The best free VPN 2020

Pricing and Plans

Performance is solid enough, although we found that some longer distance trips to more remote servers (i.e. the US) could be rather sluggish. The free plan boasts full access to those servers (just as with the subscription options), the only restriction of the free offering being that you’re limited in the amount of data you can download.

It is compatible with all devices, does not retain logs, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee (it’s real, we checked). With a price so low, it’s no wonder NordVPN is the most popular VPN out there, used by technology experts all around the world. There are a limited number of Double VPN servers, but the service also offers the usage of the Onion network over VPN, as well as automatic blocking of suspicious websites and ads. 256-bit AES encryption is on hand, while the IKEv2/IPsec security protocol has been adopted as the default in NordVPN’s apps for iOS and macOS, with OpenVPN being the choice for Windows and Android. Performance is just as strong for the most part, especially over shorter distance connections.

But if you can live with that, this is an impressive provider with a strict no logging policy, and you can sign up with nothing more than your email address. There aren’t even any ads on the website, let alone the client.

That helps to make you more anonymous online and let’s you effectively trick your laptop or mobile device into thinking it’s in another location. The best VPN options are increasingly being used as a replacement for or in addition to traditional online security. SurfEasy VPN is a Canadian VPN service that has improved over the years.

There are tons of VPN servers to choose from and the service offers user-friendly apps for every major platform, as well as a wide range of additional devices (and a few browser extensions). A sterling privacy policy is also in place, which is good to see. ExpressVPN is a great choice if you want a high-security VPN service, with maximum encryption and data protection features. We have reached out to partners in order to provide you with market-leading prices on VPN subscriptions, with performance and security in mind. All of these VPN services have been handpicked not only because of the prices and deals on offer, but because they all offer the most important features to keep your data and identity safe.

This means it’s even harder to find you and trace your online activity, because there’s no single line of traffic. Your traffic bounces between servers in different locations. NordVPN offers DNS and IP leak protection that claims to stop any accidental exposure.

Once you’re past any multi-device issues, VPN Unlimited performs very well. It runs on almost anything (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Apple TV, even Windows phone), and unblocks Netflix and BBC iPlayer with ease.

Others add items like your incoming IP address and the server you used, and keep the data for months, even years. If you’re concerned, check the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service to find out more.

There are, naturally enough, limitations for the free plan to incentivize upgrading to the paid offering. And ProtonVPN Free’s restrictions include limiting you to only one device, only three locations, and free users get a lower priority when it comes to speed compared to paying subscribers.

Unlike a VPN, Tor bounces your traffic through several server nodes, making it much harder to trace. It’s also managed by a non-profit organization and distributed for free.

Torrents are supported on some servers, but whatever you’re doing, high performance servers mean it won’t take very long. One of our favorite things about this VPN service (other than the price) is the fact that your subscription covers an unlimited devices and services. An abbreviation of Virtual Private Network, a VPN service allows you to change or ‘spoof’ your IP address to a secure server.

I put it to the test using my Windows and Mac devices, on UK, US, Netherlands, and China servers. I didn’t detect any leaks, even across multiple servers, on both desktop and mobile. ProtonVPN is another provider that offers a free VPN alongside a paid option, but the former has some very strong points, the most notable of which is that it doesn’t impose any bandwidth restrictions. In other words, you’re free to use as much data as you want every month.

SurfEasy VPN Cost

  • There are a limited number of Double VPN servers, but the service also offers the usage of the Onion network over VPN, as well as automatic blocking of suspicious websites and ads.
  • It is compatible with all devices, does not retain logs, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee (it’s real, we checked).
  • With a price so low, it’s no wonder NordVPN is the most popular VPN out there, used by technology experts all around the world.

Free users get 5GB of data each month, but that drops to 1GB during subsequent months. That’s not a huge allowance, and certainly not as much as some other rivals you’ll see elsewhere on this page, but it’s more than some, and still enough for covering some basic surfing and email duties. And this provider is definitely worth a look on the performance front, as during our testing, the aforementioned speed-granting technologies did actually prove themselves to have a positive effect. All VPN companies say they don’t log whatever you’re doing online, but inevitably they collect a little data. Some services record the day your account logged on, the amount of data you used, and delete anything else when the session closes.

SurfEasy VPN Features

ProtonVPN doesn’t compromise your security by using weak protocols like PPTP. It supports only IKEv2 and OpenVPN, uses top-of-the-range encryption, and can route your traffic through multiple servers and even the Tor network for the maximum possible privacy.

Some alternative options for you…

And on this page, you’ll find our pick of the best options available to download today. We’ve tested and retested dozens of them and assessed their ability to keep your online activity safe and anonymous without you having to spend a cent. IPVanish has been loitering around our top few best VPN services for some time now.

But it really pulls ahead with yearly plans and access to even better features, like the ad blocker, double encryption, server coverage, and more control over specialty servers. It’s quite common for VPNs to use virtual servers, where the physical location of the server is not actually in the country you’re connecting to. This is designed to give you better connections and speed as your traffic is routed through a country with a better connection. NordVPN doesn’t offer any virtual server locations, so you can trust that your connection really is routed to the country you intended.

This happened on multiple browsers and devices, so it looks to be a significant issue, but as iPlayer didn’t clearly detect our connection as a VPN, it’s possible it might work elsewhere. The service offers 500 servers in 28 countries (or, maybe, 1000 servers – the website uses both figures). When it comes to encryption, SurfEasy doesn’t mess around with Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP). Instead, the Windows, Mac, and Android clients come with OpenVPN (256 bit) as standard.

Servers are located in extremely useful places around the world, and if it wasn’t for slight sluggishness this VPN would be suitable for all purposes. Encryption is strong on the control channel, which means that it is robust. Similarly to House A, when a person connects to the internet without a VPN, your unencrypted data is out in the open and vulnerable to a range of attacks. Its one-month plan is similar to other top-rated VPN providers—a little too pricey.

Is SurfEasy VPN safe?

Why Choose SurfEasy VPN SurfEasy offers excellent speeds, supports torrenting, and deploys OpenVPN and 256-bit encryption by default. The SurfEasy brand operates separately, and its VPN is not the same as Opera VPN, although SurfEasy is also available as a browser extension.

My tests showed that NordVPN takes security one level higher than other vendors. It offers double VPN, where it routes your traffic through two servers rather than one.

Even with it’s huge discount for an annual plan, it comes out a bit higher in price than some. But you’re paying for high quality here, up to 10 simultaneous connections at any one time and a whole year free of SugarSync cloud storage – so fantastic value overall. Logging in to SurfEasy’s UK server didn’t get us access to BBC iPlayer, but for an unusual reason. If the service detects a VPN, it usually warns that the content ‘isn’t available in your region’, but we got a simple ‘this content doesn’t seem to be working’ message.

Some VPN services will even connect to Tor via VPN, for additional security. SurfEasy is a Canadian-based free VPN from the same organization responsible for the Opera web browser, and indeed it’s bundled within Opera. There are both paid and free offerings, with the latter not restricting the amount of devices you can use – free users can hook up a maximum of five devices simultaneously, just like paid subscribers. You also get 1,000 servers across 25 countries, and a very user-friendly Windows PC client.

SurfEasy Installation

The service is also one of our favorites when it comes to privacy. VPNs also only do so much to anonymize your online activities. If you really want to browse the web anonymously, and access the Dark Web to boot, you’ll want to use Tor.