Best Free VPN App in 2026: 8 Free VPN Apps Compared

Proton VPN is our pick for most people who want a free VPN they can leave on all day. Its free page says the free plan has no data or speed limits and shows no ads. That alone puts it ahead of almost every other free VPN, most of which cap you at a few gigabytes a month.

The company behind it is Proton, best known for Proton Mail. Its apps are open source and have been audited by outside firms, and it runs a strict no-logs policy. Proton says all its servers deliver at least 1 Gbps of bandwidth.

The limits are easy to live with but real. The free plan covers one device, and paid plans add 110+ countries, up to 10 devices and faster servers. Free users get a much smaller pool of locations, so it is less useful if you want to appear in one particular country.

hide.me treats its free tier as a real product rather than a trial. Its free page says there is no registration or sign-up, no ads, no trackers and no logs, and that it never caps data for free or premium users.

That combination is rare. You download the app, open it and connect, with no email address handed over. hide.me also says free users get 24/7 support, which is unusual for a free product.

The catch is choice. Free users connect to 8 server locations and one device at a time, while paid users get over 92 locations and up to 10 devices. hide.me also says it never restricts Premium speeds, which suggests free users may be slower at busy times.

Windscribe is a good fit if you want to choose where you appear from without paying. Its own help article says free users can reach servers in 10 countries, and that confirming an email address raises the data cap to 10GB a month. Without an email, you get 2GB.

Windscribe says it does not log connections or sell user data. It also has one of the more interesting upgrade paths: a Build-A-Plan option that charges $1 per location per month with a $3 minimum, and $1 more for unlimited data. Its full Pro plan is $9 a month or $69 a year.

The honest weakness is the email trade. To get the useful 10GB tier, you must give an email address and stay subscribed to promotional emails. If you unsubscribe, Windscribe drops you back to 2GB.

PrivadoVPN's App Store listing describes the free plan as 10GB of data with unlimited speeds every month, spread across a dozen servers around the world. The company is based in Switzerland, which has strong privacy laws, and it runs a zero-log policy.

The 10GB allowance is generous by free VPN standards. Reviewers note that after the data runs out, a heavily limited mode keeps you connected until your allowance resets.

The trade-off is simple maths. An hour of HD video can use a few gigabytes, so 10GB will not last a month of streaming. Treat PrivadoVPN as a tool for travel weeks or public Wi-Fi rather than an always-on connection.

TunnelBear is the VPN we would hand to a parent or grandparent. The app is cartoonish and clear, with a single big switch and almost no jargon. The company is owned by McAfee and has published third-party security audits over the years.

Its pricing page describes the free plan as "testing and limited usage" with 2GB of secure browsing. The Unlimited plan starts at $3.33 a month and adds unlimited data, unlimited devices, country selection and split tunneling.

That 2GB limit is the main problem. It covers email and some browsing on public Wi-Fi, but not much more. TunnelBear's free tier is best seen as a way to try the app before paying, not as a long-term free VPN.

Opera's free VPN is not a standalone app. It lives inside the Opera browser, which is exactly why some people prefer it. You switch it on in settings, and your browsing in Opera is encrypted with no account and no data limit.

Opera says the free VPN offers three real (not virtual) locations, uses AES-256 encryption and has a no-log policy backed by an independent audit. It pairs well with Opera's built-in ad blocker and tracker blocker.

The limit is scope. Only traffic inside the browser is protected, so your email app, games and other apps still go out unprotected. Opera sells a separate VPN Pro with 48 locations and device-wide coverage for people who need more.

Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 app with WARP is the lightweight option. It encrypts DNS lookups and adds a VPN-style tunnel for the traffic leaving your phone, which makes it handy on coffee shop or airport Wi-Fi. There is no data cap on the free version.

It is not a classic VPN, though. You cannot pick a country, and reviewers note it is not designed to hide your location or reach region-locked shows. Cloudflare sells WARP+ for faster routing, but that does not change this.

We like it as a "set and forget" privacy layer on public networks. If your goal is anonymity or appearing in another country, choose Proton VPN or Windscribe instead.

Avira is a long-running antivirus brand, and its Phantom VPN Free comes from the same company. Avira says it does not track browsing activity or sell it, and that it runs a strict no-logs policy.

The free plan gives 500MB a month with encryption and a virtual IP address. That is enough for checking a bank balance on hotel Wi-Fi or reading a few news sites while traveling, and not much more.

Pick Avira if you already trust the brand and only need a VPN now and then. For anything heavier, the 500MB cap will run out within a day or two of normal use.