The Renewal Price Trap
VPN promotional pricing is designed to attract new customers. The 2-year price you see advertised — "$3.39/month for NordVPN" — applies to your first billing period only. When that period ends, your subscription automatically renews at the full retail price, which is 150% to 313% higher. Most VPN subscribers do not realize this until they see the charge on their bank statement.
| VPN | Promo Price (2yr) | Renewal Price (1yr) | Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| NordVPN | $3.39/mo ($81) | ~$13.99/mo ($168) | +313% / +$87/yr |
| ExpressVPN | $2.79/mo ($100) | ~$12.95/mo ($155) | +364% / +$55/yr |
| Surfshark | $1.99/mo ($54) | ~$4.98/mo ($60) | +154% / +$6/yr |
| ProtonVPN | $2.99/mo ($72) | ~$7.99/mo ($96) | +167% / +$24/yr |
| CyberGhost | $2.19/mo ($79) | ~$5.99/mo ($72) | +174% / + |
| Mullvad | 5 EUR/mo | 5 EUR/mo | No increase |
Mullvad is the only major VPN with a flat monthly price and no promotional pricing — what you pay at signup is what you pay at renewal, forever.
Strategy 1: Cancel and Resubscribe as a New Customer
The most reliable strategy for maintaining promo pricing is to cancel your subscription before it renews and resubscribe as a new customer. Most VPN providers extend the same promotional rates to returning customers who have fully cancelled and waited at least 30 days. This is technically against the spirit of promotional pricing, but all major VPN providers allow it — they prefer a returning customer at promo price over no customer.
How to do it: set a calendar reminder 2 weeks before your subscription expires. Cancel the auto-renewal in your account settings (not just turning off auto-renew — fully cancel the subscription). Wait for the current period to expire. Then visit the VPN website and sign up as a new customer with a different email address, or sometimes the same email after the original account has closed.
Strategy 2: Contact Support Before Renewal
Contact VPN customer support via live chat approximately 2-3 weeks before your renewal date and ask for a renewal discount or retention offer. Many VPN companies have retention discounts of 20-50% that they will offer to customers who indicate they are considering cancellation. This is faster than the cancel-and-resubscribe method and preserves your account history and settings.
What to say: "My subscription renews on [date] and the renewal price of [X] is significantly higher than my original promo price. I'm considering switching to [competitor] who is offering [Y]/month. Is there any renewal discount available?" This framing is honest and prompts the retention team to offer discounts.
Strategy 3: Choose VPNs With Lower Renewal Premiums
Surfshark has the lowest renewal premium of any major VPN at approximately 154% — the renewal price of ~$4.98/month is much closer to the promo price of $1.99/month than NordVPN's 313% increase. For users who do not want to manage cancellations and resubscriptions, Surfshark offers the best long-term value among mainstream VPNs.
Mullvad eliminates the problem entirely with flat pricing at 5 EUR/month — no promotions, no price increases, ever. The tradeoff is that Mullvad does not work well for streaming (Netflix, Disney+) and has fewer features than NordVPN or Surfshark.
VPN providers use aggressive promotional pricing to acquire new customers, then rely on inertia (most subscribers do not notice or act on the price increase) to capture full-price renewals. The promotional price is a customer acquisition cost; the renewal price is the actual revenue model. Mullvad is the only major VPN that does not use this tactic.
Three strategies: (1) Cancel before renewal and resubscribe as a new customer with a new email — most providers offer the same promo rate to returning customers. (2) Contact support 2-3 weeks before renewal and ask for a retention discount. (3) Choose Surfshark (lowest renewal premium at 154%) or Mullvad (flat price, no increases).
Yes — cancel your subscription, wait for the current period to expire, and sign up again. Using a new email address makes this more reliable. NordVPN regularly offers 60-75% discounts to new signups. This is technically using the system as designed — VPN providers prefer a returning customer at promo price over losing the customer entirely.
Mullvad is the only major VPN with a completely flat price structure: 5 EUR/month, no annual discount, no promotional pricing, no price increases. Ever. What you pay at signup is what you pay at renewal forever. The tradeoff: Mullvad does not work well for Netflix and has fewer features than mainstream VPNs like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.