Cheapest monthly VPNs in 2024

A monthly VPN is beneficial in several cases, including traveling, unblocking geo-restricted event streams, or simply testing the VPN capabilities. Yet, a 1-month VPN plan is often much pricier than a yearly one, making it more difficult to avoid a long-term commitment.

But even though most premium VPNs offer either money-back guarantees or free trials with their yearly subscriptions, numerous users are afraid of getting charged without their consent. As an alternative, they choose a monthly subscription.

With this in mind, we have tested over 30 reliable VPNs and selected the 6 cheapest monthly VPNs of this year. We ensured they were secure, fast, and overall offered a fair price-to-quality ratio. So, read on and choose a VPN for you.

Top 5 best cheap monthly VPNs

1. ExpressVPN – The best cheapest monthly VPN overall
2. NordVPN – Fastest VPN with an affordable monthly subscription
3. Surfshark – Top cheapest 1-month VPN for families 
4. Private Internet Access – Cheap 1-month VPN with the most servers
5. CyberGhost – Cheapest monthly streaming VPN

The best VPNs with cheapest monthly plan in December

Although you’re looking for a short-term solution, it’s necessary to choose the best VPN service that offers a cheap monthly plan along with advanced protection, stable connections, and apps for all your devices.

Here are our top 6 VPNs with the cheapest monthly plans.

1. ExpressVPN – Our top cheap monthly VPN

ExpressVPN

1

9.7

/10

Visit ExpressVPN

Pros & cons

• Has a built-in tracker blocker
• Works on up to 8 devices at once
• Ensures speedy network connection
• Unblocks all popular streaming services
• Risk-free 30-day trial with a yearly plan

• 7-day free trial is available via Apple App or Google Play stores

ExpressVPN is the cheapest monthly VPN provider, costing $12.95 (or from $4.99/month with a yearly plan). Considering the quality of the service you receive and the price tendency of the 1-month VPN market, this provider ensures an excellent price-to-quality ratio.

ExpressVPN has a solid set of features, which includes its proprietary Lightway tunneling protocol, top-notch encryption ciphers, a functional kill switch, and even a Threat Manager, which effectively blocks online trackers.

More so, it is one of the best VPNs for bypassing geo-blocks, as it effortlessly unlocks various Netflix catalogs, BBC iPlayer, ESPN+, and other services. In case you want to stream on another device than a smartphone or a computer, you may use the MediaStreamer feature, which works even on non-VPN smart TVs or streaming devices.

You can use ExpressVPN on up to 8 devices simultaneously. It has a free 7-day trial version that’s available via Android and iOS devices. But what’s even better is that all of its plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read more about the provider in our ExpressVPN review.

2. NordVPN – Fast VPN with a cheap 1-month plan

NordVPN

1

9.6

/10

Visit NordVPN

Pros & cons

• Has a built-in ad and tracker blocker
• Ensures stable and speedy connections
• Works on all popular devices, including smart TVs
• Works in China

• No refunds on Apple/iTunes purchases
• Free trial is available via Android devices

NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs on the market that offers you a 1-month subscription starting from $12.99. Although getting its 2-year plan is even more tempting, as it costs from $3.46/month. Nonetheless, all NordVPN’s plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The provider uses a proprietary NordLynx tunneling protocol and retains over 90% of the baseline connection speed. You can use this lightning-fast speed for casual browsing or streaming geo-restricted content on platforms like Netflix, Channel 4, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime Video, and more.

NordVPN allows you to have up to 10 simultaneous connections and it works on all devices, even those that can’t have a VPN installed, thanks to the Smart DNS feature.

If you want, you can unlock even more NordVPN features, like a password manager or encrypted storage, with its Plus or Complete monthly plans for up to $12.99/month. And if you need to take a glance at the service first, you can use a 7-day free trial that’s available via Android devices.

Learn more about the features in our NordVPN review.

3. Surfshark – Cheap monthly VPN with unlimited simultaneous connections

Surfshark 

1

9.5

/10

Visit Surfshark

Pros & cons

• Unlimited simultaneous connections per all plans
• Beginner-friendly interface
• Works on devices that can’t have a VPN installed 
• Has a 30-day money-back guarantee

• Located in the 14-Eyes country – the Netherlands
• Apple apps lack certain features

Surfshark’s monthly plan costs $15.45 per month, but it has a wide variety of security features and unlimited simultaneous connections, making it the best choice for a household. What’s also important to note is that Surfshark’s yearly subscriptions are some of the cheapest on the market, starting from $1.99/month.

