For many people, one of the main obstacles to getting a VPN is the price. And while Virtual Private Networks aren’t expensive services compared to some other software, people sometimes find it incredibly hard to decide on getting one. How much does a VPN cost? What is the cost in the long and short run? Well, today’s article will answer this question but on average, you’re not looking at a price higher than a few dollars a month. For this price, you get plenty of benefits.
A VPN will encrypt your traffic and protect your online privacy while allowing you to enjoy safe and secure torrenting and even unblock geo-restricted streaming platforms. Let’s see how much it costs and talk about some affordable VPN services that you can get right now!
What Influences the Cost of a VPN?
Before talking about the exact prices of VPN services, I want to go over the factors that influence the prices quickly. First of all, we need to mention one rule of thumb and that is the length of the subscription plan. Virtual Private Networks offer a monthly plan but they also offer annual, biannual, and sometimes longer plans.
The monthly plan is ALWAYS the most expensive one. You’re paying each month here and the price is usually around $10 but it can be less or significantly more – Astrill, I’m looking at you. Now, long-term plans aren’t paid monthly.
Their plans might be displayed as price/month but they’re paid upfront. This guarantees the provider that you’ll stick around, so it can lower the total price and let you save money in the long run. If the monthly plan is $10 each month, the annual plan will usually be at least 50% cheaper.
As such, you’ll save 50% of the money compared to paying each month. However, this isn’t all, as the price can be dictated by many other factors, such as:
The Number of Servers
Larger services tend to cost more but it’s not always the case. Still, expect to pay more for a VPN with 10,000 servers than for one with 100 of them. ExpressVPN is our #1 service with 3,000+ servers in 160 countries which is a bit more expensive than the competition.
However, this service offers much more as well, so the small price difference is justifiable. A Virtual Private Network must be able to maintain its servers, and the larger the server fleet, the more money it’ll require. Hence the higher price of the subscription plans.
Overall Performance
What is the cost of a VPN that’s performing better than the others? Logically – it’s more expensive than a slow provider! Of course, this doesn’t always have to be the case but cheaper services are usually inferior in speeds and performance compared to more expensive ones.
Take ExpressVPN again. It’s the fastest, best-performing service thanks to its Lightway protocol and 10 Gbps servers. Then, if we use Private Internet Access which costs way less, you’ll notice its clunky desktop app and significantly slower speeds. It can immediately be seen why this provider is cheaper.
Streaming and Torrenting Support
Commodities like streaming and torrenting can increase the price of a VPN. P2P-capable and streaming-friendly services will cost you more but they’ll give you much more value compared to those that can’t unblock Netflix or BBC iPlayer and don’t support P2P traffic.
That’s why paid services are usually good options, while free VPNs aren’t. They’re so “cheap” they’re free, giving you no worthy benefits like these.
Simultaneous Connections
Simultaneous connections dictate how many devices you can protect simultaneously on one subscription. How much does a VPN cost if I need more of them? In many cases, it can cost you a lot more if there’s an option to increase this number.
In our recent Surfshark vs NordVPN comparison, we mentioned that the first service has unlimited simultaneous connections for a cheap price. However, that’s a rarity and in most cases, you’ll have to purchase more connections separately, which costs you additionally on top of your subscription.
Optional Add-Ons
Last but not least, optional add-ons will definitely influence the cost of a VPN. By optional add-ons, we think about a dedicated IP, antivirus, bonus security bundles, cloud storage space, etc, etc. Surfshark One is a bonus bundle that has an antivirus, incognito mode, and dark web monitor.
It costs a dollar or so a month on top of the VPN. You then have antivirus in CyberGhost that also isn’t included in the price of the Virtual Private Network. NordVPN offers optional NordPass and NordLocker apps that you don’t need to buy but if you do, they bump up the overall price.
I can go on like this forever but you get the point – optional add-ons cost more and if you want them, be ready to reach deeper into your pocket.
