Best cheap VPN 2024

Private Internet Access has been around for well over a decade and in all those years, it’s been continuously enhanced and improved. Even in just the last few years, we’ve seen it start to offer unlimited simultaneous connections, cover more countries, and even include a free trial on mobile devices.

The addition of unlimited simultaneous connections is particularly appealing because it means that you can protect your whole household with a single plan. That’s fantastic value for money if you live with lots of other people who all want to have a VPN on their various devices. It’s still not standard for VPNs to do this either, so this helps it to stand out from the crowd.

It’s a shame that the free trial can only be used on Android and iOS devices, as we suspect that there are a lot of Windows users who would like to test it out, but you can kind of get around that by getting it on your phone and then using it as a hot spot. It’s still kind of convoluted to have to do it that way though, and won’t give you the same experience as if the VPN were used natively on your phone.

It may be a little more expensive than some of the other providers on this list, but it’s still a lot cheaper than many other providers in the VPN world at large. Considering the broad selection of countries that it covers, and the compatibility with most major streaming platforms and games, it offers some incredible value.

Ivacy VPN is probably not the literal cheapest VPN in the world, but it is the cheapest one you’ll get that’s actually worth the money. There are loads of low prices from obscure brands, but who knows what kind of dodgy service you’ll get with them?

The only real drawbacks with this provider are connected to its Mac and Linux apps – both of these lack a kill switch. A kill switch servers your connection in the event that the VPN goes down, meaning that you don’t suddenly find yourself without the protection of a VPN. So without one in place, Mac and Linux are exploring the web with a crack in their privacy. Mac devices also cannot use split-tunneling (where the VPN applies to one app, but not another) which kind of sucks.

If you’ve got a Windows device, however, you don’t need to worry about these issues – the kill switch and split-tunneling features are present and work perfectly. It is a little slower than some of the bigger names in the VPN arena and might struggle if you use it while playing fast-paced, action-packed games, but it’s still great for general use.

Still, we’re reluctant to level too much criticism at its door because of the fantastic price. You pay for five years in one go which works out the same as a monthly price of $1.17 per month, which is ridiculously cheap when compared to the likes of ExpressVPN. The huge drop in price is not proportionate to a drop in the quality of service.

If you’re looking for a cheap VPN, then no doubt you’re someone who is conscious of how much they’re spending on things. If you’re still not entirely sure that you can justify the expense of a VPN, then CyberGhost is a good one to use because of its 45-day money-back guarantee.

Most VPNs will give you a 30-day money-back guarantee, and some won’t even do that, so having that extra 15 puts CyberGhost ahead of the pack. It’s also a relatively easy refund process and it doesn’t try hard to wriggle out of your cancelation (unlike something like Surfshark).

Also, despite the low price, the service it provides is pretty impressive. Its servers span a range of over 100 countries and it uses industry-leading 256-bit AES encryption to keep your data as private as possible. It works well with most major games and streaming services as well.

It’s also one of the few VPNs to offer a free trial, albeit one that lasts for only one day. It may not be much time to get to grips with the service, but a lot of providers don’t even bother with this. All things considered, it’s a secure service that gives you plenty of time to get to grips without before you’re locked in.

Read our CyberGhost review.

NordVPN is potentially the most recognizable brand in the VPN industry – thanks in part to its extensive YouTube partnerships. Unfortunately, it’s not actually that cheap and is by far the most expensive on this list. However, we had good reason for including it on this list: it’s often subject to pretty decent VPN deals which help make the price a lot easier to justify.

Right now, you can get get a free Saily eSIM data gift if you go for one of the two-year plans, which gives you up to 20GB of data for you to use on your phone when traveling abroad. If you’ve got any holidays lined up, then that could potentially be a very handy gift. Historically, it has often thrown in several additional months to make its plans even better value for money.

If you do decide to get NordVPN, you’re likely to be very impressed. It’s the fastest VPN we’ve encountered, with download speeds that blow all of the other providers on this list out of the water. You also shouldn’t have any compatibility issues with Netflix or other streaming platforms, and most games work fine with it too. Thanks to its superfast WireGuard protocol, it also encrypts your data much more quickly than its competitors.

For the price, we’d think that it would allow for unlimited simultaneous connections (as Private Internet Access does), but aside from that, there’s not much to criticize here. Nord has even introduced a free trial for Android devices (which it never did historically) so you can test it out before you pay if you like (use your phone as a hot spot to try it on desktop) and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on too if you’re unsure of the expense.

Read our NordVPN review.

There are loads of free VPNs out there, but a lot of them aren’t worth using. The reason they’re “free” is because you’re paying with your privacy – while you have them on, they’re accumulating data on you and selling it off to the highest bidder. TunnelBear doesn’t do that, and in fact, offers a very comprehensive service for free.

With other providers, you’ll find that they have a designated ‘free’ server which is the only one that you can use with a free trial. Not only does this create a high risk of slowdown due to server congestion, it also means that you can only connect to the internet through one country. Tunnelbear gives you access to the full selection of 45 regions that paying subscribers get.

So why would anybody ever pay TunnelBear? Well, the major limitation of this free plan is that it limits you to just 2GB of data each month and once it’s used up, it switches off. If you’re planning on using it for long gaming sessions, or while you stream your favorite TV shows, you’ll run out of data within just a few hours and won’t be able to use it again for a month.

However, the 2GB will be plenty for a lot of users. If you want to use it to occasionally access geo-restricted content, to find deals exclusive to other regions, or to protect your privacy while you make especially sensitive searches, the data allowance should be more than enough.

The biggest limitation you’ll face with TunnelBear is that it struggles to access streaming platforms. Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video are all fine, but it notably cannot access Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and several other platforms. If you go for the paid plan, there’s no money-back guarantee, which is unusual for a VPN, but considering the level of access they give you for free, it’s easy to get a feel of what it has to offer before you commit to it financially.