With growing attacks from hackers and digital policing from government agencies, privacy and confidentiality have become major concerns nowadays. Whether it is to enjoy some of the shows and movies blocked in your region or hide your footprints while browsing the internet, VPN (or a Virtual Private Network) is the preferred solution that many techies are banking upon. While the highest rated VPN services have to be paid for before you can use them, there is a score of VPN services which are either completely free to use, or offer the basic VPN features for free with an option to pay if you would like to utilize better features, get higher speeds, and other additional benefits. So, if you’re looking for some great VPN services to check out, here are the 10 best free VPN services you can use in 2020.
Before we get to our list, if you are looking for specific VPN apps based on your device, you can click on the links below to find them out. Note that since most VPN services are available on multiple platforms, there will be many apps that you will find on all the lists.
With that out of the way, let’s get to our list.
ProtonVPN is served by the same company that offers the famous email client, Proton Mail. While there’s a bunch of paid plans which ProtonVPN has to offer, you can browse with the free version without any limitations or capping on the amount of data. You will, however, be limited to a single device per email ID at a time and will be able to access only three locations of the total 30 servers ProtonVPN offers to its paid users. These three locations free to access are Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.S. While ProtonVPN uses some of the Cold War era underground bunkers for its servers, the country is neutral when it comes to privacy and does not absolutely support or oppose interception of users’ private data.
Pros:
Cons:
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
In case your dependency on VPN is just limited to occasional browsing, TunnelBear can be a useful option. Just like ProtonVPN, TunnelBear operates on a freemium model but the way different plans have been segmented is different. Instead of restricting users by location, TunnelBear limits you by available data and free users can only use 500MB through the VPN. However, if you tweet to the company, you can get an additional gigabyte added to your monthly quota so that you get 1.5GB per month, in practice.
- 22 locations in the free version
- No logging
- 256-bit encryption
- Kill switch
- Ghost mode
Cons:
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Opera
Hide.me works by hiding your IP and encrypting your data with protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2. The service operates on a freemium model too and your monthly allocation of data is limited to 2GB – sadly with no extension periods. However, you can invite your friends and get rewarded every time someone uses your referral link to get a paid subscription to Hide.me.
Since it operates from Malaysia, Hide.me has no legal obligation to store users data and share it with the government, unlike VPNs working out of certain other countries. Further, the company has a strict zero-logging policy. Besides using the VPN, you can also add custom DNS settings to avoid your IP being cached into regional servers and to slightly improve the speed of your network connection.
Cons:
- Limited data
- No Netflix support
- No browser extensions
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry, certain Wi-Fi routers, and Set-top boxes
Windscribe is among the most affordable VPNs, and for this reason, one of the most preferred VPNs out there. It is also one of the most generous VPN providers, offering up to 10GB data to free users, which can be further increased if you tweet about the service. That should drive more people to use VPN extensively and get familiar with the protocol. The company strictly follows the principle of not logging user data and supports common encryption protocols IKEv2 based on AES-256.
Besides the very-easy-to-use UI, Windscribe also has among the widest support for major desktop and mobile operating systems as well as for popular TV sticks and Wi-Fi routers. You also get extensions for popular web browsers which will ensure complete stealth throughout your web journey.
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Wi-Fi routers, and streaming sticks
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HotspotShield is another freemium VPN service which classifies as one of the best free VPN services due to its anti-censorship stance. The VPN service was popularized during a series of social protests such as the Arab Spring and the military coup in Turkey in 2016.
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Availability: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Chrome
If you are looking for a free VPN that is also open-source then there is nothing better than Psiphon. What started as a proxy system at the University of Toronto, is now a full-fledged VPN. By the way, Psiphon does not call itself a VPN but a tool that uses multiple technologies like tunneling, HTTP Proxy, and SSH to circumvent internet censorship around the world. It uses proxy servers that are located all over the globe in a multi-hop architecture. Psiphon is widely seen as a tool to evade the government’s censorship, but you can use it to your own liking. It does not have any data limit and the speed limit is capped at 2MBps which quite good.
Availability: Windows, Android, iOS
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Betternet has made its way into our list of the best free VPN services because of its simplistic and elementary approach in terms of both – design and usability. For instance, you don’t even need to sign up with your email ID in order to start using the VPN service.
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome Android TV, certain routers and streaming devices
Kaspersky, a leading antivirus provider, and cybersecurity lab is offering a free VPN plan for users who want enhanced protection on the web. It’s not your usual VPN where you can consume as much data as you want, but a security-driven solution to protect you from hackers and malicious exploits while browsing the internet. Under the free plan, it offers 200MB of data allowance per day which is minuscule but can be enough for users who want a private and encrypted network for quick communication. Apart from that, there are also restrictions on server selection. You simply can’t choose your server under the free tier instead, Kaspersky connects you to the optimal server based on your location.
Availability: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Similar to Kaspersky VPN, Avira also offers a free tier with its Phantom VPN app. However, the data limit is quite low, but if you want a secure service only for private communication then it can certainly be used. Avira Phantom VPN offers 500MB of free data allowance per month. But the good part is that you can choose the server location from many countries. Not to mention, all your data are encrypted and Avira has a no-log policy which means no one can know what websites you are visiting. Furthermore, Avira Phantom VPN comes with DNS leak prevention and it supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols.
- Encrypts data channel
- No-log policy
- DNS leak prevention
Availability: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
If you’re somewhat of an open source enthusiast, you’ll be delighted to know that VPN Gate is an open source VPN protocol developed by the University of Tsukuba, Japan and is run by volunteers. You can either use OpenVPN, the same protocol as in the case above, or L2TP/IPsec protocol with VPN Gate. The latter is notably better and faster.
You can use the VPN service for basic bypassing. While from the website, it does appear to be a little distressed due to limited attention towards aesthetics, the service gets users based in almost 225 countries which means the community is pretty active but you might have to spend some time finding active servers. To set up VPN Gate, you will have to go through the process manually and this might not be acceptable or preferred by many users. Besides being community driven, the VPN service offers unlimited data usage.
- Manual setup
- Might be confusing for starters
- Limited support and inactive servers
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
If you’re looking for a VPN service that offers almost everything you might want, and you’re willing to pay for it, or at least check it out, Private Internet Access (PIA) offers one of the widest networks with more than 3,200+ servers located in around 30 different countries. The company offers high-speed access and a variety of tunneling and encryption protocols. PIA also offers enterprise solutions where their tunneling service can be scaled up on demand for large organizations.
Pros: Zero logging, 3,200+ servers worldwide, ad and tracking blocker, economical, enterprise solutions
VPN services ensure that you can access the internet just as it was originally intended to be – unrestricted and without any scrutiny from the authorities. In this article, we’ve tried to include what we think are the best free VPN services available to users.
Beware, the free versions of these popular VPN services might come with throttling in terms of download and upload speeds, although that is admissible in exchange for the privacy that the service ensures. However, we recommend that you use paid VPN services if you desire greater security and better transfer speeds and you can start by testing out some of the freemium services listed above.
