Best Free VPN for Mac

The best free VPN for MacOS is Windscribe – it’s safe, secure, fast, and gives you access to VPN servers in 10 countries worldwide.

Windscribe Free also works with US Netflix and BBC iPlayer, which is unmatched by any other safe free VPN.

However, even the best free VPNs come with limitations, like restrictive data caps. Windscribe comes with a 10GB monthly allowance, so if you are looking for the absolute best VPN for your MacBook or iMac you’ll need to pay for it.

MacBooks and iMacs are known for being more resistant to malware and viruses than Windows devices, but you still need to use a VPN to protect yourself from hackers and snoopers.

Having good antivirus software or relying on MacOS’ own security isn’t enough to keep you safe online.

A VPN encrypts all of your internet traffic with strong protocols and ciphers so that you can safely use your devices at home and on public WiFi.

If you don’t use a VPN on your MacOS device while browsing, streaming, or torrenting your ISP – and any other unwanted third parties sniffing traffic – will be able to see what you’re doing online.

In some countries, ISPs are required to hand over certain user information to the government, and some sell your data for targeted advertising.

Using your MacBook on public WiFi without VPN protection puts your personal data at risk. Hackers can take advantage of weak network security in order to steal your data, including your credentials for online banking.

There are loads of free VPNs around, but not all of them are safe to use. Using a free VPN on your Mac isn’t always the best choice – some free VPNs suffer from security flaws and others may even sell your personal information to China.

We’ve spent hours testing the free VPNs for MacOS that we’ve listed above and have concluded that they are 100% safe to use.

However, if you want to benefit from extra security features such as a VPN kill switch you might need to purchase a premium VPN subscription – NordVPN is a good choice.

Apple MacOS devices have built-in VPN support (using the L2TP/IPSec or IKEv2/IPSec VPN protocols) – you can find VPN configuration options within System Preferences > Network settings > + > (Inferface) VPN.

In order to enable the VPN on your MacBook or iMac, you’ll still need to use configuration files from a VPN service, though, whether you pay for it or choose a free VPN.

We recommend using a custom VPN app for Mac, though, as it’ll not only save you time but it’ll also ensure that the necessary security features are properly set up.

You can also turn an old MacBook or iMac into a VPN server. You can find our step-by-step walkthrough at the other end of that link, but be warned that it isn’t for beginners.

It’s easy to get a free VPN on your Mac. Each of our top free VPN picks listed above come with a simple custom app for MacOS devices, meaning that all you need to do is download the software from the VPN’s website and log in.

Some of our recommendations provide OpenVPN configuration files so that you can set up the VPN manually. This allows you to install the VPN at router level in order to protect all internet-connected devices in your home.

Once it’s all set up, make sure to enable the VPN kill switch and leak protection if available. All that’s left to do is connect to your preferred server.

If you need a little extra help setting up a VPN on your Mac, check out our guide How to Install a VPN on Your Mac.

The easiest and safest way to change your IP address on your iMac or MacBook is to use a trusted VPN service – one of the free services listed above are good choices.

Once you’ve set up your VPN and enabled all the available security features, just select a VPN server location and click the connect button. Your true IP address should now be hidden and replaced by the new VPN IP address.

You can check this by running a VPN leak test on browserleaks.com:

Windscribe Free leak test results connected to a US VPN server. We test from the UK.

As you can see, our MacOS IP address has changed from one in the UK to another in the US. Our true IP address is safely hidden from any snooping third parties.

Most free VPNs for Mac don’t work reliably with Netflix, or other popular streaming sites. If you use a free VPN to stream Netflix, you’ll probably get an error message from Netflix asking you to switch off your proxy, like this:

Netflix displays an error message when it detects a VPN.

If you get one of these Proxy Error messages, you can try again using another VPN server – if the free VPN provides many server options.

Otherwise, you should use Windscribe free VPN. As we mentioned above, it now unblocks US Netflix on its free US servers.

However, if you’re looking to unblock other (or several) Netflix libraries, you will have to use a paid VPN for Netflix. At the moment, the best VPN for Netflix is ExpressVPN – it unlocks over 19 Netflix catalogues, and is excellent for unlocking US Netflix.

To know more about Netflix VPNs, read our list of the best Netflix VPNs for Mac.

If you don’t want your ISP to see what you’re downloading from torrenting websites, it’s vital that you use a safe and anonymous VPN. There are a handful of free torrent VPNs that you can use on your Apple Mac device to hide your IP address while you torrent.

Just like its our best free VPN for Mac, Windscribe also leads our selection of free VPNs for torrenting. However, if you’re a heavy torrenter you’ll need a VPN that allows P2P traffic, without data caps, and no server location limitations.

If you’re looking for the very best VPN for P2P activities, we recommend using ExpressVPN, our top VPN for torrenting in 2020.