Best VPN with a free trial in 2023

VPN with a free trial is a great way to test what the service can offer you before staying with it for a year or two. Without paying a cent, you get the opportunity to feel how a robust VPN functions regarding app management and protection for a limited period of time either with a free trial or a money-back guarantee.

Unlike free VPN services, industry-leading VPNs with free trials don’t limit their users with data or speed caps. They also don’t exclude security features, and you get to unblock as many streaming platforms as desired, using extensive fleets of servers.

We have rounded up the best 6 VPNs with free trials that truly allow you to test their service without giving payment details or committing to a long-term stay. Additionally, we ensured that none of them restricted you in any way from a fully-fledged security suite that they can offer. Continue reading and pick a VPN to try out.

Try NordVPN with a free trial

NordVPN is an industry-leading VPN that offers a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, resulting in over a month period of free use. During the period, you can access all the full premium package and enjoy anonymous and secure connection. Try out its robust security suite with no data caps risk-free!

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Top 5 best VPNs with free trials

1. NordVPN – best VPN free trial in 2023
2. Surfshark VPN – free trial VPN for unlimited parallel connections
3. Norton Secure VPN – free trial VPN with an antivirus included
4. ExpressVPN – VPN with a free trial for streaming
5. CyberGhost – free trial VPN with no payment details

How to choose a free trial VPN

Free trial VPNs allow users to try their full suite of features, surf online at exceptionally fast speeds, and stay safe with unbreakable security. Otherwise, it’s not a worthy applicant to be your free trial VPN.

To find out whether you’re considering a truly reputable VPN with a free trial, check the criteria below:

• Money-back guarantee. Some VPNs offer short free trials and limitations on servers or features. Therefore, you don't get enough time for thorough testing. A money-back guarantee extends your evaluation period, so you have more time to assess the VPN's performance and features before making a final decision, completely risk-free.
• Security and privacy. Even though you may not stay with the trial VPN, it’s important that it ensures robust protection. Look for AES encryption, a functional kill switch, and a strict no-logs policy.
• Performance. Before and during the trial, make sure a VPN uses top-notch tunneling protocols, like WireGuard. With it, the provider must maintain fast connection speeds without unexpected speed drops.
• Streaming capabilities. Streaming and unblocking geo-restricted content is overall one of the main attractions of a VPN. Don’t skimp on trying to access different Netflix libraries or BBC iPlayer if you’re outside the UK. And make sure the video quality remains in full HD.
• Extra features. Potentially, you are choosing a VPN for long-term protection. Thus, a VPN with a free trial that offers additional features is what you should opt for. Features to note are split tunneling, obfuscation, SmartDNS, and more.
• Ease of use. A complicated VPN application might discourage you from using a VPN at all. Hence, play around with the app, make sure it’s user-friendly and also nice to look at.
• Payment details. A true free trial won’t commit you to providing credit or debit card details. Look for options where you can skip giving your payment details, or anonymous options are available.

The best VPN free trials of 2023 – our detailed list:

If you decide to try a VPN before committing to a long-term subscription, you may check out our recommended list of free trial VPNs. We tested over 30 VPN providers and selected only the ones that ticked the boxes of a reliable service, free trial, money-back guarantee, or some other free use options. Read on to find the list of great VPNs that offer a free trial and a money-back guarantee.

1. NordVPN – best VPN with a free trial in 2023

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NordVPN is the best VPN that offers a free trial, as it doesn’t take away a single top-notch feature and retains 90% of the baseline connection speed.

Free trial conditions. It provides you with a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Although the trial itself is available for Android users, you can also try it out on other operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS. Note that you’ll need to provide your payment details for a trial, yet, nobody will be able to access them. Thus, you can use alternative methods like PayPal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and cryptocurrency.

What you receive. Claiming NordVPN's free trial grants you full access to all features without any major drawbacks or limitations. With a vast server fleet of 5,800+ ultra-fast servers in 60 countries, you can effortlessly enjoy popular streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, as well as high-speed torrenting. This is made possible by NordVPN's NordLynx tunneling protocol, ensuring a seamless and speedy VPN performance. However, there’s a simultaneous connections limit – you can use up to only 6 devices at once. This is a bit of a drawback, as, for instance, Surfshark offers unlimited simultaneous connections.

NordVPN’s trials secure your online traffic with unbreakable AES-256 encryption. Also, you can access its security features, like Threat Protection that prevents malware and trackers, or obfuscation feature that masks the VPN usage.

NordVPN is a privacy-oriented VPN because its independently audited no-logs policy proves not to collect any of your data or activities.

After this VPN free trial, you can get NordVPN for as little as $3.19/month.

Learn more about the service in our NordVPN review.

2. Surfshark – free trial VPN for unlimited devices

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Surfshark is one of the most intuitive VPNs on the market, ensuring unbreakable protection and always a fair price-to-quality ratio.

