The massive discounts you see advertised while shopping for a virtual private network often aren’t exactly what they seem. It’s not uncommon to see VPN companies tout seemingly unbelievable savings of 80% or more off the “regular” subscription price. But a lot of smoke and mirrors usually goes into calculating those lofty percentages. There’s a reason the advertised savings seem too good to be true -- because they often are. 

It takes a lot to establish and run a VPN company, and all the technical overhead, payroll, legal, compliance, marketing and server infrastructure costs add up quickly. So it’s understandable that a VPN subscription will involve a monetary commitment from the end user. But many VPN companies employ various tricks to make it seem, at first glance, as though you can get their services for cheaper than what they actually end up costing over the long run.

VPN companies are far from the only ones doing this. Price trickery is commonplace across virtually every industry. Just think of how often you see something priced at $9.99 or $19.99, making it seem more cost-effective than $10 or $20, when in reality, the difference is minimal. Still, VPN companies can often be especially shifty with how they frame their subscription prices, sometimes even to the point of being downright deceptive. But if you know their tactics and where to look for pertinent price information, then you can figure out how much you’ll actually pay for your VPN and avoid being blindsided at checkout or when your subscription renews.

Wading through the messy thicket of VPN prices

VPN price structures are often far more complicated than they need to be, which, in many cases, is almost certainly by design. They’re all meticulously crafted and exhaustively tested to funnel customers into specific subscription plans that yield optimal gains for the company, while downplaying the true cost of the service for the end user. VPN companies do everything they can to reduce friction by offering money-back guarantees and framing long-term subscription plans as a much greater value than they actually are. Ultimately, they want to make it as easy as possible for you to click the “Buy” button without giving the true cost of the service much thought.

When you go to a VPN provider’s price page, you’ll typically see a few subscription options based on the length of the subscription or, if the VPN offers additional bundled services, what tools are offered with each subscription tier. Usually, you’ll see the different subscriptions broken down into monthly, yearly and two-year increments, with some VPN companies offering other options like six-month, three-year or even lifetime subscriptions. 

VPN companies want you to commit for the long term and use various tactics to try steering customers toward the annual or two-year plans rather than monthly subscriptions. You’ll often see a specific selection highlighted on the pricing page, with a bit of text that says something like “Best value,” “Most popular,” “Exclusive deal” or “Free extra months.”

Sometimes, if you click on a “lesser” plan, you’ll get a pop-up that further pushes you to the plan the VPN company really wants you to buy, by mentioning something about popularity or bigger savings associated with the longer-term plan. Invariably, long-term prices displayed in large, bold font are framed as monthly rates, even though you have to pay for the full year or two up front. Seeing a price of $1.99 per month looks a lot friendlier than seeing that you have to pay $55 upfront.

To be fair, I also recommend going with an annual subscription plan for the most value while minimizing the risks associated with committing for too long. I don’t recommend signing up for more than a year at a time, given how quickly things can change in the VPN industry. Companies can be bought and sold, performance and network quality can fluctuate, streaming capabilities can change, policies can shift and features can come and go from one year to the next.   

While VPN companies try to make deals seem more attractive than they are, long-term plans do offer greater savings

Aside from a few rare exceptions, it’s almost never worth it to purchase a monthly VPN subscription plan. Most VPN monthly subscription plans range from about $12 to more than $15 per month, even though they should realistically cost about half that. I suspect a big reason many VPN providers offer monthly plans at all has less to do with giving customers options than with anchoring prices at an exorbitant monthly rate -- a tactic that helps inflate the savings percentage they can claim for the introductory prices of their longer-term plans.

For example, Surfshark’s $15.45 monthly subscription plan is absurdly overpriced -- no one should pay that much for a VPN. But that monthly price lets Surfshark claim that you’re saving 87% off the “regular” price when you purchase the two-year plan for $54 that includes an extra three months for free.

Of course, no one would pay roughly $417 for a two-year VPN subscription plan, but Surfshark frames the “87% savings” on the two-year plan as if you’re paying $15.45 for 27 months. While you’d pay roughly $417 if you signed up for a monthly plan and stayed subscribed for 27 months, most people would switch to a one- or two-year plan well before that, so Surfshark’s advertised savings are incredibly misleading. It’s an artificially inflated number to give the illusion that you’re basically getting the VPN for free. Surfshark isn’t the only one doing this, but it’s one of the most egregious examples. 

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Auto-renewal price hikes make convoluted subscription offers even more complicated   

Even worse, Surfshark doesn’t make clear on its initial pricing page that the annual price more than doubles upon renewal after the introductory term of the subscription. It’s only when you get to the actual checkout page that the company mentions in small print that the subscription renews “at the then-applicable renewal price,” which you have to click through to a separate page to see. Other VPNs are using similar schemes, but I’m highlighting Surfshark here specifically because it’s less transparent than most in this regard. Surfshark’s sister company, NordVPN, displays the renewal rate right on the initial pricing page without making you click away. ExpressVPN and Proton VPN do so as well. 

Offering introductory prices is common in many industries, and a consumer-friendly practice that can give new users an opportunity to ease into a service without a significant financial commitment. But VPN providers need to be far more transparent about the actual terms of the subscription and how much users should expect to pay upon renewal. Some VPN providers give you options to “stack” subscriptions to avoid high renewal rates. For example, NordVPN lets you tack on additional years during your subscription, allowing you to avoid paying its exorbitant $140 annual renewal rate. But that requires you to manually manage your subscription and potentially commit for longer periods of time, which isn't ideal in many cases.  

VPN price transparency is less common than it should be, but does exist

To be fair, not all VPNs are guilty of using tricky pricing tactics. Mullvad has perhaps the most transparent, fair and straightforward pricing structure in the entire industry. Mullvad costs a flat rate of five euros (about $6) per month, whether you use it for a month, a year or 10 years. It’s one of the most cost-effective VPNs to get on a monthly basis, and I like that this model offers maximum flexibility. Just pay $6 a month whenever you need it and add a few months or up to a year at a time. You’re never locked into a recurring subscription, and there are no sneaky, expensive renewal price hikes. Mullvad makes it about as fair as you can get.

Windscribe is another example. It costs $9 per month or $69 per year. There are no price hikes upon renewal and no fake “savings” messaging, just a sardonic “Cool badge” icon slapped onto its yearly plan. Windscribe even lets you build your own custom plan for as little as $3 per month if you don’t need full access to its entire server network. 

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Examples such as Mullvad and Windscribe illustrate that VPN prices don’t need to be manipulative and deliberately sneaky. They can be fair and transparent. In an industry that hinges so heavily on trust and transparency, I find it surprising to see many otherwise respectable providers still leaning into these borderline shady tactics. No one should feel blindsided by skyrocketing renewal rates or in any way tricked into paying more than they expected.