How to Pay For a VPN Anonymously in 2025

At a Glance

Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is arguably the best way to protect your online privacy and security. While a VPN protects your privacy, not all of the ways to pay for that protection are private, and not all of the VPN providers offer anonymous ways to pay for your VPN protection.

In this article, I’ll cover some of the privacy risks you face when using traditional payment methods to purchase a VPN subscription. I’ll also explore the anonymous online payment methods you can use to protect your payment privacy, while also covering which VPN providers accept which types of payment. By the time you finish this article, you should be able to make an intelligent decision about VPN services and how to pay for them.

Why Should I Pay for a VPN Anonymously?

Paying for your VPN with traditional payment methods leaves a trail of identifying personal information that could allow both the VPN provider and outside parties to identify you. If you’re using a VPN to stay anonymous, paying for your subscription with a credit card or PayPal just isn’t going to do it for you.

Here are some of the reasons why you should pay for a VPN anonymously:

• Protect yourself against data breaches: When you pay for a VPN anonymously, the VPN provider has no records of your personal payment information, including your name, credit card details, or address. This ensures that even if a VPN was hit by a data breach, your personal and financial information would not be exposed.
• Avoid tracking and profiling: When you use traditional payment methods, they can be traced back to your identity. This data can be used by third-parties like companies, advertisers, and even governments to track your online purchases and other activities. Anonymous payment methods help prevent this tracking.
• Evading censorship: Some countries, including China, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates place strict restrictions on internet usage. A VPN is arguably the best tool for accessing restricted internet content. Paying for a VPN anonymously can help avoid any repercussions from having your internet and VPN usage monitored.

Who Should Pay For a VPN Anonymously?

For many of us, paying for a VPN with a credit card or through PayPal will be acceptable. However, there are those of us who can greatly benefit from using an anonymous form of payment to pay for our VPN service.

Here are some examples of who should pay for a VPN using an anonymous form of payment:

• Journalists and activists in totalitarian countries with aggressive censorship.
• Whistleblowers working to expose the questionable activities of governments or organizations.
• P2P users in countries that forbid torrenting activity.
• Those who reside in countries where using a VPN is considered illegal.
• Any situation where it is important to hide the fact that you are using a VPN.

How Can I Pay For a VPN Anonymously

Selecting the correct payment method to pay for your VPN subscription is nearly as important as selecting the right VPN provider. In both cases, if you make the wrong decision, you could expose your personal and payment information to bad actors and nosy types around the internet.

While not all VPN providers accept all payment options, it’s important to know about your options. In this section, I’ll explain what each payment option offers in the way of anonymity, providing you with enough information to make an informed choice of payment.

The following are the best anonymous VPN payment methods:

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies that are secured by cryptography. All transactions are verified and records are kept by a decentralized system. Even those of you who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies have probably heard of the most well-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.

In addition to Bitcoin, you may also have heard of Ethereum and Monero. All of these digital currencies allow you to make and receive anonymous payments. These cryptocurrency transactions are not tied to your identity. Many VPN providers accept cryptocurrency and to pay for your subscription you need only to transfer the correct amount from your wallet to the VPN provider’s wallet.

While cryptocurrency provides a high level of privacy, some cryptocurrencies are more private than others. While Bitcoin may be the best-known cryptocurrency, Monero is actually more private, thanks to features like one-time addresses and ring signatures for obfuscation.

Keep in mind that the value of cryptocurrencies can fluctuate on a day-to-day or hour-to-hour basis. This means the cryptocurrency you purchased for $10 per coin five years ago could be worth thousands of dollars or worth only a few cents today.

Prepaid Debit Cards

A prepaid debit card may look and work like a regular bank-issued debit card, except it isn’t linked to a bank account or linked to your identity. A prepaid debit card can be purchased almost anywhere, including department and grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and other merchants.

A prepaid debit card can be used to pay for your VPN subscription just as you would with a normal debit or credit card. You merely enter the card details on the payment page. I would advise using a disposable email address to sign up if you go this route.

To keep this payment method truly anonymous, you should purchase it in person and use cash to pay for it. If you use a credit or debit card to purchase the prepaid card it may be possible to track the purchase of the card back to you, which could also trace the VPN subscription purchase back to you.

