Renewal pricing is the single most common complaint in user reviews of every major VPN. The advertised rate applies to your first term only. After that you roll onto something considerably higher, and providers are not loud about the difference.
The gap between headline and renewal
- Surfshark — $2.19 introductory, renews at $15.45. A 7× jump.
- CyberGhost — $2.19 introductory, renews at $12.99.
- NordVPN — $3.39 introductory, renews at $12.99.
- IPVanish — $2.99 introductory, renews at $12.99.
- Private Internet Access — $2.03 introductory, renews at $11.95.
- ExpressVPN — $4.99 introductory, renews at $12.95. The smallest relative jump.
- Proton VPN — $4.49 introductory, renews at $9.99. The smallest absolute renewal.
- Mullvad — €5.00 flat. No introductory rate, no renewal jump, ever.
How to actually pay the low rate
Diarise the renewal date the day you buy. Most providers will offer a retention discount if you contact support before renewing, and every one of them has a 30 to 45 day money-back window that resets if you cancel and re-subscribe as a new customer. That second approach is tedious but legal and effective.
Refund windows worth knowing
CyberGhost gives 45 days, the longest anyone offers. Everyone else in our top ten gives 30, except IPVanish which does not refund monthly plans at all. If you are unsure, buying the longest term with a solid refund window is lower risk than it sounds.
The cheapest VPN over three years is Mullvad, and it advertises no discount at all. That tells you most of what you need to know about introductory pricing.
Our value pick
Surfshark at $2.19 for the introductory term, provided you diarise the renewal. It is the third-fastest provider we tested, includes unlimited devices, and no other provider at that price measures close.
If the idea of managing a renewal irritates you, Mullvad's flat €5 is genuinely the honest option — you will pay more in year one and less by year three, and you will never be surprised.
How to actually get a better price
- Contact support two weeks before renewal and ask directly for a retention offer. Most providers have one and will not volunteer it.
- Check whether a longer term is offered at renewal — the three-year rate is often close to the introductory price.
- If support will not move, cancel inside the refund window and re-subscribe as a new customer. Tedious but effective and entirely within the terms.
- Buy directly from the provider's website, never through an app store, or the money-back guarantee will not apply.
The three-year total, calculated
On a two-year introductory term followed by one year at the renewal rate, Surfshark costs roughly $238, NordVPN around $237, ExpressVPN around $275 and Mullvad a flat $180. The provider with no discount at all is the cheapest over three years, which is the clearest illustration of how introductory pricing works in this industry.
When the deal is genuinely worth it
If you actively manage renewals, the introductory rates are excellent value and you should take them. If you know yourself well enough to know you will not, Mullvad's flat €5 will cost you less in the long run and considerably less irritation.
