4 Best Free VPNs to Use – Safe Streaming with a Free VPN

If you live in Paris, you’ll probably find that your Netflix issues are very different from those in the United States. If you’ve noticed this, it’s a good observation. The reason is that the streaming giant is under some kind of obligation to abide by certain agreements, which determine which movies it broadcasts outside the United States.

You probably know that the American Netflix library is still the largest in the world, which means that someone in California can watch movies that you didn’t know existed. But then you can change your online location from Paris to California just to explore what the American streaming giant has in store for its viewers in that part of the world. Of course, you do this via a VPN.

What is a VPN and Why Do You Need It?

A VPN (or Virtual Private Network) is a service that allows subscribers to communicate securely over an encrypted private network. When you subscribe to this service, it allows you to send and receive messages in encrypted formats, preventing prying eyes from understanding what you are doing online.

Basically, the network will hide your IP address and assign you a new one once you are connected to its server. From there, you’ll move to another location and start exploring the Internet. But why do you need a Virtual Private Network (VPN)? Well, let’s find out together its advantages.

• You’ll enjoy increased security and privacy when you surf the web.
• Businesses can access information or files remotely, improving their productivity
• It allows users to access the Internet anonymously, keeping their identity hidden.
• A good VPN allows you to bypass geographic restrictions, censorship and Internet filters.
• You can also change your IP address when you are connected to the encrypted network.
• In some cases, VPNs play a key role in increasing network bandwidth.
• It’s compatible with every device you can think of – whatever their operating system.
• You can avoid the data and bandwidth limitations of an Internet Service Provider by simply connecting to the service.
• It allows users to be the first to have access to new products and services.
• You benefit from cheaper services, such as cross-border phone calls, on-demand TV series and airline tickets.
• It ensures that you enjoy surfing the web by eliminating annoying advertisements.

Then, we gathered and compiled the best free VPNs for you. But just before you make your choice, find out why we’ve added these services to this list.

4 Best Free VPNs – Comparison Table

Top 4 Best Free VPNs

4. Windscribe – Affordable Free VPN

Website: windscribe.com

Money-back guarantee: 3-day (in paid version)

Here’s another freemium VPN that we’ve added to your list because it’s one of the leading names in the industry. This is Windscribe VPN, a Canadian company specializing in cybersecurity that goes even further by providing top-notch services. To be frank, the free trial version offers limited functionality because users are supposed to upgrade to the paid version to take advantage of everything it has in store for them. You can use this service to unlock Netflix, Hulu and Amazon TV – thanks to its more than 480 servers.

Keep in mind that using the free version allows you to access servers only in 10 countries such as the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, UK and Hong Kong. You can also take advantage of P2P file sharing through this service. Yes, it supports torrent at no extra cost. From Windows to Android, MacOS to iOS, you can use this VPN on a wide range of operating systems. In addition, it comes with a tutorial that allows the user to follow the step-by-step installation instructions.

Supported Client Software: 

Features:

• Access to servers in 10 countries and 22 cities for free
• 480+ servers worldwide with the paid version
• Browser extension
• Unlimited number of device support
• Automatic Internet kill switch and split tunneling

Pros:

• You enjoy 10GB/month worth of bandwidth
• It is very easy to set up and use
• Users enjoy a number of georestricted sites, including Netflix and Hulu
• It has very good security features, such as AES-256 encryption and internet kill switch
• It blocks malware, ads, malicious sites and spyware

Cons:

• Small network of servers

It uses many tricks to hide your true identity. For example, it can change your time zone, monitor and delete certain cookies when logged in, and occasionally rotate your browser to limit the ability to take fingerprints. When you have trouble connecting to the network, you can quickly contact his customer service through a chat or a ticket. The team will answer you as soon as possible.

This review would probably be incomplete without a mention of browser extensions. You will be interested to know that his browser extension can block WebRTCs, phishing sites and spoofing of the location API. Note that if you sign up for this VPN using your email address, you get 10 GB of data for free each month. However, if you don’t, you will only get 2 GB. Afterwards, when you upgrade to the paid version, you will have access to 110 server locations and all the configurations of its VPN protocol.

Read our detailed review of Windscribe.

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3. ProtonVPN – Great Service Free VPN

Website: protonvpn.com

Money-back guarantee: 30-day (in paid version)

The services we’ve reviewed so far have not convinced you? If so, you should consider trying ProtonVPN. As you probably know, this is a free VPN. Although you can use it without paying for it, you begin to enjoy more benefits when you upgrade to its paid version. For example, you have access to over 630 super-fast servers in the paid version and 3 in the  free version. The combination of good speed and a relatively large server network allows you to bypass a number of geoblocked sites, such as Hulu and UK Netflix.