Apart from unlimited connections, this provider is also one of the most secure VPNs on the market. It uses an unbreakable AES-256 encryption, has a functional kill switch, and offers extras, like the NoBorders feature, which helps you to use a VPN in heavily restricted regions.

Additionally, you will have excellent connection speeds with the top-notch WireGuard tunneling protocol. And Surfshark has no issues with unblocking all major streaming services, including Max, Hulu, and others.

The monthly plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee, which you can also combine with a 7-day trial via Android, iOS, and macOS devices. To receive additional antivirus features, you’d need to get a Surfshark One 1-month subscription for $17.95.

Check our in-depth Surfshark review.

4. Private Internet Access – Affordable short-term VPN for travel

Private Internet Access

1

9.4

/10

Visit Private Internet Access

Pros & cons

• Allows unlimited parallel connections
• Has a built-in ad blocker
• Supports anonymous payment methods

• Based in the US (5 Eyes Alliance country)
• Unstable connection speeds

Private Internet Access is one of the cheapest monthly VPNs that comes with an impressive global server fleet. A monthly plan is priced at $11.99, while yearly plans start from $2.03 per month, yet both options provide you with a good selection of security features and reliable online protection.

It has native applications for almost all major platforms and allows up to 10 simultaneous connections per subscription. No matter the device you’re on, you can choose among multiple protocols, such as WireGuard and OpenVPN.

With top-notch AES encryption, a kill switch, split tunneling, and DNS leak protection, it’ll be virtually impossible for any third party to decipher your encrypted online traffic. Plus, it’s a good option for secure torrenting, as it provides you with an integrated SOCKS5 proxy and supports P2P file sharing on all of its servers.

The provider offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with all of its subscription plans and you can also use a 7-day free trial on its mobile apps. 

Check our detailed review of PIA to learn more about its features.

5. CyberGhost – Cheap month-to-month streaming VPN

CyberGhost

1

9.3

/10

Visit CyberGhost

Pros & cons

• Has dedicated servers for streaming
• Extended 45-day money-back guarantee
• 11,500+ servers in 100 countries

• Unstable WireGuard performance on macOS
• Apps for Apple devices are weaker

CyberGhost is a great month-to-month VPN for streaming. For the price of $12.99, you receive an impressive selection of servers worldwide and specialized servers for streaming, gaming, or torrenting. And yet, you can have all this much cheaper by choosing a yearly subscription plan from $2.03/month.

Some other dedicated servers you get are obfuscated ones that help you mask a VPN connection. More so, there’s a built-in ad blocker and a dedicated IP service.  

With the help of specialized streaming servers and good connection speeds, during our tests, we could easily unblock and stream Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ lag-free.

Unlike other VPNs, CyberGhost’s monthly plan has a 45-day money-back guarantee. It has a 24-hour free trial for every platform and you can avail it without having to provide your credit card details.

Read our in-depth CyberGhost review to learn more.

6. IPVanish – Customizable VPN that has an inexpensive single-month plan

IPVanish

1

9.1

/10

Visit IPVanish

Pros & cons

• Allows unlimited simultaneous connections
• Has a customizable kill switch feature
• Unblocks Netflix and other streaming services worldwide

• 30-day money-back guarantee only for yearly subscriptions
• Doesn’t work in China

IPVanish is another cheap monthly VPN that has a robust set of features. It costs $12.99 per month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Although both monthly and yearly (from $2.19/month prices are great, the provider’s apps may be complicated for a beginner, making it a less popular choice.

Nevertheless, it’s a great choice for those who like to tinker with their VPNs because it provides a lot of customization. It’s equipped with many security features like split tunneling, a kill switch, and a WireGuard tunneling protocol, which combines security with fast speeds.

Furthermore, IPVanish allows unlimited simultaneous connections and has applications for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and other popular devices. Plus, it effectively unblocks different Netflix libraries, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and more.

To try the VPN first, you can use a 7-day free trial on smartphones or subscribe to a yearly subscription and benefit from a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Learn more about the features in our IPVanish review.

