4 reasons why a VPN is the perfect Black Friday purchase

Black Friday sales are one of the best opportunities to grab your favorite products at the lowest prices of the year, and that includes the best VPN services, many of which are offering excellent Black Friday VPN deals right now.

For instance, Surfshark, the best cheap VPN, is reducing the price of its feature-packed Surfshark One by 88%, knocking the price down to $2.19 per month. Our #1 VPN pick, NordVPN, is also available for only $2.99 per month, saving you 73% compared to its usual price.

Proton VPN has also gotten in on the Black Friday madness, slashing its overall price by $26, knocking its price down to $2.49 per month. Plus, ExpressVPN is now the cheapest it has ever been, dropping its price to just $2.44 per month.

However, these deals will likely mean nothing to you if you don't actually need a VPN. Here, we'll walk you through the top 4 reasons why adding a VPN to your privacy toolkit is one of the best things you can do for your digital security, and why Black Friday is the best time of year to do it.

NordVPN | 2 years + 3 months FREE
Was: $3.39 per month
Now: $2.99 per month at NordVPN
NordVPN is our top-rated VPN overall, and although it's not setting the world on fire, its Black Friday deal is certainly good value.

You get:

🚀 Our #1-rated VPN with great speeds
📺 Reliable streaming unblocking
🔐 Excellent, audited privacy credentials
❌ Relatively expensive compared to rivals

At $2.99 per month, this NordVPN deal offers a saving of around $11 compared to the regular price. It's the perfect choice if you want an all-round excellent service, with great privacy credentials, the best streaming unblocking around, and robust apps. Again, there's a 30-day refund period.

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1. Keeping your browsing data private

When your data isn't encrypted, you put yourself in a dangerous situation as anything you do online – from your browsing history to your passwords, banking details, and any private files you send and receive – can be collected by snoopers, leading to identity fraud and financial scams.

Additionally, internet service providers (ISPs) can create a detailed online profile around your browsing habits and sell that information to advertisers and data brokers.

You have a right to protect your digital privacy, and a VPN helps you exercise it. Chief amongst its uses is its ability to encrypt your data and keep your browsing data private.

A VPN creates an end-to-end encrypted tunnel between your device and the internet for your data to pass through. Simply put, it scrambles your internet traffic to make it unreadable to hackers, your workplace or school, your ISP, and any government agencies that might try to track your online activities.

Proton VPN | 2 years
Was: $3.59 per month
Now: $2.49 per month at Proton VPN
Proton VPN is one of the most well-respected privacy providers around, but one thing it's not known for is being cheap. However, this early Black Friday deal from Proton is the cheapest I've ever seen it – knocking a whopping $26 off your overall spend.

What you get:

🔐 World-renowned privacy credentials
📺 Excellent streaming performance
🚀 The fastest VPN speeds we've tested
❌ Beginners may find apps too complex

This is exclusive to Tom's Guide, and you won't find it cheaper anywhere else. It starts at $2.49 per month ($59.76 all-in) – and again, there's a 30-day refund period.

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2. Unblocking streaming sites

A VPN can also double up as your perfect streaming buddy, thanks to its ability to spoof your online location and grant you access to content libraries that are otherwise blocked in your geographical location.

It’s important to know that streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ offer different content libraries to users in different regions because of copyright laws and licensing agreements. For example, a particular movie might be available on Netflix in the UK, but Prime Video has bought the rights to broadcast it in, say, the US.

Even buying subscriptions to multiple streaming platforms doesn’t guarantee access if certain content isn’t available (or is outright blocked) in your region.

The best streaming VPNs have thousands of servers strategically located around the world, meaning you can simply connect to a server in the country where the movie, TV show, or sports event you want to watch is available. This is both convenient and frugal, and it also lets you keep streaming your favorite content from back home when you travel abroad.

Surfshark One | 2 years + 3 months free
Was: $2.49 per month
Now: $2.19 per month at Surfshark
Surfshark is great value all year round, but this Black Friday deal is the best I've ever seen. It's on the One plan, which includes fully functional antivirus alongside the VPN.

