Best Value Overall

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On Surfshark's website

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• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Works with Netflix and other streaming services

• Headquarters in Nine Eyes Alliance

Best for Torrent Enthusiasts

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On Private Internet Access's website

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• Fast internet speeds and strict no-logs policy
• Unblocks Netflix and other streaming services

• Antivirus and dedicated IP address cost extra

Best for Streaming and Gaming

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On NordVPN's website

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• Loads of servers for more connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix

• Too many confusing plans

To find out what the best cheap virtual private network (VPN) on the market is, we researched and tested several providers. After finishing our testing and evaluation, we determined a top three, all of which offer the most bang for your buck with their robust features and strong security. 

The results? We determined Surfshark, Private Internet Access (PIA), and NordVPN are the best cheap VPN services.

Read on to discover why we favored these VPN providers, why ExpressVPN nearly made our top three list (it was close but no cigar), and why we were so disappointed that CyberGhost got smoked as the worst-performing cheap VPN we tested.

The best VPNs for cheap

We ran a series of VPN tests and checked out the features of Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN before determining they were our top three favorite picks. Surfshark was our best choice for the penny pincher on a budget who seeks a high-quality VPN, PIA is best for torrent enthusiasts, and NordVPN was our best pick for streaming and gaming.

• Surfshark: Best overall
• Private Internet Access: Best for torrent enthusiasts
• NordVPN: Best for streaming and gaming

Top 3 cheap VPN services compared 2023

	Best Overall Surfshark	Private Internet Access	NordVPN
Starting price	Starts at $2.30/mo	Starts at $2.03/mo	Starts at $3.99/mo
Simultaneous connections	Unlimited	Unlimited	6
Features	Kill switch, smart DNS, WireGuard protocol, AES-256-GCM encryption, 2FA	Advanced split tunneling, ad and malware blocking, WireGuard protocol, dedicated IP addresses, advanced encryption settings	P2P and Onion Over VPN support, double VPN, kill switch, DNS leak protection, dedicated IP addresses, obfuscated servers
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Our Surfshark Review	Get PIA Read Our PIA Review	Get NordVPN Read Our NordVPN Review

Surfshark: Best overall

Surfshark is Best for the Penny Pincher Seeking a High-Quality VPN

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On Surfshark's website

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• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Works with Netflix and other streaming services

• Headquarters in Nine Eyes Alliance

Who it’s best for

Surfshark is an affordable, fast VPN service that is reliable and secure with a wide range of features. It is ideal for the budget-conscious person seeking a cheap VPN provider but refusing to compromise on quality.

What we liked

Surfshark is the best VPN for the price because it offers blazing-fast connection speeds with a wide range of server locations to select from, allows for unlimited simultaneous connections, and is capable of unblocking and streaming Netflix libraries around the world without any lag, all without breaking the bank.

In addition, this VPN offers plenty of tools to keep your device secure. Surfshark uses AES-256-GCM encryption. Unlike AES-256, which only provides encryption for confidentiality purposes, AES-256-GCM encrypts and secures your data to remain confidential, but also verifies its authenticity and integrity. For VPN protocols, it uses WireGuard, which is a modern, fast, and secure tunneling profile (and it's faster than OpenVPN).

Beyond a kill switch, split tunneling, and other common VPN features, Surfshark also comes with the following:

• Multi-Hop (also known as a double VPN): Lets you connect to the VPN via multiple server locations at once.
• IP Rotator: Changes your IP address periodically without disconnecting you from the VPN.
• Smart DNS: Helps you unlock streaming U.S. content by changing the DNS addresses on your device from your local ones to Surfshark’s DNS servers based in the U.S.
• CleanWeb: Blocks ads/malware and prevents phishing attempts.
• Surfshark Alert: Notifies you when your personal information is leaked on the web.
• Surfshark Antivirus: Protects against viruses, malware, and intrusive apps.
• Surfshark Search: A zero-logs private search engine.

