Using a VPN is one of the best ways to protect your privacy and keep you safe on Windows 11. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address. This way prying eyes cannot track your internet activity.
A VPN can also protect you from cyberattacks on Windows systems. If you want to use a free VPN for Windows 11, you have to be careful. Not all free VPNs deliver good speed and security, and some are even dangerous.
After extensive testing, we have determined the best free VPN for Windows 11. In this article, you’ll find our top 3 best free VPNs for Windows devices.
The Best Free VPNs for Windows 11 Right Now
Finding a good free VPN for Windows 11 can be challenging. Some free VPNs are limited but can still keep you safe online.
This is our top 3 truly free VPNs:
The VPN providers above offer great protection at zero cost but do come with small limitations such as limited servers and limited data.
If you don’t want any restrictions or limitations, we advise choosing a premium provider like NordVPN. NordVPN is secure, fast, and works with a lot of streaming services. NordVPN offers a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Not satisfied with NordVPN? You can easily get a refund.
Besides NordVPN there are other excellent premium VPNs with free trials. These let you use a premium VPN for free for 30 days or longer:
This is our top 3 premium VPNs with free trials:
Free vs Paid VPNs for Windows 11 – What’s the Difference?
A free VPN sounds very appealing but can be dangerous. When a VPN is totally free, you often pay for the free service with your data. When you use a free VPN, you are the product.
Using a free VPN can also compromise your privacy. For example, there are free VPNs that would let users use each other’s IP. So you would get an IP in a location, but anything someone did with that IP would lead back to you. We advise to stay far away from this kind of dangerous free VPNs.
If you do want to use a free VPN for Windows 11 then we recommend using a free VPN with a premium plan like Proton Free. These freemium VPNs come with limitations but are safe to use.
If you don’t want any limits and don’t want to pay for a VPN service, you’re better off taking advantage of a VPN free trial or money-back-guarantee.
Below you will find the best free VPNs for Windows 11. First, we will highlight the completely free VPNs and after that we will discuss the free trials of the best premium VPNs.
The Best Free VPNs for Windows 11 – in Detail
If you are looking for a completely free VPN for Windows 11, you can check out our top 3 below. These VPNs are 100% free. We have extensively tested these free VPNs. Below you can find the results.
Proton VPN – Best free VPN for Windows 11 overall
ProtonVPN is the best free VPN for Windows 11. This VPN offers unlimited data and lets you browse the internet as long as you like.
This VPN offers strong AES 245-bit encryption and has secure VPN protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard to keep you safe online.
Proton VPN doesn’t keep logs and keeps you safe and anonymous online. This is certainly not the case with all free VPNs.
Unfortunately, Protons server network is limited. Proton offers only three servers: in the United States, the Netherlands and Japan.
What we like
- Zero-logs policy
- Works good on Windows
- No adds
- No speed limits
- Offers secure VPN protocols
What we don't like
- Limited server network
- Not the fastest VPN
Read our extensive ProtonVPN review to learn more about this free VPN for Windows 11.
PrivadoVPN – Best free streaming VPN for Windows
PrivadoVPN is another free VPN for Windows 11 that keeps your PC secure. PrivadoVPN has a strict no-log policy and doesn’t track your online activities.
For a Free VPN, PrivadoVPN performs well and offers features you wouldn’t expect from a free VPN. PrivadoVPN has the best 256-bit encryption and an automatic kill switch to keep you safe online no matter what.
PrivadoVPN offers 10 GB of data for free every month. For a free VPN that is very generous. Just note that once your data allowance is used up, connection speeds will be capped at 1 Mbps.
PrivadoVPN has 13 server locations available for free users. PrivadoVPN is one of the best free VPNs for streaming and one of the best free Netflix VPNs.
What we like
- No-logs policy
- Secure VPN for torrenting
What we don't like
- 10 GB monthly data limit
- Not suitable for extensive streaming sessions
Read our detailed PrivadoVPN review.
Hide.Me – Best free Windows 11 VPN for torrenting
Hide.me is an excellent free VPN for Windows 11 with strong 256-bit AES encryption and a kill switch for extra safety.
You can easily install the VPN app for Windows and connect to a server to keep you safe online. Hide.me offers many useful features like a kill switch and IP Leak Protection to protect your online safety.
You get 10 GB data per month with a free Hide.me subscription. You can still use the VPN if you run out of data but it’s not possible to select a preferred VPN server. This might affect your download speeds.
Hide.me is a P2P-friendly VPN that works with the best torrent sites. With our secure Kill Switch, the app never leaks your IP address. This VPN offers servers in five locations, including Canada, the Netherlands, the US and Germany.
What we like
- 10 GB monthly data for free
- Five VPN protocols, including WireGuard
- No-logs policy
- Kill switch to keep you safe in case VPN connection drops
What we don't like
- Can be slow depending on server load
- Limited servernetwork compared to Premium VPNs
Read our Hide.me review to learn more about this excellent free VPN for Windows 11.
Best Free Trial VPNs for Windows 11
From our experience, we can say that the best VPNs for Windows 11 are Premium VPNs. It is well worth it to pay a small price and not suffer from the restrictions that come with free VPNs.
