Top 10 Free Trial VPNs
10 Best VPNs That Offer Free Trials
It is perfectly possible to try out a Virtual Private Network (VPN), as unlikely as it sounds. Many top VPN services offer free trials to let you evaluate their services. This can typically be a 30-day breathing space – sometimes even 45 days – to see if you like the service. It’s an opportunity to assess whether the provider does deliver on its promises. And a chance to figure out which of the deals on offer will work out best for you.
It’s not just VPN services desperately looking to grow their customer base. Best free VPN services are often the heavy hitters of VPN. They are keen to showcase their product and let you see for yourself without parting with any money or compromising your provider’s quality.
The phrase free trial is a slight misnomer, however. What’s on offer is a money-back guarantee. But regardless of how it is billed, it’s a way to try-before-you-buy without signing up to a binding contract first. If you’re new to VPN, too, a so-called free trial is also an excellent way to get to grips with the apps and ensure you receive the level of service promised by all the marketing.Pros
- 24/7 live chat and phone support
- Over 75 server locations worldwide
- Fast connections
- User-friendly apps on all platforms
- Unlimited devices
Cons
- Netflix US is not universally accessible
Deal – Thirty-day money-back guarantee. The regular non-promotion price is $9.99 per month on a rolling contract. The annual package is $79.99 per year.
At the moment, IPVanish is offering a month’s VPN try out for just $3.49. With their 30 day refund in place, you are not risking much if you forget the cancellation. It’s easily done, but no more costly than buying a couple of coffees in Starbucks.
As well as securing your internet traffic and privacy with advanced encryption, IPVanish gets around many of the geo-restrictions you run into online. With their service, you also have peace of mind that no-one can snoop on your activity when you use public WiFi.
What also makes IP Vanish interesting is you can add-on 250 Gigs of storage to your plan. As you have unlimited connections to IPVanish, you can sync data on multiple devices.
IPVanish is compatible with almost everything from Windows to Linux, including Fire TV. Using an IPVanish-enabled router, you can get smart electronics and Internet of Things devices access to the VPN as well.Pros
- Superfast
- Advanced security features
- Over 3,000 servers
- Good support for P2P
- Strict no-logs policy
Cons
- Minimal control of advanced features
Deal – A 30-day no-questions refund if you are not happy. Regular prices range from $6.67 per month to $12.95 per month.
ExpressVPN is somewhat forthright in the marketing of their free trial. They unequivocally state you can get all your money back if you’re not 100% satisfied with your month-long test drive.
That’s quite an underwriting. And one presumably that ExpressVPN are quietly confident they won’t have to fork out for the vast majority of people.
The free trial page linked above takes you on to the sign-up page where you can nominally select – and pay for – one of their packages. If you are not sure which to go for at this stage, opt for the cheapest meantime. If you want to commit later in a couple of weeks, you can cancel the trial and upgrade later.
ExpressVPN makes it into our top 10 as it’s a bombproof VPN and arguably the best. Plus, what tips it slightly is the free three months they throw in if you opt for the annual package. So you obtain 15 months for the price of 12. Sweet.Pros
- Unlimited device connections
- Free trial
- Transparent privacy policy
- Audited no logs policy
- Kill switch support
Cons
- No live chat support
Deal – Free. The standard price is from $4.08 to $9. But you can create your own VPN package
We have included Windscribe as it literally gives away its VPN service. Up to a point.
If you are a light user or want to test the marketing hype against reality, you can do so for free.
The catch is you are limited to 10 Gigs of data for free per month and can only access a limited number of the available servers. However, this is more than enough leeway to get a handle on whether you like the Windscribe service or not as you get access to all the tools. If you like what you see, you can switch to a paid subscription, which starts at $9.99 monthly and gets you unlimited bandwidth.
It’s a neat solution. And a bit of a no-brainer if you want to give Windscribe your personal seal of approval before signing up for a contract.
What we also like is their Build A Plan option. That way, you don’t need to pay for anything you don’t need. Windscribe accepts the usual credit cards, plus PayPal, PaymentWall, and Bitcoin.
Windscribe does what it says on the tin, and you can find out for yourself for free.Pros
- All servers support P2P
- Well over 3,000 servers in 65 countries
- Strict no-logs policy
- Private DNS on each server
- Unlimited devices
Cons
- Infrequently the odd server can get lazy
Deal – 30-day money-back guarantee. The usual price is $6.49 to $12.95, but look out for cheaper promo deals.
Surfshark has just come off the back of a sub-$5 promotion, which included three months for free. We strongly advise watching out for that returning very soon as it is a cracking deal. Check now before you forget.
Even before this fantastic promotional price of $2.21 per month, Surfshark was a widely popular choice as a VPN provider. It is competitively priced, but you get a lot for your money.
Right now, they are, like almost everyone else, running a 30-day money-back guarantee. But there’s one true seven day free trial for mobiles only.
Taking a 360-degree view, Surfshark is affordable and still provides excellent security and privacy features. Plus, it is good at unblocking Netflix. So you needn’t miss out on seeing your favorite boxsets.
Connection speeds are excellent. The app is intuitive and easy to use, even if you’re a complete novice at this VPN malarkey.Pros
- Allows P2P
- Breakneck connection speeds
- Kill switch
- 24/7 support via live chat
- Supports Windows, Mac, and Android
Cons
- Some logging occurs
Deal – Class-leading 45-day money-back guarantee. Regular price $5.99 to $12.99.
As well as claiming to be the world’s fastest VPN, Hotspot Shield pushes the envelope when it comes to money-back guarantees. Not for them a mere 30 days decision-making time, but rather a full 45 days instead.
This should be ample time to make up your mind and stay or walk away to try another provider.
Chances are, though, that you will decide to stay, for there’s a lot to keep you there with this highly-rated company.
You can access your favorite sites, apps, and content from all over the world. With Hotspot Shield, you can connect to 115 virtual locations, giving you access to Netflix, YouTube, and lots more besides. It even works in China by outsmarting the Great Firewall.
With military-spec encryption hiding your IP and web traffic, Hotspot Shield ensures nobody can pry into what you’re doing on the web.
The company’s much-lauded Catapult Hydra protocol is ideal for gamers and anyone wishing to stream HD Video. And it’s not just Hotspot Shield saying this; they have been voted No.1 VPN by the likes of PC Mag, AV-Test, and PC World.Pros
- Servers optimized for P2P
- User-friendly apps
- Blocks ads & trackers
- Strict zero-logging policy
- Multiple browser extensions
Cons
- Marginally slower than its rivals
Deal – 45-day money-back guarantee. Regular price from $3.99 to $12.99 per month.
Like competitors Hotspot Shield, CyberGhost is likewise offering you 45 days to test their VPN service offering.
It’s also super easy to use and pretty nimble speed-wise. Using CyberGhost to unblock streaming services like Netflix could not be easier. All that’s required to do is select which service you wish to stream, and CyberGhost picks out the best server to ensure no lagging and crisp video streaming speeds.
The CyberGhost VPN service gets our vote as one of the best providers for beginners. It does the fundamentals well. They can lean on over 6,000 servers worldwide in more than 80 countries. And you won’t be worrying about your bandwidth consumption either as it is unlimited and you use up to seven devices simultaneously.
The CyberGhost customer service is first-rate; their agents are available live 24/7 and can field queries in English, French, German, and Romanian. Plus, you can DIY troubleshoot and find out more using their convenient library of VPN Guides.Pros
- Unlimited P2P file sharing
- One-click anonymity
- Unrestricted bandwidth
- No logging allowed due to Swedish law
- 2048-bit encryption
Cons
- Patchy live support availability
- No browser extension
Deal – 30-day money-back guarantee. Regular price from $1.98 to $7.12 per month
PrivateVPN says all their plans are 100% money-back guaranteed, plus there’s a 30-day pledge to return your money if you’re not satisfied with the service.
If you want to stay private and protected, these are guys to consider. As well as shielding you and your traffic from potential harm online, PrivateVPN claims they can unlock anything. This is an impressive claim if true.
Fortunately, you can take them at their word by signing up for a subscription and finding out for yourself if it is all big talk or not.
