Cheapest VPN Services: Affordable VPN's Compared

PrivateVPN is a feature-rich VPN that offers all of the tools one needs to mask their online activity. The platform offers versions for all major interfaces, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iPhone. There is also a version you can operate directly through the router, so that every device connected to the internet runs through the VPN. One of their most impressive features is the Stealth Mode, which masks the fact that you're on a VPN. That is one of the reasons it's so effective when watching Hulu, Netflix, and even the heavily guarded Amazon Prime.

PrivateVPN is also very effective in China, which has the most restrictive firewall other than North Korea. The "Great Firewall of China," as it's often called, blocks all traffic to and from sites not approved by the State. If you need to travel to China, contact someone there, or just want to take a peak behind the wall, PrivateVPN is one of your best options. Ironically, the Swedish government allows itself to spy on VPNs located within its jurisdiction, including PrivateVPN, so there is a tiny risk of getting caught torrenting movies or the like.

Unfortunately, PrivateVPN does have a couple of flaws. For example, the Kill Switch only works on the Windows app, which means Mac users risk exposure. Also, their customer-service support is only open during Swedish business hours, which is annoying when you need immediate help. Lastly, the system doesn't have a built-in ad blocker, which is something most people have come to expect. Still, PrivateVPN is an excellent all-around system and its price point makes a top choice for those looking to cut expenses.

To get the best price from PrivateVPN, you need to sign up for a 3-year plan, but at only $2 a month, one can hardly complain. You'll be charged all $72 up front, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. Our experts all agree that 30 days in more than enough time to determine whether the service meets your needs, while the $2 price point is so attractive is deserves serious consideration.

The Swiss government has always held personal privacy above all other civil liberties. It's why Swiss bank accounts are the hallmark of private banking, and it's why online privacy laws in Switzerland go farther than most others. When the scientists at CERN Labs decided it was time for a secure email provider, they turned to Swiss incubator FONGIT, which allocates development funds provided by the Swiss government. The result was ProtonMail, widely considered the most secure email provider on the market.

A few years later, the same team decided to further its aims by creating ProtonVPN, and the result speak for themselves. Even the free version of ProtonVPN is good enough for most users, especially if they're just looking for a reliable and easy-to-use VPN. Those willing to spend money will find the feature-rich paid versions of ProtonVPN packages to be attractively priced, well designed, and extremely fast. ProtonVPN runs WireGuard protocols and uses a proprietary VPN Accelerator to achieve blazing speeds. Furthermore, its multi-hop server system is among the most difficult to trace. The premium version even includes a ProtonMail account.

ProtonVPN is compatible with all major systems, and the router client is a time-saver. You'll have no trouble streaming 4K programs from Amazon, Disney, Hulu, and Netflix, and the torrenting capabilities are excellent as well. The NetShield system blocks most ads and identifies malware, by conducting real-time comparisons between incoming requests and domains known for malware, trackers, and ads. The one major feature missing from the suite is a static-IP option, and it's not clear whether there's any plan to add the option.

You'll find several pricing options on the ProtonVPN site, but we recommend either the $4-per-month Basic plan or the $8-per-month Plus plan, depending on how many devices you plan to use. If you're just using it at home, there's no reason to get the Plus plan because you can use the router client and run everything through that. If you travel a lot and need the VPN for your cellphone, and laptop, in addition to your home devices, you'll have to pay the extra cost of the Plus plan. Then again, that plan offers the fastest speeds, and it has a special streaming-support mechanism so you can stream your favorite services while on the road.

Having conquered the virus and malware-protection market with one of the very best products around, BitDefender turned its attention to VPNs with its BitDefender Premium VPN. The result is a good product, though not nearly as strong as its cybersecurity older brother. Still, if you're looking for a good, inexpensive VPN, and especially if you're already using their product suite, BitDefender Premium VPN is worth the cost. You'll get the main features you look for in a VPN: several hundred servers in a few dozen countries, IP masking, split-tunneling, and apps for iOS and Android. You won't get much else, though.

Among the feature we feel are missing from BitDefender Premium VPN are RAM-only servers that make tracking and tracing impossible. We were also disappointed by the lack of multi-hopping. However, there are a few features that we should mention. First, there is the "auto-connect" feature, which you can set to launch the VPN whenever you connect to particular sites, such as file-sharing or financial sites. That's particularly helpful if you only plan to use the VPN under specific circumstances.

One of BitDefender's most impressive metrics is its overall speed—or, should we say, lack of speed loss. Many VPNs suffer extreme speed losses, with some reaching 90% loss. That can be extremely frustrating if you don't have high-speed internet to begin with. Imagine trying to download a 2.2Gig movie using a VPN that slows your 40Mbps internet down to 4Mbps. BitDefender doesn't seem to lose more than aroudn 25% to 30%, which is on par with all but the very fastest VPNs on the market.

If you really want to save money and get a great product, you're best served to purchase the BitDefender Total Security suite, which includes the award-winning antivirus, as well as ransomware and the VPN. If you're just looking for a VPN and the free version isn't good enough, consider the annual plan. You'll pay only $2.49 for the first year, but like many other subscriptions, the price jumps up thereafter.

CyberGhost is a top-tier VPN service famous for its massive collection of servers and IP addresses and its blazing speeds. It's also famous for its steadfast commitment to online privacy. For example, right after the EU passed a directive requiring VPN-user data logs, CyberGhost moved its servers from Germany, where the company was founded, to Romania, where the directive did not apply. CyberGhost even developed hyper-secure NoSpy servers designed to evade government surveillance programs.

CyberGhost users enjoy all the important features you would expect from a premium VPN, including an automatic kill switch, DNS-leak protection, and split-tunneling. In addition, users can pay a little extra to get a static-IP addresses, and access to the NoSpy servers. There's even a complete CyberGhost Security Suite, powered by Intego. The suite includes an antivirus, malware/spyware/ransomware protection, secure software updates, and of course the VPN. Unfortunately, the Intego suite is only available for Windows.

CyberGhost is one of the most versatile VPNs on the market. It offers versions and clients for every operating system—Android, Mac, Window, Linux and so on—and even has version for Amazon Fire and Apple TV. Many people consider it the best VPN to use with streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, HBO Now, and even the carefully secured Amazon Prime. It's also one of the only VPN providers with dedicated servers optimized for torrenting. CyberGhost is known to have very low speed-loss rates, with many users reporting 85% retention, even using 1Gbps connection.

It's important to mention that if you get all the bells and whistles, CyberGhost starts to get pretty expensive. The "total package" can easily exceed $20 a month. However, they have very generous discounts for long-term users. The 3-year plan drops the basic cost to just $2.29 a month, which is a bargain considering this really is one of the very best VPNs on the market. Even if you add the dedicated IP and access to the NoSpy servers you'll only pay around $10.00 a month, for world-class protection.

PureVPN offers an excellent VPN for streaming, especially if you're on a Windows or Android system, for which their WireGuard protocol is optimized. You won't have any trouble running Hulu, and you should be fine with Netflix, though you might need to try out a few servers. You'll also be able to torrent without difficulty. However, PureVPN isn't the kind of sophisticated system that can get you over China's Great Firewall, and if you're using an iOS system you might not be thrilled with its performance.

Furthermore, because PureVPN is located in the United States, users are subject to Five Eyes jurisdiction, making it touch risky to torrent. To be sure, you're not likely to get caught, or even sought ought, simply for torrenting, and PureVPNs has a strict no-log policy. Nevertheless, there was an incident in 2017 in which PureVPN cooperated with authorities' attempts to track down a user engaging in extremely serious criminal conduct. Most users chose to overlook the policy infringement, given the nature of the crime, but some were turned off to the site.

