![]() We Recommend: Local speed loss less than 30% and reliably quick international speeds.Ī VPN slows down your internet speeds, at least marginally. Minimum Requirement: No more than 40% loss in download speeds on local connections. They are faster, more secure, and don’t have data usage limits. In short, premium VPNs are almost always better than free VPNs. At worst, your personal details are sold online. At best, you’re made into a product for marketers. The worst free VPNs make money by selling your browsing data to advertisers and other third parties. But many users make that trade-off in order to use a free service. These apps often prompt you to upgrade to an ad-free (paid) version of the VPN.Īdvertisements aren’t ideal from a privacy standpoint. This is most common with mobile-only free VPNs. Other free VPNs generate income by running advertisements in their apps. These companies don’t have to monetize their free applications directly. Freemium services like Windscribe, TunnelBear, and Proton VPN are good examples. It’s safer to choose free VPNs that are subsidized by paid-for VPN services. Being subsidized by a paid service (another VPN or security software).These are most common ways free VPNs make money: As the saying goes: if you aren’t paying for a product, then you are the product. How a free VPN makes its money is really important. It isn’t really possible to run a VPN for free. There are development, infrastructure, and staff costs, to list a few. At the very worst, some actively harvest your data. Most popular free VPNs on the App Store or Google Play Store belong to companies that do not prioritize user privacy. ![]() We investigate which companies and individuals are behind a VPN service.įor example, our past research revealed how 60% of popular free VPNs had suspicious links to China, – including many free VPN services in Taiwan. Basically, free ‘VPNs’ like these are proxies that don’t encrypt your data. We see many popular free VPNs like YogaVPN and TurboVPN leak DNS and IP address information. Many free VPNs are poorly maintained – as a result, they simply aren’t secure. Strong encryption and a secure server network cost money. If you are using a VPN to use the internet privately, avoid those that have advertising. Some free VPNs even log your web browsing data and sell it to third-parties. Most services do it through in-app ads, with third-party code that sends internet usage data back to the ad platform. Data Logging & Intrusive Advertisingįree VPN services need to make money to support their business. We’ve listed below the three key dangers of using an unverified and unsafe free VPN: 1. Sources: 1 Global Mobile VPN Report, 2 Free VPN Ownership Investigation, 3 Free VPN Risk Index: Android Apps Dangers of Using a Risky Free VPN There is no live chat to help with complex issues, and the online knowledge-base and chatbot system can only help with simple queries. Moreover, customer support needs improving. While generous, this data usage limit isn’t enough for heavy internet use. The free VPN comes with 10 server locations and a 10GB monthly data cap. The service has a privacy-friendly logging policy, robust security features, and it never leaked our true IP address in our tests. ![]() However, slower speeds and loss of US Netfix access, combined with its data usage limitations, have impacted the service’s overall rating. Windscribe was for our long time our top-rated free VPN. Windscribe Free is secure, fast and it’s the best free VPN for unblocking free movie streaming sites and geo-blocked services like HBO Max, Hulu and BBC iPlayer. The table below compares the most highly-rated (safest) free VPNs based on download speed, server locations, logging policy, and more. With 72% of US and UK VPN users opting for a free VPN versus a premium one, recommending the most secure and trustworthy free services is key. ![]() 77% of the 150 free VPN applications we tested pose privacy and security risks. Most free VPN apps are restricted by data usage caps, unreliable speeds as well as streaming (unblocking) and torrenting limitations.Įven worse, many free VPNs are outright dangerous. The issue is they perform much worse than the best premium VPN services. It’s very fast, highly secure, doesn’t track or store user web logs, and doesn’t impose any limits on data usage.įree VPNs are incredibly popular, with hundreds of millions of combined installations on iOS and Android. Avira Phantom Free: Free VPN with No Device Limit.VPNhub Free: Free Mobile VPN with Unlimited Data.TunnelBear Free: Most Free VPN Server Locations.Hotspot Shield Basic: Free VPN with Malware Protection.ZoogVPN Free: Best Free VPN for Beginners.PrivadoVPN Free: Best Free VPN for US Netflix.Windscribe Free: Best Free VPN for International Streaming.Based on our latest tests, the best 100% free VPNs to download are: ![]()
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