Most premium VPNs like NordVPN offer a money-back-guarantee that you can use without risking a penny. Our experience with the NordVPN free trial is very good. We tested Nord for 30 days and canceled the subscription within this period. We got our money back without any problems.
NordVPN – Best in class free Windows 11 VPN
Our top pick for Windows 11 is NordVPN. Of all the VPNs we have tested, NordVPN has outperformed them all in terms of privacy, speed and security. This premium top-rated VPN is also easy to set up on Windows 11.
NordVPN has a large server network, outstanding security features, and the best streaming and torrenting capabilities.
NordVPN has one of the fastest VPN apps for Windows. You can use the 30-day money-back-guarantee to try this premium VPN for free.
Click on the button below to try the best free Windows 11 VPN risk-free.
Read our NordVPN review for more information. This VPN is not only our #1 pick for Windows but it’s also our #1 best streaming VPN.
Surfshark – Try fast Windows 11 VPN for free
Surfshark is known for the fast connection speeds. Surfshark lets us stream and game without experiencing lag.
You can use the 30-day money-back-guarantee to use this premium VPN for free. This way you can enjoy safe browsing on Windows without paying a penny.
Surfshark is a very cheap Windows 11 VPN. It offers the best encryption and unlimited connections. Additionally, we found Surfshark extremely easy to use.
Check out our extensive Surfshark review for more information. Use the Surfshark free trial to protect your Windows device without any costs.
CyberGhost – Longest free trial period for Windows 11
CyberGhost has the longest free trial period for Windows 11. You test CyberGhost for as much as 45 days for free during the trial period.
CyberGhost is an excellent choice for Windows users who love to stream. CyberGhosts dedicated streaming servers are optimized for specific streaming services. This makes it easy to access Netflix, Hulu and other streaming platforms.
CyberGhost is very affordable, but if you want to use this VPN for free, you can use their 45-day money-back-guarantee.
Use the CyberGhost free trial to test this VPN for 45 days. Check out our detailed CyberGhost review for more information.
Our Free Windows 11 VPN Picks Compared
Below you will find a comparison table of the best free VPNs for Windows 11:
| Editor’s Pick | |||
| VPN |  |  |  |
| Servers | 1-100 | Hundreds | 1-100 |
| Logs | Zero logs | Zero logs | Zero logs |
| Compatibilities |       | | |
| Torrent options | |||
| Protocols | OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard, Proprietary | OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard | OpenVPN, IKEv2, SSTP, WireGuard |
| Visit Proton VPN Free | Visit PrivadoVPN | Visit Hide.me VPN Free |
Why Free VPNs Can Be Unsafe
Completely free VPNs often come with risks like:
- Data logging: a lot of free VPNs log your data and share it with third parties.
- Malware: some free VPNs contain malware.
- Data breaches: free VPNs are usually not up-to-date and are vulnerable to data breaches.
Avoid risks with low-quality free VPNs and try NordVPN free trial instead. NordVPN is secure, fast and has a large server network.
Use the 30-day money-back-guarantee to try this fastest VPN for free!
How to Download a Free VPN for Windows 11 Safely
The fastest way to install a free VPN for Windows 11 is by using the Windows app provided by the VPN provider. In the example below, we used ProtonVPN, our #1 best free VPN for Windows.
Follow the easy steps below to download a free VPN for Windows 11.
- Pick a secure VPN provider for Windows, such as ProtonVPN, our best free VPN for Windows 11.
- Go to the ProtonVPN website and click Download > VPN for Windows.
- Download the VPN software from the official website.
- Go to your downloads folder and double-click the protonvpn.exe installation file.
- Follow the instructions to finish the installation process.
- After installation, a log-in screen will pop-up. Click “Create account“.
- Choose “Sign up for free” and create an account on the website.
- Click “Continue with VPN Free“.
- Create your account and fill in an email address and click “Start using Proton VPN“.
- Set your password (Proton VPN automatically generates a strong password for you, but you can also choose your own password).
- Log into your VPN account and click “Sign in“.
- Connect to a server and secure your traffic on Windows.
For more information read our article on how to install a VPN for Windows 11.
Recap: Best Free VPNs for Windows 11
A VPN for Windows protects your online traffic while you stream, browse, and work on your Windows device.
The best free VPN for Windows is ProtonVPN. With fast free servers, the ability to unblock streaming services, and an easy-to-use Windows app, ProtonVPN is our number 1 free VPN for Windows.
Even the best Free VPNs like ProtonVPN come with speed or data limits. If you don’t want to pay for a VPN, we advise you to take advantage of a VPN free trial or money-back-guarantee. NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back-guarantee.
If you are looking for privacy, excellent security features, unlimited data and speed, then NordVPN is your best pick.
Do you want to know more about the best free VPNs for other devices and needs? Check out the articles below:
Do you want more information on the best free VPNs for Windows? Check out our frequently asked questions below.
Choose a trustworthy free VPN for Windows like ProtonVPN and download the Windows app. You can also use a free VPN trial of a Premium VPN.
NordVPN is the best VPN for Windows 11. You can use the NordVPN free trial to browse safely without any costs.
The best VPN for Windows 11 is secure, has good encryption, is fast and doesn’t keep any logs. According to us, NordVPN is the best VPN for Windows 11.
