Windscribe Free is a privately owned VPN founded in 2016. It has servers in 10 countries, support for a range of different devices, unlimited simultaneous connections, and a variety of additional features like obfuscated protocols, a configurable domain and IP blocking tool called R.O.B.E.R.T., split tunneling, and more. In addition to the free tier we tested in this review, there's a paid Pro tier and the option to build a custom plan where you can choose which countries' servers you'd like access to. See the Differences Between Variants section for more details.
Our Verdict
Windscribe Free is decent for torrenting. While it allows you to download torrent files, it has a download limit of 10GB or 2GB per month, depending on whether or not you register with an email address. Its security is acceptable, as it keeps your IP address and DNS queries within its tunnel while you use it. While a password is necessary to register, you can create an account without an email address, but as mentioned previously, you don't get as much data if you sign up without one.
Doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries.
Proper TLS implementation protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
Kill switch works properly.
Monthly data limit.
Windscribe Free is a great VPN for private browsing. It has excellent security that keeps your IP address and DNS requests hidden while you're connected. The company also have very good policies and business practices overall. Their privacy and no-logs policies are clear and comprehensive, and specify that the company retains minimal information about you. They're also transparent about their ownership, are active in the community, and publish independent, third-party security and infrastructure audits. Their biggest shortcoming is that they haven't published a third-party audit of their privacy policies to verify their no-logs claims.
Doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries.
Proper TLS implementation protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
Kill switch works properly.
Very good, transparent business practices.
Clear and positive privacy and no-logs policies that retain minimal user information.
Monthly data limit.
No published privacy policy or no-logs audit.
Windscribe Free has very good policies and business practices. The privacy and no-logs policies are easy to understand and explicitly state that no data is retained, a fact that has been proven by their inability to produce user traffic in court in the past. The company is transparent about its ownership, and the staff maintain an active presence in the community. That said, while publishing third-party audits of their security infrastructure, they've never published an audit of their privacy or no-logs policies.
Very good, transparent business practices.
Clear and positive privacy and no-logs policies that retain minimal user information.
No published privacy policy or no-logs audit.
Windscribe Free has excellent security. It keeps your IP address and DNS queries encrypted while you're connected to it. It also offers protection against man-in-the-middle attacks as it has proper TLS implementation. Also, its kill switch works as intended, blocking unencrypted data leaking from your system in case of a reboot or reconnecting after a loss of internet.
Doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries.
Proper TLS implementation protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks.
Kill switch works properly.
Windscribe Free has mediocre download speeds, upload speeds, and latency. It's suitable for everyday use, but don't expect to download large files quickly. Its latency is also somewhat inconsistent, potentially causing lag spikes in online games or video calls.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Dec 16, 2025:
We've added text throughout the review to correspond with the new privacy tests in test bench 0.10.
- Updated Dec 16, 2025: We've updated our review to Test Bench 0.10! This update focuses on privacy and evaluates the trustworthiness of a VPN in keeping your personal information private. Read the changelog for more details.
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Updated Aug 11, 2025:
Following our original Kill Switch results, where we found some data leaks after a system reboot, Windscribe added an 'Always On+' mode, which we tested and found to be even stricter by blocking all data other than the connection between your device and the VPN host.
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Updated May 14, 2025:
After converting this review to Test Bench 0.9.1, this VPN no longer fails the Kill Switch Robustness test. We've revised the text accordingly throughout the review.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
Windscribe Free has a paid Pro tier and a free tier, which we tested in this review. We tested the Pro tier separately. You can also build your own plan with servers only in the countries that you specify.
| Plan | Country Selection | Data Limit | Pro-Only Servers | R.O.B.E.R.T.* | Port Forwarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | 65 | Unlimited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free | 10 | 2GB - 10GB*** | No | Malware, Ads, Tracker blocking only | No |
| Build A Plan | 1-5** | 12GB per country, unlimited optionally available | Yes | Optional | Optional |
*R.O.B.E.R.T. is Windscribe's customizable server-side domain and IP blocking tool that offers premade block lists and the ability to create your own custom lists.
**Windscribe doesn't let you select more than five countries, as it's cheaper to subscribe to the Pro plan.
***If you register without an email address, the data limit is 2GB. If you register with one, it's 10GB.
Popular VPN Comparisons
Windscribe Free has broadly comparable performance to most other services but an impressive list of additional features. These range from the fairly common realm of supporting a wide range of devices, unlimited simultaneous connections, and split tunneling to the niche, like the ability to create custom IP block lists and precise control of packet sizes. Features like these make it a compelling option if you're a power user who likes tweaking details.
Windscribe Free has very good privacy policies that are clearly written and specify that minimal user information is retained, and have good business practices that demonstrate a high standard of transparency and conduct, making it one of the few trustworthy free VPNs on the market, especially compared to poor performers like Hotspot Shield Free.
Check out our articles on the best VPNs and the best free VPNs to see which services we recommend.
Test Results
Windscribe Free has multiple kill switch settings called 'Firewall Modes,' including an 'Always On' and 'Always On+.' Both modes effectively block potentially de-anonymizing data in case your device restarts or the client crashes. The Always On+ mode is much more restrictive, completely blocking all traffic other than the connection between your device and Windscribe's servers.
Windscribe Free doesn't secure its internet routing (BGP) properly. This means that even if your ISP protects against attacks like route hijacking, your traffic could still be misdirected once it enters Windscribe's network. This is only a concern for highly targeted and resource-intensive attacks that are feasible only for governments or large corporations to orchestrate.
Windscribe Free has excellent privacy and no-logs policies, but the company has never published an independent, third-party policy audit to verify its claims.
The policies are written clearly and specify that they don't log any of your traffic, use third-party tracking, or retain minimal account information that's necessary to track how much data you've used. Requests from authorities in the past have proven that Windscribe didn't have any logs to hand over.
Windscribe Free has outstanding company practices. They're independent and privately owned by individuals who have an active online presence and transparently communicate about the VPN to the wider community. Their applications are open-source, and they commission frequent third-party security and infrastructure audits. Any issues have been promptly resolved.
There are some broad statements in the terms of service, and there are statements that give Windscribe the ability to define misuse and ban accounts at its own discretion. Otherwise, the terms of service are satisfactory.
If you register for an account using an email address, you'll receive a 10GB data limit. Without providing an email address, the limit is 2GB.
This VPN delivers fairly slow download speeds, but they're still suitable for everyday browsing and internet use. Downloading large files takes some time.
This VPN delivers upload speeds that are fairly consistent and suitable for everyday use. However, it takes some time to upload large files.
This VPN delivers latency with occasional spikes that can disrupt online games or video calls, but it's generally okay for regular internet use.
If you register for an account using an email address, you'll receive a 10GB data limit. Without providing an email address, the limit is 2GB.
This VPN has native apps for Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, and openSUSE Linux distributions. Only the paid version of Windscribe allows for manual configuration.
There are apps available for iOS and Android, Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV. Windscribe also has browser extensions, and you can even install it on your router, so all your network traffic goes through the VPN.
Stealth and WStunnel are protocols with obfuscation that work by encapsulating an OpenVPN connection in a TLS tunnel or a WebSocket, respectively. These can be useful if you're contending with internet censors that don't allow access to a site through a VPN.
You can only ping local addresses on different subnets if you input the address directly into the app's split tunneling section.