The 7 Best Free VPN 2025

A VPN helps you bypass geo-restrictions, stream content from other countries, and encrypt your connection. While you need a paid VPN to get all these benefits, there are also free options available.

Let's look at what you'll miss out on with free VPNs and which free VPN services are the best.

While there are many VPN services out there, only a few offer free versions. Here are our top 7 recommended free VPN services:

ProtonVPN offers a generous free plan with no data or speed limits. You can browse through their VPN tunnel as much as you want without paying anything.

Of course, ProtonVPN's free plan has some limits. You can't connect multiple devices at once and you can only use six server locations.

Since fewer servers are available, speeds are lower compared to the paid version, though they're not intentionally throttled. Video streaming is only available with Plus and Unlimited plans.

If you can live with these limitations, ProtonVPN offers unlimited VPN potential without spending a dime.

ProtonVPN isn't the only free option without data limits: hide.me has removed its previous 10 GB limit and now offers unlimited data for free users.

You don't need to sign up or add any payment method to use the free version. Better yet, hide.me doesn't support its free version with annoying ads or trackers.

Free users can access eight server locations (Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, USA, United Kingdom) and connect one device at a time, while Premium users get ten simultaneous connections. While video streaming isn't available, you can use P2P downloads.

This makes hide.me a good choice if you want unlimited free VPN browsing.

In our VPN comparison, Windscribe scored average on performance but did at least "good" in all other test categories.

The free version also makes a good impression: Users get 10 GB of monthly data across all synced devices. If you don't provide your email during registration, you still get 2 GB of data.

The free plan includes eleven server locations:

Windscribe is much more generous than many other freemium VPNs that mainly use their free versions as a teaser for premium features. Of course, Windscribe's free version has some limits: The dedicated streaming servers are only available to paying customers, so you can't access Netflix content from other countries.

With its fast performance, many features, and solid network, Hotspot Shield is a good VPN choice, even if it might not make it to the top spots on our favorite VPNs list.

While those top spots are mostly taken by paid premium services, Hotspot Shield stands out with its fairly generous free version. It gives users 500 MB of data every 24 hours, which adds up to about 15.5 GB per month.

However, in the mobile version, you'll need to "pay" for free access by watching regular video ads.

There are also other limits: The free version doesn't support video streaming, and you can only use one server location: the USA. The speed is also capped at 2 Mbps.

PrivadoVPN is a Swiss VPN service whose commitment to user privacy is reflected in its name. It promises high security standards, zero logs, and the benefits of "the world's strictest consumer protection laws."

In our VPN ranking, PrivadoVPN falls behind because it didn't do well in our speed tests and hasn't undergone any independent security audits yet.

However, PrivadoVPN stands out with its generous free plan: users get 10 GB of data each month with unlimited speeds. You can choose from ten server locations:

Split tunneling is also available in the free plan. However, advanced features like the built-in ad blocker and "Silent Mode" that blocks notifications are only available to premium users.

TunnelBear is one of the most likable VPN services out there. While they won us over with their playful humor and puns, they can't quite keep up with the "more serious" VPN services in some areas. For example, their server network is pretty small and they only offer basic features.

The free version is also more limited compared to higher-ranked providers: You can only use up to 2 GB of data per month. This makes TunnelBear's free version more of a sample of the full version. However, the paid version is very affordable with the 3-year plan.

Avira Phantom VPN only got an "average" rating in our review. The support needs improvement, the server network could be bigger, and it's missing some important features like split tunneling.

However, Phantom VPN makes up for these weaknesses with its solid free version. While it has a 500 MB monthly limit, it gives you access to the full server network and lets you connect unlimited devices. In our tests, the VPN also showed good upload and download speeds.

Phantom VPN could be a great add-on, especially if you already use other Avira products.

Every free VPN plan comes with certain limitations. You'll either face data caps, limited server options, or streaming restrictions.

If you don't want to deal with any of these limitations, we recommend our best value winner Surfshark. It scored excellently in our VPN review (grade 1.6) and costs only about $2 per month if you choose a long-term plan. You get unlimited data and streaming works without any issues.

Our top pick NordVPN scored even better (grade 1.3) and starts at around $3 per month.

Most freemium VPN providers set pretty low data limits, which makes them impractical for everyday VPN use. Our top 4 picks are more the exception than the rule in this regard.

However, there are some other services that offer basic versions you can use without a subscription. You can find detailed reviews of many VPN services in our big VPN provider comparison.

Nothing is free - this also applies to VPNs. You should be skeptical of completely free VPN services, as you usually pay with your personal data.

However, there are several freemium options - premium VPNs that offer a free "trial" version. These are designed to promote their paid subscriptions and come with some limitations:

While you won't get a full VPN experience, a free plan could work if you can live with these limitations.

Depending on what you want to achieve with a VPN, other free programs might work as alternatives.

With a proxy server, you can hide your IP address and bypass geo-blocks. In our proxy list, you'll find a selection of free proxy servers you can set up through your browser or operating system.

Free proxy services are slower and less reliable than VPNs, so you might need to switch servers often. Also, they don't encrypt your connection, so you miss out on this extra security layer that VPNs provide.

If your main goal is to browse safely and anonymously, you can use Tor instead of a VPN. This secure browser uses the Tor network and is completely free. It routes your connection through encrypted nodes worldwide, making it impossible to trace your browsing back to you.

Since your connection gets redirected multiple times and uses strong encryption, it's usually slower than a VPN that only routes traffic through a single VPN server.