For instance the VPN I currently use costs about $273 annually. Some other VPN providers offer their services at less than $10 for an annual subscription. Why is there such a huge disparity in price among providers? Do more expensive VPN’s provide better speeds and security than the less expensive vpn’s?
At the top end you are going to get those that over-charge because some people think paying more is proof that they are getting better service, but for the most part services cost more because they simply are better. Putting a real server that you (the VPN provider) control into a rack somewhere and getting peering costs money. Setting these up in lots of different locations and getting a large selection of IP blocks so that your exit addresses are harder to find/categorize costs money. Running fat pipes so that users are not slowed down too much when using the service costs money. Having experienced people around to run everything costs money. I think you get the picture.
Cheap fly-by-night operators will make a lot of the same claims as legitimate shops, but even a casual observer will be able to figure out that they don’t actually have servers in all of the different countries they claim (putting you at risk), that they only have a few servers (putting you at risk), or that they are just running on virtual servers from some third-party cloud provider that means the security assurances are much weaker (putting you at risk.) Some of the low-cost providers are also actively logging you and subsidize the cost of service by selling your metadata to data collection agencies.
Price is not the only indicator of a quality VPN provider, but when shopping around you are better off if you start by ordering by price and removing the top and the bottom of the selection from consideration immediately – the top won’t be worth the price and the bottom are scum.
Which jurisdiction do they operate from? It is very pricey. I would look at the recommended VPNs on the VPN mega list.
What kind of speeds do you get?
It may well be that they offer 24/7 support, unlimited devices and top speeds, but it’s not uncommon or most providers to offer something pretty close to that anyway. The other thing that can drive up pries is if they own their own massive datacentres (costly) or rent servers (cheaper).
But overall, it’s probably because they can and people pay for it. Marketing is key
Also if you go to privacytools.io there are recommended providers who cost far less than yours and have great speeds AND security
The best VPN service I had was 11-12 a month with less users so it was faster and you could browse normally without any issue.
I bought a three-year one for $75 and a lot of people you it so you’ll have to deal with captcha’s a lot and switch to different servers. The servers are usually busier during weekends and after work hours on weekdays.
VPNs are as good at protecting privacy nowadays as standing in a slightly tinted glass room.
It makes getting to you a little bit harder per se, but you leave so many bread crumbs and finger prints that it’s not at all difficult.
You are as anonymous as a scooby doo villain. So all in all it’s not worth it to pay for any VPNs because they really do so little.
With the scooby doo analogy, they mask you is all, but we all know it’s not all that hard to follow the trails and unmask the villain(user).
If you are using a Google Account while searching on Google, you might as well just turn off your VPN because Google already knows everything you were “trying to hide from them”
If you access Facebook, might as well turn off your VPN.
If you’re using a VPN to connect to a public network? Don’t connect to a public network, just don’t, it’s not secure and your device is at risk no matter what.
If you’re worried about the FBI or something tracking you. No VPN is going to stop them.
It may prevent amateur hackers but anyone with any knowledge, it might just take them a few minutes extra.
I say all this to end with. Use a free VPN or don’t use a VPN. It’s a waste of money. True privacy and protection comes from never having accessed Google, never having created a Facebook account, and never having anything with location or internet capabilities.
I use VPNs for the sole purpose of bypassing network restrictions such as I can’t open Snapchat on work WiFi. That’s all it is good for and any mention of privacy protection is just flashy advertising to convince people to buy it.
Typically yes, you get more bang for your buck, as the saying goes. Which service do you use that charges so much, though?
Are we allowed to mention vendors on this sub?
Thanks, this is very informative! I’ve been very happy with my current vendor’s speeds and security but the price kinda is a drawback and makes me reconsider renewing.
This is all generally true, but I also wanted to add that larger VPN providers will have the advantage of economies of scale. A small shop cannot get servers and peering in bulk, can’t hire dedicated support teams to support their large userbase, etc and they wind up having much higher costs and overhead.
Some VPN providers also spend substantially more on marketing, research and development, and giving back to the open source community than others, which all add to costs.
On a 1 Gbps fibre network I get 900 Mbps easily with my current provider. Idk where they’re based out of though!
Thanks for the tip! I don’t know if I’m allowed to mention vendors here but the one I 've been using for a few years now is DoubleVPN. Although I’ve been very happy with the service I doubt I’m renewing when my sub expires though mainly because of the price.
You’re overpaying. Nowadays vpn’s cost $5-10/month
Just don’t link it. Mentioning it should adhere to rule #5 of being ‘vendor neutral’…
I don’t see why not? But basically, price can be disconnected from quality. All good services will have higher prices generally, but many bad ones will also have a higher price.
I’d like to know too! PM me
Holy moly… I just looked at their website. Never heard of them before. But that’s a lot of money simply for a multi hop service… they have those from quality companies that are 5 dollars a month lol… message me if you want to talk about because I forgot what sub we are in and we aren’t allowed to say names (such a stupid rule imo). I’d edit it out of your post.
you should pay no more than 99 usd a year for a vpn…
2 vpn’ are that price… expressvpn and ivpn…