The best free VPNs: Expert tested

For most people, a free VPN service isn't going to meet your needs, even if it's a provider with a strong reputation. However, ProtonVPN's free service is above most of the free VPNs offered by other providers. The data limits and restrictions of the typical free VPN render them essentially useless. But ProtonVPN doesn't put these same caps on its free service.

You may not be able to unblock streaming services with the free version of ProtonVPN, but it's still a great everyday VPN. Below, we have outlined the major differences between our top free VPNs.

There are only a handful of reasonable free VPN plans on the market, and depending on your needs, you might want to explore different options. Below are our best use cases for each recommendation we have made.

If you're set on a free VPN instead of a paid service, there are a number of factors you should consider:

• The finer details: Nothing in life is free -- and this includes VPN services. You should check the fine print when it comes to using a VPN, as you may be required to hand over your data or view adverts, for example, in return. 
• Connections: If you need to connect multiple devices to your VPN service, a free VPN is unlikely to be suitable. Most are extremely limited, so your expectations need to be tempered with free VPN practices. 
• Use: You also need to consider what you want to use a VPN for. A free VPN might be fine for casual browsing, for example, but is unlikely to work well for streaming or gaming. 
• Speed: Some free VPNs will have bandwidth and speed caps. 
• Company reputation: Always choose a reputable VPN provider. Free VPNs offered by unknown or shady companies could place your privacy and data at risk. 

In order for a free VPN to land on our best free VPNs list, it had to be a service provided by a reputable company that we trust. All of the VPNs on our list follow this model, which means you'll be getting access to a service that follows the same privacy policy and provides the same level of encryption as some of the best VPNs we've tested.

Security shouldn't be an issue, but performance probably will be. These free VPNs are all a lead-in for upgrade sales in one way or another. They offer a small amount of free access and when you eat up that bandwidth, they'll ask you to upgrade. 

Most VPN providers recommended in this list have been subject to in-depth testing and reviews by members of our ZDNET team. We've been writing about these VPNs for years, spoken with their management and users, and developed a generally favorable impression. Here are the top factors we consider during our testing process: 

• Performance: We tested most of the VPNs on this list to ensure robust performance in terms of connection and speed. After all, there's no point in using a VPN if your connection continually drops or lags, making it intolerable, which is especially important when you're on mobile.
• Simultaneous connections: Many VPNs limit how many devices you can connect to a service simultaneously. If you have a phone, tablet, and laptop you want to connect to a VPN, you need a service that allows simultaneous connections. However, free options are typically limited to one device.
• Security: There's no point using a VPN unless their security protocols and encryption levels are up to scratch. We also ensured that the development team behind each recommended VPN cares about improving security over time and patching reported bugs.
• Kill switch: A kill switch prevents you from having an unprotected connection and is an essential feature for a mobile VPN to have, as it protects you by preventing a return to a default Wi-Fi connection -- in comparison, for example, with your cellular connectivity -- should your internet connection unexpectedly drop.

VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network, a term used for services that allow you to encrypt your internet traffic between your computer and a destination computer on the VPN service. This is particularly necessary when using a public connection, like a hotel or coffee shop's open Wi-Fi, so that other guests can't watch all your traffic and steal juicy bits, like credit card numbers and passwords.

In short, there isn't one. Free VPNs typically don't support streaming or have such restrictive data limits that even if they did, it wouldn't be practical. That's on top of the potential risks inherent with free VPNs. Even with a paid VPN service, it can take some effort to find the right service or server location that will unblock the streamer you want to access. 

If the main reason you want a VPN is for streaming, then we recommend taking advantage of a money-back guarantee period to test out one of the best VPNs for streaming. The only way to be 100% certain that a particular VPN service is going to work for you is to try it out for yourself.

This is also a gray area of the law, despite many VPNs marketing themselves as great options for streaming and accessing geolocked libraries.

There are many free VPN services, but you probably shouldn't trust most of them.

Here's the thing: Running a VPN service is expensive. You need either servers and data lines, or you're paying a cloud vendor like Amazon for every bit received, sent, and stored. Either way, it costs money. So, think about this: If you're running a free VPN service, how do you pay for all that expense?

You. In the back of the room. I see your hand up. "Ads," you say. Yep, that's a possibility. Some free VPN services plaster ads on your browser display and sell those to whoever will pay.

You could also be putting your data at risk, too. A free VPN service could make money selling data. And someone with more nefarious intentions could pick up a lot of credentials quickly, by setting up a free VPN and waiting for people to just hand over personal information. 

A fully functional VPN should protect your privacy and mask your location and IP address. If you're unsure if your VPN is working properly, there are tools that make checking your VPN's performance easy.

You can find out your IP address and location using whatismyipaddress.com. Just compare the IP address and location when you're connected with a VPN vs. without a VPN. If they are different, then your VPN is doing its job.

It's also possible that your VPN is leaking your data and potentially exposing your online activity. To ensure your VPN doesn't have any issues with DNS leaks or IP leaks, you can run tests on a site like DNS Leak Test. There are plenty of tools that allow you to test for leaks, but many are owned by VPN providers and it may not always be clear who developed the tool, which could be a conflict of interest. You may want to run tests with several different sites and compare the results.

It's the maximum number of VPN connections you can have at any one time. For example, if you're using your smartphone, laptop, and tablet over a VPN at the same time, and back home, your partner is using their smartphone and PC over the VPN, and you have five simultaneous connections.

The more connections, the better. However, most free VPNs will be very limited in how many simultaneous connections you can have -- and you may only be able to connect one device. Indeed, even some paid plans have device connection limits. 

In a best-case scenario, free VPNs will have extremely limited functionality. But there are affordable alternatives with the security and performance to meet most user demands. If you're willing to try out a paid subscription, check out the recommendations below: