[48643] A wave of advertisements for the sale of VPN services and censorship-circumventing browsing services in Iran

The price war in the Iranian VPN market: Reports of broad price cuts

On May 3, 2026, intense activity is evident in dozens of Telegram channels distributing secure, censorship-circumventing browsing services (VPN). The market, characterized by aggressive competition, has experienced a wave of advertisements in recent days promising competitive prices under slogans such as "direct purchase without intermediaries" and "20% discount".

A variety of channels are reporting new floor prices. The NE_WG channel announced a price drop to "290 Toman per GB" according to the channel's post, while other channels such as M0_HM went further and advertised even lower prices of "79 Toman per GB" according to their report. A notable phenomenon is the use of a "free trial" as a marketing tool to acquire new customers.

These sources, which sometimes present themselves as part of news and update sites (such as se_pz and km_ap), try to differentiate themselves through promises of "stable speed without disconnections" as noted in M0_HM and access to international infrastructure. Some advertisers even claim the use of "Starlink" technology to improve connection quality, a claim that is difficult to verify independently.

The market is saturated with offers including a variety of protocols such as V2Ray and V2Box. At the same time, there is a clear preference among operators to direct users to automated bots for the purpose of purchasing and receiving direct technical support, as emerges from offers by Ye_DaneshAmoz and xtunnel_vpn. The public is warned in comments and in the advertisements themselves against middlemen who gouge prices, which highlights the lack of regulation and the informal nature of these services.