With geo-restrictions and cyber threats on the rise, consumers are increasingly demanding VPNs. When we need a VPN, but don’t want to pay for it, then we have a great chance to consider using a free VPN. That’s why there are so many free VPN software on the web.
On the surface, they have the same functionality as paid VPNs. However, we all know that there is no free lunch in the world. Free VPNs are extremely risky, and when you use them, all your information may be exposed to hackers. This is really scary!
To save you from this hassle, we have reviewed numerous VPNs. Through this article, you can learn more about free VPNs and find our carefully selected premium VPN options.
Our top list of free VPNs can be summarized as follows:
#1: ExpressVPN – 30-day free trial
#2: Surfshark – 30-day free trial
#3: Tunnelbear – 500MB of free data per month
#4: Hide.me – 10GB free monthly data, choose from 5 servers
#5: Privado VPN – 10GB Data Every 30-Days
#6: ProtonVPN – Best free VPN with unlimited data and many extra benefits
What types of free VPNs exist on the market?
Type 1: Free trial of a paid VPN
While these VPNs require a paid subscription, they all have a money-back guarantee policy. Within the period of their money-back guarantee, if we feel that it is not working well, we can contact customer service for a refund. In a sense, this is also a 0-fee trial VPN. These VPNs tend to be some of the best on the market right now. Whether it is the speed of the Internet or the ease of operation of the APP, it can stand the test.
Subscribing to these VPNs costs a little more, but most of them are smooth to use. Web pages can be opened in a second, and even watching videos is stress-free. I have tested the speed of watching YouTube videos before, and it supports up to 4K quality. Whether it is used to check information, watch videos, download files or play games, it can greatly improve the Internet experience, which is the pleasure that a free VPN cannot bring.
Type 2: Use VPN for free but pay for upgrades
This type of free VPN will have certain restrictions when it is used, most of which limit the amount of data used per month. It is generally a few hundred Mpbs, which is difficult to meet the daily Internet needs. If you want to open a web page or transmit some text information it may be possible. But if we want to use it for downloading files and watching videos, we may be disappointed. In addition, these types of free VPNs tend to place all users on a few fixed free lines. You may not be able to connect to the server at all during peak user usage periods.
Type 3: Totally Free VPN
This type of VPN often does not require you to pay for any subscription. And it is similar to a paid VPN in some basic functions. But they tend not to have human customer service, even if we have problems with using them. And no one can solve our confusion. More importantly, our information security and personal privacy are all at great risk.
Free VPN VS Paid VPN
Like we said before, there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Product providers research and develop products to make money while providing us convenience. The profit model of paid VPNs is very simple, they charge users for buying VPNs. In this way, we try our best to meet our needs and maintain the security of users’ information. So I recommend you to use a cheap paid VPN rather than a free VPN with many risks.
In fact, we can see from the design and convenience of the website and APP that paid VPNs usually have a more beautiful design. At the same time, it will also bring us a better user experience and minimize our troubles in using VPN.
We compared free VPNs to paid VPNs through our own real-world experience. Their advantages and disadvantages are as follows:
| Free VPNs | Paid VPNs | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | ✔No need for us to pay any fees | ✔Unlimited and fast speeds |
| ✔Almost all the basic functions of a VPN | ✔High security, can effectively protect our personal privacy | |
| ✔To a certain extent, it can meet our Internet needs | ✔No logs policy, no one or organization can know our browsing history and accessed data | |
| ✔Servers are located all over the world, which can effectively bypass geo-restrictions | ||
| ✔Provide timely and effective customer support, which can help us solve the troubles in the use of VPN | ||
| Cons | ❌No customer support, no consultation when there are questions | ❌Apart from charging us some subscription fee |
| ❌Low number of servers to choose from | ❌When we need some special features, some VPN providers require us to spend extra | |
| ❌We may face hacker attacks, personal browsing data and private information may be leaked |
In general, completely free VPNs are full of threats and challenges to everyone’s information security. Therefore, I recommend that you use the other two VPNs mentioned above. After extensive screening, we finally screened out several almost perfect free VPNs for you. See if any of these are on your pick list!
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1. ExpressVPN – 30-day free trial
- It has more than 3,000 VPN servers worldwide
- Do not limit traffic and bandwidth, can easily follow drama
- Supports a variety of devices
- The original TrustedServer operating model prevents our data from being compromised.
- Unlock regional copyright restrictions for streaming media such as YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Kodi, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, and more
ExpressVPN has always been my preferred foreign stable and fast VPN. In the past, ExpressVPN has been constantly fighting against the Great Firewall and still can be used stably in China, which has won a large number of users’ praise. In addition, it provides PC PC and mobile phone VPN over-the-wall software download safe and reliable, speed and stability is the industry first-class. None of these experiences can be matched by a free VPN.
