Looking for a free VPN to torrent with? It's worth setting the correct expectations upfront: While the BitTorrent protocol is a perfectly legal and efficient way to transfer large files, very few VPNs actually support torrenting on their free tiers. Most providers reserve P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing for paying customers to keep their free servers from overloading.
In fact, only two of the free VPNs we've tested allow P2P traffic, and they come with significant drawbacks we'll highlight below. A VPN can certainly help hide P2P activity from your ISP, though no VPN offers total anonymity on the internet and should be treated as just one component of a broader privacy strategy. The majority of free ones, however, introduce far more privacy liabilities than they solve by collecting and selling your data to ad agencies. These two VPNs are no exception, falling well short of basic security requirements, such as:
- Strong, reliable encryption on every connection
- A functional kill switch in the event of a sudden disconnect
- Upfront communication about what information it collects (ideally, none) and why, without vague or evasive language
For that reason, if you plan to torrent regularly, our recommendations for the best VPNs for torrenting, the best cheap VPNs, and the best VPNs for privacy are well worth a look. And if you're still wondering whether you need a VPN, our handy chart can help you decide.
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 Torrenting
Torrent7.2Private Browsing4.4Security6.2Speed7.9Email Required:NoTorrent (P2P):YesData Limit:N/ASee all our test resultsPort Forwarding:NoHotspot Shield Free is the least-compromised free VPN for torrenting we've tested, but that comes with a heavy asterisk. It earns the top spot on practicality since it's the only free plan we've tested that allows P2P with no cap on how much you can download. It also posts the best speeds of any free VPN we've tested, so large torrents aren't a problem. You don't need to create an account to use it, so there's less personally identifiable information at risk in the event of a breach.
That being said, it's crucial to note that this service has the worst privacy policies and business practices of any VPN we've ever tested. Its own terms allow it to collect and sell your usage and device information, along with a history of the sites you visit. Its kill switch is unreliable and can leak unencrypted traffic if the app crashes or restarts, and Hotspot Shield's parent company hasn't directly acknowledged its extensive history of security incidents. The VPN also lacks port forwarding, which is important if you plan on downloading older torrents. But if your only goal is to hide torrent activity from your ISP, those trade-offs might be acceptable. Just keep in mind that ultimately, you're trusting one of the least accountable providers in the VPN space with your most sensitive activity. If you do plan to use it, we recommend binding the VPN to your torrent client for better security.
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Best Free VPN For Torrenting With More Features
Torrent4.6Private Browsing5.5Security6.2Speed0.0Email Required:YesTorrent (P2P):YesData Limit:2 GBSee all our test resultsPort Forwarding:NoTunnelBear Free is the only other free VPN we've tested that allows P2P traffic, but we don't recommend it. It scores poorly across the board, with a 2GB monthly data cap that isn't realistically high enough to handle torrenting in the first place. It also doesn't support port forwarding, which can severely hamper the download speeds and availability of certain torrents. It does have more built-in features than Hotspot Shield Free, such as obfuscation tools to disguise VPN traffic on networks that block it, a wider selection of protocols (such as WireGuard and OpenVPN), and unlimited simultaneous connections.
None of these features, however, offset the VPN's core problems: its kill switch leaks unencrypted traffic and can expose your IP address mid-download. There's also no anonymous signup option, so you have to hand over an email address and password that could easily wind up exposed in a data breach. TunnelBear's privacy policy allows it to collect your device and location data, and the company hasn't published a third-party audit since 2024. Worse, none of its past audits ever verified its logging practices, leaving its no-logging claims completely unsubstantiated. And since free users can't choose a server manually, TunnelBear Free might just connect you to a region where torrenting won't work at all.
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The two picks above are the only free VPNs we've tested that actually allow you to torrent on their free tier, and we include them with major security and privacy caveats. We only recommend using VPNs with a clear, digestible privacy policy and a proven track record of protecting their users, neither of which these VPNs can claim to have demonstrated. The unfortunate reality of today's market is that many free VPNs require you to trust the least accountable providers with the activity you most want to protect, which is a poor trade for most people.
If you torrent regularly, a low-cost paid VPN with port forwarding is the safer and better-value choice, and it's the one we'd steer most readers toward. To understand the standards that protect your traffic, check out our articles on AES-256 encryption, the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, and Transport Layer Security.
With that in mind, here's a list of all the free VPNs we've tested.