Introduction
In a world with increased internet surveillance, having a reliable VPN can help to hide who you are, where you are, and what you’re doing from spying eyes. In this blog, we’ll count down the top five best VPN services that you can use for free. While they do lack certain features often found in premium VPNs, you just might find that a free VPN is all that you need. Most coming up in this blog are available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Let’s get started.
5. Speedify
As the name suggests, Speedify’s primary focus is to give you the fastest VPN speeds that you can get. It does this by allowing you to combine two or more of your internet connections in any combination. You can combine your Wi-Fi, a tethered iPhone or Android smartphone, 3G, 4G, or 5G cellular, and ethernet, for example. Using both your Wi-Fi and cellular data will help to ensure that you’re getting the best performance speeds possible. They have more than 1,000 servers located in over 50 countries. The data you send and receive is fully encrypted, and Speedify has a no-logging policy. They don’t log IP addresses and the websites you visit, keeping you anonymous online. With their free service, which they call the Starter Plan, you get 2 GB of data each month, but it’s only available to use on one device. Here’s another con: for some of you, Speedify is based in the United States, which means they are subject to requests from legal and governmental authorities. Speedify is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
4. Windscribe
Based in Canada, Windscribe includes many features found in their premium service that are available in their free plan as well. They are known for having an excellent privacy policy with no logging of your data. Your username is stored but is erased within 3 minutes of ending your session. Geo-restricted content is also unblocked in more than 60 countries. They claim to never track you and offer DNS leak protection to safeguard your information. One downside is they don’t offer 24/7 live support for their free or premium plans. Windscribe steps it up from our number five pick: instead of 2 GB per month, you get 10 GB with a verifiable email address. With servers available in more than 10 countries, there are no limits on the number of connections you can have. Windscribe is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. They have apps for both Android and iOS, and you can also get browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
3. Hi.me
In the number three spot, one of our top picks for privacy and security is Hi.me. They have a strict no-logging policy. Your data is protected with AES 256 encryption, and since they’re based in Malaysia, they are not obligated to hand over its user data to any legal authority. Even with their free plan, there are no ads, they don’t limit your bandwidth, ensuring quick load times, and you get 24/7 technical support to get help if you experience any issues. While Hi.me does offer unlimited data, there is a catch: after using 10 GB in a month, you can still use the service, but you will not be able to select the VPN server; a random VPN server will be selected for you. Hi.me is available for all the major operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. It is also available for Amazon Fire TV.
2. Hotspot Shield
Coming in at number two, Hotspot Shield offers the second most data of those mentioned in this blog. You get 500 megabytes of data for use each day, adding up the daily limits to a maximum of around 15 GB per month. While they are known for being one of the fastest VPN providers with easy-to-use apps, they are based in the United States, and there is some logging of your data. They do claim that none of the data collected could identify users. With the free plan, it is ad-supported. There is an on-device connection limit, and you can only access servers located in the US. If you can live with the negatives, their data limit is quite generous compared with other free VPNs, so it might be worth using for you. Just so you’re aware, when you go to download Hotspot Shield, they’ll start you out with a 7-day free trial of their premium product. If you cancel within the 7 days, it will default to their basic free plan. In addition to Windows, Hotspot Shield is available for Linux, Mac OS, iOS, and Android, and there’s also an extension available for the Chrome browser.
Honorable Mentions
A Vera
Real quickly before we get to our top pick, here are a couple of honorable mentions that you might want to check out. First of which, based in Germany, is A Vera. Unlike most in this blog, A Vera does allow for unlimited simultaneous connections. On the downside, their data allowance is a poultry 500 megabytes per month. It’s available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. At this time, it’s not available for Linux.
Tunnel Bear
The other honorable mention is Tunnel Bear. What’s great about this VPN is that it’s extremely user-friendly. They recently increased their free monthly limit, which used to be 500 megabytes; now it’s up to 2 GB each month. It’s available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Linux is no longer supported. They also have browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. While based in Canada, Tunnel Bear was acquired in 2018 by the American cybersecurity firm McAfee, making them subject to legal requests for information in both countries.
1. Proton VPN
In the top spot, coming in at number one, is Proton VPN. This one stands out for its numerous free features often only found in the premium versions of its competitors. Let’s go through the pros first: there are absolutely no data limits, making it great for streaming content, and it is not ad-supported. They also don’t log any of your online activity. If your primary focus when choosing a VPN is privacy, they use the strongest level of encryption to secure your internet connection. They are also based in Switzerland, outside the jurisdiction of the United States and European Union. Because of this, Proton VPN states they can’t be coerced into spying on their users. Now for the cons, of which there are a few: there is an on-device connection limit, servers can only be accessed in five countries, and the biggest of all for some of you will be that there is no peer-to-peer support in their free plan. Other than that, it’s feature-packed for a free service and available for the usual suspects: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.