Are you considering a VPN subscription to improve your online privacy and security? In that case, you’re met with two obvious choices – free or paid VPNs. People who aren’t tech-savvy and don’t have prior experience with these services will think that free providers are sufficient.
However, they certainly aren’t, especially if you plan to use them daily. We’ll tell you that premium providers are a much better choice, but that will not leave you with no argument. Today’s article is about free VPNs vs paid VPNs and their differences.
We’ll explain which choice is better, why, and when to use either of these providers. We’ll also advise you on which VPN to choose, so this is an end-all, be-all guide for people looking to get a VPN subscription for whatever purpose.
Free VPN vs Paid VPN Differences
With hundreds of providers on the market, it’s logical that you can expect quite a few differences. These differences are even more prevalent when talking about free VPNs vs paid VPNs, as we’re talking about two sides of the spectrum. In this part, we’ll compare free and paid VPNs and see why paid providers are much better.
Security Functionalities
Let’s start with one of the most significant differences between free and paid VPNs.
Free VPNs
Security is a BIG part of a VPN service, and people who subscribe to it expect it to be a primary factor. In our recent Proton VPN review, we explained that its free version is secure and offers a no-logging policy.
However, it still lacks some of the security features of the paid version that make the provider better. As you can guess, free providers don’t offer many security features, so your connection isn’t as secure and encrypted as paid providers.
For example, many free providers offer 128-bit instead of 256-bit encryption and lack a kill switch, which is necessary for preventing IP/DNS leaks. In fact, many free services are known for these leaks and outdated protocols, which expose your true IP and fail to protect your privacy.
Not to mention that many free VPNs are riddled with malware and spyware. Many online technical analyses showed that providers like Betternet VPN, EasyVPN, and OkVPN contain one or more malware types, making them extremely risky.
Malware is injected into these providers to track your activities and steal your personal data, which is then sold to the highest bidder.
Paid VPNs
On the other hand, paid providers provide a vastly different experience.
You get all the vital security features, such as bank-grade AES-256 encryption, a kill switch, split tunneling, and RAM-based servers where all data is wiped with each restart. Providers like NordVPN and ExpressVPN also offer a Private DNS service, which further increases your level of security.
These providers are known for having NO IP and DNS leaks, making them as secure as possible. Besides, premium providers often have these security audits from third-party companies, granting an official certificate of their rock-solid security.
We should also add advanced features like WiFi protection, advanced security protocols ( NordLynx, NordWhisper, Lightway, and WireGuard), and the absence of malware and viruses, rendering them 100% safe.
Performance (Speed) and Bandwidth Limits
In this free VPN vs paid VPN duel, we should also discuss performance and bandwidth limits.
Free VPNs
Let’s start with free providers. Their outdated 1 Gbps server infrastructure provides poor speeds and performance from the start, which is highlighted in multiple tests and reviews online.
This is further exacerbated by outdated protocols that fail to perform better. Sure, many of them use OpenVPN, but some free providers rely on IKEv2 or their “proprietary” protocols with no external audits to prove they’re worthy (Hydra, for example).
Nevertheless, when using a free VPN, you will notice that bandwidth-hungry activities will be slow, choppy, and full of waiting, which will wear on your nerves. That’s why free providers aren’t suitable for streaming or torrenting, which many people are disappointed with.
Take a look at Betternet’s speed test.
Another vital point is that, along with slow speeds, they limit your monthly bandwidth! Just think about TunnelBear. This free VPN offers 2GB of monthly data to briefly watch an Ultra HD YouTube video.
Then, we have Windscribe—a provider with 10 GB of data, which you can spend in what? Like 2-3 days? Some free providers offer unlimited bandwidth, to be honest, but they’re rare, pretty slow, and offer no streaming and P2P support, so they’re pretty much useless.
Paid VPNs
The best premium VPNs like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and others offer unlimited bandwidth. This means you can browse the web, stream, download torrents, or do anything else infinitely – the same way you’d do when not using a VPN, but with added security. (Check the NordVPN speed test below.)
