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Prices checked September 2026 · 11 VPNs · every figure dated and sourced

What a VPN really costs once the intro price ends.

11 VPNs, ranked on audits, jurisdiction, what happened when someone came for their data, and the price you pay in year two — not the one on the poster. Every figure read off the provider's own checkout and dated. We have not speed-tested any of them, and the pages say so.

Get Private Internet Access — from $1.79/moWhich VPN is right for me?

In short: Private Internet Access (9.3/10, provisional) tops the ranking — audited, subpoenaed in court and found empty, unlimited devices, and the rare VPN whose price does not rise when the intro term ends. CyberGhost (9.1) and Proton VPN (8.9) follow. Scores come from audits, jurisdiction, court record, features and real three-year cost; speed and streaming are not in them, because we have not measured either. Prices checked September 12.

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Top rated VPNs: the ranking

  1. 2Streaming servers
    CyberGhost logo

    CyberGhost

    Servers labelled by streaming service, 45 days to change your mind, and no renewal surprise worth panicking about.

    9.1/ 10 rating
    Score breakdown
    • Privacy & security · 30%9.5
      Deloitte no-logs audit, 2024 · Romania · RAM-only · Quarterly transparency report — nothing obtained
    • Speed · 25%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Streaming · 15%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Apps & ease · 15%8.1
      10 platforms, 5 of 8 features
    • Value · 15%9.4
      $2.63/mo averaged over three years, once it renews at $4.31
    • Servers labelled by streaming service
    • 45-day refund on long plans, 14 on monthly
    • Deloitte-audited no-logs, RAM-only
    Visit CyberGhost · $1.99/mo

    45-day money-back — 45 days on the long plans but only 14 on the monthly one — we have not claimed one yet.

    Read the review
  2. 1Top rated overall
    Private Internet Access logo

    Private Internet Access

    Port forwarding, open-source apps, a court-proven no-logs record — and a renewal that does not rise.

    9.3/ 10 rating
    Score breakdown
    • Privacy & security · 30%9.0
      Deloitte no-logs audit, 2024 · United States · RAM-only · Subpoenaed more than once — nothing obtained
    • Speed · 25%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Streaming · 15%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Apps & ease · 15%9.5
      10 platforms, 8 of 8 features
    • Value · 15%9.5
      $1.79/mo averaged over three years, once it renews at $1.79
    • Renews at the same rate it sells at
    • Port forwarding, unlimited devices
    • Subpoenaed more than once, produced nothing
    Visit Private Internet Access · $1.79/mo

    30-day money-back — 30 days, new subscribers only — we have not claimed one yet.

    Read the review
  3. 3Best free tier
    Proton VPN logo

    Proton VPN

    Swiss jurisdiction, open-source audited apps, and the only free plan with a real audit behind it.

    8.9/ 10 rating
    Score breakdown
    • Privacy & security · 30%9.5
      Securitum no-logs audit, 2024 · Switzerland · disk servers · Fought data requests in court — nothing obtained
    • Speed · 25%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Streaming · 15%—
      Not scored — we have not measured this yet
    • Apps & ease · 15%8.8
      10 platforms, 6 of 8 features
    • Value · 15%7.8
      $4.66/mo averaged over three years, once it renews at $6.99
    • Free plan with no data cap
    • Open-source, audited apps
    • Fought data requests in court and won
    Visit Proton VPN · $3.49/mo

    30-day money-back — 30 days, published — we have not claimed one yet.

