Free VPN Review – Is It Safe in 2024

While consumers choose a VPN provider, they would prefer to know some details about this service. Commonly, there is a pity for valuable information on the top, and indeed, it is a long shot to create a holistic opinion about a particular vendor and VPN as a service in general, together with its technical stuff. 

Besides, you would barely be glad of an idea to dive into VPN learning to get to the bottom of its settlement. A variety of protocols, encryptions, transportation layers, encryptions, and other VPN-related accumulations are not your thing, of course, if you are not a technician.

Due to our robust expertise, we are all set up to supply you with accurate, clear, and comprehensive descriptions of those providers who offer free plans. This information will be enough to exhaust your questions and give a reasonable imagination about VPN possibilities.

We investigate the privacy policy, security core, speed rates, and other paramount qualities. In the following 15 minutes, you will be observing material supported by screenshots from the ongoing VPN and corresponding explanations. We hope our job will help you.  

Pros

• Easy to install
• Easy to launch
• Decent number of locations on mobile applications.

Cons

• A lot of ads
• MacOS application has only one location
• Software do no contain important security settings
• Significant speed loss on macOS 
• Significant speed loss on Android 
• Significant speed loss on iOS for the US server
• No software for browsers
• Do not provide service in countries with strict boundaries on free web usage.

Free VPN Features

Every VPN is a unique digital organism and embodies its individual features. Of course, they use some must-have general technologies in their system’s architecture, but, also, each provider tends to offer something prominent to attract consumers’ attention in the tight competitive market. And we are going to see what the official website will tell us about Free VPN’s features.

The first item is about unlimited bandwidth and advertising absence. It seems that the talk is about paid subscription because the use of advertisements is usually a prerogative of a free plan.

The second item describes the ability to power up your initial internet service provider (ISP) speed with their exclusive technology.

The third feature is about blocking ads while you are surfing the web. And yes, these ads contain trackers and analytics remedies.

The fourth icon describes that the current provider has specifically set up servers for streaming platforms.

The fifth central icon is something about the Split Tunneling function, which allows users to choose which applications they want to pass through the encrypted environment and which should be directed straight to the ISP.

The sixth item is simply about an additional, quickly accessible panel on your device.

The penultimate option offers an auto-connect option, which means that your VPN software will start when you turn on a device.

And the last item tells us about the variety of regions with thousands of locations across them.

These three platforms are very widespread, and most of all, you will manage to download the application. However, if you are a Windows or Linux user, then it is not your thing.

We saw what the provider wanted to tell us about his capabilities, but now we are going to check what is really available for free.

Privacy and Logging

VPN services are popular in cutting-edge society due to their two basic features: ensuring confidentiality on the web area, internet-free surfing without geo-binging, and other restrictions. In this section, we are going to reveal the privacy component of the current provider.

Each VPN provider should have a privacy policy page. Consider that it is not a general document for all the services with united rules. They are different from vendor to vendor and have distinctive provisions: one company provides strict privacy services, while another can collect your sensitive information, monitor online activity, and share personal data with third-parties.

We explored the privacy policy of the current provider and will share it with you now. Except for the privacy page, we also found some interesting statements on other pages of their website, which suits an ongoing theme.

We have seen a lot of promotional texts on the front pages of the VPNs’ official websites, so our attitude toward them is quite temperate. Our experience tells us not to make hasty concussions and to explore all the possible materials.

When a VPN has financial support from a third-parties it often implies sharing personal data to this third-party. It can be some statistical data containing your IP address, device identifier, and other user-related information.

The next case covers a situation where a government imposes obligations on virtual private network services that are under this government’s jurisdiction. At any moment VPN can receive a request to provide their servers data with all the users’ information.

Now we are switching directly to the privacy policy page’s statements, where you can see their real methods of work. By the way, the document is pretty brief, maybe the briefest in our memory. Hence, prepare for the short distance of two screenshots and their descriptions.

Now it looks more convincing to see on this document a statement about their strict confidential approach. An absence of cookies is also a good sign towards privacy policy.

In the last sentence from the screenshot we can observe that they choose an audacious tactic. We mean the phrase: “Unlike other VPN providers, We DO NOT collect any information of our users.” Do not believe this deformed info; we know other decent providers who are sticked to the stringent user’s privacy protection.

We highlighted the text on the screenshot confirming that the partners of Free VPN will not get personal users’ data.

There can be a variety of partners, like payment providers, cloud service providers, cybersecurity vendors, and other providers. Often, you can find that VPN services share personal data with their cooperators.

Having observed the main principles of privacy policy, we may expect to achieve reliable conditions for our personal details.

If to be honest, the privacy policy is very curt; under other circumstances of possible data collection, it could look weird. Seeing that we have a case of ultimate data collection absence, we can accept such a variant because there is not much to explain if nothing is not collected or shared.

