The phrase that gets glossed over most often in cheap-VPN roundups is “under ¥10 a month” — it can mean an international route that still loads pages at peak hours, or a subscription whose bandwidth is oversold to the point of being unusable. This article breaks it down by budget tier: who each of the ¥9.9/60GB, ¥18/250GB and ¥28/500GB monthly plans suits, the overselling, throttling and support trade-offs of cheap plans, and a self-test routine you can repeat on your own network.
What the under-¥10 monthly price band actually buys you
In a subscription service's cost structure, the most expensive item is always cross-border bandwidth and exit capacity, not the software itself. When the price is pushed under ¥10 a month, what a provider can usually shrink is the monthly data allowance rather than the routes — slicing the same bandwidth into smaller portions fits the cost logic better than switching to worse routes. So to judge whether a cheap plan is worth it, first check whether it states the allowance clearly, then whether it states the route type clearly.
The three monthly plans here differ only in monthly fee and data: ¥9.9/month includes 60GB, ¥18/month includes 250GB, and ¥28/month includes 500GB. Coverage (90+ countries / 170+ routes) and device count (unlimited simultaneous devices) are identical across all three; data resets every month on your activation date, and mid-term upgrades are prorated by remaining days. That matters if you're on a budget: you don't have to buy the most expensive tier to get the full route pool.
| Tier | Monthly fee | Monthly data | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly · 60GB | ¥9.9 | 60GB | One person, phone-first: web pages, documents, messaging, maps |
| Monthly · 250GB | ¥18 | 250GB | Desktop always on: browser, AI chat, cloud documents |
| Monthly · 500GB | ¥28 | 500GB | Shared across devices: 4K video, cloud sync, large file transfers |
The three monthly plans, and who each suits
¥9.9 / 60GB: one person, phone-first, predictable usage
This tier is often treated as a trial, but it maps to a very stable pattern of use: the phone is in hand most of the day, and the actions are looking things up, replying to messages, checking maps and occasionally opening a browser-based tool. 60GB isn't tight for that; the real limit is that you can't leave downloads running on a desktop all day. If your budget really is under ¥10 and only one person's phone is involved, this is the option to compare.
¥18 / 250GB: the tier for an always-on desktop
Once the route stays connected on a computer, browser tabs, AI chats, cloud documents and system updates all travel over it, and usage climbs noticeably. The point of the 250GB tier is that it takes “should I turn the proxy off to save data?” out of your day. Most people who treat an international route as work infrastructure end up here.
¥28 / 500GB: multiple devices and video
Unlimited devices is common to all three tiers, but devices running in parallel add up: phone, laptop and tablet online at once use far more than a single device. Add 4K video, cloud sync and large file transfers, and the 500GB tier is for people who don't plan to count data every day. If you upgrade from a lower tier mid-term, the difference is prorated by remaining days — no need to wait for the next billing cycle.
Data packs or a monthly plan
If your use is intermittent — only on business trips, for a quarterly project, or as a backup route — a monthly plan's “resets every month” is wasted. Data packs are pay-as-you-go, last until used up and never expire: ¥158/300GB, ¥358/1000GB, ¥658/3000GB.
There's only one test: over the past month, did you use an international route almost every day? If yes, take a monthly plan; if no, take a data pack. The two can also coexist — a common combination is a monthly plan for daily use plus one data pack for backup and travel.
- Monthly plan: resets every month on your activation date — for people with steady daily usage.
- Data pack: lasts until used up, never expires — for occasional use and backup.
Three trade-offs in cheap plans: overselling, throttling, support
A low price doesn't make a service a scam, but it always moves some cost somewhere else. Getting clear answers to the three points below before you buy is worth more than reading any marketing page.
Overselling: how many people share the same bandwidth
Overselling is normal in every subscription service; only the degree varies. The way to judge it isn't the marketing copy but whether the provider dares to state route types: “Japan node” can mean an IEPL dedicated line, a transit route or a direct route — three things with completely different costs. Direct routes go through public international gateways and are the first to congest at peak hours; transit routes have an entry point in mainland China but still cross the border over the public internet, so the entry is steadier; IEPL dedicated lines carry the cross-border segment on a private line, at higher cost and with better stability. If a cheap plan lists only countries and never route types, assume the lowest tier.
Throttling: what's written in the terms and what isn't
Explicit throttling shows up in the plan description, for example limits on a single connection or on peak throughput; implicit throttling shows up as normal daytime performance and pages that won't load at peak hours. To check, read both the plan page and the terms page and look for any limit on peak speed, concurrency or single connections. Not stated doesn't mean not there, but stated at least means the provider is willing to be checked.
Support: can you reach anyone when something breaks
Support is the first thing cheap plans cut. Look at two things: whether the ticket entry point is visible before you buy, and whether the refund condition is written as one executable sentence. The terms here say “full refund, no questions asked, within 60 days of your first payment” — the value of that sentence is that it gives you a defined window to verify the two points above.
