5 Best Free VPNs in 2018 – Proven Providers That You Can Trust!
A free Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an online service that allows people to unblock websites. In addition, reliable and trusted free VPNs provide privacy and security for their users. Although there are many complimentary VPNs on the market, it is really important to avoid most costless services. That is because free VPN software (VPN client) must still provide privacy and security (and it hardly ever does). That’s why we’ve curated this list of the five best free VPNs.
| Provider | Price | Our Score | Visit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Visit Site » | 10.0 | Visit Site » | ||
2 | 10.0 | Visit Site » | ||
3 | 9.4 | Visit Site » | ||
4 | 9.0 | Visit Site » | ||
5 | 8.2 | Visit Site » |
What’s more, a VPN is also awesome for entertainment because it lets you pretend to be in a different country to overcome geo-restrictions and unblock anything by concealing your IP address to overcome local censorship.
The Best Free VPN Services of 2018: Summary
1. ProtonVPN
- Fast connections
- Excellent encryption for privacy
- Lots of features
- P2P: yes
- No logs
- Fewer server locations
ProtonVPN is a service created by the developers of the secure email service Proton Mail. It is a brand new service that has really impressed us. Encryption is strong and it has a zero logs policy. That makes it exceptional for privacy, especially for a free VPN. This VPN also has no limitations, so if you want a free VPN you can use all the time it is a great option.
As with all free things, there are some drawbacks. For free users get access only to servers in three countries. So if unblocking in particular countries is needed, this VPN might not be the ticket. Overall this free service is blinding.
Get the best free VPN today!
Visit ProtonVPN »Connect up to five devices!2. TunnelBear
- Cyber Monday Deal: 58% off annual plans
- Simple setup, incredibly easy to use
- Excellent encryption
- Can connect up to 5 devices
- 500MB of free data every month
- No peer-to-peer (P2P)
- Few advanced settings
- Usage capped
TunnelBear VPN is a free service that constantly impresses people. This VPN is super secure and even opened up its software to third-party analysis this year! The outcome? Security researchers found the VPN to be secure and reliable. It also keeps no logs. The service is restricted to just 500 Mb per month. Despite this, it is brilliant for people who need a VPN in locations with severe censorship and where privacy is essential. It is perfect for securely unblocking news, for example.
TunnelBear has plenty of server locations to choose from, located in 20 countries. Free users may use all of the servers that it offers apart from Australia. This makes it great for unblocking a whole range of websites and services. Having said that, because of the data limit it will be difficult to do much streaming with this VPN company. One of the best VPN providers around and one of the most secure services you will find for free! Finally, this VPN provides fantastic speeds.
3. hide.Me
- Cyber Monday Deal: 35% off all plans
- Strong encryption
- Servers in 3 countries
- Zero logs
- Superb privacy policy
- Highly experienced customer care
- Doesn't unblock Netflix US
This awesome Malaysian VPN provider has an excellent free service. Although users are limited to just three server locations (Singapore, the Netherlands, and Canada), users get a whopping 2 Gb per month of free use with this VPN company. That's a very reasonable allowance, and because of the fast speeds that this VPN provides, we think this is an excellent choice for people who want a complimentary VPN service.
When reviewing Hide.Me, sadly, we found the lack of server locations means that it isn't as good for unblocking content from all over the world. If you need US or UK servers, or those in other locations, please look elsewhere. On the plus side, this VPN has a strong privacy policy and provides robust encryption to keep your data secure. It is also available on all popular platforms. As such, this VPN is ideal for protecting your privacy both at home and on public WiFi. With one of the best data caps we've seen, we definitely recommend this service!
4. ZoogVPN
- Excellent for streaming
- Fast service
- Free service
- Useful servers
- Strong encryption
- Logging practices unclear
ZoogVPN is an excellent service that is both secure and free. Free users get to use just 3 servers located in New York, London, Amsterdam. That is a nice spread of servers that will certainly come in handy for geo-spoofing reasons.
Free users get 2Gb of download usage per month, which is better than with many free VPNs. Sadly, however, the firm will impose bandwidth limits at times when servers are too highly subscribed.
A fast service that is great for streaming for free.
5. Hotspot Shield
- Free VPN with 750 Mb per day
- Free Chrome Extension with ad blocker & cookie blocker
- Easy to use
- Fast speeds
- Plenty of features
- Privacy policy could be better
Hotspot Shield is an awesome free VPN that has literally helped millions of people in their time of need. It was the most used VPN during the Turkey coup and the Arab spring. For free, user's get access not only to the VPN but also a Chrome extension. The VPN permits connections to the US only, but the extension permits connections to 14 countries (but not the US). The result is that for free Hotspot Shield users can unblock content in 15 countries! What's more, Hotspot Shield's free plan lets people have 750 Mb of download use per day. That is a hell of a lot of usage considering it is free.
Although Hotspot Shield has come under some criticism for serving adverts, we think that for free this VPN is pretty amazing. Why not give it a try!?
How We Picked the Top Free VPNs for 2018
Here at BestVPN.com we are fortunate to number some of the VPN industry’s foremost experts as staff members.
Based on our detailed VPN reviews and data collected as part of our BestVPN Awards process, we carefully considered a range of factors that go into making a good free VPN.
This includes things such as speed performance, encryption strength, privacy policy, legal jurisdiction, business model and much more. These top free VPN picks are a consensus choice made after much careful deliberation by the BestVPN.com staff.
Free VPN Guide 2018
We take an in-depth look at free VPNs in the guide below. All you have to do is simply click the links in the table of contents to jump to a section relevant to you!
What is a Free VPN?
A Free VPN allows people to protect themselves and their data from online surveillance by ISPs, governments, and advertisers. A free VPN server list allows consumers to choose where they want to connect. The result is that people can pretend to be wherever they like while concealing their real location. This allows people in oppressive regimes to access websites that are censored. It also allows them to download apps that are banned without fear of being found out!
What’s more, free VPN server software encrypts all the data coming and going from your device. This means nobody can snoop on your data when you’re at home or on public WiFi.
If you’re new to the world of VPNs, check out our beginners guide to VPNs for more infomration on what they are and exactly how they work.
Free Vs Paid VPNs
Not every VPN has a strong privacy policy and strong encryption. Most free VPNs offer their service for free because they’re making money from consumers behind the scenes (by storing and selling consumers’ web browsing data). This is an extremely risky practice that experts agree makes those VPNs bad news.
The free VPN services that we recommend do not do this. All of the free services in this guide offer a fully secure VPN service with strong encryption and a watertight privacy policy. This is achieved by offering a slightly restricted service (in terms of bandwidth or download limits). The outcome is that all our recommended free VPNs are completely safe to use! So, go ahead and select one with confidence!
Paid VPNs, on the other hand, have no restrictions. This makes them much more useful because they provide fast connection speeds and can be used all day long as needed.
Choosing the right free VPN for you
Everyone wants a VPN for different reasons. In this section, we address the most common needs for a free service. The free services in this list are by far the best ones available in 2018 (we know because we constantly analyze this list and update it). However, each VPN will be better for some things than others, so please check this section so you know what to look for in the free VPN summaries.
A Free VPN for Streaming Netflix
If you want a free VPN for Netflix you are sadly out of luck. Netflix cracks down hard on servers belonging to VPNs, so only the very best premium VPN services can unblock Netflix. If you want to access US Netflix then check out our best VPNs for unblocking Netflix. You’ll be happy to find out that some are very, very cheap!
A Free VPN for iPlayer and Other Services
BBC iPlayer is another online service that actively restricts VPNs. Although many free services don’t unblock iPlayer, most of the VPNs on this list do! Tunnelbear will unblock it. However, hide.me won’t because the free version doesn’t have a UK VPN server (the free plan only includes Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore).
Most other TV streaming services, including the awesome US cable TV subscription service SlingTV, don’t block VPNs. Thus these free services will unblock them. The same goes for TV streams from around the globe. As such, if you want a free VPN for Australia, free VPN for Brazil, or free VPN for TV streams from elsewhere in the world, these VPNs are perfect!
A Free VPN for Torrenting and Peer-to-peer (P2P) Filesharing on BitTorrent
Although most of the VPNs in our guide do permit P2P, getting a free VPN for torrenting is not really plausible.
Most people want a torrent-friendly free VPN to keep them secure (by concealing their IP address from other users on the peer). The free services that we recommend will do that, because we’ve only recommended VPNs that don’t skimp on privacy. However, trusted free VPNs tend to impose bandwidth or download limits that make torrenting a less than enjoyable experience.
For torrenting securely please check out our list of the top five VPNs for torrenting. The VPNs in the link all provide a money-back guarantee – which means that you can use them to torrent for free (unlimited bandwidth and no download limits).
A Free VPN for Windows Desktop PCs and Laptops
If you came here wondering what the best free VPN for Windows 10 (or Windows 7 or 8) is, then the good news is that all of the VPNs in this article will work perfectly.
Any free VPN for PC in this article will keep your data secure and allow you to unblock content. It is also worth keeping in mind that if you require bigger download limits, the VPNs on our best five VPNs for Windows 7 & Windows 10 have money-back guarantees. That means you can test the free plan as much as you like for up to 30 days.
