What a VPN is good for, and when it changes your price
We are firmly not anti-VPN. A VPN is a legitimate and genuinely useful tool, for privacy and security first, and for cheaper prices in plenty of cases too. Here is the honest picture: what a VPN does, what it is good for, and exactly when it moves the price you pay.
What a VPN actually does
A VPN (virtual private network) routes your internet traffic through a server somewhere else and encrypts it on the way. Two things follow from that: the websites you visit see the VPN server's location instead of your real one, and whoever runs your network (your internet provider, a cafe's Wi-Fi, a hotel) can no longer see which sites you are visiting.
It is not magic and it is not total anonymity: you are moving your trust from your network to the VPN company, so a reputable, independently audited, no-logs provider matters. But used sensibly it is one of the most useful tools you can have on your devices.
What a VPN is genuinely good for
Privacy from your network and provider. Without a VPN, your internet provider can see and log the sites you connect to. A VPN hides that browsing from them, and from the owner of whatever network you happen to be on.
Safety on public Wi-Fi. On cafe, airport or hotel Wi-Fi, a VPN encrypts your connection so someone else on the same network cannot snoop on what you are doing or capture your logins.
Reaching your own things while travelling. Abroad, your home streaming library, your bank, or a service that blocks foreign IPs can suddenly stop working. Connecting back through your home country restores access.
Getting around network and country blocks. A VPN can reach sites restricted on a school, office or country-level network, which matters a great deal in places with heavy censorship.
Less location-based tracking. Masking your IP makes it harder for sites and ad networks to pin you to a place and build a profile around it.
And yes, sometimes a cheaper price
Plenty of services set the price from where you appear to be browsing: many websites, some software and SaaS sign-up flows, and travel and streaming sign-ups. On those, switching your VPN to a cheaper country genuinely can drop the price, as long as you can still complete the payment. That is a real, legitimate saving, and we are glad to point you to a VPN when it applies.
Where a VPN is not the lever is the big account-priced stores. Steam and the App Store read the country your account is set to, not your IP, so for those the thing to change is your account country, which is quick and free, rather than your apparent location. We work this out from how each store actually prices, so on a result we either show a clear "a VPN helps here" signal or tell you plainly that the account country is what matters instead.
How to choose one
The things that actually matter: an independently audited no-logs policy (so the provider is not quietly keeping the browsing history you are trying to protect), fast modern protocols like WireGuard so your connection does not crawl, a wide spread of server countries, and a sensible privacy jurisdiction. Free VPNs usually pay for themselves by logging and selling your data, which defeats the point, so a reputable paid one is worth it if you will use it.
Our default pick: NordVPN
When a result genuinely benefits from a VPN, the one we link to is NordVPN. It ticks the boxes above: an independently audited no-logs policy, the fast NordLynx protocol (built on WireGuard), thousands of servers across 100-plus countries so you can appear almost anywhere, built-in Threat Protection against malware and trackers, and a privacy-friendly base in Panama. It is a solid all-rounder for the privacy and security uses above, and it covers the price cases where a VPN actually helps.
See NordVPN →Affiliate link: if you sign up through it we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdicts, and we only ever surface a VPN where it genuinely helps.
Common questions
Is a VPN worth it?
For privacy and security, yes for most people: it hides your browsing from your internet provider, protects you on public Wi-Fi, and is invaluable for reaching your own services while travelling or getting around network blocks. For cheaper prices it depends on the store, it helps where the price follows your location, and not on account-priced stores like Steam or the App Store.
Do I need a VPN to get cheaper game prices?
Usually not for Steam or the App Store, because those set the price from the country your account is set to rather than your IP, and changing that account country is quick and free. A VPN does help on services that price by your location, and we flag, per result, when that is the case.
Is using a VPN legal and allowed?
Using a VPN is legal across most of the world and a perfectly normal privacy tool. The only nuance is that a few stores' terms discourage changing your apparent location purely to grab a regional price, so we do not publish location-faking how-tos; we simply tell you, honestly, when a VPN actually moves a price.