Best Cheapest VPN 2026: What You Actually Pay After Year One
The advertised price and the renewal price are often different numbers. Here's what every VPN we've reviewed actually costs once the intro period ends.
Published July 22, 2026· By Juan Martinez
Most “cheapest VPN” rankings compare intro prices — the heavily discounted rate for the first billing cycle, often on a 2- or 3-year plan. That’s not what most subscriptions actually cost, because on more than half the providers this site has reviewed, the price jumps once that first term renews — unless you’re planning to cancel and switch before every renewal, in which case the intro price is what matters to you instead. This ranks every VPN this site has reviewed by the renewal price, for anyone else.
What you actually pay at renewal
Two groups: providers that don’t raise the price at renewal, and providers that do. Sorted by price within each group, with footnotes where the evidence quality or the mechanics of an increase need a caveat.
Flat rate, no renewal jump
| Provider | Intro rate | Renewal price |
|---|---|---|
| hide.me | $2.69/mo | $2.69/mo* |
| OVPN | $4.22–4.99/mo | $4.22–4.99/mo |
| TunnelBear | $4.99/mo (1yr) | $4.99/mo** |
| IVPN | $5.00/mo | $5.00/mo |
| Mullvad | $5.72/mo | $5.72/mo |
| Windscribe | $5.75/mo | $5.75/mo* |
| Astrill | $12.50–30.00/mo | $12.50–30.00/mo |
*hide.me and Windscribe say so themselves (pricing page / blog) — not independently checked. **TunnelBear’s renewal charge is stated in the actual payment agreement, not just marketing copy.
Price jumps at renewal
| Provider | Cheapest intro rate | Renewal price | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIA | $3.33/mo (3yr)* | ~$4.70–4.75/mo | ~1.4x |
| CyberGhost | $2.19/mo (26mo)** | ~$4.75/mo | 2.2x |
| Surfshark | $1.99/mo (2yr) | $6.58/mo | 3.3x |
| ProtonVPN | $2.99/mo (2yr) | $6.99/mo | 2.3x |
| IPVanish | $2.19/mo (2yr) | $7.50/mo | 3.4x |
| ExpressVPN | $2.49/mo (2yr) | $8.33/mo | 3.3x |
| NordVPN | $3.49/mo (2yr) | $11.59/mo | 3.3x |
*PIA claims no increase; the $4.70–4.75/mo figure is from independent aggregators instead — an unresolved conflict, not a disproven claim.
**CyberGhost charges the same $56.94 both times — the rate only rises because the renewal cycle is 12 months instead of 26, not because it charges more.
The four with the strongest evidence of a non-jumping rate
$4.22–4.99/month depending on term, explicitly presented on OVPN’s own pricing page as a standing rate rather than a discounted intro offer with a renewal catch. Read the full OVPN review for jurisdiction and audit details.
Best for: the cheapest structurally-flat rate — visible on the page itself, no claim to trust — among providers with a genuine independent audit.
$4.99/month on the 1-year plan — and unlike every other provider on this list, the evidence isn’t a pricing page or a blog post, it’s the actual checkout authorization text: TunnelBear explicitly discloses it will charge $59.88 “for each renewal term,” in the same flow where you agree to pay it the first time. Read the full TunnelBear review for its audit history (8 consecutive years, real findings disclosed each time rather than clean reports).
Best for: the most directly-evidenced flat rate on this entire list — a contractual disclosure, not a claim.
$5.00/month on the Standard plan, billed annually, with no separate renewal figure — the price you pay is the price you keep paying. Read the full IVPN review for details on the Pro tier.
Best for: people who want Mullvad-style pricing simplicity with a couple of extra features available.
$5.72/month flat (€5.00), always, regardless of whether you sign up for a month or a decade — the simplest pricing structure of any provider this site has reviewed. Read the full Mullvad review for the rest of the picture.
Best for: people who want one number they never have to think about again.
What we didn’t headline, and why
Windscribe and hide.me are close — real no-increase claims, just not independently verified.
Astrill is honest about its pricing, but it’s the most expensive option here and has no independent audit.
PIA and CyberGhost are in the table above for different reasons — see the footnotes: one’s disputed, the other’s a same-dollar-shorter-cycle quirk, not a real trick.
Everything else (Surfshark, ProtonVPN, IPVanish, ExpressVPN, NordVPN) has a real, confirmed price increase at renewal. That doesn’t make them bad VPNs — several score higher overall than every provider recommended above — it just means they’re not cheap after year one.
Practical notes
- A discounted intro rate isn’t a lie, but it isn’t the number that matters for long-term cost. If you’re planning to keep a VPN subscription for more than one term, price by the renewal rate, not the sign-up page.
- “Flat rate” and “cheap” aren’t the same thing. Some of the flat-rate options here aren’t the single lowest number on the list — they’re the most predictable one. Decide which matters more for your situation.
- A provider’s own claim and independent verification aren’t the same thing either, as the footnotes above should make clear. Where this article couldn’t get past “the provider says so,” it says that plainly rather than rounding up to “confirmed.”
- Overall trust and features still matter. This article ranks by price alone — check each provider’s full review for audit history, jurisdiction, and feature tradeoffs before deciding.