A Free VPN for Apple Macs and MacBooks
Finding the best free VPN app for Mac isn’t as easy as for other platforms. The good news is that all of the VPNs in this guide will work on Mac iOS and OS X, even if you have to connect using the third party free OpenVPN Connect software. For much more info on using a VPN on Mac OS X please check out our best five VPNs for Mac OS list.
A Free VPN for Android and iOS Mobile Phones and Tablets
If you’re looking for a free VPN app for Android or a free VPN for Mac iOS (free VPN for iPhone) then you’ve come to the right place. The free VPNs in this article work on both of those platforms. Simply follow the link in the table above to get access to the free VPN app download.
One thing to bear in mind is that a free Android VPN will most likely give you the option to run OpenVPN encryption. A free iOS VPN, on the other hand, will most likely run on Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP)/Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) or Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2).
For people who want a more in-depth look at VPN encryption and what it all means, check out our ultimate guide to online privacy.
A Free VPN for Kodi
Many people want to know what the best free VPN for Kodi is so that they can use a VPN for streaming in HD. Sadly, finding a reliable free service for unblocking on Kodi is close to impossible. The same goes for people looking for a free VPN for Kodi Fire Stick.
Our recommended VPNs will work but they require some setup and will be hugely restrictive because of bandwidth/download limitations.
If you really have your heart set on unblocking content on your Kodi box, we strongly recommend reading our Using Kodi with a VPN guide.
A Free VPN for Gaming
So you want a free gaming VPN? Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that all the free services in this article work for gaming (because they have excellent connection speeds). The bad news is that even the best free VPN for gaming probably won’t be good enough to really enjoy the experience. Gaming requires a lot of bandwidth and a free high-speed VPN is not an easy thing to find.
For this reason, people who want to use a free VPN for online gaming will probably need to use the money-back guarantee on one of the VPNs in this article instead.
A Free VPN for Popcorn Time
If you came to this article by searching for “Popcorn Time VPN free,” you’ll be happy to know that any of the VPNs in this article will work fine for using Popcorn Time securely.
All of these VPNs have strong encryption and watertight privacy policies, unlike most of the free services that are on the market. However, due to the fact that streaming is so data intensive, you may want to use a 30-day money-back guarantee for Popcorn Time instead of a free Popcorn Time VPN.
A Free VPN for Sports
If you want a free service to unblock a sports competition that is geo-restricted, then any of the VPNs apart from hide.me will work. Hide.me restricts the free service to servers in Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore. So unless the competition is in one of those countries you will need a different VPN! For a more in-depth look at unblocking sport with a VPN, please take a look at our best VPNs for sport. Premium VPNs have VPN servers in over 50 countries.
How to set up a free VPN
Getting and setting up a free VPN is super easy. Simply follow these steps:
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- Select a VPN service from this article and click the link to its website.
- Subscribe and get the free VPN download that you need.
- Follow the instructions and install the free VPN client onto your device.
- Run the app and choose the encryption option you want. We recommend OpenVPN, as it is the most robust.
- Select a VPN server address in the location that you would like to pretend to be and click Connect.
Once the VPN connection is established, the VPN software will let you know. As soon as it connects, you can access any censored or geo-restricted content securely.
How to test your free VPN
We thoroughly test all the VPNs that we review here at BestVPN.com, so if you want to check on their performance then a good starting point is to check their review. However, if you would like to check the VPN connection yourself then you can do so by checking for IP leaks here.
For connection speeds head over to this website. Remember to check your VPN’s speeds with and without the VPN switched on so that you can compare. To test it select a test server close to you and click ‘combined test’. You can test different VPN servers by connecting to them and clicking “combined”.
What Can I use a free VPN for?
A free VPN is primarily good for concealing your real IP address while using the net. For this reason, a VPN allows you to get around geo restrictions and censorship. Due to data caps, however, a trusted VPN is rather limited in what it can be used for. Streaming videos, for example, isn’t an option with most free VPNs due to data caps.
Alternatives to free VPNs
A viable alternative to VPNs does exist in the form of proxies. Proxies can be found on websites and as browser plugins. However, although a proxy will allow you to bypass censorship and geo-restriction, it will not provide encryption and establish secure connections.
It is the combination of full web traffic encryption (digital privacy) and IP address spoofing that is so awesome about a premium VPN service. To find out everything you need to know about pretending to be abroad with a VPN click here.
For more information on proxies and how they work, check out our Proxy Server Guide.
Free VPN FAQs
How can I get a fast free VPN?
