Best Free VPN Service Providers: Which Are Worth It?
👨💻
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Choosing a free VPN for Android or any other device is not always a great idea. Some providers have bad intentions and will sell your personal information or your browsing history (or both) to the highest bidder. That’s why we always recommend paying a few dollars a month for a reputable VPN service.
However, few trustworthy VPN providers offer free plans, but they have few restrictions. Almost all of them give you a monthly allowance for data, and some even automatically determine the location for you. If that doesn’t bother you, a free VPN might be a good option for you.
Related: Best VPN Routers Available
We have collected the best free VPN services for Android that you can get, all of which are also available on other platforms. But before we dive into the list, let’s first talk about what VPNs are and why you should use them.
Best Free VPNs for Android:
What is a VPN, Anyway?
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
If you already know what a VPN is, how it works, and why you should use it, feel free to skip this section and scroll down to check out our list of the best providers. Everyone else, keep reading.
A VPN – short for Virtual Private Network – routes your data through its servers and encrypts it before sending it to the website you are visiting. Simply put, a VPN changes your IP address, making it look like you’re somewhere else than you really are. For example, if you live in Germany and connect to the internet via a VPN server located in the US, the website you are visiting will think that you are based in the US.
This has a lot of advantages. One of them is that you can bypass geo-restrictions imposed by different streaming services. For example, Netflix offers much more content to its subscribers in the United States than those in most other places around the world. So by connecting online via VPN for the United States, you can access a lot of movies and TV shows.
A VPN also gives you access to popular services like BBC iPlayer, a free streaming service with a lot of great content that is only available in the UK. Simply connect online via a UK VPN server, visit www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer, and start watching your favorite shows and movies.
A VPN gives you complete anonymity online. Using it hides your browsing history from everyone – if your VPN provider has a no-logs policy – including your ISP. Yes, your ISP can see your browsing history if you’re not using a VPN and can sometimes sell it to third parties such as advertisers, something we’ll talk about in more detail later. Plus, a VPN encrypts your data, which is useful when browsing the web on a public network – more on that later, too.
This is a brief overview of what a VPN is. If you want more details on how it works, check out our dedicated post by clicking here, or watch our Gary Sims explain it in the video below.
1. PrivadoVPN
promotion
John Day / Android Authority
PrivadoVPN is a premium free VPN with no registration based in Switzerland that offers a whopping 10GB per month with unlimited speeds and is ad-free. It is also the only free VPN that supports streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer in addition to torrenting.
It’s easy to set up and includes free apps for everything from Android to Windows, iOS, macOS, Fire TV, and Android TV. Once you download the app of your choice, you can instantly connect to any server, change protocols, and even activate the built-in Internet Kill Switch.
The service offers end-to-end full AES 256-bit encryption and a strict no-logs policy across its global proprietary network. Whether you stick with the free plan or opt for the premium option, you’ll get unlimited speeds 24/7 without any threat of throttling.
If 10GB of monthly data isn’t enough, you can always upgrade to a paid plan at just $4.99 a month when you pay for a full year. It adds unlimited data to the mix, access to all servers in all 43 countries, plus access to a SOCKS5 proxy – great for heavy torrent users that will increase your transfer speeds without compromising your privacy. Premium upgrades are also protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Essential details:
- Free data allowance: 10 GB per month No ads, no speed limits, no logs
- Server selection: Automatic or Manual – 12 locations available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $4.99/month
2. TunnelBear VPN Free
TunnelBear Free VPN for Android, which is owned by McAfee, gets you 500MB of data per month. It is very easy to use and does not require a credit card to register. You can choose from servers in 23 countries, including the US, Germany, Australia, India, and more.
TunnelBear has a strict no-logs policy for peace of mind and is not supported by ads despite being free (hooray). It provides an additional free data valid for the month to those who tweet about the provider, download the TunnelBear app to their PC, or invite a friend who then signs up for the service. Unused data is not carried over to the next month.
If you need more than 500MB of data per month, you will have to upgrade to a paid plan. Pricing starts at $3.33 per month if you pay up front for three years.
the Essential details:
- Free data allowance: 500 MB per month
- Server selection: Manual – 23 locations available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $3.33 per month
3. Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection
Kaspersky’s free VPN works like a charm but has its limitations, like the rest of the services on this list. It provides 200MB of data per day, which translates to about 6GB per month. That’s not a bad thing considering it’s free, but the service is still not suitable for power users. Unfortunately, there is no option to get additional free data.
There are many server locations available, but you can’t choose which ones you want to connect to with a free plan – the service will automatically choose the “closest server”. The app is easy to use, allowing you to start browsing anonymously with just a simple click. Signing up for a VPN is also easy, and pricing is easily accessible.
Essential details:
- Free data allowance: 200 megabytes per day
- Server selection: automatic
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $4.99/month
4. Hotspot Shield free VPN for Android
Few things make Hotspot Shield one of the best free VPN services for Android that you can get. It offers 500MB of data per day or about 15GB per month. This isn’t enough for heavy use, but it’s more than what you get with most other free VPNs.
It’s also easy to get started, as you don’t have to share your email address or credit card information with the provider. Simply download the app to your device, tap Connection, and you’re ready to go. The main drawback is that you cannot specify which server you want to connect to – the application will do this automatically. There are also ads present in the Android app, which is annoying.
Like the rest of the services on this list, Hotspot Shield has a no-logs policy. It also offers paid plans starting at $7.99 per month that get rid of ads and the rest of the restrictions.
Essential details:
- Data allowance: 500 megabytes per day
- Server selection: automatic
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $7.99/month
5. Avira Phantom free VPN for Android
The registration process is hassle free. Simply download the app, select a location and turn on the VPN to start browsing anonymously – no need to share any personal data with the provider. The free version offers everything you get with a premium plan, with a few exceptions. There is no kill switch available to disable internet access if the VPN connection drops, and you don’t get any technical support.
Essential details:
- Data allowance: 500 MB per month
- Server selection: Guide – 40 available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $10 a month
6. Hide.me
This Android VPN limits you to 10GB of data per month, which is very generous. There are five server locations available to choose from – Holland, Canada, Singapore, and the United States (East and West Coast).
Hide.me promises that it will not log your activities, giving you peace of mind that the provider will not sell your data to the highest bidder. It’s easy to set up and get started without having to share your credit card information. All these things combined make it one of the best free VPN services to use.
If you need more data, there are a few paid plans to choose from. Pricing starts at $4.99 per month and goes up to $12.95 per month, depending on the length of the subscription.
Essential details:
- Data allowance: 10 GB per month
- Server selection: Manual – Five Available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $4.99/month
7. Free VPN Acceleration for Android
Speedify offers 2GB of free data per month and can only be used on one device. It’s easy to set up because you don’t even need an account. Download the app, get connected, and you’re ready to go.
The service can automatically connect you to the fastest VPN server based on your location, or you can select the server yourself. Like the rest of the VPNs on this list, Speedify promises a no-logs policy, which means it offers complete anonymity online.
If 2GB per month is not enough for you, the company also offers paid plans with unlimited data. The price is set at $9.99 per month, but you can lower it to just $2.99 per month if you choose a three-year plan.
Essential details:
- Free data allowance: 2 GB per month
- Server selection: Manual – 37 locations available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $2.99 per month
8. Windscribe VPN
Windscribe is a generous free VPN, offering 10GB of data per month. But only if you share your email address with the provider. If you don’t, you’ll only have to use 2GB of data per month.
You have the option to manually select the server you want to connect to. There are a lot of them to choose from – there are servers in 10 different countries. There are also plenty of great features available, including Split Tunneling, which lets you choose which apps to bypass the VPN.
If you love to use Windscribe but don’t like data limits, you’ll need to go with a paid plan. A monthly subscription will set you back $9, but you can lower the price to $4.08/month if you pay up front for the whole year.
Essential details:
- Free data allowance: 2 or 10 GB per month
- Server selection: Manual – 10 locations available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start with $4.08/month
9. ProtonVPN
The last provider on our best free VPN list is ProtonVPN, which stands out because it doesn’t have a data limit (you’re limited to “average speeds”). You can surf the Internet anonymously using your Android phone or other device for as long as you want, but your speed will be affected – especially when there are many users online. There are three locations available which include the Netherlands, Japan and the United States.
read the following: Best VPNs for torrenting
Setting up a VPN is easy, although you do have to create an account. But once you sign up, you get a full-featured seven-day trial for free. The Android app also does not contain any ads, regardless of whether you are using a free or paid plan.
ProtonVPN has a strict no-logs policy and can only be used by one device at a time by free users. Paid plans start at $4 per month and go up to $24 per month.
Essential details:
- Data allowance: Unlimited
- Server selection: Manual – three available
- No-logs policy: Yes
- Paid plans: Start at $4 a month
Are Free VPNs Even Safe?
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Yes and No – it depends on the provider you choose. Using one of the VPNs listed above is likely safe, although we can’t give any guarantees. However, there are many anonymous VPN service providers that you should avoid at all costs.
The reason is that some will try to make money from you one way or another. Running a VPN service…
[ad_1]
Don’t forget to share this post with friends !
