Melon VPNMelon VPN compared, including the parts we lose
Most VPN comparison pages are written by the VPN they recommend. This one lists what we are better at, what we are worse at, and where the numbers came from — so you can check them without trusting us.
The short version: we sell weeks and months, they sell months and years. For anything short, we cost less than half. For anything long, they win.
The table
| Item | Melon VPN | Large providers |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly plan | $4.99 | not offered |
| Monthly plan | $9.99 | $12.99 – $15.45 |
| One week of use, all-in | $4.99 | $12.99 – $15.45 |
| One month of use, all-in | $9.99 | $12.99 – $15.45 |
| Shortest commitment | 1 week | 1 month |
| Introductory pricing | none | common — renews higher |
| Account required | no | usually yes |
| Traffic logs | none | none, for most audited providers |
| Servers | 631 | 1,000 – 9,000 |
| Regions | 100+ | 60 – 181 |
| Desktop client | no | yes, for most |
| Platforms | iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux |
Where we win: the short plans
Large providers do not sell weeks. Their shortest commitment is a month, and that month costs $12.99 to $15.45 at the major providers. If you need a VPN for a week — a trip, a hotel network, a match, a work trip — you pay for a full month anyway.
We sell a week for $4.99. Not a trial, not a discounted first month that renews higher: one week, then it stops. A month is $9.99, which is still below what the large providers charge for the same period.
That is the whole pricing argument, and it is the only one we make. On a two-year prepaid plan several large providers will beat us outright — $1.99 to $2.49 a month if you commit $48 to $67 up front. If you want the lowest possible long-term price, buy one of those. If you want a week or a month without a subscription that renews itself, that is what we are for.
Where we win on privacy claims: there is nothing to hand over
Most audited providers promise not to keep logs. We go a step further on the structural side: there is no account. No email, no password, no user record. A log with no identity attached to it cannot be correlated later, and a subpoena for "everything you have on this user" has nothing to return.
That is a design choice with a real cost: no account means no cross-device sync, no web dashboard, and no way to recover a subscription if you change phones without the store receipt.
Where we win on history: 2018 to now, same policy
The domain was registered in 2018, the app shipped on the App Store in May 2019, and the zero-traffic-log policy has not changed since. We have not had a breach, a silent policy rewrite, or a "we were acquired, here is the new privacy policy" moment. In this category that is worth more than it sounds: several well-known VPNs have changed ownership and terms after building an audience.
Where we lose
- Server count. 631 servers against roughly 9,000 for NordVPN. We are not trying to win a number that mostly reflects marketing.
- No desktop client. If you need Windows or macOS, we are the wrong product. Details.
- No independent audit yet. Several large providers publish annual no-logs audits. We do not, and we are not going to imply otherwise. Our claim rests on the architecture (no account, no logs written) rather than on a third-party attestation.
- Streaming is not guaranteed. Some routes work better than others, and it varies by service and region. We say so plainly instead of promising a specific catalogue.
Questions
Is Melon VPN the cheapest VPN?
For short use, yes. A week costs $4.99 and a month costs $9.99, against $12.99 to $15.45 for the cheapest month at the large providers — and none of them sell a week. For long use we are not the cheapest: two-year prepaid plans elsewhere run $1.99 to $2.49 a month.
Do you sell a weekly plan?
Yes. $4.99 for seven days, with no automatic renewal. Large providers start at one month, so a week of coverage costs you a full month there.
Do your prices go up after the first year?
No. The price you see is the price we charge. Several large providers advertise an introductory rate and renew at a higher one; we do not do introductory rates at all.
How many servers do you have?
631 servers across more than 100 regions. Large providers have more — NordVPN advertises around 9,000 across 181 locations. We are not trying to win that count.
How long has Melon VPN been running?
The domain was registered in 2018 and the app has been on the App Store since May 2019. The same zero-traffic-log policy has been in place the whole time.
Do you log anything?
No browsing history, no traffic destinations, no DNS queries, no IP addresses and no connection timestamps. There is also no account, so there is no identity to attach a log to.