The Best Cheap VPNs for 2025

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A VPN can come in handy if you're using public Wi-Fi or trying to watch geo-restricted movies on Nefflix, but you may not be ready to add another pricey subscription to your list of monthly expenses. Good news! At PCMag, we've been testing and reviewing VPNs for more than a decade, so we know which services charge too much and which offer the best bang for your buck. All of the VPNs on this list are what we consider to be affordable, coming in at under $10 per month. Proton VPN is our top pick overall because a subscription includes premium features such as split tunneling, double-hop connections, ad blocking, and malware detection. But one of the other services on this list might be a better fit for you, so keep reading for all of the best cheap VPNs we've tested.

How We Choose the Best Cheap VPN Services

Cheap is a relative term. For example, to Mark Zuckerberg, whose estimated net income is more than $200 billion, a $10 monthly subscription is basically free. For the rest of us, paying for a monthly subscription of any kind may require some budget tweaks.

When creating this list of inexpensive VPNs, we opted to limit our recommendations to services that charge less than $10 per month. To qualify for this list, VPN services must have earned at least three out of five stars. We're also highlighting VPNs offering more value than those you can use for free. If you're paying for a service, you should receive helpful features.

Should I Pay for a VPN?

The only thing cheaper than cheap is free; you can find the best options in our list of free VPN services. Some free VPNs throttle your connection speed, impose connection time restrictions, or only allow you to connect to a VPN in one country. Many of the options on the list are feature-limited versions of paid VPNs.

If you are looking for a high-quality free VPN, Proton VPN is our top choice because it grants access to a whole suite of privacy services, such as Proton Mail. Although Proton VPN's free version has some limitations, it places no restrictions on monthly bandwidth.

Are Cheap VPNs Fast?

Many readers have expressed concern that VPNs can slow down internet connection speeds. It's true; a VPN will almost certainly reduce upload and download speeds and add connection latency.

The good news is that many VPNs have a minimal impact on browsing speeds. Our article on how we test VPNs explains how we evaluate VPNs' effect on internet speeds. The chart below shows our latest VPN speed testing data for all the services we review:

Keep in mind that searching for the fastest VPN may not be worthwhile. A VPN's effect on your connection will vary greatly depending on where you're connecting from. For example, if you were using a VPN to circumvent the short-lived TikTok ban in the US, you may want to connect to one in Mexico or Canada, even if they're slower than one in your home country.

The VPN server location relative to your physical location is also a factor. In other words, if you connect to a server and there's an ocean and several countries between, your connection will be slower than it would be if you connected to a VPN in your hometown. Instead of focusing on speed, we recommend finding a reputable VPN at the right price that has the features you want.

Are Cheap VPNs Trustworthy?

Reputation is everything, so make sure you're connecting to a VPN provided by a company you can trust. The company will have significant insight into your online activities because all your online data will be routed through their servers. The best VPN services have clear and transparent policies for protecting your information.

In our reviews, we scour companies' privacy policies, ask what legal jurisdiction they operate under, and try to understand how they protect customers. You can read the full details of those assessments in our full reviews. If you find a cheap VPN that offers a great deal but something about it makes you nervous, look for another option. There are plenty to choose from.

Are VPNs Safe?

Even if you trust your VPN provider, and even if you trust us to look through privacy policies for you, there are some things you just shouldn't do while connected to a VPN. A VPN company has access to all of your web traffic while you're connected. That means there's potential for someone to see what you're looking at when you're browsing online or even read your emails and messages over your digital shoulder.

Sure, a VPN company with a well-known name can be considered trustworthy, but it's still an organization run by humans who are working to satisfy their needs and wants, not yours. Never assume that anyone other than yourself or your immediate family will care about or ensure your safety or, in this case, the safety of your private data.

With that in mind, don't do your banking while connected to a VPN. Don't access your medical records, government records, or any other private or sensitive data while connected to a VPN. You don't know who else is watching, and since many VPN companies are located overseas, you have no official recourse if a rogue employee chooses to target you.

Snoops aside, thousands of private data records fall into hackers' hands every week because a company failed to secure customers' data. Governments around the world have yet to do anything effective to stop this. Take precautions by not giving up so much of your private information online, including when you're using a VPN.

You Need More Than Just a VPN

After choosing the right VPN for you, take time to learn how to set up and use a VPN and protect yourself in other ways, too. Download a password manager (or use the free one on your phone) and stop using the same password for all of your accounts. After that, add another layer of security to your online accounts with multi-factor authentication via an authenticator app or a hardware security key. Advertisers have numerous tricks for gathering data, so consider trying out an ad blocker and enabling the privacy features built into your browser.