Paid VPN vs Free VPN: Why Choose a Paid VPN?

If you are considering using a VPN serviceSurely you already know that there are some totally free services and others that are paid. Some users look for comparisons for free VPNs, and believe that they provide them with everything they need so they do not have to pay a penny.

But the truth is that it is not one of the best options. If you want to know the reasons, in this guide I will show everything you need to know about a VPN, so you can choose the best one for your needs and not be fooled ...

What is a VPN?

If you are wondering what a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is, or virtual private network in Spanish, you should know that it is a service that allows you to connect to a network safely thanks to the fact that it extends the LAN network (local area network) over a public network such as the Internet. Generate a secure channel for transfer as if you were in a private network.

A VPN provides many benefits, such as hide from the origin of network traffic and your IP. The VPN provider will provide you with a different IP and that may belong to countries other than yours. This can allow access to restricted services in your geographical area, which provides great advantages to circumvent these limitations.

The VPN can also encrypt network traffic. Instead of transferring data in plain text between the sender and the receiver (s), it is encrypted. This makes it impossible for others who may be spying on the traffic to access the information, which allows greater anonymity and privacy in your browsing. That is, it provides data confidentiality, one of the basic pillars of computer security and that is especially important in companies or for teleworking.

That also contributes data integrity. That is, it ensures that the data reaches its recipient correct and complete by creating a secure channel. In other words, it prevents them from being intercepted along the way for modification or manipulation. Another key safety factor.

You might think that for a home user this is complicated to implement, but you are wrong. Current VPN services offer apps very simple to configure and launch, even if you have no technical knowledge.

Another misconception about VPN is that a service that does all of that, especially for businesses, must be extremely expensive. But it is also the opposite, a VPN comes out quite cheap and it provides advantages that could also be achieved by other much more expensive methods. Therefore, it will save costs in other more expensive technologies.

So where is the problem? The truth is that disadvantages of a VPN they basically come down to one: connection speed. But fortunately today's VPN services, especially paid ones, have technologies to ensure that performance is quite high. Therefore, the speed of your connection does not slow down and you will practically not notice it. Conclusion, numerous advantages and practically no weaknesses ...

Features you should pay attention to when choosing VPN service

When you choose a VPN there are several important features. They are the points that make a service of this type really worth it. To know how to choose a good VPN you have to take care of the following details:

• Freedom of choice of the IP: some VPN services allow you to choose the server to connect to for the service, having different servers in countries around the world. This can allow you to choose the origin of the IP assigned to you. That way, you can connect to the VPN with an IP from the country where you know that, a service with restrictions for your geographical area, does work.
• Encryption algorithm- Encrypting network traffic uses an encryption key and a procedure to transform the plain text data into something totally incomprehensible. The security and performance of the chosen VPN will depend on this, since the more robust and secure the algorithm is, the less chance you will have of decrypting the traffic.
• Speed- This factor also depends on encryption, as the data being transferred must be encrypted and decrypted, and this is what really slows down the connection. Free VPNs tend to have a much poorer speed than paid ones, in addition to having restrictions on traffic.
• Privacy and anonymity: certain VPNs keep logs with a multitude of data about the customer who has hired the service, others just keep logs, providing greater anonymity. You should always choose the ones that store as little as possible about you.
• Support: free services are very limited in this sense, but paid services usually offer client apps for a multitude of platforms or operating systems. For example, for Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, Linux, and even smart TVs, routers, and browser extensions.
• Usability- Many client apps available from VPN services are very easy to use. They require virtually no configuration and allow connection with the push of a button. Even if you don't have computer skills you could use them without problem.
• Payment methods: Free services do not have this type of problem, as for paid services, you can choose between different methods. From paying from the app stores themselves on mobile platforms, to other methods such as credit cards, PayPal, and even with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to leave no trace of your identity.
• DMCA requests: the United States copyright protection law has agreements with different countries to provide data on users who have committed infringements such as the production and distribution of protected material (piracy of software, books, music, movies, ...). But there are some countries that act as legal havens and do not report that data, which protects you even more if you have used the VPN for fraudulent use.
• Assistance- Technical support for free VPN services is very poor or absent in some cases. On the other hand, payment services provide multilanguage service, although in most cases it is in English only. In addition, they tend to assist you by live chat, email, or other contact methods 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Applications of a VPN

You may not see a priori reason to use a VPN, but the truth is that both companies, whatever the size they are, as well as home users, have very strong reasons to use a VPN service. If you want some reasons to get one of these services now, here are some highlights ...

