The Best VPNs for Public WiFi Hotspots

Free WiFi networks in coffee shops, malls, airports, and hotels are often open and unsecured, leaving you vulnerable to surveillance from the WiFi provider or hackers attempting to steal your sensitive information.

To protect your personal data, you need a VPN that will securely encrypt your web traffic and prevent third parties from eavesdropping.

Not every VPN is a good fit for public WiFi, though. Robust AES-256 encryption and DNS leak protection are imperative, but you’ll also need fast connection time, easy-to-use apps, and a functional kill switch — at the very least.

We evaluated and ranked 62 VPNs to reach these recommendations. Our testing prioritized factors like security, speed, convenience, and affordability.

We’ve also identified which VPNs connect to public WiFi the fastest, so you’re not spending ages waiting to connect.

In this guide, we’ll reveal the full results of our testing. You’ll find out which VPNs are safe to use for free WiFi hotspots, which VPNs to avoid, and which features you should look out for.

We examined 62 VPNs using our hands-on testing methodology to identify those that provide the safest and most convenient experience on public WiFi networks.

Our recommendations highlight the three VPNs that provide the best combination of security, privacy, speed, usability, and convenience on free WiFi networks.

Here’s a list of the desirable features we looked for when recommending VPNs for public WiFi. You can also read our full testing methodology below.

Use the table below to compare the best VPNs for public WiFi side-by-side:

We conducted unique testing on connection times and added the original data to our findings. How long it takes a VPN to connect to a nearby server can be crucial when using a VPN on a free public network.

There are countless scenarios where having quick and safe access to the internet is critical. Whether you’re loading an e-ticket to try and catch a train, using Google Maps to travel, or replying to a message on a subway carriage, being able to quickly connect to a VPN server makes the experience seamless.

Here’s a chart comparing how fast the best 12 VPNs connect to nearby servers while using our iPhone 14 Pro and a Lenovo ThinkPad T480 Windows laptop:

In addition, here’s a detailed table showing you how each VPN performed in our public WiFi testing categories:

As you can see above, ExpressVPN and PIA are almost evenly matched across all categories. The only difference is that ExpressVPN outshines PIA in its accessibility and usability, meaning it’s the better option if you’re on the go and want to quickly connect to a VPN.

Proton VPN Free, on the other hand, matches up to its paid rivals in security, privacy, speed, and ease of use. But it lags behind greatly in server locations available, as there’s only three on offer.

However, this is typical for a free VPN. A lot of them have reduced server lists because they cost more money to maintain.

Some VPN services simply aren’t secure or private enough to use on a public WiFi network. They might log your real IP address and browsing history, fail to encrypt your data, or contain dangerous malware.

Below, we’ve listed four popular VPNs that should be avoided. Three out of these four VPNs are popular because they’re created by well-known antivirus companies.

However, a lot of these VPNs designed by antivirus companies aren’t very privacy-friendly. They collect your real IP address, browsing history, and might even sell that data on to search engines for a profit.

For these reasons, we highly recommend getting a separate VPN service, like ExpressVPN or PIA, alongside antivirus software. An all-in-one approach to VPNs and antivirus can be risky, as you might end up surrendering privacy in exchange for a quick solution.

Norton Secure VPN

Norton Secure VPN is genuinely awful. It logs your real IP address, which is the worst thing for a VPN to keep. This is because your IP address is unique to your network and can be used to identify you.

It also doesn’t let you choose between protocols, which is an essential feature for any high-quality VPN service.

We strongly encourage you to avoid using Norton Secure VPN on public WiFi, even if you have access to it through its antivirus software already.

SetupVPN

SetupVPN is another VPN we advise against using. The worst thing about this VPN is that it logs way too much personally identifiable information. It keeps track of your real IP address, browser type, connection timestamps, and your browsing history.

In the wrong hands, all of this information can be combined to identify any individual user of the VPN and their internet activity.

We also couldn’t find any legal information about the company behind Setup VPN. This stands in stark contrast to our recommended VPNs like ExpressVPN and PIA which have regular transparency reports and are properly registered companies.

