A ranking of “the best VPNs” tells you about somebody else’s network and somebody else’s evening. It is safer to choose by the questions a service must answer before you hand over money. Below are seven of them, with our own answers — prices, periods and caveats included. We do not write rankings.
In short. Put seven questions to a service before paying: how it earns its living; what it keeps; where the app comes from and which devices it is for; how many devices and how they are counted; how to pay and how to cancel; whether there is a no-card trial; what happens when it does not connect. They will not name a winner, but they will weed out a bad option before the payment: if several have no written answer — do not pay. Mayak’s answers: a subscription of 300, 500 or 700 ₽ a month for 3, 5 or 10 devices (prices as of 20 September 2026), a 3-day trial once you confirm your email, no card, auto-renewal only if you turn it on yourself.
We make Mayak, and under each question below there is our answer — with prices and caveats. You do not have to pay to check. 3 days free after you confirm your email, no card needed. The trial is free and needs no card; without an email it is 1 day.
🍎 On iPhone, Mayak works through the subscription link from your account page. The real Happ (publisher Flyfrog LLC) is not in the Russian App Store — searching that word there brings up look-alike apps from other publishers. INCY (publisher LLC ITDEV) works instead: checked on 22 September 2026.
Seven questions on one page
The first two questions are about money and data, the next ones about devices and payment, the last one about the day something goes wrong. Below is the whole table, and then each question in turn: what to look at and how we answer.
| Question | Warning answer |
|---|---|
| 1. How does the service earn its living? | “Free forever” with no explanation |
| 2. What does it keep and who does it hand data to? | No policy, or one made of generalities; “no logs” with no list and periods |
| 3. Where does the app come from, and is there one for your system? | A link from a chat, a “file from a channel”; no app for your device |
| 4. How many devices, and how are they counted? | “Unlimited” with no conditions |
| 5. How do you pay and how do you cancel? | No offer document; a card asked “for verification” |
| 6. Is there a no-card trial? | A trial with a card and no date or amount of the charge |
| 7. What happens when it does not connect? | “Works everywhere, always” |
1. How the service earns its living
Servers cost money every month. If you are not the one paying, somebody else is paying the bill — most often with data; exactly how is covered in the articles on free extensions and “Paid or free”. Ask outright: is there advertising in the app, is data sold. If you are choosing a free one, this is the main question.
With us: a subscription; there is no advertising in the app, we do not sell data, and there are no advertising trackers (privacy policy). There is no free plan forever, but there is a trial.
2. What it keeps and who it hands data to
“No logs” cannot be checked, but a list of records with retention periods can be read. Look in the policy for: what is recorded (site addresses, time, volume), for how long, whether it is tied to an account, what goes into analytics, under what conditions data is passed on. A warning sign is no policy, or one made of generalities. The full breakdown is in “A safe VPN: how to tell whether you can trust it”.
With us: section 6 of the policy has the list and retention periods from 30 to 180 days; the content of traffic and the sites you visit are not recorded.
3. Where the app comes from and whether there is one for your device
The official sources are an app store or the service’s own site; a link from a chat is neither. And check right away that there is an app for your system: an advertised “works on everything” says nothing about an app.
With us: an app for Android and Android TV — from Google Play or as a file from mayaknetworks.com; the file is signed with our key. On iPhone, Mayak works through the subscription link from your account page in a third-party app: what that looks like.
4. How many devices, and how they are counted
A plan is a number of devices, not “unlimited”: find out whether they work at the same time, whether a switched-off phone still takes a slot, and what happens when you change phones. A warning sign is “unlimited devices” with no conditions.
With us: 300 ₽ a month for up to 3 devices, 500 ₽ for up to 5, 700 ₽ for up to 10 (prices as of 20 September 2026, per the article on buying); speed and traffic volume do not depend on the plan. A slot is taken by a device, not by an address or a connection: a new phone is a new slot, and the old one is removed with a button. The slots of your plan can be shared with people close to you: about a family.