Comparison of the cheapest monthly VPNs

If you’re running out of time and need to choose a cheap 1-month VPN quickly, we’ve got you covered. Below, you will find each VPN's features compared in one place:

Methodology: how we tested these VPNs

We tested 35 VPNs to see which one has the best and cheapest monthly plan. Here are the things we considered while testing them:

• Price – Price was the most important factor, but we also wanted to make sure the VPN provides good value for money. There’s no point in a VPN being cheap if it’s not able to protect your data.

• Security features – Nearly equally important to the price is your protection. A robust VPN should include top-notch security features, like AES encryption, and ensure unbreakable online safety.

• Speed – Every VPN on the list has WireGuard (except ExpressVPN and NordVPN, which use their proprietary versions), which is considered to be the fastest and most secure tunneling protocol. A good VPN connection is crucial for casual browsing, streaming, and other activities.

• No-logs policy – A VPN that doesn't have a no-logs policy can’t ensure complete online privacy. All of the services on our list have had their policies audited by independent firms and the top 5 ones have RAM-based servers so there’s no way for them to record your data.
• Trials and money-back guarantee – Having a free trial version and a money-back guarantee ensures you can try a VPN service before committing to it. All the VPNs we’ve listed have a free 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

How to subscribe to a 1 month VPN plan?

Getting a 1 month VPN plan is easy. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Choose a VPN with the best price-to-quality ratio. We’d pick ExpressVPN, now 61% off.
2. Subscribe to a monthly plan. 
3. Download and install the VPN app on your device.
4. Connect to a server in your preferred location.
5. Your online traffic is now secure!

Why do I need a VPN for a month or two?

Getting a VPN for a month or two is a convenient way to try it out and see if you’re ready to commit for a longer period of time. However, there are some other reasons why you might need one for a month:

• Testing multiple VPNs – If you’re confused about which VPN to get, you can buy multiple services and test all of them. Once you’ve figured out which one you like the most, you can get a refund for others and upgrade to the one that suits you.

• Traveling purposes – If you’re traveling for only a month, you don’t have to buy a yearly subscription to a VPN. You could just get it for a month. This way, you can easily access content from back home and protect your online traffic when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi connections.

• Streaming geo-restricted content – Most people buy a VPN so they can stream movies and TV shows that aren’t available in their country. By getting a VPN for a month, you can change your IP address and watch movies or TV shows from other countries.
• Unblocking sites in restricted regions – A lot of the sites and apps we use daily are blocked or restricted in heavily censored countries like China and Russia. If you’re traveling to those countries for a month, you can get a VPN to not lose access to them.

Should I consider a long-term VPN subscription?

Yes, you should consider a long-term VPN subscription because it’s usually much cheaper than the monthly plan. You can see the monthly and yearly prices of our top 3 VPNs compared right below:

Other VPNs have a similar pricing structure so their yearly plans tend to be cheaper than the monthly ones. With most VPN services, there’s no difference in the features that you get. In fact, it’s very likely that you’d get more features with yearly plans than monthly ones.

Overall, we recommend getting a monthly VPN when you’re planning a trip abroad or want to test a new VPN service. In other cases, 1-year or 2-year subscription plans simply offer you a better price-to-quality ratio.

Why are monthly VPN subscriptions so expensive?

One-month VPN subscription plans are usually pricier than yearly plans because VPN providers want to make their users commit for a longer period of time. This way, a VPN is assured about getting permanent income. 

Consequently, long-term subscription plans are temptingly affordable and may even come with extra bonuses, for instance, 30-day money-back guarantees or certain features. Moreover, often impressive deals come with long-term subscriptions only, for instance, 3 months for free as a gift to your order.

Bottom line

Monthly VPN subscriptions are efficient when you’re planning to go abroad, use public Wi-Fi, or when choosing a new VPN provider. However, most VPNs make their 1-month plans pricier than long-term subscriptions, making it complicated to find a cheap monthly VPN.

After completing thorough tests, we found that there are VPNs with affordable monthly plans that also offer good value. Out of 35 VPN providers, our top cheap monthly VPN is ExpressVPN. You can get it for $12.95 and enjoy a secure connection on up to 8 devices at once.

It’s also important to note that you can test a VPN risk-free by using a 30-day money-back guarantee or a free trial. This way, you can avoid losing your savings or committing to a VPN service.