Increasing numbers of Android users are now looking for a more private and secure browsing experience when they head online, but don’t want to break the bank whilst doing it.
This is where a free Android VPN comes in – but the current market is full of providers making spurious claims about their ability to protect users. This guide, on the other hand, gives you a real rundown on the best free Android VPNs to use on your smartphone, tablet, or Android Smart TV.
What Are the best free VPNs for Android
We have listed the best free VPNs for Android below. Check out our detailed summaries for more information about any of the services in the list.
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Windscribe
– The best free VPN for Android. It gives free users up to 10GB of usage per month, strong encyrption, and 10 servers. -
Hide.me
– This is the fastest free Android VPN. It has rapid connection speeds, excellent customer support and it’s secure. -
ProtonVPN
– A free unlimited VPN for Android. It that stands out thanks to unlimited data usage and a strict no-logs policy. -
TunnelBear
– A reliable free Android VPN app. It is secure and trustworthy provider with servers in 22 countries, but it has a strict data cap. -
Hotspot Shield
– A popular and reliable free VPN for Android users. It has over 650 million worldwide downloads and offers a 15GB data cap.
When researching the best free android VPN services, we made sure all of the VPNs in our list have the following features:
- A good track record – no leak history, and a sizable user base.
- Good performance speeds
- A large monthly data allowance
- A proper encryption policy
- A large number of servers
See our dedicated free VPN page for a list of unlimited free VPN services that will work on Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac.
Best free VPNs for Android: an in-depth analysis
We take a closer look at the best free Android VPN services below.
Windscribe is the best free Android VPN. It is a top-quality VPN with strong security features, a large number of servers, and an excellent Android App.
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Pricing
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$4.08 –
$9.00 -
Available on
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
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Windscribe, based in Canada, is our top pick if you want a free VPN to use on Android. Offering both free and paid versions of its service, Windscribe has a wide variety of servers to choose from, including several in North America and Europe. Its Android app is highly intuitive and easy to use, and perhaps best of all, they store no logs that could be used to identify you at a later date. Overall, it has a very impressive privacy policy for a free service.
Windscribe also offers 10GB of data allowance a month, which is certainly towards the top end of what a free VPN on the android store will offer. It doesn’t come with a kill-switch on Android, as most free VPNs on Android don’t – but it does have ad and malware blockers and AES-256 bit encryption, which is the same across its premium subscriptions.
Hide.me is the fastest free Android VPN. It has super-fast servers and an unwavering commitment to maintaining users’ privacy.
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Pricing
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$2.43 –
$12.95 -
Available on
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
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- Netflix
- iPlayer
- Amazon Prime
- Hulu
Hide.me is another VPN that has crept up the list by providing all its free users with the same level of security and privacy as it does paid ones. Impressively, this provider is one of the rare few to offer a built-in kill-switch for Android users. In terms of logging, Hide.me only ever store your email address, and even that is kept hidden away in encrypted servers.
Their privacy policy is easy to understand and goes to great lengths to explain exactly how they manage data, and as the VPN is based in Malaysia, they aren’t obligated to share any of it with the government.
Hide.me also ranks highly due to its rapid connection speed, which can reach up to 80 Mbps when it really gets going. Although they only have five free server locations, this evidently has little impact on its ability to get you where you need to be and fast. The Android app is as slick as they come, and the handy 24/7 live chat support feature means it’s much easier to resolve any problems you have with the service.
ProtonVPN is a free unlimited VPN for Android. It has years of privacy software development under its belt, a strict no logs policy and no data cap!
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Free option
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$3.29 –
$5.00 -
Available on
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
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- Netflix
- iPlayer
- Amazon Prime
- Hulu
ProtonVPN is the only VPN on this list to offer unlimited data usage, so your traffic will be secure no matter how much you use it. Although a kill-switch is not available to Android users, the swiss-based company has an ‘always on’ feature, which automatically reestablishes a connection to a VPN when it is lost, is an assuring replacement.
Thanks to the success of the highly regarded privacy email ProtonMail, the Proton brand has a strong track record of putting users’ privacy first, and their free VPN is no different. Its strict no-logs policy keeps nothing but the time and date you logged in, and even that gets overwritten every time you start a new session.
ProtonVPN’s free service grants you access to servers in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, but their lack of a larger network doesn’t seem to affect download speeds and is useful if you live under a government enforcing wide-reaching censorship laws.
TunnelBear is a reliable free Android VPN app. It is a secure VPN with wide-ranging server access and excellent security features. Unfortunately, users only get 500MB usage per month.
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Pricing
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$3.33 –
$9.99 -
Available on
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
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TunnelBear has almost a decade under its belt in the VPN market. The Canadian-based company offers access to VPN servers in 22 countries and a kill-switch on Android devices, preventing IP address exposure if a connection to the VPN is lost. TunnelBear operates on a highly transparent privacy policy and will never share your data with third parties.