Still, it's a very good VPN, with a few features worth mentioning. For example, the port-forwarding option allows you to connect safely to your home network from a remote location. Also, PureVPN offers a static-IP for a small fee. You can't use it with the WireGuard protocol, but you can use the IKEv2, OpenVPN UDP, or OpenVPN TCP for static-IPs and for split-tunneling.

The best thing about PureVPN is the price. If you're willing to commit to a long-term plan, you can pay as little as $2 a month and get a few months free. The standard annual plan is a bit more expensive, but still competitive. We would not encourage you to get the monthly plan, however, as there are better options at that price point.

Surfshark is an award-winning VPN service touted for its long list of features. It is one of the only services to offer built-in double VPN, meaning your true IP is masked, and then the masking IP is masked by yet another IP. It's also one of the only VPNs to offer GPS-spoofing, which masks your location with a precise albeit false location. In speed tests, Surfshark performs quite well, will speed losses averaging below 25%. This makes it an excellent choice for high-definition streaming and fast torrenting. Surfshark also offers dedicated IP addresses for slightly more per month, and because there's no device restriction, it's a great product for small businesses and families on a budget.

Surfshark offers version for every system: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and routers, though for some reason they don't have an extension for Edge. Surfshark uses the 256-bit key Advanced Encryption Standard with Galois/Counter Mode (AES-256 GCM), which is one of the sleekest and most sophisticated block ciphers. Users can select from 3 protocols, WireGuard, WKEv2, and OpenVPN, depending on their preferences. In addition, Surfshark uses RAM-only servers, making data retention all but impossible.

Surfshark received mostly positive feedback after an independent audited by German cybersecurity firm Cure53, and according to CEO Vytautas Kaziukonis, "We made sure to quickly react to all the recommendations so today we can be even more confident of delivering on the security our customers expect."

To get the best deal on Surfshark you'll need to commit to a two-year plan. It's basically a "buy one get one free" deal, in which you're billed $59.76, which is the price for one year, but you receive a one-time 2-year subscription. Thereafter, you'll pay the standard price. If you're interested in an entire cybersecurity suite, consider Surfshark One, which included an real-time antivirus scanner, an incognito search mechanism, and the VPN. The suite costs around $100 a year, and includes the same one-time offer applying.

Owned by cybersecurity giant McAfee, TunnelBear is a straightforward VPN with an easy-to-use interface, decent speeds, and a surprising ability to get past Amazon's VPN blockers. It's not the most feature-rich option out there, but it's an excellent choice for beginners who don't want to fiddle with protocols and other configurations. TunnelBear has been publicly audited several times, which has increased user confidence in the product despite its relative simplicity.

TunnelBear offers version for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, but the Linux version has limited functionality and should be avoided. The mobile app, like the desktop version, is quite simple and easy to use, with the iOS version being superior to the Android. TunnelBear offers browser clients for Chrome and Opera, but nothing for Firefox or Edge. Similarly, the product cannot be configured directly onto a router. TunnelBear's most most glaring oversight, however, is the lack of customer-service support via chat. Who wants to write an email when they have an issue?

In terms of actual privacy, we have mixed feelings about TunnelBear. The company certainly seems devoted to privacy, with an impressive "no-log" policy delineated in their terms of service. On the other hand, as a Five Eyes-exposed VPN, TunnelBear records every connection event from every user. This concern applies to every VPN facing Five Eyes jurisdiction, though, and if TunnelBear actually abides by their no-log policy, there won't be much for them to share other than when you logged on/off their servers.

The least expensive subscription for TunnelBear is their 36-month plan, which will cost you $3.33 a month. However, TunnelBear offers a free version that gives you a pretty good sense of how the paid version works. We recommend taking a few days to try out the free version before committing to a subscription. The 500M data cap makes more than a few days impossible, but in 2 or 3 days you'll get a sense of the product. In our opinion, the $9.99 monthly subscription simply can't be justified, considering the 5-device restriction and overall lack of features.