Free VPNs are a convenient way of improving your online privacy without spending anything. However, the quality varies widely – only a select few are worth actually downloading, while many should be actively avoided.
If you're looking for the best free VPN, we can help. We've tested and reviewed all the main services to bring you our guide to the top free VPNs available today. Here, I've highlighted the only free services I consider safe to use – and my top two choices are the best products by a hefty margin.
It's worth noting that free VPNs can't match paid services, so don't expect a seamless experience. There will always be some kind of limitation, be it a data cap or server restrictions, so if you're looking for a permanent privacy solution, premium VPNs are the best choice. But if you only plan on using a VPN occasionally, read on to find the best free option for your needs.
The best VPN apps overall
The following three providers are premium VPNs, but there's a reason I've included them. At around $3 per month, NordVPN – the best VPN from our testing – is affordable, and far superior to any free VPN. It's faster, unblocks streaming services more reliably, has over 100 countries to pick from, and offers unlimited data. What's more, you can get a month free from all three of these VPNs by using their 30-day money-back guarantees – if that's all you need, it's definitely worth considering.
Recent updates
In my most recent update I've streamlined the page, ensuring you can find all the information you need as easily as possible. I've checked over the facts and figures, and outlined a few specific reasons why each free VPN might be suitable for you or not.
The best free VPNs of 2024
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
PrivadoVPN: The best free VPN overall
PrivadoVPN hasn't been around for as long as its competitors, but despite being founded in 2019, it's overtaken its rivals by offering the best free package available right now. It has more servers available for free than Proton VPN, and its apps are much nicer to use than Windscribe's.
In my PrivadoVPN Free review I was able to unblock some streaming services – although nowhere near as many as NordVPN or ExpressVPN – and connection speeds of around 900 Mbps are up there with some of the fastest VPNs. 10 GB of data should be more than enough for most, although Proton VPN does offer unlimited data (with a few caveats I'll explore further down the page).
In terms of basic features, PrivadoVPN has most bases covered. You'll get a kill switch – which is pretty much a non-negotiable if you care about your privacy – and a handy auto-connect function. Rival Proton VPN restricts your ability to change server, but Privado offers full freedom here. You can chop and change between any of the 12 locations in 10 countries at will.
PrivadoVPN's apps are simple and to the point, and whether you're on Windows, Mac, iOS or Android, the layout is the same. There's very little fuss, and much like premium competitor ExpressVPN, the first thing you'll see is a big on/off button. Tap it and connect, or head to the menus to configure the app. The apps are pretty bare-bones on all platforms, with few extra features, but that's not necessarily a bad thing – they just do what they say on the tin.
At its core, PrivadoVPN is built around AES-256 encryption, which is the industry standard. In short, even if your traffic is intercepted it'll be totally unreadable. OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols are both available, and while most users will now use the swift and secure WireGuard, it's nice to have OpenVPN as an option.
There are a couple of adjustments you can make – switching between OpenVPN UDP and TCP, and selecting your port – while obfuscation allows you to hide the fact you're using a VPN at all.
There's a decent no-logging policy present too, although this is yet to be audited by a third party. I'm confident that Privado is safe to use and that its no-logging policy is watertight, but an audit would be nice to see in the near future.
Final verdict
PrivadoVPN Free comes up short compared to paid providers, but it gets the closest of any free VPN. With excellent speeds, simple apps, and all the core features you need, it's my pick as the best free VPN. The lack of an independent audit of its infrastructure or privacy policy is a slight negative, but it's pleasant to use, and reliable. For most people, I think it's the one to go for.
Sign up if:
- You want to be able to choose and change your server at will
- You need a very fast connection
- You're a beginner looking for a simple, effective free VPN
Avoid if:
- You really need unlimited data
- You demand a fully audited no-logs policy
| Attributes | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| App design | Smart, simple design that's appealing on desktop and mobile. | ★★★★ |
| Privacy and security | Industry-standard encryption and must-have features like a kill switch, plus a good zero-logging policy. However, the lack of an audit is a minor negative. | ★★★★ |
| Ease of use | Simple and attractive, and great for beginners. | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Faster than many paid VPNs – seriously impressive. | ★★★★★ |
| Unblocking | Unrivalled unblocking for a free VPN, but no match for paid providers. | ★★★★ |
| Support | Capable support agents, but website lacks in terms of detailed articles. | ★★★★ |
Best free VPN with unlimited data
Proton is a well-established privacy company, and is known not only for its excellent Proton VPN, but Proton Mail, Proton Pass, and Proton Drive products. The paid-for version of Proton VPN competes with the likes of NordVPN and Private Internet Access, and is by far a better product than PrivadoVPN's premium plan.