In addition, you can connect up to 10 devices at the same time on the paid version, unlike the free version which allows you to connect only one server. You’ll be interested to know that this service does not keep your log, so you don’t have to worry about management being able to pass on your log details to the authorities when they request it. All security features (kill switch, split tunneling, etc.) work perfectly.

Supported Client Software: 

Features:

• Access to 3 servers with the free version and 630+ ultrafast servers with the paid version
• AES 256-bit encryption and DNS leak protection
• TOR network support
• Unlimited bandwidth and split tunneling

Pros:

• Although it does not have a massive distribution of servers, it is able to unlock some of the smaller on-demand sites
• ProtonVPN offers lots of security features, depending on the subscriber’s package
• You can use the free version as long as you want
• It is easy to use

Cons:

• ProtonVPN has a few servers
• It cannot unblock BBC iPlayer

Based in Switzerland, it reassures users that this VPN is not based in any of the information sharing member countries. Despite this, ProtonVPN does not collect your data. So you don’t have to worry that it will sell it to third party companies. Because it values user anonymity, it encourages potential users to register via ProtonMail and upgrade to the paid version using Bitcoin. You can also use other payment methods such as PayPal and credit cards.

In this case, the advantage is that the VPN company will not see your payment details, as it is processed by an independent financial services company. Of course, it is compatible with all common operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, etc. If you like a torrent, you can use this service to join a growing list of torrents worldwide. The good news is that you can share P2P files at no extra cost. All you have to do is connect via TCP or UDP.

Read our detailed review of ProtonVPN.

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2. Hide.me – Great Service Free VPN

Website: hide.me

Money-back guarantee: 30-day (in paid version)

We’ve added this free service for you because when it comes to speed, security and transparency, Hide.me has proven itself. For starters, Hide.me has over 1560 super-fast servers hosted in many different strategic locations. Thanks to the fractional tunneling (which it recently introduced into its network) and unlimited bandwidth, you will certainly enjoy ultra-fast speed.  The combination of good speed and wide distribution of servers can only mean one thing: a first-class user experience.

What’s more, it doesn’t keep your logs, which means you don’t have to worry about this service selling your private information to the highest bidder. You’ll be interested to know that it uses a wide range of VPN protocols, including OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP, IPsec, SOCKS, etc. Thanks to an accompanying circuit breaker, you can always temporarily terminate your connection in case of a network problem. It doesn’t matter which operating system you use, as it offers cross-platform compatibility: Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, iOS, etc.

Supported Client Software:  

Features:

• 1560+ ultra-fast servers
• AES 256-bit encryption and DNS leak protection
• Supports all known VPN protocols
• Unlimited bandwidth and split tunneling

Pros:

• Although it does not have a massive distribution of servers, it is able to unlock some of the smaller on-demand sites
• This service also has lots of key security features that guarantee user anonymity and protection
• Has really good speed
• It is easy to use

Cons:

• It doesn’t unblock US Netflix

So, this VPN have a lot of great features and is considered to be one of the best free VPN service. Indeed, you can share it with your family and friends. Unlike many free versions that usually bug users with tons of annoying ads, this service doesn’t do that at all. You’ll also appreciate being able to contact its support service whenever you have technical problems, even with your free version. Most importantly, the team responds quickly to messages, so your technical problem can be resolved in no time at all.

You get up to 2 GB per month with the free version, but you get unlimited bandwidth when you upgrade to the paid version. Just like other premium VPNs, this VPN also offers a money-back guarantee. Guess what, it allows all torrents to enjoy P2P file sharing at no extra cost. Stealth Guard is another feature it recently introduced. It allows you to configure certain applications to not work if you haven’t connected them to the VPN service.

Read our detailed review of Hide.me.

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1. TunnelBear – Great Service Free VPN

Website: tunnelbear.com

Money-back guarantee: 7-day

To be clear, TunnelBear is one of the best free VPNs on the market for certain reasons. As a free VPN, it offers both free and paid services. If you want to opt for the free version, you will be entitled to a bandwidth of 500 MB per month. Like all other services, it is equipped with 256-bit AES encryption technology. Thanks to this encryption technology, you don’t have to worry about prying eyes when you’re online.

In addition, it has more than 1,800 servers in 23 locations. Thanks to this vast network of servers, you can unlock a large number of geoblocked sites in the blink of an eye. You’re probably very worried that this service keeps your logs – since it’s free. Guess what, it’s not. In other words, you can do a lot of fun things online knowing full well that your anonymity cannot be compromised. Another assurance you get is that, unlike many other free versions, TunnelBear doesn’t sell your data to the highest bidders and charge them for their overhead.

