Top 10 Best Free VPNs For Windows (June 2020)

You will find numerous VPNs available for Windows on Microsoft Store, but how would you know which one is the most reliable, safe & fast? We tested more than 90 VPNs on our Windows 10 laptop for a few months, hence we can tell you which VPNs can be trusted.

Using a VPN seems very cost-effective, but in fact, it is not. All free VPNs are often very slow or limited & can be more hazardous if we talk about our data privacy and cybersecurity.

Today, we bring you a list of best free VPN for windows. Although these free VPNs have some limitations, still they are very fast and safe. You can easily use them on every version of Windows.

Best free VPNs for Windows – A detailed analysis

We researched over 90 free VPNs and finally shortlisted 10 best free VPN for Windows.

We tested the speed, security measures, and compatibility to ensure that our recommendations are reliable and safe. Please know that all free VPNs have one or the other restriction, for example, temporary usage and data limits.

1. NordVPN

This is one of the largest VPNs and provides you a premium service. Nord VPN is generally not free however, it can be used with the 30 days money-back guarantee. During this one month, you can experience its fantastic services and if you like it you can continue with it. This is the best VPN if your purpose is to watch all content on BBC player, Netflix, and other content providers.

Setting up NordVPN is an easy task and it starts automatically on startup. Hence, it keeps you protected always while you are not required to turn it on manually every time you log in.

It is also very easy to share the NordVPN connection with additional devices through mobile hotspot. It means that you can use it on the devices that are not even compatible with VPN connections. For example, your game console and Smart TV. NordVPN also provides you the tutorials for all versions of Windows.

With an amazing performance, Nord VPN operates more than 5000 servers in 60 countries. This means you can access content from all over the world. The best benefit of a large server network is that you get fast speed. This is why NordVPN is one of the fastest VPN available in the market. During our testing, we were able to access Netflix US from India, with no buffering at all. And this is impressive because my data traveled so far.

The special feature of Smartplay DNA easily bypassed the geo-restrictions. It can easily unblock more than 400 video streaming services and works without any manual interruption.

You can enjoy unlimited bandwidth and data for streaming, browsing, and Torrent for unlimited time without any buffering.

NordVPN comes with an ad blocker, which makes sure that your data is protected. We tested their customer service also and found that they are very helpful. They have a live customer support chat feature which is available 24 X 7. This VPN has everything for all types of users.

2. Hotspot shield

It is a very safe, user-friendly, fast, and free VPN. We were able to download its windows application entirely free without any signing up process or email registration.

The free plan of Hotspot Shield comes with 500 MB of data every day. But with this data, we were able to stream for 30 minutes only.

However, it is disappointing to know that you will be limited to only one US server, hence you won’t be able to unblock many streaming sites. Using Hotspot Shield, we were able to stream Kodi, Spotify, and YouTube, but Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu was inaccessible.

Your browsing activity is not logged by Hotspot Shield, but some details are recorded, like your IP address. However, these details are also deleted at the end of every session.

The free version doesn’t have an ad blocker, so you will have to watch the advertisements. Hotspot Shield provides your location to Google so that relevant ads can be displayed.

3. Windscribe

Windscribe provides you a free data worth 10GB every month. With this abundance of data, we can watch more than 11 hours of HD quality YouTube videos and can browse the internet for approximately 166 hours.

To get this free data, you will have to submit your email address. If you don’t opt to do so, you will only get 2GB. You can earn some extra data also if you tweet to the company.

Kodi and YouTube were accessible using the free version, but we observed some slow down because so many people use these free servers. Windscribe provides the access to their Netflix-optimised servers only to the premium users. We could not use Netflix and other popular streaming services with our free account.

Windscribe allows you to access servers in 10 locations – USA, France, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Norway, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and the UK.

this VPN is very useful if you are using it at home because it allows you to connect to the other wireless devices without getting disconnected from your VPN. However, it doesn’t encrypt your local IP traffic. Windscribe is also very convenient while streaming the geo-restricted content or accessing local websites.

They also provide you a detailed installation guide for Windows including video tutorials. If you have further queries, you can contact their chatbot, Gary. If he is not able to help you, then their live chat service will take over and will help you.

4. ProtonVPN

This is an easy to use VPN which protects your Windows device effectively. Proton VPN allows you to connect automatically on start up if you simply use its ‘Start With Windows’ feature.

This VPN will provide you unlimited bandwidth and data. But we observed that it can only connect you to the servers in the Netherlands, Japan, and the US.

We were able to unblock Netflix and other major streaming services like BBC player and Amazon Prime Video. However, you will get the unlimited speed with the free plan which sometimes makes it difficult to stream. We experienced a lot of buffering and watching HD videos was not possible on this.

Your browsing activity is not logged while using ProtonVPN. Moreover, they have their home base in Switzerland which is a privacy-friendly country. It means your private data cannot be shared with the government.

We felt disappointed with there customer service options and delayed response. They do not have live chat support. You can contact them through email or a support ticket system only. They responded to our queries after 24 hours from the submission.

5. Hide.Me

The next name in our list of best free VPN for Windows is hide.me, which provides you a lifetime free Windows app. This VPN can be set to connect on startup so that you don’t have to configure it every time you log in.

