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Tom's Guide
29-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
Dangerous free VPNs rocket up UK App Store ranking as users look to bypass age verification laws – these are the ones to avoid
Potentially dangerous free VPNs have soared to the top of the free app charts of the UK Apple App Store following the introduction of age verification laws. The best VPNs are reputable and will securely protect your data online, but the same cannot be said for every free VPN. Many free VPNs collect, share, or sell your data. Most have questionable privacy credentials at best, and outright dangerous ones at worst. At Tom's Guide, we always recommend a paid service over a free one, but if you do subscribe to a free VPN, ensure it's one of the best free VPNs. These are PrivadoVPN Free, Proton VPN Free, and Windscribe Free. We've dug into the details in our reviews, and these are the top three we recommend. Many people in the UK are turning to VPNs in order to get around UK age verification laws. The new law came into effect on July 25, 2025, and proof of age is now required to access sites hosting "explicit content." Serious privacy concerns have arisen because of the information users are required to submit. Credit card checks, photo ID, and AI-powered age estimation are some examples, with highly-sensitive personal information being entrusted to third-party providers. But by attempting to avoid age verification with a dodgy free VPN, you might still be putting your data at risk. Here's how to stay safe. The table below is a quick way to compare the seven VPN apps that are currently in the top twenty. In the "Safety status" column: ✅ = is safe to use. ❌ = is a potential privacy and security threat. VPN Safety status Price (per month) Free trial? Proton VPN ✅ $3.59 / £3.59 / Free No VPN Super Unlimited Proxy ❌ Free N/A NordVPN ✅ $2.91 / £2.31 Yes – Android only Free VPN by ❌ Free N/A Free VPN: Unlimited VPN Proxy ❌ Free N/A Opera ✅ $4 / £3.33 / Free Yes Surfshark ✅ $1.99 / £1.49 Yes Surfshark: the best cheap VPN + 7-day FREE TRIALSurfshark isn't just the best cheap VPN – it also has an unmatched 7-day free trial. You'll get unlimited access to all of its features for 7 days, and then decide whether to stay or go. It offers top-quality privacy, can unblock streaming sites, and has unique features such as Alt ID. The 2-year deal starts at $1.99 / £1.49 per month ($53.73 / £40.23 up front). You'll also receive an extra 3 months of protection for free and a 30-day money-back guarantee. PrivadoVPN: Cheap and fast with a great free planPrivadoVPN is the cheapest VPN we recommend. Despite the price, it still packs a punch and is a great option if you're looking to spend as little money as possible. It's fast, great for streaming, and our tests showed it's safe to use too. The 2-year deal is $1.11 / £1.11 per month ($30 / £30 up front), with 3 extra months thrown in. There's also a 30-day money-back guarantee, and its free VPN version is the best of its kind. Seven of the top 20 free apps on the UK App Store are VPNs. But we'd only recommend downloading four of them. These are: As of Tuesday, July 29, Proton VPN tops the free apps charts. Proton VPN is highly secure and one of the most private VPNs. Its mission is to campaign for a free and open internet, and it boasts a host of anti-censorship features. One of those anti-censorship features is its free version, Proton VPN Free. It lacks the array of features included in the premium plan, but it's covered by the same high standards of encryption, security, and privacy. It abides by Proton VPN's strict no-logs policy and has a rock solid kill switch. It is a very reputable free VPN and Android VPN users don't even need to create an account to sign up. VPN is usage in the UK has spiked dramatically, with Proton VPN seeing a huge increase in sign ups – 1,400% over its baseline. However, sitting at #2 is VPN Super Unlimited Proxy – and we have concerns about this one. The free app features ads and it says your usage data is tracked. It has a rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 from over 100,000 reviews, but we'd recommend avoiding it. It claims to offer fast speeds, with unlimited bandwidth. None of the best free VPNs offer both of these features, and leaves us asking what's the catch. We also couldn't see any record of an independent audit. App #5 was Free VPN by Similar suspicions are raised with this app, despite its page stating no user data is collected from the app. We investigated its privacy policy and found it to be incredibly sparse and vague. This is a red flag and leaves us with more questions than answers. It's another free VPN app we recommend you steer well clear from. Free VPN: Unlimited VPN Proxy is #8 on the list and it appears to be the worst offending free VPN on there. It says it tracks users and collects location, identifiers, diagnostics, and usage data. Like the above free VPNs, its ratings are to be taken with a pinch of salt. It has a 4.7 star rating from 14,000 reviews but should be avoided. NordVPN was app #3 on the list. This definitely is a safe and secure VPN – in fact it's our #1 VPN overall. NordVPN isn't free, but it does offer a 7-day free trial for Android users. NordVPN is extremely fast, recording speeds of over 900 Mbps in our testing and now supports post-quantum encryption – the new industry standard – across all its apps. It can protect up to 10 devices on one plan and has recently completed its fifth independent no-logs audit showing it doesn't log your data. Tom's