Here's a pre-signup checklist you can tick off line by line:
- ✅ The plan page states the monthly data allowance and reset rule (resets monthly on your activation date)
- ✅ It states the route type — IEPL dedicated line / transit / direct — not just the country
- ✅ The terms page gives an executable refund condition and a number of days
- ✅ Signup needs only a username and password; no email address is requested
- ✅ Transport encryption is bank-grade, with the same negotiation on client and server
- ❌ “Unlimited data” used as a selling point, with no throttling or concurrency terms at all
- ❌ Only adjectives like “stable” and “permanent”, with no condition you can check
- ❌ Personal information unrelated to the service requested during signup
A repeatable self-test routine
Rather than trusting someone else's speed-test screenshot, run the same routine on your own network. The seven steps below need no specialist tools; repeat them over two or three days and you'll get a more reliable judgement than any single test.
- Fix the time slots. Test once between 20:00 and 23:00 on a weekday and once around midday. Peak evening hours are when every cross-border route is under the most pressure — and when cheap plans give themselves away.
- Measure the baseline first. Turn the proxy off and record how your local connection loads the sites you use. Mistaking a home broadband problem for a route problem is the most common error.
- Compare routes. Under the same protocol, switch between two or three routes in different regions — one IEPL and one transit — open the same set of pages, and note whether streams drop or reconnects are needed.
- Check for DNS leaks. Use a DNS leak test page to confirm that lookups come from the route side rather than your local ISP. Remote DNS or DNS over the proxy should be enabled in the client; otherwise domain lookups still go out locally.
- Run a long connection. Start an AI chat or a video call and keep it going for more than ten minutes to see whether it drops. Short connections won't reveal long-connection stability.
- Repeat with another protocol. On the same route, try Shadowsocks, VMess, Trojan and Hysteria2 in turn and note which is steadier on your carrier.
- Record and review. Write down the time slot, route, protocol and what happened. A few days of notes say more than any single speed test.
On “hands-on testing”: this page gives no specific speed numbers. Differences between cities, carriers and times of day are usually larger than differences between plans; a single number is of no use to you, but a routine you can repeat is.
Subscription links, protocols and clients: the costs people overlook
A cheap plan saves money and spends setup time. This section covers the three things most likely to go wrong.
A subscription link is a credential
A subscription link is a URL with credentials embedded; the client uses it to pull the node list on a schedule. It ranks alongside your password: pasting it into a group chat, committing it to a public repo or posting a screenshot of it is the same as lending your account to someone else. When setting up a new device, use the client's built-in import or a QR code rather than copying the link into a chat window. If a link does leak, the right move is to reset the subscription in the panel, not to delete the message.
Note: a leaked subscription link triggers no warning, but it does show up in your data usage. If the numbers don't add up, reset the subscription link first, then check each device that's currently in use.
Choosing a protocol: newer isn't better
| Protocol | Transport traits | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadowsocks | Lightweight forwarding, low overhead | Everyday browsing and light apps | UDP support depends on a plugin; some clients need extra configuration |
| VMess | V2Ray family, works with several transport layers | General use | Uses time validation — a large clock skew on the device will block connections |
| VLESS | Smaller header overhead, often combined with TLS | Where low handshake overhead matters | The protocol itself doesn't encrypt; it relies on a TLS-based transport |
| Trojan | Disguises traffic as standard HTTPS | Networks that inspect traffic patterns | Depends on correct domain and certificate configuration |
| Hysteria2 | QUIC-based, runs over UDP | Mobile networks with higher packet loss | Unavailable when UDP is restricted or blocked |
| TUIC | Also QUIC-based | Low-latency interactive apps | Same as above — requires UDP to be available |
Suggested order: get the client's default protocol working first, then compare one or two alternatives on your own carrier. Mobile networks and home broadband often behave differently, and the gap between the two for one protocol can be bigger than switching routes.
DNS leaks and routing rules: the two most overlooked settings
A DNS leak means domain lookups still go through your local ISP even though the traffic itself already travels over the route. The problem isn't only privacy: lookups can resolve to the wrong node, which shows up as “it's connected but nothing loads”. Two switches in the client cover this — remote DNS sends lookups through the route side, and routing rules decide which domains use the route and which connect directly.
Routing mode is usually one of three: global (all traffic over the route), rule-based (decided by domain and IP lists), or direct (nothing over the route). For daily use, rule-based responds fastest — domestic sites connect directly, overseas sites go over the route; switch to global temporarily only for a site the rule list doesn't cover.
Platform differences: five platforms, five different clients
Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux clients are not equally capable: on desktop you can usually enable TUN mode to take over all traffic, including apps that ignore the system proxy; Android takes over through the system VpnService; iOS uses a Network Extension and may trigger a reconnect when the network changes (Wi-Fi to cellular, for example); Linux needs permission on the tun device, commonly by running as root or adding a capability to the binary. The same subscription imports on all five platforms, but “imported successfully” doesn't mean “traffic actually goes over the route” — once configured, go back to the self-test routine above and verify. Import steps for each platform are in the Setup Guides.
Conclusion: the buying order for plans under ¥10 a month
Three steps, in order, and you won't buy wrong:
- Size the plan to your usage. If you're unsure, start at ¥9.9/60GB; a mid-term upgrade is prorated by remaining days, so you don't wait for the next billing cycle.
- Check route types and coverage. 90+ countries / 170+ routes are shared by all three tiers — that's not where they differ; route type (IEPL dedicated line / transit / direct) is what decides peak-hour performance.
- Check the refund and signup requirements. Full refund, no questions asked, within 60 days of your first payment; signup needs only a username and password, with no email address. Payment supports Alipay, WeChat and USDT.