Staying private and secure on the internet has become important than ever before. With the increasing online threats and government regulations on websites, access to an unrestricted, safe and better internet is a VPN away.
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) changes your IP address and gives you anonymity on the internet, secures your connection, and gives access to geo-restricted websites. With many VPN companies, it’s difficult to choose the best provider for our purpose and this process becomes even harder when it comes to selecting from free VPNs. That’s why we have curated the list of the best free VPN services for you. It should be noted that a good VPN service costs as little as $3.5/month so if you do have the budget, we strongly recommend you to get a premium VPN as the free VPNs come with their own risks and limitations. But nevertheless, there are decent free VPN software that can get your job done as well and we have ranked them for you.
Now coming to list, the apps are ranked on the basis of the technical aspects such as free bandwidth they provide, the speed of the server, availability on different platforms, etc. and also considering my personal experience. I did a fair test to evaluate all these before curating the list and I should remind you again that these may not be the best VPNs but the best free ones. If you find this list old or perhaps you would like to notify us about a new VPN please do leave a comment.
What is a VPN?
The answer to the question is explained well by CyberGhost in this short video below or if you are really keen to know more, this Wikipedia page may help.
Why should you use a VPN?
Here are some reasons why you should get a VPN:
- Stay safe. Be anonymous. A VPN masks your current IP address (what is my ip).
- Access blocked content such as videos, websites, etc.
- Keep data private from hackers, governments, etc.
- If you want to scrape data from websites, it’s better to use a VPN service while doing so. Thereby even if your IP gets blocked from the server you can switch to a new one and continue scraping.
- Book flights for a cheaper price with a VPN
- Get better hotel deals for your next vacation
- With a Netflix VPN, stream American content even if you are elsewhere
- The IRS issued a reminder that those filing taxes should use a VPN in conjunction with whatever free tax software is being used. That way sensitive information remains safe from hackers and malicious attacks.
I can go on and on but you got the idea anyway. A VPN service protects your privacy, gives access to geo-restricted content and it saves you money.
Does free VPNs suck?
Free isn’t always true, you are always giving up on something. When it comes to free VPNs you are giving up on privacy, security, unlimited data limit, speed, and/or other features such as P2P support, Netflix streaming, and more. There is no free VPN that can serve everyone’s needs at once.
It’s okay to use a free VPN that has the features you’re looking for but do good research about the company’s reputation on privacy and security. I wouldn’t say free VPNs suck but you should definitely be prepared to give up on many advanced features and good VPNs cost only a little these days.
If you need a really good VPN that doesn’t cost too much and has 100s of locations to choose from, then do try Surfshark.
VPNs of 2020 – The Best Free Ones
- Has Kill Switch
- Easy to Use
- Available on multiple platforms
- Only one server in the free version
- No support for Netflix US Streaming
- 11 countries to choose from in the free tier
- No Ads
- Generous 10GB data limit
- Inconsistent Speed
- Account is required
- 3 free locations
- No data limit
- Speed throttling
- Same quality of service compared to its paid counterpart except for data limit
- 500MB is too less for anything other than some browsing and emails
- No-log policy
- Claims to bypass Netflix’s Anti-VPN
- Browser extension alone won’t protect your privacy
- No-log policy
- Performance Booster
- No account needed
- P2P Support
- Unappealing UI. Cross platform support is made my porting their iOS app.
- 2GB/month data limit
- No-log policy
- Long time to establish connection
- No-log policy
- No account required
- Sells ad
- Doesn’t work with Netflix
Comparing the Free VPNs
| HotSpot Shield | WindScribe | ProtonVPN | TunnelBear | CyberGhost VPN | Speedify | Betternet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Limit | 500MB/day | 10GB/mo | Unlimited | 500MB/mo | Unlimited | 2GB/mo | 500MB/day |
| Supported Platforms | Windows macOS iOS Android Chrome Linux | Windows macOS iOS Android Chrome Firefox Linux | Windows macOS iOS Android Linux | Windows macOS iOS Android Chrome Firefox Opera | Chrome & Firefox Extension | Windows macOS Linux iOS Android | Windows macOS iOS Android Chrome |
| Netflix Support | Not available in free tier | Not available in free tier | Not available in free tier | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| P2P Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Simultaneous Connections | 1 device | – | 1 device | 1 device | – | 1 device | – |
| Location Selection (each country may have multiple servers) | No | Limited to few locations | 3 countries | 23 countries | 4 countries | 34 countries | 4 countries |
Previously on the list
The ones below have been replaced with new and better VPN services. Some of these may still work while others don’t. OpenVPN doesn’t provide their service for free anymore. SumRando still doesn’t have a mac or ios application.
- OpenVPN
- SumRando VPN
- Hideallip
- Hide.me
A VPN Might Not Be Enough To Stay Hidden…
It should be noted that sometimes, even after using a VPN service certain websites will continue to show your real location. This can happen due to a variety of reasons the most common being the usage of GeoLocation API.
Next, if you have signed up for a VPN service, your account details are stored in their database and sitting idle for a potential breach in the future. So you’re not safe in that matter unless you signed up with a different account and paid with Bitcoins.
Then there are MAC addresses which are unique to every internet device; this allows your ISP to track a device’s usage. A VPN doesn’t provide anonymity from that.
I think I’ve made the point clear, there are still ways to track your internet usage behavior and a VPN doesn’t provide 100% anonymity.
FAQ
A VPN allows you to create a secure connection to another network. With a VPN service, you will be able to access geo-restricted content, prevent others from spying on your traffic and more.
There isn’t a definite answer for this question. New services are launched quite often and I have seen certain respective VPNs losing it’s name. Windscribe has been my goto for a while and it’s doing a pretty good job.
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Which one of these have you tried and what do you think is the best? Leave your valuable reviews in the comments and help other users find the best.
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I do not use Free VPNs as they are not safe. They sell users’ bandwidth and other resources. Hola is the biggest exaample of it. I use cheap VPN instead that earns from the money I pay instead of earning from my resources. I use Ivacy VPN that is only $1.83 per month
hotspot sheild is safe tho
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Are these “really” free? I mean, some “free” VPNs are only during a special trial period.
Also, what limitations do they come with? There must be some, like ads (ugh), limited bandwidth (re-ugh), and so on. I think it’s important to mention them to let people make their pro and cons list.
What is mentioned in this article is not compete: https://www.router-reset.com/how-hide-your-public-ip-address/ – so I’m still looking for that really free with the least restrictions possible VPN.
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