The Best VPN Deals This Week*
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ProtonVPN
— PCMag Exclusive: $3.95 Per Month (60% Off 2-Year Plan) -
Surfshark VPN
— $2.29 Per Month + 2-Months Free (79% Off 2-Year Plan) -
ExpressVPN
— $6.67 Per Month 1-Year Plan + 3-Months Free + 1-Year Free Backblaze -
NordVPN
— $3.09 Per Month + 3-Months Free (Up to 69% Off 2-Year Plan) -
IPVanish VPN
— $2.99 Per Month for 2 Years
(List Price $89.99)
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Note:
— IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com’s parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
If you want all the features of the best VPN services, you have to pay for them. Fortunately, several free options cover the basics of improving your privacy online.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to dig through all the sales pitches, complex plan details, irritating restrictions, and tricky fine print to find the VPN with the best no-cost offering. In addition to our usual testing, we’ve done the research to give you the easy-to-parse list of the best free VPNs below. Read on for our top picks, followed by what to look for when choosing a free VPN.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Proton VPN
Best Overall Free VPN
Why We Picked It
ProtonVPN is our top choice for premium VPNs and free VPNs. The company places no limit on the amount of data free subscribers may use. ProtonVPN does, however, limit free accounts to just one simultaneous connection. Also, free accounts can only access servers in three countries: the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States. Unlike some VPNs, however, you can select which server to use. ProtonVPN has a strong reputation for privacy, in part because of the success of its sibling product ProtonMail. ProtonVPN similarly has good privacy policies and backs that up with public, third-party audits.
Who It’s For
Without data restrictions, Proton VPN is the only service that could be a true, daily driver free VPN. However, the limited server options means that you ideally want to be in or relatively close to the countries where servers are offered. Additionally, you can only be protect one device at a time.
PROS
- The best free VPN subscription
- Numerous advanced privacy tools
- Strong customer privacy stance
- Slick, accessible client
- Excellent speed test scores
CONS
- Awkward ChromeOS implementation
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Free Version Data Limit | Unlimited |
| Free Version Server Limit | US, Netherlands, Japan |
| Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit | 1 |
| Can Manually Select Server In Free Version | |
| Are All Features Available In Free Version? | |
| Free Connection Speeds Limited | No |
| No Ads In Free Version? | Yes |
| Public Third-Party Audit |
Learn More
Hide.me VPN
Best for Free Everyday Browsing Close to Home
Why We Picked It
For free subscribers, Hide.me allots an impressive 10GB of data per month and lets you access five server locations. Especially notable is that Hide.me does not ask for your payment details when you create a free account. Plus, the service has received a third-party audit. There are some restrictions, though. Free users are limited to just a single simultaneous connection. And if you decide to spring for a paid subscription, you have to pay a hefty up-front cost, although the paid version gives you access to many features not available for free.
Who It’s For
Hide.me’s free plan is good for people who use a fair amount of data, don’t need to share a plan with someone else, and travelers. The 10GB data limit is more generous than what we see from some competitors, but you still have to be mindful to not run out before the month’s end. A single simultaneous connection means you can only use one device at a time. Having access to five server locations gives you more freedom when traveling or looking to spoof your location.
PROS
- Ten simultaneous connections
- Good server distribution
- Strong speed test scores
- Supports anonymous payments
- Affordable
CONS
- Speed limitations on free tier
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Free Version Data Limit | 10GB Per Month |
| Free Version Server Limit | Five Locations |
| Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit | 1 |
| Can Manually Select Server In Free Version | |
| Are All Features Available In Free Version? | |
| Free Connection Speeds Limited | No |
| No Ads In Free Version? | Yes |
| Public Third-Party Audit |
Learn More
TunnelBear VPN
Best for Free Occasional Location Spoofing
Why We Picked It
With its playful interface and deadpan bears, it’s easy to dismiss TunnelBear VPN as all show and no substance. But it would be a mistake, as TunnelBear has strong privacy policies that it backs up with a string of annual third-party audits. The free version of TunnelBear VPN allows unlimited simultaneous connections. It does put one hefty restriction on free subscribers: a 500MB per month data limit. You can earn another 1GB of data on top of that if you post about the company on social media. Still, that’s not very much.
Who It’s For
The free version of TunnelBear VPN lets you access any of its global servers, making it a good choice for travelers or anyone who needs to spoof their location. But given data limitations, this free VPN is best for people who plan to use it only occasionally.