ExpressVPN offers servers with high security and operates 160 data centers with more than 3,000 servers in 94 countries. These servers are running in RAM disk mode, known as TrustedServer. This is their original feature that effectively protects our information from being leaked.
All ExpressVPN packages come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it for free. They provide 24/7 online customer support and FAQ documentation.
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2. Surfshark – 30-day free trial
- NoBorders mode ensures VPN stability
- Military-grade encryption and advanced obfuscation protocols can bypass location-based blockades
- There is no limit to the number of devices, you can use it on your computer and mobile phone at the same time
- The CleanWeb feature blocks advertising and phishing sites
- The Kill Switch function prevents accidental data leakage
Surfshark has gained worldwide popularity since its inception. It’s a late-comer, but still offers a lot of great features like leak protection Settings, support for numerous streaming services, and great performance.
Surfshark’s biggest feature is that it doesn’t limit the number of devices that can be connected at the same time, providing a great VPN download for our computers, Androids and iPhones, which other VPNs don’t have. Surfshark offers one of the cheapest VPNS available, starting at $2.49 / month. Its NoBorders model can be used in areas with limited Internet access and is completely free. This feature can be easily enabled on computers and mobile phones.
Like ExpressVPN, all Surfshark packages come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so we can try them for free. They also provide us with 24/7 online customer support and FAQ documents.
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3. Tunnelbear – 500MB of free data per month
TunnelBear‘s free plan allows you to access all servers in up to forty+ regions. Although Tunnelbear provides 500MB of free traffic every day, you can still increase traffic by sharing it with your friends.
TunnelBear’s speeds were pretty decent in my tests—my average internet connection was only down 35 per cent, which is on par with paid competitors like ExpressVPN.
TunnelBear’s GhostBear feature makes it easy to overcome VPN blocking that restricts internet access. Also, TunnelBear allows all free subscribers to install TunnelBear on up to 5 devices.
The biggest disadvantage of using TunnelBear is the data limit, as you can only get 500 MB per month. For everyday use, most people will exceed this data limit, especially when streaming video.
Customer support is limited to free users, and TunnelBear states on its website that paying customers can get “priority customer support”. This means that if you have any problems with TunnelBear, you will get faster and more efficient help.
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4. Hide.me – 10GB free monthly data, choose from 5 servers
Hide.me gives you 10GB of data per month for our free usage. Although we can only connect a maximum of one device and are limited to five server locations.
However, Hide.me doesn’t throttle our connection speed, and Hide.me has a zero-logs policy and doesn’t store our data. Through Hide.me‘s server, when we visit some unsafe websites, we can prevent the real IP address from being read and reveal our location.
Plus they have 24/7 technical support, even if we are free users.
The free version of Hide.me works well for most of your needs. However, there is a data limit, which is not ideal for streaming or downloading.
Although you get much more data than most competitors, 10 GB is still a relatively small amount. However, unlike other services, Hide.me allows you to use their free VPN for seed downloads.
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5. Privado VPN – 10GB Data Every 30-Days
PrivadoVPN hasn’t been around for very long, but it’s certainly caused a stir, especially when it comes to free VPNs. In fact, PrivadoVPN Free can do something that few other services can do – unblock regional Netflix content.
With a rather generous 10GB of unrestricted data, you’ll be able to get good use out of it. Within your 10GB, however, you can choose from a range of servers. 12 servers in 9 countries. This is a better distribution than most providers, including Proton VPN Free, so if you’re planning to travel around the world, PrivadoVPN is likely to be a better choice.
There are a few limitations to bear in mind when using PrivadoVPN. Firstly, there is no dedicated Linux application.
In addition, you can only use the free version of PrivadoVPN on one device at a time. Otherwise, PrivadoVPN performed very well in our tests and has some impressive features that you won’t get from a free service.
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6. ProtonVPN – Best free VPN with unlimited data and many extra benefits
Proton can justifiably be called one of the best free VPNs on the market. This popular provider from Switzerland offers user-friendly software, an excellent free security toolkit, and applications with good encryption.
The free version of ProtonVPN has no data limitations, which is unique among free VPN providers. It also does not have any speed limits. This means you are free to use this VPN as much as you want, for whatever you like to do online.
Most importantly, ProtonVPN is a very secure provider. It does not keep any logs of user data and is known for its focus on security and privacy. As long as your VPN connection is active, you are protected.
Finally, creating a Proton account gives you access to a whole range of other secure services. These include:
- ProtonMail, a secure email service
- Proton Calendar, with end-to-end encryption
- Proton Drive, which includes 1 GB of free secure cloud storage
If you choose to upgrade to the Premium Proton plan, you will receive an upgrade to all of these services, making it an excellent all-in-one online privacy provider.
Summary
A completely free VPN might save you money. But it threatens the security of our information and property in other ways. Let’s say no to totally free VPNs together. Instead, we should choose a VPN with a free trial period or a VPN that is free but requires a fee to upgrade. They are able to minimize our distress.