    Read the review

Ranks 4–10

See all 11 rated VPNs →
  1. #4ExpressVPN logo
    ExpressVPN8.8Widest platform support
  2. #5Surfshark logo
    Surfshark8.8Unlimited devices
  3. #6NordVPN logo
    NordVPN8.7Widest server network
  4. #7PureVPN logo
    PureVPN8.1Cheapest over three years
  5. #8Mullvad logo
    Mullvad6.7Privacy purist
  6. #9IPVanish logo
    IPVanish5.5Native Fire TV app
  7. #10Windscribe logo
    Windscribe5.2Build-a-plan
Expand the full top-10 comparison table
#VPNScoreSpeedLogs auditDevices2-yr priceRefund
1Private Internet Access
Top rated overall
9.3Not testedDeloitte, 2024Unlimited$1.79/mo30 daysVisit
2CyberGhost
Streaming servers
9.1Not testedDeloitte, 20247$1.99/mo45 daysVisit
3Proton VPN
Best free tier
8.9Not testedSecuritum, 202410$3.49/mo30 daysVisit
4ExpressVPN
Widest platform support
8.8Not testedKPMG, 202410$2.99/mo30 daysVisit
5Surfshark
Unlimited devices
8.8Not testedDeloitte, 2025Unlimited$2.49/mo30 daysVisit
6NordVPN
Widest server network
8.7Not testedDeloitte, 202410$3.49/mo30 daysVisit
7PureVPN
Cheapest over three years
8.1Not testedKPMG, always-on10$2.15/mo31 daysVisit
8Mullvad
Privacy purist
6.7Not testedAssured, 20245$5.80/mo14 daysVisit
9IPVanish
Native Fire TV app
5.5Not testedLeviathan, 2022Unlimited$2.49/mo30 daysVisit
10Windscribe
Build-a-plan
5.2Not testedPacketlabs, 2024Unlimited$5.75/mo7 daysVisit

We earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes a rating. How we make money

Our tool, no one else has it

Still not sure? Describe what you need and we'll pick one.

Emilia has our whole test set in front of her — every speed run, streaming result, audit and real renewal price. Tell her what the VPN is for and she'll name one and say why. She can't invent a figure, because everything she quotes is looked up as she answers.

Free, no sign-up, and she'll tell you when our own #1 is the wrong choice for you.

EEmiliaVPN assistant · AI, not a person

Prefer tapping to typing? Answer five quick questions instead — same data, no conversation. Or open the assistant full size.

Why our ratings are worth trusting

We check every price, renewal rate, refund window and device limit at the provider's own checkout, monthly and dated. The score comes from a rubric that runs on published facts — audits, jurisdiction, court record — and the code that runs it is public. A VPN can pay us a commission; it cannot buy a rank.

  • Independently owned
  • No sponsored rankings
  • Every price dated and sourced
Amelia AmeFounder & editorReads the checkouts, the audit reports and the terms nobody else opens, and publishes what each VPN actually charges once the introductory price runs out.About the author · How we test
  • 30%Privacy & securityAudit recency, jurisdiction, RAM-only servers, and what happened under legal pressure
  • 25%SpeedDownload, upload and latency — not measured yet, so not scored
  • 15%StreamingNetflix, Prime, Disney+, BBC, DAZN — not measured yet, so not scored
  • 15%Apps & easeEvery platform, kill switch, split tunnelling
  • 15%ValueWhat three years really costs once the intro rate ends, devices, refund terms
What we actually do
Checked monthly —
Prices, renewal rates, refund windows and device limits, read from each provider's own checkout.
Scored —
Privacy, apps and value, by the rubric in scripts/score.mjs.
Not scored —
Speed and streaming — we have not measured either yet, so neither is scored.
Where the record livesPrices checked September 12, 2026 · next October 12, 2026

Every price check is dated with the source checkout page recorded, in data/price-checks/ — and the scoring rubric is runnable code, not a black box: how we test.

What each really costs

Effective monthly price and total up front. Sorted cheapest first for the term you pick.

  1. 1
    PIA30-day refund · Billed $69.81 for 39 months, then autorenews at $69.81 every 3 years — the same rate
    $1.79/moCheapest
  2. 2
    CyberGhost45-day refund · Billed $51.74 for the first 26 months, then autorenews at $51.74 a year
    $1.99/moGet deal
  3. 3
    Surfshark30-day refund · Billed $67.23 for the first 27 months, then renews at $79.00 for a 1-year term. Surfshark does not put that figure on its pricing page — it is on a separate terms-of-service page, two clicks away
    $2.49/moGet deal
  4. 4
    ExpressVPN30-day refund · Billed $83.72 for the first 28 months, then autorenews at $99.95 a year
    $2.99/moGet deal
  5. 5
    Proton VPN30-day refund · Billed $83.76 for the first 24 months, then renews at $83.88 every 12 months
    $3.49/moGet deal
  6. 6
    NordVPN30-day refund · Billed $94.23 for the first 27 months, then renews at $139.08 a year
    $3.49/moGet deal

Streaming: not tested by us yet

The refund window below is the reliable way to check

Every provider here claims to unblock the big streaming services, and a marketing claim is worth exactly what it says: not much on its own. What a service blocks changes week to week, which is also why a one-off test result — ours included, once we run one — goes stale fast. The way to know for your account, on your plan, is to try it and cancel inside the window if it fails.

