Demand for virtual private networks has grown exponentially in recent times, particularly as people spend more time using the internet in their homes during lockdown. According to a recent report, the use of the best VPN services experienced an increase of 41% in March, and more than 30% of internet users are now accessing VPNs.
For 72% of American and British VPN users, they have chosen to download free services and many of them are available on the Android operating system. A VPN app provides users with a private network and hides their IP address, allowing them to use the internet anonymously.
By downloading an Android VPN app, you can encrypt your internet data to stay one step ahead of cyber criminals, unblock content that isn’t available in your country, stop internet service providers from intentionally slowing down your connection and download torrent files without revealing your identity.
If you search for VPNs on the Google Play Store, you’ll see that hundreds are available for Android devices. A large number of these are free to download, but while that may sound tempting, are they actually worth it? Or are you better off paying for a premium VPN service instead?
Use one of the trusted best free VPN apps
Firstly, it’s worth noting that there are some really good free VPN services out there. Our choice for the best overall free VPN is Hotspot Shield VPN, which offers a basic version that doesn’t cost a penny. It provides users with a daily data allowance of 500MB, and you can use up to five devices.
The caveat with Hotspot Shield VPN is that you need to sign up using your credit card details, and when using the app, you’ll experience advertisements. Other excellent free VPN services that are available to download on Android include ProtonVPN, TunnelBear, WindScribe VPN and Hide.me, which you can learn more about in our best free VPN post.
There are some advantages to paying for a VPN service each month instead of using a free one. You can opt for one of the best cheap VPN if you are on a budget, and we also have rounded up all the best VPN deals to help save you some money on your new subscription.
ProtonVPN Free
Try ProtonVPN for free today
From the creators of the secure and encrypted ProtonMail comes ProtonVPN. There are no data limits here, but free users are deprioritized in favor of paid ones during peak usage times.
Avoid giving any personal data
One of the big things about a VPN is that it’s designed to help keep your online identity private. If you are signing up for a new VPN service and it’s asking questions or wants personal data, you should not be signing up for it (unless it’s basic payment stuff). Be sure to question everything, because unfortunately people are using VPN apps to gather data on people until they get caught. Stick with the more well-known options and you should be safe.