PrivateVPN does seem to be lightning-quick and can unlock Netflix US and other geo-restricted media, including video streaming services and social networks just about everywhere on the planet. They can do all of this and keep you completely anonymous, thanks to military-grade encryption that shields you from hackers and governments alike.
Setting it up is simple and straightforward. It should typically take less than 60 seconds with their one-click setup wizard whether you are on a regular computer, smartphone, tablet, or router.Pros
- Based in Switzerland
- Streams Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and others
- Acceptable speed range
- Strong encryption
- Supports Tor and P2P
Cons
- Only email support
Deal – Free but limited service. The regular price is between four to 24 Euros per month.
ProtonVPN offers a free service, but in reality, it is more like a non-time limited free trial to get a taste.
The free offering comes with some significant drawbacks, as you may have guessed already. You can only access services in three countries, namely France, the USA, and Japan, and use one device. Plus, the speed is described as medium, whatever that means.
Our guess is you would probably get fed up with the free offering pretty quickly. How much of an indicator it is of the full-blown high-speed service is subjective.
If you decide to trade up, your curiosity is protected with a thirty-day money-back guarantee. But you will need to sign up for the eight Euro Plus account to access blocked content. If you only want BitTorrent and other P2P file-sharing, you will probably get by with a basic account. Both the Basic and Plus packages give you access to servers in 54 countries. Of the two, the highest speeds (up to 10 Gbps) are only available on Plus accounts.Pros
- Made in Germany
- Servers in 78 countries
- Free browser extension
- Torrenting allowed
- Military-grade encryption
Cons
- Limited customer support
Deal – 30-day money-back guarantee. Promo price $1.64 per month, otherwise between $4.49 and $10.99 per month
ZenMate gets a seat at our free trial VPN review for several reasons. Not only does it stamp all its products with a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it also provides free browser extensions for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
As if that’s not good enough for starters, ZenMate offers a free seven day trial period on its desktop and mobile apps. A week is maybe not the longest out there, but a fair enough wedge of time to come to a conclusion.
Setting up ZenMate is the proverbial walk in the park. All it requires is one click to download the app for the device you plan to use. When the download is over, run the installer and click on the ZenMate logo to connect. It’s that simple to go into deep stealth mode and remain anonymous online.
The inspiration for ZenMate was conceived by one of its founders while traveling and having to use public WiFi to stay in touch. Thanks to this experience, ZenMate was born, and customers can travel the internet confidently, not hopefully.Pros
- Powerful tools and features
- 256-bit encryption
- 160 servers optimized for online viewing
- More than 1050 servers
- Over 290 locations to choose from
Cons
- Not many payment methods
Deal – 30-day money-back guarantee. Seven-day free trial. The usual price is from $2.99 to $11.99 per month.
HideMyAss, or HMA for short, claims to be the largest VPN network in the world. But that claim seems to be a bit shaky on closer scrutiny.
Nonetheless, HMA turns out an excellent overall performance that relies on a server network encompassing more than 190 countries around the globe. It’s also straightforward to use, which makes it ideal for people new to VPNs, and supports all the major platforms you need to worry about.
It gets a thumbs up from us for the strong encryption used on its VPN and its no usage logs.
You will also be pleased to hear HMA is quite adept at unblocking content. HMA will let you breach the defenses of streaming services such as Netflix and the much-admired BBC iPlayer.
HMA has been around for 15 years, so it is a widely known brand. However, sometimes this has been for the wrong reasons. You should be able to achieve most tasks without too many problems, though.Best Free Trial VPNs FAQWhich is the best free trial VPN?There are very few VPNs that offer free trials in the real sense of the phrase. The best you can expect typically is a 30-day money-back guarantee. You will still have to provide payment details.Final VerdictMany VPNs offer ‘free trials’ but expect to be asked for card details for when the 30 day period is up. It’s an excellent way to test a VPN provider. Just remember to cancel before the 30 days are up. A few are more generous and offer 45 days, others only seven days.
For most people, a month is probably long enough to evaluate a VPN and learn how to use it. However, those that do offer a ‘free trial’ or free subscription are throttled on speed, and you’re very limited to the number of servers you can use.
If you’re new to VPNs, a free trial, aka 30-day money-back guarantee, is a great way to get up to grips with it before you commit yourself to a long-running contract.
