A free VPN download? Sound tempting. A free VPN means there is totally internet freedom without paying any cost. But nothing comes free and things can be tricky especially for the first time to use the free VPN. You will need to know what you get and don’t get when choosing the best free VPN.
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Best Free VPN Download (2024 Update)
Could a free VPN ever replace a paid VPN service? What’s the risk and differences between free vs paid VPN? How’s about the privacy and functionality for Free VPN downloads compare with the paid version? And are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary just to save some cash?
I am pretty sure there are many doubts when making a comparison between free vs paid VPN. So as to clear those dilemmas, we have tested and reviews some of the VPN in the market and narrowed it down to the TOP 5 Best Free VPN Download.
Read our in-depth reviews of the best free VPN below — plus, the pro and cons of getting a free or paid VPN service for different purposes. All the useful tips and information are included in these free VPN reviews for picking the right best free VPN.
Free VPN Download? What You Need To Know
Before getting through our Top 5 best free VPN in the market, let us share with you some of the information on this freebie.
Can I use VPN for free?
Yes. There are plenty of free VPN services around that you can utilize for your web browsing activities. However, is it really possible to get a good and completely free VPN that meet the requirement you need? In fact, the free VPN often comes with performance restrictions and ads displayed on your website (which you have no control over).
If you just want to secure your browsing on public Wi-Fi and check your emails securely, then a free VPN can be a good tool to have available. Plus, the free VPN service usually limiting the amount of data and bandwidth, and also the speed that you can use it.
If you’re looking to actually streaming or torrent, we would strongly advise against going for these free services. Plus, don’t expect the kind of easy access support or server range that you get with the paid services.
Is it Worth Using A Free VPN?
The free VPNs aren’t as powerful as premium services. There might get ads injected into your web browser. Plus, it is possible that your browsing data is selling to third parties, which defeats the purpose of using the VPN for privacy in the first place. So, you are still possible at risk to secure your identity while you’re connected.
There’s no shortage of “free” VPN services in the market. But I would highly recommend avoiding them. If you really want better protection online, avoid free VPNs. While you might save a few dollars each month, the risks to your privacy and data are not worth it.
For less than $4 a month you’ll have unlimited data and multi-device simultaneous connections at our top-rated VPN, NortonVPN.
Free VPN Safe?
A lot of times, free VPN and paid VPN offer the same security. The only difference is the network bandwidth, speed, and featured included such as no ads display, server location, and limited devices can be access for the free version.
The ads display is one of the most common trade-offs with a free VPN plan
Top 5 Best Free VPN Selection
Next, let’s jump to the best 5 VPN providers first, then narrowed down from the list to see which ones you should avoid and best fit for your needs. Without further ado, here are the 5 best VPN without paying any penny.
NordVPN – 30-Days Free With Money Back Guarantee – Our #1 Free VPN with unlimited data, lightning-fast speeds — plus it allows streaming and torrenting (but you can only use it for free for 30 days with its money-back guarantee).
ProtonVPN – Unlimited Data and Bandwidth– Unlimited data and good speeds for quick browsing, but you can only connect to servers in 3 countries (which makes it hard to bypass geoblocks).
Hotspot Shield – Great Combination of Speed and Security – Catapult Hydra protocol gives you fast speeds, but you only get 500MB of data per day (that’s only enough to watch YouTube for 30 minutes).
Windscribe – Free 10GB of Data Every Month – 10GB of free data lets you browse for 160+ hours each month, but it’s too slow for watching videos.
Hide.me — Best Free VPN service for privacy without ads – Allows P2P connections so you can protect yourself while torrenting, but you can’t use it to access streaming sites.
Best Free VPN Download: NordVPN
NordVPN tops our first priority in this list of the best VPN for free for 2021. It is probably the most famous VPN on the scene and allows users to enjoy virtual private networks. NordVPN has been a leader in VPN markets for years and promoting their VPN service on advertisements on TV, sponsors sports teams.
NordVPN beats other provider offers with some of the most advanced features. So, if you’re looking for the best VPN service, this is your best pick.
Unfortunately, NordVPN is not offering a free VPN service. But it does have a standard industry free trial period — a full 30-day money-back guarantee to test its premium VPN service in the entire month. This is a great option if you’re needed for a short period of time for traveling or streaming.
There will be no geoblocked concern from 400+ compatible streaming platforms with unlimited data during these 30-days trial periods. Even if you’re planning to travel to China, NordVPN makes a promising result and actively finds its way without geo-blocked streaming in China.
Once you are satisfied with their service, you may consider continuing with their service and agree on its transparent pricing that doesn’t increase after your initial contract. This is one of the lowest VPN pricing on their long-term VPN plan, it’s a great option for anyone looking to save every dollar without worry about VPN service quality.
If you start with NortonVPN, you’ll never need to switch to someone else. Let’s explore the NordVPN review to see the full pricing plan for this premium VPN service.
- Get 30 days of unlimited data with NordVPN by using its money-back guarantee.
- 5,500 servers in 59 countries.
- 256-bit encryption, kill switch, and malware protection.
- Operates outside 5/9/14-Eyes Alliance for total anonymity.
- Works with: Netflix, Hulu, HBO, BBC iPlayer, Showtime, Amazon Prime Video, Sling TV, and hundreds more.
- Compatible with: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Android TV, Linux, Firefox, Chrome, routers.
