Best Free Android VPN Services

AirVPN Demo

Hotspot Shield maintains a highly-subscribed-to service with over 650 million downloads worldwide. Although the Californian service has thousands of servers in over 80 countries worldwide, users who sign up for their free service on Android will only be able to access the US server. But, they won't have to worry about data caps, as this is one of the few VPN providers who removed them, even for free users.

Unlimited free service

Hotspot Shield offers unlimited bandwidth and data with its free plan. So you can use it for more data-intensive tasks, including streaming, without worrying that you'll spend your whole data allowance within a day. This is not very common among free VPNs, which are usually limited to a certain number of MB per day or month. 

The free plan offers only one server location, however, so you won't be able to access a plethora of international content, unless you upgrade to Premium. On the plus note, that location is the US – home to most prominent streaming services, social media platforms, and other popular sites, which all become available to you with Hotspot Shield.

And, if you ever opt for the upgrade, you'll significantly expand your VPN network, with 115 Hotspot Shield locations in total. Plus, you'll get access to its servers optimized for streaming, which means an even better streaming experience.

Impressive speeds

Another Hotspot Shield feature that makes it an excellent choice for your data-heavy tasks is its fast speeds. Its very own proprietary Hydra protocol is very lightweight and fast, while, at the same time, protecting your security.

Popular social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, are a breeze to access with this VPN – even from China. And, streaming services, including YouTube, Netflix, and Twitch, will work without buffering. Again, not many free VPNs will grant you this luxury.

Private and transparent

Compared to other free competitors, the free version of Hotspot Shield offers decent privacy and security levels. The combo of the military-grade 256-bit AES encryption and its proprietary Hydra protocol makes your connections very secure. The encryption standards are the same across their free and paid versions, but the decision to run adverts on Android knock it down a few places.

Hotspot Shield's privacy policy is not among the strictest on the market and the company is honest about collecting some user data as its free plan is mainly funded by ads. However, they claim they never collect personally identifiable data, neither on premium nor with free plans.

For a while, this VPN used to release annual transparency reports, showing that there were no requests for user data – at least up until 2019 when the last report got released. Hotspot Shield also became the most used VPN during the Arab Spring, which certainly says something about its privacy credentials. Overall, a worthy choice to take for a spin – especially when it doesn't cost you anything. 

Hide.me Demo

Hide.me is another VPN that has crept up the list by providing all its free users with the same level of security and privacy as it does paid ones. Impressively, this provider is one of the rare few to offer a built-in kill-switch for Android users. In terms of logging, Hide.me only ever stores your email address, and even that is kept hidden away on encrypted servers.

Audited no-logs policy

Hide.me is very transparent about its freemium strategies. On its website, you can find out all about how the earnings from its paid plans are used for offsetting the costs of the free service. The company's privacy policy is easy to understand, and it also goes to great lengths to explain exactly how they manage data.

Besides, as the VPN is based in Malaysia, it isn't obligated to share any of it with the government. Thus, the service is completely no logs, and you don't have to worry that your sensitive data will get into the wrong hands. To prove this, Hide.me was one of the first VPN companies in the world to go through an independent audit in 2015, which it successfully passed.

Strong geo-spoofing capabilities

Although Hide.me may not be the best solution for streaming Netflix (the streaming platform works actively at blocking free VPN providers), it has proven to be very effective with various other restricted services, including social media, even in China.

Hide.me also ranks highly due to its rapid connection speed, which can reach up to 80 Mbps when it really gets going. Although it only offers five free server locations, they are placed in key locations (Netherlands, Germany, Canada, the US West, and the US East) – another reason why this service is so good at bypassing censorship and geo-restrictions.

User-friendly service

The Android app is as slick as they come, and the handy 24/7 live chat support feature means it's much easier to resolve any problems you have with the service. The service is also available on all the other popular platforms, including Linux, and it provides great extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge. Routers and smart TVs are also supported.

So all in all, it's a very user-friendly service with exceptional cross-platform compatibility – especially valuable for those who wish to upgrade and get up to 10 simultaneous connections.

Perhaps the only drawback compared to Hotspot Shield is that you can just use it to download 10 GB per month, which is not as good as unlimited. However, this allowance can also be extended at any point by choosing a premium plan. 