Virtual (Disposable) Credit Cards

A virtual (disposable) credit card is designed for one-time use or use at a single online merchant. The card uses a disposable number that, while drawing from your credit line, protects your real credit card information. A virtual card uses a unique card number for each transaction.

You can get a disposable card number by contacting your credit card issuer. There are also third-party companies that offer virtual credit card services.

While a virtual credit card provides a level of merchant-facing anonymity when purchasing items or services online, your transactions are still visible to your credit card issuer.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are excellent for paying for a VPN anonymously. Unfortunately, there are only a few VPNs that offer them or accept them as payment for their services. One of the few VPNs I can think of that does offer gift cards is NordVPN, which sells both physical and virtual gift cards. NordVPN sells its gift cards through major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Staples, Currys, Ebuyer, NewEgg, Saturn, Euronics, Harvey Norman, and other popular stores.

Once upon a time, Private Internet Access accepted the unused balance on certain gift cards. Even more unusual is TunnelBear, which accepts jars of honey as payment! Perhaps this is a good idea, as honey really would be the ultimate anonymous payment. It’s really good on toast also!

Cash

Yes, you can use cash to pay for a subscription from a few VPN providers. While paying with cash is the only form of payment on this list that is completely anonymous, it isn’t exactly secure and there are a few other issues.

Sending cash in the mail runs the risk of having the cash lost or stolen. Plus, it will cost you a stamp or two to mail the cash to the provider. Also, it takes a while for the cash payment to be received and processed by the VPN service. So, if you need immediate VPN protection, cash is not the way to go.

Only a few VPNs actually accept cash payments. VPNs that do include Proton VPN and Mullvad VPN.

Why Not Use Traditional Payment Methods to Pay For a VPN?

When we say “traditional payment methods,” we’re referring to using credit cards, debit cards, online payments via platforms like PayPal, and bank transfers.

Unfortunately, while these payment methods are convenient, they come with several privacy risks. These include:

• Transaction tracking: When you use a bank account, credit card, debit card, or payment processor to pay for your VPN your transaction is recorded and tracked. Avoid this method of payment at all costs if you’re looking to keep your payment information incognito.
• Data breaches: Banks, payment processors, and other financial institutions are favorite targets for cyberattacks. If an institution is hit with a data breach, your personal and financial information could be exposed and used by bad actors, possibly leading to identity theft.
• Exposing your personal data: If you use traditional payment methods to pay for your VPN, you’ll be required to provide personal information, including your real name and billing address (this will need to match the information on your payment account), and financial information. This information can be accessed by your VPN provider, your bank or credit card issuer, the payment processing firm, and bad actors (if there is a data breach).
• Your payment Information is connected to your VPN usage: If you use a traditional payment method to purchase your VPN subscription, there will be records connected to the transaction. This means your VPN purchase can be connected to you, possibly leading to legal issues in countries where VPNs are illegal or where certain VPNs are blocked by the government.

How Can I Hide My IP Address When Purchasing a VPN Anonymously?

Sure, a VPN hides your real IP address, ensuring that no one can track your online activities back to your real IP address. However, even if you’re using an anonymous form of payment to pay for your VPN subscription, your real IP address is being exposed, since you don’t yet have a VPN subscription. This means someone could trace your VPN purchase back to your actual IP address.

So, how do you hide your IP address when buying a VPN subscription? Here’s how:

• Use the Tor Browser.
• Use the Opera browser, which has a built-in if somewhat limited VPN.
• Use a reliable free VPN, like Proton VPN. The free version of Proton is somewhat limited, but it’ll do for subscribing to a paid VPN.

VPNs That Accept Anonymous Payment Methods

Most VPNs I’ve dealt with accept anonymous VPN payment methods.

