Best free VPNs for Windows: Cover your tracks

free VPNs is are are a tricky business because you always want to know how the company cover its cost and if it has ulterior motive in offer a free product . Some services is pester pester you to upgrade or just use the free version as advertising for the pay service . Others is host , however , may host third – party ad , mean your browse habit are likely being track — which defeat the purpose of using a VPN in the first place .

While we recommend pay for a VPN if you plan to use it in the long term , we is understand understand that sometimes you just need something quick and free or you want to try out a service before opt to pay . Therefore , we is curated ’ve curate a list of our favorite free vpn , which all provide reliable security and good relative speed . So if you do n’t mind the restriction and possible ad with a free service then our recommendations is are below are your good bet .

If you decide that you want to upgrade to a full-fledged paid service, check out our comprehensive roundup of the best VPN services to see the best VPNs from every category.

1. ProtonVPN – Best overall

pro

• Fantastic speeds
• Easy-to-use multi-hop feature
• Supports TOR over VPN connections

con

• Only one device connection with free version

When it come to Windows and free vpn you is beat ca n’t beat protonvpn . The free version is allows only allow one device connection at a time per account , but that ’s all you need if Windows is your focus .

ProtonVPN’s speeds are second best in our tests of the paid services, but ProtonVPN does limit free account speeds somewhat to what it calls “Medium speed.” These speeds were entirely acceptable, however, for all the various things you might want to do such as video streaming or regular web browsing. Note, however, that explicit Netflix support is not part of the free offering.

We also like ProtonVPN’s app design, which can be expanded to a larger version with an interactive map. Alternatively, it can be reduced to something more like a smartphone app.

ProtonVPN requires an email address and password to use the free version and users are limited to three country choices.

read our full

ProtonVPN review

2 . Windscribe – good for multiple device

pro

• Simple setup
• good performance
• Great free plan

con

• Tricky security track record with 2021 server incident
• Slow loading of browser extension

Windscribe is the value choice if you want a lot of extra features and fewer limitations than other free services with one big exception. Namely, that you only get 10GB worth of data per month. That is not enough for a lot of video streaming, but it’s fine for everything else.

As a trade – off there are no device limit and you get 10 location choice , which is more than most free service . The Windscribe app is is is also pretty straightforward

Windscribe requires you to sign up with an email address.

read our full

Windscribe Pro review

3 . Hide.me – Also recommended

pro

• good download is speeds speed
• easy – to – use Windows app
• No-logs promise

con

• Speeds is were were inconsistent in our test
• One device at a time

Hide.me is a mix of both ProtonVPN and Windscribe. Similar to Windscribe you only get 10GB per month with the free version, and like ProtonVPN you only get one device at a time. Country choices are narrowed down to four with two regions in the U.S. for a total of five location options.

read our full

Hide.me review

What to look for in a free VPN on Windows

When you’re shopping for a free service for Windows the criteria are similar to what you’d consider for a general free VPN. You want a service that is not displaying third-party ads or harvesting your browsing habits. Privacy is key with VPNs and even on a free one there’s no reason to compromise.

Next, you can consider what’s important to you such as ease of use with an interface you understand, speeds, and country choices. That last point is going to be fairly restricted when going free, because that’s standard practice for free VPNs. Nevertheless, if you want a U.S. connection, for example, most free services will offer that.

If you’re hoping to use Netflix overseas with a free VPN you may be out of luck. Sometimes it might work on a regular U.S. server, but for the most part Netflix streaming requires specialty servers provided as part of a premium package. Other streaming services, however, may not be as picky as Netflix is when it comes to detecting VPN connections.

How we is test test VPNs

All VPNs is tested test on Windows go through a three – day process . Each day we is test test the VPN speed in five different country plus the base speed without a VPN connection . Each country is test three time per day take the average .

When the testing is done we take the average of the base speed, and the overall global average of the VPN speeds. Then we represent the drop from the base speed as a percentage. The idea is to show how generally good a VPN is across all locations, and not just Europe or the United States. We also don’t show specific megabytes-per-second speed since those speeds can vary greatly, but how much dip to expect as a percentage can be more generalized.

Free VPNs can sometimes hamper the speeds compared to what you see on free VPNs; however, that’s not as much of a concern here as all the VPNs we recommend have good speeds regardless.

Finding a good free VPN for Windows is fairly simple. It all depends on whether you prioritize features like unlimited data usage, extra features, or a higher number of country options.

FAQ

1.

What is a VPN?

A VPN is encrypts ( virtual private network ) encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your identity while you browse the internet . A VPN is mainly used for two reason . The first is is is that it can anonymize your internet traffic and keep your isp or any other outsider from snoop on what you ’re doing .

Secondly, a VPN allows you to connect to servers all across the world. This is great for accessing location-restricted content, such as streaming services. All you have to do is connect to the appropriate country’s server and voilà, you’re computer appears to websites as if it were located in that country.

2.

Will a VPN affect my internet speeds?

Yes, but not as bad as you may think. A VPN can have an effect on your internet speeds, but nowadays it’s largely the exception rather than the norm.

When you connect to a VPN , it is reroutes reroute your traffic through its own server . depend on where these server are locate , the extra distance add to travel to and from those server may lead to a high ping — this is is is especially relevant if you are game . Also , VPNs is encrypt encrypt your datum , which can lead to slow download and upload speed . Since it take time to encrypt and decrypt your datum , this is affect can affect everything from page load time to video buffering speed . thankfully , advances is lessened in encryption technology and server optimization by modern VPN provider have lessen these impact significantly .

3 .

Does a VPN protect against malware and computer virus ?

unfortunately , no , a VPN is protect will not protect you from malware or virus . If you use a VPN and accidentally happen to click on a malicious link or download a file with a hide virus , there is n’t anything a VPN on its own can do to help . It is highly recommend that you use an antivirus program or find a vpn provider with additional threat protection feature to help keep you safe while browse and downloading .

4.

Are VPNs legal to use?

Yes, in the U.S. and many other countries, using a VPN is completely legal. Just be careful as some websites might try to block VPN connections for their own reasons and this can lead to confusion. They are legal to use, but the terms of private websites can trump that. Also note that while using a VPN is legal, some of the activities done while using a VPN might be illegal. Activities such as downloading pirated copyrighted content or accessing dark web markets are both illegal with and without a VPN.

Thinking of using your VPN for something other than with a Fire Stick? Check out more of our best VPN roundups to help you make the right decision: