A quick view: the best free VPNs
Let’s look in more detail
It is important that you understand that although the free VPNs in this guide are the best free options of 2017, being free makes them somewhat limited and restrictive. However, unlike many of the free VPNs available on the market (which can handle your data in an unsecure way, or even sell it on to third parties), these free VPNs are trustworthy, and have been extensively tested by our experts.
PROS- Easy setup
- P2P allowed
- Owned by Opera
- Easy to use apps
- Servers across the globe
CONS- Minor logging
- 2GB limit on Starter Plan
The SurfEasy apps are extremely easy to use, provide you with a solid protection, and we didn’t notice any speed issues on the free or paid plan. The free version provides you with 2GB of data transfer, but you can increase this by recommending the service to friends and family. Their paid plan is, of course, significantly better and pricing starts at a reasonable $6.49/month.
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Visit SurfEasy »2nd Place
hide.me
4.7/5
- PROS
- Solid Encryption
- Servers in 22 countries
- No logs
- Accepts Bitcoin
- Highly experienced customer care
- CONS
- Limited to 2GB per month
As with all the free VPNs on our list, this VPN is restricted. So, if you use the Internet a lot, then you should probably use a non-data capped VPN. With that said, we really like hide.me and feel that it is one of the best all around free VPNs in 2017.
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3rd place
TunnelBear
4.5/5
- PROS
- Cool design, fun & easy
- Apps for all platforms
- Excellent encryption
- Great for beginners
- Five simultaneous connections permitted
- CONS
- No P2P
- Few advanced settings
- Usage capped
They don’t keep any logs, which makes it great for security. Actually, the company’s privacy policy is really tight – making this a reliable free VPN to use for getting added privacy and security online. Another positive aspect of the free variant is that users are allowed to access all of the VPN server locations on the VPN network. Sadly, you can’t use the free option for any more than 500MB worth of web browsing per month, when the data limit kicks in. However, you can earn a little more by doing some social shares!
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4th place
CyberGhost
4.4/5
- PROS
- No bandwidth limits
- Solid speeds
- Free iOs and Android apps
- Automatic Internet kill switch included
- Transparent privacy policy
- CONS
- Limited locations
- Advertisements
While CyberGhost Free is great for entry-level VPN users, there are some drawbacks worth mentioning. CyberGhost Free users have advertisements, queues to connect (during peak hours), and limited server locations.
Check out CyberGhost Free for yourself using the link below!
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5th place
VPNGate
3.5/5
- PROS
- 100% open source (and audited)
- Constantly under development
- Daily updates and mirrors
- Reasonable speeds
- Perfect for security
- CONS
- Keeps logs
- Can sometimes get laggy
- No P2P or Torrenting allowed
The main reason for the project is to help people that live in locations with strict government censorship. The project also provides daily mirrors to protect users from the main site going down.
Sadly the Uni project won’t allow Peer to Peer, torrenting or other illegal activities. It also keeps logs, and would comply with police investigations if asked. That is why this free VPN is only really for accessing blocked websites, to see news or other information.
Connection speeds can also be a bit iffy, because it is run on volunteer machines around the globe.
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Bonus
Tor Project
3/5
- PROS
- Highly secure way to get online anonymity
- Easy to setup and use
- CONS
- Rather slow
- Not a VPN
- Can expose users to criminal activities
It functions by encrypting data as it passes through at least three different volunteer machines or ‘nodes’. Every time data passes through an exit node it is encrypted again, adding another layer of encryption!
When you use Tor, your IP address appears to be that of a volunteer – anonymizing you from the sites that you visit. As there are so many thousands of nodes, there is no known way of identifying users on the network.
The only real drawback of the Tor Project is that it slows down connection speeds considerably. P2P file sharing is not allowed either as it slows down the network too much. All in all, Tor is a fantastic service that is well worth looking into!
Visit Tor Project »
Free VPN Considerations
When choosing a Free VPN you must think about a number of things.
The main considerations are:
a) What do you intend to use your free VPN for?
b) How often are you likely to use your VPN to connect to the Internet?
If your biggest reason for needing a free VPN is to unblock restricted or geo-blocked sites – any of the free VPNs in this guide will do the job! However, if you use the Internet a lot and need privacy and security when you do, then you should go for one of the VPNs with no data limits. Sadly that means you will have fewer servers to choose from, and / or a speed cap.
That brings us to the second important consideration – connection speeds. Slower connection speeds will be terrible for watching any video streaming video content, or music. So if you want to watch blocked shows, for example, don’t use a speed capped free VPN from our list.
If you tend to use the Internet a lot, every day, then you will likely require a free VPN that is super fast and also has no data caps. Sadly that is not really an option.
No substitute for a paid VPN subscription!
It is important that you understand that although the free VPNs in this guide are the 5 best free options of 2017, it is also true that being free makes them somewhat limited and restrictive. With that said, these free VPNs have been extensively tested and are well worth using when necessary.A warning
Many free VPNs are a security nightmare. Free VPNs often sell user data on to third parties. Others handle data in an insecure way or provide outdated encryption that can be easily hacked. That is why we must urge you never to download an untrusted free VPN. The ramifications could be serious!Remember, we highly advise subscribing to a fully featured VPN service. Costs are low, and there really is no substitute for the security that you get with a fully featured VPN!
Conclusion for Free VPNs
In 2017 there is a huge growing awareness of VPNs and the privacy and anonymity they provide.Unfortunately, although everybody likes getting something for free, truly great VPNs quite rightly charge a subscription fee. For that investment, users get top-of-the-range encryption and access to a network of lightning fast international servers.
Although there are many free VPNs out there, most of those make money out of their users’ data. This runs in complete contrast to the privacy that top VPN providers pride themselves on giving their users. The difference is truly black and white.
This is a huge security risk and is one reason that we cannot recommend many of the free VPNs on the market.
The VPNs in this list, however, are a good middle ground. The VPNs we have found for this guide are trusted. They do handle data securely and don’t sell data on to third parties. They also provide great standards of encryption. In fact, we are confident that all of the providers in this list are perfect for anybody that requires a free VPN in 2017.
Finally, we would like to remind you that there is no real substitute for a paid VPN. We hope that you found what you need in this article, so enjoy trying out these free VPNs, and be sure to leave us a message if we can help in any way!
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