Guide readers can claim an exclusive NordVPN deal which sees you get an additional four months of VPN protection for free on all plans. Selected plans also include free Amazon gift cards worth up to $50 / £50. The two-year deal starts at $2.91 / £2.31 per month and you can compare all plans using our NordVPN prices and plans guide. NordVPN: the best VPN overallEXCLUSIVE DEAL: NordVPN is our #1 VPN overall. It's fast, secure, and unblocks all major streaming sites. Premium plans come with threat and malware protection and a password manager. With Tom's Guide's exclusive deal, 28 months of protection starts at $2.91 / £2.31 per month ($81.36 / £64.56 up front). All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. With selected premium plans you'll also get your hands on free Amazon gift cards worth up to $50 / £50. Opera is a secure browser with a built-in free VPN and the app has risen to #13 on the UK App Store rankings. Opera's VPN isn't a big hitter, but it's a solid option, with a free and premium plan. In 2024, Opera VPN published a successful no-logs audit, and this month Opera VPN Pro adopted ExpressVPN's Lightway Protocol. We rate Surfshark as the best cheap VPN and it's currently #19 on the UK App Store. It's one of the fastest VPNs on the market and one of the best streaming VPNs. At $1.99 / £1.49 per month ($53.73 / £40.23 up front) Surfshark represents excellent value for money. It's far better than any free VPN thanks to its speed, security, features, and unlimited device connections policy. The free VPNs we've recommended will protect your data and do the VPN basics. But if you can afford a premium VPN, Surfshark is a great, cheap option. Surfshark also offers a 7-day free trial for all platforms. No other leading VPN provider has a free trial as comprehensive as Surfshark's. Almost all of the best VPNs offer a minimum 30-day money-back guarantee, but very few offer a 7-day free trial. For more information about VPN free trials, check out our best VPN free trial page. If you're after some alternative cheap VPN options, it's worth checking out PrivadoVPN at $1.11 / £1.11 per month and Private Internet Access at $2.19 / £1.69 per month. Regardless of what you've downloaded it for, if you have one of these dangerous free VPNs installed on your device we'd recommend deleting it straight away. We'd encourage people to subscribe to a premium VPN, but you don't always need to. There is a VPN for everyone, with a range of price points covered. PrivadoVPN and Surfshark are both under $2 per month, while Proton VPN Free, PrivadoVPN Free, and Windscribe Free are all secure and reputable free providers. But if you want to spend a little more money, NordVPN, Proton VPN, and ExpressVPN are all great choices. Whichever provider you choose, ensure it has a proven no-logs policy, secure encryption, features such as a kill switch, and a varied server network. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Tom's Guide
28-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Major VPN provider sees a huge spike in sign ups as age verification law comes into effect in the UK
The Online Safety Act came into effect in the UK on Friday, 25 July, 2025. The legislation rightly aims to shield children from accessing harmful and explicit content online, but comes with potentially disastrous privacy risks. Users visiting sites hosting "explicit material" will now have to prove they are over 18 years old. Credit card checks, AI-powered facial age estimation, and uploading photo ID are just some of the ways this can be done. However, this puts highly sensitive information in the hands of third-party companies, and many users appear to be turning to the best VPNs as a way of avoiding age verification checks. One of these VPN providers, Proton VPN, saw a huge spike in sign ups to its VPN from those in the UK. NordVPN: the best VPN overallNordVPN is our top-rated VPN overall thanks to its great combination of speed, security, and features. There's protection for up to 10 devices, with the option to add on malware protection, a password manager, and encrypted cloud storage. Until the end of July, NordVPN plans start at £2.31 / $2.91 per month (£64.56 / $81.36 up front, pre-tax). Thanks to our exclusive deal, all plans come with 4 extra months free, and selected plans come with free Amazon gift cards up to $50. A 30-day refund period applies to all plans. The Proton VPN Observatory reported that Proton VPN sign ups in the UK have increased by 1,400% over the baseline. The spike started on July 25 – the day the age verification law came into effect – and remains high. "Just a few minutes after the Online Safety Act went into effect last night, Proton VPN signups originating in the UK surged by more than 1,400%," Proton VPN said on X. "Unlike previous surges, this one is sustained, and is significantly higher than when France lost access to adult content." Proton VPN has seen a large spike in usage thanks to Proton VPN Free. Its free service is one of the best free VPNs and will encrypt your data and protect your privacy. Just a few minutes after the Online Safety Act went into effect last night, Proton VPN signups originating in the UK surged by more than 1,400%.Unlike previous surges, this one is sustained, and is significantly higher than when France lost access to adult content. 