Hide.me is a secure and reliable VPN and supports peer to peer sharing on all servers. However, it is unable to connect to the servers in the US, the UK, and Australia. With a free account, you can easily access servers in Canada, Singapore, Netherlands, US West, and US East.

It gives you unlimited speed and bandwidth with a monthly free data of 10GB. With this data, you can easily watch 10 hours of HD videos on YouTube. You cannot unblock Netflix or other major content websites, except Spotify and YouTube.

This VPN is not good for streaming purposes, but it is one of the best VPN in terms of cybersecurity. It provides a very high level of encryption for keeping your data and online activities hidden.

Since we were able to download this VPN without any registration or sign up, it gives a surety that they do not keep any record of our contact details or any personal data.

Downloading the window app very simple and only takes 3 steps. Even if we use it as a free user, the live chat service is available 24 X 7 in case of any query. When we submitted our queries, they provided an immediate response in a very friendly manner.

6. Tunnelbear

This VPN is very user-friendly and can be installed with a simple process. They provide 500MB of data every month for free account users.

this data is insufficient if you want to watch your favorite movies online. If you prefer watching videos in HD qualities, then you can exhaust this data in a single episode of your favorite show. However, getting an extra GB of free data is possible by tweeting the company.

Tunnelbear provides unlimited speeds in their free account and you can connect to the servers in more than 20 countries. During our testing, we could unblock HBO Go, but not Hulu or Netflix US.

Using their Ghostbear mode, you can easily bypass censorship, deep packet inspection, and VPN blocks. This makes Tunnelbear a very secure VPN, and that’s why it is still working in China also.

Customer service is easily accessible through email. We tried to send them a query and received their response after 24 hours.

7. Opera VPN

This VPN is built into the Opera browser. When we tried to test it, we observed that Opera VPN was pre-installed and ready to use as soon as we enabled it. This can easily be done in the browser’s extensions menu on the Windows device.

No standalone app is available for this, so you will have to install Opera browser on your Windows device to use this VPN. Opera VPN will not protect your data, as it is is a browser extension. Hence, there is no protection at all for external applications like BitTorrent clients.

Opera VPN provides you unlimited bandwidth and data for free, but it is comparatively slower than other free VPNs for windows. You can choose from 3 server locations i.e. North America, Asia, and Europe.

We had to face server overload issues and our connection was slowed down. We were also not able to choose any specific location in these regions. Hence, it became difficult to access Hulu, Netflix, and other video streaming services.

Opera VPN does not have a dedicated customer service team, so you will have to contact Opera’s customer support team. You will get the contact details from their website.

8. Speedify

The free Windows vpn app from Speedify provides you access to their servers in over 50 countries in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

As a free user, you can only use 1 GB data every month, which will not allow you to do a lot of streaming and downloading.

While testing their streaming ability, we were able to unblock Hulu, Spotify, and Netflix US. Using their windows app, we could also access YouTube content which was geo-restricted.

Speedify provides you Channel Bonding feature. We tried to test this and discovered that it combined all of our available internet connections. As a result, our speed got a boost, and upload and download times also improved. But the drawback of this feature is that it will consume your data very fast. Hence you will have to be very cautious while using this feature, especially if you have a limited plan.

While using their services, we observed that if you have any queries regarding the Windows app setup or any other query, you will be required to fill out their email form. This can be accessed in the contact section of their website. There is an effective FAQ section also, which provides you the answers to your basic questions.

9. Betternet

Betternet gives you a dedicated app for Windows.  You will get only 500 MB every day if you are a free user. During our testing, we observed that this data was insufficient to stream even a single episode of a TV show.

Netflix and other popular video streaming providers are inaccessible while using a free Betternet account. Although you will be able to access YouTube, at a very slow speed.

According to their privacy policy, they do not share any details with third parties. Also, their free version displays advertisements. Due to this, your location is shared with Google, so that relevant ads can be shown.

The customer service option is the same for free users and paid subscribers. But you will have to log a ticket, in case you want any support from them. This usually takes more time as compared to the other VPNs mentioned in the list.

10. VPN Book

This is a free VPN without any application or clients. They simply provide you the server information which you will have to set up manually. This can be done on your Windows device using OpenVPN.

During our testing, we observed that the setup was not simple, as compared to the other VPNs. Setup is a complicated process and will take a lot of time, especially if you are not very well versed in using VPNs.

We have ranked VPN Book low in our list of best free VPN for Windows because basic technical knowledge will be required to get started with it. However, their website will provide you a step by step setup guide for almost all versions of Windows, which is very easy to understand.

Once the setup is done, VPN Book provides you unlimited bandwidth and data. They allow you to connect to the servers in 6 countries including Canada, Germany, Poland, France, the UK, and the US.

We observed that this VPN is very slow for streaming purposes and we were not able to access Netflix and many other popular streaming sites.

While contacting their customer service team, we analyzed that if someone required help in getting started, they provided support through email, along with the relevant information. Their team can be contacted through various social media platforms also.

Summary

Almost all best free VPNs for windows provide you unlimited access. Low speeds, data restrictions, and advertisements can spoil your streaming and browsing experience.

But you can still try a budget-friendly VPN from the list we provided above. Almost all of them provide 30 days money-back guarantee. If you like their services you can continue with them.