Every time you use the internet, you leave a digital footprint behind which can be traced back to you. Your IP address in an indication of your location which might not be safe in terms of keeping you secure online. A best cheap VPN service is like an intermediary between you and the internet. If you use a public network, your privacy and security are already compromised. Since you never know what kind of encryption the public Wi-Fi is using, it is safe to assume that you are not safe on a public connection.
In order to secure your private and financial information, you need to use a Virtual Private Network. Not only a VPN guards you against cyber-attacks or hacking attempt – it will also ensure the ISP is not tracking your information or activity. A VPN’s job is to encrypt your data which means that the data being transmitted will be jumbled up so anyone trying to intercept your activity cannot understand.
VPN services exist in the market because there is an ever-growing need for privacy and security on the web. In order to learn the basics about VPN and how they work, head over to our guide “VPN for Beginners”. This piece will discuss the best cheap VPN services available for users.
Why pay for a VPN service?
There are several VPNs readily available for users. These include paid and best cheap VPN service. The problem with paid VPN is that you are never sure about the privacy of your activity. Since a VPN’s job is to hide your data from ISPs or any other external party – the VPN service can see what you are up to on the internet. If the VPN service you are using is free, you cannot trust it because every service provider funds its existence through some kind of monetary value. If the service is not charging users any money – it might be showing you several ads. Another bad practice for such VPNs is the data leakage to interested parties in order to earn money. Here we list down some reasons why you should consider buying a VPN rather than using a free one.
Pricing
There are different types of VPN prices available depending on the service provider. Some VPNs sell their brand based on pricing. If the price is appropriate for the service being provided, it attracts a lot of users. In a free VPN, you don’t pay anything but you compromise your security and data. The main reason why you would want to use a VPN is privacy and security. Free VPNs lure you in by offering complete anonymity and don’t even ask to sign up an account. This may sound very good in terms of keeping your identity hidden but remember – a VPN service provider stores all your activity logs online. Even if they don’t ask you a lot of information, they already have everything they need to sell your data to anyone interested for example, advertising firms.
Security
You get what you pay for. This is an important statement in terms of free VPNs. Since you are not paying anything you should not expect much. The data security is highly questionable as there is no way of knowing whether you are secure or not from the VPN service itself. For starters, most free VPNs just provide you single entry and exit point on the connection. This makes it easier for streaming websites like Netflix to easily ban your account.
Furthermore, there is only a single protocol being used which is PPTP or Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol – which is not considered unsafe. If you are using a free mobile VPN, chances are that your connection is not being encrypted at all. PPTP is fine if you want to access other country servers on small streaming websites. However, for streaming giants like Netflix and Hulu, you need a VPN which allows you better protocol options. Many good paid VPNs provide multiple options when it comes to selecting a VPN protocol.
Another big concern when we talk about security is the encryption bits. Free VPNs usually come with 128-bit data encryption whereas, paid versions to have 256-bit data encryption. The security of 128-bit data encryption is less as compared to the 256-bit data encryption. In order to better understand this, we can compare the code-cracking time of both data encryptions. It takes about 1.02 x 1018 years to crack the code for 128-bit data encryption. It takes about 3.31 x 1056 years to crack the code for 256-bit data encryption. This is evidence enough that you need 256-bit data encryption in order to secure your data online. Since hackers are growing stronger and breaking the weak or old encryptions, you need the latest encryption in order to secure your financial data online. You can get this level of security only in paid best cheap VPN services which is why you should avoid free ones.
Quality of service
No matter if a software is free or paid – the costs must be paid somehow. In order to cover up the costs and make money, VPN services can generate revenue through more than one way. If you use a best cheap VPN service, you will notice that it might have a slow speed or annoying ad pop-ups. Your VPN can be riddled with bottleneck speed or without proper encryption. Some free VPNs also put a usage cap on the users. Furthermore, a free VPN can jeopardize your security by selling your browsing activity to third parties.
Most reputable VPNs that are partly free for users have ad pop-ups which are how they pay the bills. The best cheap VPN services also have paid versions and only allow limited benefits in the free version. The quality of service you receive in a paid version cannot be matched by a free version. Some of these free services, which are generally reputable, put a limit on how much data the user gets, how quickly he gets it, or how many servers he can connect to before he has to start paying.