Avira Phantom VPN

Avira Phantom VPN logs and stores your IP address and bandwidth usage. It’s actually owned by the same company as Norton Secure VPN — another VPN that logs your IP address. These shady security practices are reason enough to avoid the service.

In our hands-on testing, we also found Avira Phantom awful to use. We had a hard time navigating through the website to download the app. Once downloaded onto our device, the VPN apps were full of frustrating bugs.

Avast SecureLine VPN

Avast SecureLine is a mid-tier VPN which doesn’t offer any benefits compared to PIA or ExpressVPN. It’s slower than our top picks for public WiFi and fails to unblock many streaming services like US Netflix, Disney+, and Max.

Its server network is also incredibly small for its higher price tag. It only covers 34 countries, whereas PIA covers 91.

In 2019, Avast’s antivirus extension was also discovered to be harvesting and sending back data to Avast, before selling it onto Google and Microsoft. This data included websites visited, search terms, videos watched, links clicked, and unique device IDs.

Here’s a video demonstrating the dangers of public WiFi hotspots, plus how a VPN can enhance your online privacy and keep you safe on unsecured networks:

Is There Anything You Shouldn’t Do on Public WiFi?

You should always use public WiFi with caution. Accessing private accounts or entering sensitive information on an unsecure public WiFi network can put you in danger of identity theft.

If you’re using public WiFi, it’s best to avoid any online activity which might expose sensitive information, such as:

• Online banking
• Online shopping
• Paying bills
• Filing taxes
• Downloading unknown files
• Accessing emails

A VPN can prevent dangerous man-in-the-middle-attacks – that’s why you should always use a VPN on public WiFi. But, it’s not enough to protect you from malware. We recommend using a combination of cybersecurity tools to protect yourself online, including antivirus software and a private browser like Firefox.

It’s easy to assume that the name of a public WiFi network might indicate whether it’s a secure network. However, a legitimate public network name can easily be spoofed by a malicious third party.

That’s why we recommend treating all networks that you don’t have control over as unsafe, and therefore requiring protection like VPNs and antivirus software.

The best VPNs provide additional features that protect you against data leaks, hackers, and cyberattacks. We’ve compiled a list of the best VPN features for protecting yourself on public WiFi:

VPN Kill Switch

A VPN kill switch is a security feature that automatically disconnects your device from the internet if your VPN connection is lost. It then reconnects when the VPN connection is reestablished.

It prevents any web traffic from being sent over an unsecure internet connection, particularly on risky public WiFi networks or free WiFi hotspots.

The best VPNs for public WiFi all come with a VPN kill switch that’s built-in or can be easily turned on.

VPN Auto-Connect

VPN auto-connect initiates a VPN connection any time you connect to a WiFi network. This ensures you stay protected from hackers and snoopers each time you connect to a new WiFi hotspot. This is especially important if you often use hotel WiFi or hotspots in malls and other public spaces.

You can find the feature in all popular VPNs, including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, PIA, and Surfshark. VPN auto-connect is not to be confused with your device’s WiFi auto-connect feature, which initiates a WiFi connection any time you are near one.

VPN Features Specifically for Public WiFi

A couple of VPNs have features designed specifically for protecting you on public WiFi. These are essentially advanced auto-connect features, which separate safe and unsafe WiFi networks – also called a ‘Trusted Networks’ Feature.

A Trusted Network Feature often works like an exceptions list: when you add a WiFi network to it, you will no longer get connected to a VPN server when using that network.

In short, by adding a WiFi network to the Trusted Networks list, you signal that you trust this network and do not need VPN protection when connected to it.

This feature is useful if you want to automatically disconnect from your VPN when you get home and automatically connect to a VPN when you leave. In our testing of the feature, we found that a lot of VPNs offer it but with different names.

Here’s a short list of popular VPNs with a Trusted Network feature:

• NordVPN: Trusted Network
• PIA: Automation
• Surfshark: Trusted Wi-Fi Networks
• IPVanish: Trusted Wi-Fi Networks
• VyprVPN: Public WiFi Protection
• HMA: Connection Rules

DNS Leak Protection

A DNS leak is a security vulnerability that occurs when your computer sends DNS requests to an unauthorized server, potentially allowing a third party to monitor your online activity.

