Top free VPNs compared

About Top free VPNs compared

Free VPNs are the obvious place to start, and the paid plan attached to them decides the bill. This ranking covers 191 free VPN brands, ordered by what a reader pays at entry, what a renewal costs, what the plan carries and where the service runs. Entry prices vary widely: the lowest is €0 and the highest reaches €31.11, with the median sitting at €7.16. Committing longer usually lowers that figure, and the long term median sits at €4.28. Most of these services cap connected devices at 7 and spread servers across 45 countries at the median. Privacy claims are near universal: 86.8% of the ranking lists a no-logs policy, while 59.4% claims streaming access and 52.8% travel features. The main trade-off is a capped free tier against a paid plan that opens up more devices, more servers and streaming. Readers weighing renewal price should read each entry closely, because entry fees and renewal fees are separate numbers and a cheap opening month can still renew higher.

How we picked

Score sits on a small set of signals, weighted as listed: cost carries 40%, offer carries 40% and trust carries 20%. Cost covers the monthly rate, the long term rate and the renewal rate, because a free VPN brand is judged on the paid plan behind the free one as much as on the free tier. Offer covers the model, the device allowance, the server country spread, the protocol list, extras such as a kill switch, split tunnelling and obfuscation, and the support channels a reader can reach. Trust covers the no-logs claim, any outside audit, the jurisdiction and the legal entity that signs the terms. Figures come from each brand's own product and pricing pages, terms of use, support pages and audit reports, with sources listed. Introductory rates and renewal rates are recorded as separate numbers so a cheap opening price is never read as the ongoing cost, and ranges keep their own refs instead of a single midpoint. Partners are listed ahead of scored brands, then the order follows the computed score, and ties on price break toward the wider no-logs record and the larger device allowance.

Our top picks

1. 6. ESET Brasil

   ESET Brasil earns its place in this ranking on reach and network control rather than headline price. Servers sit in 40 to 70, close to the middle of what this category offers, and an account covers 1 to 25 devices, which suits a shared household. The protocol list is unusually full: WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN in UDP and TCP form, plus Stealth and Wstunnel, so a reader can match a protocol to the network, WireGuard, IKEv2 and OpenVPN UDP. A kill switch, split tunnelling and obfuscation sit in the same bundle, kill switch, split tunnelling and obfuscation, with streaming access listed for various streaming platforms, various streaming platforms. Support runs on phone, email and help centre and the refund window is 30 days. Sinew Software Systems, the next brand, is easier to price in advance at $1.99 a month, while ESET Brasil gives away more detail on network behaviour.

   • First-year price: R$64.22
   • Devices: 1 to 25
   • Platforms: Windows, Windows Server, MacOS, and 2 more

   Pros

   • First-year price of BRL 64.22 ranks 1 of 36, ahead of the €49.95 category median.
   • Support runs on phone, email and help centre, with phone and email alongside self service material.
   • Protection plans bundle vpn and parental controls, so one subscription carries a VPN and child controls.
   • A single plan covers Windows, Windows Server and macOS, mixing consumer desktop and mobile with a server edition.
   • Encryption covers files, folders and USB drives, with full disk and removable media encryption for business.

   Cons

   • Device cover runs 1 to 25, short of the 50 that Comodo (Xcitium) covers, so wider estates must shop elsewhere.
   • The free version is reached through the mobile security app rather than a desktop product, and the model is listed as free.
   • The bundled VPN reaches 40 to 70, below the 74 median across antivirus listings.
   • Prices are quoted in BRL under BR, so they do not line up with the USD first-year price of $14.99 at Vipre Security.

What to look for

Entry price against renewal price

Compare the monthly rate with the renewal rate before choosing. In this ranking the monthly median is €7.16 and the long term median is €4.28, so a brand can look cheap at entry and still renew higher. Namecheap and Norton both show a visible gap between the two figures.

Device allowance

The median plan here covers 7 devices, with the lowest allowance at 1 and the highest at 15. Households and small offices should read the cap first, since a free tier is the tier that hits it first.

Where the servers sit

Server spread decides whether a reader can reach home and work networks. The median brand in this ranking runs servers in 45 countries, a lower quartile of 25 and an upper quartile of 90.

The no-logs claim and any audit

A no-logs policy is listed by 86.8% of the brands here, which makes it a weak differentiator on its own. An outside audit of that claim carries more weight, and the jurisdiction tells a reader which laws the provider answers to.

Streaming and travel extras

Streaming access is listed by 59.4% of the brands and travel features by 52.8%. Both matter for a free tier, and a named platform is worth more than a general claim.

Support you can reach

A help centre is the most common support route, listed by 93.5% of the brands, while live chat appears in 34.6%. Readers who expect to reach a person should check the channels before paying.

Frequently asked questions

Top free VPNs compared by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Spain
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV