Which VPN provider is actually secure and not too expensive?

Proton VPN and Mullvad are pretty solid choices. Proton is transparent about their infrastructure, they're based in Switzerland, and they have a good free version - if that's enough for you. The paid version costs pretty much in the normal range. Mullvad is even more extreme when it comes to privacy, basically stores nothing, and charges a flat monthly fee - so it's just a bill without any extra stuff.

What you should avoid: providers that are constantly advertising "super secure" but won't release their audit reports, or those based in countries where authorities have easy access. And if a VPN is dirt cheap, ask yourself how they're making money - often your data is the product.

Practical tip: Try out the free or cheap trial versions first. See if the speed works for you and whether they have servers in the countries where you want to browse. The best choice really depends on what matters to you - absolute anonymity, streaming, or just protection on public WiFi.

The problem with that question is that "really secure" is something barely anyone can actually prove - in the end you have to rely on reviews from security experts and whether the company communicates transparently. Cheap and absolutely secure don't always go together, but there are definitely usable options in the budget segment.

Mullvad is interesting because they've recently gone completely free - no limits, no hidden premium version. It's unusual and seems suspicious at first, but those guys have a long track record of privacy-focused stuff and they're based in Sweden (which isn't bad in terms of regulation either). The catch: the interface is minimalist, so less bells and whistles, but that's more of a feature than a bug if you just need a straightforward VPN.

If you want to pay anyway: Surfshark doesn't break the bank (a few euros a month if you pay yearly) and has solid transparency reports. Not as well-known as the bigger names, but that's exactly why it's often cheaper. What matters is that you go with some version that has a no-logs policy and uses open-source tools - that way at least you can verify that data isn't being secretly collected.