The best free VPN 2018: 100% free VPN providers for every occasion
We can understand why you'd want to download a free VPN service. You've heard about the extra safety that a Virtual Private Network affords when using the internet and maybe you want to experiment with accessing parts of the web that are geo-blocked where you are - but you don't want to pay a dime for the privilege. Well on this page, you'll find our pick of the best free VPN options available to download today. We've tested and retested dozens of them and assessed their ability to keep your online activity safe and anonymous.
The best free VPN in 2018 is TunnelBear VPN. There are many free options out there right now, but in our estimation TunnelBear is the best because it's essentially a premium VPN that offers a free tier. That free tier offers 500MB free data per month, which is enough for browsing the web. But it's a fairly major limitation if you're looking to download or stream video, for example - you'll need to delve into the other free options on our list if that's what you're after.
So is it possible to get a good and completely free VPN that does the job then ? The answer is... sort of. Ultimately, if you're looking for a free VPN for casual use you will find something that meets your needs - just so long as you are happy with the limitations that free VPNs usually come with.
And before we get stuck in to our list of the best free VPNs, it's worth knowing that a paid-for version can cost as little as $6 per month and can give you much better performance and protection, so we'd recommend checking out the overall best VPN service page as well. Just remember: free VPNs may cost nothing but there is usually a good reason for that - it might be that the provider may be turning a profit with invasive advertising or, in some cases, by selling on data to third-parties (rather defeating the whole drive for privacy in the first place).
The best free VPN in 2018:
Protecting your identity doesn't get easier than this – TunnelBear is the best free VPN you can download today
Number of servers: ~1,000 | Server locations: 20+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5Really user-friendly
TunnelBear is without doubt the best free VPN out there right now. It might have something of a cutesy design, but it's a serious free VPN, especially after its acquisition by security giant, McAfee. There are free and paid-for subscriptions to choose from. The only restriction with the free plan is that you are limited to 500MB of traffic each month. 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 and want to go down the VPN free route. 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.
TunnelBear offers a range of paid-for plans that remove the restrictions associated with the free plan, like the download limit, the numbers of countries available and the amount of connected devices. TechRadar has secured an exclusive deal from TunnelBear that gives you all this for as little as $4.99 per month, that's a whopping 58% saving.
- Buy TunnelBear Premium for as little as $4.99 per month
Super secure, with a very generous data cap, Windscribe is a top-notch free VPN
Number of servers: N/A | Server locations: 8 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 110GB of data per month
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 if you need more data than the 500MB free tier with TunnelBear. You get 10GB bandwidth per month as standard and can choose from eight remote server locations with the Windscribe VPN free. 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. Tweeting about the provider 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 which was recently released, albeit in an unfinished state at the time of writing.
- Exclusively for TechRadar readers, Windscribe is offering an annual subscription to its Pro option for only $29. Click here or use Promo Code WSRADAR1at checkout.
If you use public Wi-Fi regularly, this is a great free VPN for protecting your privacy
Number of servers: N/A | Server locations: 25 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5Easy-to-use
Hotspot Shield Free is one of the better known free VPN options in our rankings. You can choose to anchor yourself to one of 25 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. Those on the free plan can protect up to five devices simultaneously, and are limited to 500MB of data per day, which isn’t a massive amount, but will suffice for very light or occasional usage.
Note: Hotspot Shield’s free VPN offering has recently come under fire from the Center for Democracy & Technology, a pro-privacy non-profit organisation. The CDT has claimed that this provider intercepts and redirects traffic to partner websites which include online advertising firms. Hotspot Shield has denied these allegations and said that it was “dismayed that the CDT did not contact us to discuss their concerns”. Check here for the full lowdown on this controversy. The latest we’ve heard is a clarification 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
Number of servers: 30+ | Server locations: 20+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5Nifty performance boosting tech
Speedify, as the name suggests, has one main aim as a free VPN provider: to ensure that while you benefit from encryption, your internet connection remains as speedy as possible. To that end, this provider 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.
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 huge allowance, and certainly not as much as some other rivals you’ll see elsewhere on this page, but it’s more than some, and still enough for covering 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.
You won’t be constrained by a monthly data allowance with this free VPN
Number of servers: N/A | Server locations: 3 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 1No monthly data limits
ProtonVPN is another provider that offers a free VPN alongside a paid option, but the former has some very strong points, the most notable of which is that it doesn’t impose any bandwidth restrictions. In other words, you’re free to use as much data as you want every month. There are, naturally enough, limitations for the free plan to incentivize upgrading to the paid offering. And ProtonVPN Free’s restrictions include limiting you to only one device, only three locations, and free users get a lower priority when it comes to speed compared to paying subscribers. There’s no P2P support either. But if you can live with that, this is an impressive provider with a strict no logging policy, and you can sign up with nothing more than your email address. There aren’t even any ads on the website, let alone the client.
Speaking of clients, there are a good range of these – with native software for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, plus Android – and we found performance levels were pretty solid too. However, speeds may drop at peak times when lots of users are around and paying folks get priority; at which point you may be tempted to upgrade to a paid plan. But clearly, with its unlimited data allowance, this is one freebie which is well worth considering.
