |
How Much Does ExpressVPN Cost
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ExpressVPN, which is one of the highest rating VPN services of all time is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands. It has 3 standard plans, a one-month plan which costs $12.95, a six-month plan which will cost you $9.99 for a month but a payment of $59.95 is to be made upfront, a twelve-month plan which will cost you $8.32 per month but a payment of $99.95 is to be made upfront giving you 35% off if you enroll for this plan instead of a one-month plan.
With a 30-day money-back guarantee, you can test ExpressVPN for a month for free and only carry on with it if you fancy using this VPN service. Other than that, it has compatibility to run on any device whether it be iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS. It also has separate extensions for Firefox and Google Chrome.
You can use ExpressVPN on 5 different devices simultaneously with a single ExpressVPN subscription! It provides 24/7 customer support, a wide range of payment methods (PayPal, Credit Cards, and even Crypto Currency). ExpressVPN has a very strict No Log Policy to ensure its customers the safety and anonymity it offers. It can be said without doubt that ExpressVPN is one of the best VPN providers in the market.
Read more in detail on how ExpressVPN works
How Much Does NordVPN Cost
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NordVPN is a Panama-based VPN service that stands in a position that even the famous YouTuber PewDiePie uses it. How much does it cost? Well, it has a monthly plan which costs $11.95, a one-year plan which will cost you $4.92 for a month but you have to pay $59 upfront, a two-year limited plan which will cost you $3.30 per month if you make an upfront payment of $89 (This plan gives a 72% off with an addition of 3 extra months of free usage).
NordVPN too offers a 30-day Money-Back Guarantee which enables you to test it free for a month and you can always get your payment back by requesting it on NordVPN’s customer support. You have the ability to run NordVPN on 6 different devices with a single NordVPN subscription and that too on any device including Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, and Linux. It has extensions for Firefox and Google Chrome too.
One of the major features of NordVPN is its Double VPN feature, which allows you to send your traffic to two VPN servers at a single time to encrypt your traffic twice, giving you maximum security. It also offers its users a Dedicated IP Address with a yearly charge of $70 if you don’t want a VPN server to get banned on Netflix just because of some other user.
With more than 5000+ servers in 60 different countries, NordVPN can unblock any streaming platform. It has a strict No Log Policy to assure you that no user activity is tracked. Furthermore, NordVPN has a wide variety of payment methods including the cryptocurrency method of paying for a subscription.
Read more in detail on how NordVPN works
How Much Does Surfshark VPN Cost
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Surfshark VPN is the all-time featured–pack VPN service based in the British Virgin Islands. It has a one–month plan costing $12.95, which is more expensive than the monthly plans of ExpressVPN and NordVPN, but the long-term plan of Surfshark is the cheapest comparing it with other VPN providers.
It has a two-year plan costing $2.49 for a month but you have to pay $59.76 upfront while purchasing the subscription. Surfshark has another two-year subscription plan costing $3.98 per month, paying $95.52 upfront when purchasing. It has an addition of extra features including an Antivirus tool to keep you safe from viruses and harmful files, an Alert tool that checks for data breaches and provides real-time alerts, and a Search tool that can hide you from search engines and provide organic results.
With a collection of more than 3000 servers in 65 countries of the world, Surfshark has the highest number of Netflix libraries (30) than any other VPN service. It has the compatibility to work on Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and also has extensions for Google Chrome browser and Firefox browser.
Adding more to the features inventory, Surfshark has a built–in AdBlocker called CleanWeb which also prevents the user from getting attacked by serious threats like phishing pages and malware. It has a feature named Whitelister from which you can manually set certain apps or webpages to bypass VPN, which works best for banking activities.
Other than that, you can try out Surfshark for free for one month getting advantage of its 30-day Money-Back Guarantee if you want to try out a VPN first. You can always get the money back by requesting their customer support. Surfshark has extensive ways to pay for a subscription for your ease.
Read more in detail on how Surfshark VPN works
How Much Does CyberGhost VPN Cost
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CyberGhost is a Romania–based VPN service. It has a one–month plan which costs $12.99, costlier than other VPN providers but its annual plans are much cheaper. With a one-year plan costing $3.99 a month, paying $47.88 upfront after every year. There is a two-year plan which costs $3.49 per month, but you have to pay $83.76 upfront. CyberGhost has a special plan going on which is a three-year plan costing $2.25 per month, you have to pay $87.75 upfront for it. The good part is that you’ll get extra 3 months for free with this special offer!
With one of the longest money-back guarantee time span of 45 days, you can use CyberGhost VPN for free for a total of 45 days and get the money refunded by canceling your subscription. CyberGhost has more than 6,800 servers in 88 countries. It can work on 7 different devices simultaneously regardless of the operating system you are using.
The compatibility for CyberGhost is available for Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, and Linux. It also has extensions for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Other than that, you can easily operate CyberGhost VPN on your Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, Android TV, or any Smart TV. Moreover, it also works on PS3, PS4, XBOX One, and XBOX 360.
If you throw in few more dollars, CyberGhost offers a dedicated IP Address for the users so you can avoid your favorite IP Address getting banned because of some other user. Also, you can get CyberGhost’s Security Suite Package which has an Antivirus (Intego) covering your back from dangerous malware and other threats, a privacy guard, and a security updater.
