About VPN Free Reviews

What This Site Is

VPN Free Reviews is an independent review site focused exclusively on the free tiers of consumer VPN services. We test the free version, document what we find, and publish our findings. We do not take affiliate commissions from VPN providers, which means our scoring is not influenced by which provider would pay us the most for a sign-up.

The site is built and maintained by independent reviewers. We rely on Google Analytics for traffic data, do not run display advertising, and do not collect personal information from visitors. See our privacy policy for details.

How We Test

Each VPN is tested across six dimensions. Testing is done over multiple days at multiple times to capture both peak and off-peak performance. We document what we measure and publish the methodology so other reviewers can reproduce our findings.

1. Privacy & Security (25% of score)

We read the privacy policy in full, check the company's jurisdiction against the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances, look for independent audits, run DNS and IP leak tests in IPv4 and IPv6, and verify kill-switch behavior across reconnections. We download and inspect the apps on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android where available.

2. Speed Performance (20%)

Speed tests are run on a 1 Gbps fiber connection to a local baseline server, then compared against the VPN's nearest, mid-distance, and farthest free servers. We test at three times of day across three days. Reported figures are medians, not best-case results.

3. Free Features (20%)

This category captures what you actually get on the free tier: data allowance, server count, simultaneous device connections, protocol support, P2P access, ad-blocker availability, kill-switch on free, etc.

4. Ease of Use (15%)

App installation, signup friction, default settings, clarity of UI, in-app upsell load, and how the app behaves when the VPN connection drops or fails.

5. Streaming Capability (10%)

Tested against Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. Streaming access is volatile (services regularly update IP blocklists), so this is the score most likely to drift between revisions.

6. Transparency (10%)

Independent audit history, transparency reports, disclosed ownership, public security disclosures, and how the company has responded to past issues.

How Scores Are Calculated

The six dimensions above are scored 0–10. The overall score is a weighted average using the percentages shown. We do not round to favor a provider. A 7.4 is reported as 7.4, not "rounded up to 7.5 to be nicer." When a provider's score sits exactly on a tier boundary, we err downward.

Scores are recalculated when significant events warrant: an independent audit publishes findings, the provider changes its privacy policy, the free tier's allowance changes, or material speed/feature changes occur. Each review's "Updated" date reflects the last time we re-tested or re-scored.

Why No Affiliate Links

Most VPN review sites participate in affiliate programs. When you click a "Get VPN X" button on those sites and sign up, the site earns a commission — typically $30–100 per paid sign-up. This isn't inherently corrupt, but it creates an obvious incentive: reviews drift toward providers that pay the highest commissions, and free tiers (which don't pay commissions) get less attention than they deserve.

We chose not to participate in affiliate programs because we cover free tiers specifically, and because we want our scoring to be obviously independent. The trade-off is that this site doesn't generate revenue, which means we update less frequently than commercial review sites. Our reviews are recalibrated quarterly rather than monthly.

What We Don't Cover

We don't review paid VPN tiers in depth. There are excellent commercial review sites (Tom's Guide, PCMag, Restore Privacy) that cover paid tiers comprehensively, and we link to them where they've conducted relevant testing.

We don't cover business or enterprise VPNs. Our audience is consumers looking for free coverage on personal devices.

We don't review VPNs that are visibly scams — services with no public corporate identity, no privacy policy, or that have been documented selling user data. We exclude them rather than write a review that gives the appearance of a 0/10 alternative.

Corrections & Feedback

If you find a factual error, broken link, or believe a review is out of date, please get in touch. We update reviews when we receive credible corrections. We also publish a changelog at the bottom of each review when material changes occur.

Editorial Independence

No VPN provider has reviewed any of our content prior to publication. No provider has paid us to publish or modify a review. If we ever accept sponsorship, it will be disclosed prominently at the top of every page. As of April 2026, we have not accepted any sponsorship from any VPN provider.