Best Cheap VPNs in 2020

Although they may not make the list, there are a few honorable mentions that we rate highly and are also some of the most affordable VPNs around. These include:

• FastestVPN ($0.83 per month)
• Ivacy VPN ($1.34 per month)
• ZoogVPN ($1.75 per month)
• PureVPN ($1.85 per month)
• ZenMate ($1.64 per month)
• SaferVPN ($2.50 per month)

We score Ivacy relatively well, making it worth spending $1.34 per month on. This is available on a five-year subscription—$80.00 every five years, which is an excellent price.

FastestVPN scores a very high 8.3 rating and – get this – it can be purchased for as little as $0.83 per month. This is available if you pay $49.95 every five years, which makes it one of the absolute cheapest VPNs we’ve ever seen.

 

SaferVPN scores 8.2 but remains a solid choice with a decent price and Zenmate, which scores a very good 8.1 in our assessment, can be purchased at the staggeringly low $1.64 if you subscribe to a three-year contract. That means you pay $59.00 per year. 

If the ones we’ve chosen on our list of the best don’t suit you for whatever reason, these benchwarmers will do the trick. 

A VPN costs whatever the service is charging. 

We know that’s not very helpful, but there really is a huge range of prices out there. 

There are important market trends worth knowing. 

It’s important to note that VPNs almost always offer deals that reward long-term commitment with massively reduced prices. 

A single-month subscription to most VPN services will always be the most expensive cost per month. 

For example, ExpressVPN can be purchased at $12.95 for a single month, or you can pay $99.95 for 15 months, which works out at $6.67 per month. 

This is the basic principle behind most VPN pricing plans.

When it comes to a one-month service, most quality VPNs cost $10 or more per month, including:

• Astrill VPN
• CyberGhost
• FastestVPN
• HideMyAss!
• Hotspot Shield
• IPVanish 
• NordVPN
• StrongVPN
• Surfshark
• SaferVPN
• VyprVPN

If you want to know which VPN has the cheapest one-month subscription, see the next question.

But this applies to those looking at a single month subscription. Many people go for long-term saving with a commitment of a year or more. 

How much do these long-term services cost?

That depends too. They can be as cheap as FastestVPN’s $0.83 per month on a five-year plan ($40.95 every five years), or as expensive as Astrill VPN, which is $10 per month on a 12-month plan ($120.00 upfront).

If you want a loose guideline to follow, we’d say that anything under $3.00 per month is cheap, while anything over $6.00 per month is expensive.

VPN pricing is random, so you need to make sure that you are making an informed decision about its value for money, and that you get a nice balance of quality and cost-saving.

We understand this so our VPN reviews always evaluate whether we a VPN is good value for money. 

Those VPNs included on the above list are the ones we think are the best value for money.

Not everyone wants a VPN commitment for multiple years and a large upfront payment

The problem is, VPNs are usually more expensive on short subscriptions. 

But some are more expensive than others.

 

 

We are here to let you know which VPNs offer affordable short-term prices for that one-off trip. 

When it comes to a quality VPN, a one-month subscription under $10 is relatively cheap. These include:

• MullvadVPN ($5.80)
• Private Internet Access ($6.95)
• PrivateVPN ($7.12)
• AirVPN ($7.85)
• ProtonVPN ($8.00)
• VPN.ac ($9.00)
• Windscribe ($9.00)
• VPNArea ($9.90)
• Hide.me ($9.95)
• Ivacy ($9.95)

Just bear in mind that these prices are subject to changes by the VPN provider in question.

If you value your privacy and internet security, VPNs are almost certainly worth the money.

Obviously, some VPNs are better value than others, which is why we exist — to offer trustworthy guidance on choosing the best VPN for your needs. 

We firmly believe that even an expensive VPN is worth the money, so long as it does a good job – the extra security (plus entertainment features) that a VPN provides is so, so important. 

A lot of other people seem to think so too.

According to Global Web Index’s report on VPN Usage Around the World in 2018, 26% of the global population used a VPN during a given month. That’s a quarter of the whole population!

As you can see, VPNs are used by as much as 44% of the population in Indonesia, 37% of the population in India, and 32% in Malaysia. 

Those numbers are increasing as countries across the globe clamp down on internet freedoms and tell you what you can and can’t do online. 

