Best free VPN
Free tiers from VPN companies that also sell a paid plan, with their limits spelled out.
- 1
Proton VPN
No data cap on the free plan, open-source apps and public audits. Free is limited to one device and a handful of countries.
- Cheapest plan
- $3.49/mo
- Renews at
- $83.88
- Owner
- Proton Foundation
- Devices
- 10
- Latest audit
- Securitum, 2026
- 2
Windscribe
10 GB a month with a confirmed email, servers in about 10 countries, and no device limit.
- Cheapest plan
- $5.75/mo
- Renews at
- $69.00
- Owner
- Windscribe Limited
- Devices
- Unlimited
- Latest audit
- Packetlabs, 2024
- 3
PrivadoVPN
10 GB every 30 days on one device. It has no published third-party audit.
- Cheapest plan
- $1.11/mo
- Renews at
- $95.76
- Owner
- Privado Networks ehf.
- Devices
- 10
- Latest audit
- None published
How to choose
Three limits decide whether a free tier is usable: data per month, devices at once, and which server countries you can pick. The free plan's limits are often lower than the paid plan's, so read them on their own.
A free tier is the same company and the same apps as the paid plan, so the trust questions are the same: who owns it, and whether anyone has audited it.
Every free tier checked
8 providers against the facts that matter here. Picks come first, outlined.
| VPN | Free plan | Devices at once | Open-source apps | Latest audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | Unlimited data, medium speed, 1 device, servers in ~5-10 countries. | 10 | All appsAll apps | Securitum, 2026 (no-logs) |
| Windscribe | 10 GB/month with confirmed email (2 GB without), servers in 10 countries, unlimited devices. | Unlimited | All appsAll apps | Packetlabs, 2024 (infrastructure) |
| PrivadoVPN | 10 GB every 30 days, 1 device, limited locations. | 10 | NoNo | None published |
 AdGuard VPN | 3 GB/month, 2 devices, limited locations. | 10 | Some appsSome apps | None published |
 Bitdefender VPN | 200 MB/day per device, auto-selected server. | 10 | NoNo | Auditor not named, 2025 (no-logs) |
 hide.me | Limited features, 1 connection, restricted speeds, ~8 locations, unlimited data. | 10 | Some appsSome apps | Securitum, 2024 (no-logs) |
 Hotspot Shield | 500 MB/day, 1 device, ~2 Mbps, 1 US location. | 10 | NoNo | Aon, 2023 (no-logs) |
 TunnelBear | 2 GB/month; no city-level selection. | Unlimited | NoNo | Cure53, 2025 (security) |
Worth knowing. A free tier from a company with a paid plan is a sample. Free VPN apps with no paid plan have to make money some other way, and that's often your data.