Virtual private networks (VPNs) are one of the most effective ways to stay safe while online. They allow you to stay anonymous and get past region blocks on certain websites. However, VPNs usually cost money and you don’t always want to add an extra monthly expense to an already tight budget. That’s where free VPNs come in. They can provide you with a similar level of security for virtually—pun intended—nothing. But not all free VPNs are built the same. Oftentimes, when things sound too good to be true, they usually are.
With many free VPNs you’ll encounter unexpected restrictions such as speeds, a bandwidth cap, or a limit to the countries you can access. Essentially, you get what you pay for. While we advise that you opt for a premium VPN, such as those in our roundup of the best VPNs, we understand that sometimes you just need quick and easy basic protection without having to pay for yet another service. Therefore we’ve curated a list of the best free VPNs you can find. Following our recommendations you can read about what to look for in a free VPN and how we test.
Updated 07/8/2023: Check out our latest review of Surfshark VPN. With a two year subscription, you could get this excellent premium VPN for just over two dollars a month. It has unlimited device connections, works well with streaming services, and comes with great extras.
Windscribe – Best free VPN
Pros
- Simple setup
- Good performance
- Great free plan
Cons
- Tricky security track record with 2021 server incident
- Slow loading of browser extension
The Windscribe VPN service seems to get better and better each time we review a new version. It not only has an excellent Pro version that is reasonably priced, but it has a stand-out free service as well. What makes Windscribe’s free service really stand out is all the perks. You get a maximum 10GB of bandwidth per month and no device limits. To get that bandwidth you need a confirmed email address. If not, you’re stuck at 2GB per month.
The free service offers 10 regional connections including the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, and Romania. It also has a ton of privacy features such as blockers for site notifications and “we use cookies” banners, WebRTC leak protection, location spoofing, user agent rotation, and more.
The service is also extremely easy to use with a simple setup and solid performance for a free VPN. We not only recommend the Windscribe free service on its own, but also as an easy way to get to know the service before committing to a paid tier with premium features.
CyberGhost VPN – Best free VPN browser extension
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface
- Independently verified no-log policy
- Seriously impressive server spread
Cons
- Lacks some common features such as multi-hop and double VPN
- Server speeds are hit-or-miss, especially in Asia
CyberGhost VPN provides an excellent VPN with plenty of servers optimized for different tasks such as gaming, streaming, and torrenting. While the premium service, with access to all of its 9,000-plus servers and additional security features, is a paid option, CyberGhost also has a great browser extension that it offers for free. If you have either Chrome or Firefox you can download the extension without having to pay anything and enjoy access to a limited number of the VPN servers for free—currently sitting at eight servers in four countries.
Additionally, you are able to connect and use these VPN servers without having to worry about bandwidth limits or data capping. Unfortunately, in our tests we found that the servers we used in the browser extension were not able to successfully unblock streaming servers. However, if you start using the free browser extension and decide you like CyberGhost, you can always opt for a premium membership, which can be as low as three dollars a month for a long-term plan.
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ProtonVPN – Best free VPN for speed </h3>
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<img width="1400" height="932" class="product-chart-item__image" alt="ProtonVPN - Best free VPN for speed" src="https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/protonvpn.jpg?quality=50&strip=all" loading="lazy" sizes="1400" />
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Fantastic speeds </li>
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Easy-to-use multi-hop feature </li>
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Supports TOR over VPN connections </li>
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<p class="product-chart-subTitle">Cons</p>
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Expensive </li>
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Best Prices Today:
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<a class="product-chart-item__pricing-details--link" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=111346X1569483&url=https://protonvpn.com/pricing&xcust=2-1-629037-6-392469-17017&sref=https://www.pcworld.com/feed" target="_blank" data-vars-product-name="ProtonVPN" data-vars-product-id="392469" data-vars-category="Security Software and Services" data-vars-manufacturer-id="17017" data-vars-manufacturer="ProtonVPN AG" data-vars-vendor="ProtonVPN AG" data-vars-po="" data-product="392469" data-vars-link-position-id="003" data-vars-link-position="Product Chart" data-vars-outbound-link="https://protonvpn.com/pricing" rel="nofollow">$96 at ProtonVPN AG</a> </span>
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<div class="product-content">If you’re looking for speed and excellent privacy in a free VPN then ProtonVPN is an excellent choice. There are some big limitations with this service, but thankfully no limitations on speeds.
Instead, ProtonVPN limits you to one device connection at a time, and you only get three countries to choose from including the U.S., the Netherlands, and Japan. Still, that’s a good deal, making this a very useful free VPN.
ProtonVPN is the second-fastest VPN in our tests making this the one you want if speed is important to you.
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Read our full
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ProtonVPN review </a>
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