How Much Is a VPN? Twenty Services Compared
With that behind us, it’s a great time to talk about how much is a VPN and the cost of a subscription. Below is a table of 20 services and their subscription plan prices, so let’s check them out together.
| VPN Monthly Cost | Monthly Plan | Six-Month Plan | Annual Plan | Biennial Plan | Triennial Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExpressVPN | $12.95 | $9.99 | $6.67 | / | / |
| CyberGhost | $12.99 | $6.99 | / | $2.19 | / |
| NordVPN | $12.99 | / | $4.59 | $3.99 | / |
| Surfshark | $12.95 | / | $3.99 | $2.30 | / |
| Private Internet Access | $11.99 | $7.50 | / | $2.19 | / |
| ProtonVPN | $9.99 | / | $5.99 | $4.99 | / |
| IPVanish | $11.99 | / | $4.50 | $3.33 | / |
| VyprVPN | $10 | / | $5.00 | / | / |
| HIde.me | $9.95 | $5.82 | / | $2.59 | / |
| Atlas VPN | $10.99 | / | $4.08 | / | $1.83 |
| HideMyAss VPN | / | / | $4.99 | / | $2.99 |
| PureVPN | $10.95 | / | $3.32 | $2.08 | / |
| TorGuard | $9.99 | $5 | $5 | $4.16 | $3.88 |
| AirVPN | $7.7 | $5.31 | $4.48 | $3.62 | $3.02 |
| PrivadoVPN | $10.99 | / | $4.99 | $3.99 | / |
| Hotspot Shield | $12.99 | / | $7.99 | / | $2.99 |
| Kaspersky VPN | $4.99 | / | $2.5 | / | / |
| Avast SecureLine VPN | / | / | $4.59 | $4.39 | $4.39 |
| FastestVPN | $7 | / | $2.08 | / | / |
| PrivateVPN | $9.90 | / | / | / | $2.00 |
In the table above, you see the cost of VPNs and they vary drastically depending on the length of the subscription plans. The monthly plan is usually very expensive but as we move on, the prices decrease drastically.
While the annual plan usually reduces the price by 50% or more, going for a two-year or even three-year plan can drop the price by up to 80% in some instances. Long-term plans are paid upfront but big savings can be made in the long run.
Instead of paying $12 or so each month, you’ll pay upfront the price of a long-term plan translated to $2 or $3 a month, for example, making the math quite simple. As you can see, VPNs aren’t really expensive and even if you’re on a low budget, you should be able to afford one.
On this list, CyberGhost is perhaps the most affordable one, closely followed by Surfshark and NordVPN. These services are excellent and for the price, you won’t find a more reliable choice. Of course, ExpressVPN is at the number one spot but it’s slightly more expensive.
However, it’s the best out of them all and offers a 49% discount don’t the annual plan plus 3 free months, giving you a 15-month plan at the price of the annual subscription.
Should I Get a Free VPN?
Not long ago, I talked about paid and free VPNs. In that analysis, I criticized free services for their inferiority in pretty much every aspect. In short, we can summarize free VPNs by saying they’re limited in features compared to their paid rivals.
They’ll limit your bandwidth, speed, number of servers, simultaneous connections, security features, and everything else. Yes, getting a free VPN is viable and you can find providers like Hola, Hotspot Shield, ProtonVPN, and PrivadoVPN, all with a free plan in place.
While Hola and Hotspot Shield are some of the worst examples, PrivadoVPN and ProtonVPN are decent but they’re not immune to the aforementioned limits. One thing I advise doing instead of going for a straight-up free VPN is taking advantage of a refund policy.
You see, every VPN on the list above has a money-back guarantee. Usually, we’re talking about a 30-day refund policy but in the case of CyberGhost, it’s extended to 45 days. In addition, the refund policies are non-conditional, allowing for an immediate refund if you’re dissatisfied.
Another thing to mention is that some VPNs offer a free trial as well. This allows you to use them risk-free, not pay anything in the beginning, and enjoy them for a brief period dictated by the provider. Either way, you shouldn’t bother with a 100% free VPN for the reasons I mentioned.
