The best paid VPN is not the top line of someone else's ranking but the one that works on your network and your devices and charges honestly. All of that can be checked before paying: by hand, during the trial days, and from the service's documents. Below are seven such checks and how Mayak does on each, as of 4 October 2026.
In short. With a paid VPN you pay for four things: that it connects on your network, works on all your devices, charges clearly and answers when something breaks. All of it can be checked before paying: a trial with no card, connecting on mobile data and at home, an app for every device, a public offer with refunds, a question to support. We do not rank other services; below is a way to check any of them, plus our answers.
We make Mayak, a private network, and there is one section about us below. You can check us the same way as anyone else: the trial needs no card, and our answer to every check is in the table.
🍎 On iPhone Mayak works with the subscription link from your account, in Happ or INCY (INCY is in the Russian App Store): where to tap on iPhone.
What you pay for in a paid VPN
A subscription pays for what the service cannot run without: servers in different countries and the traffic through them, an app that gets fixed when networks change, people in support, and payment processing. Being paid does not make a service good by itself, but it makes clear what it lives on.
What money cannot buy from anyone: a speed higher than your carrier gives you, or a promise that a particular site will always open (why). So “best” here means “tested on your side”, not “fastest in someone else's measurement”. The general questions to put to any service are collected in “How to choose a VPN”; this piece is about what to do by hand.
Seven checks before you pay
The left column is what to check, the middle one is how to do it yourself, the right one is how it is with us.
| Check | How to check it yourself | Mayak |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Trial with no card | Create an account: are payment details asked for? | 3 days on two devices after you confirm your email, no card needed |
| 2. How many devices | Count yours: phone, laptop, TV — and compare with the plan's limit | 3, 5 or 10 depending on the plan, all at once |
| 3. Paying from Russia | During the trial, go as far as the payment page without paying: which methods are there? | A Russian bank card or SBP, in roubles |
| 4. Mobile data | Connect with Wi-Fi off, in two or three places | Several ways to connect; the app tries them by itself and shows which one worked |
| 5. An app for your device | Find it for each of your devices before paying | Our own for Android and Android TV; iPhone, Windows and Mac via Happ with the subscription link, on iPhone also INCY; Linux via a settings file |
| 6. Renewal and refunds | Find the public offer: what happens at the end of the term and what is refunded if you cancel | No recurring card charges; auto-renewal only from the account balance, by a switch; refunds for unused full days |
| 7. Support | Ask a question during the trial and note when they answer | A form in your account and email; we usually answer within a day |
You cannot pick a winner from the table: for one person the key row is the TV, for another it is paying with a Russian card. But if a service will not let you check two or three rows before paying, that is an answer in itself.
How to test the connection in one evening
The fourth check decides more than the rest, and nobody can do it for you: the result depends on your carrier and your location.
- Turn off Wi-Fi and connect on mobile data. Open the two or three sites or apps you are doing this for.
- Repeat at home on Wi-Fi and, if you can, in another place or at another time of day.
- Watch what the app does when the first attempt fails: does it try another route by itself, or wait for you to switch something (why that is the main difference)?
- Check that your address changed: four checks in a minute.
What else to fit into the trial days is in “What to test in the free days”. One caveat: if on mobile data only Gosuslugi, your bank and marketplaces open, that is a special mode, and no service of this kind will connect over mobile data in it, Mayak included (explainer). On Wi-Fi it will connect.
The best paid VPN for Android: what to check separately
On Android, four more checks join the seven:
- Its own app or someone else's. A service's own app can do more than a universal one: switch connection methods by itself, show how much access is left, send a log to support.
- Where to install from. Google Play or the service's own site, not a link from a chat. If the service has both, find out whether the two versions install over each other.
- The TV. Is there a version for Android TV, and can you sign in to it without a keyboard?
- One connection per phone. Android keeps one such connection. If a second app has “Always-on VPN” turned on, the new one will not come up, so remove the extra app before testing.
With us: our own app for phones, tablets and TVs on Android 7.0 or newer, from Google Play or as a file from our site, version 0.7.40 as of 4 October 2026. The store and site versions do not install over each other. More in “A VPN for Android”.
The first payment: for what term
Even when the trial went well, it makes sense to make the first payment for a short term: a month of real use shows more than three days. A long term pays off only if it comes with a noticeable discount and the service keeps working for you the whole time; how to weigh that is in “A VPN for a year”.
We give no discount for a longer term: 3, 6 and 12 months cost exactly three, six and twelve monthly prices, so there is no reason to pay ahead for the price. How to work out the price per device with any service is in “How much does a VPN cost”.
Where Mayak will not suit you
An honest check works both ways. Here is where we say “not us” up front:
- We have no app of our own for iPhone, Windows or Mac yet. There Mayak works through the subscription link in third-party apps (help).
- In the mode where the carrier leaves only a list of allowed services, we will not connect over mobile data.
- Torrents and other file sharing are not allowed (why).
- You cannot pay in cryptocurrency, only with a Russian bank card or SBP.
Check first, pay later. We ask for no payment details for the trial. A confirmed email opens the access — 3 free days on two devices. An email is optional: without one the trial is 1 day.
What we checked
- Our answers in the table: against our help centre and public offer as of 4 October 2026 — plans, trial, payment methods, renewal, refunds, support response time.
- The app version: 0.7.40 on the site and in Google Play, from our version file on 4 October 2026.
- Other paid services we did not test and do not compare: this piece is a way to check, not a ranking.
What we do not know
- Which paid service will suit you. That is decided by your network, your devices and which row of the table matters most to you.
- How Mayak behaves on your carrier. Our measurements were taken in Moscow; networks behave differently in other regions. That is what the trial days are for: if it does not work, write to us before paying.
Short answers
Which paid VPN is best? The one that passed the seven checks on your side: a trial with no card, your devices, payment, mobile data, apps, refunds and support. Someone else's ranking measures someone else's network.
What is the best paid VPN for Android? One with its own app from Google Play or the service's site that switches connection methods by itself. Test it on mobile data during the trial.
How much does a good paid VPN cost? Compare the price per term per device, not the number in the shop window. Ours is 300 ₽ a month for 3 devices (how to work it out).
Can I get my money back if it does not suit me? With us, for unused full days, by writing to support.
I paid and it does not work — what now? First make sure it is not an access problem: the money is gone but access was not extended.