Unfortunately, TunnelBear’s free version only grants users 500 Mb of data, which is significantly less than some of the other providers on this list and means that your data will have to be used sparingly. But, with a User-friendly app interface and a negligible difference in speed between the paid and free versions, it’s certainly still worth the download if security is your main priority.
HotSpot Shield is a popular free VPN for Android users, with well over 650 million worldwide downloads. It maintains widespread popularity despite running ads.
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Pricing
From
$3.88 –
$16.84 -
Available on
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
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Unblocks
- Netflix
- iPlayer
- Amazon Prime
- Hulu
HotSpot Shield maintains a highly-subscribed-to service with over 650 million downloads worldwide. Although the Californian service has over 3000 servers in over 80 countries, users who sign up for their free service on Android will only be able to access the US server. HotSpot Shield offers 500 Mb a day or 15 Gb a month of data, which is a larger package than you may receive from other free providers
The encryption standards are the same across their free and paid versions, but the decision to run adverts on Android knock it down a few places. However, the company is now one of the few VPNs to produce an annual transparency report which lists all requests for user data, and in 2019, no requests were actions.
HotSpot Shield actually became the most used VPN during the Arab Spring, which certainly says something for its privacy credentials. Overall, a worthy choice to take for a spin – especially when it doesn’t cost you anything.
Are free VPNs safe to use on Android?
Although the VPNs reviewed in this article are safe and secure for use on Android, practically all free VPNs come with security risks you won’t experience when using a paid VPN. If you’re thinking of downloading a VPN not on this list, make sure you choose very wisely.
Get a premium VPN service without risking your cash!
If you want to make the most of a VPN, but don’t want to put your cash on the line, take advantage of money-back guarantees offered by the best VPN providers.
Simply put, the majority of free Android VPNs do not have the same financial resources as paid services, and won’t be able to invest in protecting their users in the same way. This means that, whatever level of protection a free VPN for Android may claim to have, it’s never going to be top of the range.
They are also less likely to have a global network of servers and, perhaps most worryingly, many keep surprisingly detailed activity logs. Check out our no-logs VPN page for more information about why this is a worry. Adverts and malware are also much more common on free Android VPNs.
Free VPNs on the Google (Android) Play Store you should definitely avoid
All of these free Android VPN providers have a string of good reviews on the Google Play Store. However, all of them have terrible track records when it comes to protecting users.
| HoxxVPN | Unfortunately, this provider admits in their privacy policy that they can sell data to third parties if they choose to. What’s more, it isn’t even really a VPN – it’s a Shadowsocks proxy service. |
| HolaVPN | The VPN’s parent firm can access all your data, and Hola actively steals and sells your bandwidth through a sister company. Targeted advertising everywhere, too. |
| TurboVPN | It’s hard to find TurboVPN’s privacy policy on the app – probably because it admits to keeping quite extensive logs of user activity. Won’t block malware either. |
| SuperVPN | A serial log storer, SuperVPN is not one to be trusted. Willing to disclose your data to government authorities. |
| ArchieVPN | This service has been consistently found teeming with viruses and admits to data-gathering for ‘real-time analysis’ purposes. |
What about free trials?
One way of ensuring you have a safe, secure, and free Android VPN experience is to take advantage of the free trials offered by the most reputable service providers, the best ones of which are listed in our VPN free trial page.
Or money-back guarantees?
Most premium VPNs now offer a refund period that lasts between 30 and 45 days, where you can road test your chosen provider and reclaim your money if left unsatisfied.
ExpressVPN
, our top-rated VPN, offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Why a cheap VPN is better than a free Android VPN
Purchasing a VPN is sometimes wrongly viewed as a false dichotomy: bad security features for free, or pay through the teeth for military-grade privacy software.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. For example, , one of our top-rated paid VPNs, has a long list of state-of-the-art security protocols, yet only costs $2.21 a month if you purchase the two-year deal.
Just think how much you’d pay for a house alarm, door lock, or even just a good set of curtains to put in the front room window. You’re much more exposed when you’re online than at home, yet mitigating that is actually much cheaper.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a free VPN for Android VPN, there are only a few services that are really worth your time. Here’s a quick reminder of the best free VPNs for Android:
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Windscribe
– The best free VPN for Android. It gives free users up to 10GB of usage per month, strong encyrption, and 10 servers. -
Hide.me
– This is the fastest free Android VPN. It has rapid connection speeds, excellent customer support and it’s secure. -
ProtonVPN
– A free unlimited VPN for Android. It that stands out thanks to unlimited data usage and a strict no-logs policy. -
TunnelBear
– A reliable free Android VPN app. It is secure and trustworthy provider with servers in 22 countries, but it has a strict data cap. -
Hotspot Shield
– A popular and reliable free VPN for Android users. It has over 650 million worldwide downloads and offers a 15GB data cap.