The internet is rife with free VPNs. Search the App Store for one, and you'll no doubt be met with a barrage of options promising first-rate security with no strings attached. It's hard to resist the unbeatable price of free, especially in an age when we're more aware of our digital footprint than ever before. Even so, it's critical to acknowledge the reality of any business: running one is anything but cheap. And for subscription-free VPNs, turning a profit almost always involves tracking your activity and selling it to advertising firms.
It should go without saying that an impressive rating on the App Store isn't enough to know whether a provider handles your data responsibly; at a minimum, a good VPN should:
- Encrypt your data reliably
- Have an effective, functional kill switch
- Have clear-cut privacy policies and ethical company practices
While a VPN certainly won't make you anonymous or protect you from every online threat, it can add a welcome layer of privacy on public networks and limit what your ISP can see. To determine the best free VPN for iPhone, we tested more than 20 of the most popular VPNs and evaluated the support and availability of our highest-scoring VPNs on iOS. We believe opting for a free VPN shouldn't come at the cost of your privacy; that's why some popular services don't make our main picks, even if they're fast.
Looking for more platform-specific options? We've published our favorite free options across all major platforms, including Windows, Android, and Mac. You can also check out our roundup of the best VPNs we've tested overall.
Since 2025, we've published reviews for over 20 different VPN services. These reviews followed months of research, test development, and collaboration among our engineers, testers, writers, photographers, and editors. Our process for each review involves extensive work behind the scenes, including rigorous checks and balances, to deliver the most accurate and useful test results so you can make the right purchasing decisions for your needs.
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Best Free VPN For iPhone
Private Browsing7.5Policies & Practices6.3Security8.6See all our test resultsPlatform Support:10Proton VPN Free is the best free VPN for iPhone we've tested for everyday use. It covers the fundamentals with unlimited data and a straightforward app that's easy to leave connected while you browse. You can get started in guest mode without creating an account or providing payment details, and the iOS app supports both WireGuard and Stealth (Proton's in-house protocol, designed to bypass forms of Deep Packet Inspection used in government censorship). There's also a kill switch you can enable in the app's settings to block internet access if the connection drops, although Proton notes that some Apple services can still bypass the tunnel and send traffic outside the VPN.
There are some other downsides to consider: you can only keep one device connected to the VPN at a time, and the app assigns you a server automatically rather than letting you choose. That makes Proton Free a suboptimal fit if you're hoping to access a specific regional streaming library. Although streaming on the free plan isn't blocked outright, official support for it is reserved for paying members. Ad-blocking functionality also requires a subscription. If you're not overly worried about reaching a data limit and prefer the option to pick your own server, we recommend Windscribe Free, our pick below, as a great privacy-focused alternative that comes with free ad blocking. Just keep in mind that you'll be limited to 10GB of bandwidth per month, and if you don't provide your email, that limit will be reduced to just 2GB.
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Best Free iPhone VPN For Privacy
Private Browsing9.2Policies & Practices9.4Security8.6See all our test resultsPlatform Support:10While free VPNs usually cut corners somewhere, Windscribe Free makes sure you never pay for the service with your privacy. Its no-logging terms are refreshingly transparent and backed by routinely commissioned external audits. You can create an account without providing an email address, though doing so limits you to just 2GB of data per month. Confirming your email raises that allowance to 10GB, while their hashed account registration lets you sign up without sharing any personal information. Windscribe Free supports all major protocols on iOS, including WireGuard and OpenVPN.
This VPN covers the essentials well: it keeps your IP address and DNS queries securely encrypted in its tunnel, and bundles its free obfuscation tools with an effective kill switch on iOS. You can choose from servers in 10 countries, and use your account simultaneously across as many devices as you own (which comes in handy if you own an iPad or a Mac). The main drawback is its 10GB data allowance, which can quickly dry up if you're streaming video or leaving the VPN connected indefinitely. Still, the VPN's usage limit is a modest trade-off for outstanding security and a no-nonsense privacy stance that you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere for free.
Notable Mentions
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TunnelBear Free:
TunnelBear Free has a simple iPhone app, supports unlimited simultaneous connections, and includes obfuscation tools to keep your traffic hidden. However, its 2GB monthly limit is only suitable for occasional browsing, and its privacy practices fall well short of the standards set by Proton Free VPN and Windscribe Free. Its kill switch also leaked unencrypted traffic during some of our tests.
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The recommendations above are the best free VPNs for iPhone among the services we've tested. We prioritize clear privacy policies and reliable protection over App Store ratings and sensationalized marketing. We also consider how practical each service is on iPhone, including its data allowance, user feedback, app-specific restrictions, and how aggressively it encourages users to upgrade.
Not sure if you even need a VPN? Defining your threat level is a great place to start. Modern websites and apps already encrypt their traffic, and iOS comes with its own security safeguards, so running a VPN continuously is unnecessary for most users.
You can dive deeper into the industry standard for encryption in our articles on AES-256 encryption and Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), or read about the methods used to authenticate and secure devices in our Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) and Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) primers.
Curious how the rest stack up? Check out our Table Tool below to compare all the free VPNs we've tested.