Best Free VPN

Top 6 Best Free VPN 2023

We all love a free lunch and of course the same can be said when you download VPN. Why bother paying for another piece of software when there are so many free VPNs for desktop and mobile? We understand the temptation, of course, but it is also worth taking some precautions.

If the reason you have a VPN is to talk a little more security on your laptop or mobile when always using public Wi-Fi, a freebie can do a good job. And while more people need to work safely and have entertainment at home, it’s no surprise that the number of VPN users is growing.

On this page, you will choose the best options available for us to download. We have evaluated the capabilities of the top free VPNs that will keep your online activities anonymous so that you don't have to spend anything. ExpressVPN may take the crown of the world's most popular premium provider, but the best free VPN at the moment is ProtonVPN - we explain below.

If free VPNs are so easy, why did our recent survey show that less than half of users opt for freebies for a given service? This is because they have limitations, and you should really be aware of them because they can significantly limit what you expected to use your VPN ...

BEST FREE VPN
BEST FREE VPN


The problem with free VPNs

Free VPN services may not cost anything but there is usually a good reason for this - this means the provider will make a profit in some other way, usually with aggressive advertising or by selling your browsing data to a third party (rather than beating the whole drive) first. For privacy in place).

Also, free services limit the amount of data you can use and the speed at which you can use it, making video streaming, torrenting, or practically useless as an additional layer of reliable security in your daily online life. And don't expect the kind of easy access support or server range you'll get with the services provided.

So before we get stuck on our list of best free VPN downloads, it’s worth knowing that a paid version can cost around $ 2 / £ 2 per month and give you much better performance and protection.


1. ProtonVPN Free

ProtonVPN has come up in our free VPN crop cream. While the stand-out feature is undeniable that it provides a zero limit on the amount of data you can use with your VPN usage, there is much more to appreciate than that alone.

Although it would be a pity for us not to start with the title selling point. ProtonVPN does not impose any data restrictions. In other words, you can use as much data as you want each month - this is really rare for a free VPN provider (as you will discover below with others in this guide).

The free version of this service has servers in three locations, which have spread nicely around the world: in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands. There are of course clients for Windows and Mac, as well as apps for Android and iPhone. On the desktop, we prefer the option to turn on automatic connection when your computer is turned on. And some unusual features for a freebie include, too, such as split-tunneling and DNS leak protection.

There are limitations to the free plan for upgrading to a free paid offer. We think the most notable thing is that free users get less priority in terms of speed than paying customers. There is no P2P support here and speeds can be reduced at maximum time when there are plenty of users and payers are preferred. And Proton makes it very clear that if you want to use your VPN for streaming, you need to upgrade to its plus level.

But if you can live with all of this, it’s an impressive provider with a strict no-logging policy, and you can sign up with anything other than your email address and a username of your choice. Even if there are no ads on the website, leave the client.


2. Hotspot Shield Free VPN

The premium version of Hotspot Shield is one of the top payment services on the web and, in fact, closer to the # 1 slot in our fastest VPN countdown. So it’s a little surprising that its free option is so popular.

Those on the free plan are limited to 500MB of data per day (so about 15GB per month). This may seem limited, but compared to one or two on this list, it's actually one of the more generous limits (though, of course, the unlimited data you get with paid services isn't a patch).

If security is your only goal, Hotspot boasts the same ‘military-grade encryption’ over the same wavelength that most premium VPNs shout. In addition to safety, Hotspot Shield has been praised in our tests for being very friendly in free use. Whether on its mobile version or on the desktop, you won’t find it the hair pull user experience recommended by some competitors.

In the past we have seen strange problems around free Hotspot Shield downloads. For a few weeks in early 2021, the hotspot was completely killing the ability to search on Google when switched on. What we found was an error - and we tried it a lot from different places and devices. Fortunately this problem seems to be sorted out now.

If you pay 2. 2.50 per month for the premium version of Hotspot, you can anchor in one of the 70 weird countries and solve the Google problem, and it will enable you to access anything; In the free version you are limited to a US-based location that Hotspot Shield chooses for you, and if you use Android and speeds are limited to 2Mbps, you'll need to show ads.


3. Windscribe free

People at Windscrib are proud and vocal about their free VPN offer ... and why they shouldn't! This is a really powerful option thanks to its generous data allowance and commitment to protecting your privacy.

You get 2GB of bandwidth per month as standard - so no more. But if you are happy to give your email address to WindowsScrib, it will be easily upgraded to 10 GB more delicious. The free version lets you choose from 11 remote server locations, including the latest counts, including the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Turkey and eight US VPN cities). It’s a ‘freemium’ model here, so if you like what you see there are some gentle nudges to get you signed up for the unlimited version, but upselling isn’t too annoying or aggressive.

It's easy to get started with its desktop client or the highly useful Chrome extension - you'll jump across different servers around the world in no time.

We don’t actually expect free VPN to help get blocked zones from some apps, sites and streaming services. So we were glad when Windscrib surpassed the call of duty in our Netflix VPN testing. Unlike others, it has given us full access to exclusive content in the US, Germany and the UK (as well as later on the BBC iPlayer). Of course the data limit is going to deter you from a lot of big buzz, but it’s good to know for the weird show of your travels or journeys.

Windscribe does not store connection logs, IP stamps, or visited sites; When you are actively connected to a server, it stores your username, the server you are connected to, and the amount of data that is transferred, but it is deleted within three minutes of the end of the session. And if that's not enough to entice you, there's even a built-in adblocker, malware protection, and firewall.

A word about speed though. We've seen WindowsScrib become less compatible with some of their competitors, and sometimes it takes a while to connect to a server. But those are fairly minor complaints about the grand scheme ... did we mention that it was free!


4. TunnelBear

Tunnelbear may have a nice design, but it's a serious free option, especially after the acquisition of security giant McFarlane. There are free and paid subscriptions here.

The main limitation with the free plan is that you are limited to 500MB of traffic per month. This is really a small amount and that means you can only use it when you feel you need a little extra protection and want to go free. You can't keep it up all the time and you may forget to use this VPN for torrenting and streaming. Clearly going to a supplier like ExpressVPN or NordVPN completely relieves this pain point.

But at least this free version does not limit you to the available servers, which make the premium service available to all 20+ countries. And TunelBear recently secured its privacy policy, so it now collects even less data from users - eliminating the need to provide a first name to sign up and eliminating the user's total lifetime connection record.


5. Speedify

Speedify, as the name implies, has one main goal as a free VPN provider: to ensure that when you benefit from encryption, your internet connection will be as fast as possible. To that end, this provider uses an Ethernet connection (specifically broadband) with an connected mobile connection, possibly to get the best possible performance using all possible Internet connections. Even if you only have one type of internet connection, the firm claims that its turbocharging technology will still help speed things up.

While the free plan boasts full access to those servers (such as with subscription options), the only limitation of the free offer is that you are limited in the amount of data you can download. Free users get 2GB of data per month. It’s not a huge allowance, and certainly not like the other competitors on the other page you’ll see elsewhere on this page, but it’s more than anything, and still enough for some basic surfing and email duties. And this provider is certainly worth looking forward to, as during our testing, the above speed-delivery technologies have actually proven themselves to have a positive impact.


6. Hide.me

Hide.me offers both paid and free VPN products, the latter giving you 10GB of data per month to play. There are other limitations as well: you can only connect a maximum of one device, and customers are limited to five server locations (including VPNs in the United States and Canada) instead of 50+ locations.

The plus side, however, is that this provider will not throttle free users connection speed, and Hide.me further promises that it does not keep any logs and does not store any user data, so try not to send any data to third parties and make a profit. There is no advertising here (just because it has no data), and it even offers P2P support on its five free VPN servers.

You get native software for Windows PC and Mac, Android and iOS, clients are smartly designed, plus there is 24/7 technical support (which is also available for free users). The performance in our test was also impressive. Overall, then, this is a more solid free offer that tries to maintain your privacy, without too many restrictions.


Is it worth getting a free VPN?

Honestly, there is no easy answer to this question. It depends on what you want to use your free VPN for. If you have a little more security on your laptop or mobile when using public Wi-Fi, they may just be tickets. Jump into the service, turn on an encrypted server connection, and stay safe with your online activities. No eye can see your personal information.

But if your main purpose is to call a streaming VPN, or the torrent file you want to use it when downloading a torrent file, then a free VPN is simply not going to do the trick. For starters, most of them limit you to a daily or monthly data allowance that you will absolutely wash away. Although most virtual private networks do not have easy access support or server range to make those tasks easier.

The long years have seen the emergence of a global threat against personal privacy, including the long-held right to privacy and net neutrality and the loss of legitimacy.

While virtual private networks are not a panacea for being secure, secure, and private on the Internet, it is an essential component of the arsenal for individuals at risk of seeking this freedom.

If you don’t have one yet, you can grab one for free without paying a penny. Just be aware though that not all free VPN providers are created equal and some may compromise your security.


You need to ask five questions before downloading and installing.

1. What is its business model? Providers are there for the money and it costs a lot to run such a business especially if it is a popular one. Some will use their free version like Dropbox, as a marketing tool to entice potential customers to switch to a paid version after being happy with a free version. But most will sell user data or provide something to a third party that will again compromise your privacy.


2. How does it protect my PC? Most providers typically use a desktop application that runs in the background to encrypt your data while surfing the web. However, this only solves a part of the problem. Your laptop can still cause fingerprints because tracking solutions are allowed that can be found online on almost all websites. There is a more holistic approach to integrating the equivalent of a super ad-blocker, including WIndscribe


3. What do I lose when I am free? Generally one can expect that some corners of a free product will be cut and this is actually the case for all suppliers. Some offer more free bandwidth than others, a simple payment for prime location and even ad blocking, P2P and firewall upgrade paths that unlock unlimited bandwidth with more location and OpenVPN config.


4. Does your provider log anything? Make sure your provider does not save users' Internet activity. You can usually test it on the Terms and Conditions page or in the end-user license agreement, commonly known as the EULA. Sadly, many providers prefer to frustrate end users with long T&Cs or privacy statements that often hide significant details about how they work. At the other end of the spectrum is a provider that will delete everything and not keep logs after your session closes.


5. Can I sign up completely anonymously? A provider that you can subscribe to without an email address and that accepts bitcoin payments, for maximum privacy, is much better than you might expect online. Some providers also offer double hopping where you can further double your privacy and further diversify your traffic.


Is free VPN dangerous?

Although the main criticism of free VPNs is that they are not half as profitable as the payment options, there is a real danger with some proponents (fortunately not with the above services).

For example, a 2020 study found that about 0% of the free Android VPNs found in the Google Play Store do not adequately protect their users' privacy. So you don't get the extra online protection you get.


How to get a premium VPN for free

Still can't decide exactly whether to go for a free VPN or premium paid option? That would be a perfect compromise, because all the best providers in the world let you try them at your own risk - and without cost. Our dedicated guide to the best VPN free trial will help you find one and get started.

You will see some familiar names mentioned there. Our # 1 preferred service on ExpressVPN is at the top of the world, allowing you to use it for 30 days. The news is even better with the Hotspot Shield, where the money back guarantee extends up to 45 days.

It is worth mentioning that you have to pay in advance for these services. But they pride themselves on getting as much hassle free money back as possible, allowing you to claim a full refund online without hassle.

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