When using public WiFi, where security risks are heightened, it’s important to use a VPN that comes with robust DNS leak protection. The best VPNs for public WiFi encrypt your DNS requests with strong encryption ciphers, such as AES-256 or ChaCha20.

The best VPNs also operate their own network of DNS servers. By doing so, they eliminate the reliance on third-party DNS providers, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to your online activity.

Although HTTPS has made free WiFi hotspots a lot safer, VPNs can still protect you from man-in-the-middle attacks and other eavesdroppers.

Cybercriminals use unsecured public WiFi networks and network scanners to intercept your connection and steal any personal information you send over the internet, including device information, passwords, and credit card numbers.

Hackers might also create a spoof public WiFi network of the same name as a coffee shop or shop to fool users nearby into connection to their network.

Once you connect to this spoof network, this allows them to look at all network packets flowing through that network and even change your browser’s data endpoint to a server owned by the hacker.

If you then log in to a banking app or social media account while connected to the spoof network, your authentication details can be logged by the website and seen by the hacker.

As we’ve established, there’s an inherent level of risk with public WiFi networks and free hotspots, as they might be unsecured and vulnerable to these types of attack. However, you can protect yourself.

A VPN can enhance your online security and mitigate these risks by encrypting any transmitted data and masking your real IP address. By encrypting your data, VPN services also prevent the WiFi owner from seeing your internet activity.

Unfortunately, VPNs aren’t guaranteed to protect you against malware and viruses. You’re still vulnerable to malware if you download it with a VPN connected, which is why we recommend using a combination of privacy and security tools to protect yourself online.

In addition, you can still get phished while connected to a VPN. If you open a suspicious link and enter your credit card information, even if you are connected to a VPN server, that information will still be transmitted to the cybercriminal who set that trap.

It’s absolutely worth investing in a VPN if you’re traveling a lot and using public WiFi often. Consider that cell phones are frequently connected to public WiFi networks in cafes, airports, hotels, and malls. These WiFi networks are typically unsecured and exposed to cyberattacks.

Is HTTPS Enough to Protect You on Public WiFi?

There’s an argument that people don’t need VPNs on public WiFi because the internet has become much safer with the introduction of HTTPS. While it’s true that HTTPS has ensured greater security online, HTTPS alone is not enough to make sure you’re secure when browsing on public WiFi.

HTTPS encryption online works between browsers and web servers, whereas a VPN encrypts all the data that leaves your device, even outside the browser in question.

This is especially important when using public WiFi on mobile devices, as you’re much more likely to use apps outside your online browser, and they might not rely on HTTPS encryption for transmitting data.

Is It Safe to Do Banking on Public WiFi With a VPN?

If you’re planning to do online banking on public WiFi, we strongly suggest you turn on a VPN before doing so. Using a VPN will add another layer of encryption to your traffic when opening banking apps or logging into online banking.

Ideally, you would only open your banking apps and websites in the safety of your home, where you control the WiFi network. Beyond complex hacking, someone might just look over your shoulder in a public place and see your bank details on your screen’s device.

Is a VPN Effective When Connected to a WiFi Network That Requires Authentication?

Some WiFi networks require you to sign in or enter an ID number, so that the network owner can keep records of who is using the network and for what purpose. Other public WiFi hotspots are paid services where you create an account and log in to access the internet.

The bad news is that these WiFi networks can use login details to track when you use the WiFi network. Using a VPN unfortunately won’t make these pop-up windows disappear.

However, if you want to keep your browsing history private, you can use a VPN to encrypt your web traffic, making it impossible for network providers to view your online activity. Once connected, the WiFi network provider will have no idea what website you’re visiting — though they will be able to see you’re using a VPN service.

To find the best VPNs for free WiFi hotspots, we conducted hands-on testing and created a bespoke methodology to evaluate 62 VPNs. The best VPNs for public WiFi excel in these categories:

• Security & Technical Features (30%)
• Privacy & Logging Policy (20%)
• Speed (20%)
• Server Locations (10%)
• Ease of Use (10%)
• Connection Time (10%)

We assign each VPN an overall public WiFi rating based on how well it performed in these categories. Each category is weighted differently according to its importance.

