From ProtonVPN to Windscribe, here are best 5 paid and free VPNs in India

Indian Express

6 days ago

In today's digital age, where advertisers and online platforms are trying to monetise on your browsing and spending habits, protecting your online privacy is more important than ever. Whether you are browsing the web, accessing the internet from a public network or trying to watch geo-restricted content, say from Netflix US, Virtual Private Networks, popularly known as VPNs, can help shield you from hackers and trackers.
Free VPN services are often slower and sometimes less secure than their paid counterparts. Some of these paid solutions also offer a free trial or set a free monthly limit, which can be useful if you want to check out if a particular VPN works out for you. If you are looking for a free or paid VPN solution, here are the 10 best options available in India.
ProtonVPN is one of the few services that offers unlimited data and router support for free users. Apart from not logging your browsing habits and blocking trackers from sending information to advertisers, ProtonVPN also lets you bypass government censorship and other content restrictions.
ProtonVPN's free tier may suffice for the majority of users, but if you are looking for a service that offers high speed and lets you choose from over 13,000 servers located in 120-plus countries, ProtonVPN is a great option.
The monthly plan starts €9.99, but if you want to try out other Proton services like mail, calendar and drive, check out the Proton Unlimited plan that costs €12.99 per month.
Based out of Canada, Windscribe is one of the most popular free VPNs in the world. Available on a wide range of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Amazon Fire TV and Android, to name a few, the free version of Windscribe servers located in 10 countries and comes with a data cap of just 15GB for a whole month.
If you purchase the premium plan, which gives you unlimited data and device connections, it will cost you $9 per month or $5.75 per month if you purchase the annual subscription. Windscribe's premium plan unlocks all locations, which means you can connect to any server that is located in any of the 69 countries where the VPN operates.
ExpressVPN is another VPN solution you might want to check out. With servers in more than 105 countries, this VPN lets you play games, watch geo-restricted content from OTT platforms and most importantly, has a no log policy, which means the websites and services you access won't be recorded.
Compared to other VPNs, ExpressVPN is on the costlier side with plans starting from $12.95 per month. However, you can save a lot of money with the annual plan, which costs $99.95 and gives you three months of complimentary access right now. In case you don't like Express VPN, the company also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Opera, the popular internet browser, also comes with a free built-in VPN that you can use to browse the web. The service has no data limits, and since the browser is available on various platforms like Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and others, you will be able to use it on different devices like desktops, laptops, mobiles and even smart TVs.
Like some paid VPNs, OperaVPN also seems to have a no-log policy, but there are some privacy concerns regarding the service since it is now owned by a Chinese company. Still, this is a good option if all you want to do is browse the web or watch content not available in your region.
Another great free VPN that is available on a wide range of platforms is Hide.me. This VPN service has no limits on connection speed (with the Premium plan) and has 91 servers in different locations spread across six continents.
Hide.me's monthly plan will cost you $9.95, while the 12-month and 27-month plans can be purchased for $54,95 and $69.95, respectively. Like most paid VPNs, Hide.me also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Note: Using VPNs in India is legal for personal privacy, but engaging in illegal activities is a punishable offence. Also, most premium VPNs no longer maintain physical Indian services to avoid complying with India's data retention rules and instead use virtual Indian servers hosted outside the country.