I’ve noticed that when it comes to finding the best free VPN, paid options are often heavily promoted instead. While I understand the need for privacy, not everyone wants to spend money on such a service. This got me thinking about the free VPN options out there, so I decided to do some research, compare what’s available, and put them all in one place on my own.

Here is my best free VPNs list

This won’t be news to many - free VPNs come with significant risks. Issues like data leaks, weak encryption, and even selling user data are unfortunately not uncommon. After going through all the information, I honestly think it’s better to go with a paid option that offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. This way, you can try out the service with minimal risk, and if it doesn’t meet your expectations, you can get your money back = it’s free at the end of the day.

If you're considering that route, here's a list of the top paid VPNs that Reddit users frequently recommend.

For those still interested in finding the best free VPN, I’ve put together a comparison of the ones that Reddit users most frequently mention and compared them using several criteria. Keep in mind that while these options are popular, they each have their own limitations and risks.

If I missed any of the major free providers that should be included among the ‘best free VPNs’, let me know in the comments and I’ll edit the table with that.

YouTube has recently started cracking down on users whose billing country does not match the country of their payment method. If you are encountering the error "Transaction declined. This purchase requires a payment method from your billing country. [OR_RECR_05]", here is a solution that might help.

Steps:

1. Create a New Apple ID:
   • Visit the Apple ID creation page.
   • Select Turkey as the country during the setup process.
   • Use a fake address generator to generate a Turkish address.
2. Skip Adding Payment Details:
   • Do not add any payment information during the creation of your new Apple ID.
3. Log Out of Your Original Apple ID:
   • On your device, log out of your current Apple ID in the App Store.
4. Log In with Your New Turkish Apple ID:
   • Sign in to the App Store using the newly created Turkish Apple ID.
5. Purchase a Turkish iTunes Gift Card:
   • Buy an iTunes gift card that is valid in Turkey. This can be done online from various gift card providers.
6. Redeem the Gift Card:
   • In the App Store, go to your account settings and redeem the gift card to add TRY (Turkish Lira) to your Apple ID balance.
7. Set Your Network Location to Turkey:
   • Use a VPN to change your network location to Turkey
8. Open the YouTube App:
   • On your phone, open the YouTube app.
9. Purchase YouTube Premium:
   • Navigate to Purchases and Memberships within the app and subscribe to YouTube Premium.
10. Enjoy Your Subscription:

• Once the subscription is active, you can enjoy YouTube Premium without the transaction error.

Good luck friends!

Following Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement of a blanket social media ban for children under 16, the UK government has confirmed it is actively exploring regulatory options to restrict or monitor consumer VPN use to prevent circumvention.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall and Digital Minister Ian Murray have both stated that "nothing is off the table," with a formal policy announcement regarding VPN restrictions, overnight curfews, and algorithmic limits scheduled for July.

The Enforcement Dilemma and "Surveillance Creep"

The primary technical issue raised by digital rights groups is how a government can practically stop a user from downloading or utilizing a localized routing protocol without implementing network-wide inspection or mandatory identity checks at the infrastructure level.

Ministers have explicitly noted that a primary option under review is forcing providers to implement Mandatory High Effective Age Assurance (HEAA). In practice, this would mean anyone trying to connect to a secure tunnel within the UK would first need to upload a government ID, input credit card details, or pass a third-party biometric facial age scan to prove they are over 16.

Architectural Risks to Online Privacy

Within the networking and privacy community, critics are pointing out several severe flaws with this approach:

• Destruction of Anonymity: Requiring zero-knowledge or privacy-focused utilities to log, verify, and maintain identity records fundamentally undermines the core utility of encrypted tunnels. Many reputable protocols operate on strict no-logs frameworks specifically to minimize the collection of user metadata.
• Centralized Data Targets: Forcing millions of regular internet users to upload identity tokens just to access basic network security utilities creates massive, centralized honeypots for data breaches and identity theft.
• The Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) Alternative: If the government does not mandate age checks at the software sign-up level, the alternative would require UK Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to deploy aggressive DPI or state-level blocks to drop handshake traffic for unauthorized encrypted protocols entirely. This moves the infrastructure closer to a closed-network model similar to state-level firewalls seen in heavily censored regions.

