Best VPN Offers: Premium VPN Plans Starting at Just $2 Per Month

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Investing in digital security is essential because identity theft or the leakage of confidential information can ruin your entire life. Thankfully, there are many simple and reasonably priced methods for keeping yourself safe online. By establishing an encrypted connection between your device and the internet, a virtual private network, or VPN, shields your browsing preferences and personal information from prying eyes. Below, we’ve compiled the top methods for signing up with a VPN service for less money. We’ve already tested and selected some of the most reliable VPN providers of 2023.

There are many justifications for using a VPN. Did you know, for instance, that your internet service provider collects as much information as it can about your online activities? According to a Federal Trade Commission report from 2021, the top ISPs have collected user data on private subjects like race, sexual orientation, and current location. They have shared it with outside partners, merged it, and cross-referenced it. Whoa.

You can stay safe from these widespread methods of data collection with the use of a VPN. A VPN can help you virtually move your location to a different city or country in addition to hiding your online activity by offering a private and secure “tunnel” to your online destination. This is a nice bonus if you’re looking to circumvent local censorship laws or try out different streaming media offerings in different locales.

Remembering that free VPN services aren’t worth the risk is crucial. They are mostly engaged in the same game of collecting and selling your data. Fortunately, there are currently some excellent VPN offers available, with prices starting at less than $2 per month if you prepay for a year or two of service. We’ve put a number of the industry leaders to the test and compiled our list of the top VPN offers. Just bear the following in mind:

  • Some of these offers have countdown clocks saying that the VPN deals are ending “today.” These are usually marketing tactics that have no relationship to the deal’s actual end date.
  • We’ll update sale prices when we notice a change, so be sure to check back often.
  • The VPN industry has undergone significant change in the past few years, with all three of our top VPN choices announcing major shifts in corporate ownership. In 2021, ExpressVPN announced that it had joined Kape Technologies, a company that already owned several other VPNs and has raised privacy concerns in the past. And in February 2022, NordVPN and Surfshark announced they were merging, though they’ll continue to operate autonomously. We’ve since given ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark fresh reviews in light of these changes, and we continue to actively evaluate other VPN services as well. Our rankings are likewise subject to change as they reflect our latest findings.
  • Most of these offers below are for subscriptions of two years or more, which is a long time to tie yourself to a service that could change ownership (see above) or terms of service, or even have a security incident. Though most services have a 30-day free cancellation policy at the start, be sure to check the terms of service before signing up for a long-term commitment.

VPN deals: Tested and recommended

These first group of VPNs also happens to be our current top six VPN choices. We can recommend them in general, though with the mentioned cautions. Nevertheless, the rapidly shifting ownership landscape in the VPN industry might still cause disruptions. We’ll keep this updated as new information becomes available.

Surfshark: $1.99 a month for 27 months

Billed $53.73 upfront

Devices: Unlimited

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

Although Surfshark is a relatively new VPN service, our VPN experts highly recommend it because of its rapid growth in popularity. Additionally, Surfshark supports an infinite number of devices, making it ideal for large homes. You can purchase 27 months of Surfshark VPN for just $1.99 a month, with an upfront cost of $53.73, if you act now. Remember that this offer is for two years of service plus an additional three months of “free” access; this simply lowers the monthly cost overall. Keep in mind that Surfshark and rival NordVPN combined last year, but both businesses have continued to run separately up until this point.

ExpressVPN: $6.67 a month for 15 months

Billed $99.95 upfront

ExpressVPN continues to top our list of the best VPNs, and if you choose to subscribe for a 12-month plan, you can save a little money. With the promo code SPECIALDEAL, you can receive an extra three months of service for free, bringing the total monthly cost down to just $6.67 (billed as $99.95 upfront). Once more, the three months of “free” access only reduce the monthly total; however, the savings are distributed over a 15-month period. We assess VPNs in three primary areas: price, security, and speed, taking into account their overall performance. Even after being acquired by Kape Technologies, Express is still among the fastest and most secure options available. It isn’t the cheapest, though.

