VPNs work to give users access to sites and Internet content that they will otherwise not be able to access. They promise a secure browsing activity by ensuring data privacy and anonymity in the best-case scenarios.
Most of the VPNs we have covered are paid for reasons that may or may not be obvious to you. But several readers have asked if there aren’t any free VPN options at all and that’s the reason we are at this point today.
Free VPNs work almost as well as paid alternatives if you are ready to ignore some of the drawbacks e.g. data usage limit, obtrusive ads, and slow connection speeds. On the bright side, these are issues depending on your type of work.
In today’s list, we bring you a collection of the most reliable free VPNs. They offer above-average speeds, security, a beautiful easy-to-use interface, and a range of reasonable data usage limits.
1. ProtonVPN
The company behind ProtonVPN is on a mission to provide private and secure Internet access to everybody, especially activists and journalists. It is reportedly the only free VPN without data or speed limits, activity logs, or advertisements and it is protected by Swiss privacy laws.
ProtonVPN believes that online privacy is a fundamental human right and thus the reason why they have no limits or gimmicks in the free VPN service which is thankfully supported by paid users.
2. Windscribe
Windscibe is a VPN service that hopes to enable its user to browse the web as privately as it is meant to be.
It features a sleek user interface, as many as 10 servers, a 10GB of data per month. It doesn’t store IP stamps, connection logs, or visited sites and ships with a firewall and adblocker.
3. Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is a VPN with military-grade encryption designed to give users to sites and streaming content around the world. It features a fast and slick interface, transparent privacy policies, and commendable speed scores.
On the downside, the free version offers only 1 server, a data limit of 500MB per day, and limited chat support.
4. Hide.me
Hide.me offers digital privacy, advanced security, simplicity, freedom, and ease of use in a single VPN service app provider. It doesn’t store any data logs and uses strong encryption to keep users’ identities safe.
The free version offers servers in 4 countries, and works with Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO GO, and iPlayer.
5. TunnelBear
TunnelBear is a renowned VPN service provider commended for being a consumer provider that performs annual security audits and its easy-to-understand privacy policy.
Its parent company is now McAfee which doubles up on its security-related credibility. The free version has 2GB of secure browsing.
6. Speedify
Speedify VPN was designed with a focus on maintaining speed without compromising security. That is to say that it makes use of strong encryption but still offers good performance and it does this by allowing users to use all the available Internet connections in order to collate the best performance.
The free version of Speedify offers 2GB of data per month.
7. Betternet
Betternet is a free VPN for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android that offers robust encryption, good speeds, privacy from online snoops, access to geo-locked content, and malware/phishing prevention, no signup is required.
All plans come with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
8. Opera VPN
Opera VPN is the built-in VPN service that comes bundled with the Opera browser. It works by masking user’s IP addresses as they surf the net.
This VPN service is restricted to only the browser though as it won’t protect the traffic sent from other applications.
Opera VPN has no data or bandwidth limit, requires no registration, and has built-in malware protection and ad blocker.
9. VPN Book
VPN Book is a free VPN designed with the latest tech and crypto techniques to keep users safe from prying eyes as they surf the Internet.
It works with point-to-point tunneling across all desktop platforms with unlimited data over OpenVPN – the best and most recommended open-source VPN software worldwide.
10. Avira Phantom
Avira Phantom is a free, minimal VPN service with a basic 1GB per month data limit. It features a no-logging policy, strong encryption, fast download speeds, and unlimited simultaneous connections.
If you’re familiar with Avira antivirus and are looking for a simple VPN for securely surfing the Internet for free then this is a good choice.
Conclusion
In case you didn’t know, it is possible to set up your own VPN service using several free and open-source tools.
At least when you create your own, you can rest assured knowing that nobody is secretly logging your data, rerouting data packets to unauthorized servers, or, if you like the idea of ownership, in control of your data.