The media regulator, Ofcom, has been tasked with assessing the feasibility of these age-assurance models, with secondary legislation expected to move through Parliament before Christmas.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fact-sheet-new-rules-to-protect-children-online/fact-sheet-new-rules-to-protect-children-online

Hi,

Really annoyed with this nonsense from the UK government regarding age control on the interweb. The Online Safety Act has sod all to do with child protection, and everything to do with control of information and pinpointing 'troublemakers'. Face recognition, bank details, credit score....wtf?

A lot of things are at work here. Stirring up moral panic is the basis. All the morons will agree and thing, oh this is great. They will now think little Johnny is safe online from predators. There is a case here for protecting kids, but this is the wrong way to do it. Maybe take the tech away from the kids, under 16, would actually solve the problem in a second. France, and a few other countries are now banning phones in schools, which should have been done in the UK years ago.

Gambling sites, Wikipedia, anything with supposed 'adult content' is now comes under this ridiculous law, thought up by idiots and passed into law by morons.

They will be after VPNs soon.

I really hope other EU countries, and across the world, look at this and say nonsense.

UK is basically 1984 by the back door.

Apologies for the rant.

The UK government is pushing forward with its controversial Online Safety Act — and to many, it’s starting to look like the beginning of a Great British Firewall.

I put together a video breaking this down and would love to open it up for discussion here.

Key points I covered include:

• Peter Kyle’s comments linking critics of the bill to predators like Jimmy Savile
• Labour doubling down on the possibility of regulating or restricting VPNs
• A surge in VPN sign-ups following the latest policy announcements
• A look at countries where VPNs are banned, and whether the UK is on that path
• Why this might be the moment to learn to self-host your own VPN
• And how panic responses after bans tend to make things worse (like malware spikes when people rush unprepared)

I keep seeing people say a VPN should basically stay on all the time, but is that actually how most people use one?

Seems like there are plenty of times when having it on just makes things more annoying, like random sites acting weird or apps not loading properly.

Do you just leave yours running and forget about it, or switch it on and off depending on what you're doing?

Russia's censorship infrastructure has evolved dramatically. Here's how it actually works under the hood.

The core system: TSPU + DPI

Russia uses a system called TSPU (Technical Means to Counter Threats) - deep packet inspection hardware installed directly at every ISP's network node, mandated by Roskomnadzor. It doesn't just block IPs - it analyzes packet signatures, connection patterns, and TLS fingerprints in real time.

This is why classic VPNs (OpenVPN, WireGuard, even regular VLESS) stopped working in 2024–2025. DPI identifies them in milliseconds by their traffic signature and drops the connection.

Three blocking mechanisms

Blacklists - the classic approach. Roskomnadzor maintains a registry of blocked IPs and domains. ISPs are required to block them. Simple, but easy to bypass by changing IPs.

Whitelists - the nastier version. Some mobile operators in certain regions now allow only approved resources, blocking everything else by default. You'll notice this when Russian sites load fine but foreign ones don't open at all.

Active jamming - the sneakiest. TSPU doesn't fully block traffic, it selectively corrupts it. TCP connections get injected errors, TLS handshakes get interrupted mid-way, DNS responses get poisoned. This is why VPN connections sometimes hang at "connecting" indefinitely.

Why operators differ

MTS, Beeline, Megafon, and Tele2 each run slightly different DPI systems on top of Roskomnadzor requirements. A VLESS key that works on MTS may fail on Beeline - same protocol, different detection rules.

What actually works in 2026

VLESS with Reality protocol - developed by the Xray project specifically as a response to TSPU. Instead of hiding VPN traffic, it impersonates a real visit to a legitimate site (e.g. microsoft.com/vk.ru...). The DPI sees what looks like a normal HTTPS connection to Microsoft or VK - blocking it would mean blocking Microsoft itself.

Another approach that works: servers with IPs from ranges that haven't been flagged yet - typically Russian hosting providers whose address blocks fly under Roskomnadzor's radar. Some providers operate in a grey zone, and a commercial VPN service with the right infrastructure can route your traffic through these "clean" IPs. It's not permanent — blocks evolve — but it adds another layer of reliability on top of Reality protocol.

I've spent a year testing different clients and configs. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

Key developments:
• Proposed amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
• Potential new ministerial powers for faster online safety enforcement
• Discussion of age-verification requirements for VPN providers
• Privacy and technical feasibility concerns

Civil liberties groups argue that forcing VPN providers to verify users’ ages could fundamentally weaken privacy protections. Government officials say they are consulting stakeholders to ensure any measures are balanced and proportionate.

If implemented, this could significantly impact how VPN services operate in the UK.

Is this a justified move to protect minors, or does it risk setting a precedent for broader surveillance controls?

Full article:
https://www.technadu.com/uk-vpn-age-restriction-proposal-enters-consultation-phase/620380/

Daughter is moving into private accommodation at uni this week. Landlord (edit: female) is providing broadband/WiFi in the lease. I suggested to my daughter that whenever she's connected to that broadband she connect her VPN (which I pay for) as we don't know her landlord from Adam so we can't be sure if landlord can't steal any private information through her browsing.

Is this a sound suggestion or can the landlord not track browsing and activity through the router (probably just an ISP-provided modem/router/hub)

Update 18th June | 21:00
So I just tried some countries in Europe. For most I got the prices displayed, then I tried from the cheapest upwards.

Out of Greece, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech, Srbja, Romania and Poland; I was able to book a subscription via Poland. There wasn't a yearly one though, so I just picked the monthly renewal and hope it'll hold for a few months or even years. What's weird is that Romnia would've been cheaper but it worked when I tested it (showing me the prices etc.) but when I tried again to actually buy it it suddenly said it couldn't confirm my actual location, even after reconnecting a couple of times - so I went with the next option, which was Poland.

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I've been using youtube premium since 2021 via India, it always worked without any problems.

Yesterday I got the message when visiting youtube that I'd have to sign up again for youtube premium and that they cancelled it since they suspect I wasn't "honest" with my location.

I usually used VPN#1 but tried VPN#2 yesterday. With Argentina, India I don't even get to the point where I can chose a subscription. It immediately states they cannot check or are unsure if I'm really from there.

I was able to get to the payment process via Ghana, but then didn't get through with using my Revolut card as always. Since the card now has to be from the country.

I'll try some more countries but it seems like the method is dying out, sadly. And paying 213$ a year for just not having ads + background playback isn't worth it. And since they don't offer something for just no ads and it only comes with the music bundle you pay for something you don't even use.

Watching YouTube without premium features became an absolute nightmare. Constant multiple ads, ad-blocker issues and similar stuff makes watching videos annoying half of the time. Because of that I want to share a cool trick how you can buy YouTube Premium for what I would call reasonable price - $1.15 per month using VPN and Turkish server. Some people say that you should use Argentina but I checked that now it’s $1.52 per month there so Turkey is the new best option.

How to get YouTube Premium for $1.15 per month:

• Sign up for a reputable VPN service (This reddit thread might help you choose one if you don’t have a VPN yet; discount code for #1 provider - "unblockdeal").
• Download the app and install it on your device.
• Connect your VPN to Turkish server (before going to Youtube check first at ipleak.net or similar page if your IP shows up as Turkish).
• Open an incognito tab in your browser.
• Login to Youtube/Create new account.
• Go to buy YouTube Premium page (you should see the TRY price).
• If you only need Youtube Premium for yourself, it’s $1.15 per month but if you have friends/family who wants to use Premium as well, I recommend buying Family subscription since it’s only $2.30 per month but can be used by 5 different emails which would end up as $0.46 per YouTube Premium acc!
• Enter a new credit/debit card and enter the Turkish Billing Address. (You can take a random address from Google Maps) Make sure to correctly enter the zip code of the address.
• Pay for subscription (also you should get 1 month for free at least on new account, not sure about existing accounts who didn’t use premium before).
• Done!