Instead:
- Get a premium VPN, use it for 30 days, and get a refund;
- Take advantage of a free trial if there’s one;
- Get a very cheap service like CyberGhost or Surfshark if you’re on a budget.
Are More Expensive VPNs Always Better?
One thing we get asked frequently is whether or not more expensive VPNs are always better. Well, let’s take a look at the table above again. If you check ExpressVPN, you’ll see that its subscription plans are among the most expensive.
Its six-month and twelve-month plans are more expensive than CyberGhost, NordVPN, and even Surfshark. ExpressVPN is, as said, a much better service than these three, as we explained in multiple comparisons with these providers.
Generally speaking, a more expensive service is better but the VPN marketplace is peculiar and that’s not always the case. For instance, NordVPN is better than TorGuard but as you can see, TorGuard costs slightly more.
You noticed that, in this table, I haven’t included Astrill. Astrill VPN was once very popular for bypassing censorship in China and even in 2024, it’s THE most expensive provider you can get. Some would think it’d wipe the floor with the 20 VPNs in the table.
Well, it wouldn’t because it’s average and its price is the following:
- A monthly plan at $30
- An annual plan at $15/mo or $180 annually
- A biennial plan at $12.50/mo or $300 every 2 years
As you can see, this provider is painfully expensive for no apparent reason. It also offers add-ons paid on top of your subscription, resulting in a mind-boggling price. People often see Astrill first and think that VPNs are expensive when in reality, they’re all but.
No VPN will cost you this much and Astrill is a statistical outlier. Once again, glance at the table above and you’ll see that the cost of a VPN is way lower than $30, $15, or even $12.5 a month.
Lifetime VPN Plans: What’s the Catch?
One trend I see appearing from time to time is the presence of a Lifetime VPN plan. Frankly, I’m not a fan of those because they’re usually offered by low-quality providers whose existence isn’t 100% sure. A Lifetime plan means paying once and using a VPN forever.
My recent FastestVPN review mentioned the Lifetime plan that this provider offers. While it also has a monthly plan and the annual plan, its Lifetime plan is very enticing at just $40. However, this provider is far from being the best, despite being a premium service.
Another risk of Lifetime subscriptions lies in the sole existence of the company. Most of these companies “disappear” after a few years, and by going out of business, they’ve taken your money without the ability to provide a service.
A provider that offers a Lifetime subscription is most likely going to go out of business in the future. When the number of new customers dwindles, the company will stop receiving the necessary funds to operate, close its business, and take off with the money it got thus far.
In short, we don’t recommend Lifetime VPN plans despite their cheap prices and glamorous promises. Get yourself a long-term plan, commit for a year, two, or three, and don’t worry. These are still very long plans and on top of that, they’re not expensive, so you still save a lot of money.
How Much Does a VPN Cost? Bottom Line
With that said, how much does a VPN cost and what’s the final verdict? If you want the most accurate answer, I think it’s good to examine the table we provided. If you, however, want a straight-up answer, I can tell you that the cost of a VPN, on average, is a few dollars a month.
A monthly plan will cost you more, but as you extend your commitment, the price goes down. For me, it’s not about the price of the VPN as much has it’s about the quality of the product I get. If a Virtual Private Network is suspiciously cheap, know that something’s not right.
However, a “healthy” price like that of CyberGhost, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Private Internet Access, or ProtonVPN is something you should look for. CyberGhost is cheap but not suspiciously cheap. ExpressVPN is a bit more expensive but you know what you’re getting.
3000 servers
105 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
8 simultaneous connections
9.4 /10
12000 servers
100 covered countries
45 days money-back guarantee
7 simultaneous connections
9.2 /10
6300 servers
111 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
10 simultaneous connections
9.8 /10
Now that you know how much is a VPN, it’s up to you to decide on one based on your budget. Our recommendations include the aforementioned choices but if you think you’ll like another service, feel free to test one and see where you stand.
Don’t forget about a refund policy that allows for a full refund in the case of dissatisfaction, so no risks of losing money are involved.
