Each year, millions of people across the globe use Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to protect their sensitive data when browsing online. Especially as more businesses have begun to work remotely, many are now turning to cloud VPNs to easily establish connections between business resources and employee devices.
The cloud VPN market is currently growing at a CAGR of 22.5%, demonstrating the demand for remote VPN technologies. Yet, when a business looks for a potential provider, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the various cloud VPN pricing offers, subscriptions, and feature distinctions.
In this article, we’ll explore how much cloud VPNs tend to cost and touch on the main factors influencing pricing. We’ll then turn to cost optimization strategies to help your budget go as far as possible.
VPN cloud services can greatly vary in terms of scope and quality. With that in mind, VPNs can cost anywhere from $2 to upward of $12 per month. According to recent data gathered by Forbes, the average monthly cost of a VPN is currently around $6.50.
However, cloud VPN pricing will also differ when paying on either a monthly or annual basis. Businesses and individuals can opt for the latter to greatly reduce the average monthly cost of a VPN.
Every VPN service slightly differs. Some VPNs may include additional features, like no-logs policies or DNS leak protection, which enhance their security. To understand the price of a VPN, you should explore the following factors, as each will influence its final cost.
Bandwidth usage in cloud VPN pricing refers to the total amount of data egress that moves through your VPN. As you move more data through your VPN, some VPNs will begin charging you more.
Providers typically measure the amount of data you transmit over the premises network in gigabytes or terabytes per month, with higher usage signaling higher costs.
Checking the total bandwidth for data and comparing it against your typical volume of data traffic can help you find a pricing plan that aligns well.
Especially for organizations that use a business VPN, the total number of connections you need may vary greatly. Smaller businesses may have under 50 secure connections accessing the VPN at the same time while enterprises may have 1000s. As the number of concurrent connections you need increases, the price of your VPN service will also increase.
You can think of the cost for the number of internet connections as a per-user charge. As you add more employees that need to access your VPN, you’ll have to pay for their access.
The cost of your cloud VPN can also depend on where the VPN servers you connect to are located. Due to the cost of creating server hubs in various geographic locations, VPN providers may charge distinct prices for different regions.
For example, Google Cloud alters its data transfer costs for servers in North East Asia, Central USA, Western Europe, and South America. Traffic that originates from different regions may cost you more or less depending on the provider’s configuration. It’s important to know these costs ahead of time, especially if your business frequently uses a remote access VPN.
To deliver low latency and high-quality connections to customers around the world, many VPN providers establish data centers in different regions. Depending on the number of data centers that a provider supports, they may charge more for VPN services.
As your business can achieve faster data transfer by connecting to VPN services in an area that’s close to your actual location, more data centers across the world typically translate to more rapid VPN services.
Service level agreements are contracts between providers and customers that dictate the terms of the agreement. In VPN SLAs, these terms could be the total uptime that a provider promises or defining what counts as downtime. More comprehensive SLAs that guarantee better uptimes or a higher performance threshold will often cost more, as customers can expect to gain more stability from their VPN.
VPNs can offer businesses numerous additional features or benefits, like DDoS protection, advanced encryption protocols, or even a dedicated IP address. As you add extra features, your cloud VPN pricing will likely increase. Most VPNs offer different packages or tier levels of subscription, with the higher tiers often including more features and costing more.
As with many SaaS platforms, the majority of cloud VPN providers will offer numerous subscription plans. Businesses can select from pay-as-you-use, monthly, or annual packages. Typically, the longer you commit to using a VPN, the cheaper its monthly cost will be.
Across the various factors, it can be difficult to know how to get the most for your money. VPN cost optimization involves balancing all of the above factors, finding exactly what your business needs, and tailoring your chosen VPN package to perfectly meet those requirements.
Here are a few tips to get the most out of your VPN:
Especially in the months leading up to the date when you renew your VPN contract, it’s a good idea to increasingly monitor usage and search for alternatives. Adapting the VPN you use to your evolving business demands will help your business get the exact service and features you’re looking for.
Optimizing the cost of your cloud VPN is an ongoing process. Regularly monitoring, checking for new deals, and determining what features you need and don’t need will help point you in the direction of the right VPN for you.
With Perimeter 81, your business can partner with an industry-leading cloud VPN service, offering all the features you need to keep your online connections private and secure.
Get started today to discover how Perimeter 81 can help your business with its cloud VPN.
