Article Summary
- Best cheap VPN: Surfshark – unlimited devices, solid speeds, under $3/month → Get for $2.49/mo
- Best sale right now: ExpressVPN – basic plan at the lowest price we have recorded → Get for $2.49/mo
- Privacy-focused: Proton VPN – Swiss-based with clean audit history → Get for $2.99/mo
- Tested: 30 VPNs to find the real bargains (free VPNs didn’t make the cut)
Just because a VPN is cheap doesn’t mean it’s worth buying. We’ve evaluated the top VPNs in the industry to see which ones make the cut if you’re hunting for a bargain, and the results have been a little surprising.
Surfshark makes the top spot because it’s absolutely the best value for the price, and unlimited device connections on a single subscription helps too. ExpressVPN comes in second. It used to sit at the expensive end of the market, but it is currently running a sale that brings the basic plan down to $2.49/month – the lowest price we have seen it at. ProtonVPN is next, fairly priced on longer subscriptions and the strongest pick if privacy matters more than anything else. NordVPN comes in fourth, a little pricier than the rest but still strong value for what you get. Finally, TotalVPN is priced at the absolute rock-bottom of the market, though as with most things in life, you get exactly what you pay for.
Best Cheap VPNs of 2026: Our Top 5 Picks Compared
1. Surfshark
Surfshark is absolutely bursting with value, even if you’re just buying the starter plan. Three words: unlimited device connections. Where other VPNs block you from using more than around 5-10 devices simultaneously and force you to buy another subscription, Surfshark doesn’t. One plan will cover you even if you have tens of devices in your house. That’s all for the low price of $2.49/month on a two-year plan. It’s also a big reason why Surfshark is widely considered one of the best alternatives to NordVPN, offering a very similar experience at a lower monthly cost.
That price gives you all of the VPN features Surfshark offers, as well as access to Alternate ID, their own anti-spam product which generates proxy identities for you to use when signing up to new sites.
We’re impressed with the speeds too. We saw that Surfshark only dropped 5% of our total bandwidth when connecting to servers in Europe and 13% to servers in US East. That’s fast for a VPN provider, especially one at this price. You won’t have any problem with 4K streaming whether you’re browsing Netflix, BBC iPlayer, or Disney+.
The biggest caveat is that the monthly plan costs $15.45 if you’re not committing to a longer subscription. That’s on the pricier side, and where the real saving kicks in is on the two-year plan.
Read our full Surfshark review
2. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN was for years one of the most expensive VPNs on the market, and a name we would not have put on a cheap VPN list without hesitation. That has changed. The current sale brings the basic plan down to $2.49/month on a two-year subscription, which is 80% off the standard monthly rate and the lowest price we have recorded for ExpressVPN in our years of tracking it. If you have been curious about ExpressVPN but put off by the price, now is the time.
What you get at this price is not a stripped-down product. ExpressVPN’s full server network covers 1000s+ servers across 105 locations, including hard-to-find regions that budget providers regularly skip. The Lightway protocol delivers some of the fastest and most stable connections we have tested, and the Fire TV and Android TV apps are the cleanest of any VPN we have reviewed. If your household runs Kodi, Fire TV Sticks, or other streaming boxes, ExpressVPN’s set-and-forget installation is genuinely easier than any alternative.
Speed performance matches Surfshark closely. Our streaming tests came back at 87.5% across major platforms, which covers Netflix US, Disney+, and Prime Video without issue. The one platform it struggled with in recent testing was Netflix UK, which is worth knowing if that is your primary use case. ExpressVPN also does not accept cryptocurrency payments, so if anonymous payment matters, ProtonVPN below is the better route.
The no-logs policy is audited by KPMG and the infrastructure runs on RAM-only servers, which puts it firmly in the same security bracket as providers that cost twice as much. At $2.49/month this represents genuine value rather than a compromise.