While Surfshark is headquartered in the Netherlands, a Nine and 14 Eyes Alliance country, it successfully passed an independent audit of its no-logs policy, which was conducted by Deloitte on December 2, 2022. As per its no-logs policy, Surfshark only processes minimal user information to maintain its services; it does not collect or store any data regarding your IP address, browsing activities, or internet traffic data.

Additionally, Surfshark accepts cryptocurrency payments, making it a viable choice for anyone seeking extra privacy. They also have responsive customer support that is available 24/7 via live chat or email.

What we didn’t like

Surfshark VPN is missing a key feature: dedicated IP addresses. This is important because it can ensure faster speeds since you will be the only one using the IP address and there won’t be a lot of online traffic coming from the same IP address. A dedicated IP address can also prevent those annoying CAPTCHAs from popping up on the Google search engine due to a large amount of traffic coming from the same IP address.

Surfshark offers a static server instead, which is a static IP address on a selected server, but its drawback is that it’ll be shared with other users. Luckily, a dedicated IP feature is on Surfshark’s roadmap at this time.

Surfshark specs

PIA: Best for torrent enthusiasts

PIA Offers Worldwide Servers and Fast Speeds for Torrenting

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On Private Internet Access's website

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• Fast internet speeds and strict no-logs policy
• Unblocks Netflix and other streaming services

• Antivirus and dedicated IP address cost extra

Who it’s best for

Private Internet Access, also known as PIA, is the best VPN for torrent enthusiasts. Users who desire a VPN service that has servers around the world and supports torrenting with fast speeds, strong encryption, a kill switch, secure tunneling protocols, and other advanced features will be pleased. Additionally, it is very affordable, coming in at a low cost of $2.03 per month if you select the three-year plan or $3.33 per month if you select the annual plan.

What we liked

We liked that Private Internet Access has servers around the world, is reliable and fast, and has robust features for privacy and security. It is a fast VPN for torrenting, supports all popular BitTorrent clients, and has its own SOCKS5 proxy server. SOCKS5 is an internet protocol that Tor uses. Since PIA supports SOCKS5, it can send the traffic through the Tor network instead of sending it from your IP address into the open network. It also allows port forwarding (except in the U.S.), which boosts torrenting speeds.

To keep your device safe while torrenting, PIA offers AES-128 and AES-256 encryption; WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2/IPsec protocols; a kill switch; advanced split tunneling; and more. Some of PIA’s top features for privacy and security are as follows:

• Dedicated IP addresses
• Smart DNS
• Antivirus protection
• Leak prevention (e.g., blocks IPv6 leaks)
• Email breach scanner

What we didn’t like

While PIA has a plethora of great features to offer, we really didn’t like that it’s headquartered in the U.S. This means that PIA is part of the Five Eyes Alliance. Countries that are part of the Five Eyes Alliance have made agreements to share intelligence with each other. These countries include the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

In other words, your data can be potentially collected and shared, which is a privacy risk to consider, especially for torrenters.

Private Internet Access (PIA) specs

NordVPN: Best for streaming and gaming

NordVPN Is Best for Streaming Enthusiasts and Gamers Alike

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On NordVPN's website

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• Loads of servers for more connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix

• Too many confusing plans

Who it’s best for

NordVPN is the best choice for streaming enthusiasts and gamers alike who want a fast, secure, and powerful VPN service that offers all the bells and whistles. NordVPN is packed with an extensive catalog of advanced security features like lightning-fast servers, Onion Over VPN, and more.

What we liked

We loved that NordVPN is an all-in-one VPN solution with the fastest VPN speeds on the market. It has the ability to unblock restrictions on streaming services like Netflix*, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and more all over the world.

NordVPN is very fast and reliable. It also uses a unique technology called Meshnet, which lets you directly connect to other devices around the world and link up to a maximum of 60 devices, making it easy to host and join LAN parties — great for gamers. Additionally, it’s compatible with a wide range of platforms and web browsers while offering an impressive number of features to keep your online traffic secure without compromising speed. But wait, there’s more! NordVPN also supports torrenting and P2P networking, which we appreciated.

