A self-hosted VPN (5 USD VPS running a VPN server and socks5/http proxy) is cheaper. The exit IP address most likely is NOT blacklisted by IP-sensible services (e.g. PayPal). But you get one country, one IP and belongs to you.
A professional VPN service will give you access through many countries (40-70 or more), the exit point is 'shared' and many VPN providers (e.g. TorGuard) do not keep logs. Or at least that's what their TOS says.
I've been using SurfEasy and it has been good for me so far. Nice OS X app, easy to toggle countries. It does get autodisabled when you use any sort of torrent app as they want to ensure nobody comes after them for assisting illegal piracy activities, but I actually don't mind that at all.
Self-hosted OpenVPN server on a cheap VPS in whichever country I want/need it. Simple to setup, full control, and the cost of the VPS is lower than most paid services (and can be used for hosting other stuff too if I want).
Keep meaning to write a blog post, one day I'll get round to it :)
My setup is based on docker-openvpn[0] which has quite a detailed readme, along with a Digital Ocean community tutorial[1]. My script basically wraps up some of the config and makes the various commands a bit easier to remember.
A self-hosted VPN (5 USD VPS running a VPN server and socks5/http proxy) is cheaper. The exit IP address most likely is NOT blacklisted by IP-sensible services (e.g. PayPal). But you get one country, one IP and belongs to you.
A professional VPN service will give you access through many countries (40-70 or more), the exit point is 'shared' and many VPN providers (e.g. TorGuard) do not keep logs. Or at least that's what their TOS says.