The best VPNs for Russia in 2026

Proton VPN is the only vendor in this guide with a page on using and paying for its service in Russia. Proton says sanctions mean most usual payment methods fail, because Visa and Mastercard block international transactions and PayPal has left Russia. It then lists what does work: a card or PayPal account from outside Russia or Belarus, UnionPay cards (including Mir cards co-badged with UnionPay, though not Mir alone), Bitcoin, a bank transfer to its Swiss account, or cash in euros, Swiss francs or dollars mailed to Geneva. Proton suggests paying in euros or francs, and it doesn't refund cash or bank transfers. To pay with Bitcoin you create a free account first and upgrade from your account settings.

The free plan is a good start on its own. It includes Stealth, which Proton describes as a protocol designed to bypass internet blocks by hiding your VPN connection, with no data cap and no ads on one device. Stealth works in the Windows, macOS, Android, iPhone, iPad and Android TV apps, and in the Linux app once you turn on the beta Proton Protocols setting.

Russia has targeted Proton before. Roskomnadzor confirmed in June 2022 that it had restricted Proton VPN, and Proton's site was among those reported blocked in May 2024, according to Freedom House. Proton offers its Android app through Google Play, F-Droid and an APK on GitHub, and it tells people in Russia to sign up and download its apps while they still can.

Amnezia builds its products around AmneziaWG, a protocol that keeps WireGuard's speed and adds protection against detection and blocking. Amnezia says its services work in countries with the highest levels of internet censorship. Windscribe uses the same protocol for its QUIC obfuscation setting. Freedom House reported that Russia blocked Amnezia's website in April 2024, and Amnezia now prints a mirror address on its home page for people who can't open the site.

You get three ways to use it. The AmneziaVPN app is free and sets up a private VPN on a server you rent from a hosting company, which suits someone technical who wants a connection nobody else shares. Amnezia Free needs no registration and sends only a list of what Amnezia calls socially important sites through the VPN, so everything else opens with your real address. Amnezia Premium is a full VPN using AmneziaWG and XRay VLESS Reality on up to 7 devices, and a Keenetic or OpenWrt router counts as one of them.

Premium costs $30 for 6 months, $50 a year or $80 for 2 years ($3.30 a month). Amnezia shows these with a dollar sign and no currency code. It takes Visa, Mastercard and JCB cards and crypto including USDT, Bitcoin and Ethereum, and it says local methods may be available depending on your country. It doesn't mention Mir. The refund window is unclear: the page says 14 days in two places and 7 days in another, so plan on 7.

Windscribe gives you more settings for a blocked network than any other VPN here. Under Preferences, then Connection, its Anti-censorship Settings include Protocol Tweaks, which adjusts WireGuard, OpenVPN and Stealth so basic VPN filtering is less likely to spot the connection. QUIC obfuscation swaps standard WireGuard for AmneziaWG. Server Routing reaches Windscribe through alternate routes when the normal ones are blocked, at the cost of some extra delay, and Large TLS pads Windscribe's own service requests. On top of that you can connect with IKEv2, OpenVPN over UDP or TCP, WireGuard, Stealth or WStunnel, and pick from many ports.

Payment is flexible too. Windscribe takes cards, PayPal, cryptocurrency and local payment methods, and it has a separate option to buy with cash.

The free plan gives you 10GB a month once you confirm your email, which covers messages, email and maps as a backup but not daily video. Pro costs $9 a month or $69 a year. Build A Plan charges $1 per location a month, with a $3 minimum and up to 7 locations, and each location adds 10GB of monthly data.

Windscribe says it works in heavily censored parts of the globe but doesn't name Russia on the pages we read. Expect to try a few settings when a connection drops.

Psiphon calls itself a circumvention tool, and it is upfront about its limits. Its FAQ says it is designed primarily to get around internet censorship and is not an anonymity tool. Like other VPNs it sends your traffic through an encrypted tunnel, and Psiphon says it can keep working where other VPNs are blocked.

