August 2026

How we compare.

Enough to read a table. Not a white paper. We are selling a private node, not a lab.

What we put on the table

• Kind — dedicated household node vs shared consumer app vs a sticky-IP add-on.
• Price — month-to-month list, and the best billed monthly (usually a 1- or 2-year promo).
• IP — shared, sticky add-on, or dedicated to you.
• Traffic — Atom: about 20 TB outbound per month on the dedicated box, one to one. Consumer apps: a shared “unlimited” pool.
• China notes — a short read of public 2026 roundups, not a protocol guide.

Prices

Consumer figures are public list and promo prices as of August 2026, pulled from vendor pages and independent roundups (including VPNPicked, MapTrip, and travel write-ups dated 2026). Two-year deals make $13 look like $3. We show both so the shelf is honest.

Node is $49 / month or $349 / year ($29.08 / month). Ultimate is $199 / month or $1,433 / year — three dedicated nodes for one family. No extra initiation. A single-node household invoice is $99 / $713 if you want that bill. Promos on other brands move; treat their cells as a snapshot, not a coupon.

Traffic

The dedicated node includes about 20 TB of outbound traffic per month. That is the full amount on the machine. We do not slice it across customers. Inbound does not count. Consumer VPNs usually print “unlimited” on a shared network — that is a different object. If a household will need more than about 20 TB outbound, they should say so at order.

Speed units

Consumer VPNs usually quote megabits (Mbit/s). Atom quotes megabytes (MB/s) on a clear path. Eight megabits ≈ one megabyte. So 80 Mbit/s ≈ 10 MB/s. Atom’s “up to ~100 MB/s” is a product claim on a well-fed path, not a promise from a specific hotel room. Last mile still wins.

China rows

We did not run a 2026 lab from Beijing for the other brands. Testers disagree with each other — that is the story. Some 2026 roundups put ExpressVPN and Astrill at or near first-try success; others say Express and Nord have faded. We print a range, not a winner medal.

Atom’s China line is our product: a private node you take on a hard network, reserved on pay, live in about 10–15 minutes, phone-first setup, up to about 100 MB/s on a clear path. Hotel Wi‑Fi still has a say.

What we will not do

We will not publish recipes, ports, or a how-to for bypassing local controls. We will not rank “stealth” brand names on a customer page. Local law where you travel is yours.

Who should ignore this table

If you need the cheapest two-year app tonight, this comparison will look expensive. It is supposed to. The high shelf is the product.

Full table · China travel · Terms