PROS
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Excellent privacy policies
- Annual independent audits
- Friendly, approachable design (with bears!)
CONS
- No multi-hop connections
- Split tunneling not available on all platforms
- Data limit on free subscription
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Free Version Data Limit | 500MB – 1.5GB Per Month |
| Free Version Server Limit | All Servers |
| Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit | Unlimited |
| Can Manually Select Server In Free Version | |
| Are All Features Available In Free Version? | |
| Free Connection Speeds Limited | No |
| No Ads In Free Version? | Yes |
| Public Third-Party Audit |
Learn More
Hotspot Shield VPN
Best for Free US-Based Browsing
Why We Picked It
Hotspot Shield VPN’s free subscription has a lot of give and take. We like that free users get 500MB of data per day, but we’re not thrilled at the 2Mbps speed limit for mobile devices. Free subscribers on macOS have no data limit, however. Hotspot Shield VPN also uses ads to monetize its free users, but only on Android. Free subscribers can only connect one device at a time to Hotspot Shield VPN, and can only access US-based servers. The company has not released the results of a third-party audit, but has been evaluated by the other companies that license its service (such as Bitdefender Premium VPN).
Who It’s For
There are a lot of caveats to Hotspot Shield VPN’s free offering, but if you can thread the needle, it might work very well for you. Mac users are best off, since the service places no data limit on those devices. Other desktop users won’t have to deal with the speed throttling found on mobile. If you must use a mobile device, iOS is preferable since it lacks ads. Also, you’re limited to US-servers, so this service is best for people who are in the US.
PROS
- Numerous server locations
- Slick, approachable client
- Split-tunneling by domain
- Hefty services bundle
CONS
- Expensive
- Free version throttled, supported by targeted ads on Android
- Gathers significant, but anonymous, data
- No third-party infrastructure audit
- Dated transparency report
- Limited WireGuard support
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Free Version Data Limit | 500MB Per Day |
| Free Version Server Limit | Only US Servers |
| Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit | 1 |
| Can Manually Select Server In Free Version | |
| Are All Features Available In Free Version? | |
| Free Connection Speeds Limited | Yes, 2Mbps |
| No Ads In Free Version? | Ads For Free Android Users Only |
| Public Third-Party Audit |
Learn More
PrivadoVPN
Best for Free (Almost) Unlimited Browsing
Why We Picked It
Aside from Proton VPN, PrivadoVPN is as close as you can get to an unlimited free VPN experience. Although PrivadoVPN does limit free users to 10GB of data per month, it won’t cut you off once you exhaust that supply. Instead, your speeds will be throttled until the clock resets on your data. Other restrictions include only being able to access 12 servers and only allowing one connection at a time. The company has not released a third-party audit, which is not ideal.
Who It’s For
This is perhaps the only time speed throttling is a good thing. With PrivadoVPN, you won’t have to worry so much about the 10GB limit, but you may have to deal with slower speeds as a result. The short list of available servers means you should not rely on this service for location spoofing.
PROS
- Very affordable
- Generous free subscription
- 10 simultaneous connections
- Split tunneling
CONS
- Few additional privacy features
- No third-party audit
- Uninspiring Speedtest results
SPECS
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Free Version Data Limit | 10GB Per Month |
| Free Version Server Limit | 12 Servers |
| Free Version Simultaneous Connection Limit | 1 |
| Can Manually Select Server In Free Version | |
| Are All Features Available In Free Version? | |
| Free Connection Speeds Limited | Yes, After Data is Exhausted |
| No Ads In Free Version? | Yes |
| Public Third-Party Audit |
Learn More
Buying Guide: The Best Free VPNs for 2024
Is There a 100% Free VPN?
Very few VPNs offer a genuinely free option. Instead, most companies provide time-limited trials or money-back guarantees.
However, the free VPN apps listed in the table above offer free subscription levels. They aren’t the only ones, but they are the best we’ve reviewed so far.
That said, every VPN listed does put some restrictions on its free version. Some services limit the bandwidth you can use in a given period. Some keep the number of simultaneous connections low, generally limiting them to one. Some restrict you to certain servers, meaning you can’t jump to a different server to try and increase performance or easily spoof your location—more on this below.