7492 servers
118 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
10 simultaneous connections
9.8 /10
3000 servers
105 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
8 simultaneous connections
9.4 /10
12000 servers
100 covered countries
45 days money-back guarantee
7 simultaneous connections
9.2 /10
Performance-wise, paid providers have significantly more resources, which plays a huge part. As such, they can afford to maintain and add 10 Gbps servers to the roster, maximizing your speeds and resulting in stable performance with no slowdowns, throttling, or endless buffering when streaming.
Privacy (Or Lack Thereof)
Our paid VPN vs free VPN duel won’t be complete without discussing privacy. This is a pretty sensitive topic for free VPNs, which prioritize privacy last. Trust me—very few free VPNs offer a high level of privacy, except for Proton VPN and Hide.me.
Free VPNs
Unfortunately, Proton VPN is very slow, and Hide.me lacks simultaneous connections; neither is great. In most cases, free VPNs won’t have a no-logging policy; they’ll collect and sell your information to third parties.
While not many of them will admit it openly, we can assure you they’re also tracking your online activities and everything you do while using them. This is especially true for providers like Hola VPN, Betternet VPN, and Hotspot Shield, notorious for these practices.
Hola, in particular, uses P2P technology for its VPN, meaning that you share your idle resources with other users who can hijack your IP address and use it for all purposes. Free mobile VPNs are the worst kind here because they’re known for the highest degree of logging and tracking your activities.
Just think about how free VPNs display targeted ads in their apps. They track your browsing! This is another annoying aspect of free providers that many people find infuriating—ads and pop-ups at every step. We strongly advise against using free VPNs if you’re worried about privacy.
You can instead check our list of the best VPNs for privacy and pick one VPN from there.
Paid VPNs
On the other hand, paid providers do everything in their power to protect your privacy. They offer a no-logging policy, which means storing no logs of your activities, IP address, DNS queries, geolocation, etc.
Companies like Cure53, PwC, and Leviathan Security verify their no-logging policies, making these providers even more trustworthy. Some paid VPNs, like CyberGhost, also have transparency reports, which is a welcome addition to transparency.
In short, in this free VPN vs paid VPN comparison, paid VPNs offer better privacy. They store no personal information or online activities and hide your IP address and true location, making you 100% anonymous.
Customer Support
If you run into trouble, such as failed VPN connections, IP or DNS leaks, or anything else, customer support should help you. However, customer support requires additional resources since support agents must always be on guard for new issues.
Free VPNs
As you can guess, free providers offer limited customer support, often through email support or a ticketing system. This means you have to fill in a ticket or send an email and wait for a response. Unfortunately, the waiting time can go up to a few days.
If you don’t have a VPN, you can’t protect your privacy or enjoy browsing the dark web safely. Customer support in free VPNs is often not very helpful, and it doesn’t work 24/7, so you get slow responses, making the problem-solving process tedious.
Paid VPNs
Considering this free VPN vs paid VPN comparison, we should discuss premium support in paid VPNs. First, you get 24/7 support through live chat, which means instant responses and fast problem-solving, even for the most complex issues.
Next, while these providers offer email support, this support is significantly faster than that of free VPNs. On average, you can expect a response in 5-15 minutes when using email support, while live chat support agents are there as soon as you type in the question.
Not to mention numerous frequently asked questions, Help Centers, guides, and even YouTube channels that many paid providers offer. Simply put, they’re available anytime to fix potential issues, which means a lot when you need to get a VPN running quickly and with no bigger delays.
Server Coverage
Server coverage is another critical factor that differentiates free VPNs from paid VPNs. You’ve already learned that free VPNs are limited in what they offer, and the same applies to their small server networks.
TunnelBear has the largest server network of any free VPN, with around 50 countries and 8,000 servers worldwide. All other providers usually offer servers in 1 to 12 countries, with servers based in the Netherlands or the United States. Take Proton VPN or Hide.me as an example.
Proton VPN has five server locations, while Hide.me has eight. This trend continues with providers like Betternet VPN and even Hotspot Shield, which offer only one server location in the US. The number of servers is directly related to speed and performance. A smaller server fleet is more likely to cause overcrowding.
This overloads the network, resulting in poor performance, connection stability, and speeds.
Paid VPNs will always offer larger server fleets. If you choose NordVPN or ExpressVPN, you can enjoy thousands of servers in dozens of countries globally. NordVPN has 8,100+ servers in 125 countries, while ExpressVPN boasts 3,000+ servers in 105 countries.
