Should You Buy A Lifetime VPN Subscription?

Subscribing to a lifetime deal for a VPN is a pretty major step. Sure, it feels like there’s one less thing to worry about in life, but it’s not that simple. On paper, lifetime deals seem tempting; in reality, there are a lot of hidden drawbacks. The logic is simple—if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Stick around as we put lifetime VPN subscriptions to the test.

Are lifetime VPN subscriptions really worth it?

It should go without saying, but you should treat VPN lifetime subscriptions with extreme caution. You don’t dive right into it. You dip your toe, test the water, and then decide what to do next. Here are a couple of pointers that will help you learn more about VPN lifetime subscriptions:

• Might be a scam: Good things in life are never cheap. If you see a promotion from a VPN service provider claiming to offer lifetime VPN subscriptions for ridiculously low prices (like $20 or $30), then there must be some catch. Quality Internet privacy doesn’t come cheap, and scammy VPN providers will be looking for ways to lure unsuspecting users into their shady deals that are always too good to be true. Be on the lookout for loopholes, and read their terms of service section thoroughly.

• Does it make sense to you? Running a quality VPN is an expensive endeavor. Developing the software, running marketing campaigns, providing high-quality tech support, maintaining servers that can be numbered in thousands—with all these aspects, running a VPN service sure is costly. So how does the company profit if you subscribe to a lifetime VPN plan that costs a mere $40? Does it make sense, or is it just plain gibberish?
• Get ready for unreliable service: Once you subscribe to a lifetime VPN plan, prepare to be treated poorly. Once you give your money to a lifetime VPN subscription, the company won’t care how satisfied you are with its service. Even if you were to leave for another company, you wouldn’t get your money back.
• What’s in it for you? Do you really need a lifetime subscription? What’s the rush? You can easily get a good long-term deal with a quality VPN provider without running the risk of getting scammed or bad customer support. Some companies offer one-, two-, or even five-year plans, and they all seem more reasonable than a lifetime subscription plan.

The truth is there isn’t a single top VPN provider that will undermine its own services by offering a cheap lifetime VPN subscription. If the provider offers a very cheap offer for services that logically cost a sizeable amount, then be prepared to be bombarded with ads, redirected to third parties, have your personal information used for marketing purposes, and experience unsteady connections. That isn’t the case with either of these providers:

[affilioProvider max=”2″ top=”n” cat=’home’]

Why you should avoid lifetime VPN subscriptions

In theory, there’s nothing wrong with lifetime VPN subscriptions, but in reality,you need to be extremely lucky to stumble upon a very cheap promotion that will actually give you a decent VPN lifetime subscription. Here’s why you need to consider avoiding lifetime VPN subscription offers if you’re not sure they come from a quality company:

• Third-party services: They may redirect you to third-party websites and then earn commissions on sales. As I said before, low-quality or free VPN providers offer cheap services because they know they will make money by implementing hidden strategies.

Whilst free VPN providers exist. Ask yourself. Why is it free? Serving ads? Selling your data? Running a VPN network is mega expensive. I don’t trust free ones. I’ve been in IT since 96; I know the true costs

— ????? (@oneilexplains) September 23, 2018

• What happens if the company shuts down? The lifetime usually refers to the lifetime of the company. How will your lifetime VPN subscription proceed without the company, or if the company is sold to someone else? Think about what you’re getting yourself into. After selling a lot of lifetime subscriptions, the owners could simply pay themselves out and close the business.
• Technology is always on the rise: Technology moves quickly, and the provider could easily decide that those with lifetime VPN subscriptions aren’t worth rolling out new tech to. As technology changes rapidly, is it smart to commit to a lifetime subscription?
• Ad-ridden connections: Cheap deals almost always include ads and redirects that burden your connection. Free and cheap providers usually cut deals with advertisers and third-parties that they sell your data to.

When choosing a VPN provider it’s a good rule of thumb not to use a free offering. Especially if the company’s revenues come from selling ads or customer data.

— Kevin Fox is hopeful ?? (@kfury) August 23, 2018

Bottom line is these lifetime VPN subscriptions almost always refer to the lifetime of the company. Companies may cancel the lifetime subscriptions at any given time, and you won’t even get a refund. It’s easy to fall into the cheap lifetime subscription plan. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that most of these deals are nothing but scams.

How to recognize bad VPN service providers

We don’t want to give you the wrong idea about VPN providers. Just because there are scammers in the industry, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any good guys left. We definitely wouldn’t want you to miss on a great opportunity just because you became skeptical out of all these warnings about potential scammers.

The best way to recognize whether a VPN provider is trustworthy or not is to look for clear signs that reveal its true face. Here’s how you can test the quality of a VPN provider:

• Vague features details: Good VPN providers go into detail about all their best and strongest features and use them as their key selling points. Bad VPN providers circle around generic features, like encrypting your connection. If the provider doesn’t talk about more prominent features (like kill switches, protocols, speed limit, or supported countries), then you’re dealing with a phony.
• Poor customer support: Live chat support, email support, phone support, knowledge base, blog, FAQ—these are just some of the forms of help that a good VPN provider has on its website. A bad provider won’t give you any of these.
• Unprofessional website: The website design doesn’t have to be artistically appealing, but they have to be at least up-to-date with all the latest web functionalities. If you spot a low-budget, poorly-created website, then be wary.
• Unrealistic offers: Bad VPN providers don’t share a lot of details about their offers; they exaggerate to the point that these offers become unreal. Good VPN providers are particular about what they offer. They will go to great lengths to give you plenty of details about their services.
• No customer protection policies: Refund policies, privacy policies, terms of service, logging policy—these are all essential for your own safety. You must be very attentive toward such details before cutting a deal with a provider. If the VPN provider doesn’t have good customer protection policies, then there is no guarantee that they will respect the lifetime VPN subscription deal with you.

These are just some of the most important elements you need to look for in a VPN provider. If you have a hunch that something is off, run a quick test, and check if the provider offers the elements mentioned above. However, if you don’t want to gamble your own online security, just take a look at some of the best VPN providers we have thoroughly tested from our first-hand experiences.

Things to look out for when signing a long-term VPN deal

Every long-term deal should be thought through with caution; VPN service providers have to make money somehow. If you are offered a deal that is way too unrealistic, better research that company before the decision comes back to haunt you. Whether it’s a long-term deal or a lifetime VPN subscription, there are clear tell-tale signs that reveal plenty about the company you’re considering to cut a deal with.

Here are some of the things that you should look out for when considering to commit to a long-term VPN subscription:

• The reputation of the company: First, read our reviews. We only recommend quality providers, and warn about those which aren’t up to par. Second, and a little more labour-intensive, you can learn about the reputation of a company by simply browsing the Internet. There are a lot of forums out there (like Reddit) that displayshonest and useful experiences from past clients.

• How long they’ve been in the industry: It’s not always the case, but usually, quality companies have a long history in their industry which leads to stability. Although you shouldn’t simply disregard a potentially good company just because it’s new, most of the time, this factor is an indicator of quality service.

These are just the two most basic aspects of choosing a VPN providers, read our guide on the topic to find your perfect VPN candidate.

Should you really buy lifetime VPN subscriptions

It’s easy to get drawn into lifetime VPN subscriptions, especially when the offer is tempting and doesn’t cost too much. Nonetheless, this is the bottom line: cheap lifetime VPN subscriptions can’t be trusted. This is your online privacy we’re talking about, and it would be wrong to risk your personal information by cutting a deal with a low-quality VPN provider.

There are alternatives that can easily keep your online safety intact in the long run. Quality providers usually offer long-term deals that are considerably cheaper than their monthly plans. If cost is a huge issue for you, we recommend going with the cheapest providers, that are still high-quality, below:

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