Are you looking for a free VPN to help protect your privacy online? There are a lot of duds on the market, so we have put together this guide to show you the best free VPNs on offer and which you should avoid.
The best free VPN services today
These are the free VPNs we recommend using currently:
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Hide.me
– The best free VPN. It has fast speeds, a 10GB data allowance each month and a choice of 5 free servers. -
Windscribe
– A secure free VPN. It keeps no logs and has well implemented encryption. Users get 10 free servers, and a 10GB data cap. -
ProtonVPN
– An unlimited free VPN. You get access to 3 free servers, but expect slower speeds if these servers become congested. -
TunnelBear
– A free VPN with a large server network. It offers users 19 free servers but is limited to 500MB per month. -
Hotspot Shield
– A free VPN that’s also a Chrome extension. It offers free VPN servers in 15 countries and a 500MB data cap per day.
Try Hide.me our #1 free VPN pick
The truth is that it’s not easy to find a reliable free VPN, but these services do exist, and you can find one if you know where to look. The issue is that countless free VPN providers have flooded the market, enticing users with the promise of a high-quality service without paying a single cent! But in our research, we’ve found that it is very rarely the case that a free VPN is reliable and of acceptable quality.
To help you make a safer, more informed decision, ProPrivacy.com’s experts have put together this guide on the best free VPNs – and the worst.
Before we recommend a free VPN service, we first ensure that it offers:
- Properly implemented encryption
- A Privacy policy that protects users
- A good selection of servers
- Good performance and speeds
- A respectable reputation
- A secure service without leaks
Only VPNs that meet the criteria listed above are eligible for being recommended on our best free VPN list. So, now you know what goes into a good free VPN service, let’s take a closer look at our list.
The Best Free VPNs to use in 2021
These are the best free VPN services that actually work:
Hide.me is the best free VPN. You get speeds of up to 80Mbps, a generous 10GB data allowance each month & a choice of 5 free servers
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Data limit
- 10GB p/month
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Free servers
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Available for
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
Hide.me is an excellent Malaysian VPN provider that offers an absolutely mind-blowing free service. Free users get access to servers in five locations – all of which are extremely useful for unblocking geo-restricted content (USA East, USA West, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Canada). Admittedly, if you require a server in a specific country, you will need to try a different recommended free VPN, but if these locations suit your needs, then Hide.me is well worth installing.
Free users also get a whopping 10 GB data allowance per month, with connection speeds of up to 80 Mbps. That means this free VPN can be used for streaming, videoconferencing, and other data-intensive tasks with no issues.
When reviewing hide.me, we found this VPN to have a strong privacy policy, robust encryption, and loads of advanced VPN features. For this reason, we can strongly recommend Hide.me as a quality free VPN.
Windscribe is a great zero-logs free VPN. Users get a mammoth 10GBs per month, strong and well implemented encryption & a choice of 10 free servers.
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Data limit
- 10GB p/month
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Free servers
-
Available for
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
Windscribe has been one of our favorite free VPNs for a long time. Simply put, the service gives you far more than some other free VPNs – including a massive 10GB data allowance per month! This is pretty fantastic, and Windscribe certainly hopes it’ll be enough to tempt you into upgrading to its premium service.
What’s more, this VPN has strong encryption and keeps zero logs – making it a fantastic option for protecting your online privacy. With unlimited simultaneous connections permitted, this VPN is a truly outstanding free option.
ProtonVPN free offers users unlimited usage. You could say this is a truly free unlimited VPN. You get access to 3 free servers, but speeds can be capped when they become congested.
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Data limit
-
Free servers
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Available for
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
ProtonVPN is a superb service, brought to you by the same developers behind the popular secure email service, ProtonMail. ProtonVPN is highly secure and is the only service on the list that is a truly free and unlimited VPN. However, keep in mind that your speeds are capped and can get even slower when the free servers are congested (which is often simply because it is a highly popular service).
On the other hand, ProtonVPN is a useful service ideal for avoiding censorship and accessing restricted content. Free users get access to servers in the Netherlands, Japan, and the USA. Well worth installing if you don’t mind having a slower free VPN.
TunneBear is a great free VPN if you want a large choice of server locations. It is limited in terms of data allowance with only 500MB per month, but you have your pick of 19 free servers.
