VPN free or paid: Best service to help you save money (2024)

Security and anonymity are the main reasons why many people use VPNs. But a VPN can do much more and also helps you access favourable prices abroad. Find out in this guide how you can effectively use paid and free VPNs to save money.

VPNs can help save money on video games, subscriptions, software, and online purchases. But how does a VPN work and how can you actually save money with it?

hotukdeals will show you how and where you can benefit from low prices abroad. We’ll pay particular attention to online subscriptions and memberships, as savings can be made here.

We will also compare the best paid and free VPNs and show you the advantages and disadvantages.

• What is a VPN?
• How does a VPN work and how does it help you save money?
• Save money when buying a VPN
• Save on video games with a VPN
• Save money on subscriptions and software
• Benefit from multiple discounts with a VPN
• What should you consider when choosing a VPN?
• What should you pay attention to when using a VPN?
• Advantages and disadvantages of free VPNs
• Best VPN free and paid services comparison
• How do I set up a VPN?
• How secure is a VPN?
• Is using a VPN legal?
• Our experiences saving money with VPN
• VPN FAQs

What is a VPN?

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a service that creates a secure and encrypted connection over the internet between a device (such as a computer, smartphone or tablet) and a network (often the internet).

VPNs mask the user’s IP address and encrypt traffic to ensure that online activity is not tracked or intercepted.

How does a VPN work and how does it help you save money?

The IP address is typically used to identify your location and device. So when you turn on a VPN, the IP address of the VPN server you are connected to is used.

By assigning a new IP address, your digital location will be moved to the country of your choice, e.g. E.g. you are located in Germany and select a server in Turkey. If you now visit Spotify, you will be shown prices and information from Spotify Turkey, as your IP address provides the service with information that you are based in Turkey.

With this procedure, you bypass the ‘geoblocking’ often used by websites and can benefit from low prices abroad.

Furthermore, a VPN protects your online activities by encrypting the data, so unauthorised people cannot see your activities. So you can surf the internet anonymously with a VPN and don’t send any data for e.g. B. personalised advertising to third parties.

The most popular VPN countries to get cheap prices include VPN India, VPN Turkey, VPN Argentina, VPN China, VPN Poland and VPN Pakistan.

Save money when buying a VPN

You can save a lot of money not only when using a VPN yourself, but also when purchasing a VPN if you take advantage of offers and vouchers.

You can find current offers for the VPN services NordVPN, Surfshark and PureVPN, for example, frequently updated on hotukdeals.

We recommend that you always look for offers before buying a VPN. Since this is a permanently used service, you can sometimes save a lot of money over a longer period of time.

It may also be worth changing your VPN provider. Many providers attract new customers with attractive offers, such as: E.g. free months, discounts on annual subscriptions or additional functions. Compare different providers and pay attention to current promotions.

Save on video games with a VPN

When buying video games online, it is also common practice for the price to be influenced by the buyer’s geographical location. Often, higher-income countries have to spend more on online gaming.

If you connect to a region with a low average income, the video game you want may cost less than with a German server location.

The procedure is as follows:

1. You visit the provider’s online store. We recommend that you first choose a game in the UK store without a VPN.
2. This way you can easily check whether the selected game is also available in the UK shop so that you can use it abroad after your purchase. Even with the games themselves, country-specific restrictions can later mean that you cannot play your purchase.
3. Once you have found a suitable game, switch on your VPN with the target country and automatically visit the provider’s online store abroad.
4. You can now purchase the video game for less.
5. After the successful purchase, you deactivate the VPN again and now have access to your purchased game.

Alternatively or for additional protection, you should read the product description of the game in the foreign store carefully. There you will always find information about possible regional restrictions or language output and possible incompatibility with your console or gaming setup.

For more information, read our article about how to buy cheap games in the Xbox Store Turkey.

Here’s a list of gaming providers where you can look for cheaper game prices:

• cdkeys.com
• Epic Games Store
• GAMIVO
• GOG
• Steam

In addition, expensive game subscriptions such as Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus can become a bargain via a VPN. The rough procedure is that you buy voucher codes for Xbox Game Pass Turkey (e.g. via the provider Eneba) and redeem them in your Microsoft account using a VPN via Turkey.

Save money on subscriptions and software

A VPN can also be used to save on software and subscription services such as Netflix or Disney+.

Some services offer different pricing tiers depending on the region. With a VPN you can access cheaper pricing options. However, find out beforehand whether a credit card from the destination country may be required.

Feel free to take a look at our article on how you can get Spotify Premium via VPN at a bargain price — a step-by-step instructions on how you can subscribe for under £2 per month.

With a VPN you can also save on an Amazon Prime membership by first connecting to a server in a country with lower prices. For example, Poland is a popular country for this method because Prime membership is significantly cheaper there than in the UK. An annual subscripotion is 49PLN, which works out at around £9 per year!

It’s important to note that Amazon doesn’t explicitly prohibit the use of VPNs. However, as with all the other methods presented, it cannot be ruled out that Amazon will block your account if it suspects that you are using a VPN to bypass regional restrictions.

Benefit from multiple discounts with a VPN

Many online shops repeatedly offer discounts and vouchers that can be redeemed once by the user. This applies, for example, to new customer discounts or voucher codes that can be used once in the online shop.

After this one-time use, the discount is no longer available to other users with the same IP address, for example in the same household.

