Best free VPN services in 2026

The reason why Proton VPN is the best free VPN is because it only has a few limitations of a free VPN that are common among its competitors. First and most important – the bandwidth and speed are unlimited. Our speed test confirms it, with Proton VPN maintaining around 40% average speed in the UK server. While this is lower than premium VPNs, it's important to note that Proton VPN imposes no bandwidth or data caps, meaning this speed is sustained and unlimited.

I had no issue accessing major streaming services with Proton VPN. Again, there are only 10 countries you can connect to and you can’t choose which one – this can make it difficult to unblock specific libraries. As for gaming, the US server location is the most suitable option, as I experienced lag when connected to other servers, but it could depend on your location. You’ll probably have to reconnect multiple times before you get the server you want.

When it came to server availability, I was a little bit disappointed. Although the number of countries covered has recently increased from 5 to 10, I still feel it’s not enough. Proton free VPN offers servers in the following countries: Canada, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, Poland, and the US. That’s significantly less than the premium version can offer, so if you want access to servers in other locations, you need to upgrade to a paid version. However, I still had no issue accessing geo-restricted content in those available areas, and the servers themselves didn’t seem too crowded, as the speed remained stable.

Like most free VPNs, Proton VPN supports just one device. It means that you cannot have multiple simultaneous connections with the same free subscription. On a positive note, you can use Proton VPN on pretty much any device, as it’s compatible with Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

In terms of online privacy, Proton VPN is a safe choice. Its privacy policy clearly states that even the free version keeps no logs of your activity – a fact confirmed by independent audits. I also tested for DNS leaks and used the kill switch – both worked exactly as expected. I was pleasantly surprised to see an obfuscation feature included in the free tier as well. Honestly, it’s one of the few free VPNs that comes close to premium-level privacy.

While the free tier is solid, the premium Proton VPN subscription is much more feature-rich, and the provider is sure to remind you of that by showcasing those features in-app. However, to access them, you need to upgrade to a paid version. One notably missing feature in the free version is NetShield – an ad blocker with basic malware protection.

All in all, I found Proton free VPN very easy to use and well functioning. Its privacy and security features were sufficient to make me feel safe browsing the net. I was surprised I could access streaming service libraries in other locations, as that used to be an issue for Proton VPN’s free version. However, I felt a bit pressured to upgrade, seeing premium features promoted among the free ones in the app.

Hide.me no longer limits users’ bandwidth and, officially, does not limit speed. However, I noticed an occasional significant lag across all Hide.me servers. Also, while there are claims that the previous 10GB/month data cap has been removed for free users, Hide.me’s own FAQ section still states that the cap exists – the lack of clarity makes the service look unprofessional.

Overall, Hide.me is the kind of VPN that either shows great speed retention (80% or more) or absolutely terrible (9.6Mbps download and 1Mbps upload speeds). The speed you’ll get seems to depend entirely on chance, as servers and the time of day show different results, too. In the image below, you’ll find our speed test results based on the 76Mbps download and 30Mbps upload baseline speed.

Unsurprisingly, my experience with Hide.me wasn’t great when it came to streaming, gaming, or torrenting. Aside from slow speed, it really struggled to unblock most streaming platforms – I only got Netflix working after several tries. Even then, the connection felt laggy, which made gaming frustrating and torrenting almost not worth the effort. Overall, it just didn’t hold up for anything beyond basic browsing.

That being said, I appreciated the fact that free users get servers in 8 locations: the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Singapore. That’s significantly less than with the premium version, but enough to access geo-restricted content globally.

Like Proton VPN, Hide.me supports just one simultaneous connection, which is common for free VPN services. However, it works with all operating systems – macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux. Connecting to Hide.me from any device is also very simple and straightforward.

On top of a privacy-oriented jurisdiction in Malaysia (outside of the Eyes alliance), Hide.me also offers its users strong data encryption, a built-in kill switch, IP leak protection, and a strict no-logs policy. Unlike Hotspot Shield, Hide.me does not show ads, so there’s no risk of any of your information reaching third parties.

Upon upgrading, I noticed that Hide.me’s premium version is much more feature-rich than the free one. Premium users can get features such as split tunneling, unlimited data, and access to all 2600+ global servers. However, the free version still has a few decent security and privacy features and doesn’t require you to create an account.

I loved the simplicity of Hide.me’s app, as well as strong security and privacy features. Not having to create an account is a strong advantage too. However, as most people tend to use a VPN for streaming, Hide.me’s struggle to unblock streaming services in all of its 8 free server locations was certainly a disappointment.

I gave Hotspot Shield’s free version a shot, and while it does offer unlimited bandwidth, there are a few catches. The speed felt noticeably slower than what I’ve seen in its premium plan, and there’s a daily 500MB data cap – which runs out faster than you’d think. That said, I managed to bump up the limit a bit by watching ads, which isn’t ideal, but it helps. When I tested the UK server, I got around 16% of my usual speed – a pretty bad result.

Furthermore, Hotspot Shield has free servers only in the US. While it doesn’t disclose how many servers are in this location, I doubt that number is very high.

While having just one server location does not impact the security or privacy of a VPN, it severely limits access to global streaming libraries. Add the 500MB/day limit and you’ll quickly see why the free Hotspot Shield is terrible for streaming. I could barely stream a single episode before hitting the cap.