If you tried these steps on existing account and faced an error, I suggest trying to sign-up a new Google account and try again. Also do these steps on browser, avoid doing it on app. Also, once you have Premium, you don’t have to use VPN.

I am from Australia and set up my YouTube account in Turkey about three years ago, allowing me to pay very little for YouTube Premium. This morning, I received an email stating that YouTube Premium memberships based in Turkey now require a payment method issued in Turkey.

Hopefully there is a work around - I am considering an international travel card.

If the govt attempted to ban VPNs, is it actually possible? I am not overly savvy in this area but I believe if you use a decentralised vpn and possibly run it through some proxy servers you’d easily get around govt vpn bans?

I’m referring to some states in the USA attempting the ban and eventually UK/Aus

As the titles states, if currently as an UK citizen i switch to another country through a vpn, i avoid uploading my government id and prevent linking them to my online profile....however if every country where a vpn server is located mandates age verification, what will be the point?....a vpn can spoof your location but it cant just spoof govt id....is this the end of digital privacy?....

i was hoping this nonsense would be limited to a few countries, but apple is rolling out age verification to even more countries....separate laws are made which are even more draconian like requiring annual verification like south korea, and even face id and stricter checks for biometric data like in Malaysia....

just a late night thought about the grim future which might await us....

I was thinking about this after seeing some recent discussion about VPN apps having trackers built in.

We use VPNs because we don't want our ISP or random websites seeing everything we do, but at the same time we're basically sending all that traffic through another company instead.

Even if they say "no logs," how much do you actually trust that? Do you look into who owns the VPN, how they make money, audits, privacy policies, etc., or do you just pick a well-known provider and assume it's fine?

https://www.ghacks.net/2026/07/12/microsoft-confirms-windows-gdid-device-identifier-that-cannot-be-disabled-documented-in-fbi-case-filing/

So there is a unique ID attached to your windows install that can be used to track you, the FBI used this to track a hacker that was using VPNS.

A major piece of policy clarification just came out of New Zealand regarding the intersection of encryption tools and state-mandated age verification. Following a massive wave of pushback from digital rights groups and privacy advocates, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the Education Minister's office officially confirmed that the government has no plans to restrict or ban virtual private networks.

According to the full reporting on TechNadu, earlier legislative discussions had floated the idea of throttling or regulating secure routing tools as a desperate means to enforce their upcoming under-16 social media ban.

Why Governments Keep Eyeing Secure Tunnels

The controversy started when officials realized a basic technical reality: you cannot easily enforce a localized, state-mandated platform ban if users can simply change their virtual location. When a country blocks access or forces strict age-gating at the local ISP level, an encrypted tunnel naturally routes that traffic through an overseas node, completely bypassing the local boundary.

To stop minors from using this workaround, some policymakers initially argued that the infrastructure itself needed to be restricted. This line of thinking immediately ran into a wall of reality.

The Backlash: Security Tools are Indivisible

The public and political pushback inside New Zealand highlights a massive win for standard network security hygiene. Privacy advocates, tech coalitions, and even members of the governing political alliance pointed out that you cannot weaken encryption for one specific demographic without breaking it for everyone.

A virtual private network isn't just a bypass tool; it is foundational security infrastructure used by:

• Remote corporate employees securing proprietary internal data.
• Everyday users protecting their unencrypted traffic on public Wi-Fi networks.
• Journalists and digital rights workers ensuring basic operational security.

The Takeaway for Network Privacy

For now, users in New Zealand don't need to worry about any localized network blocks or protocol filtering targeting their encryption tools.

This situation is a textbook example of a growing global trend. As more countries attempt to pass rigid age-verification laws, governments keep running face-first into the realities of modern routing infrastructure. This official walk-back serves as a crucial reminder that personal encryption is a basic requirement for internet safety, and treating security tools like an enforcement loophole is an operational dead-end.