By using a VPN and changing the server and IP address, you can avoid other users being identified as a previous buyer. For example, by creating a new buyer account, the voucher or discount will be available again.

What should you consider when choosing a VPN?

It is important to note that the quality of security and services varies from VPN to VPN. There are paid and free VPN providers. Not all VPN services are equally trustworthy, and some may even collect user data for advertising purposes.

Therefore, it is important to conduct thorough research before choosing a particular VPN service. Let’s go through some of the benefits.

When choosing a VPN, you should consider the following factors:

What should you pay attention to when using a VPN?

Use a strong password: Use a strong password for your VPN account that you don’t use for other websites. Your internet security starts with the connection to the VPN provider.

Uninstall the VPN if you no longer need it: An inactive VPN can cause security risks and reduced performance due to logs of your online activities that vary depending on the provider. Uninstallation takes just a few minutes and offers privacy, convenience, and system resource benefits.

Advantages and disadvantages of free VPNs

While paid VPNs entice you with extensive features and reliable performance, the idea of ​​“free” and “unlimited” is appealing when it comes to free VPN alternatives. But is it really worth the saving?

Advantages

• Free: The biggest advantage is of course that you don’t have to pay any costs for using a VPN.
• Easy to set up and use: Most free VPNs are easy to download and install. You often don’t even have to register or create an account.

Disadvantages

• Data limits: Many free VPNs limit the amount of data you can use per month or day.
• Speed ​​throttling: Free VPNs often throttle your internet speeds, which can result in delays when browsing, streaming, and downloading.
• Server locations: The number of server locations available to you with a free VPN is often very limited.
• Security and privacy: Free VPNs may collect your data and sell it to third parties. They also may not offer the same security features as paid VPNs.
• Ads: Free VPNs are often funded by advertising, which can be distracting and annoying.
• Limited IP selection: IPs may be known to providers and already blocked by them.
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) connection: You connect with another user of this service and “exchange” IP addresses. Since you don’t know what kind of people are behind the IP address and what they can record, this method is less secure, let alone anonymous.

Free VPNs can be a good option if you only need a VPN occasionally and are willing to put up with the limitations. However, if you value your privacy and security or need a lot of bandwidth, it is better to choose a paid VPN.

Our recommended free VPN services include: ProtonVPN, TunnelBear, Windscribe, Urban VPN, and Race VPN.

We also recommend that you read the guidelines and terms of use of the “free VPNs” carefully before using them.

There are also numerous paid VPNs. In our comparison of the best VPN services you will find all the information about recommended free and paid VPNs.

Best VPN free and paid services comparison

How do I set up a VPN?

Please note that the exact steps and wording may vary slightly depending on the specific VPN service you have chosen. It’s always a good idea to read the VPN service’s provided instructions or FAQs if you encounter any problems setting it up.

How secure is a VPN?

In general, using a VPN offers an increased level of security and is an effective tool for protecting your privacy online.

However, not all VPNs are created equal and security can vary depending on the provider.

You can find further valuable information about the security and functionality of a VPN at the National Cyber Security Centre.

Is using a VPN legal?

In most cases, the answer to this question is simple: Yes, using a VPN is completely legal. VPNs are legitimate and recognized tools used in many fields to enable secure connections and improve data protection.

So it’s not illegal to protect your online activities and data. In fact, VPNs are among the most important tools for companies and individuals who want to encrypt their communications and protect sensitive data.

However, there are a few important points you should pay attention to if you want to save money.

• Using a VPN by Country: While using a VPN is legal in countries such as Germany, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, there are some countries with restrictive internet laws that limit or ban the use of VPNs. These include China, Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and North Korea. It is therefore advisable to always check the specific laws of the country you are in or plan to travel to to ensure that using a VPN is legitimate there.
• Illegal Activities Using VPNs: Any activity that is illegal remains illegal when carried out over a VPN. This includes actions such as downloading copyrighted material, fraud or cybercrime.
• Check the terms and conditions of platforms: If you want to use a VPN for a streaming service, for example, it makes sense to read the provider’s terms and conditions in advance. Some streaming services prohibit circumventing geo-tracking through a VPN, knowing that you might get a cheaper subscription abroad. In general, one consequence can be that your user account will be blocked on the respective streaming service if you have benefited from a cheap price through a VPN. As a rule, however, this approach by streaming providers is rare.

In summary, using a VPN is legal in most cases and countries. A VPN is an important tool for improving online security and privacy. However, users should always pay attention to the specific laws and regulations regarding VPNs in each country and remember that using a VPN does not make illegal online activities legal.

Our experiences saving money with VPN

You can save a lot with the help of a VPN – whether it’s free or paid –, especially with streaming providers such as Spotify, Netflix, or YouTube Premium. Before you take out a subscription, find out here which countries currently work and offer the cheapest prices.

You can also take out an Amazon Prime membership in selected countries at a bargain price. Gaming subscriptions, such as Xbox Game Pass, can also be obtained via a VPN at the ultimate savings price.

In summary, we can say that a VPN is almost always worthwhile for online subscriptions and memberships. A VPN is less attractive when looking for cheap airline tickets or rental cars. The research takes a long time and it remains to be seen whether you will ultimately find a worthwhile offer.

VPN FAQs

Before making a decision, you should consider various aspects such as speed, security features, number of servers, price and the privacy policies of the various offers.

For all the offers on VPNs, visit hotukdeals’ dedicated page — you are sure to find the best one suited to your needs!