Guides › Paying with Monero
How to pay for a VPN with Monero (or Bitcoin)
A VPN you paid for with a card is a VPN that knows your name. Cryptocurrency, and Monero in particular, breaks that link. Here is how the payment actually works, and what we do and do not learn from it.
Updated
Why pay with cryptocurrency at all
A card payment carries your name, your billing address and your bank, and the processor keeps them. That does not make a VPN useless, but it does mean the account has a real person attached to it. A cryptocurrency payment carries none of that. We see that an invoice we issued was paid, and nothing about who paid it. Combined with an email address that is not tied to your name, that is an account with no identity behind it.
We accept three: Bitcoin on-chain, Bitcoin over Lightning, and Monero. All three go through BTCPay Server, open-source payment software that watches the blockchain directly; there is no card processor or payment company in the middle.
Bitcoin or Monero?
Bitcoin is public by design. Every transaction, amount and address is on a ledger anyone can read, and companies exist whose business is linking those addresses to people. If you bought your bitcoin on an exchange that knows your name, a payment from that wallet can be connected back to you by anyone willing to do the work. Lightning improves this, since individual payments are not written to the chain, but the channel that funds them was.
Monero hides the sender, the recipient and the amount on the chain itself, using ring signatures, stealth addresses and confidential transactions. An observer sees that a transaction happened and nothing else. For paying a service that you would rather not be linked to, it is the better tool, which is why this guide leads with it.
Step by step
- Choose a plan on the Pricing page and pick Bitcoin or Monero at checkout.
- An invoice opens with a QR code, an address and the exact amount in the coin you chose. The rate is locked for the life of the invoice, so a price move while you pay is our problem, not yours.
- Pay from your wallet. Scan the QR code, or copy the address and amount. Send the amount shown; a payment that is short is held as partial until the rest arrives.
- Watch it confirm. As soon as the network sees the transaction, your dashboard shows a banner with the payment's progress: how many confirmations it has and an estimate of how long the next one will take, based on the fee you paid and current network conditions.
- Done. After the required confirmations, 1 by default, the invoice is marked paid and the subscription is active. Lightning payments settle in seconds and skip the wait.
How long it takes
| Method | Typical time to 1 confirmation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin on-chain | About 10 minutes with a normal fee; longer if you paid a low fee while the network is busy | The status page estimates this from your fee |
| Bitcoin Lightning | Seconds | Needs a Lightning wallet with an open channel |
| Monero | About 2 minutes | Monero blocks are fast; wallets show the transaction as pending in the meantime |
If you close the page, the banner stays at the top of your dashboard until the payment completes, with a link to the full status.
What we learn, and what we do not
We record that the invoice was paid, the amount, the currency, the status and the transaction reference BTCPay reports. That is what the Privacy Policy lists under payment data, and it is the whole list. We do not ask for a name, a billing address or a phone number, and with Monero the transaction on the chain tells nobody anything either. See what a no-logs VPN actually stores for the rest of the account.
Refunds in crypto
The same 5-day refund window applies. A refund is returned in the same asset, converted at the rate on the day it is issued, less network fees, so it may be worth more or less than what you sent. You will be asked for an address to send it to; we cannot return it to the address it came from, because with Monero we do not know it.
Practical tips
- Send the exact amount shown on the invoice, after your wallet's fee. Underpayments are held; overpayments cannot be automatically returned.
- Pay before the invoice expires. The locked rate has a time limit; if it lapses, start a new checkout and you get a fresh invoice at the current rate.
- Use a wallet you control, not an exchange withdrawal, if privacy is the point. Exchange withdrawals are logged by the exchange.
- Start with the free trial. Every new account gets one, so confirm the service works on your network before you send anything.
Questions
Which cryptocurrencies do you accept?
Bitcoin on-chain, Bitcoin over Lightning, and Monero, all through BTCPay Server, open-source payment software that watches the blockchain directly. No card processor is involved.
How long until my subscription is active?
The invoice is marked paid after 1 confirmation by default: around 10 minutes for Bitcoin, around 2 minutes for Monero, and instantly over Lightning. The payment status page shows the confirmation count and an estimate based on the fee you paid.
What do you learn about me from a Monero payment?
That an invoice we created was paid, the amount, and the transaction reference our own BTCPay Server saw. Monero hides the sender, the amount on-chain and the destination from everyone else, and we do not ask for a name or address.
Can I get a refund on a crypto payment?
Yes, within the same 5-day window as any other payment. It is returned in the same asset, converted at the rate on the day the refund is issued, less network fees, so the amount may differ from what you paid.
Try it
Every new account starts with a free trial, every plan includes every location, and you can pay by card, Bitcoin, Lightning or Monero.