  • Private Internet Access logoPIA30-day refund
  • CyberGhost logoCyberGhost45-day refund
  • Proton VPN logoProton VPN30-day refund
  • ExpressVPN logoExpressVPN30-day refund
  • Surfshark logoSurfshark30-day refund

The services people ask us about most are Netflix US and Prime Video — these are the providers' own claims, not something we have tested; blocks change weekly.

How to choose a top rated VPN

Five checks, in the order that matters. They are the same five criteria behind every score on this page.

  1. 1

    Start with privacy, because it is the thing you cannot test yourself

    A top rated VPN service has an independent no-logs audit from the last two years, runs RAM-only servers and sits outside the Five Eyes. Every VPN in our top five has all three; the free VPNs that dominate app stores have none.

  2. 2

    Then speed — what decides it before you measure it yourself

    We have not run our own speed test yet, so nothing here is ranked on it. What predicts it: WireGuard support — every VPN in the top five has it — and whether the provider has a server near you, since distance costs more bandwidth than anything else does. Run the free speed test on this page once you are connected and compare it to your line with the VPN off.

  3. 3

    Check it unblocks what you actually watch

    We have not tested streaming either. A provider's own claim is a starting point, not an answer — what a service blocks changes week to week. Try the one you actually want inside the refund window, and cancel if it fails.

  4. 4

    Count your devices and read the renewal price

    Unlimited-device plans (Surfshark, PIA) cover a family; the 2-year price on the podium is the introductory rate and every card says what it renews at. Use the plan-length toggle to see the true cost.

  5. 5

    Use the refund window

    Most VPNs here publish a 30-day money-back window — CyberGhost 45, Mullvad only 14. Install it, run the leak test on this page, stream something, and cancel inside the window if anything disappoints. Do it in the first week, not the last.

Looking for a free VPN? Read this first.

Most free VPNs either cap your data or sell your browsing — someone pays for those servers. The one free plan we rate is Proton VPN Free — no data cap, no logs, three countries. For streaming or torrenting you will need a paid plan; the cheapest top rated option is under $2.50 a month.

Safe free VPNsGet Proton VPN Free

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Top rated VPN: quick answers

What is the top rated VPN in 2026?

Private Internet Access, at 9.3 out of 10. It has an audited no-logs policy that has also been tested in court — in US cases the company could not produce logs because none existed — open-source apps, unlimited devices, and the only long plan here that does not jump at renewal: $69.81 for 39 months, then $69.81 again. It pays us nothing, because we have not been accepted into its programme.

What makes a VPN "top rated" on this site?

One published rubric, applied identically to every VPN, over facts you can check yourself: the audit and who did it, the jurisdiction, what happened when a court or a police force actually came for the data, the platforms and features, and what three years really costs once the introductory term ends. Speed and streaming carry weights too, but we have not measured either, so they are left out and every score is marked provisional. The rubric is runnable code — scripts/score.mjs — and commissions never touch it.

Is a paid VPN really better than a free one?

For most people, yes — but not for the reason usually given. A free VPN has to pay for its servers somehow, and the common answers are a data cap, ads, or selling your browsing history. Proton VPN Free is the exception we point to: no data cap, no ads, and the same audited no-logs policy as the paid plan. Every paid pick here publishes a refund window, so the real cost of finding out you were wrong is a few days of attention.

Which top rated VPN is the cheapest?

Private Internet Access, and it is not close once you look past the first term: $69.81 for 39 months, and the same $69.81 when it renews. CyberGhost and PureVPN start cheaper per month but renew at 2.2x and 1.9x. Use the plan-length toggle above to see the real monthly cost at 1, 12 and 24 months, including what each renews at.

How often does the ranking change?

Whenever the evidence does. Prices, renewal rates, refund windows and device limits are re-checked at each provider's own checkout monthly, and the date of the last check is at the top of the page. Audits and court records move more slowly, and the ranking moves with them — the rubric does the reordering, not an editor.