Free trial conditions. This VPN allows you to explore all its features for 7 days without any cost. If you decide to continue using the VPN after 7 days, you’ll still be eligible for a 30-day money-back guarantee. But to access the trial, you'll need to provide your credit card details.

Surfshark's free trial extends from iOS and Android devices to Windows, Linux, and macOS. Also, you can get a refund for the cancellation of Surfshark’s services twice. And during the free trial, you can connect as many devices as you want, thanks to unlimited simultaneous connections feature. However, we noticed slightly less functionality on iOS devices than, for instance, NordVPN offers, but if you’re not an iPhone user, there’s nothing to worry about.

What you receive. Surfshark’s trial also grants access to 3,200+ servers in 100 countries, so you can also unblock streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Max, and more. Additionally, it encrypts your traffic with the AES-256 cipher and allows testing its premium features.

VPN’s free trial won’t limit your streaming, torrenting, or browsing experience either.

This VPN has an independently audited no-logs policy which ensures that nobody can see your card details. And when the trial expires, you can pay using PayPal, Google Pay, and cryptocurrencies for added anonymity and convenience.

If you like this VPN, the price of the service starts from $2.30/month after its trial.

Dive into our Surfshark review to learn more about the service.

3. Norton Secure VPN – free trial VPN with a robust antivirus

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Norton Secure VPN is among the top-tier VPNs you can test for free, as it also comes with a robust antivirus, ad blocker, and other security features.

Free trial conditions. This provider offers a 7-day trial to test the service if you obtain it with a Norton 360 Deluxe antivirus. And if you decide to use the VPN after its trial, you’re eligible for a 60-day money-back guarantee. You can get a 7-day free trial either while purchasing through the official Norton website or the Google Play or Apple App stores. Unfortunately, payment details are required as well.

What you receive. The trial gives you access to all its 1,000+ servers across 29 countries and extra features, such as high-level antivirus. The package also comes with a functional ad blocker that ensures you have an ad-free experience online without annoying pop-ups, redirects, and etc.

The VPN free trial also includes top-notch protection with the AES-256 encryption and a kill switch that prevents data leaks. It runs on an independently audited no-logs policy, meaning that your activities are accessible only to you.

While it performs without interruptions, like lagging or buffering, the provider lacks the WireGuard tunneling protocol. Moreover, it’s capable of retaining 74% of the initial Internet speeds on average, which is noticeably less than with NordVPN or Surfshark.

If you decide to continue using Norton Secure VPN, it’s one of the best VPNs with an inexpensive subscription that costs $1.67/month. And as an alternative payment method, you can use PayPal.

Dive into more details by reading our Norton Secure VPN review.

4. ExpressVPN – streaming free trial VPN

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ExpressVPN is one of the top streaming VPNs, allowing you to access geo-restricted content for free for over a month.

Free trial conditions. This VPN offers a 7-day free trial that you can obtain for your mobile in Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. In addition, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee for further testing. Keep in mind that payment information is required, but ExpressVPN adheres to a no-logs policy for peace of mind.

What you receive. The free trial grants access to all features, including a choice of over 3,000 servers in 94 countries. ExpressVPN is also P2P-friendly, ensuring secure torrenting connections. During the trial, you can also test how its proprietary Lightway tunneling protocol helps ExpressVPN perform at blazing-fast speeds. And use this splendid connection for unblocking various Netflix catalogs, Max, Hulu, and other geo-blocked streaming services.

Free trials cipher your traffic with AES-256 encryption, and you can try out ExpressVPN’s advanced features. While this VPN is not as rich in features as NordVPN, has less simultaneous connections allowance, it offers a Threat Manager that blocks all tracking, or MediaStreamer that access geo-blocked content on devices like smart TV or other non-VPN gadgets.

Accepted payment methods include credit cards, PayPal, and cryptocurrencies. And if you continue using the service after the trial, you can still make use of its 30-day money-back guarantee or get it at the full $6.67/month price with and apply ExpressVPN discount coupon.

5. CyberGhost – free trial VPN with no credit card

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CyberGhost is a VPN that offers a free trial without having to provide any of the payment details. Moreover, it doesn’t have any limits on data, speed, or features.

Free trial conditions. CyberGhost offers 3 different free trial options based on your operating system: desktop users get 1 day, Android devices get 3 days, and iOS devices have a 7-day trial. One significant benefit of the free trial is that CyberGhost doesn’t require your payment information. And if you pick other than a one-month subscription, you can enjoy an extended 45-day money-back guarantee.

What you receive. During CyberGhost's trial period, you can enjoy unrestricted access to their comprehensive service, including 9,600+ servers across 91 countries, specialized servers, and unblocking major streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu.