CyberGhost has 12,000+ servers in 100 countries, while PIA VPN offers 30,000 worldwide servers in just under 95 locations. This means you’re more likely to find a fast server and a server in another country to bypass geo-restrictions effortlessly.
Additional Functionalities (P2P, Streaming, …)
Finally, mentioning other VPN functionalities, such as streaming, torrenting, and other advanced features that providers offer or don’t offer (if we’re talking about free providers) is crucial.
Streaming Capabilities
When it comes to streaming, free providers are the worst choice. They won’t work with platforms like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+ abroad as they’re easily detected and blocked by such geo-restricted services.
Not only that, but most of them will have no streaming support, meaning unblocking any platform will be impossible. Coupled with slow speeds and limited bandwidth, they’re useless because you won’t be able to enjoy streaming for more than an hour each month.
Paid providers like the ones we mentioned are the polar opposite. They have every prerequisite to be great VPN services for streaming. For instance, CyberGhost offers dedicated streaming servers that work with Netflix US, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Hotstar, and other platforms.
With unlimited bandwidth and 10 Gbps blazing-fast servers, streaming even in 4K will be smooth. Plus, paid providers tend to offer more apps for streaming devices like Fire TV Stick, Android TV, and Smart TV, making them more versatile.
Torrenting (P2P) Allowance
Torrenting is pretty much always forbidden in free providers. In this free VPN vs paid VPN duel, we highlighted that paid VPNs offer no limits, which also applies to P2P and torrenting. We tried downloading torrents from many free providers, but our attempts were futile.
In the image above, you can see that TunnelBear doesn’t work. It says “Downloading,” yet my upload and download speeds are 0 B/s. Free providers that allow P2P traffic are limited in terms of bandwidth, which also isn’t ideal.
Also, given their logging practices and lack of security, downloading torrent files with a free VPN isn’t smart because you can still be traced, detected, and reported to your ISP. Using a paid VPN to download torrents, you can see a big difference.
It will work properly, and you’ll also get excellent speeds, amazing performance, and perfect anonymity for all your P2P activities. Some providers even have special P2P servers, like NordVPN and CyberGhost, that are optimized for torrenting, ensuring an optimal experience.
We should also remind ourselves of these providers’ unlimited bandwidth, which translates to limitless torrenting.
When Should I Use Free VPNs?
In this free VPN vs paid VPN comparison, we can confidently conclude that a premium VPN is a much better choice. However, we can’t say that all free providers are necessarily bad, although they’re always inferior to paid providers. That begs the question of when you should actually use a free VPN?
We consider free providers reasonable short-term solutions for various scenarios, but of course, we’re talking about quality providers like Proton VPN, Hide.me, and PrivadoVPN. These three providers offer a no-logging policy and basic security features that will keep you anonymous online.
However, none of these providers are streaming-friendly and don’t allow P2P traffic, so they can be used primarily for browsing. If you, for example, travel abroad and can’t afford a VPN subscription, you can use one of these three free VPNs to gain public WiFi protection or access a geo-restricted site from your home country.
Some free providers can also unblock foreign TV channels abroad, which can be helpful for that purpose. Although with limited bandwidth and slow speeds, you shouldn’t expect miracles regarding unblocking capabilities or everything else.
You’ll still need a paid provider for the best possible performance, which isn’t bad because paid providers offer a money-back guarantee.
Best Paid VPNs to Use in 2025
If you’re considering free VPNs vs paid VPNs and which one to get, we suggest taking advantage of the money-back guarantee paid providers offer. NordVPN and ExpressVPN offer a 30-day refund period for all their subscription plans. Even better, CyberGhost comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
This lets you use it risk-free for 45 days before getting a refund. Logically, these are our top three favorite paid VPNs that you should try.
1. NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the safest providers, offering bank-grade encryption, threat protection, and a Dark Web Monitor. Thanks to a money-back guarantee, you can try it for free for 30 days. Then, get its cheap 2-year Basic plan, enjoy the provider limitlessly, and request a refund in the first 30 days.
It offers cutting-edge VPN technology in the form of Private DNS, NordLynx, and RAM-based servers, ensuring your personal data remains private. Besides, it comes with several security audits from PwC and Deloitte, and its specialty servers are great for torrenting, browsing the dark web, and bypassing censorship.
