What is the best free VPN?
Proton VPN has the best truly free plan: no data cap, so you experience the service as it is. Windscribe gives you ten gigabytes a month with more features. To test a premium service properly, use the money-back guarantee: 45 days at CyberGhost, 30 at most others.
There are two honest ways to use a VPN for free. The first is a genuinely free plan. Proton VPN leads here: no data cap, with the trade-offs being speed, limited countries, and one device at a time. Windscribe takes a different approach with ten gigabytes a month, more locations, multiple devices, and even an ad blocker. PrivadoVPN and hide.me also offer ten gigabytes. For occasional protected browsing, these will carry you for months.
The second route is the money-back guarantee, and it is underrated. Virtually every paid service offers 30 days, no questions asked; CyberGhost stretches it to 45 on long plans. You pay, test everything at full power, and claim a refund if it disappoints. That is how you test streaming and top speeds, exactly the things free plans cannot show you.
Avoid anything advertising itself as a completely free, unlimited VPN: that business model does not add up, and you are the one paying, with your data.