How Much Does IPVanish VPN Cost
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IPVanish is based in the United States, having 1600+ servers in 75+ locations. It offers a reasonable price subscription plan of $10.99 for a month. The annual plan of IPVanish costs $3.75 a month which requires a payment of $44.99 upfront for the first year and then you have to pay $89.99 every year after the first year of your subscription plan.
The most fearless feature of this VPN service is that you can connect unlimited devices simultaneously without any restriction. There are no speed limits which means you can browse and download anything with maximum speed!
Although IPVanish is a great service if you need it for your everyday browsing and downloading uses, it is not recommended for streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. If you are purchasing a VPN service merely for your streaming needs, then you should consider another VPN provider.
Compatibility Table
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VPN Provider |
Windows | macOS | Linux | iOS |
Android |
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Speed Test Comparing Different VPN Providers
A test on the industry’s most competitive VPN providers was conducted by us to draw you a clear picture while choosing a VPN provider. The parameters were as follows.
Server Location: New York
Protocol: OpenVPN
Testing Method: Quarterly tests done every 6 hours of a day for a period of 8 weeks. The average scores are shown in the table.
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VPN Provider |
Down Speed
(Without VPN) |
Down Speed
(With VPN) |
Up Speed
(Without VPN) |
Up Speed
(With VPN) |
Ping
(Without VPN) |
Ping (With VPN) |
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96.89 Mbps |
91.38 Mbps | 95.10 Mbps | 81.23 Mbps | 0.96 ms | 2.59 ms |
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96.71 Mbps |
86.14 Mbps | 93.92 Mbps | 79.21 Mbps | 0.92 ms |
3.11 ms |
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96.83 Mbps |
86.70 Mbps | 94.23 Mbps | 75.23 Mbps | 0.94 ms |
3.68 ms |
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96.23 Mbps |
86.11 Mbps | 94.82 Mbps | 74.13 Mbps | 0.93 ms |
3.23 ms |
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96.87 Mbps |
87.53 Mbps | 94.14 Mbps | 78.93 Mbps | 0.92 ms |
2.45 ms |
The Best Recent VPN Deals
- ExpressVPN – 1-Year plan for $99.95 with 3 months free (Making it a 15-month plan for $99.95)
- NordVPN – 2-Year plan for $99.00 + 3 months free.
- Surfshark – 2-Year plan for $95.52 (Plan includes Antivirus, Alert, and Search tools).
- CyberGhost – 3-Year plan for $87.75 + 3 months free.
- IPVanish – 1-Year plan for $44.99.
Best Free VPNs
Although it is not recommended to go for the option of using a free VPN because you won’t have full access to anything, you’ll have to face data limit restrictions, and there is always room to think why would any company let you use their product for free? Are they so charitable or maybe because you’re the one who is the product?
Anyhow, you can go for a free VPN if you don’t use it often and need it just for occasional purposes.
We have come up with a list of the best free VPNs available which have considerable restrictions and limitations for the users.
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What Is A VPN and How Does It Work
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a safe tunnel between you and the VPN server. Everything you do goes through that tunnel. Think of it this way, you want to reach some destination and you have a secret stairway in your house that goes to a tunnel, you go through that tunnel and reach your destination without being followed or sneaked at.
Now, just like this, when you connect to a VPN, it eliminates all the chances of snooping from eavesdroppers or getting attacked by hackers. Even your ISP wouldn’t be able to track your internet activities.
While connected to a VPN, the traffic which leaves your system is encrypted by the VPN server and then it reaches the destination giving you the perfect layer of security and anonymity.
How to Choose a VPN
To get a good VPN service all you need to do is research about it first. Check out what features it is providing the users. If it has a money-back guarantee, test the VPN yourself and only go with it if you think it is fulfilling your VPN needs. Read VPN blogs, compare VPN tests, and see what the experts say. Remember, a VPN is good only when it fulfills all the factors and at the same time has a reasonable price tag.
The factors a good VPN should cover are as follows.
No Log Policy
How can you know you can trust your VPN provider? By checking their logging policy. Most reliable VPN services invite third-party platforms to audit them. So it is advised to go for a VPN service that has got strict no-log policies of the user data.
Kill-Switch Feature
Without a kill–switch, you are vulnerable to exposing your online identity to the web if your VPN crashes because of some reason. A good VPN service will have a built–in kill-switch feature to make sure that you don’t leak your online privacy. In case if your VPN crashes, your internet connection will be terminated, making sure no traffic goes out or comes in.
Operating System Compatibility
Make sure the VPN service you’re getting a subscription for supports all the devices that you use. A reputable VPN service would have the compatibility to run on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. Some of them even have separate extensions for browsers.
Simultaneous Use
The best VPNs in the market have an average of allowing 5 or 6 simultaneous connections at a time. Other than that, some VPNs also provide unlimited devices to connect at the same time, but it is advised to check if it affects the VPN speed or not. Either way, you can always set up a VPN server on your router from which you can cover all your devices with a single subscription plan.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
Is it Illegal to use a VPN?
How much does a VPN Cost?
Why are VPNs good for privacy?
What are the Limitations of VPN?
How can I use VPN to watch Netflix?
Can I Torrent with a VPN?
Wrapping it up!
It’s a tough call to choose a VPN service as every VPN provider has got its own charm. But to answer your prime query of how much does a VPN cost and make sure that you don’t end signing up for an overhyped or overpriced VPN service, always look to both sides of the coin and check whether or not the VPN service is worth the money you’re going to pay. Search about it, check out user feedback, listen to the experts, but most importantly, test it yourself!
