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Tom's Guide
13-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Is Hide.me Free actually worth using?
Not everyone can afford or needs a VPN. We'd always recommend a paid service above all else but choosing from the best free VPNs can be a handy alternative in a pinch. There are some fake free VPNs around, and not every free provider is reputable. But all the free VPNs we recommend are safe, reputable, and do the VPN basics well. Free features on our list of the best free VPNs. We don't rate it as much as PrivadoVPN Free, Proton VPN Free, or Windscribe Free, but it's a genuine free VPN that will protect you online. However, how usable is Free? The provider offers some strong positives, but also some very significant negatives. So, how does it stand up and can it be a serious free VPN option? Let's start with the positives of Free. Unlike some free VPNs, Free will protect your data. It shares the excellent privacy features of its paid version, including a functioning kill switch. Kill switches are a must-have for the most secure VPNs and they cut your internet connection should your VPN fail. Many free VPNs, and even paid VPNs, don't have a kill switch, so Free having one is a big plus – it even extends to iOS, which is even rarer. Just like many of the best VPNs, had its no-logs policy audited and verified in December 2024, meaning it won't share any of your data with third-parties. It also sits outside of European and Western data jurisdictions thanks to its Malaysian base – another strong privacy advantage. Free is available on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Linux. With the exception of iOS, all these platforms support split tunneling – we'll explain why this might come in handy later. Windscribe Free and PrivadoVPN Free both impose data limits on their free plans. Free, alongside Proton VPN Free, doesn't do this. There are no restrictions on how much you can use the VPN – ideal for those who will regularly use the service. Other positives include customer support, for both the paid and free service, and decent enough app customisation. But it can't compare to Windscribe Free in this department, which restricts almost nothing except data usage on its free plan. So if you're a more seasoned VPN user, looking to customise your app, Free might not be the best choice. US Netflix can be unblocked by Free but its speeds, or lack of, make this achievement largely pointless. This is Free's biggest drawback and we'll explain more below. Free VPNs being slower than their paid counterparts isn't rare. The fastest VPNs can exceed 900 Mbps and only PrivadoVPN Free can hit that number. In our testing, PrivadoVPN Free clocked 950 Mbps, Windscribe Free hit 496 Mbps, and Proton VPN Free registered 335 Mbps. Many VPNs can go faster than this – as long as your internet can keep up – but they're like lighting compared to Free. Testing on Mac saw speeds of 25 Mbps when connected to the closest server. The tester's non-VPN internet connection was 690 Mbps, so this result represented a crippling speed reduction. What's more disappointing is that some of our testers reported speeds as low as 1 Mbps. This is unusable and could be seen as deliberate throttling to frustrate users and lead them to the provider's paid plan. In my personal testing, Free measured 44 Mbps when connected to a US server and 50 Mbps when connected to a UK server. This is manageable for general browsing, but bearing in mind my internet connection without a VPN hovers around 300 Mbps, this is another significant and disappointing reduction. 25 Mbps is reportedly fast enough to stream 4K Netflix but we wouldn't recommend Free for streaming – it's simply not fast or reliable enough. If streaming is your priority, you're better off going with one of the best streaming VPNs. You can make use of Free's split tunneling feature to exclude streaming sites from your VPN connection. But this will mean you can't access geo-blocked content and your data will be left unprotected. Free's server spread is limited. There are seven servers to choose from, located in Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Although you can select which server you connect to – unlike Proton VPN Free – there's nothing available outside the US and Europe. This will be disappointing for those in South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. An odd quirk is that Free "expires" after 30 days. You can continue using the app at no cost but having to renew every month can be irritating. You'll also be offered the option to upgrade to the paid plan – currently $3 per month. This is quite annoying, affects user experience, and something people would prefer not to deal with. Staying with user experience, Free's app design could be improved. It's blocky, outdated, and honestly not that nice to use. It's functional and fairly simplistic, but it leaves a lot to be desired looks wise. Other free VPNs have superior UIs and a better all-round app experience. It's not the biggest problem in the world, but if you're after a long-term, daily-use VPN, user experience and app design is important. How usable Free will be, depends on what you want to use it for. If you just want to occasionally browse the web, need a free VPN to bypass internet censorship, or need short-term protection, Free will do the job. However, if you want to unblock Netflix, stream videos, download files, and use a VPN long-term, then you'll want to look elsewhere. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Tom's Guide
12-06-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Is it really worth upgrading from Windscribe Free?