You’re on a hiding to something with this privacy-conscious VPN
Number of servers: N/A | Server locations: 3 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 1Strong on privacy
Hide.me offers both paid and free VPN providers, with the latter giving you 2GB of data per month to play with. There are other limits too: you can only connect a maximum of one device, and are limited to three server locations (Singapore, Canada, and Netherlands) rather than the 30 locations paying subscribers get. On the plus side, however, this provider won’t throttle the connection speed of free users, and Hide.me further promises that it keeps no logs and stores no user data, so won’t pass on any data to third-parties in order to try and make a profit (simply because it doesn’t have any data to pass on). There are no adverts here, either.
You get native software for Windows and Mac, Android and iOS, with the Windows client being smartly designed, plus there’s 24/7 technical support (which is in place even for free users). Performance was impressive in our testing, too. Overall, then, this is a more-than-solid free offering which tries to maintain your privacy, without too many restrictions.
?A good argument for switching your browser
Number of servers: 1000 | Server locations: 25 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5Five simultaneous devices allowed
SurfEasy is a Canadian-based free VPN from the same organization responsible for the Opera web browser, and indeed it’s bundled within Opera as an integrated VPN. There are both paid and free offerings, with the latter not restricting the amount of devices you can use – free users can hook up a maximum of five devices simultaneously, just like paid subscribers. You also get 1,000 servers across 25 countries, and a very user-friendly Windows client. Performance is solid enough, although we found that some longer distance trips to more remote servers (i.e. the US) could be rather sluggish.
The main restriction here is a monthly data limit of 500MB, which means you won’t get very much mileage out of this VPN on a free basis, and it’s really for very light or occasional use only (or testing it if you’re looking at signing up for a paid plan). It’s important to note, though, that if you’re using the Opera browser with its integrated VPN, there’s no data limit here (at least for protecting your browsing activities). Which could be a compelling argument to switch from the likes of Chrome or Firefox…
A free VPN that’ll keep your data and identity safe on any PC or mobile device
Number of servers: N/A | Server locations: 9 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 3Wide range of clients
Like some of the other free VPN providers featured in this roundup, PrivateTunnel is available for a number of platforms – specifically Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Another characteristic shared with many of its contemporaries is the existence of a limited, free package in addition to paid-for subscriptions. Well, sort of. Rather than offering a traditional monthly subscription package, you are instead provided with 200MB of non-expiring data to use as you want. When this runs out, you can purchase more data in bundles of 20GB or 100GB. If you feel that you'd like to use PrivateTunnel all the time, you can opt for a $30 per year package which give you unlimited data – see the 200MB as something of a taster session to see if you like everything. As a VPN, PrivateTunnel works fairly well, although connections can be a little temperamental at times. It's all very easy to use, so there's little reason not to take it for a test drive.
How to choose a free VPN: 5 must-ask questions
The last 12 months have witnessed the rise of global threats to individual privacy with long maintained rights to anonymity and net neutrality being undermined with a cloak of legitimacy.
While VPN - virtual private networks - are not the panacea to being safe, secure and private on the internet, it is an essential component of the arsenal for individuals inclined to seek these liberties.
If you don’t have a VPN yet, you can grab one for free, without having to pay a single penny for one. Just be careful though as not all free VPN providers are created equal and some might even compromise your security.
Here are five questions you need to ask yourself before you download and install one.
1. What is its business model? VPN providers are in for the money and running such a business does cost a lot especially if it is a popular one. Some, like Tunnelbear, will use free, just like Dropbox, as a marketing tool to entice potential customers to move to a paid version once they are happy with the free one. Most however will sell user data or provide a something to a third party that will, again, compromise your privacy.
2. How does it protect my PC? Most VPN providers usually use a desktop application that runs in the background encrypting your data while you surf the web. However, that’s only solves part of the problem. Your laptop can still be fingerprinted because of the permissiveness of tracking solutions that can be found on almost all websites online. A few, including WIndscribe, have a more holistic approach by integrating the equivalent of a super ad-blocker
3. What do I lose by going free? Usually one can expect a free product to have some corners cut and that is indeed the case for all VPN providers. Some offer more free bandwidth than others, major locations and even ad blocking, P2P and firewall with an easy paid for upgrade path that unlocks unlimited bandwidth with more locations and OpenVPN Configs.
4. Does your provider log anything? Make sure that your provider doesn’t store users’ internet activity. You can usually check that in the terms and conditions page or the end user license agreement, commonly known as EULA. Sadly, a lot of VPN providers prefer to frustrate end users with long T&Cs or privacy statements that often hide significant details about how they operate. On the other end of the spectrum are VPN providers that will erase everything after your session closes and don’t keep logs.
5. Can I sign up completely anonymously? Having a VPN provider that you can subscribe to without an email address and one that accepts Bitcoin payments, for maximum privacy, is pretty much the best you can expect online. Some providers also offer double hopping where you can obfuscate your traffic further by essentially doubling down on privacy.
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