Read our full ExpressVPN review
3. Proton VPN
Proton has become synonymous with privacy thanks to Proton Mail, and their Proton VPN product is no exception. For $2.99/month, you’re getting a fully audited no-logs VPN with hardcore multi-hop protection. If you want a seriously private VPN without spending an arm and a leg, you can’t do much better than Proton VPN.
That doesn’t mean Proton VPN neglects performance. With 20,000 servers covering 127 locations, you’ll find low-latency servers wherever you are. Swiss jurisdiction on top of an audited no-logs policy gives it a privacy stack that no other VPN at this price can match.
Proton VPN is also flexible if you don’t want to lock into a long-term plan. The monthly plan costs $9.99, which is around the industry average and reasonable for what you get.
The free tier is worth checking before you commit, but keep in mind that location restrictions make it unreliable for streaming despite the unlimited bandwidth.
Read our full Proton VPN review
4. NordVPN
NordVPN is easily as powerful as anything else on this list, if not more so. The reason it sits at fourth is that at $3.49/month, you’re paying slightly more than our other recommendations for the core VPN functionality. That still gets you access to 9,000 servers across 181 locations and some of the fastest speeds we have measured across any VPN.
Upgrade to the Plus package and you get NordVPN’s anti-malware protection, which is among the best integrated security tools in the VPN space. If you want a VPN and an antivirus in one subscription, buying a NordVPN Plus plan works out cheaper than buying both separately.
Streaming came back 100% across our nine-service matrix including Netflix US, UK, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.
The one thing to factor in: the introductory rate does not last. NordVPN renews at a higher rate after the first term, so it is worth checking the renewal price at checkout before you commit.
Read our full NordVPN review
5. TotalVPN
TotalVPN is cheap. Very cheap. At only $1.59/month, it is the cheapest VPN on our list and one we would recommend with caution. While TotalVPN claims a no-logs policy, we have seen no independent audit to verify it, which is what you should expect at this price point.
On the plus side, TotalVPN performed slightly above our expectations and unblocked the streaming services we tested it against. The location count at 80 is decent for a budget provider.
That said, we are not fully confident in the kill switch, and the UK jurisdiction combined with the absence of any audit means we cannot recommend this as a privacy VPN. If you need a VPN purely to change your apparent location and do not care about the privacy of your traffic, TotalVPN does the job. For anything beyond that, ProtonVPN’s free tier is a better starting point at no cost.
$1.59/month beats every major competitor on price. You just are not getting a lot for it.
Read our full TotalVPN review
How Much Does a Cheap VPN Actually Cost?
Based on our market research, we consider anything below $5 per month for core VPN functionality to be cheap. Of course, cheap is relative to what you’re getting for the price. If a VPN costs $2 per month but barely functions, it is not worth buying. For most top-tier providers, these prices only apply if you lock into a longer subscription, typically at least two years. It looks like a hefty cost up front, but you can save between 60 and 80% on the base monthly price by committing.
The absolute cheapest option on our list is TotalVPN at $1.59/month. The catch is that TotalVPN has no audited no-logs policy and a kill switch we are not fully confident in, which makes it hard to recommend for genuine privacy protection.
The best sale running right now is ExpressVPN at $2.49/month, the lowest price we have recorded for that provider.
My personal recommendation, though, is Surfshark at $2.49/month. You are paying only around 40 cents a month more than TotalVPN, but in return you get unlimited simultaneous device connections, a high-speed server network with over 100 locations to pick from, and constantly rotating IPs thanks to Surfshark Nexus. The value for money just does not compare.
Here’s the quick breakdown of how our recommended VPNs compare on their longest subscription:
- Rock-bottom: TotalVPN at $1.59/month
- Sweet spot: Surfshark at $2.49/month
- Best sale: ExpressVPN at $2.49/month (80% off)
- Privacy purist: Proton VPN at $2.99/month
- Premium on sale: NordVPN at $3.49/month (save 76%)
One thing to watch: some providers, NordVPN in particular, only offer introductory rates to new subscribers. On renewal you may pay a higher fee. Always check the renewal price at checkout before committing.
All five VPNs here come with a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test before locking in long-term.