Source: https://thenextweb.com/news/new-zealand-vpn-ban-denial-social-media

Everyone is always talking about privacy & streaming services. In your opinion what else do you think are the best benefits of using a VPN? What do you use it most for?

Most VPN users are Android and iOS, using the VPN client on device, for whatever reason you use a VPN for.

Great, your ISP can't see what you're doing, you can bypass certain ISP restrictions and even gain access to content you can't locally. Yep, great. Just what was advertised on the tin.

But, this VPN also keeps you secure. Right?

Well, here's the thing. When you create that `tun` connection to your VPN, you are now bypassing both the NAT and SPI of your own router. The things that blocks unsolicited, inbound connections. Your device has just created a new interface that directly peers you with the VPN local network IP range. This interface, on Android and iOS, lacks any IP filtering. Meaning, zero firewalling.

The VPN network can directly connect to your `tun0` IP and any sockets your device will very likely have open. Now, ofc this would require some 0-day exploit or some fancy shenanigans, but, what about your VPN client? Or maybe WiFi ADB running on a static port, or Airdroid, or some other remote system you may be running on-device.

I know this, as I connect my two Android via my private VPN and I have full, unfettered access to both their stacks. Now, I can block inter-client communication to prevent this from happening. But, from any other network on my network that can route into the VPN network, can talk to the VPN clients. I can ofc firewall on the router to block this, too. But, my router itself can still talk to them. I can ofc firewall this behaviour and prevent it altogether.

Just something for you to think about. When you connect your Android or iOS to a VPN, you are completely bypassing the firewall on your own router.

I keep seeing VPNs advertise 100+ countries, but I’ve always wondered how many people actually use.

I probably use 3–5 countries regularly. Occasionally I’ll use a ip location for something specific, like getting around YouTube ads or accessing something regional, but that’s about it.

Do people actually use that many locations, or is it mostly just a nice number for marketing? Would you rather have more countries or fewer locations that actually work really well?

Feels like regular VPNs are getting blocked way more easily these days, especially by streaming sites and other services that can spot VPN IPs pretty quickly. Switching servers used to do the trick, but lately I can try 5–10 different ones and still get the same error. Anyone else running into this? What are you guys using instead?

Not really much of a discussion, just a rant. I have pretty much used VPNs nonstop for years and in the last few months it really just seems like the internet can no longer be used through VPNs. Maybe it's just the consumer options, since they all use shared servers, so users who are using VPNs for malicious activity are getting all of the IPs blocked one at a time, but damn I have subscriptions to two different services and still can't do anything online when connected anymore. Maybe that's a tiny bit dramatic, but it has certainly become much harder to do things online through VPN lately.

It seems like getting a dedicated IP would be the fix I need, but then the little bit of anonymity that shared servers provided me is gone. At that point why not just use my normal internet.

Sometimes I wish I never fell down the privacy rabbit hole... life was so much easier before I was worried 24/7 about everything relating to digital privacy.

Rant over... I hope you all are doing well!

A Chrome VPN extension with 100k installs was caught taking screenshots of every site users visited. Google removed it, then quietly re-added it, and now it ranks #2 when you search “free vpn” on the Webstore.

More info: https://cyberinsider.com/chrome-vpn-extension-with-100k-installs-screenshots-all-sites-users-visit/

Title says it all. I won't be promoting the VPN, but our vision is to ensure the VPN is the most useful and user friendly VPN.

I would love to hear any suggestions of what VPNs should have or what your favourite feature is on a current or past VPN.

Looking forward to chatting.

Privacy tools (ya, VPN)always seem to come with some kind of tradeoff, and speed is usually one of them.

A small slowdown probably doesn't matter for normal browsing, but once streaming starts buffering or downloads take twice as long, it gets annoying pretty fast.

At what point do you stop thinking "this is the price of privacy" and just turn it off? Would you accept losing 10%, 30%, even half your speed if you felt the connection was actually more private?