NordVPN Free Trial: Can I Try NordVPN for Free?

"Try the NordVPN free trial for 30 days" - This is the claim NordVPN makes on its website, however, you won't find a free trial anywhere. What's going on?

In this article, we'll let you know how to start your NordVPN free trial, how to make the most of it, and what truly free alternatives there are out there.

Let's start with the most important question: Is there a way to try NordVPN for free, or not?

Sort of: If you'd like to use NordVPN, you'll need to sign up and pay for a subscription. However, NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to all new subscribers. In other words: Within 30 days of starting it, you can cancel your (paid) NordVPN subscription, and have your payment refunded.

Once the funds have been returned to your account, you've tested NordVPN "for free", or more accurately, at no cost. Still, we can't help shake the feeling that NordVPN is hiding something by marketing this money-back guarantee as a "free trial". Most people would imagine a period of time during which they could use a piece of software at no cost, after which they'll be asked to pay for continued usage.

Below, we'll introduce you to a few VPN services that you can actually try or use for free. In case you'd like to make use of NordVPN's "trial", we'll walk you through how to claim your refund.

You'll only get a refund from NordVPN if you cancel your subscription on time. The best way to do this is to cancel it as soon as you've started your contract. Here's how:

Step 1: Select and purchase a subscription, and create a Nord account*.

Hint: To be on the safe side, select a monthly package: That way, you'll only pay for a single month. Even if you forget to cancel your subscription, it will only be extended for another month, rather than an entire year or longer.

Step 2: Now you can log in to your Nord account. We recommend immediately canceling your subscription so that you'll get a refund at the end of the trial.

Step 3: To do this, click on "Billing" in the menu. Then head to the "Subscriptions" tab.

Step 4: Next to "Auto-renewal", click on "Manage" followed by "Off".

Step 5: Click on "Cancel Auto-Renewal" in order to finish the process.

Step 6: To ensure that you really do get your money back at the end of the month, you'll need to get in touch with NordVPN's customer support. The easiest way to do this is via the provider's live chat, which can be accessed by clicking on the chat button in the bottom left. Open the chat, wait until someone greets you, and write something like "I'd like to request a refund."

The NordVPN team will now process your refund. It should be credited to the account you paid from within a few business days. While waiting, you can use NordVPN as much as you'd like until your "trial" ends, for example, to bypass geo-blocking or to freely access the Internet in China.

NordVPN's "trial version" isn't what you thought it would be and you don't want to risk falling victim to the dreaded "subscription trap" or are afraid that you won't get a full refund? That's understandable, and the good news is that there are plenty of free alternatives to NordVPN:

Several of NordVPN's competitors take the phrase "free trial" more literally and only charge users if they've exceeded the trial phase. Here's our Top 3:

Payment method required: Yes
Operating systems: macOS, Android, iOS

Surfshark was the price-performance pick from our VPN comparison, scoring with its wide array of features, excellent performance, and intuitive apps. You can try Surfshark for free for seven days so long as you're using macOS, Android, or iOS. Windows users can try the service out too but in the same way as NordVPN (30-day trial, cancel and request a refund before renewal).

You will need to supply payment data, however, your account will only be charged if you exceed the seven days.

Payment method required: Yes
Operating systems: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

During testing, HideMyAss impressed us with its huge server infrastructure, practical features (like IP changing), and its overall solid performance. But don't take our word for it: Thanks to the service's seven-day trial, you can make your own impressions.

As with Surfshark, you'll need to input your payment data when registering, however, your account will only be charged if you fail to cancel your subscription before the trial expires.

Payment method required: No
Operating systems: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

With CyberGhost, you'll need to hurry up, not because you're being chased by any spooky apparitions, but because the free trial is only active (on Windows and macOS) for 24 hours. However, you won't have to supply any payment information, unlike either Surfshark or HideMyAss. And there's more good news too: Android users get 3 days of testing, while those on iOS get a full 7 days.

You can find out more about these free trial versions and guides for how to use them here:

A free trial is only valid for a short time, at the most, 30 days. At the same time, users get access to all of the VPN's features and capabilities. However, there are some VPN providers that offer a different kind of "free trial": A completely free version of their service, with reduced functionality and features. Here are our Top 3 free VPNs:

The most generous free VPN is offered by ProtonVPN: Users won't need to worry about any data or speed limits but can surf on their VPN connection as much as they'd like. You'll only have three server locations to choose from though, and can use only a single device at a time. Bear in mind that the free version does not support video streaming.

You won't get unlimited surfing with the free version of hide.me, however, 10 GB is still quite a bit of data to burn through every month. Speeds aren't capped either, and you'll have eight different server locations to choose from - five more than with ProtonVPN.

Windscribe also offers a very generous 10 GB of data per month at no charge. The only condition: You'll need to input your email address. If you don't, you'll only get 2 GB of data per month. Whichever path you choose, you'll have 10 server locations to choose from - the most of any of our free VPNs.

For more information about all of the free VPNs from our sample, as well as details about using them, be sure to check out our guide:

NordVPN has a very loose understanding of the phrase "free trial": Most would call it a "money-back guarantee" since you'll need to pay to start it in the first place. However, so long as you cancel your subscription within 30 days and request a refund, you will be able to use the service's premium version for (up to) 30 days at no cost.

Of course, there are a few VPNs from our sample that offer "proper" trials, such as Surfshark, HideMyAss, and CyberGhost, as well as others with full-fledged free versions of their services, like ProtonVPN, hide.me, and Windscribe.