25, 2025 Google Trends showed a significant spike in UK search traffic for the search term VPN, with UK VPN and free VPN also seeing increases. Searches for NordVPN and Proton VPN saw large increases. Surfshark saw a medium increase in searches. ExpressVPN and Mullvad also saw search increases, albeit smaller than the other VPN providers. This clearly shows that people in the UK don't feel comfortable handing over their personal data for age checks and are looking at ways of bypassing them. Right now, VPNs are the tools being used to bypass age verification checks. When you visit a website, the site and your internet service provider (ISP), can see your IP address. If your IP address is a UK one, you will be greeted by age verification checks and account creation requests. Connecting to a VPN allows you to change this IP address. By doing so, your ISP can't track your internet traffic and the website only sees the VPN IP address. If you connect to a VPN server in another country, it appears as though your IP address is accessing a website from that location. OFCOM has discouraged VPN use to avoid age verification checks. The regulator is the brains behind this law and has told platforms they mustn't encourage VPN use. There is a concern that steps will be taken to block or restrict access to sites when connected to a VPN. This would further impact people's privacy and internet freedoms and set a dangerous precedent. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Tom's Guide
13-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Is Hide.me Free actually worth using?
Not everyone can afford or needs a VPN. We'd always recommend a paid service above all else but choosing from the best free VPNs can be a handy alternative in a pinch. There are some fake free VPNs around, and not every free provider is reputable. But all the free VPNs we recommend are safe, reputable, and do the VPN basics well. Free features on our list of the best free VPNs. We don't rate it as much as PrivadoVPN Free, Proton VPN Free, or Windscribe Free, but it's a genuine free VPN that will protect you online. However, how usable is Free? The provider offers some strong positives, but also some very significant negatives. So, how does it stand up and can it be a serious free VPN option? Let's start with the positives of Free. Unlike some free VPNs, Free will protect your data. It shares the excellent privacy features of its paid version, including a functioning kill switch. Kill switches are a must-have for the most secure VPNs and they cut your internet connection should your VPN fail. Many free VPNs, and even paid VPNs, don't have a kill switch, so Free having one is a big plus – it even extends to iOS, which is even rarer. Just like many of the best VPNs, had its no-logs policy audited and verified in December 2024, meaning it won't share any of your data with third-parties. It also sits outside of European and Western data jurisdictions thanks to its Malaysian base – another strong privacy advantage. Free is available on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Linux. With the exception of iOS, all these platforms support split tunneling – we'll explain why this might come in handy later. Windscribe Free and PrivadoVPN Free both impose data limits on their free plans. Free, alongside Proton VPN Free, doesn't do this. There are no restrictions on how much you can use the VPN – ideal for those who will regularly use the service. Other positives include customer support, for both the paid and free service, and decent enough app customisation. But it can't compare to Windscribe Free in this department, which restricts almost nothing except data usage on its free plan. So if you're a more seasoned VPN user, looking to customise your app, Free might not be the best choice. US Netflix can be unblocked by Free but its speeds, or lack of, make this achievement largely pointless. This is Free's biggest drawback and we'll explain more below. Free VPNs being slower than their paid counterparts isn't rare. The fastest VPNs can exceed 900 Mbps and only PrivadoVPN Free can hit that number. In our testing, PrivadoVPN Free clocked 950 Mbps, Windscribe Free hit 496 Mbps, and Proton VPN Free registered 335 Mbps. Many VPNs can go faster than this – as long as your internet can keep up – but they're like lighting compared to Free. Testing on Mac saw speeds of 25 Mbps when connected to the closest server. The tester's non-VPN internet connection was 690 Mbps, so this result represented a crippling speed reduction. What's more disappointing is that some of our testers reported speeds as low as 1 Mbps. This is unusable and could be seen as deliberate throttling to frustrate users and lead them to the provider's paid plan. In my personal testing, Free measured 44 Mbps when connected to a US server and 50 Mbps when connected to a UK server. This is manageable for general browsing, but bearing in mind my internet connection without a VPN hovers around 300 Mbps, this is another significant and disappointing reduction. 25 Mbps is reportedly fast enough to stream 4K Netflix but we wouldn't recommend Free for streaming – it's simply not fast or reliable enough. If streaming is your priority, you're better off going with one of the best streaming VPNs. You can make use of Free's split tunneling feature to exclude streaming sites from your VPN connection. But this will mean you can't access geo-blocked content and your data will be left unprotected. Free's server spread is limited. There are seven servers to choose from, located in Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Although you can select which server you connect to – unlike Proton VPN Free – there's nothing available outside the US and Europe. This will be disappointing for those in South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. An odd quirk is that Free "expires" after 30 days. You can continue using the app at no cost but having to renew every month can be irritating. You'll also be offered the option to upgrade to the paid plan – currently $3 per month. This is quite annoying, affects user experience, and something people would prefer not to deal with. Staying with user experience, Free's app design could be improved. It's blocky, outdated, and honestly not that nice to use. It's functional and fairly simplistic, but it leaves a lot to be desired looks wise. Other free VPNs have superior UIs and a better all-round app experience. It's not the biggest problem in the world, but if you're after a long-term, daily-use VPN, user experience and app design is important. How usable Free will be, depends on what you want to use it for. If you just want to occasionally browse the web, need a free VPN to bypass internet censorship, or need short-term protection, Free will do the job. However, if you want to unblock Netflix, stream videos, download files, and use a VPN long-term, then you'll want to look elsewhere. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Tom's Guide
12-06-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Is it really worth upgrading from Windscribe Free?
Windscribe Free is one of the best free VPNs on the market, with a generous amount of servers for free users, decent speeds and a huge amount of features shared between its paid and free versions. With all these positives, you may be wondering why anyone would switch from Windscribe Free to Windscribe Premium. And, in truth, many people will be more than satisfied with the free version. Let's take a look at what you get: This outstrips some of the cheaper paid VPNs, and Windscribe has by far the most features of all the free VPNs we recommend. Unlike many, Windscribe doesn't hold back any essential privacy and security features for the paid plan. This is a big green flag, and shows that your privacy is a priority. If you can handle the complex apps and don't mind the limited independent audits, it's a great choice for power users. Hold your horses there, champ. The bottom line is that no matter what, free VPNs will always be limited in some way compared to their paid counterparts, and Windscribe is no exception. Here, I'll explore some common reasons you might want to ditch your free plan for a paid one, including data limits, reduced speeds and streaming access. A secure, private VPN: WindscribeWindscribe comes with all of the class-leading privacy and security of its free option (including quantum-resistant encryption), but with some great added extras. This includes faster speeds, split tunneling and a kill switch on iOS and unlimited data. Prices can be as low as $2 thanks to Windscribe's build-a-plan option, and pre-made plans start from $5.75 per month for a 12-month plan ($69 upfront). Windscribe Free does have a fairly generous data limit at 15 GB per month, although this is reduced to 2 GB if you don't verify your email address, and 10 GB if you don't fancy Tweeting about the company. So, if you want to anonymously use Windscribe, you get far less data to play around with. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One of the main draws of Windscribe Free is that it offers streaming support, something often neglected by other free VPNs. It may not unblock as much as the best streaming VPNs, but it can access Netflix in the US, the UK and Canada, as well as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, ITVX and All4. However, this access is a double-edged sword – if you use Windscribe Free for data-heavy activities like streaming, you might find yourself running out of data frequently. Windscribe's paid-for version offers unlimited data, meaning you won't run out no matter how often you use your VPN, or whatever you use it for. However, if you don't want to switch from a free to a paid service, you could go for a free VPN that offers unlimited data, like Proton VPN Free. If you use Windscribe Free, you get a choice of 14 locations in 10 countries: the USA; Canada; the UK; France; Germany; Netherlands; Norway, Romania; Switzerland; and Hong Kong. While this is definitely generous, and a far higher number of locations to choose from than other free VPNs (Proton VPN Free, for example, only gives you 5 location options), it can't match up to its paid-for server spread. For one thing, Windscribe's premium version offers servers in 134 locations across 69 countries – a great deal more than Windscribe Free. Additionally, there's a lack of diversity in Windscribe Free's server spread – the majority of the servers are located in Europe, and there's only one server option for Asia. So, if you want a bigger server spread or want to connect to a server in a country not covered by Windscribe's Free servers, you'll be better off going for Windscribe's paid option. In our speed tests, Windscribe Free achieved speeds of 496 Mbps, which is an admirable effort and is even faster than some paid-for VPNs. However, if you want to crank your speeds up to 785 Mbps, you'll need to go for Windscribe premium. While these speeds are not the fastest VPN speeds we've seen, Windscribe's paid version has the benefit of a larger server network, meaning you're less likely to be connecting to an overloaded server. Overall, both Windscribe and Windscribe Free offer pretty good speeds, and shouldn't slow you down while you're using either version of the VPN. But, if you want to give your speeds a bit of a boost, consider switching to a paid-for subscription.
