Free VPNs can be worth it if you need a cost-efficient way to keep your data secure. That said, we don’t normally recommend free VPNs for a few good reasons.
Data limits and slower connection speeds Fewer security features Fewer servers to choose from Ads and paywalls
Not to mention that free VPNs need to make money somehow. Some of the sketchier services might make a quick buck selling your personal info and data. We don’t say this to scare you; there’s still a place for free VPNs. And there are some, like the ones that made our list, that are reputable and safe to use. But we still recommend paying for a VPN, if only to get the full deck of security features and apps. If you’re up for checking out a paid VPN, here are our top two recommended services, which both come with a 30- to 45-day free trial: PrivadoVPN, ProtonVPN, Hotspot Shield, Windscribe, and TunnelBear are our top choices for free VPNs. Each one keeps free version limitations to a minimum while still offering gold-standard security. Let’s dig in and find out which free VPN works best for you. Just so you know, both P2P torrenting and streaming with a VPN might cause you trouble, so be cautious. Technically, viewing Netflix content outside of your region is against the terms of service. And P2P downloads from sources you can’t verify could end up being malware or a virus. IKEv2 might be less secure than OpenVPN, but it provides a faster connection. And yes, it’s still secure. OpenVPN is more robust when it comes to security, but it sacrifices speed to do that. Wireguard is a new protocol that finds a happy medium between security and speed. SOCKS5 is like putting on a disguise, while a VPN is a disguise, voice modifier, and fake passport. But SOCKS5 is available only with the premium version of Privado. So your P2P download speeds will likely be slow despite Privado not putting a speed cap on your torrent. Privado’s free VPN service comes with so many features that you’d normally find in a paid service, like unlimited speeds and Netflix streaming support. That’s why we tagged it as our favorite free VPN. And if you’re looking for a full security suite, the Privado premium VPN comes at one of the lowest monthly costs of $7.99. ProtonVPN lets you use all the data you need—even with its free plan. And it won’t throttle your data speeds either. Although, the servers available to free plan users may not be among the fastest. That means your data remains safe even if your connection gets spotty. Most VPNs require you to upgrade to the premium service to get features like a kill switch. But not ProtonVPN. Other free VPNs, like Privado, do support peer-to-peer and streaming. So if that’s your goal, you might want to check them out instead. Another missing item for Proton’s free version is an ad blocker. You can grab one of these VPNs known for their powerful ad blockers to keep those pesky pop-ups and trackers at bay. Or upgrade to ProtonVPN’s premium version for a very reasonable $5 a month. This is a great compromise for anyone who needs a free VPN to download large files or stream video content. Just keep in mind that 500 MB is still a small pinch of data that lets you do the following:
Video: Stream five 30-minute episodes Zoom: Hop on a two-hour video call Music: Listen to about 125 Spotify songs
Just keep in mind that your Hotspot Shield free plan connection speed crawls along at 2 Mbps as well. So if you’re looking for those glorious 1 Gbps connection speeds for streaming This Is Us on Hulu, skip past Basic and go straight to Premium. These ads are basically banners at the top of your VPN dashboard. But why the Android hate? That makes Basic look pretty shabby for anyone not on a desktop, Mac, or iPhone. Windscribe also comes with a built-in firewall in its desktop app, and the browser extension includes an ad blocker. So if you prefer to not have your Netflix stream slowed down, but do want VPN coverage when you check your bank account, you can do that. All without having to turn your VPN on and off. Countries in the Five Eyes alliance agree to share digital data and intelligence. And there’s no transparency on how the alliance operates or what intelligence information it collects and why. So there could be a risk to your privacy even though you’re using a VPN. We also want to call out that Windscribe starts with an ultra-low, 2 GB monthly data limit on its free plan. The good news is there are a few ways you can bump that up to 15 GB or more:
Add 8 GB: Add and confirm your email address Add 5 GB: Log in and click the Tweet 4 Data button to Tweet and earn more data Add 1 GB: Refer Windscribe to your friends (you could even get a free Pro subscription) Check out Windscribe on Reddit for more ways to get free data
Or, if you find yourself hitting that data limit often, you can grab the cheap Pro plan for $9 a month and get unlimited data. This happens most often in the US when you use a VPN to access a video game or streaming content. But in other countries, GhostBear can help citizens get past government-controlled blocks on news sites, social media, and more.
Stream about 125 songs Two hours of video conferencing Stream five 30-minute TV episodes
We’ll also point out that TunnelBear is headquartered in Canada like Windscribe. Since Canada is part of the Five Eyes alliance, this could be a concern. Countries within the alliance share intelligence, including digital data. There’s no transparency about how the data is collected, what data is targeted, or how it’s collected. Meaning that even with a VPN, your privacy could be at risk. Still, TunnelBear is an excellent VPN choice whether you go free or pay the $9.99 monthly fee for premium.
PrivadoVPN: Our pick for best free VPN overall ProtonVPN: Best free VPN with unlimited data Hotspot Shield: Another great choice with an ample data limit Windscribe: Best free VPN with robust security features TunnelBear: Most beginner-friendly free VPN service
Whether the VPN sells personal data Any time limits on free app usage Whether there are data limits Speed throttling Server limitations Number of devices and connections supported No logs policies Any additional security features
We also factored in our testing results for Hotspot Shield, Windscribe, and TunnelBear. (We haven’t yet tested PrivadoVPN or ProtonVPN.)
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