NordVPN: $2.99 a month for 27 months

Billed $80.73 upfront

Devices: Up to 6

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

NordVPN, a major player in the market and one of CNET’s top choices, is currently offering a 63% discount on a two-year subscription for its Standard plan. That means that for 24 months of service plus an additional three months free, you will pay the equivalent of $2.99 per month (billed as $80.73 upfront). Not as much, but still discounted, is the one-year plan, which costs $4.49 a month for fifteen months. (Remember that although NordVPN and Surfshark merged last year, they have so far continued to run independently.)

PIA VPN: $2.11 a month for 27 months

Billed $56.94 upfront

Devices: Unlimited

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

One of our favorite low-cost options, Private Internet Access (PIA), made it onto our list of the best VPN services of 2023. Additionally, you can sign up for even less right now. With three free months included, the two-year plan is currently 82% off, making the first 27 months of service only $2.11 per month. It will then renew at the regular rate of $56.94 per year after that.

In our tests, PIA’s VPN performed reasonably well despite its low cost. With a respectable speed loss of only 24%, it has kill switch functionality and AES 256-bit encryption. It’s important to note that PIA is governed by US law, which might worry security-conscious users. Nevertheless, the company seems to be making every effort to allay those worries, including by making its source code publicly accessible.

IPVanish: $2.49 a month for 27 months

Billed $67.23 upfront

Devices: Unlimited

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

Our reviewer claims that IPVanish has one of the best user interfaces available, making it a good option for beginners and those who want to be able to customize settings. IPVanish is a dependable service with a low learning curve if you’re new to the rodeo and want to learn more about the technology. With this offer, you can get two years of IPVanish plus three “free” months for just $67.23 ($2.49 per month), which is less than the regular annual cost of $90. But, there is a discount on the annual plan, so you can sign up for 15 months for $44.85 ($2.99 per month) if you want to save without making a multiyear commitment. Note that IPVanish is owned by US-based Ziff Davis, which may be a concern if you’re a security-focused user.

ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN: $3.99 a month for 30 months

Billed $119.70 upfront

Devices: Up to 10

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

ProtonVPN can help you go off the grid for about $4 a month, which is good for 2.5 years. Remember that the upfront cost of this deal is $119.70. No server switching restrictions or data caps apply to ProtonVPN Plus, the premium plan. A lot of users love ProtonVPN because of its user-friendliness, support for Tor, and ad-blocking capabilities. The 15-month plan, which costs $4.79 a month (billed at $71.85), is another option. Select the 30-month plan option to get the largest savings.

Additional VPN deals

The following VPNs have either not been thoroughly tested by us or have only been tested anecdotally. Because of this, we are only able to suggest them for light usage, like getting around geoblocked content when streaming media.

PureVPN: $2.03 a month for 26 months

Billed $52.95 upfront

Devices: Up to 10

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 31 days

If your budget allows it, PureVPN offers yet another cost-effective choice for a basic VPN. PureVPN boasts a robust server fleet of over 6,500 locations across 78 countries, but we haven’t had a chance to confirm its dependability. One more thing to clarify here: Our sister site ZDNet revealed that PureVPN gave the FBI timestamp-only logs in an investigation into cyberstalking back in 2018. Since then, PureVPN has abandoned the timestamp logging procedure and submitted to an independent audit to make sure it adheres to its no-log policy. With two “free” months and an 84% discount, the two-year standard plan costs just $2.03 per month for the first 26 months ($52.95 upfront). If you don’t want a multiyear commitment, you can still save 70% on a one-year standard plan, which drops the price to $3.74 a month ($45 upfront).

Atlas VPN: $1.64 a month for 30 months

Billed $49.21 upfront

Devices: Unlimited

Refund policy: Fully refundable for 30 days

A cheap VPN, Atlas VPN is designed for casual users whose primary needs are P2P file sharing and video streaming. It has every feature you could want in a virtual private network (VPN), including robust encryption, no-log policy, and network kill switch. With only 700 servers spread across 28 countries, Atlas VPN’s server fleet is reportedly smaller than that of the major VPN providers. The service’s terms of service may change going forward because competitor NordVPN purchased it in 2021. We do, however, hope that this is a step forward rather than a step back because we already like Nord. (Atlas provides a free version, but we always advise against using it.) Use code BLACKFRIDAY23 at checkout to get 30 months of Atlas VPN for about $1.64 a month ($49.21 upfront). Keep in mind that this deal is billed as two years of service, but the six “free” months drop the cost per month lower, spreading the savings out over the longer term of 30 months.

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