Speed Tests – How Fast is Free VPN

It is hard to imagine comfortable internet usage without fast connection speed. Today’s web traffic is robust and contains a lot of heavy content. If your internet service provider (ISP) can supply users with good speed, your online experience will be primarily satisfying.

Software that provides an encrypted network always influences internet speed, but it does it very differently. When one program affects your network insignificantly, another can decrease results by more than 90%, and it depends on a list of technical parameters.

We have explored the connection speed capacity of the current provider and presented it in this block. All the speed measurements were done under the same conditions, meaning a single ISP and a single speed checker. We consider three main indices:

• download speed shows how fast you can consume the content;
• upload speed shows how fast you can deliver content in the web from your local device;
• ping time shows the delay between the timestamps of the data you sent and the response from the opposite party.

Usually, we involve two locations for testing: the US and European regions. Nonetheless, we can do this only if the free edition of VPN allows us to do so.

This section includes three subdivisions: the first subsection is about desktop application speed tests; the second subsection illustrates browser extension tests;x and the third one shows how good the mobile test is.

PC Test

Free VPN issued software compatible just with one desktop operating system that is macOS. Hence, only one speed test is going to be ahead in this block.

The screenshot illustrates the speed capabilities of the ISP without a VPN. The indexes are:

• download speed is 77.2 mbps;
• upload speed is 53.7 mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms.

As it turned out, the provider decided to supply a free version without a selection of locations. You can just connect to a single predefined server, and the application even does not notice what exact server you are connected to. 

The results of the current check are:

• download speed is 9.26 mbps;
• upload speed is 18.8 mbps;
• ping time is 51 ms.

The download speed is 88% lower than the ISP speed, and the upload speed is nearly 65% lower too. Ping time has increased from 4 ms to 51 ms.

The default server for the free plan has very stingy configurations. Deterioration is very high both for download and upload indicators; you should have some fantastic ISP speed in order to use the present encrypted network comfortably. 

The ping time response is in the range of affordable values, but it does not matter in view of such ‘fascinating’ velocity results.

Browser Extensions Test

Free VPN has not designed browsers’ extensions; hence, this subdivision is empty until they develop corresponding software.

Mobile Test

Mobile gadgets are a very beneficial and almost integral part of our well-being today. Seeing that, companies strive to integrate their solutions into this space.  VPN services are not an exception, and our current provider has done so for two major mobile platforms, such as Android and iOS.

Android

The first image in a row shows the results of the ISP. The indexes are:

• download speed is 49 mbps;
• upload speed is 53.6 mbps;
• ping time is 6 ms.

The central image shows the performance of the US server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 2.36 mbps;
• upload speed is 8.98 mbps;
• ping time is 244 ms.

The download speed is about 95% lower than the ISP speed, and the upload speed is nearly 83% lower. Ping time has increased from 6 ms to 244 ms.

The right image shows the performance of the Swiss server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 3.19 mbps;
• upload speed is 20.5 mbps;
• ping time is 112 ms.

The download speed is nearly 93% lower, the upload speed is approximately 62% worse, and the ping time has increased from 6 ms to 112 ms.

Either server performed quite badly for all the parameters; there is no doubt that you can not utilize it efficiently.

IOS

The vertical image shows the results of the ISP. The indexes are:

• download speed is 33 mbps;
• upload speed is 41.6 mbps;
• ping time is 4 ms.

The top-right image shows the performance of the US server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 0.62 mbps;
• upload speed is 3.96 mbps;
• ping time is 228 ms.

The download index is approximately 98% lower than the ISP speed, and the upload speed is about 90% lower. Ping time has increased from 4 ms to 228 ms.

The bottom-right image shows the performance of the IT server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 25.4 mbps;
• upload speed is 30.2 mbps;
• ping time is 212 ms.

The download speed decreased by about 33%, the upload speed decreased by around 27%, and the ping time increased from 4 ms to 212 ms.

The US server demonstrated an enormous deterioration in all its characteristics. You do not have a chance to use it, even for chatting.

The European region also did not pass this task excellently, but it performed a moderate result for the download and upload rates. By the way, you could not use it for live-time events like online meetings or online gaming because of the high ping time.

Knowing this data, you can imagine on your own if there is a case when you want to use this service. We have finished with the speed investigation and are moving on to the next block.

About Safety – How Secure is Free VPN?

A safeguard component is another crucial pillar of a VPN entity. Basically, it encompasses security protocols, encryption types, and additional features. VPN services implement divergent solutions in their systems.

Some providers offer cutting-edge solutions for free, others propose outdated remedies for free and a modern one in a paid version, and the third one offers antiquated approaches while at the same time presenting themselves as the most comprehensive provider.

Free VPN omitted a description of the security possibilities, either on the website or in any edition of their software. Commonly, it has never been a problem—if there is no description of the technical stuff, we go inside the app’s settings and look for whatever security options there are.

But this time we met a situation where there are no security settings within apps at all, even such simple things as the Kill Switch feature or Split Tunneling option. After having revealed an absence of such essential functionality, some dubious thoughts visited our minds.