Best Free VPN Download: ProtonVPN
ProtonVPN is another heart-warming free VPN service provider when you’re looking for the number one free VPN. Many reasons make ProtonVPN a good fit for free VPN users. The most notable of which is that it doesn’t impose any data restrictions by giving unlimited data allowance for streaming. In other words, you’re free to use as much data as you want every month. That’s highly rare for a free VPN provider and immediately makes it well worth considering the best free VPN.
ProtonVPN encompasses a wide range of platforms and is widely compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Plus, some free VPNs struggle with privacy issues but ProtonVPN does not require logging, making it very private. It is ranked as the best Free VPN with great privacy.
Sound too good to be true for these free VPN downloads?
There are some of the limitations on the Free ProtonVPN service, with prioritization to paid users. So, expect lower speed during peak hours when all the paid users are using the precious bandwidth. Moreover, free ProtonVPN is only limited to one device at a time, with only three locations and no P2P support.
If these limitations are a concern for you, why not sign up for ProtonVPN with peace of mind unlimited access?
Free ProtonVPN PROS
- Unlimited data allowance
- Great privacy with no logging
- Widely compatible: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux.
- Minimal server locations
Free ProtonVPN CONS
- one device at a time
- no P2P support
- only three locations
- Speed throttling and lower speed prioritization compared to paid users
Best Free VPN Download: Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is one of the most popular and best choices for VPN service. We really like the fact that Hotspot Shield free VPN featured most of the premium version features, which makes it one of the better-known free VPN on our top lists. But those on the free plan are only limited to easy-to-use 500MB of data per day, which means 15 GB per month. Although the data allowance sounds restrictive but still generous among its competitors.
The free version of Hotspot Shield VPN with 500MB of data is allowing for only 30 minutes of steaming time on Youtube! It is far too big and no enough for large files downloading, but you will be no problem browsing social media, checking email, banking, or doing online shopping.
Plus, Hotspot Shield VPN boasted with military-grade encryption protects your internet activity. The user-friendly dedicated apps make you can start using the Hotspot Shield VPN with the one-click connect feature. Let’s say you start with a standard VPN for any online activities, the easy 1-click connect to make that happen.
Again, Hotspot Shield VPN could be a decent alternative if you’re looking for the best free VPN service. You may consider an upgrade to their Elite version of Hotspot, which enables you to access anything you want in one of the 70-odd countries. The cost is only a few dollars per month to the best overall paid VPN service.
If you like the Hotspot Shield and want to try the premium version, you can test it out with a 7-day free trial.
Free Hotspot Shield PROS
- 500 MB data for free per day.
Free Hotspot Shield CONS
- Limited to one US-based location.
- Android user with ads advertising.
Best Free VPN Download: WindScribe
Windscribe is another one of our recommended free VPN services, with a generous of 10G of free data every month even you didn’t sign up for their VPN plan. You will get 10G of bandwidth per month, from 10 of their server locations by subscribing to their Winscribe Free VPN. The sign-up procedure is very simple; you just need to create a username and password to enjoy the free bandwidth.
The best part of Winscribe free VPN is Windscribe doesn’t store connection logs, IP stamps, or visited sites for both paid and free users. It will erase all your logging activities within three minutes after your search session end. This privacy protection makes it one of the best free VPN options. It comes with a built-in ad blocker and a reliable firewall that blocks all traffic outside the VPN’s secure tunnel to prevent any unexpected leak.
The only limitation is Winscribe free VPN is restricting you to servers in only the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Norway, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Having to say that, Winscribe allows you to unblock contents from only these 10 remote server locations if you’re on their Free service.
Best Free VPN Download: Hide.me
Hide.me VPN provides a truly excellent product but it does come at a price though. Hide.me VPN offers a free plan with 10G of data each month, featured with all the user-friendly features without restriction to both paid and free users. No email address and personal information to sign up to maintain your privacy. Plus, no logs, no user data stores, and of course no data to any third parties.
Added, the free plan won’t throttle the connection speed for free users, making it one of the best-rated free VPN downloads.
Bottom line: If you want a VPN service for unlimited streaming where everything is taken care of automatically, then you’ll need to look for something else. The 10GB of free data each month is only enough to cover some basic surfing and email duties. Moreover, you are limited to only one device to five server locations (Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, US East, and US West) rather than more than 50+ locations compare with pay subscribers.
Bear in mind that, if you’re browsing on your laptop, your phone or tablet won’t be actively protected. Why not just sign up for a paid version?
If you don’t want to waste time calculating how much bandwidth on your usage, then these are the best VPN to turn to. It’s worth knowing that a paid version of Hide.me VPN only costs as little as $2.5 per month.
Our Verdict: The Best Free VPN Download
That’s it! A detailed review of the Top 5 Best Free VPN Service Providers. If you’re new to Virtual Private Networks (VPN), the free service might still fulfill your need for casual use for social media and web browsing. We recommend using free VPN downloads if you’re happy with the limitation that free options that naturally come with. Still, an ultimate best free VPN still can’t compete with a low-cost paid VPN service.
Always, you can’t go wrong with NordVPN or SurfShark. These premium VPNs offer free trials and money-back guarantees so you can make sure the service you choose is right for you. They all offer strong VPN, fast, secure, and they can unblock hundreds of streaming services, including Netflix US at a low introducing price. It is possible to get as low as $2.5 per month and even cheaper for better protection and performance. You’ll be hassle-free by paying a little extra to enjoy unlimited data and bandwidth, and access to more servers.
Else, download the Hotspot Shield free VPN to enjoy the 15G data per month without any charges.