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Best Free VPN for iPhone
You use your Apple iPhone to access social media, watch videos, store credit card details, and send personal information – using a VPN with it is absolutely essential.
There is an abundance of free VPN apps for iPhone but many are unsecure and some could be handing over your data to countries like China.
After testing out plenty of awful – and potentially dangerous – ones, we’ve picked the most private free VPNs with simple custom apps for iOS.
The Most Important Factors When We Review a Free VPN for iPhone
- Simple and easy to use custom app for iOS
- Reliable and fast speeds
- Works with major streaming services
- Transparent, fair, and privacy-focused logging policies
- Useful privacy features
- Generous data allowance
Wondering why you should trust our reviews? Take a look at How We Test VPNs
Read More Information on Our Top 5 Best Free VPN Services for iPhone
Works with
Torrenting
Available on
The Bottom Line
Windscribe is the best free VPN we’ve tested, and its simple iOS app makes it our top pick for iPhone too.
Performance is great locally, the logging policy is minimal, and you can choose to connect to over 20 locations in 10 countries.
The VPN kill switch is missing for iPhone, though, and the 10GB data cap could be restrictive for heavy users.
Works with
N/A
Available on
The Bottom Line
ProtonVPN offers a user-friendly custom app for iOS, and best of all it comes with no speed or data restrictions. You can only connect to three server locations, though.
Local speeds are great and ProtonVPN collects very little user information – nothing that can be used to identify you.
Like Windscribe, there isn’t a VPN kill switch for iPhone, but the ‘Always On’ feature reestablishes a VPN connect automatically should it cut out.
Works with
Torrenting, Kodi
Available on
The Bottom Line
Hide.me is the most private and secure VPN on this list – it collects no logs, and the custom iOS app includes a VPN kill switch.
Local speeds reach an impressive 75Mbps, but the 2GB per month data cap is pretty restrictive. You’ll be able to stream a movie a month, if that.
It’s best for those who want to browse the web securely and privately above all else.
Works with
N/A
Available on
The Bottom Line
TunnelBear is a beginner-friendly VPN with cutesy apps for popular devices including iOS. It’s still pretty quick, though, and provides a decent level of privacy.
You can connect to 22 countries, which gives you more choice than our top two picks, but the data cap is very low at just 500MB a month.
TunnelBear is another free app best suited to securing public WiFi and browsing the web privately. We just wish the VPN kill switch was included for iOS too.
Works with
N/A
Available on
The Bottom Line
Avira Phantom is a decent choice for VPN newbies looking to test out the software for free. It’s not very quick, but it’ll be fast enough for general browsing.
There’s no limit to the number of simultaneous connections, but free users are unable to select which Avira Phantom server location they connect to.
Once more, the 1GB data cap is restrictive, and none of Avira Phantom’s free apps come with a VPN kill switch or any other advanced features.
How We Picked the Best Free VPN for iPhone
All of our recommendations offer a user-friendly custom app for iOS, meaning that you can install and use the VPN with ease on your iPhone.
They are fast on local connections, and maintain minimal logging policies to ensure that your personal information remains private.
Most quality free VPNs come with a data cap, so we’ve chosen those with the most generous allowance without compromising on performance or privacy.
If you’re looking for a great VPN service without data caps, take a look at our selection of premium iPhone VPN apps.
How To Use a Free VPN for iPhone
If you want a simple VPN solution for your iPhone, choose one that offers a custom iOS app – that way all you need to do is install it from the App Store and log in.
Make sure to enable extra security features such as the VPN kill switch and DNS and IPv6 leak protection if the app offers them. If there’s an option to choose the VPN protocol, we recommend OpenVPN.
Now choose the VPN server – the closer it is to your physical location the better performance will be – and connect.
If you don’t want to use a custom app, take a look at our simple guide for manually installing a VPN on your iPhone.
How to Choose a Free VPN for iPhone: 6 Tips
If you aren’t comfortable with manual configuration or want a one-click solution, be sure to choose a VPN that offers a simple custom iOS app. The easier it is to use the more you’ll want to use it.
Many free VPNs come with data caps – this allows users to try out the software before they commit to a paid plan. The bigger the allowance the more you’ll be able to do online every month.
No one likes buffering and slow downloads, so a fast and consistent VPN is important.
Take a look at the Speed & Reliability sections of our VPN reviews to find out how each one performs on local and international connections.
The farther away you are from the VPN server you connect to, the slower the performance will be.
If a VPN doesn’t offer server locations near to you or in a place that you want to connect to for geo-restricted content, it’s best to opt for another that does.
Not all VPNs work to unblock popular streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and even fewer free VPNs do.
If watching Netflix is a priority, check out the Streaming & Torrenting sections of our VPN reviews to find out if they’ll let you.
You entrust loads of your online data with your chosen VPN provider, so you need to make sure that it is storing all that data or making available to other third parties.
Choose a VPN that maintains a minimal logging policy – avoid those that collect your true IP address as this can be used to identify you online. Some VPNs collect no user logs whatsoever.
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