You can use SOCKS instead of a VPN. SOCKS proxies allow arbitrary socket connections. You can use them for anything. The biggest difference is a VPN routes all(most) your traffic, whereas SOCKS are typically only used for specific(explicit) connections. Both other strong end-to-end encryption, obfuscating what you're doing.
The good thing is the abundance of residential and mobile SOCKS proxies. So you look like a regular person on the Internet and you're not using commercial IP ranges.