Are free VPNs safe on public Wi-Fi?
A reputable free tier is better than no VPN on an open network. An unknown free app with no privacy policy is worse than nothing.
The four ways free VPNs make money
Only the last of these is compatible with privacy.
- Selling browsing data to advertisers and data brokers
- Injecting or replacing ads in the pages you load
- Reselling your idle bandwidth as a residential proxy for other people's traffic
- Using the free tier as a limited advert for a paid plan
The one free tier we recommend
ProtonVPN's free plan has no data cap, no ads and the same no-logs policy as its paid tier. You give up speed, server choice and streaming support — a fair trade, and the company's revenue comes from subscriptions rather than your data.
When free is enough
Occasional use on public Wi-Fi, checking a login on a hotel network, or hiding your address from a single website are all fine on a reputable free tier. Streaming, torrenting and anything sensitive are not.
Frequently asked
Why do paid VPNs cost so little then?
Long-term plans spread infrastructure costs across millions of subscribers, which is why two-year prices are a fraction of monthly ones.
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