The free version costs nothing and shows ads through Google AdMob. Psiphon Plus removes the ads, and Psiphon's home page says it starts at $2.88 a month. Plus is sold only through the Apple App Store and Google Play. The apps run on Android 7 or later, iPhone and iPad on iOS 16 or later, and Windows 10 or later through an older client.

The feature that matters most in Russia is how you can get the app. If you can't reach an app store, send a blank email to [email protected] and Psiphon replies with download links for Android and Windows, though Psiphon warns that many email providers block executable attachments. You can also install the Android app straight from an APK file that Psiphon provides.

Psiphon's FAQ doesn't name Russia. Treat it as the app you reach for when your main VPN won't connect and you need to send a message or download a fix, and use a full VPN for daily privacy.

Mullvad doesn't ask for your email or any personal details. You click once to generate an account number, and that number is your login. Mullvad says it encourages anonymous payment with cash or cryptocurrency, and it accepts cash, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monero, with 10% off for crypto, alongside bank wire, cards and PayPal.

For blocked networks, Mullvad says its obfuscation methods help people get past firewalls and censorship in countries that try to block VPNs. The app has an anti-censorship setting with obfuscation methods such as UDP-over-TCP, and a separate API access setting, meant for places where Mullvad's servers are blocked, that can reach Mullvad through Shadowsocks or a SOCKS5 proxy. Mullvad warns that obfuscation can slow your connection and use more battery.

The price is one flat rate: €5 a month, whether you pay monthly, yearly or for a decade ahead. Mullvad shows that as about $5.61 but doesn't set a separate US dollar price. One account covers 5 devices, and there's a 14-day money-back guarantee that excludes cash payments.

Mullvad has no free plan, and paying by cash from Russia is slow. Proton notes that post between Russia and Europe takes longer now that direct flights have stopped, and the same delay applies to an envelope addressed to Mullvad. Crypto is the quicker route if you already hold it.

VyprVPN is the only paid VPN in this guide that names Russia on its own site. It says its Chameleon protocol is proven to help people who live in or travel to countries that restrict their internet, including Russia, India, Turkey, Iran and the Middle East. Chameleon is VyprVPN's own scrambled version of OpenVPN, and it runs in the Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Linux apps.

Paying is the hard part. VyprVPN doesn't accept cryptocurrency. It takes Discover, Mastercard, American Express, Visa and UnionPay cards, plus PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay, and app sign-ups go through Google Play or the App Store. That makes VyprVPN a better fit for someone with a card issued outside Russia, or a relative abroad who buys the plan and shares the login.

Personal plans cover 10 devices at once and include VyprDNS. Website buyers get a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the mobile apps offer a 3-day trial through the app stores. VyprVPN is owned by Certida, LLC, in Texas.

We couldn't confirm a current price: VyprVPN's price page showed a bot check instead of plans on November 4, 2026. Check the total at checkout before you commit to a long term.

Surfshark covers unlimited devices on one account, which makes it the cheapest way to protect a whole household when someone outside Russia pays. It has 4,500+ servers in 100 countries and apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux, plus Fire TV and Apple TV.

The feature that matters in Russia is NoBorders mode. When the app detects a restricted network it can switch NoBorders on by itself and connect you to the closest server that works under those restrictions. You can also turn it on by hand under Settings, then Advanced. Surfshark mentions government censorship on its NoBorders page but doesn't name Russia, so keep a second VPN from another company installed.

The VPN-only Starter plan costs $2.49 a month on the 2-year term, billed $67.23 for the first 27 months and then $79 a year. One year costs $44.85 for the first 15 months and monthly costs $18.95. New customers get a 7-day free trial on the 1-year and 2-year plans, covering up to three devices, and Surfshark asks for a card, PayPal or Apple Pay before it starts. A 30-day money-back guarantee follows.

We didn't find crypto or other payment options that work from inside Russia on the Surfshark pages we checked, which is why we rank it behind vendors that publish them.