Watching ads increased the limit a bit, but it still wasn’t enough for anything like binge-watching or gaming. I also had some trouble connecting to US streaming services at first. It took a few tries, but eventually, I got through and was able to watch the content. Still, it felt like hit-or-miss.

Unsurprisingly, Hotspot Shield also supports just one simultaneous connection. This is nothing new for free VPNs. Hotspot Shield supports all major operating systems except for Linux. But it’s not because they don’t have the capability – it’s just locked behind the paid plan.

Security-wise, Hotspot Shield provides users with everything they need to secure their internet activities. It uses the industry-standard AES-256 encryption to secure your data, even on the free plan. Besides, Hotspot Shield has a strict no-logs policy, so despite showing ads to its free users, your activity cannot be used against you. While this may not include browsing history, privacy-conscious users should be aware that Hotspot Shield is not a zero-knowledge provider. For maximum privacy, Proton VPN or Hide.me are stronger choices.

I tried upgrading and found the difference between the free and paid versions very noticeable. Not only does the free version have significantly fewer server locations, but it also has data caps and speed limitations. Meanwhile, the paid version has more extensive malware protection, and streaming-optimized servers. If you want access to these features, you need to subscribe, which costs from $2.99/month.

While my review may seem harsh, overall, I wasn’t unhappy with Hotspot Shield. Naturally, it lacked some features that Proton VPN had, plus it runs ads. But you don’t have to watch them and simply stick to the existing data cap. Besides, as I’m not based in the US, technically, I gained another server location to watch streaming content. Even though Hotspot Shield is not up to everyone’s taste, I’d say it’s a pretty reliable and secure free VPN for basic needs.

TunnelBear limits both bandwidth and data, placing a data cap at 2GB/month, which you can’t do much with. And while there aren’t any official speed caps, TunnelBear performance was mediocre in our speed tests. It’s a bit strange, considering that it has significantly more server locations than other free VPNs on this list.

TunnelBear is the only free VPN that does not limit the number of servers for free users. It means that all 8,000+ servers in 45 countries are accessible to all. Some of those locations include popular areas like the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Singapore. The main downside is that you can’t select which server you’ll be connected to, which kind of defeats the purpose of having so many servers available.

The good thing about TunnelBear is that its lack of server limitations allows users to access foreign streaming service libraries across the globe. The bad thing is that TunnelBear, in general, struggles to unblock streaming services. Some platforms work better than others, while some are inaccessible. Practical use of TunnelBear is also more limited for free version users because torrenting is unavailable for free, and the data cap makes it nearly impossible to game or binge-watch.

TunnelBear, like other VPNs on my list, supports multiple operating systems and browsers. Namely Chrome, Firefox, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. And like most free VPNs, it supports just one device with its free version.

TunnelBear has the same privacy and security features in its free plan as it does in the paid one. It uses the same industry-standard AES-256 encryption algorithm and follows a strict no-logs policy. Free users can also take advantage of a kill switch (VigilantBear) and obfuscation technology (GhostBear). However, its split tunneling feature (SplitBear) has been removed from the free tier in early 2025.

Upgrading gave me access to country selection, advanced features, and let me connect multiple devices at once. Most importantly, the speed was significantly faster, and there was no data cap, which made a noticeable difference. Still, if you want a premium VPN, I’d recommend checking out our guide to the best VPNs.

I’d like to say that I enjoyed using TunnelBear as much as I love its interface design, but that wouldn’t be true. If I had to pick a free VPN for my personal use, I would prioritize the one that could help me access streaming libraries, and TunnelBear is unfortunately not the best at this. However, for personal data protection, especially for beginner users, this is one of the best free VPNs out there.

Our research team and I applied our trusted methodology to find out which free VPNs are the best in 2026. The VPNs were tested on MacBook Air with macOS, Pixel 9 with Android OS, Linux virtual machine, and Lenovo ThinkPad with Windows 11 devices. The most secure, well-functioning free VPNs were then evaluated based on a number of criteria to make it into the list of the best free VPNs. The evaluation criteria were:

1. Privacy (20%). I investigated each provider’s privacy policy to determine what user information it tracks and if the VPN keeps no logs. I also checked if any third-party audits were performed to confirm online privacy claims.
2. Security (20%). AES-256 encryption is leading the market in terms of VPN safety. That is why I prioritized free VPNs with this type of encryption, especially if they have protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2. Additionally, I tested for DNS leaks and kill switch functionality.
3. Bandwidth and connection speeds (20%). Since most people use a VPN for accessing geo-restricted content rather than for safety, it makes sense to include those VPNs on the list that have a great speed retention rate (according to OOKLA speed test results) and, preferably, unlimited bandwidth. The lack of data caps also earned higher scores for some providers. Baseline speed was 76Mbps download and 30Mbps upload.
4. Server availability (15%). It would be unreasonable to expect a free VPN to have as many servers as a premium one. However, I still assessed the number of server locations available, particularly in key countries like the US, the UK, and Canada.
5. Use cases (10%). I checked if a free VPN is capable of unblocking streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. I also noted compatibility with gaming and torrenting.
6. Device compatibility and multiple device usage (5%). Our research team tested the VPNs’ compatibility with all major devices (iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, and Linux), as well as how many simultaneous connections each provider allows.
7. Premium features and services (5%). Our team investigated what features were limited (or absent) in the free version compared to the premium VPNs.
8. Personal experience (5%). I used my own experience while testing these VPNs to document what users are likely to experience using them.