Paying for a VPN subscription typically unlocks all these features and often adds additional sweeteners unavailable at the free level. You get all the servers in all the locations, and the service supports more simultaneous connections.
The Best VPN Services for 2022
Do Free VPNs Work With Netflix?
VPNs can bypass oppressive censorship by tunneling out to a VPN server beyond the control of despots, but that same ability can also be used to access streaming content that’s not available in your country. Overseas, Netflix subscribers see different shows and films that don’t show up in the US. That’s because Netflix has specific deals to distribute this content in different areas.
Netflix isn’t the only service that can be tricked. MLB and the BBC have different streaming arrangements for different regions. There are numerous other examples, and many of them—especially Netflix—try to block VPN use to enforce those regional streaming deals.
Regional blocking is particularly tricky for free VPN users. Most free VPNs limit the servers you can use, meaning you have fewer options (if any) to spoof your location. Free users also have a harder time jumping to a different server looking for unblocked access or better speeds. One option to get around a Netflix blockade is to purchase a static IP address, which typically requires a paid VPN subscription in addition to the cost of the static IP.
In short, watching a streaming service like Netflix with a VPN is hard, and doing it with a free VPN is even harder.
Are Free VPNs Safe?
Free VPNs have some historical baggage since not all VPN providers have always turned out to be the best actors. Some VPNs may have unseemly, if not outright malicious, practices. Figuring out who is and is not on the level is especially difficult with VPNs, as much of their operation isn’t visible to the outside world.
When we review VPNs, we look over each service’s privacy policy. It’s a good way to find out what information the service collects, if any. Ideally, a VPN company should say that it does not collect any logs on user activity. We highly recommend that you read the review for a free VPN before you commit.
These documents can sometimes be difficult to read, perhaps intentionally so. As part of our testing process, we send questionnaires to each VPN service, seeking to put companies on the record about specific privacy issues. We rely on companies to act in good faith when we ask them questions and for third-party researchers to ferret out the companies that don’t.
Most of the best free VPNs have undergone extensive third-party audits to prove their trustworthiness. Having an audit isn’t a guarantee that a company is doing good work since they often set the parameters of the audit. A meaningful audit is a good sign, though. TunnelBear VPN, for instance, has committed to releasing third-party audits each year and has made good on that promise.
Are Free VPNs Any Good?
Because free VPNs are so limited, you’re likely to experience some performance issues. For example, servers can be too crowded to provide reasonable speeds, the VPN provider may not allow free users to access servers where you are, or the data limit will be too low for the service to be usable.
Free VPNs also tend to lack the security features we like to see among the best VPNs. You won’t find multi-hop connections or VPN access to the Tor network—those generally require a paid subscription.
Recommended by Our Editors
But some free VPNs are worth trying! Proton VPN is notable as the only VPN we’ve yet reviewed that does not place a limit on user bandwidth. It’s a good long-term choice. TunnelBear VPN limits free users to just 500MB (with an additional 1GB available) per month but does allow free users to access all its servers and connect an unlimited number of devices. This is a good service for occasionally spoofing your location or limited use while traveling. Hide.Me VPN is also a strong choice for free because it has five server locations and lets you use a generous 10GB of data per month.
Importantly, all three of these services have released the results of third-party audits. If a product has not gone through a public third-party audit, that doesn’t mean it’s hiding something or is nefarious. For all VPN products we’ve reviewed, we’ve spoken to their representatives and found their privacy policies at least acceptable upon examination. Audits show that a company is staking its money and reputation publicly, however.
What Is the Best Free VPN?
Every free VPN service has some catch, though Proton VPN gives you the most flexibility. A free account with Proton VPN limits you to just three VPN server locations and one simultaneous connection. Proton VPN lists the speed of the free version as “medium,” but you’re not being throttled; you’re just competing with more people for fewer servers, which may mean worse performance.
There is plenty of variation even among free VPN services, so it’s a good idea to try a few and figure out which one you like best. A great VPN service should be easy to use and understand and shouldn’t throw up too many barriers, even when you’re using a free subscription.
However, VPNs alone won’t protect you against every danger prowling the web. We strongly recommend also using a password manager to create unique and complex passwords for each site and service we use, enabling multi-factor authentication wherever it’s available, and using antivirus software. Not all of these options have free versions available, but you can mix and match to find the combo that’s most affordable for you!
Max Eddy contributed to this roundup.
