The VPN Price Index 2026

VPN prices & speeds, ranked (2026-06-26)

No coupon code required — each discount applies automatically through the link. Prices verified as of 2026-06-26; speeds from the VPN speed test (Q2 2026). Raw data: vpn-prices.json.

What the average VPN actually costs in 2026

On a 2-year plan, the average VPN in our index costs $2.28/mo and the median is $2.11/mo — and the gap between the cheapest (TotalVPN, $1.59/mo) and the most expensive (NordVPN, $3.09/mo) is only about $1.50 a month. That compression is the single most useful thing to understand about VPN pricing: the well-known providers have converged on a very narrow band, so the headline price is rarely the deciding factor. The number that looks dramatic — “up to 88% off” — is measured against an inflated monthly list price, not against what rivals charge. Once everyone is between $1.59 and $3.09 a month, what you are really choosing between is speed, device limits, server network and refund terms.

Why list prices and real prices differ so much

Almost every VPN advertises a monthly price of $10–$15 and then offers a steep discount — an average of 81% across our index — to anyone who commits to a 1-, 2- or 3-year plan. The discount is real, but two details matter. First, it is calculated against the month-to-month rate that very few people actually pay, which is what makes the percentage look enormous. Second, it only applies to the first term: every provider here renews at a higher standard rate unless you cancel beforehand, so the $1.59–$3.09/mo prices in the table are introductory. There are no manual coupon codes involved; the discount is applied automatically at checkout, so any site promising a “secret VPN code” is almost always pointing at the same automatic price.

Price vs speed: what you actually pay per Mbps

Because we measure download speed on the same benchmark for every provider, the index lets you read price against performance rather than in isolation. The fastest VPN in our Q2 2026 testing is ExpressVPN at 478 Mbps on a 1000 Mbps line, but several cheaper providers land within a few percent of it — which is why “fastest” and “most expensive” are not the same VPN. For most people the practical takeaway is that any provider in the top half of the speed column is more than fast enough for 4K streaming, gaming and large downloads, so it is safe to optimise for price, device count or guarantee length instead. The full methodology and the regional long-haul numbers live on our VPN speed test page.

Cheapest isn't always best value

The lowest price in the index is TotalVPN at $1.59/mo, but “cheapest” and “best value” are different questions. Value depends on what comes with the price: a few providers in this table allow unlimited simultaneous devices, which makes them dramatically cheaper per device for a household even when their headline price is not the lowest. Others bundle security extras — malware filtering, an ad blocker, a password manager — that you would otherwise pay for separately. And the money-back window matters too: CyberGhost gives you 45 days to test risk-free, the longest of any provider here. Our overall top pick on balance of price, speed and features is ExpressVPN (9.9/10) at $2.79/mo.

How we compile the VPN Price Index

Every figure in this index is the live value we use across the rest of the site — there is one source of truth, so the price quoted here always matches the price on each provider's deal and review page. We re-verify prices and discounts directly against each provider's checkout every month, and immediately whenever a provider changes its pricing, then recompute the median, average, range and average-discount figures from the 8 providers we currently rank. Download speeds come from our own benchmark — multiple timed runs per provider on the same 1000 Mbps reference line (US East (wired fiber)) using each provider's recommended WireGuard-family protocol. Prices were last verified 2026-06-26; speeds were last tested 2026-06-11. We buy our own subscriptions and earn affiliate commissions if you subscribe through our links, which never changes the numbers or the ranking order.

VPN pricing — frequently asked questions