Pandemic

SARS-CoV-2 is here to stay, and the pandemic It has caused many things to be rethought. Among them the way in which you work and study. During the confinement, many educational centers have begun to teach online classes, and some companies have given their workers the possibility to telework.

With an uncertain future due to the uncertainty of whether there will be a vaccine, if they will be able to produce it on time (and for everyone), and if there could be imminent outbreaks of the disease, many businesses could begin to consider teleworking as a permanent form of operation.

For those cases, the privacy and security of the confidential and customer data that are handled make it almost essential to use a VPN. Otherwise you would be much more vulnerable to cyber attacks, industrial espionage, etc.

Privacy and anonymity

La privacy is a right on the Internet that has been totally violated, both by certain governments, or their intelligence agencies, which use massive espionage as well as by large corporations that collect browsing data or use of their apps and then sell them to third parties or to analyze them through Big Data for your campaigns.

El anonymity It is also very interesting, and with a VPN, combined even with other services such as Tor, etc., they could guarantee both privacy and anonymity in your connections.

Also, you should know that your ISP, internet service provider, it can store your traffic data for years. This is because all the traffic on your network goes through their servers. All this browsing activity could be handed over to governments, advertising companies, companies, etc. With the VPN you can get rid of this problem.

Access restricted services

Many video streaming services, app store apps, and other services are restricted to certain geographic areas. Also, some content platforms do not offer the same in one country as in another. If you want to get rid of these limitations once and for all, the VPN is what you need.

By exampleImagine that you want to see content from a TV channel that broadcasts online from another country, but that service is only available for the country of origin. With a VPN you could get an IP from that country and access it as if you had a "native" IP from there.

Free vs paid VPN

The dilemma many have is to use one of paid or free. The truth is, when it comes to safety, the choice is pretty clear. In addition, free services not only tend to offer less security and performance features, they also have severe limitations in terms of daily or monthly traffic.

By exampleSome would only accept 500MB per month, which is very low for most users. That is, they would only be practical if you are looking to use a VPN in a few cases, and for a fairly simple use. For example, for streaming video and the like, it would be highly insufficient due to the amount of data handled in those cases, especially if it is HD, FullHD or 4K.

Free VPN services too limit the number of devices connected simultaneously. They generally only allow 1 per account. That is unthinkable for a company, and for a home where computers, tablets, mobiles, smart TVs, etc. are usually available, too ...

And the but of everything is that if you do not pay a price for the VPN, you will end up paying it in another way, either by despair by not working as you expect, by the limitations that weigh down your work, by the advertising they offer, etc.

NordVPN: a cheap and professional service

NordVPN is one of the most recommended services from which to choose. It provides all the good of a paid service, but at a very affordable price so that it almost represents a zero impact on your economy. Their plans and promotions are very cheap, and the quality / price ratio is unbeatable.

Their advantages over other competitors it is quite evident when you check its features:

• Company that operates from Panama.
• Minimal data logging for greater anonymity.
• More than 5000 servers in More than 50 countries with varied IPs.
• supports Netflix without problems, as well as P2P downloads, torrent, and other streaming services such as Amazon Prime, etc.
• Very secure encryption thanks to the algorithm AES-256.
• Protocols OpenVPN and IKEv2 / IPSec.
• Email or live chat support 24/7.
• Economical price.

And what does this whole list of features translate to? Well, let's detail it little by little ...

Anonymity

Having a minimal data log from customers, they won't have too much data from you. This provides greater anonymity, and only records the email with which you registered and the payment. But it will not record any other additional data about you or the activity you do from the VPN connection.

Being a company with headquarters in Panama, is operating under the laws of this legal paradise, and its laws do not contemplate accepting DMCA requests. Another point in his favor for your protection.

Remember that although payments are processed as CloudVPN, a company registered in the United States, this entity only collects money, but the company behind NordVPN is still Teficom Co & SA that operates under Panamanian laws. So do not panic if you see that reflected in the payments ...