Supported Client Software: 

Features:

• 1800+ servers across 23 locations
• AES 256-bit encryption
• There is a zero-logs policy
• There is torrenting support

Pros:

• Gives lots of freebies, including free 500 MB of data every month
• TunnelBear has a no-logs policy
• You can either enjoy it for free or upgrade to the paid version
• It is easy to use

Cons:

• It doesn’t unblock Netflix

Well, there are other reasons why you should consider TunnelBear your best free VPN. For example, TunnelBear has taken the bold step of hiring an independent auditing firm to verify its operations and has successfully passed the security audit. Basically, this means that it is a reliable cybersecurity service. Despite the free service, TunnelBear has a customer support team always available and offers an impressive response time – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Thanks to DNS leakage protection, your ISP or government can never know what you are doing online. What operating system are you running: Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android or iOS? It doesn’t matter, because this free service is compatible with all of these systems. Guess what, not all torrents are left out because TunnelBear supports P2P file sharing at no extra cost.

Read our detailed review of TunnelBear.

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Free vs Paid VPN

So far you have seen that all VPNs reviewed in this guide are free VPNs, which means that they give you the choice between the free or paid version. But whichever model you choose, there are advantages and disadvantages. To be clear, VPNs are written by software development companies, and these companies naturally need funds to maintain their operations. That’s why paid VPNs are always better than free versions.

Basically, your access to certain services is limited when you use a free version. For example, you may not enjoy the torrent, you will have limited bandwidth per month, your security may not be guaranteed (because you don’t have access to DNS leakage protection), and you may not have access to all available servers.

In addition, your uptime will be limited, you will rarely have access to customer support, many annoying ads will appear all the time, you will have no protection against spyware or malware, and your speed will be terrible.

However, by switching to the paid version, you start to enjoy all these services that were not available to you before. Also there is a category of completely free services that sell their subscribers’ personal information to advertising companies just to pay their overhead.

In addition, these VPN companies keep your newspapers and hand them over to law enforcement agencies if the need arises. As a result, paid VPNs are always better than free versions. Therefore, we recommend that you don’t settle for the latter, as they are largely unreliable services.

Free VPN Benefits

Despite their countless failures, free VPNs also have some advantages. Here are some of these advantages:

• When unblocking georeferenced streaming sites, freebies tend to convince newcomers that it is possible to bypass georeferenced streaming sites.
• They offer beginners an amazing way to start their VPN journey without paying for the service.
• Certain security features that can be tested (such as DNS leakage protection) assure new users that their security cannot be compromised.
• The free service can help you change your location so that you have access to the latest services before people in your part of the world.
• When you bypass geographical barriers with free versions, it’s so comforting to stay in touch with your country.
• More importantly, users will save money while benefiting from certain services that some people have to pay for.

Torrenting and Streaming with Free VPN

After looking around, we’re sure you’ve seen how free services handle torrent and streaming. In this segment, we will shed some light on this subject. You see, torrent is the term used to describe peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol. Most often, free services do not support this mechanism because it usually involves huge file sharing.

When this is the case, the torrent rarely runs transparently. Therefore, torrents will not appreciate using the free version for P2P file sharing. A good example is Hide.me VPN that offers a limited torrent. This is especially the case because the VPN is a free version.

On the other hand, streaming with free services remains a gamble. To put it plainly, most free services cannot unlock major streaming sites like US Netflix and BBC iPlayer. On other occasions, they bypass their firewall, but you are continuously buffered when you stream on demand.

Make no mistake, there is nothing fun about watching high-definition movies or TV series that are buffered. However, there are free VPNs that seamlessly bypass some streaming sites. In fact, subscribers often enjoy the service when they switch to the paid version.

Overall Conclusion

In summary, we’ve reviewed some of the best free VPN services for you. We also highlighted why they are very important for you too. If you were expecting to see a particular free service but it hasn’t been added to this list, it just means that it has a lot of flaws. Since many other free versions are full of drawbacks, we don’t encourage you to try any of them. If we recommend them, we practically guide you.

Many free service providers are known to sell user data to the highest bidder, just to cover their operating costs. When a service provider does this, they compromise your security. Also, some of them have terribly low uptime, annoying ad loads, bandwidth caps, and so on.

That said, we also discussed how subscribers experience torrenting and streaming with free versions of VPNs. Overall, free versions rarely offer good services. Nevertheless, there are free versions that still offer relatively good services. In this guide, we have focused more on them. If you are a beginner, you should try one of the free services we have discussed here. But then it is in your best interest to switch to the paid version later, as it has more advantages.