With its next-generation file encryption features, NordVPN even adds extra layers of security to help you keep your data safe. It also has a Threat Protection feature, which is a cross-platform password manager you can use to generate secure passwords and safely store them. And its data breach scanner checks to see if your sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) has been leaked. As you can see, NordVPN is packed with features.

What we didn’t like

One drawback we found with NordVPN is that its VPN cost can be more expensive in its upper range compared to other VPN prices. Additionally, NordVPN only offers its split tunneling features like “inverse split tunneling” for Android, Android TV, and Windows, as well as “app-based split tunneling” for Windows 8.1 and up, at this time.

Even though it isn’t the cheapest VPN on this list, we can surely agree that it offers more bang for your buck than Hotspot Shield or TunnelBear.

NordVPN specs

VPNs that didn’t make the cut

CyberGhost and ExpressVPN didn’t make it to our top three VPN picks, falling short behind Surfshark, NordVPN, and Private Internet Access for a number of reasons.

CyberGhost

CyberGhost’s server speeds were slow and inconsistent, especially when we selected VPN servers halfway around the globe. Although it’s expected, we’d like to say that a download speed of 53.7 Mbps on their Melbourne, Australia, server while connecting from the U.S. is unacceptable. 

Second, its Netflix streaming capabilities were not impressive and did not work in Canada, in addition to giving us an “ERR_ADDRESS_UNREACHABLE” error when we tried to connect to Netflix.com. Its unreliability was rather frustrating for us.

Furthermore, CyberGhost does not offer split tunneling, which can be a dealbreaker for some VPN users. CyberGhost also claims to have a no-logs policy, but it has not undergone an independent third-party audit to verify these claims. Did we also mention its customer support was the slowest and least helpful compared to the customer support of our top three VPN picks?

Read Our CyberGhost Review

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN almost made it to our top-three list of the best cheap VPNs. We thought ExpressVPN was a great all-purpose VPN for browsing the web securely, streaming, gaming, and torrenting. It has a no-logs policy as well, which is routinely audited by reputable third-party companies. These companies include PwC, KPMG, and the cybersecurity firm Cure53.

You can see why it was a close runner-up, but since our review is based on cheap VPNs, ExpressVPN fell short due to being on the more expensive side with prices ranging from $6.67–$12.95/mo, unlike our top cheap VPNs that all have a starting price under $5 per month.

Read Our ExpressVPN Review

Best cheap VPNs FAQs

Bottom line: The best VPNs for cheap

Our top VPNs for cheap are Surfshark for the penny-pincher who desires a high-quality VPN, PIA for torrent enthusiasts, and NordVPN for streaming and gaming. 

We hoped that CyberGhost would be as cool as its name, but it turned out to be our least favorite cheap VPN because it didn’t offer much value with its unreliable speeds and connections, lack of advanced security and privacy features, inability to stream Netflix in Canada, and poor customer support. Although ExpressVPN had excellent features and was a close runner-up, it didn’t make the cut because it was too expensive to list as a cheap VPN.

3 best cheap VPNs 2023

	Starting price	Best for	Learn more
Surfshark	Starts at $2.30/mo	Best overall	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review
Private Internet Access	Starts at $2.03/mo	Best for torrenting enthusiasts	Get PIA Read PIA Review
NordVPN	Starts at $3.99/mo	Best for streaming and gaming	Get NordVPN Read NordVPN Review

How we tested the best cheap VPNs

We ran a series of tests on five VPNs: CyberGhost, NordVPN, PIA, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN. These tests helped us determine how fast their VPN speeds were, their ability to stream Netflix, the reliability of their connectivity, the strength of their security, and the performance of their advanced features.

We researched each of their capabilities thoroughly before making a VPN price comparison and weighing their features against each other. After finishing all of our testing and research, we discovered only a few contenders were the best cheap VPNs. ExpressVPN was a close runner-up, while CyberGhost was too disappointing to be considered a contender.

Author Details

Mars Groves

About the Author

Mars is a cybersecurity professional and writer based in California. He serves as an Advisory Board Member for WEBGAP, specializing in browser isolation.