Proton Demo

ProtonVPN is a VPN veteran that offers unlimited data usage, so your traffic will be secure no matter how much you need to use it. Thanks to the success of the highly regarded privacy email ProtonMail, the Proton brand has a sound track record of putting user privacy first, and their free VPN is no different.

Security leader

ProtonVPN has a strong reputation to defend, and, therefore, invests a lot in all security aspects of its service. Its strict no-logs policy keeps nothing but the time and date you logged in, and even that gets overwritten every time you start a new session. What's more, that data is never stored to your IP, which means your VPN use can never be tied to you.

Recently, a kill-switch is available on all ProtonVPN apps, including Android. This completely prevents leaks on all your devices, even if the VPN connection inadvertently drops. With the free plan, you also get a stealth VPN protocol, which allows you to bypass even the strictest censorship, and a VPN accelerator for up to 400% faster VPN speeds.

There are a lot of premium features that you get for free with ProtonVPN. And, of course, you get to unblock numerous more, if you subscribe to a premium plan. 

Go unlimited

ProtonVPN's free service grants you access to servers in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, but its lack of a large network doesn't seem to affect its download speeds much. Just recently, ProtonVPN upgraded its network to 10 Gbit servers, which makes a lot of difference speed-wise.

It's a reliable, free VPN that you can use on any Android tablet or phone completely free of charge. You'll get unlimited protection both at home and on public Wi-Fi. You may not be able to access Netflix with the free version, however, ProtonVPN will be a powerful ally in regaining online freedom and privacy. 

A VPN for everyone

ProtonVPN offers free apps for all your devices, and it's the only VPN on this list that includes fully functional GUI apps for Linux and Chromebook. You'll get apps that are slick and intuitive, and service that's completely ad-free, so you get to enjoy secure online activities without hustle and interruptions.

But don't just take my word for it when you can try and use this stellar service completely free of charge. A 30-day money-back guarantee is also included for those who wish to step up the game and go for premium service right away.

Windscribe Demo

Windscribe is a service based in Canada that is a great choice for anybody in need of a free Android VPN. Offering both free and paid versions of its service, Windscribe has a wide variety of servers to choose from, including several in North America and Europe.

Customizable service

Windscribe users get access to a whopping 10 locations, which is pretty impressive for a free tier. These locations are the US, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, and Romania – so, you get to access a variety of content from all over the world.

However, there's a catch: adding any of these locations to your free plan will cost you $1. So, although you get the freedom to customize your own plan, that plan won't actually be completely free. Still, users who want to be able to choose their server locations for less money (as opposed to paying for the full subscription price) can greatly benefit from this option.

VPN and more

Its Android app is highly intuitive and easy to use, and perhaps best of all, they store no logs that could be used to identify you at a later date. It doesn't come with a kill-switch on Android, as most free VPNs on Android don't – but it does have ad and malware blockers and AES-256 bit encryption, which is the same across its premium subscriptions.

Perhaps the only drawback, other than the 10 GB download limit, is it's based in Canada, which does have an invasive government known for snooping, working with the NSA, and data retention directives. On the other hand, you get a lot of customization and a very impressive privacy policy for a free service. 

Tunnelbear Demo

TunnelBear has almost a decade under its belt in the VPN market. The Canadian-based company offers access to all its VPN servers in 47 countries completely free of charge. However, its 500 Mb data limit renders this service practically unusable for anything aside from browsing.

Beats censorship

TunnelBear is the only service on our list that doesn't put a limit on how many servers you can try for free. Besides, you get strong AES 256-bit encryption and a stealth feature called Ghost Bear, which allows you to bypass the strongest firewalls, including the great firewall of China. These features also make you almost undetectable by governments, ISPs, and other snoopers, so your online activities remain truly private.

TunnelBear also provides a kill-switch on Android devices, preventing IP address exposure if a connection to the VPN is lost. It operates on a highly transparent privacy policy and will never share your data with third parties. All in all, a good VPN choice, privacy-wise.

Easy to install and use

Unfortunately, TunnelBear's free version only grants users 500 Mb of data, which is significantly less than some of the other providers on this list. So, you'll have to use your data sparingly.

On the other hand, with a user-friendly app interface and a negligible difference in speed between the paid and free versions, this VPN is certainly worth the download. TunnelBear is ideal for anyone who makes secure browsing and beating censorship their main priorities.

Besides, if you decide to upgrade to a paid plan, this VPN is among the cheaper options for Android devices.