A VPN We Can Recommend
I have a Google One account that only costs me $1.99 per month (less than 7 cents a day). And for that $1.99/month I get 100 GB of cloud storage and a safe place to keep all my precious pictures of my kids and grandkids. The 15 GB of cloud storage space that Google gives its users free of charge is generous, but when you have kids and grandkids and smartphones, well, that 15 GB only goes so far. So, I signed up for the 100GB plan and now I have plenty of space for all those priceless photos.
All Google One plans include a VPN that I can use on all my devices (Windows and my Android phone) And if you have any Apple device (iPhone, iPad) it works on them too.
It also includes dark web monitoring so I can see at a glance what info about me has slithered its way via data breaches to the dark side of the web.
But today, because so many of you have asked us about VPNs recently (and over the years), we’re going to tell you about the VPN service that comes with Google One. It’s one we use and can recommend.
Google One VPN is a virtual private network service offered by Google to all Google One subscribers. A VPN allows users to create a secure, encrypted connection between their device and the internet, protecting their online activity from prying eyes, hackers, and other threats.
Google One VPN can be installed on Windows 10 and Windows 11 and it comes with the Google One app, available for both Android and iOS devices. Google’s VPN works by routing the user’s internet traffic through a Google-managed server, encrypting the data as it travels between the user’s device and the internet.
The VPN service is available to Google One subscribers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries. Google One offers a 15-day free trial for new subscribers, after which there’s a monthly charge starting at $1.99 per month. Additionally, Google One comes with cloud storage ranging from 100 GB to 2 TB depending on your chosen plan.
Some benefits of using Google One VPN include increased security and privacy while browsing the internet, and the ability to access content that may be restricted in certain countries or regions. It protects you by preventing 3rd-parties from monitoring or intercepting your online activities especially important if you do online banking, use online brokerages, or shop online.
It also prevents your ISP from tracking the sites you visit as well as preventing your ISP from logging your online activities. And if you use public WiFi such as at an airport or restaurant using a VPN is essential to protect your personal information especially when shopping online or using online banking using public Wi-Fi.
But remember, despite what Nord VPN and Norton’s TV ads want you to believe — no VPN can prevent identity theft, or malware, or keep you safe from scams or phishing.
Also, remember that no VPN service can provide 100% security or anonymity. It’s always important to exercise caution and use common sense when browsing the internet, regardless of whether or not you’re using a VPN.
We’ve been testing the Google One VPN for about a week now and we can recommend it based on our tests.
#1. It’s the easiest, least complicated, most user-friendly VPN we’ve tested. There are no complicated settings.
#2. It’s easy to turn on and off as needed.
#3. Google doesn’t make ridiculous claims like other VPNs that claim they can prevent identity theft, malware, and viruses. No VPN can do that and that’s not even what a VPN is for.
#4. Google VPN is only one feature of Google One plans. Other features include dark web monitoring, 100GB (or more) of cloud storage, and more depending on the plan you choose.
Here are some screenshots taken during our testing…
Google’s VPN is easy to turn on and off. And Google does not hyperbolize what a VPN can do. It does not make false claims that it protects you from identity theft – no VPN does. It does not claim it protects you from malware – no VPN does.
As you can see in the screenshots below there are no complicated settings—nothing to decide. You can turn it off and on whenever you like. You can set it to start with Windows or not. You can turn it completely off (Quit). It’s all easy and simple
How much does Google One cost and what do Google One Plans include?
Pricing & Plans
$1.99 a month / billed monthly
100 GB of storage
Access to Google experts
Share with up to 5 others
More Google Photos Editing Features
Extra member benefits
VPN for multiple devices
Dark web monitoring
$2.99 a month /billed monthly
200 GB storage space and everything included in the $1.99 a month plan plus a 3% discount in the Google Store.
$9.99 a month /billed monthly
2 TB of storage space and everything included in the less expensive plans plus 10% off in the Google Store and Google Workspace Premium,
Visit this page to learn more about Google One plans and pricing. Also if you have more questions about Google One you’ll find the answers here.
Compare the cost of Google One to other VPN services
Here is a list of some other VPN services and their least expensive monthly plans (most require you to sign up for one or two years). Use this to compare the price of Google One and its VPN with these VPN services.
CyberGhost – Starting from $2.25/month
IPVanish VPN – Starting from $2.40/month
Private Internet Access (PIA) – $2.69/month
Surfshark – Starting from $2.49/month
NordVPN – Starting from $3.30/month
ProtonVPN – Starting from $4.00/month
ExpressVPN – Starting from $6.67/month
One more thing…
We don’t make a commission from Google. We don’t benefit from you buying a Google One plan at all. But we do benefit from our Google One plans and we think you would too.
Is the cloud really safe for backup. I always feel comfortable managing my own backup of two flash drive memory sticks. I always think there are 3 rules with computers. Backup, backup and backup. I worked with large computer systems between 1966 and 1973. I remember horror stories of large companies losing two levels of backup because of hardware problems. It
Cloud backups like OneDrive, Google Drive, iDrive, etc. are extremely safe since they redundantly store your data is multiple locations so even if one data center goes down, your data is available from other data centers located in different areas.
Having tried many VPN’s I strongly recommend Browsec Premium . Their support is the best I have come across which in my opinion is a very important critera
It’s hard for us to recommend anything that stores your data in Russia.
Browsec admits to collecting some user data, though they claim it’s not used or sold to third parties.
Being located in Russia, a country with mandatory data retention laws, raises concerns for privacy-conscious users.
Browsec doesn’t have a public independent audit to verify their no-logging claims.
So we said No Thanks to Browsec.
Is Google One only for cell phones and not for PCs?
It works on smartphones and Windows PCs. The screenshots in the article were taken on a Windows PC.
I have been paying $2.49 a month for quite a while now for 100 GB of google storage. Is Google One a new option?
If so I will upgrade to the $2.99 a month option.
Also I use Trend Micro on my phone through my Internet Service Provider. Will that clash with a VPN if I take up that option?
Google One is free with any cloud storage plan. The free VPN is available to anyone with a paid Google account. I don’t use and we don’t recommend Trend Micro so I’m not familiar with it. Some security suites come with VPNs. VPNs don’t clash but have 2 VPNs may slow your Internet connection.