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Black Friday falls on 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on the 30th. Every VPN comparison site will publish a countdown, and most of them will be quoting a price you can already pay today.
We checked that claim rather than assuming it. The result is below, and it changes what the date is worth.
What Last November Actually Cost
The headline figures from Black Friday 2025, as published at the time.
NordVPN: $2.99 a month on a two-year plan, described as 74 to 77% off, with three months added.
Surfshark: around $1.99 a month, described as 88% off, with three months added.
Proton VPN: $2.49 to $2.99 a month, at 70 to 75% off.
ExpressVPN: $4.49 a month with four months added — notable because the company historically discounted nothing at all.
⚠️ Sources do not agree on Surfshark. The same season produced published figures of $1.69, $1.99 and $2.49 for what appears to be the same plan. We are listing the range rather than picking the most attractive number.
The Comparison Nobody Runs
Here is the part worth the page.
One of the largest technology sites lists its “best VPN deals available today”, outside any sale season, as Surfshark at $1.99 a month, NordVPN at $2.99 and Private Internet Access at $2.03.
Those are the same numbers it published for Black Friday. Not approximately — the same, and our own cheap-VPN page has been quoting them since August.
⚠️ So for at least two of the largest providers, the November price and the September price were identical. The sale was real in the sense that a banner appeared. It was not real in the sense of a price you could not otherwise get.
The window is not a window either. One published account gives Surfshark’s promotional dates as 20 October to 1 December, and NordVPN’s offer ran until 10 December. Six weeks and a fortnight past the date, respectively.
What a Discount Never Touches
This is where our own tables matter more than any coupon.
Every headline percentage applies to the first term only. A two-year plan at $2.99 a month is $2.99 for twenty-four months, after which the standard renewal applies.
The renewal is not discounted at Black Friday or at any other time. We track those figures separately because they are where the real money in this category sits.
| Provider | First term | Every year after |
|---|---|---|
| Norton VPN | $39.99 (12 months) | $79.99 |
| Private Internet Access | ~$49 (24 months) | Sources disagree |
| PureVPN | ~$52 (24 months) | $47.95 |
| Surfshark | ~$54 (27 months) | ~$79 |
| CyberGhost | $56.94 (26 months) | $56.94 |
| Mullvad | ~$65 (12 months) | ~$65 |
| Proton VPN | ~$71.76 (24 months) | $83.88 |
| Hotspot Shield | ~$71.88 (12 months) | $95.99 |
| NordVPN | ~$94 (27 months) | $139.08 |
| ExpressVPN | ~$98 (28 months) | $99.95 |
⚠️ So the saving is bounded. A good Black Friday deal saves you money once, across the first term. It does not change year three, and across four years the picture looks different again.
When the Date Does Matter
Not never, and it is worth being precise about the exceptions.
Providers that rarely discount. ExpressVPN dropped to $4.99 in 2024, described at the time as a first. If a provider genuinely holds its price all year, the season is when that changes.
Bonus months rather than lower prices. Three or four free months added to a two-year plan is a real saving that the monthly figure hides.
Lifetime offers from smaller providers. FastestVPN sold a lifetime plan at $23 in both 2024 and 2025, and our page on lifetime plans explains why those are a different kind of risk.
Bundles. Password managers, antivirus and storage attached at no extra cost, which changes the value even when the VPN price does not.
What We Would Actually Do
Check today’s price against the historical November figure above. If they match, the date is irrelevant to you.
Buy when you need it, not when a banner says so — the monthly plans are the exception worth knowing, because they never carry a seasonal discount at all. The refund window is the real trial, and thirty days runs from purchase whenever you make it.
Read the renewal line before the discount line. It is the number you will pay for longer.
⚠️ And ignore countdown timers. Last year’s offers ran for six weeks and past the date in both directions.
Which Providers Are Worth Watching
NordVPN has offered $2.99 a month in three consecutive seasons, which makes it the most predictable figure in the category and the least urgent.
Surfshark consistently posts the lowest headline price, with the caveat that published figures for the same season vary.
ExpressVPN is the one where the date has historically mattered, because it discounts rarely.
Proton VPN ran to early January last year, which is longer than any countdown suggests.
⚠️ We will update this page when 2026 offers appear. Until then everything above describes last year and today, and we have not invented a single figure for a sale that has not happened.
How We Research
This page draws on PCWorld, Cloudwards, Comparitech, Tom’s Guide and vpnblackfriday.com for the published Black Friday and Cyber Monday figures of 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, on Tom’s Guide’s own out-of-season deals list for the comparison that forms the middle of this page, on Comparitech for the promotional dates, and on our own tables for renewal pricing and four-year totals. Every one of those sources earns commissions from the providers it lists, which is exactly why we compared their seasonal claims against their own non-seasonal pages rather than taking either at face value. We do not run our own tests. Our method lives on the About Us page.
Black Friday VPN FAQ
27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on 30 November. VPN promotions have historically started well before and continued afterwards: one provider’s 2025 offer ran from 20 October, and another’s continued until 10 December.
Often not. A major technology site lists its best out-of-season deals as Surfshark at $1.99 a month and NordVPN at $2.99 — the same figures it published during Black Friday 2025. Compare today’s price against last November’s before assuming the date saves you anything.
No. Every headline percentage applies to the first term. When that term ends, the standard renewal price applies, and it is not discounted seasonally. That second-year figure is usually the largest number in the decision.
By headline price, Surfshark, though published figures for the same plan ranged from $1.69 to $2.49 depending on the source. NordVPN sat at $2.99, Proton VPN between $2.49 and $2.99, and ExpressVPN at $4.49 with four months added.
Only if your chosen provider rarely discounts, or if you want the bonus months that often accompany the season. Otherwise buy when you need it: the thirty-day refund window runs from purchase, and the price in November is frequently the price in September.
The Verdict
Black Friday is 27 November 2026, and for most providers the price will not surprise you. NordVPN has posted the same figure three seasons running.
The comparison that matters is against today, not against the list price. For at least two major providers, last year’s sale price is the price they charge in any month.
And no discount reaches the renewal, which is the bill most people never look at until it arrives.