VPN usage has exploded in recent years, with services promising privacy protection and fast browsing. Even on Apple’s relatively secure iOS, VPNs are still essential to ensure online privacy and security.
Although the App Store is brimming with VPNs, finding a capable free VPN for iPhone is a challenge. We recommend paying for a VPN service, but there are several reputable VPN apps that offer free plans if you don’t want to spend the money.
Let’s take a look at the top three free VPN apps for iPhone and iPad.
How to Choose the Best iPhone VPN?
The best free iPhone VPN checks the following important boxes:
- pace: Best VPNs provide high quality speed without bandwidth restrictions. Contrary to popular belief, VPNs cannot provide faster internet speeds than your ISP can offer. But even a good VPN shouldn’t slow down your connection. Fortunately, if you find that your VPN is throttling your internet speed, there are useful fixes to try.
- Security: Good iPhone VPNs provide strong encryption protocols to keep your data secure online.
- ease of use: The VPN should be easy to set up and use. This means a clean, intuitive app interface and hassle-free sign-up and sign-in processes.
makeup video of the day
- Large network of servers: VPNs mask your IP address by re-routing it through remote servers in different locations. The more servers there are, the more likely you are to have secure, private browsing.
- 24/7 Customer Support: Great VPNs offer 24/7 email or live chat support if you hit any obstacles on the road.
ProtonVPN: Best Free Overall VPN
ProtonVPN is one of the most downloaded VPN apps out there, and there is a good reason for that. This is a great service that offers military-grade encryption and unlimited bandwidth with a free account. This is one of the fastest VPNs available on the market (yes, we actually tested).
The free plan comes with three server options: the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands, so you can access websites on three continents. It also has no data cap, but speeds are capped during peak hours to ensure that its free servers don’t get congested.
Of course, ProtonVPN has over 1400 servers in 60+ different countries, but you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to access them. You’ll also need a paid plan to unblock location-exclusive streaming content.
ProtonVPN is a strong performer in terms of security. It runs on AES-256, 4096-bit RSA and HMAC with SHA384 encryption, and offers other nifty features like an Always-on VPN and a built-in ad-blocker. The service has a no-logs policy, which means that it does not keep any records of user data or activity.
Windscribe: Best VPN for Streaming
This VPN is incredibly easy to set up – you don’t even need an email to get started. Simply download and toggle the switch to start browsing safely.
There’s a catch though: Free users who don’t want to create accounts only get 2GB of data per month, which is too little to be useful. If you give Windscribe your email address, that data cap is raised to 10GB per month. If you tweet about them using the link in your email confirmation message, Windscribe will upgrade you to 15GB.
Probably the most major selling point for Windscribe Free is that it can bypass Netflix’s regional restrictions. Of course, those using it have more benefits than free ones over paying customers: The Pro version of the VPN comes with a wider selection of servers and locations than the free version, so you have the option of skirting geo-blocks. There will be a better chance. by going pro
And while the data cap means you can’t watch your favorite shows at all, it’s still a nice feature for a free plan.
The service offers 11 remote server locations on this free plan (at last count, the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and 12 US VPN cities). Like Proton, this VPN also has a strict no-logs policy, so your internet sessions are not recorded.
It comes with AES-256 encryption and has a decent selection of tunneling protocols that you can choose from. The free plan comes with a kill switch feature, DNS leak protection, an ad-blocker, and a secure hotspot function.
Download: Windscribe (Free, subscription available).
Hide.me VPN: Best for Privacy
Like Windscribe, you can use Hide.me without the hassle of email signup. You get most of the paid features in the free plan, but there is a 10GB data limit per month. This VPN uses either IKEv2 or SSTP connection protocol with AES-256 encryption to mask your internet traffic.
You can only connect to one device at a time and only up to five server locations (including the US and Canada), instead of the 50+ locations available for premium customers.
This VPN also has a no-logs policy with privacy features like stealth mode, split tunneling, and IP leak protection. It has no ads and doesn’t throttle speeds, but unfortunately, with the free plan, you can’t access streaming services.
Download: Hide.me VPN (Free, in-app purchases available).
Should You Use a Free iPhone VPN?
If you are a light user who only needs extra protection for the occasional IP masking, a free VPN will do. But the paid plans beat free VPNs by all standards. They offer better services, fewer restrictions, and more longevity than the free plans. Some paid VPNs start at $2, so consider checking out some of those to ensure maximum security and privacy online.
What is the best VPN for Netflix? Change Region with ExpressVPN
Read next
About the Author
Keyede Erinfolami (92 articles published)
Keyede Erinfolami is passionate about using technology to improve productivity in daily life and work. When she’s not writing, you can find her kicking Scrabble or finding the best angles to take nature photos. Have a healthy relationship with the Oxford comma.
Keyede Erinfolami. More movies or TV shows
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free eBooks and exclusive deals!
Please click here to subscribe
