Methodology: VPN pricing, renewal and refund terms tracker
VPN pricing, renewal and refund terms tracker
- Conditions
What we track. Consumer VPN services. For each service: the price per month on its longest public plan for the first term, the renewal price per month, the money-back period in days, how many devices one subscription allows at the same time, and where the provider says it is legally based (its own claim).
What counts as a value. The numbers the provider's own pricing page or help article shows, quoted with the date we read them and tied to the plan name and term. The price per month of a term is the amount billed for the term divided by its months, and the renewal price per month is the published renewal amount divided by the renewal period — both are our calculation from the published amounts. Prices are kept in the page's currency; where we show US dollars, it is our conversion at the ECB reference rate of the date shown.
How the first term is billed. From the same page we record whether the first term is billed at once for the whole term or month by month. If the page does not say, no amount due at purchase is shown.
What it is not. We compare prices and published terms only; we do not test speed, leaks, logging, streaming access or whether a refund is granted. The legal base and audits are the provider's own claims.
When a value is Unknown. When the page does not publish the amount (for example "renews at the applicable price"), shows conflicting offers or cannot be tied to the plan without doubt. A value we have not recorded is shown as Unknown, never as zero and never as an earlier day's value.
How often. Every service is read once a day.
VPN Renewal Premium Watch. The median of (renewal price per month ÷ first-term price per month − 1) × 100 across services with both prices read on the same date, in the page currency, with the number of services (N).
Version. Version 1 of this method, in effect since 28 September 2026; billing of the first term recorded since 11 October 2026; description revised 15 October 2026.
- Coverage
- On : 28 VPN plans from 28 providers.
- Region
- the United States