What Is the Yearly Cost of a VPN?

Using a VPN has become essential on the modern web. It can keep you safe from prying eyes in government, at your ISP, and on public Wi-Fi networks.

But what is the yearly cost of a VPN these days? We're going to round up some of the most popular VPNs and look at their cost in US dollars and British pounds. Keep reading to learn more.

1. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is well-known for its global servers in 94 countries, unlimited bandwidth, and support for almost every device and operating system you can think of (including PCs, phones, routers, gaming consoles, smart TVs, and streaming boxes.

It also offers VPN split tunneling, a kill switch, private DNS, and a no-log policy.

If you live in the US, three payment plans are available. If you pay on a month-by-month basis, it costs you $12.95/month. Paying every six months costs you $59.95 per period ($9.99/month), and paying annually costs $99.95 (or $8.32/month).

In the UK, prices are £9.75/month (monthly plan), £7.52/month (six-month plan), or £6.27/month (12-month plan).

2. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is another of the most feature-rich VPNs available and comes highly recommended by MUO. Some of its key features include one-click access, 256-bit military-grade encryption on your connection at all times, and the ability to access streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu from other countries.

The VPN supports Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux devices, as well as Amazon Fire Sticks and Android TV boxes.

A one-month plan costs $12.99/month which puts it on a par with ExpressVPN. However, a six-month plan is only $6.39/month and the longest two-year plan (which includes two free months at the end) is only $2.25/month. All three plans offer a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Further, CyberGhost also offers an anti-virus suite and a security updater for Windows. If you sign up for the one- or six-month plans, it costs $5.99/month. Opting for the 26-month plan lets you grab it for $1.24/month.

In the UK, prices run at £10.89/month (monthly), £4.79/month (six months), or £1.63/month (two years).

3. Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is a well-recognized VPN provider. It claims to offer the fastest VPN on the market, with speeds "up to 2.2x faster than the competition". In practice, however, much of this is pure marketing, with VPN speeds between the biggest providers not offering a great deal of variance. Distance from the server you want to connect to is the biggest determinant for the speed of your connection.

Other features include military-grade encryption, 115+ virtual locations around the world, and the ability to secure up to five devices on just a single account.

Hotspot Shield offers a free plan, but you are limited to one device (and it is not necessarily the best free VPN on the market). The regular monthly plan is $12.99/month, but that reduces to $7.99 if you pay annually. The company also offers a family plan. It offers five accounts each with five devices and costs $19.99/month (paid monthly) or $11.99/month (paid annually).

Hotspot Shield does not offer GBP prices for users in the UK. You will have to accept the USD/GBP exchange rate on the day of purchase.

4. NordVPN

NordVPN is a solid choice if you are looking for a new VPN provider. It offers a dedicated application for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux and you can support up to six devices at the same time through a single account.

Other features include a strict no-logs policy, more than 5,200 servers in 60 countries, a kill switch, multi-factor authentication for your NordVPN account, split tunneling support, and even a personal dedicated IP address that only you will be using.

NordVPN also automatically blocks ads and malware and works with the dark web via browsers such as Tor.

Three price plans are available. The one-month plan is $11.95/month (making it the cheapest option on this list so far). If you are willing to upgrade to a one-year plan you only need to pay $4.92/month (a 58 percent discount) and if you sign up for two years, you will pay $3.67/month and get three months free (a 69 percent discount).

5. Private Internet Access

Webpage showing PIA's interface on a tablet and key features of the VPN

Another industry-leading VPN service is Private Internet Access.

Some of the provider's standout features include a no-logs policy, connection-wide encryption, a dedicated IP, support for WireGuard, split tunneling, and even a free anti-virus app. The main app is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Like NordVPN, Private Internet Access offers three plans that you can choose from during the signup process. If you pay monthly, it cost $9.95/month. A one-year plan is $3.33/month (paid in a single payment of $39.95/month). The best value is offered by the three-year plan—you need to make a single payment of $79, which equates to only $2.19/month.

In the UK, prices are £8.09/month (one month plan), £2.71/month (annual plan), or £1.81/month (three-year plan).

6. Surfshark

Surfshark is slightly less well-known than the other VPN providers we have looked at, but its list of benefits makes the service worth considering.

For example, the app will automatically block ads and malware, it offers its own search engine to keep your data out of the hands of Google, and there are alerts for issues such as identity theft, email security, and data breaches.

Other features include the ability to use the service on an unlimited number of devices via just a single account, encrypted browsing, and support for unblocking streaming services like Netflix.

You can sign up on a monthly basis for $12.95/month, on a six-month basis for $6.49/month, or on a 24-month basis for $2.49/month.

In the UK, Surfshark costs £9.47/month on a monthly plan, £4.75/month on a six-month plan, and £1.82/month on a two-year plan.

Keep an Eye Out for Deals and Discounts

In this article, we have quoted you the prices as advertised by the VPN providers on their respective sites. We have not considered any special promotions.

If you keep your eyes open, you will almost always be able to find discounts for the various providers, especially if you are a new user of the service in question. Often, these special discounts offer more than 50 percent off the advertised price, so make sure you stay alert to possible opportunities.