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The Best Free VPN in 2024: Our Top 8 Recommendations

The best free VPNs offer powerful online security without a premium price tag. We tested dozens of free VPNs to present you our best free VPNs for 2024.

These VPN providers offer excellent protection at zero cost. Our extensive research has taught us that many free VPNs are dangerous, as they log and sell your data or simply dont work as a VPN is expected to.

If you need an affordable, trustworthy VPN without any restrictions or limitations, we recommend Surfshark. This is one of the few premium VPNs that offer a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee! Surfshark is fast, secure, and great for streaming.

If you want a completely free VPN and youre not sure which provider is best for you, well help you decide. Check out your options below!

Free VPNs provide secure VPN connections and encrypted data at zero cost. The best free VPNs ensure that your data, online activities, and browsing history remain private.

However, most free VPN services come with limitations, including data and speed caps. Youll also have to vet for security vulnerabilities that may put your private data at risk or expose you to malicious software.

Dont want the hassle? Choose a cheap, premium provider like Surfshark. Surfsharks best plan costs only $ 2.49 per month. It also offers a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Want a truly free VPN instead? PrivadoVPN is our editors choice; it came out on top in our tests to discover the best free VPNs. Keep reading for a review of every free VPN service we tested.

Free products usually have hidden costs. This is certainly the case for free virtual private networks, which might log your data or leave your IP address exposed.

Here are some of the biggest risks and limitations associated with free VPNs:

Besides these security risks, free VPNs may also hinder your user experience by capping your data and offering only a limited amount of servers.

We like saving money as much as the next person. However, we dont recommend free VPNs for the reasons stated above.

If you dont want to pay for a VPN service, youre better off taking advantage of a VPN free trial or money-back guarantee. Surfshark currently has a 7-day free trial for new users! Have a look to see how it compares to the best free VPN providers.

You can also use Surfshark for 30 days if you want more time to make a decision. Not satisfied? No harm! You can easily get a full refund.

If a totally free VPN is what youre looking for, we rounded up the most reliable options in one list. You dont even have to provide your payment information or make use of a money-back guarantee.Free really means free with these VPN providers.

Our in-depth tests revealed the strengths and weaknesses of each of these free VPNs. Read on to find out which one fits your needs best.

Privado is the best free VPN on the market and our editors choice. It keeps your identity safe and is especially suited for PC and Mac users, with an easy-to-navigate interface and solid security features.

PrivadoVPN also has apps for iOS, Android, and Android TV. Theres even a Fire TV Stick app, which is pretty great for a free VPN!

Privacy and security: When testing this VPN, we were impressed by its features. PrivadoVPN offers a high level of privacy thanks to its strict zero-logs policy. The VPN does not collect or store any data. Plus, its headquarters is in Switzerland, which has favorable privacy laws!

On top of that, PrivadoVPN offers highly secure VPN protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN, as well as AES 256-bit encryption. For a free VPN, it also offers advanced security features, including an automatic kill switch and a split-tunneling feature called SmartRoute.

Server network: Privado offers free servers in 10 locations, namely:

At start-up, Privado will automatically suggest the best server location for you. This means you can get a secure VPN connection in a matter of seconds.

Streaming and torrenting: Privado does wonders for streaming! We connected to the UK server easily and had no trouble unblocking BBC iPlayer. We could access various Netflix libraries and watch shows on HBO Max, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video without issues.

While the 10 GB data limit is restrictive, Privado is one of the best free Netflix VPNs. You can always reduce the playback quality to save some data.

Torrenting enthusiasts will be happy to know that PrivadoVPN allows for P2P file sharing. We tried downloading some torrents and didnt encounter any throttling.

Limits on speed and data: PrivadoVPN offers unlimited speeds as long as you stay within the monthly 10 GB data limit. When testing, we noticed that the speeds on Privados free servers are a lot lower than that of premium VPNs like Surfshark.

Privado will only provide you with a 1 Mbps speed once youve exceeded your 10 GB monthly data cap. And, as you may know, agonizingly slow internet is very frustrating, especially when streaming.

Good to know: Besides the 10 GB data cap, Privado has no dedicated Linux app. On top of that, you can only use PrivadoVPNs free version on one device at a time. Of course, youre free to create multiple accounts to get around this, but it will be a hassle.

PrivadoVPN has a beautiful and user-friendly app. Its currently the best free VPN out there, especially for Windows and Mac users.