In my Proton VPN Free review, I found the apps to be very usable, and offer much the same functionality as PrivadoVPN Free. You'll have access to over 100 servers in six locations, and speeds are very respectable, reaching 520 Mbps. However, the catch is that you can't choose which one you connect to. This is my biggest gripe with the service, and it really affects the day-to-day usage of the apps.
Proton VPN free shares a lot with the premium version, which is a good thing. However, most of the interesting features are held back. This includes the Secure Core servers, NetShield (an ad and tracker blocker), VPN Accelerator, Profiles, and torrenting support. Streaming support is also reserved for paying customers – although there is a dedicated server for accessing Deutsche Welle's unbiased news coverage anywhere in the world.
What you do get is an effective kill switch, auto-connect, and DNS leak protection alongside the basic VPN. This is all you really need here. What's more, you'll get unlimited data, so you can keep it active at all times – and this is Proton's biggest selling point of PrivadoVPN.
Proton's apps were recently overhauled, and the purple theme is very fetching. On desktop, you're able to extend or collapse the map interface, and I think this is better implemented than NordVPN's similar look. On mobile, things are much the same. You'll get a server list, and also tabs to access the map, profiles, and settings. They're simple and effective, and make getting protected easy.
Proton VPN Free shines when it comes to privacy features, and it's undeniably more accomplished than PrivadoVPN. All the privacy essentials are available for free users. You'll have a kill switch, AES-256 encryption, and access to both OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols. This is all very positive to see from a free service.
You do miss out on the ability to moderate your NAT – useful for establishing peer-to-peer connections – but this is a very niche case, and won't be missed by many.
A big green flag is Proton's commitment to independent audits, and it has had its no-logs policy checked over and confirmed. Other providers have had more audits – ExpressVPN had over a dozen in 2023 alone – but it's still good to see.
Final verdict
As a free service, Proton VPN is a worthy alternative to PrivadoVPN, and if you think you'll be upgrading in the future, or absolutely need unlimited data, it's the one to go for. However, the server limitations it imposes will be a step too far for some users, and it's no good for streaming.
Sign up if:
- You want a fully audited free VPN
- You need unlimited data
- You want more advanced software than PrivadoVPN
Avoid if:
- You want to select your server manually
- You want to torrent
| Attributes | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| App design | Recent facelift moves aesthetic from The Matrix to Cyberpunk 2077. | ★★★★ |
| Privacy and security | Open-source with powerful encryption. | ★★★★★ |
| Ease of use | Apps are powerful, but could be a little complex for newbies – and the server selection process is tedious. | ★★★ |
| Performance | Speeds are excellent, although PrivadoVPN is faster. | ★★★★ |
| Unblocking | Deutsche Welle access is more than most free VPNs, but you won't be streaming anything with Proton. | ★★★ |
| Support | Plenty of detailed guides, plus helpful support agents. | ★★★★★ |
Best free VPN Chrome extension
Windscribe is well-known in the VPN world for its zany marketing operations and commitment to user privacy. While its paid product is good, in my Windscribe Free review I found the freemium version to be the pick of the bunch.
Its server spread is remarkably generous. With 14 locations in 11 countries, it offers greater range than my top two providers here – although PrivadoVPN isn't far off with 12 locations in 10 countries. Speeds top out at 910 Mbps which also matches my top pick here, and Windscribe is able to unblock about the same amount of streaming services.
You'll get a generous amount of data per month, matching my #1 provider at 10 GB. However, here Privado just pips it to the post by offering unlimited yet slow emergency data. As mentioned above, Proton VPN Free outdoes both by offering truly unlimited browsing.
For a free VPN, Windscribe offers tons of features, and there's very little that's held back for paying customer. There are the basics like a kill switch – known here as "firewall" – and split tunneling, but it doesn't stop there. There's auto-connect, packet size adjustment, MAC spoofing, obfuscation, and more. It's a very comprehensive list, and all I can find that's restricted is the secure hotspot feature.
The R.O.B.E.R.T. feature is another useful addition which blocks trackers, ads, and malware, as well as offering to block various other things like adult content, gambling sites, social networks, and even "clickbait." This is free to use, and every time I open the app, I'm amazed at just how much Windscribe gives you.
If Windscribe's features are its biggest asset, its apps are its greatest downfall. On desktop, the client opens up as a very small window which extends in various ways to display the servers and the settings menu.
It's easy enough to connect – just click the on/off button – but doing anything else is simply confusing. There are tons of different layers in the menus, which can be a real pain if you just want to nip into the app to use a certain feature. Obviously, such a feature-rich product has to work out how to display everything, but just making an app with a bigger footprint would fix this.
However, what I rate very highly is Windscribe's Chrome VPN extension. It's only a proxy, but compared to the apps it's very easy to use, and just gets the job done.