Much of the list is visible during the trial days: what the app does when it connects, how devices are counted, what the consent window says. We ask for no payment details for the trial. A confirmed email opens the access — 3 free days. An email is optional: without one the trial is 1 day.
5. How to pay and how to cancel
Find out beforehand: what you can pay with from your country, for what period, what happens at the end of the period — you are charged, or access simply ends — and where the terms of withdrawal and refund are. Look for the offer, the document you accept by paying. A warning sign is having none.
With us: payment by the Faster Payments System (SBP) or a Russian bank card, in roubles; the period is 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, with no discount for a longer one (how to pay). There are no recurring card charges, and we do not keep card data; auto-renewal is only from the balance in your account and only if you turned it on yourself; we remind you three days before the paid period ends. You can withdraw at any time: on a letter to support we refund the money for the unused full days — section 4 of the offer (in Russian). If you paid somewhere else, this is for you: how to stop the charges.
6. Is there a no-card trial, and what to check during it
A trial with a card almost always ends in a charge unless you cancel in time; a no-card trial simply ends. Ask: how many days, counted from when, on how many devices. During the trial days check the service where you will use it: on your carrier’s mobile internet, at home, in the apps you need (what to check).
With us: 3 days on two devices after you confirm your email, no card needed; the days count from the day you register, so confirm your email at once. Nothing is charged at the end; we warn you a day before and about ten hours before it ends (more).
7. What happens when it does not connect
No service promises that tomorrow everything will work the same: networks change. So the honest question is not “does it work” but “what does the service do when it does not”: how many ways the app has to connect, whether it switches by itself, where to write. A warning sign is the promise “works everywhere, always” (why a list of “which VPN works” does not exist).
With us: the phone tries four ways to connect in a row with no action from you and shows which one worked. What will work on your particular network we do not promise: that is checked on your network, in the trial days. You can write from your account page or to support@mayaknetworks.com.
How to use the list
Go through the seven questions in an evening and write the answers down. If several have no written answer, do not pay: the problem is not you, the service has no answer. A list cannot pick a winner, because different rows matter to different people: one needs a TV, another needs to pay with a Russian card.
We left speed and the number of countries out of the list: speed comes down to your network and is checked in the trial days, and countries are chosen for the task. Two of the seven questions, about money and about data, have their own breakdowns — on paid and free and on trust.
What we tested
- The offer (mayakpay.com/oferta.html) — read in full on 29 September 2026: payment methods, auto-renewal, the three-day reminder, withdrawal and refund (sections 2–4).
- The privacy policy, edition of 21.09.2026 — retention periods from 30 to 180 days (section 6).
- The trial terms, the number of devices and the four ways to connect — from our articles on the trial and on a working VPN; we did not re-check them today.
What we do not know
- Prices today. The 300, 500 and 700 ₽ plans come from the table in the offer and from the article on buying (prices as of 20 September 2026); we did not open the cabinet on 29 September. The final amount of the invoice is shown by the cabinet before you pay.
- How other services answer. We did not check other apps and do not compare them: the list of questions is not a grade but a way to ask.
- What will work on your network. Nobody knows that except a check in the trial days.
Short answers
How do I choose a good VPN? Not by a ranking but by the answers to questions: how it earns its living, what it keeps, how many devices, how to pay and cancel, whether there is a no-card trial, what it does when it fails. The seven questions are above.
How do I choose a reliable VPN? Reliability is written answers. There is a policy with a list and periods, there is an offer, and it is clear how the service earns its living. More about trust in a separate article.
How do I choose a free VPN? Start with the first question: how it earns its living. If there is no answer, you are paying — with data or with your connection. There is no free plan forever with us, but there is a trial.
Which VPN works right now? There is no name that “always works”: it depends on your network and the hour. What can be checked today is in “Which VPN works in Russia”.
How much does a VPN cost? With us it is 300, 500 or 700 ₽ a month for 3, 5 or 10 devices (prices as of 20 September 2026); traffic volume and speed do not depend on the plan.