Overall, PrivadoVPN performed exceptionally well in our tests and has several impressive features you wouldnt expect from a free service. Have a look for yourself!

Check out the results of our tests on the premium version of Privado to learn more about this service.

Proton VPN is one of the most well-known free VPNs. As one of the only unlimited free plan options, this provider is ideal if you need unlimited data to browse the internet for as long as you like.

The VPN works well on almost all devices. Weve tried it on Mac, Windows, Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, and even on some routers.

Privacy and security: Proton VPN doesnt keep any logs of user data. As long as your VPN connection is active, youre safe and anonymous online.

Besides a kill switch, Proton VPN offers secure VPN protocols, including OpenVPN, WireGuard, and IKEv2. It even has a Stealth protocol to overcome censorship and bypass geo-restrictions. This protocol masks the fact that youre using a VPN.

Note:

Proton VPN is one of the few open-source VPN apps, which means that a community of developers works to improve the software. This process makes Proton VPN safer and more transparent. Proton VPN apps are also audited by cybersecurity expert to guarantee the safety of users.

Server network: Unfortunately, free users are not spoiled for choice when it comes to Protons server location. There are only three countries with free servers: the United States (22 servers), the Netherlands (38 servers), and Japan (8 servers).

In comparison, a VPN like Surfshark provides you with 3200+ servers across 100 countries. For only a few dollars per month, you wont have any limitations.

Streaming and torrenting: Unfortunately, Proton VPN free doesnt support torrenting. Even the best torrent sites are not accessible with this VPN unless you upgrade to the premium version.

In terms of streaming, the results were mixed. We tried to access Netflix using Proton but got an error message about using a VPN/proxy. The same happened for Amazon Prime Video. At other times, however, weve had no issues streaming with Proton VPN.

Limits on speed and data: Proton VPN Free has no data or speed limits. Thats a huge thing for us Proton is the only reliable, fully free VPN that offers uncapped data.

Having said that, we found that the free version of Proton VPN can be quite slow at times. This makes sense, considering the large volume of free users using a limited amount of servers.

Note:

The Proton website openly advertises the speed of their free VPN as medium, while their paid subscriptions all have high speeds.

Good to know: You can use Proton for free on one device at a time. Want to protect different devices? You can use different email addresses to create multiple accounts.

Proton account gives you access to a wide range of security services, including:

If you choose to upgrade to Proton VPN premium, youll get upgrades for all these services, making it a great all-in-one solution for online privacy

Proton VPN is one of the best free VPNs currently available, thanks to its security features and unlimited bandwidth. Its just not the best choice for streaming or gaming.

This popular provider from Switzerland offers user-friendly software, an array of free security tools, and high-level encryption.

Want to know more? Read our full Proton VPN review to see our testing results!

Hide.me is a trustworthy VPN that allows P2P file sharing and has excellent free customer support. If youre a beginner to VPNs and want to torrent safely, we think that this is the best free option for you.

The VPN has an app for most major operating systems, including Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, Linux, and even Fire TV Stick.

Privacy and security: Hide.me is a zero-logs VPN that has been independently certified. The provider doesnt store any information about your internet activities, which is good news for privacy-conscious users.

Hide.me is based in Malaysia, which is outside of the Eyes Alliance, so you wont have to deal with invasive privacy legislation.

In terms of VPN protocols, you have a wide variety to choose from:

Server network: The free version of Hide.me only gives you access to servers in eight countries: Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States.

From our experience, this is not impressive, but its about average for a free provider.

Streaming and torrenting: In the past, Hide.me didnt allow free users to download torrents. Luckily, the provider changed this policy, and free users can now download safely via torrent sites.

Unfortunately, we had issues streaming with this VPN. Hide.me does not work with Netflix US. We tested this ourselves and werent able to unblock any geo-restricted shows or movies on Netflix.

Limits on speed and data: The free version of Hide.me has a data cap of 10 GB per month. If you want to stream or download something, youll reach this limit easily. When testing the VPN, we also found that speeds varied quite a bit.

If you dont want to deal with these restrictions, have a look at our best VPNs for streaming.

Good to know: During the first week of your free membership, youll be able to use Hide.me Premium with a seven-day free trial. After that, youll be limited to the free features. You can use Hide.me on one device at a time.

We did find that Hide.mes upsell campaign is quite invasive. Theres always a button urging you to switch to the premium version, which can be annoying.

On a positive note, we found Hide.mes customer support is very responsive and supportive!