Tom's Guide
23-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Proton VPN drops to its lowest ever price – get it while you can
It's Proton's birthday and what better way to celebrate than offering Proton VPN at its lowest ever price. It's one of the best VPNs out there and a rock solid, privacy-focused provider. The two-year plan is 70% off, working out at $2.99 per month ($71.76 up front). But be quick, the deal runs out on May 28. Proton VPN comes from the team behind Proton Mail, and it's a big name in the privacy and security world. It's one of the most private VPNs, so if privacy is your priority, it's a chance to get a top provider for cheap. Proton VPN is not the only VPN deal this weekend. Check out our round up of the top VPN Memorial Day deals. Proton VPN: the best VPN for privacyProton VPN is a privacy-focused provider and offers class-leading privacy and security for up to 10 devices. It's super fast and unblocked every streaming site we threw at it. There's over 12,000 servers, double hop Secure Core servers, and a host of anti-censorship features. The 2-year plan works out at $2.99 per month ($71.76 up front) and has never been cheaper. There's a great free VPN too and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Proton VPN's real strength lies in its privacy. It's a verified no-logs provider and has completed a number of independent audits. This means it doesn't store, share, or sell any of your personal data and it's protected by class-leading encryption. It's also open source, so you can see the code for yourself. Proton VPN owns all of its more than 12,000 servers, resulting in added security, and it has a large presence in Africa and Asia – more than any other provider. It's one of the fastest VPNs we've tested, hitting speeds of over 900 Mbps. It also unblocked every streaming site we tried to access with it. This speed and unblocking power makes it one of the best streaming VPNs. Proton VPN isn't the most feature heavy VPN, but everything is included and there's no paid add-ons. There's a solid kill switch and split tunneling, as well as some more technical features such as moderate NAT. Its Secure Core feature allows you to route your VPN traffic through two servers rather than one, for an additional layer of encryption, privacy, and security. Proton VPN has some of the best anti-censorship features available, and one of its biggest goals is to provide access to a free and open internet. Its Stealth VPN protocol obfuscates your internet traffic and hides the fact you're using a VPN. On Android, you can disguise the Proton VPN app and there's a browser extension for those who cannot download the app at all. Proton VPN Free is one of the best free VPNs available and protects you with the same level of privacy and security as the paid plan. Guest mode means you don't even have to create an account to access it and Proton VPN has partnered with the secure browser Vivaldi to offer it as an extension. Proton VPN's UI isn't the simplest, and beginners may take a bit of time to get used to it. Following a recent update, the UI has undergone a big redesign, making it a lot cleaner. But it's still not as easy to use as ExpressVPN or Surfshark. NetShield is Proton VPN's threat protection offering. It claims to block ads and trackers, but in our testing it proved far less effective than NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro. Proton VPN isn't usually the cheapest option available, but it's not the most expensive. But it's never this cheap and takes it below NordVPN and ExpressVPN by some way. However, Private Internet Access (PIA) and Surfshark still come in cheaper and may be better options if you're on a tight budget. Overall, Proton VPN is a great VPN and ideal for the privacy-conscious. It's fast, has some decent features, and offers protection for 10 devices. If you're a fan of the Proton ecosystem then it'll slot in with ease. $2.99 per month makes it very good value and it's well worth considering. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
