Free VPNs cost nothing but there is a reason for that. Here are the best free VPNs we have tested.
1. TunnelBear
2. Windscribe
3. Hotspot Shield Free
4. Speedify
5. PrivateTunnel
Here’s our pick of the best free VPN software to keep your online activity safe and anonymous.
As discussed in this article, not all free VPN services are created equal and some could compromise your security (we also look at five questions you should ask yourself before installing any free VPN). Of course, it goes without saying that you’re safe with the providers highlighted here (at least as far as we can be aware – nothing is cast-iron, but if we had any doubts at all about the security of these VPNs, we wouldn’t be recommending them).
Also bear in mind that VPN services are only as secure as the weakest link in your setup. So if your device has already been compromised with malware, using a VPN won’t save you from being spied upon, but a good antivirus solution could.
Protecting your identity doesn’t get easier than this – TunnelBear is the best free VPN around
TunnelBear might have something of a cutesy design, but it’s a serious free VPN. There are free and paid-for subscriptions to choose from. The only restriction with the free one is that you are limited to 500MB of traffic each month.
That said, TunnelBear’s exclusive TechRadar plan offers a far more generous 5GB, 10 times the amount you get if you sign elsewhere.
This isn’t a huge amount, so you won’t be able to use TunnelBear all of the time without paying, but it’s great for those times when you feel like you need a little extra protection.
Performance is impressive and ease of use is second to none. In all likelihood you won’t need to change any of the default settings, and the automatic connection option should work fine, but you can manually choose from one of 20 countries as your adopted location. Delightfully simple and reassuringly secure, TunnelBear is certainly one of the best free VPN’s for all your devices.
It’s also interesting to note that TunnelBear recently tuned up its privacy policy, so the VPN now collects even less data on users – removing the need to supply a first name to sign up, and ditching its record of the user’s number of total lifetime connections.
Super secure, with a very generous data cap, Windscribe is a top-notch free VPN
Windscribe is a relative newcomer to the free VPN scene, but its generous data allowance and commitment to protecting your privacy make it the best around. The free service gives you 10GB bandwidth per month as standard, and lets you choose from eight remote server locations.
You only need to create a username and password to sign up (an email address is optional, but might prove handy if you forget your password). Windscribe doesn’t store connection logs, IP stamps, or visited sites; when you’re actively connected to a server it stores your username, the VPN server you’re connected to and the amount of data transferred, but this is erased within three minutes of the session ending.
The 10GB data allowance is enough to make Windscribe’s free service a practical option for everyday browsing (though not heavy downloading or streaming), and there are several ways to boost it even higher.
Tweeting about the service will earn you an extra 5GB, and you’ll get 1GB each time you invite a friend to join. As an added perk, if anyone you’ve referred decides to upgrade to a Pro subscription (starting at US$7.50 per month billed annually), you’ll get the unlimited plan as well and far more servers (47 in total).
If that isn’t enough to tempt you, there’s even a built-in adblocker and firewall. Give it a try today – we think you’ll be impressed. Note that there is an Android App available, albeit in an unreleased state at the time of writing.
If you use public Wi-Fi regularly, this is a great free VPN for protecting your privacy
Hotspot Shield Free is one of the better known names in this roundup, and another of the best free VPNs around today.
You can choose to anchor yourself to one of 20 countries if you pay for the Elite version of the app, and this should enable you to access just about anything you want; in the free version, you’re limited to locations that Hotspot Shield chooses for you.
Hotspot Shield Free offers the option to have the free VPN automatically enabled whenever you connect to a wireless network that is deemed ‘unsafe’, the program offers peace of mind for those who work away from the home or office a lot. Online performance does seem to suffer a little when Hotspot Shield is enabled, but the bandwidth limit of 750MB per day is generous.
The latest we’ve heard is a clarification which comes via Ars Technica, in which a spokesman for Hotspot Shield noted: “The free version of our Hotspot Shield solution openly and clearly states that it is funded by ads, however, we intercept no traffic with neither the free nor the premium version of our solutions. Our users’ online privacy has always been our absolute priority.”
Want a secure yet speedy connection? Then look no further
Speedify, as the name suggests, has one main aim as a VPN provider: to ensure that while you benefit from encryption, your internet connection remains as speedy as possible.
To that end, the service will make use of all available internet connections to get the best possible performance, potentially combining, say, an Ethernet connection (fixed broadband) with a tethered mobile 3G/4G connection. Even if you only have one type of internet connection, the firm claims its turbocharging technology will still help speed things up.
As well as the promise of better performance, Speedify operates a clear no logging policy, meaning it doesn’t monitor your internet traffic. And it offers clients for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, and access to over 30 VPN servers.
The free plan boasts full access to those servers (just as with the subscription options), the only restriction of the free offering being that you’re limited in the amount of data you can download.
Free users get 4GB of data for the first month, but that drops to 1GB during subsequent months. That’s not a massive amount, and certainly not as much as some other rivals you’ll see elsewhere on this page, but it’s still enough for some basic surfing and email duties.
And this VPN provider is definitely worth a look on the performance front, as during our testing, the aforementioned speed-granting technologies did actually prove themselves to have a positive effect.
A free VPN that’ll keep your data and identity safe on any PC or mobile device
Like some of the other tools featured in this roundup, PrivateTunnel is available for a number of platforms – specifically Windows, Mac, Android and iOS.