While Hide.me is not the best free VPN out there, it definitely has its merits. We recommend this VPN for anyone who wants to torrent without paying for a VPN subscription.

Hide.me has a few advantages over other VPNs, mainly its variety of VPN protocols and torrenting capabilities.

Weve tested all of Hide.mes features. Read our Hide.me review to learn more about what this VPN can offer.

TunnelBear is a practical VPN with many servers. It also offers a cheeky design thats easy to use! While TunnelBears free version has a small data limit, its great for users looking for plenty of server locations and a well-designed app.

Another great benefit is that you can use TunnelBear Free on unlimited devices.

Privacy and security: TunnelBears security and privacy features are very solid. In comparison to other free VPN services, we noted some great extra features, like a kill switch (VigilantBear) and obfuscation technology to hide the fact youre using a VPN (GhostBear).

Thanks to these features, we could unblock more streaming services with TunnelBear than with many other free VPNs.

In terms of privacy, TunnelBear has a no-logs policy. The provider is located in Canada, however, which is part of the Eyes Alliance. Have a look at our best VPNs outside the 14 Eyes for alternative options.

Server network: Thanks to its huge server list, TunnelBear is one of the best free VPNs out there. Even with the free version, TunnelBear allows you to choose from all of its available servers in 42 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and many more.

These servers give you the same experience as the Premium TunnelBear servers, which is unique among free VPNs.

Streaming and torrenting: We tested TunnelBear to see if it could unblock online streaming sites, and the results were a resounding success. TunnelBear was able to circumvent geo-restrictions on sites like Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Netflix.

Unfortunately, there are torrenting restrictions. TunnelBear doesnt allow P2P traffic on its servers.

Limits on speed and data: With such good test results, what is TunnelBears catch? While we didnt experience any speed throttling, theres one major drawback.

The biggest disadvantage we found when using TunnelBear is the data limit you only get 500 MB per month. You can add another 1 GB of free data if you tweet about TunnelBear, but thats not ideal for people looking for more online privacy.

Good to know: Who said VPNs are boring? TunnelBear is one of the most fun VPN apps to use! The visual style is unique and engaging, and the software is full of bear-related puns.

It is worth noting that customer support is limited for free users, since premium users get priority.

The free version of TunnelBear is high quality, and we love the casual, flashy interface. But its only suitable if you dont mind the tight data restrictions.

TunnelBear Free is available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS and can be used on unlimited devices simultaneously.

You can find more details and our personal testing experience in our TunnelBear review.

Windscribe is a popular free VPN that works on almost all operating systems and devices, including Linux. It also offers fast servers and a reasonable data limit.

You can get unlimited simultaneous connections with Windscribe, which is also a plus!

Privacy and security: Windscribe offers world-class security features, including a kill switch, an ad blocker, and a split-tunneling option. You rarely see this many security features in a free VPN. Previous software hiccups have been overcome, and the provider has a tight no-logging policy.

As privacy-conscious internet surfers, we appreciate that Windscribe offers multiple strong security protocols:

Server network: The free version of Windscribe has fewer options than the paid package. For free users, Windscribe only provides servers in a handful of countries.

Paying customers have access to global servers in as many as 63 countries. However, for a free plan, the number of server locations is still surprisingly high.

Streaming and torrenting: We were able to unblock and stream content from many different streaming platforms with Windscribe. Unfortunately, we were unable to access Netflix with Windscribe.

While this is a downside, it is rare to see a free VPN that can unblock Netflix without any issues these days. Of course you can easily watch Netflix with a VPN offered by premium providers.

Torrenting is entirely possible with Windscribe, a benefit for P2P fans!

Limits on speed and data: Windscribe is the fastest free VPN we tested. The secure servers maintained good speeds when we used them for browsing, even while we downloaded a file in the background.

There is a data limit of 2 GB per month. However, if you choose to share your email address with Windscribe and verify your account, you get 10 GB a month. Unfortunately, Windscribe may use this data for marketing, so we recommend using a throwaway email address.

Good to know: Windscribe is not as easy to use as some of the other free VPN providers listed above. Most of the buttons in the software take you to your account page.

We would prefer it if you could change your account settings in the VPN application itself.

Windscribes free VPN package is really solid, especially if youre a Linux user. The speeds are great, though bear in mind that the data limits are strict and it cant unblock Netflix.

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Best Free VPN: Top 7 Free VPNs in April 2024 - VPNOverview.com