Windscribe Free is one of the best free VPNs on the market, with a generous amount of servers for free users, decent speeds and a huge amount of features shared between its paid and free versions. With all these positives, you may be wondering why anyone would switch from Windscribe Free to Windscribe Premium. And, in truth, many people will be more than satisfied with the free version. Let's take a look at what you get: This outstrips some of the cheaper paid VPNs, and Windscribe has by far the most features of all the free VPNs we recommend. Unlike many, Windscribe doesn't hold back any essential privacy and security features for the paid plan. This is a big green flag, and shows that your privacy is a priority. If you can handle the complex apps and don't mind the limited independent audits, it's a great choice for power users. Hold your horses there, champ. The bottom line is that no matter what, free VPNs will always be limited in some way compared to their paid counterparts, and Windscribe is no exception. Here, I'll explore some common reasons you might want to ditch your free plan for a paid one, including data limits, reduced speeds and streaming access. A secure, private VPN: WindscribeWindscribe comes with all of the class-leading privacy and security of its free option (including quantum-resistant encryption), but with some great added extras. This includes faster speeds, split tunneling and a kill switch on iOS and unlimited data. Prices can be as low as $2 thanks to Windscribe's build-a-plan option, and pre-made plans start from $5.75 per month for a 12-month plan ($69 upfront). Windscribe Free does have a fairly generous data limit at 15 GB per month, although this is reduced to 2 GB if you don't verify your email address, and 10 GB if you don't fancy Tweeting about the company. So, if you want to anonymously use Windscribe, you get far less data to play around with. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One of the main draws of Windscribe Free is that it offers streaming support, something often neglected by other free VPNs. It may not unblock as much as the best streaming VPNs, but it can access Netflix in the US, the UK and Canada, as well as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, ITVX and All4. However, this access is a double-edged sword – if you use Windscribe Free for data-heavy activities like streaming, you might find yourself running out of data frequently. Windscribe's paid-for version offers unlimited data, meaning you won't run out no matter how often you use your VPN, or whatever you use it for. However, if you don't want to switch from a free to a paid service, you could go for a free VPN that offers unlimited data, like Proton VPN Free. If you use Windscribe Free, you get a choice of 14 locations in 10 countries: the USA; Canada; the UK; France; Germany; Netherlands; Norway, Romania; Switzerland; and Hong Kong. While this is definitely generous, and a far higher number of locations to choose from than other free VPNs (Proton VPN Free, for example, only gives you 5 location options), it can't match up to its paid-for server spread. For one thing, Windscribe's premium version offers servers in 134 locations across 69 countries – a great deal more than Windscribe Free. Additionally, there's a lack of diversity in Windscribe Free's server spread – the majority of the servers are located in Europe, and there's only one server option for Asia. So, if you want a bigger server spread or want to connect to a server in a country not covered by Windscribe's Free servers, you'll be better off going for Windscribe's paid option. In our speed tests, Windscribe Free achieved speeds of 496 Mbps, which is an admirable effort and is even faster than some paid-for VPNs. However, if you want to crank your speeds up to 785 Mbps, you'll need to go for Windscribe premium. While these speeds are not the fastest VPN speeds we've seen, Windscribe's paid version has the benefit of a larger server network, meaning you're less likely to be connecting to an overloaded server. Overall, both Windscribe and Windscribe Free offer pretty good speeds, and shouldn't slow you down while you're using either version of the VPN. But, if you want to give your speeds a bit of a boost, consider switching to a paid-for subscription.
Tom's Guide
23-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Proton VPN drops to its lowest ever price – get it while you can
It's Proton's birthday and what better way to celebrate than offering Proton VPN at its lowest ever price. It's one of the best VPNs out there and a rock solid, privacy-focused provider. The two-year plan is 70% off, working out at $2.99 per month ($71.76 up front). But be quick, the deal runs out on May 28. Proton VPN comes from the team behind Proton Mail, and it's a big name in the privacy and security world. It's one of the most private VPNs, so if privacy is your priority, it's a chance to get a top provider for cheap. Proton VPN is not the only VPN deal this weekend. Check out our round up of the top VPN Memorial Day deals. Proton VPN: the best VPN for privacyProton VPN is a privacy-focused provider and offers class-leading privacy and security for up to 10 devices. It's super fast and unblocked every streaming site we threw at it. There's over 12,000 servers, double hop Secure Core servers, and a host of anti-censorship features. The 2-year plan works out at $2.99 per month ($71.76 up front) and has never been cheaper. There's a great free VPN too and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Proton VPN's real strength lies in its privacy. It's a verified no-logs provider and has completed a number of independent audits. This means it doesn't store, share, or sell any of your personal data and it's protected by class-leading encryption. It's also open source, so you can see the code for yourself. Proton VPN owns all of its more than 12,000 servers, resulting in added security, and it has a large presence in Africa and Asia – more than any other provider. It's one of the fastest VPNs we've tested, hitting speeds of over 900 Mbps. It also unblocked every streaming site we tried to access with it. This speed and unblocking power makes it one of the best streaming VPNs. Proton VPN isn't the most feature heavy VPN, but everything is included and there's no paid add-ons. There's a solid kill switch and split tunneling, as well as some more technical features such as moderate NAT. Its Secure Core feature allows you to route your VPN traffic through two servers rather than one, for an additional layer of encryption, privacy, and security. Proton VPN has some of the best anti-censorship features available, and one of its biggest goals is to provide access to a free and open internet. Its Stealth VPN protocol obfuscates your internet traffic and hides the fact you're using a VPN. On Android, you can disguise the Proton VPN app and there's a browser extension for those who cannot download the app at all. Proton VPN Free is one of the best free VPNs available and protects you with the same level of privacy and security as the paid plan. Guest mode means you don't even have to create an account to access it and Proton VPN has partnered with the secure browser Vivaldi to offer it as an extension. Proton VPN's UI isn't the simplest, and beginners may take a bit of time to get used to it. Following a recent update, the UI has undergone a big redesign, making it a lot cleaner. But it's still not as easy to use as ExpressVPN or Surfshark. NetShield is Proton VPN's threat protection offering. It claims to block ads and trackers, but in our testing it proved far less effective than NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro. Proton VPN isn't usually the cheapest option available, but it's not the most expensive. But it's never this cheap and takes it below NordVPN and ExpressVPN by some way. However, Private Internet Access (PIA) and Surfshark still come in cheaper and may be better options if you're on a tight budget. Overall, Proton VPN is a great VPN and ideal for the privacy-conscious. It's fast, has some decent features, and offers protection for 10 devices. If you're a fan of the Proton ecosystem then it'll slot in with ease. $2.99 per month makes it very good value and it's well worth considering. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