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Data limit
- 500MB p/month
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Free servers
-
Available for
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
TunnelBear VPN is a free service that has consistently impressed its users. The VPN is super-secure and even opened up its software to a third-party analysis (for the second time) at the end of 2019. The outcome? Security researchers found TunnelBear to be fully secure and entirely reliable. On top of that, it also keeps no logs, so you know your online activity will remain totally private, as it should be.
Unfortunately, the service is restricted to just 500MB per month. Despite this, it is brilliant for locations with severe censorship and where privacy is essential. It is also perfect for securely unblocking news sites.
Hotspot Shield is a great free VPN that also offers a Chrome extension. Users have access to servers in 15 countries and a 500MB data cap per day.
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Data limit
- 500MB p/day
-
Free servers
-
Available for
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
Hotspot Shield is an exceptional free VPN that has helped millions of people in their time of need. It was the most used VPN during the Turkey coup and the Arab Spring. Users get free access not only to the VPN but also to a Chrome extension.
The free app permits connections to the US only, and the extension permits connections to 14 countries (but not the US). So when combining the app with the browser extension, then Hotspot Shield users can unblock content in 15 countries for free! What’s more, Hotspot Shield’s free plan lets people have 500MB of download use per day. That is a massive usage allowance considering it is completely free.
The fastest free VPN in 2021
These are the fastest free VPNs that we’ve tested in 2021.
We test all the VPNs above daily to provide you the most up to date speed data possible. All the VPNs are classified as fast, however with free services, it can often depend on which server you connect to. Free servers can often be overloaded, which can lead to slower speeds. If you are experiencing issues with your VPN speeds, try connecting to another free server, if one is available.
Alternativley, you may want to consider taking advantage of a VPN free trial to experience the preium service, without any restrictions.
Top-tip: Get a free premium VPN
Did you know you can experience ExpressVPN’s fully featured service without restrictions… for free!
If you’re finding free VPNs too restrictive, why not test ExpressVPN premium service? Simply purchase a subscription using the button below and take advantage of the absolutely risk-free money-back-guarantee. Enjoy the service for up to 30 days, and when you cancel, you will receive a complete refund!
Why are these the best free VPNs?
Our experts have thoroughly reviewed every single free VPN that they could get their hands on in order to curate the list above. The services we’ve recommended in this guide are all fully transparent about how they handle user data, and provide the latest encryption standards that can be trusted to protect your privacy and hide your internet activity at all times.
During our research, we considered the following attributes:
- Encryption availability and implementation
- Privacy policy and data handling
- Server locations and availability
- VPN speeds and performance levels
- Reputation and history
- Relationships with third parties such as advertising and marketing firms
For more information, check out our video:
…
Are free VPNs safe?
There is definitely quite a bit of negative press when it comes to free VPN services. Most comparison sites strongly urge consumers to stay away from them. At ProPrivacy, we also used to discourage people from using free services (and we still recommend being extremely careful when picking a free VPN). That’s because there are a lot of terrible free VPNs out there that take advantage of their users’ data for their own gains. The reality is that about 95% of the free services available on the market are either completely useless or even dangerous.
Free VPNs that you should avoid
If you’re using one of ProPrivacy’s recommended free VPNs, you won’t need to worry about privacy risks or online security. The same cannot be said for every free VPN provider, unfortunately.
We scoured the privacy policies and terms of all the free providers we could get our hands on. And during our research, we were utterly shocked at how some providers completely disregard user privacy and actively put users at significant risk.
Here are some free VPNs that you should avoid at all costs.