CyberGhost’s free trials also provide a commendable online experience thanks to its reliable WireGuard tunneling protocol. Also, it safeguards your traffic with the AES-256 encryption. On top of that, you can test its premium features, like specialized servers for torrenting, streaming, and gaming. Or enable an ad-blocker to protect you from annoying ads.

With CyberGhost's independently audited no-logs policy, your payment details remain confidential and are only accessible to you.

If you decide to continue using it after the free trial, you can pay $1.67/month using credit cards, Amazon Pay, PayPal, and cryptocurrencies.

You can learn more about the provider in CyberGhost review.

6. Atlas VPN – free trial VPN for beginners

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Atlas VPN is a beginner-friendly VPN with a free trial that offers all security essentials.

Free trial conditions. This provider offers three options for you to try out the service: 7-day premium trial for Android users, 30-day money-back guarantee, and a completely free version (yet, very limited). While the free version doesn’t ask for payment details, signing up for a free trial will require you to provide your credit card info, as it’s operated via Google Play Store.

What you receive. Regardless of whether you choose to try the VPN with a 7-day trial or a 30-day money-back guarantee, all trials get you AES-256 encryption and access to a full feature suite. For example, you can get a SafeBrowse to block malicious websites, or try a SafeSwap function that works as an IP rotator. A bit of a drawback lies in privacy – Atlas VPN’s no-logs policy hasn’t been audited yet, unlike the leading VPNs like NordVPN or Surfshark.

Both free trials also grant you access to 1,000+ server networks in 42 countries. Additionally, you can test the service and unblock streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Max, and others. And the WireGuard tunneling protocol will make sure you stream at fast speeds.

Meanwhile, a completely free version provides strong encryption and includes no-logs policy. However, there's a 5GB data cap and you can only use 3 servers which may get overcrowded and cause connectivity issues, such as buffering or lagging.

After the free VPN trial, Atlas VPN will cost you only $1.82/month.

How we tested free trial VPNs

We aim to provide you only with the best recommendations for VPN services. Likewise, our experts have tested more than 30 different providers to find the best VPN free trial options. Our selected products were carefully chosen according to the following criteria:

• Free trial period. All VPN service providers offer different free trial periods. Although most VPNs require your credit card details and to cancel the free trial prior its expiration, all tested and selected providers grant you access to its full service suite while you’re trying it out.
• Money-back guarantee. Our selected VPNs with a free trial also offer the money-back guarantee option. These two combined can give you an even longer trial period to enjoy.
• Compatibility. Usually, free VPN trials are only available on a very limited number of operating systems. However, our chosen VPNs offer trials free of charge for the most popular platforms, including desktop and mobile devices. So, you can definitely find the one that supports your device.
• Functionality. You probably already know that free versions of products, including VPNs, offer limited access to their features. Commonly, users only get to test the basic functions. Since we aim to help you get the most out of trials, our experts picked the VPNs that do not limit functionality extensively.

Other free trial VPNs we tested

We always seek to pick out only the most reputable options that excelled during our tests and put them on the list. Nevertheless, it happens that some nearly as reliable and durable VPNs stay closely behind the line but are still worthy of your attention.

Here, you can find other VPNs with free trials that are worth trying out:

• IPVanish. IPVanish comes with a 7-day free trial that can be acclaimed through Android and iOS devices. You can also use a 30-day money-back guarantee and have plenty of time to see how great this VPN works with streaming, examine its advanced security features, and feel the ease of use of the app. However, some of the initial functionalities like streaming didn’t reach the standard set for the leading free VPN options, hence, it didn’t make it to our list.
• PrivateVPN. This VPN has a free trial option that you can use on desktop and mobile devices for up to 7 days. If you want to use PrivateVPN services for longer and free of charge, it gives a 30-day money-back guarantee. The free trial is available on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices, and it doesn’t require credit card information in order to get a free trial. Unfortunately, PrivateVPN didn’t make it to the list due to its limited server fleet and lacking privacy measures.
• Proton VPN. Although this VPN doesn’t have a free trial 9(the main reason why it didn’t make it to the main list) itself, what it does have is a reliable free version that you can use to feel the app before committing. But with some features excluded, like an ad blocker, and a slower speed, you might want to swap the free version into a 30-day money-back guarantee. This way, you can test all the premium features.
• Private Internet Access. By getting PIA on your Android or iOS device, you can get a 7-day free trial and test one of the top VPNs of the market. This open-source VPN is highly customizable and offers an intuitive application but lacks some extra features and is based in a 5-Eyes alliance country. If you like it, you can extend the trial using a 30-day money-back guarantee.

VPN with Free trial comparison

In the table below, you will find a simple summary of the most important free trial VPN aspects that each provider offers. You can easily use it to compare the services and choose the best free trial VPN option for you.