You get:

🔒 Unlimited VPN
🦠 Avira-backed antivirus
📺 Excellent streaming unblocking
❌ Slower speeds on long-distance connections

At $2.19 per month, over the course of 2 years, Surfshark One costs just $6 more than Surfshark's basic plan – excellent value considering dedicated antivirus software can cost more than that every month. This deal saves a decent $8 compared to regular price, and there's also a 30-day refund period so you can make sure it works well for you.

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3. Anonymize yourself online

In addition to masking your real IP address and giving you a temporary one for the duration of your session – some VPNs like Surfshark also offer IP rotation, which changes your IP every few minutes to boost your online privacy further – some VPNs also blocks ads, trackers, and online cookies that collect your browsing habits.

This anonymity becomes even more handy when you’re out and about on public Wi-Fi, which is often open and unsecured, meaning it doesn’t carry any encryption and usually doesn’t require a password to log in.

This makes them a hotspot for cybercriminal activity, as hackers can read your data in plain text. Using a VPN, however, functionally hides you online, safeguarding both you and your data.

ExpressVPN | 2 years + 4 months free
Was: $3.49 per month
Now: $2.44 per month at ExpressVPN
This is the first ever Black Friday deal ExpressVPN has launched – and it's a biggie. I've never seen ExpressVPN anywhere near this cheap before, and if you need a simple, reliable VPN, it's an excellent choice

What you get:

🔐 Class-leading privacy and security
🚀 Great speeds on Windows
📱 Super-simple, polished apps
❌ Very little customization

Prices start from $2.44 per month ($68 all-in), and higher tiers that include a password manager and even cyber insurance are also discounted. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can make sure it's the right VPN for you.

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4. Avoiding online censorship

A VPN’s IP-masking capabilities could be a lifesaver if you’re in, or traveling to, a country with strict online censorship. 2025 has been a dark year for global internet freedoms, which have gone from bad to worse. As many as 9 countries have lost their free internet freedom status this year, with the biggest declines seen in Germany, Georgia, and the US, as well as Kenya, which carried out its first-ever internet shutdown.

It’s worth noting that online censorship isn’t just governments outright blocking access to apps and websites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and international news outlets – it can also take the form of forcing citizens to submit sensitive personal information to online services. This is exactly what we’re seeing in the US right now, where 24 states have introduced age-verification laws, or in the UK with the introduction of age verification via the Online Safety Act.

Many have criticized these laws due to the inherent privacy issues of online age verification, as citizens are required to provide personal information like their government-issued IDs or even scans of their faces if they want to access certain content online. Handing this data over to third parties poses multiple cybersecurity risks, as well as the potential for truly devastating data breaches.

By using one of the most private VPNs, you can reclaim your right to use the internet freely, no matter where you are in the world. It’s as simple as finding a server in a country that doesn’t impose restrictions and hitting the Connect button on the VPN app’s home screen.

Also, if you're worried about ISPs or governments tracking your VPN activity – meaning they can’t see what you're doing online but can still see that you're using a VPN and you fear that might cause trouble – the good news is that the most secure VPNs in our rankings come with excellent VPN obfuscation.

This means that they can conceal your VPN traffic and make it look like regular internet traffic, hiding the fact that you're using a VPN in the first place.

For more discounts, check out our Black Friday deals live blog.

Shop today's best Black Friday deals

• Amazon: 50% off Ring, Ninja, AirPods and more
• Walmart Plus: 50% off @ Walmart
• REI: half-off Arc'teryx, Patagonia, more
• Dell: monitors from $69, laptops from $299
• Nectar: 50% off mattresses + bundles
• Best Buy: laptops from $149
• Lenovo: doorbuster deals from $319
• Wayfair: up to 80% off home decor
• Lululemon: top picks from $9
• Newegg: Doorbuster deals from $6
• Walmart: holiday gifts from $15
• Birkenstock: deals from $20 @ Nordstrom
• Saatva: luxury mattresses from $1,099

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