VPN services are a fantastic way of keeping your data private and safe, but that doesn't mean they need to cost a lot.
If you've been working on upping your cybersecurity lately, you'll come to find that you need to pay for some of the most secure services. Companies that offer services you don't need to pay cash for get their payday instead by selling your information to advertisers. So services like Proton's suite of apps cost money so they can keep themselves in business.
VPNs also fall into this pool. The best VPN services are going to cost you—but that doesn't mean you need to pay an arm and a leg for them. In fact, you should never pay full price for a VPN.
VPNs Are Always on Sale
The main reason you shouldn't pay full price for a VPN service? Simple—they're always on sale. There are some services that I have never seen offered at their full price. Really, the only difference has been how much they've been on sale.
So, it'd be foolish not to take advantage of the available deals for whatever VPN you're looking to buy. But of course, there are a few stipulations to keep in mind before diving in at that discounted price.
These sale prices almost all have the same catch: You need to pay for two years of service upfront. Sometimes, you can get away with paying for only one year and securing a deal, but it'll rarely be the best discount available. So, while $5 a month sounds fantastic, you need to keep in mind that you'd be paying $140 upfront. That's still a great price, but a little harder to pay all at once.
But another thing to keep in mind is that these introductory prices are just that—introductory. Once those two years (and any additional free months, if included in the deal) are up, you'll automatically be charged the full subscription price. And those prices are usually very expensive.
Since the renewal date is often 24 months in the future (and sometimes 26 or 27 months to throw you off), it can be easy to forget about the subscription completely, and then you'll pay the full price without intending to. Be sure to schedule some calendar events around renewal time, so you can easily remember to cancel the VPN service.
You Can Hop Around Services
However, the benefit of so many VPN services being on sale is that you can always switch to another one when your current subscription expires. There's truly no reason to let your subscription renew after that introductory rate is gone—you can go somewhere else and pay their introductory rate instead.
The fact is, at the end of the day, most VPNs work similarly for the majority of users. Many use VPNs to either keep their browsing and location data private or to bypass geoblocks to access services available in other countries. For those, many VPN services will work essentially the same, with a different name slapped on it.
The only aspects those users will be worried about are whether the VPN has a server in the countries they want, and if it's fast enough to make sure their shows aren't constantly buffering. Most paid and reputable VPN services can easily handle both aspects with ease.
Resist The Temptation of Free VPNs
If you're looking to save as much money as possible on a VPN, you might ask why you'd pay for one at all. There are several free VPNs available on app stores and PC to download, so why not try one of those instead?
The truth of the matter is that many of those VPNs aren't safe or secure. They may not work correctly, or worse, they're harvesting your data and selling it out to companies. Essentially, the exact opposite of what you want from a VPN service.
While there are reputable free VPNs available, they are often trial versions of paid VPNs that have limited functionality. It's great for testing the service or occasionally bypassing a region restriction on a streaming service. Paying for one of the reliable and well-known paid VPNs at a deep discount is sure to be both more feature-rich and less of a pain to use.
This article was produced in partnership with NordVPN.