Are you looking for the best free fast VPN? If so, that’s probably because you want to use your VPN to do data-intensive tasks such as streaming in HD. The recommendations in this guide are all world class services that provide a super fast VPN free of charge.
However, some free services do have bandwidth limits. As such, if you want a top speed VPN free of charge, you’ll need to select one with a download limit rather than a bandwidth (speed) limit. If you’re looking for a free fast Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) VPN – any of these services will do. However, we recommend that you use OpenVPN encryption, not PPTP.
Are Free VPNs safe and secure?
Not every VPN has a strong privacy policy and strong encryption. Many free VPNs offer their service for free because they’re making money from consumers behind the scenes (by storing and selling consumers’ web browsing data). Logging works against consumers because it destroys their privacy. This is an extremely risky practice that all experts agree makes those VPNs a bad option.
The free VPN services that we recommend do not do this. All of the free services in this guide establish secure connections with strong encryption and a watertight privacy policy. In addition, these VPNs have plenty of VPN security features such as a kill switch and auto-connect. This is achieved by offering a slightly restricted service (in terms of bandwidth or download limits). The outcome is that all our recommended free VPNs are completely safe to use! So, go ahead and select one with confidence
Will Free VPNs sell my data?
If a free VPN isn’t being provided by a firm that also has a premium service, you may need to think twice about getting it. Even some free VPNs that do offer a premium service have very dangerous privacy policies.
The VPNs in this guide are provided for free as a loss-leader. They aim to hook people into purchasing a full subscription. That’s why their service has either a bandwidth limit or a download limit.
Why You Should Stay Away from Betternet and Hotspot Shield
These VPNs both belong to a company called Anchor Free, and they both have very dodgy practices. They have been found injecting unwanted scripts onto people’s machines in order to serve adverts. In addition, their policies allow them to sell data to third parties. In fact, a privacy advocacy group in the US has filed a complaint about Hotspot Shield with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Providing a VPN service is technical, expensive, and time-consuming. For this reason, if a VPN allows consumers to use the service for free, ask yourself: How is this VPN making money?
If you can’t figure out the answer then the VPN is probably collecting, retaining, and selling your data to third parties. Logging works against the best interests of VPN users so please stay away from VPNs that keep and share usage logs.
Will a Free VPN slow my connection?
The answer to this question is yes. All VPN services slow down people’s internet connections (even the very best paid ones). Free VPNs tend to slow down the internet more than premium services. If looking for the best free fast VPN that is probably because you want to use your VPN to data-intensive tasks such as streaming in HD. The recommendations in this guide are all world class services that provide a super fast VPN free of charge.
However, some free services do have bandwidth limits. As such, if you want a top speed VPN free of charge, you’ll need to select one with a download limit rather than a bandwidth (speed) limit. If you’re looking for a free fast Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) VPN – any of these services will do. However, we recommend that you use OpenVPN encryption, not PPTP.
New to VPNs? For more information on VPN services, check out our Beginner’s guide to VPNs.
At the end of the day, you will get much faster speeds for streaming if you pay for a premium VPN service!
Free Browser Extension VPN Apps
If a VPN app is installed as an extension into your browser, then it is not actually a real VPN service, but rather a VPN proxy service. this is very confusing for consumers, and the app developers should not be allowed to call a browser extension app a “VPN” because it isn’t one. These apps can be useful, but they do not compare to a VPN that is installed on your device directly. VPN software (known as a VPN client) that is reliable as a full client that allows you to connect to a server using encryption.
Opera VPN is one popular free VPN that we don’t recommend for this exact reason. Due to the fact that it is a browser extension, it is not really a VPN a service, but rather a VPN proxy service. If you do plan to use Opera VPN then please bear this in mind!
Free VPNs: Conclusion
In this article, we’ve described everything you might need to know about using a free Virtual Private Network. These free services are at the top of their game. All of these VPNs establish secure connections that you can rely on.
Most free VPNs make a profit from their subscribers by harvesting their web browsing habits to sell to third parties. This is exactly the opposite of what a VPN should do.
All of the VPNs in this article have secure privacy policies and strong encryption to keep your data private. However, each VPN does offer slightly different features and restrictions on its free service. As such, please take a good look at the provider summaries in order to make the best decision for your needs.
Finally, remember that these services are free – so if you want to use all of them, go right ahead!
5 Best Free VPNs: Side-by-Side Summary
| Provider | Price | Our Score | Visit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Visit Site » | 10.0 | Visit Site » | ||
| 2 | 10.0 | Visit Site » | ||
| 3 | 9.4 | Visit Site » | ||
| 4 | 9.0 | Visit Site » | ||
| 5 | 8.2 | Visit Site » |