Whether it’s anti-“fake news” legislation in Russia, Fortnite bans in Nepal, censorship in Turkey, mass surveillance in South Africa, or snooping in the UK, a VPN serves many needs, capable of overriding censorship and giving you back your internet freedom and privacy. 

The cheapest way to get a VPN, at least in the long run, is a lifetime subscription — one payment and you’re set forever.

Sounds great, right?

It can be, but not many VPNs offer this option. 

One we’ve reviewed that does is KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, which offers a lifetime subscription for $199.99 paid in one installment. You can read our review of KeepSolid VPN Unlimited here.

 

 

Now, there are some potential drawbacks with this option. 

You should ask: is this VPN likely to exist for the duration of your lifetime? 

Technology constantly changes and you can’t be sure that your VPN will keep up with the latest and greatest protections – there’s no guarantee that it will be a good choice in 10 or 20 years.

We won’t say there isn’t a degree of risk with this, but there’s also much to gain. Even if VPNUnlimited doesn’t exactly last forever, having many, many years without having to worry about your internet privacy or security again is a tempting offer and we can’t blame you for taking it. 

If the risk puts you off, you could always go for a five-year subscription, which is also long, but not quite as long as a lifetime. This is offered by the likes of:

• PureVPN
• Ivacy VPN
• FastestVPN

For those who are put off by the long-term commitments that most VPNs entice you to buy, but also don’t want to spend as much as what a monthly service will cost, have a solution: Mullvad VPN.

Mullvad is unique because it comes with one flat-rate payment plan — $5.80 per month.

 

That’s one of the cheapest rolling monthly fees for a good VPN service. 

More than that, it requires absolutely no commitment other than a continual topping-up. 

If not, just let the subscription expire at the end of the month. Mullvad is a simple, cheap and pleasing option. You can read our review of Mullvad here.

Rather than cheap, why not go the whole way and get a free VPN?

That’s what people wonder, and free VPNs are certainly everywhere and very easy to download.

But then people ask, are free VPNs safe?

The answer is mostly no. We do recommend getting a paid VPN, but there are exceptions.

To keep you safe, we put together a list of the best free VPNs available — all of which are secure and decent all-round performers.

Yes, you can. 

Many VPNs come with custom apps for the very purpose of Fire TV Stick. 

But, as always, some are more affordable than others.

But which ones?

Although NordVPN is our number one on this list, we can’t recommend it as the best cheap VPN for Fire TV Stick. 

That’s for the simple reason that its Fire TV Stick app doesn’t work to unblock streaming sites, nor does using it on your router. 

Instead, for this purpose, we recommend PrivateVPN. 

It’s as cheap as $2.88 per month ($43.20 every 15 months) but comes with a dedicated Fire TV Stick app. 

It has servers optimized for streaming, permits torrening, and unblocks Netflix and Kodi. It’s also a no logs VPN.

No doubt: PrivateVPN is the best cheap VPN for Kodi.

Surfshark is a strong contender too, if you want to choose the very cheapest option on this list that’s also good for Fire TV Stick. It comes with a custom app and has a nice, user-friendly approach.

We have a list of the best VPNs for Fire TV Stick here.

China has the most aggressive and sophisticated internet censorship regime in the world.

The Chinese governments Great Firewall hunts down and removes any VPN that doesn’t conform to its standard of censorship. 

As a result, many VPNs simply don’t work in China, even very good ones. 

Take from this list, for example, Private Internet Access. It’s a top VPN, but has patchy access and is too unreliable for us to recommend as a VPN for China.

 

But don’t think that you need to splash tonnes of cash to grant yourself access to the free web again.

PrivateVPN has a stealth VPN protocol that still beats the censors. It’s a cheap VPN that works in China, and we think $2.88 a month is absolutely worth it for your internet freedom.

If you want to know which VPNs we recommend overall, head to our guide for the best VPN for China. 

If you’re paying for a Netflix subscription, we get it that you don’t want to give more dollar to unleash its potential.

In that case, NordVPN, CyberGhost, PrivateVPN, and Surfshark are all viable options for unblocking Netflix that are also cheap VPNs. 

CyberGhost, in particular, is a great VPN for unblocking Netflix. It’s ranked our second best VPN for Netflix. You can read our review of Cyberghost here.

You can read our list of the best VPNs for Netflix here.