Considering that VPN services pursue business goals, they always tend to display their best qualities and describe them with the most beautiful and convincing words, like “We are the most secure…” or “Our security operates on military-grade encryption…” and other marketing phrases.

And what do we see here? – Nothing. Hence, we can assume that they use deprecated protocols such as UDP, TCP, and some simple encryption like MPPE.

In our opinion, their safeguard constituent is very raw and unpredictable, so we cannot give it a delightful assessment. We do not recommend this vendor from a security perspective.

Desktop Apps

Here we go a little about the visual interface, general options, and unique traits of the desktop application.

The main screen contains six interactive elements, and one of them relates to subscription purchasing. The hamburger menu icon in the right-upper corner contains a menu bar with general items, which do not entail much value.

Among all the items on the list, just ‘Alternate IP’ has an attitude toward main settings. However, we checked it, and it seems to not be working. Also, there is one more button in the right bottom with major VPN preferences.

Blatantly, there is also anything palpable to offer users. Okay, “Accelerate VPN” can be a possible option for the paid subscription, but the ‘Auto Connect VPN’ feature is another matter. 

We are used to seeing it as the default item and do not see grounds to sell it for money. ‘System-wide Ad Block’ is a pretty function, but it would be better to see here the basic security preferences as protocols and encryption types.

We have observed how the desktop application presents itself, and we are moving on to the next section.

Mobile Apps

As we previously mentioned, the provider issued applications for iOS and Android. Considering that the applications are the same, we will show you an example of iOS, and you can draw a parallel to Android.

The first time you open the program, Free VPN greets you with a pop-up that offers you to try a free trial version that is continuing in subscription. In the upper part of the notification, there is another button leading you to free edition usage.

The main display encompasses ten interactive elements. Three icons immediately above the central logo are dedicated to the paid plan. We have discussed these elements in the desktop section and put forward the thought that they do not have much value without basic security features. By the way, the mobile applications for both platforms also do not contain protocols, encryption types, or other important stuff.

The logo in the center plays the turn-on/off button. Under the logo, the first field encompasses location selection, and the second field includes a set of streaming services accessible for the subscription plan.

In the footer of the main screen, more icons take place. The first icon refers to the home screen; the second icon is responsible for the quantity of free time bandwidth; the third icon contains subscription plans; and under the last icon there is a menu with some general references.

We want to draw your attention to the second icon.

This provider can offer a free plan due to its partners who place advertisements in the application. And the condition is that you need to select the number of ads you will watch to get the specific free.

For example, if you want to get 30 minutes, you need to watch four ads in a row that will offer you this option after clicking on it. The same analogy with a longer period of time, but you should look over more ads. 

By the way, you are not obligated to watch all the length of this ad, just the minimum required time of five seconds, and then skip it. If you need to use VPN only for a few minutes, then simply pass one ad, and the application will set approximately five minutes of free utilization.

All the same functionality is immanent in the Android app. All that you have seen here will be applicable there too.

Browser Extensions

The software for browsers does not exist, and this section will have been waiting till it appears.

Performance

The efficiency of Free’s VPN free edition software does not inspire confidence. From the velocity perspective, only an Italian server on the iOS application showed more or less average results; they are not high at all, just on a moderate level. All other speed tests for macOS, Android, and the US server of iOS performed very badly, occasionally with a loss up to almost 100%.

The security part is under the shadow because there is no evidence anywhere about what technologies are implemented into the software.

The desktop application has significant limitations in accessible locations. The only thing that you know is that the application is connected to some default server, and there is even no opportunity to see what exact location it is.

Work in Highly Restricted Countries

There is no information about this query either on the software or the official website.

Server’s locations

And again, the website does not contain information about it. The macOS application provides just one default location. Mobile applications offer 75+ servers in 20+ countries.

What Bonuses Does the Paid Version Offer, and How Much Does It Cost?

The paid edition implies:

• free bandwidth with no advertising;
• an option for connection speed acceleration;
• ad blocker;
• VPN auto-connect function;
• Full set of available locations.

The first variant that you can try is a weekly subscription for $6.99. The monthly subscription costs $15.99, and the annual sum is $79.99, which means approximately $6.6 per month if calculated in this way.

About Support

On the official website, you can find the email address of the customer support service, and the application contains a contact support field with predefined topics.

Free VPN Review: Final verdict

All the arguments show that the free version of the current provider is very raw and can not give a possibility of convenient work with it. 

One of the strong points is the privacy policy, which does not imply gathering user data. However, what is the benefit of it if the speed tests demonstrated such high deterioration almost for all servers that it is not enough even for transmitting textual data?

They do not provide basic safeguard options and have hidden from the public what technical stack they use.

The desktop application proposes only the default auto-server and even does not depict on the main screen the location of it.

The conclusion is that we can not recommend Free VPN service as a reliable provider for many reasons.