It’s better when VPN vendors make their money from their customers rather than from shadowy marketing or even criminal enterprises. If you want better protection, consider choosing an option from our list of the highest quality VPNs. But there are cheap VPN providers that can get the job done.
I rounded up the top three best budget VPN services that are worth checking out for yourself.  Atlas VPN is an exceptionally affordable VPN – and yes, it actually works well. It also doesn’t skimp on privacy, and we were (happily) surprised that Atlas VPN enlisted the services of an outside company to perform a security audit. That’s good practice. Compared to higher-priced VPN providers, the number of locations offered by Atlas VPN is relatively limited. The company operates about 750 servers in 38 countries, compared to the thousands of servers operated by more expensive competitors. Atlas also offers a free VPN service, which it claims has no speed limit. The problem with the free service? You’re limited to 5 GB a month and only three server locations, so it’s of limited use for most people. We like that company uses a warrant canary, which informs you whether or not the company has been asked to cooperate with government investigations. Atlas VPN is a service of Peakstart Technologies Inc, a US company registered in Delaware and a subsidiary of Nord Security Ltd. which owns NordVPN and Surfshark VPN. The KeepSolid VPN Unlimited service has a unique pricing model, offering a single price for lifetime access. With a lifetime subscription, you get a far better deal than other VPN product offers. But there is some nuance to how this deal works, and KeepSolid VPN Unlimited isn’t the best VPN for everyone. Exclusive offer: Lifetime access for only $39.99 If you sign up through KeepSolid’s website, the lifetime subscription costs $99.99 for 5 devices, but you’ll get a 30-day money-back guarantee. With ZDNET’s offer, the 5-device lifetime subscription drops to $39.99 (or $59.99 for 10 devices), and you need to redeem the code within 30 days of purchase. The tradeoff? You won’t get the money-back guarantee; instead, you’ll have 15 days to receive store credit for unredeemed purchases. KeepSolid’s VPN Unlimited also has an inconvenient process for adding/removing devices once you hit your limit. You can delete devices, but only one per week. If you need to switch out an old phone and laptop in the same week, then you’ll have to wait to add both to your lifetime plan. ZenMate VPN offers service via a simple, well-designed app. There are also installation guides for using ZenMate with smart TVs, routers, and gaming platforms. That said, ZenMate lacks a lot of the features available with other providers, like split tunneling, and an option for a dedicated or static IP address. A ZenMate Ultimate subscription costs $59 for three years. Plus, you can get three months free, which reduces the monthly costs to $1.51. This makes ZenMate one of the more affordable VPN services out there. I do have concerns following an exposé posted by my CNET colleague Rae Hodge. In it, she points out that ZenMate was purchased in 2018 by notorious scareware provider Kape Technologies. The company claims it has given up its evil ways, but before installing ZenMate on your systems, I recommend you read Rae’s article. ZenMate is a German company founded by Simon Specka and Markus Hanel. The company was incubated in the Axel Springer Plug and Play Accelerator with the support of German venture capital funding. If you want to learn more about how VPNs work and how to choose the best one for you, check out our guide: What is a VPN is and how does it work? Also: The fastest VPN services may surprise you  For ZDNET to recommend a VPN, it needs to meet certain minimum standards, like having a kill switch. We also looked at the server networks, money-back guarantee periods, privacy policies, and number of simultaneous connections allowed. But now the negative impact is almost unnoticeable, especially with the fastest VPN services. Most (but not all) VPN providers also limit the number of devices you can connect to simultaneously, so you may have to pick and choose which home devices to connect to. However, I want to make it clear that no one tool can guarantee your privacy. First, anything can be hacked. Second, a VPN protects your data when it transits from your computer to the VPN service, but it doesn’t protect what you put on servers or whatever cloud-based application you’re using. It doesn’t offer password security or multi-factor authentication. Privacy and security require you to be diligent throughout your digital journey, and VPNs, while helpful, are not a miracle cure. If what we’ve highlighted here doesn’t suit your needs, you can try out other services, like Surfshark, IPVanish, and ProtonVPN. All three of these VPNs made it onto our best VPNs list and come with money-back guarantees. They’re worth trying out if you’re still shopping around.