	NordVPN	Surfshark	Norton Secure VPN	ExpressVPN	CyberGhost	Atlas VPN
Brand
Free trial duration:	7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	up to 7 days	7 days
Payment details required:	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Money-back guarantee:	Yes, 30 days	Yes, 30 days	Yes, 60 days	Yes, 30 days	Yes, 45 days	Yes, 30 days
Data cap:	None	None	None	None	None	None (if using a free trial)
Speed cap:	None	None	None	None	None	None
No-logs policy:	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Compatible OS:	Android and iOS	iOS, macOS, Android	Android, iOS, macOS, Winows	Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

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What are the benefits of VPN free trials?

Whenever you want to invest in a service, it’s very useful to get a glimpse of what you’ll be getting. For this reason, products offering a free trial are a great option to discover the best VPN that suits your needs.

Free trial VPNs are useful, because:

• Let you examine the VPN’s capabilities. VPN providers try their best to list all the benefits their customers are getting. However, reading about the features is not the same as trying them out yourself. A free trial can help you check the VPN’s server fleet, test the speeds, and try out all of its other features.
• Allows you to check compatibility. While many VPNs have dedicated apps for all popular devices, some of them work worse than the others. Likewise, free trials can be very handy when testing how efficient and compatible the VPN is with your device.
• You can try using the tool. Keep in mind that if you intend to use the VPN on a daily basis, it should be as easy to use as possible. Thus, free trial VPNs give you the possibility to check out their interface and see how user-friendly it is for everyday use.
• You can make sure that you're getting trustworthy services. If you seek reliable VPN services that you could use without paying, free trials are an excellent option. Keep in mind that it’s a safer solution than using VPNs that are free in general.

Best VPN with a free trial

NordVPN is the best VPN with a free trial because it offers a free trial and includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. The best part about NordVPN free trial is that you can access its massive server fleet, bypass geo-restrictions, and enjoy premium features without any limits or restrictions.

Try NordVPN free for 30-days

VPN free trial vs money-back guarantee: what's the difference?

Many VPNs offer both a free trial and the money-back guarantee. If you want to try the product for free, it might be challenging to distinguish the difference between these two options.

Firstly, free VPN trials and the money-back guarantee policy have different validity time periods. The free trial allows you to test the product free of charge for 7 days at most. Meanwhile, the money-back guarantee gives more time – usually, 30 or 31 days.

Secondly, these two options might offer different access to a VPN’s functionality. Keep in mind that free trials often allow you to use only the basic features and require a premium subscription plan to access the rest.

On the contrary, money-back guarantees get you the full version of the VPN from the start. So, you can test everything the VPN has to offer.

Finally, the last difference between these two options is the payment process. You must purchase a VPN first to use the money-back option, while with the free trial, you’ll be charged only after the 7-day period ends.

However, be aware that most VPN service providers offer both options. You can easily combine them and use the VPN free of charge for longer.

How can I get a VPN free trial?

Getting a VPN free trial is rather simple. Usually, VPN service providers have dedicated sections on their websites where you can learn how to try their products for free. Here’s how you can try NordVPN for free:

1. Choose a VPN, our top suggestion is NordVPN
2. Download and install the app
3. Create an account
4. Opt for a free trial and read the conditions
5. Add payment details, you will only be charged after the free trial ends
6. Start using the free trial of your VPN!

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If you need a detailed guidance on obtaining your trial dive into our comprehensive guide on how to get NordVPN free trial.

Are free trial VPNs safe?

The safety of a free trial VPN depends on the provider you choose. However, all our recommended VPNs with free trials are secure. Their developers are experts in their field and only deliver high-quality services that can be tested free of charge for a limited time. In addition, we have tested all the providers mentioned in this article ourselves and can confirm that there are no issues nor danger to use them.

Free trials allow users to experience the products in action, like checking the speeds, encryption protocols, and the server fleet. Keep in mind that even if the service is free of charge, it still operates under the no-logs policy, so your private data is secure.

It’s important to note that using a free trial option of a trustworthy VPN is definitely safer than choosing a VPN that’s free in general. You should be aware that questionable VPN service providers often offer poor-quality and unreliable products that may put your privacy at risk. Thus, we highly advise you to avoid them and use free trials instead.

If you still insist on using services that do not require payments at all, make sure that you at least get one of the best free VPNs – they’re approved by the experts and provide trustworthy services.

Conclusion

While there are not many VPNs offering a free trial, the ones that do, truly allow their users to make the best of it. After a detailed review, we can conclude that NordVPN and Surfshark are the best VPNs offering a free trial.

NordVPN offers you to try out its full features with a 7-day free trial for Android, and a 30-day money-back guarantee for other OS like macOS, iOS, Windows, and Linux.

A month-long money-back guarantee applies to Surfshark too. You can either claim back 100% of your cash, or simply try the service on iOS and Android for a week, without costs.

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