Windscribe's privacy features are solid, and just like PrivadoVPN and Proton VPN, it's based around AES-256 encryption. In my testing I found no DNS leaks, and the firewall (kill switch) stood up very well – I wasn't able to make Windscribe leak my real IP no matter what I threw at it. The apps are also all open-source, which gives confidence.
Windscribe logs a very small amount of data – your total bandwidth used and when you last connected to the VPN – but on paper this doesn't truly bother me. What I'd like to see is an independent audit, and while Windscribe has claimed that one is "coming," there's still no evidence of one.
Final verdict
If you're looking for the most powerful free VPN, Windscribe could be your best bet. It's flexible, offers a decent amount of data every month, and barely restricts any features on the free plan. However, be prepared to live with annoying apps and the lack of an independent audit.
Sign up if:
- You want tons of extra features for free
- You need a speedy VPN
- You want access to plenty of servers around the world
Avoid if:
- You're a beginner, or you like simple apps
- You need unlimited data
| Attributes | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| App design | Powerful, but not the nicest to use. | ★★★ |
| Privacy and security | Open-source apps make it easy to trust, but lacking an audit. | ★★★★ |
| Ease of use | Fairly simple to get up and running but there are tons of different menus to navigate. | ★★★ |
| Performance | Seriously fast. | ★★★★★ |
| Unblocking | Impressive access to US and Canadian Netflix and other sites. | ★★★★ |
| Support | No live chat makes quick resolution tricky, but email support is comprehensive. | ★★★ |
Other free VPNs worth considering
I think the vast majority of people will be best off picking from either PrivadoVPN, Proton VPN, or Windscribe. However, I've reviewed lots of other free VPNs, and some are still worth considering. Below are two more options that made the cut.
Tested by
These are the experts who have tested, reviewed, and ranked the best free VPNs in this guide:
Mo is VPN Editor at Tom's Guide. He's covered VPNs since 2020, and in that time he has helped test and review over 100 providers. Mo handles the day-to-day testing of VPNs, making sure that they work for real people in real situations. He also undertakes ongoing streaming testing to make sure these services can unblock everything they claim, and produces video content to discuss and demonstrate the software.
Anthony is the Senior Security and Networking Editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and malware to password managers. He also undertakes VPN testing for Tom's Guide and TechRadar, which includes running all of our US-based speed tests.
How to choose the best free VPN
This page is exclusively designed to help make your decision-making process easier when it comes to choosing a free VPN. My top choice is the VPN I think will best suit most people, but before you pull the trigger it's good to consider exactly what you want from your free VPN.
For day-to-day privacy, you'll want reliable and proven privacy features, and a nice simple interface that doesn't get in the way of actually staying protected. I'm confident that all the providers here are safe to use, but you may prefer to go with a provider that has undergone privacy audits like Proton VPN over one that hasn't.
If you're into TV and film, you might want a free VPN that you can unblock Netflix libraries from around the world, and other streaming sites. both PrivadoVPN and Proton VPN are good here, with PrivadoVPN edging out all the competition as the most reliable for this.
How many devices you'd like to use your plan on is important, too. While it's easy to set up multiple accounts to get around limits, a good number of simultaneous connections can makes things much easier if you've got more than one device you want covered..
Finally, are there any specific locations you want to access? If so, make sure the provider you go for has a server in, or at least near this country. Also make sure you can actually choose the locations you connect to – Proton VPN's recent update has made this impossible, and you're forced to go with the automatically selected server.
The most important thing, though, is that you choose a free VPN that genuinely protects your privacy – and all the providers I've included here are solid in this respect. Don't just sign up to the first VPN you find in your app store, as even services with hundreds of thousands of users have been proven to be dangerous.
How I test the best free VPN services
With free VPNs, we have slightly different priorities than we do when testing paid products – check out how we test VPNs.
When it comes to free VPNs, there's less focus on the added extras, and more on making sure it really keeps you safe online. Simple apps and good fundamentals are important here. Streaming performance and extras like antivirus and ad blocking are considered premium features, and while some free VPNs do offer these, they're very much nice-to-haves, rather than the make or break features they can be when reviewing paid services.
We make sure all the apps, including iPhone, Mac and Android VPN apps are robust, and ensure all the features are working well. Core privacy features like the kill switch see extra scrutiny, and there are a number of tricks we employ to see if it can be trusted to protect you in every situation.
We'll also test streaming performance – which is often poor for free VPNs, but some have impressed – and finally test out any and all support options. General ease of use is also considered, and we scour the all-important privacy policies to root out any dodgy practices or ambiguities.
How does a free VPN work?