By contrast, fully paid VPN services usually provide much better quality-of-service. They offer unlimited data and hundreds (or thousands) of connection points and generally don’t throttle delivery rates. You also receive a dedicated customer support service and a 24-hour helpline in the paid version of a VPN.
User privacy
The most important reason why you want to use a VPN – is the privacy and security of your online activity. If you are using a free VPN, your information might be getting stored and the VPN service can see what you do and what you buy online. Your financial information is also visible to the service provider. Therefore, you escape the ISP’s spying only to fall into the hand of a VPN service provider.
You need to ensure that the service you are using mentions the logging policy. If there is a logging policy stating that they store the information for a few months – stay away from that VPN service. Furthermore, if the service provider does not mention any logging policy, you might compromise your online activity. When looking for an affordable VPN, look for a zero-log policy which means that the service provider will not log any of your online activity. Most good paid VPNs come with the zero-log policy.
Another important thing to consider is the origin of the service provider. You want to avoid using VPNs from countries like Russia or China where the laws require them to store information for a few months before actually deleting it. You need to ensure that your VPN service is based in countries where the laws on log keeping do not exist. Some of the VPN services are based in Panama or the British Virgin Islands. These services are much safer because they do not follow any law regarding log keeping and if they have a zero-log policy – you can believe it. However, you might have a hard time if you are not happy with the service and you want a refund. Since such VPN services are harder to track down.
Our Top Best cheap VPN Services
In order to better guide you, we have selected the best cheap VPN services that are guaranteed to work and fulfill every concern you have. Our experts have tested these services for several days to come up with the best ones in the market which are available at cheaper prices. These VPNs are good for streaming websites like Netflix and they are also good in providing the security for your browsing needs.
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Supports AES with 256 bit encryption. |
Visit Provider |
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AES 256 bit encryption. |
Visit Provider |
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5200+ VPN servers. |
Visit Provider |
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Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Browser support. |
Visit Provider |
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390+ VPN servers. |
Visit Provider |
Are These Cheap VPNs Safe?
VPNs are risky if you don’t know how to select the best one for you. Here we list down some features that make your VPN much safer. First, you need to ensure two things mentioned earlier, logging policy and country of origin for your selected VPN. Best Cheap VPN service do not have to be unsafe. If you opt for a reputable VPN service, even though it is cheap, it will provide you with good service. Here are our listed features that make an affordable VPN, safer.
- Overcoming Surveillance–If a cheap VPN can keep you safe from cyber-attacks and hacking attempt, you are in good hands. You don’t want hackers to know what you are doing online. In some cases, hackers also get access to webcams and they can monitor your every move, even though it is a rare case, you can never be so sure.
- Secure Browsing–The best cheap VPN services offer protection from DNS leakage. The VPN should be able to securely protect all the data being transmitted and ensure that no one can intercept it. The secure tunnels used by good VPNs keep your data safe and sound.
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P2P Sharing – Using torrents to download material on the web is one of the main reasons to use a VPN in the first place. You can get good quality download speed if your VPN has good connection servers.
- Perfect Encryption– Encryption method is very important when it comes to keeping your data safe from prying eyes. You need to make sure that your VPN – even if it’s cheap, comes with 256-bit encryption. This type of encryption is hard to crack as mentioned earlier. A cheap VPN with 256-bit encryption is good in terms of keeping your data secured.
- Anti-Hack–A good VPN understands how important digital footprints are. When we surf the web, our digital footprints are left behind which can easily be tracked. A best cheap VPN service can easily block any attempts to hack or steal information.
Bottom Line
VPNs are a necessity in these days due to hacking attempts and increased spying on internet activities. If you opt for a free VPN instead of a paid one, you put yourself in unnecessary harm. There is no doubt that free VPNs limit you in many ways. Your speed is limited, count of servers is limited and there is an increased chance of having your data sold to external parties. A best cheap VPN service can save you from being spied upon or hacking attempts. There are several good VPNs which we recommended in this guide. You can select any of these VPNs and enjoy cheap prices with good performance without compromising your privacy and security. You need to choose the VPN carefully as your data is confidential and even if the VPN provider has your data – it depends on the service whether they do something with it.
I hope that this guide on the best cheap VPN services successfully explained every relevant detail. Our provided VPNs have different payment plans- month, 1-year and for some even 2-year. You can choose the best plan which suits your budget and needs. Whether you use a VPN for streaming, browsing, P2P sharing or any other reason, you will find that our recommended service providers are best in the market with great emphasis on security and performance.