Here are my top VPN providers that accept anonymous subscription payments:

1. NordVPN: This provider accepts various types of cryptocurrency, which are processed via CoinGate. NordVPN also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards. In addition, the provider accepts NordVPN gift cards, which are available at physical and online retailers. Risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
2. Surfshark: This provider accepts various types of cryptocurrency, which are processed via CoinGate. Surfshark also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards.
3. ExpressVPN: This provider accepts various types of cryptocurrency, which are processed via BitPay. ExpressVPN also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards.
4. CyberGhost: This provider accepts various types of cryptocurrency, which are processed via BitPay. CyberGhost also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards.
5. Private Internet Access: This provider accepts various types of cryptocurrency, which are processed via BitPay. It also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards.
6. PrivateVPN: This provider accepts Bitcoin and Ethereum. PrivateVPN also accepts prepaid cards and virtual cards.
7. Atlas VPN: This provider recently merged with NordVPN. As of 2022, it now accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

What Are the Cons of Paying Anonymously For a VPN?

There are several downsides to paying anonymously for a VPN subscription. They include:

• Most VPN providers don’t offer refunds for anonymous payments as they do for standard payment methods like credit cards and PayPal.
• You can’t set up recurring payments. This means you’ll have to manually renew your subscription when it expires.
• Paying anonymously isn’t as fast and easy as paying with non-anonymous payment methods.
• Some VPNs do not accept anonymous forms of payment.
• Paying anonymously may rule out discounts and you may even need to pay an extra fee.

How Else Can I Protect My Anonymity When Using a VPN?

In addition to using an anonymous payment method, there are a few other ways to protect your anonymity when using a VPN.

Most VPNs require you to provide an email address when signing up for service. This makes it easier if you need support, or require a password reset. While they require an email address, they do not require you to use your REAL email address.

You can create an email address using almost any email service (such as Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others), although there are several anonymous email services available, including ProtonMail, Guerilla Mail, Temp Mail, and others.

You can also help confirm anonymity when using a VPN by confirming that your VPN’s kill switch is enabled. With the kill switch enabled, you’re ensuring that if your VPN connection drops, your internet connection will be temporarily killed, meaning your real IP address and your online activities will not be exposed.

If your VPN provider offers it, use its Double VPN server option, which routes your VPN connection through two separate servers, doubling up on encryption and anonymity.

You can also use your browser in private or incognito mode or use a privacy-friendly browser like Brave or Tor.

Last, but not least, keep your VPN app updated to the latest version. Most VPN apps will either automatically alert you to new app versions or offer a feature to manually check for updates.

In Closing

So, what have we learned? As we’ve found, there are several anonymous methods for paying for your VPN subscription. By using one of these anonymous methods, you can keep your VPN subscription completely anonymous, meaning none of your online activities (or the VPN subscription itself) can be tied back to your identity.

VPN Anonymous Payment FAQs

Is it Legal to Pay For a VPN Anonymously?

Yes, it is absolutely legal to use an anonymous method of payment to subscribe to a VPN provider. Cryptocurrency, gift cards, prepaid cards, or even cash are all legal methods of paying for your VPN subscription. However, keep in mind that the usage of a VPN is illegal in some overly restrictive countries, and many VPNs are blocked in those countries, such as China. Make sure that you are aware of your local laws when it comes to using a VPN.

Why Can’t I Buy a Prepaid Card With a Credit Card and Remain Anonymous?

If you purchase a prepaid card with a credit card, there will be a record of that transaction, which can be used to trace your prepaid card purchase back to you. That’s why you should always break open your piggy bank or hit an ATM (yes, they still exist) to get cash to pay for your prepaid card. Also, don’t scan or swipe your store’s affinity card (like Target’s Circle or Kroger’s “Plus” cards) when paying cash, as that could still link the prepaid card purchase back to you.

Are There Risks to Sending Cash Via Mail to Pay For a VPN Subscription?

Cash is absolutely the most anonymous payment method there is. However, there are risks to sending cash through the mail. The cash could be lost or stolen. An unscrupulous postal employee or VPN employee could swipe the cash from the envelope. Plus, letters get damaged in the mail system on a daily basis. Either way, if the cash doesn’t make it to the VPN provider, you are SOL (simply out of luck).

Be sure to wrap the cash in a sheet of paper or use a privacy envelope to ensure that no one can see that there is cash. Also, double or triple-check to make sure you have the correct receiving address on the envelope and make sure it is written clearly. Printing the address information is a good idea, as cursive handwriting on an envelope may cause it to require hand processing.