Free VPN services encrypt your data while it's in transit, creating a virtual tunnel through the internet. This separates your data packets from the countless others around them until they reach the service’s exit nodes many miles away from where you are.
Not only is the data encrypted, as it would be during a normal secure web session, but the routing information about the sender and intended recipient is hidden as well. If you're using a good product, this process is exactly the same for free VPNs as it is for paid versions.
You may have noticed the word "protocol" come up throughout this article, so it might be helpful to define it properly. Essentially, an encryption protocol is the way that your internet traffic is encrypted – imagine a very complex and computer-based version of the Enigma code used by the Germans in World War II. They're at the heart of every VPN, and there are a number of different protocols that can be used.
Today, the most popular VPN protocols are OpenVPN, and WireGuard. Various implementations of Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), which include IPsec by itself or in combination with Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) or Internet Key Exchange versions 1 and 2 (IKEv1 and IKEv2), are still seen, but are rapidly becoming outdated.
A VPN's scrambling and unscrambling of your data can sometimes slow internet traffic to a crawl. The best free VPN will have fast servers connected to huge data pipes to minimize this performance decline. They also have thousands of servers located in scores of countries, ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe.
Is there a free VPN without limitations?
Perhaps, but I highly recommend not downloading a free VPN that offers an unrestricted product.
This goes back to the old adage that you never get something for nothing. If your free VPN has no restrictions, it's likely it won't have a paid plan for you to upgrade to. If that's the case, ask yourself the question, "how is this company making money?"
If this is the case, it's likely, if not guaranteed, that it's either selling your data for profit or inserting extra ads into the sites you visit – or quite possibly both.
By using a limited "freemium" VPN, there's a clear way the company makes money – by users upgrading, or simply purchasing the paid version straight away. Of course, there are scam products that masquerade as a legitimate providers, but all the options on this page have high-quality paid products, and good freemium versions that are 100% safe to use.
When might a free VPN not be a good choice?
A free VPN is likely to come up short for those looking to stream or torrent, or people looking for a gaming VPN. That's because these activities use up tons of data. If you've got unlimited data with your VPN, that's not an issue, but if you've only got 500 MB to play with, that's only about one episode in standard def on Netflix – and that's only if you can actually access the service.
Also, you might find that your connection speeds drop, and for gamers and torrenters that's a killer. Those activities rely on having high speeds, and only the best paid-for services can provide that.
Finally, some free VPNs struggle with privacy issues, and the addition of ads can be a real pain for users. If you want the most secure service, you'll have to pay for one – at least then you'll know exactly how your VPN is making money, rather than hoping it's not using your info to cash in.
Are free VPNs legal?
In short, yes. VPN software itself is no less legal than any other mainstream software.
However, using it to torrent copyrighted files is still illegal, as is accessing any other illicit content.
Essentially, while a free VPN is perfectly legal to own and use, it doesn't make illegal acts legal just because it makes the crime harder to detect.
Free VPN FAQs
Free VPN vs paid – which should you get?
I've discussed free vs paid VPNs before, but if you're looking for a short answer, it's quite simple. Free VPNs are best used very minimally – perhaps you need to check a price of a product in another country. Paid VPNs should be used if you're planning on regularly using the software, and nowadays even cheap VPNs deliver excellent performance.
Are free VPNs safe?
Our Cybersecurity Commissioning Editor Olivia Powell covered the question of whether free VPNs are safe in detail, but in essence, it boils down to choosing the right one. I consider all of the VPNs I've featured on this page safe to use, but if you head straight to your app store, you're bound to come across seemingly popular VPNs that are best avoided. Be vigilant, and make sure you're downloading as reputable product before you trust it with your traffic.
Is there a completely free VPN?
Well, it depends on what you classify as 'free'. There are plenty of free VPNs that don't part you from your cash, but you could be paying for them by watching ads or even unknowingly giving them your data to sell.
The best free VPN services tend to be 'free versions' that are intended to give you a taster of a paid product before asking you to actually hand over your money. The best providers like Proton VPN and PrivadoVPN do this by using data limits and server restriction to create an incentive to upgrade. Many people do, which pays for the company's costs overall.
I'd recommend avoiding any free VPN that doesn't have a paid option – if there isn't a paying customer-base supporting the development of the software, who knows where the company's getting its money?
Is a free VPN better than no VPN?
If you're using a good-quality provider like the ones I've recommended on this page, a free VPN absolutely is better than no VPN.
All the providers I've covered here offer industry-standard encryption, a range of server locations, and a usage amount of data that shouldn't be too restrictive if you're only using it sporadically.
That said, VPNs work best when they're active 24/7, and only Proton VPN Free offers an unlimited data cap. Here, paid VPNs will perform best, but in a pinch, a free VPN is much better than no VPN at all.
Disclaimer
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).
2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