NordVPN is also affordable, yet it has ten simultaneous connections per subscription. Unlike free providers, it works on all devices and platforms so you can protect each device in your home with little effort.
2. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN has 3,000 servers in 105 countries, offering top-grade performance, excellent streaming capabilities, and impenetrable security. Compared to free providers, it’s superior in every sense, even in terms of device compatibility and simultaneous connections.
Free providers grant you only one connection per account, but with ExpressVPN, you can protect eight devices simultaneously. Its applications are available for all platforms, so you can install and use this VPN on a Smart TV or Fire TV Stick in addition to desktop/mobile platforms.
ExpressVPN currently offers a massive 61% discount on its biennial plan, which includes four FREE months. Coupled with a 30-day money-back guarantee, this is an excellent choice if you want to use a premium VPN for 30 days without losing money.
3. CyberGhost
CyberGhost is one of our favorite affordable VPN services on the market. It costs way below $2.5 a month and offers a 45-day refund period for all long-term plans. Still, it’s known for blazing-fast performance, specialty servers, and easy-to-use clients for desktop and mobile platforms.
CyberGhost also offers NoSpy servers, which will help you preserve your privacy amidst constant government surveillance. Important to mention are a no-logging policy and features like WireGuard, an ad blocker, and 256-bit AES encryption.
The provider offers seven simultaneous connections and premium 24/7 live chat support in English, German, and French. This makes CyberGhost a perfect choice, which you can test out after reading this free VPN vs. paid VPN comparison.
Summary
In today’s paid VPN vs free VPN comparison, you’ve learned that paid VPNs are superior in every way. While free providers don’t always have to be considered “bad”, know that their limits in terms of security, bandwidth, performance, and other features will cripple your experience with them.
On the other hand, paid providers impose no limits, and they ensure you get the best possible experience because you’re paying for it. Besides, paying for a VPN ensures that your data isn’t sold to third parties because the company can earn enough money from subscriptions.
In the end, we want to address two things that can be attributed to the VPN industry. The first one is that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the second one is that if something’s free, you’re the product.
Thus, if a VPN promises to be 100% free while offering unlimited bandwidth and everything else, know something’s not quite right. You’re the product in this case because you’re trading your privacy for an average free VPN, so you’re the one getting fleeced like sheep.
Either way, there’s always a price for everything. The question is: Do you want to surrender your privacy or pay a few dollars a month to get everything you need, PLUS uncompromising privacy? If you’re still in doubt about free VPNs vs paid VPNs, go back to the beginning and reread the article.
FAQ
Here, we answer a few more questions we haven’t discussed.
Is it true that free VPNs can come with malware?
In some instances, yes, it is true. Users discovered many VPNs that secretly install malware and even viruses on users’ computers for spying and mining. For example, we found that AmanVPN, which is free and paid, installed several malware programs on our computer. Interestingly, during our SlickVPN review, we found the same.
After performing a malware check with Malwarebytes, the app detected malware from BOTH providers simultaneously. Some paid VPNs are notorious for this; SlickVPN is a prime example. If you want to avoid such practices, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and CyberGhost are your top choices.
We personally tested them on multiple occasions and through various antivirus/anti-malware solutions. So far, we haven’t found a single discrepancy.
Are paid VPNs necessarily better?
In 99% of cases, they are. However, the rule has some exceptions, especially because some paid VPNs are overpriced and offer little. Free VPNs can sometimes be faster than paid providers, but only when discussing bad paid services.
Also, we found that, in some instances, paid services can have more servers than their paid counterparts. Again, this doesn’t apply to the top-of-the-line providers we mentioned previously. That’s why spending your money right and not buying a half-baked VPN is vital.
Are there any safe free VPNs?
Yes, there are tons of them, and we mentioned a few before. Most notably, Proton VPN, which offers a certified zero-logs policy. You also have an extremely safe VPN like Hide.me VPN or PrivadoVPN, with a strict policy against logging.
We can also mention TunnelBear, but this VPN has severely limited bandwidth, so it’s not the happiest option. Everything is better than Hola, Urban VPN, Hotspot Shield, and other questionable providers.
