Is it worth paying for a VPN in 2026 or is it mostly marketing?

[Anchor99]

Every YouTube channel and podcast seems to be sponsored by a VPN service. I understand the basic concept but I am not sure whether I actually need one for my use case. I am a UK resident who works from home, uses public WiFi occasionally at coffee shops and airports, and occasionally wants to access US streaming content. Is a paid VPN worth it for that use case or is it mostly oversold?

[QubitZero68]

Public WiFi security benefits are real but significantly reduced from what they were five years ago. HTTPS is now the default on almost all websites which means your traffic is encrypted regardless of the WiFi network. The VPN benefit on modern public WiFi is primarily hiding which sites you visit from the network operator rather than preventing data interception

[Odd Maverick]

For your specific use case: yes, worth it but only a cheap one. A reputable no-logs VPN like Mullvad at 5 euros a month or Proton VPN at a similar price covers public WiFi security and US streaming access adequately. The 10 to 15 pound per month prices from NordVPN and ExpressVPN are not justified for casual use

[Coastal Current]

For US streaming specifically: most major streaming services including Netflix have become much better at detecting and blocking VPN traffic. Some VPN providers work with Netflix US consistently and others do not. Check current Reddit threads on which VPN services still work with specific streaming platforms before subscribing - this changes frequently

[Cheugy89]

The privacy benefit against your ISP is the genuine under-discussed use case. Your broadband provider can see every domain you visit without a VPN. With a reputable no-logs VPN they see only that you are connected to a VPN server. If you care about that data not being sold or requested by third parties a VPN is a legitimate privacy tool

[Quarry92]

Avoid the free VPNs almost categorically. Free VPN services have to make money somehow and the product is usually your browsing data. Paying 5 euros a month for Mullvad is better privacy than using any free service regardless of their claims