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It’s Christmas Eve and holiday VPN deals are multiplying. Now is the perfect time to purchase a last-minute subscription for yourself or a loved one. With access to a virtual private network (VPN)you can stream TV shows and events from around the world, protect your information from hackers and thwart online trackers. It may be cute that Santa sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake, but Russian hacker collectives and Amazon’s marketing department don’t really share St. Nick’s charm.
Although we strongly recommend using a VPNjumping on the first deal that comes along could find you stuck with a subpar app. Beyond that, even respectable VPNs sometimes set their prices deceptively, with advertised deals not always being as available as they appear to be.
Despite this, great deals are on the table. For the end of year celebrations, many best VPNs – including our top pick, Proton VPN – offer live end-of-year deals that can save you between 67-88% on annual subscriptions. Most of these discounts only apply if you sign up for a year or more, but as long as you’re comfortable with a service before taking the plunge, committing makes sense. You pay more up front, but if you divide the cost by the subscription months, it works out much cheaper over time.
Best VPN Deals
Proton
This Swiss VPN is currently Engadget’s top VPN of choice, for reasons I’ve outlined in a comprehensive article. Proton VPN Review. It’s great to use across all platforms, making it fantastic for households with multiple devices. It keeps your browsing speeds fast and your latencies low, even over long distances. For those who need a VPN to stay anonymous, Proton VPN is the only service that implements full disk encryption, meaning it can handle all your traffic without Proton itself seeing it.
ExpressVPN Basic – $97.72 for a two-year subscription with four months free (73% off): It is one of the best VPNs, especially for new users, who will find its apps and website hassle-free on all platforms. In the tests for my ExpressVPN Reviewit reduced my download speeds by less than 7% and managed to change my virtual location 14 times out of 15. In short, it’s a great overall service that only suffers from being a little overpriced – which is why I get so excited every time I find it has a decent deal. This discount, which entitles you to 28 months of ExpressVPN service, represents a savings of 73%. Please note, however, that it will be renewed at a price of $99.95 per year.
ExpressVPN Advanced – $125.72 for a two-year subscription with four months free (67% off): ExpressVPN recently divide your prices into several levelsbut they all still have similar discounts for long use. In addition to the top-tier VPN service, advanced users get two additional simultaneous connections (for a total of 12), the ExpressVPN Keys password manager, advanced ad and tracker blocking, identity protection features, and 50% off an AirCove router. As above, note that it renews at $119.95 per year.
NordVPN Basic – $80.73 for a two-year subscription with three months free (74% off): NordVPN gets the most important elements of a VPN right. It’s fast, it doesn’t leak any of your data, and it’s great for changing your virtual location. I noted in my NordVPN review that it always connects quickly and includes a support page that makes it easy to get live help. NordVPN includes many great features, like servers that instantly connect you to Tor. This holiday deal gives you 74% off the two-year plan, which also includes three additional months.
NordVPN Plus – $105.03 for a two-year subscription with three months free (74% off): In another holiday discount, NordVPN also discounted its Plus subscription by 74%. For just a little more, you get a powerful ad and tracking blocker that can also detect malware downloads, as well as access to the NordPass password manager. A Plus plan also adds a data breach scanner that checks the dark web for your sensitive information.
Surfshark Starter — $53.73 for a two-year subscription with three months free (87% off): This is the “basic” level of Surfsharkbut it includes the entire VPN; everything about Surfshark One is an added bonus. With this subscription, you will currently benefit from some of the most advanced features in the VPN world. Surfshark can rotate your IP address constantly to help you evade detection. It even lets you choose your own input and output nodes for a double-hop connection. All of this has an almost invisible impact on download speeds. With this year-round deal, you can save 87% on 27 months of Surfshark.
Surfshark One – $61.83 for a two-year subscription with three months free (88% off): A VPN is good, but it alone is not enough to protect your data. Surfshark One adds several apps that boost your security beyond just the VPN service, including Surfshark Antivirus (scans devices and downloads for malware) and Surfshark Alert (alerts you whenever your sensitive information shows up in a data breach), as well as Surfshark Search and Alternative ID from the tier below. This super low deal gives you 88% off all these features. If you upgrade to Surfshark One+, you’ll also get data deletion via Incogni, but the price increases enough that it’s not really worth it in my eyes.
CyberGhost – $56.94 for a two-year subscription with two months free (83% off): CyberGhost has some of the best automations you’ll see on any VPN. With its Smart Rules system, you can determine how its apps respond to different types of Wi-Fi networks, with exceptions for specific networks you know by name. Typically, you can set it to automatically connect, disconnect, or send you a message asking what to do. CyberGhost’s other best feature is its streaming servers: I’ve found both better video quality and more consistent unblocking when using them on streaming sites. Currently, you can get 26 months of CyberGhost for 83% off the usual price.
hide.me — $69.95 for a two-year subscription with four months free (75% off): Hide.me is a great free VPN — in fact, it’s my favorite on the market, even with EventVPN and the free version of Proton VPN in competition. If you want to upgrade to its paid plan, the two-year subscription offers great savings. Hide.me works well as a no-frills beginner VPN, with apps and a server network it frankly should charge more.
Private Internet Access – $79 for a three-year subscription with four months free (83% off): With this offer, you can benefit from 40 months of Private Internet Access (PIA) for just under $2 per month – an 83% discount on its monthly price. Despite being so cheap, PIA has plenty of features, including its own DNS servers, a built-in ad blocker, and automation powers to rival CyberGhost. However, internet speeds may fluctuate when you are connected.
What Makes a Good VPN Deal
Virtually all VPNs offer deep discounts on their long-term subscriptions throughout the year, with even deeper discounts during occasions like the holidays. The one notable exception is Mullvad, the hot dog of Costco’s VPNs (that’s a compliment, to be clear). When there are constantly huge discounts, it can be difficult to know if you’re actually getting a good deal. The best way to save more is to look for seasonal deals, student discounts, or exclusive sales like Proton VPN coupon for Engadget readers.
A trick that VPNs often use is to add additional months to an introductory offer, which lowers the average monthly price even further. When it comes time to renew, you are usually no longer eligible for those extra months. Often you can’t even renew for the same base period. For example, you may only be able to renew a two-year subscription for one year. If you plan to keep a VPN indefinitely, check the fine print to see how much it will cost per month after the first renewal and make sure it fits your budget.
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