The VPN Price You See Is Not the One You Pay

The monthly price on a VPN’s front page is an introductory rate, and the renewal is roughly three times it. NordVPN’s Complete tier advertises $4.49 a month and renews at $219.48 a year, which is $18.29 a month.

Neither provider hides this. Both print the renewal figure on the same page, in smaller type, and NordVPN labels its own discount as the gap between the two.

What each tier actually renews at

	Advertised	Renews at	Per month	Multiple
ExpressVPN Basic	$2.99	$99.95/yr	$8.33	2.8×
ExpressVPN Advanced	$4.49	$119.95/yr	$10.00	2.2×
ExpressVPN Pro	$7.49	$199.95/yr	$16.66	2.2×
NordVPN Basic	$3.49	$139.08/yr	$11.59	3.3×
NordVPN Complete	$4.49	$219.48/yr	$18.29	4.1×
NordVPN Prime	$7.49	$296.28/yr	$24.69	3.3×

Both providers’ own figures, read 5 September 2026. The introductory rate is the initial charge divided by the months it covers, which is their arithmetic. The renewal rate is the published annual figure divided by twelve.

The comparison everyone makes is the wrong one

Line the two providers up on their advertised rates and ExpressVPN Basic looks cheaper than NordVPN Basic, $2.99 against $3.49. Line them up on what they renew at and the gap reverses and widens: $99.95 a year against $139.08.

That is a 39 per cent difference on the number you will actually pay for most of the time you own the thing, hidden behind a 50 cent difference on the number the page leads with. Any comparison built on the advertised rate is comparing the part of the price that lasts two years to the part that lasts forever.

The initial term is longer than a year on purpose

ExpressVPN bills its two-year plans for the first 28 months. NordVPN bills for the first 27. Neither is a two-year plan in the sense of a term that ends after two years; both are a discounted opening period followed by an annual renewal at a different price.

The practical effect is that the renewal lands more than two years after the purchase, which is long enough that most people will not remember what they signed up for, and long enough that the card on file will very likely still work.

What this is not

It is not a trick, and it is not unique to VPNs. Introductory pricing is ordinary, disclosed, and legal, and both companies disclose it clearly enough that this page could be written entirely from their own words.

What makes it worth writing down is the size. A 2.2× step is unusual in consumer software and a 4.1× step is remarkable, and the number doing the advertising is the one that applies for the shortest part of the relationship. This page takes no view on whether either service is worth its renewal price, because that would need testing we have not done.

What to actually do

• Write down the renewal figure before you subscribe, not the monthly one. It is on the same page, usually one line below.
• Compare providers on renewal, never on the advertised rate. On these two, the ranking changes when you do.
• Put a reminder a month before the initial term ends. Twenty-seven months is longer than most people’s memory and longer than most cards’ expiry.
• Treat a sale-season VPN offer as a discount on the first term only. A deeper introductory price does not move the renewal, which is the number that decides what the service costs you.
• Decide whether you need one at all first. Our explainer on why a VPN slows your internet sets out what the technology does and does not do for you.