Why you should trust PCWorld for VPN reviews and buying advice: Here at PCWorld we’ve been testing computer hardware, software, and services since the 1980s. As reviewers and users of PC hardware and software, we put every product through its paces using rigorous benchmarking and hands-on evaluation. We’d never recommend something we wouldn’t want for ourselves. Proton VPN – Best free VPN overall Pros Excellent privacy and transparency Strong catalog of security features Unrivaled free plan Good connection speeds Cons Premium plans aren’t the cheapest Not all features available across apps Price When Reviewed: From $4.49 per month for 2 years. Free VPN available. Who should use Proton VPN? If you’re looking for speed and excellent privacy in a free VPN then Proton VPN is your best choice. The only real limitation to this service is that you can only connect with one device at a time. Other than that, it’s practically a premium VPN. Proton VPN comes from a trustworthy, privacy-focused company with a sterling track record. The free version is also mercifully free of ads — a rarity among no-cost VPNs. You’ll be able to choose from 10 servers located all over the world. Plus, the real kicker is that there are no data limits, meaning you can surf and stream to your heart’s content. This feature alone — no data limits — is reason enough to use Proton VPN; add in everything else and the competition for top spot isn’t even close. Proton VPN’s free version even showed decent speeds in my tests, just going to show that this is the VPN to get if you don’t want to spend any money. Proton VPN: Further considerations The VPN is from the same company behind Proton Mail, a privacy-focused email service, so it’s very easy to integrate the VPN into the whole Proton ecosystem if you so wish. The company has undergone multiple independent audits confirming its no-logs policy — that includes the free VPN, as well. If you decide to upgrade to the premium version the monthly price does come in at the expensive side, so make sure you try out the free version first before upgrading. Read our full ProtonVPN review PrivadoVPN – Best free VPN runner-up Pros Excellent free version Unblocks streaming services Based in privacy-friendly Switzerland Cons No independent audit Smaller server network Feature set not as robust as some competitors Price When Reviewed: $10.99 Who should use PrivadoVPN? PrivadoVPN is a good option for just about anyone looking to use a free VPN. The good amount of global servers to choose from and ability to unblock streaming services means you can use it to stream while traveling for free. The free version comes with 13 global servers to choose from, a generous 10 simultaneous device-connection limit, and up to 10GB per month of high-speed data. Most of the other free VPNs only match one of these features, but PrivadoVPN provides them all. PrivadoVPN: Further considerations While the PrivadoVPN does work to unblock streaming services, just be aware that streaming in HD will hit that 10GB data limit pretty fast. The 10GB-per-month data cap only applies to high speeds though, after you reach the cap you’ll still be able to use the free VPN but with throttled speeds. Privacy-conscious users should also be aware that the company has not yet completed an independent audit, but it does promise to abide by its no-logs policy for both the paid and free versions. The only reason Proton VPN came out on top in this list is because it offers a truly unlimited free version. That doesn’t take away from PrivadoVPN though, as it’s about as close as you’re going to get otherwise. Read our full PrivadoVPN review CyberGhost VPN – Best free VPN browser extension Pros Enormous global server network Independently verified no-log policy Generous 45-day money-back guarantee Cons Server speeds can be hit-or-miss Lacks extra security features offered by competitors Who should use CyberGhost VPN? CyberGhost VPN provides an excellent VPN with plenty of servers optimized for different tasks such as gaming, streaming, and torrenting. While you do need to pay for the premium service, with access to all of its 11,500-plus servers and additional security features, CyberGhost also has a great browser extension that it offers for free. If you have either Chrome or Firefox you can download the extension without having to pay anything and enjoy access to a limited number of the VPN servers — currently sitting at eight servers in four countries. Additionally, you are able to connect to and use these VPN servers without having to worry about bandwidth limits or data capping — which is a huge advantage as most other free services impose strict limits. CyberGhost’s free version is ideal for users who don’t want to pay for a premium VPN service but also don’t want to worry about a monthly data cap. Plus, the fact that CyberGhost VPN’s free version is browser-based means that users who don’t want to bother downloading and setting up a new application can simply use the VPN in either their Firefox or Chrome browser. CyberGhost VPN: Further considerations While being a browser-based VPN is certainly convenient, it does come with the drawback of being overly simplistic. You lose access to all of the robust features and tools included in the standalone VPN app. Also, in my tests I found that the servers I used in the browser extension were not able to successfully unblock streaming servers. However, if you start using the free browser extension and decide you like CyberGhost, you can always opt for a premium membership, which can be as low as $3 a month for a long-term plan and even comes with a generous 45-day money back guarantee. Read our full CyberGhost review Windscribe – Best free VPN for speed Pros Good free plan Fast speeds Unlimited device connections Cons Streaming unblocking is inconsistent Smaller server network than some competitors Price When Reviewed: 1 year: $69 ($5.75/mo) I Monthly: $9/mo Who should use Windscribe VPN? Those who want a free VPN with fast speeds and a generous helping of extra perks will find that Windscribe is the go-to option. In my testing, I noticed no discernible speed differences between the paid and free versions, and considering that the paid version already had great average speeds, that is a huge bonus. Most free VPNs are only good for location spoofing with no real added features, and that’s why Windscribe is so good. It offers way more for users and the fact that it gives you up