Our testing and results are completely unbiased. We pay for all our own VPN subscriptions and manually test each VPN ourselves.

For this guide, we’ve prioritized a VPN’s security credentials and logging policy because these are the most important aspects to staying safe on public WiFi.

You can find the categories and the breakdown of their weightings in the chart below:

Every paid and free VPN we review has been evaluated and ranked based on their performance in these categories.

Below we explain how we calculated an overall rating for public WiFi and how each category rating is individually tested:

Security & Technical Features: 30%

Strong AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption is crucial for any VPN to hide your internet activity and real IP address on public WiFi networks.

To test for this, we run every VPN through Wireshark, a web packet sniffer that shows whether your internet activity is encrypted.

We also use our own proprietary security tools which test for IP, DNS, WebRTC, and geolocation leaks. Our bespoke VPN kill switch test also checks whether a VPN is protecting your IP address when your internet drops.

To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s Security & Technical Features rating in our review and multiply it by 0.3. Then we have 30% of the overall public WiFi rating.

Privacy & Logging Policy: 20%

A VPN’s logging policy lists the amount of data a VPN monitors and whether it’s stored. If a VPN logs your IP address, timestamps, or browsing history, we recommend steering clear of it completely.

We also take into account whether a VPN has diskless servers, accepts anonymous cash payments, or conducts regular independent audits.

To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s Privacy and Logging Policy rating in our review and multiply it by 0.2. Then we have 20% of the overall public WiFi rating.

Speed: 20%

Public WiFi speeds can be notoriously slow. That’s why it’s important for a VPN to maintain fast download and upload speeds, and low ping times across nearby servers.

VPNs with fast download speeds can stream video content in higher quality, access web pages faster, and download private files quicker.

Having fast upload speeds is also crucial if you’re working remotely on public WiFi and you need to send files via email or upload them to databases.

To measure each VPN’s speed, we conduct speed tests by connecting to servers in five continents in a controlled testing environment.

We manually conduct each test on our proprietary internet speed testing tool. No third-party software is used.

To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s Speed rating in our review and multiply it by 0.2. Then we have 20% of the overall public WiFi rating.

Server Locations: 10%

The best VPNs for public WiFi have a diverse range of IP address locations available. A VPN with servers in more countries can give you access to more region-specific content.

To evaluate a VPN’s server locations, we look through each and every VPN’s server list. In our experience, a VPN’s website server list might be different to its apps, and even vary between different platforms.

Then we record each and every server location, including city-level servers, and compare them to find the VPNs with the most server locations.

To score at least 8.0, a VPN has to have servers in at least 21 countries. To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s Server Locations rating in our review and multiply it by 0.1. Then we have 10% of the overall public WiFi rating.

Ease of Use: 10%

Ease of use measures how user-friendly and intuitive the experience of using a VPN’s software is. To evaluate this, we document our personal experiences with a VPN while testing for other categories (like torrenting and streaming).

During these other tests, we note how easy it is to navigate a VPN’s app, its server sorting options, and the clarity of labels. We also take into consideration a VPN’s look, options for dark mode, and other customization options.

To score highly in this category, a VPN must be extremely intuitive to use across a broad range of platforms. Having attractive and user-friendly apps on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android are key to this category.

To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s Ease of Use rating in our review and multiply it by 0.1. Then we have 10% of the overall public WiFi rating.

Connection Time: 10%

A VPN’s connection time is a measurement of how quickly it can connect to a nearby server. This is crucial, especially when using a public WiFi VPN, as the period between joining a hotspot and connecting to the VPN is when you’re susceptible to snoopers and hackers.

A VPN with fast connection times can establish a connection in less than three seconds. We measure a VPN’s connection time using a stopwatch, an iPhone 14, and a Lenovo ThinkPad T480 laptop. We record the time it takes to connect to the nearest server using the VPN’s default protocol.

A VPN’s connection time is evaluated by averaging results from three different tests and converting the result into a rating out of 10. A lower connection time corresponds to a better rating.

To calculate this rating, we take each VPN’s connection time rating and multiply it by 0.1. Then we have 10% of the overall public WiFi rating.

This category is different to overall speed, which evaluates a VPN’s download speed, upload speed, and ping times.