Best Cheap VPN for 2023: Privacy on a Budget – CNET
Best Cheap VPN for 2023: Privacy on a Budget - CNET
If you want to protect your privacy online, a VPN can be extremely useful. However, if you’re on a budget, you might not like the idea of paying yet another monthly or yearly fee. Some people try to avoid those fees altogether by using a free VPN. But the fact is, free VPNs almost always come with risks, and they typically limit the amount of data you can use. That’s why we strongly recommend steering clear of the vast majority of free VPNs. The good news is that it’s possible to find a cheap VPN that’s reliable, secure, and won’t break the bank.
After spending countless hours testing a number of cheap VPN providers, our experts have put together a list of great budget-friendly choices. Each of these cheap VPN services offers monthly pricing options, or if you prefer, you can pay in one lump sum for an entire year. All our recommendations for cheap VPN services offer strong security, a fast connection, and a wealth of privacy features — all for less than half the cost of a premium VPN service. You can even hook up your phone or tablet for secure browsing on your mobile device.
The VPN market is ever evolving, with VPN service providers changing rapidly, so we advise against signing up for a subscription that lasts two years or longer. We recommend choosing plans that are cheapest based on their one-year or one-month rates and have the best money-back guarantees. While a lot of VPN providers offer better month-to-dollar value when you go for these long-term plans, you should avoid those kinds of lengthy VPN commitments. Below, you’ll find our list of the best cheap VPN services of 2023.
Watch this: Top 5 Reasons to Use a VPN
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Product details
Pros & Cons
Who it’s best for
- Lots of unique security features
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- RAM-only server network
Who should avoid
- Inconsistent speed performance
- 14 Eyes jurisdiction (Netherlands)
- No transparency reports
Surfshark earned CNET’s Editors’ Choice for best value VPN in 2022. It offers solid privacy and security features, a polished interface, unlimited simultaneous connections, fast speeds and an impressive global network of VPN servers at a price that’s considerably lower than many of its top competitors.
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Product details
Pros & Cons
Who it’s best for
- Highly transparent
- Open-source
- Unlimited free plan
Who should avoid
- No live chat support
- Split tunneling only available on Android and Windows
- Occasional speed dips
Proton VPN is a VPN product developed by the Swiss-based company behind the popular secure email service Proton Mail. The VPN has built a reputation for top-notch security and maximum transparency. Proton VPN’s apps fully open-source, and the software is also regularly audited to help affirm the security of the VPN for users without the time or know-how to inspect the code.
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Product details
Pros & Cons
Who it’s best for
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Simple, user-friendly interface
- 24/7 customer support with live chat and phone support
Who should avoid
- IPVanish identified during DNS leak tests
- US jurisdiction
- Buggy features with platform limitations
It’s not the fastest VPN on the planet, but IPVanish is an excellent VPN for casual users that offers plenty of speed for activities like streaming and video conferencing. However, in our tests, we did experience issues with the Quick Connect feature, which didn’t always connect us to the fastest server available. If you’re looking for the fastest server, we recommend connecting manually based on the current server load readings displayed in the Locations section of the IPVanish app.
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Along with Proton VPN, Mullvad is another open-source VPN provider that offers its services at a competitive rate. Mullvad’s simple pricing structure is vastly different than most others. The service costs $5 per month, whether you use it for a month, a year, 10 years or longer. Mullvad doesn’t offer any sales or discounts of any sort at any time of the year — just a flat $5 fee for however many months you want to use it. That comes out to $60 for a year, which matches Surfshark for the cheapest annual price in this list when not taking introductory prices into consideration.
For more, check out how to choose the right VPN provider for working from home, red flags to watch out for when choosing a VPN service, and seven Android VPN apps to avoid on your mobile device because of their privacy sins.
