Free VPN: These Seven Things to Watch Out For
by Vít Nováček, updated November 25, 2022
There are several reasons not to use free VPNs. The main one is security because when you use a VPN, you are relying on a commitment that the provider does not store any of your search data or have any other hidden backdoors. If the provider keeps connection data or even collects sensitive data, then there is no point in using a VPN. On the contrary, it poses a security risk.
In this case, it is better not to use a VPN than a VPN from an unverified provider. You should never trust unlimited free VPNs without a paid version and website.
If you want a VPN that you will only use occasionally and do not want to pay for it, then choose one of the verified providers offering free VPNs.
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Data Abuse
When using a VPN, all your outgoing and incoming data passes through the VPN tunnel to the VPN provider’s server. This gives the server access to search data, sensitive data, and IP addresses. All trusted providers strictly do not store any data about your activities, and impartial experts audit their system.
However, this is not the case for many free VPNs, which can be found mainly as mobile VPNs in the Google store and Apple Store. Privacy policies that users do not normally read are not for the user’s benefit at all. By using these apps, you are permitting them to trade your sensitive data.
The fact is some providers who say they do not store any data actually do; this became evident by the data leak of seven VPN providers in Hong Kong, which leaked a total of a billion records, including email addresses, unencrypted passwords, IP addresses, users’ home addresses, device IDs, device models, and more. This could never have happened if the company did not store any data in the first place. In the case of these leaks, it was even a paid VPN provider.
Choosing a quality, secure VPN is essential, even among paid providers. This website will help you with that, where we compare and rate provider offerings. This makes it easier for you to choose a quality, trustworthy, and suitable VPN.
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Inferior Services
No free VPN offers the same quality of service as a paid one, whether it is a slower connection, data transfer limitations, or a smaller selection of servers and countries. In most cases, free versions also have a restriction of extra features, with only the basic ones usually remaining.
VPN security is also generally only available for the paid versions. Free VPN providers have, in most cases, only IP masking functionality and limited unblocking of location restrictions due to fewer server offerings.
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Restricted Data Transfer
In most cases, free VPNs have a limit on the amount of data transferred compared to paid VPNs without limitations. The amount of data varies by provider. Limits can be daily, weekly, or monthly. They usually range between 200 MB and up to 10 GB. This data is not enough for playing videos and streaming services but rather for occasional use of protection on public Wi-Fi.
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Lower Speed
Free VPNs are not among the fastest VPNs. Most free VPNs are only available with lower connection speeds at the expense of paid customers. With free VPNs, data-restricted VPNs offer faster speeds than unlimited ones.
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Lower Protection
Not all providers offer the same VPN security for free versions and paid versions. All trusted VPNs should encrypt your data and mask your IP address. Unfortunately, they usually do not offer additional protections, such as connecting through secure servers, multiple VPN connections, or torrenting protection.
Paid VPN protection is better with most providers, thanks in part to more options for setup and server selection.
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Less Server Selection
For non-paying users, in most cases, there is a limited VPN from which they can choose to connect to servers. Unfortunately, you cannot select the server for some, reducing the ability to bypass internet restrictions and use your preferred servers.
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VPN with Lifetime License
Lifetime license VPN providers offer unlimited VPNs for significantly less than the competition. Unfortunately, some offers look too good not to be a scam. In fact, most offers come with even bigger discounts so a lifetime license will set you back even the price of a three-month subscription to a regular VPN.
In addition, we cannot definitively answer whether a lifetime VPN is secure. Therefore, we do not recommend them because they can only be a variation of untrustworthy free VPNs. However, the fact that you pay for them makes you feel like you can trust them.
Because of the risk of data misuse and untested providers, we recommend paying extra for a tried and tested VPN.