to 10GB of bandwidth means you can use it multiple times throughout the month before hitting the data cap. The free service offers 10 regional connections including the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, and Romania. Plus, Windscribe does not use any virtual servers at all, meaning everything is a real physical server located in that region—a nice bonus for those concerned about server security and location spoofing. It also has a ton of privacy features such as blockers for site notifications and “we use cookies” banners, WebRTC leak protection, user agent rotation, and more. The service is extremely easy to use with a simple setup and solid performance for a free VPN. Windscribe VPN: Further considerations While Windscribe’s free version does offer up to 10GB of data per month, to get that bandwidth you’ll need to confirm via email address — if not, you’re stuck at 2GB per month. Additionally, some users might be turned off of the interface which seems a bit over-designed and not as intuitive as it could be. Still, Windscribe is a great free option with very few downsides. I not only recommend the Windscribe free service on its own, but also as an easy way to get to know the service before committing to a paid tier with premium features. Read our full Windscribe Pro review TunnelBear – Best free VPN for get-in, get-out tasks Pros Fun and easy-to-use interface Reliable security features Unlimited simultaneous device connections Cons Lacks some advanced features for power users Customer support not the most helpful Not a good option for torrenting Price When Reviewed: From free ($4.19 per month for annual plan) Who should use TunnelBear VPN? I’ve always liked TunnelBear. It’s simple to use, affordable, and the speeds are fine. TunnelBear’s free VPN is best suited for those who need a one-and-done VPN experience. The 500MB data cap is quite restrictive, but you have access to all of the premium features from an excellent VPN service. This includes split-tunneling, a unique HTTPS masking feature, and your choice of multiple VPN protocols. The idea is to provide a trial for testing out the service before making a bigger commitment. Thankfully, beyond the data limit, the free version of TunnelBear puts no restrictions on what features are available so you’re able to experience the full application for no charge. TunnelBear VPN: Further considerations TunnelBear’s data limit won’t allow you to stream or play games for the most part, but it’s enough for quick hits when you’re on the road for checking email, or some basic web browsing. Plus, TunnelBear keeps track of your bandwidth usage so you can see when you’re getting too close to the limit. Also, while TunnelBear’s free version provides you with its full premium feature set, these features are rather minimal compared to other top services. TunnelBear is all about simplicity and fun and that will appeal to a lot of people, but not everyone. Read our full TunnelBear review Other free VPNs we liked While we believe that the above VPNs are currently the best and most trustworthy, there are a few other services that deserve attention: Hide.me: It’s a well-rounded service that ticks almost every box and the fantastic array of configurable settings make it a power-user’s dream. It recently did away with its data limits as well, which is a huge upgrade for free users. Hotspot Shield: Another decent free option if you’re fine with only U.S.-based servers and a few ads. There is a 500MB data limit per day though, so it’s really only suitable for private browsing. IPVanish: Nails all of the basics such as good speeds, a large server network, and privacy promises backed up with independent audits. There is no dedicated free version, but the generous 7-day free trial is useful to try out the service or for short-term usage needs. EventVPN: A relative newcomer developed by ExpressVPN for iOS and Android, is a free VPN for mobile users with privacy at it’s core. I’m continuously evaluating new VPNs and reevaluating services I’ve already tested on a regular basis, so be sure to come back for more recommendations and to see what else we’ve put through their paces. Can I get a better VPN deal? Here at PCWorld, we are regularly hunting down the best VPN deals to help you get the most bang for your buck. VPN services are frequently running deals throughout the year, so if you decide to upgrade from a free to premium tier, you should have a few chances to snag your favorite VPN on a steep discount if you can time it right. While the prices for all VPNs on this list are updated daily, they do not account for special deals or offers. It’s best to keep checking our deals article to see what new limited-time discounts are on offer each week. Additionally, sales events such as Amazon Prime Day in mid-July and Black Friday at the end of November provide excellent opportunities to find even cheaper VPN deals. How we test VPNs We judge VPNs on a variety of criteria including server network, connection speeds, privacy protections, ease-of-use, additional features, and cost. For a more detailed guide on our evaluation process, check out PCWorld’s comprehensive guide on how we test VPN services. Speed tests are kept as simple as possible. We average the connections between different global locations for any given VPN and then compare them to our baseline internet speed to get a good picture of the overall connection speeds. We thoroughly research and analyze the privacy policies and histories of each VPN and note any outstanding discrepancies or data collection issues. Experience and ease-of-use are subjective, but we try our best to give an accurate representation of how it feels to work with the VPN. And finally, we compare the value of the service based upon its price and additional features to the industry average to help you gain an accurate picture of what you’ll get for your money. Who curated this article? Sam Singleton is PCWorld’s VPN beat reporter and jack of all trades. When he’s not on the hunt for the best computer deals he’s covering VPNs, productivity software, laptops, and a wide gamut of consumer-grade hardware and software. How to choose the best free VPN Choosing a free VPN is a question of weighing the trade-offs with each service. Do you want unlimited bandwidth but a restriction on devices? Or is it preferable to have more devices but deal with a bandwidth limit? 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