| VPN | Why avoid? | Extra info |
|---|---|---|
| Hola | Can sell data to third parties* Shares emails with marketing partners. Sells traffic data to sister firm. Shared anonymized data to third parties. | Fraudulently steals & resells user bandwidth through sister company Luminati. DNS and WebRTC leaks detected. |
| Betternet | Can sell data to third parties.* Allows advertisers to cookie users’ browsers. Displays targeted advertising. Parent firm can access all data. | Lets advertisers track and log user data. IP Leak in the Chrome browser extension. Contains 14 tracking libraries in total (according to CSIRO report). |
| Psiphon | Can sell data to third parties.* Allows ad partners to track users. Displays targeted advertising. | Shares data with their advertising partners. Shares data with third-party affiliates and partners. Shares all data with its parent company. |
| HoxxVPN | Can sell data to third parties.* Isn’t a VPN (it’s a ShadowSocks proxy service). DNS and WebRTC leaks. Tracks user activities and works with authorities. | Keeps logs and sells them to third-party partners. Shares data with third-party affiliates and partners. |
| SuperVPN | Willing to disclose information to authorities. Reports of it being infected with malware. Tracks user activities and works with authorities. | Extensive access to users’ sensitive information. Stores session logs in the UK and US. |
| ArchieVPN | Reports of being heavily infested with malware. | Performs real-time analysis (claims this is for troubleshooting only). |
| Onavo Project | Can sell data to third parties.* Uses user info for advertising and marketing. Displays ads to users. | Belongs to Facebook. Shares and sells user data with third parties. |
| HatVPN | Has no available privacy policy. Reports of being heavily infested with malware. Invasive app permissions | Could be doing anything they want with user data. Developed and based in China. |
| VPN by Apalon | Invasive app permissions. Shares data with third parties for marketing purposes. | Displays ads. In-app purchases. |
| Private Pipe VPN | Shares data with affiliate partners. Displays targeted ads on websites. | Confusing privacy policy (claims no logs, but contradicts this claim). |
| Tuxler VPN | Can sell data to third parties*. Uses logs to target ads at users. | Shares user browsing data with advertising firms. |
| GO VPN | Can sell data to third parties*. Admits to using customer data to build out their database. Displays targeted ads through the platform. | Belongs to the Chinese firm Talking Data. Willing to sell usage logs to third parties and partners. Extremely invasive app permissions. |
| Hexatech | Can sell data to third parties*. Allows advertisers to track and log user data. Advertisers can access user data whenever they want. | Created by Betternet (belongs to a marketing firm). Displays ads to users. |
| TouchVPN | Can sell data to third parties*. Adds Cookies, Pixel Tags and Web Beacons to user browsers. | Shares anonymous data with third parties. |
| Faceless.me | Doesn’t work. The privacy policy is too ambiguous to be taken seriously. | Has no support if you have concerns or questions. |
| FinchVPN | Can sell data to third parties*. Reports of being heavily infested with malware. | N/A |
| Cross VPN | Reports of being heavily infested with malware. | N/A |
| VPN OneClick Free | Reports of being heavily infested with malware. Outdated PPTP encryption on Android. | Based in the UAE. |
| Flash Free VPN | Invasive app permissions. | Uses 11 third-party tracking libraries. |
| Fast Secure Payment VPN | Reports of being heavily infested with malware. | N/A |
| sFly Network Booster | Reports of being heavily infested with malware. | N/A |
| IP-Shield VPN | Contains third-party tracking software. | N/A |
| WiFi Protector VPN | Uses 5 tracking libraries. | N/A |
| TigerVPNs | Fraudulently steals and resells users bandwidth. | N/A |
| Private WiFi | Appears to have poor or no encryption. | N/A |
*according to the privacy policy
How a free VPN works
A free VPN app will connect your device (such as a PC, Mac, or smartphone) to a server run by the VPN provider. The data that travels between your device and the VPN server is encrypted – meaning nobody else can see it. All your data is routed through the VPN server, which acts as a gateway to the internet, and as a result, your real location is concealed and you can pretend to be elsewhere and browse the web in complete privacy!
If you’re new to VPNs, you can get up to speed quickly with our handy guides for beginners:
Free VPN servers
Some providers advertise connections to free VPN servers. This is to differentiate between the number of servers available on the premium (paid) plans and the free plan. Some VPNs that offer a free plan restrict access to free users to only a smaller selection of free servers. For all intents and purposes, however, a VPN with free servers is exactly the same as a “free VPN”.
FAQs
Conclusion
Now that you’re armed with all the information you need about free VPNs, let’s review our top picks:
-
Hide.me
– The best free VPN. It has fast speeds, a 10GB data allowance each month and a choice of 5 free servers. -
Windscribe
– A secure free VPN. It keeps no logs and has well implemented encryption. Users get 10 free servers, and a 10GB data cap. -
ProtonVPN
– An unlimited free VPN. You get access to 3 free servers, but expect slower speeds if these servers become congested. -
TunnelBear
– A free VPN with a large server network. It offers users 19 free servers but is limited to 500MB per month. -
Hotspot Shield
– A free VPN that’s also a Chrome extension. It offers free VPN servers in 15 countries and a 500MB data cap per day.