There are upsides and downsides to even the best free VPNs on the market. Some free VPNs are reputable but severely limit users’ monthly data or server choices, while others are downright dangerous, designed to steal and sell personal data.
Generally, you’ll get the best experience from a VPN by paying for a subscription. Think better speeds, no data caps, and the best security tools the VPN has to offer. Plenty of freemium services offer both free and paid plans, too, so you can trial a free service and get a feel for how it works before upgrading.
The Black Friday sales season is heating up, and we’re already seeing some of the biggest VPN discounts of the year. There’s no better time to take the plunge, try out a paid VPN plan, and save serious money in the process.
PrivadoVPN: $1.11 per month with 90% off
PrivadoVPN is our top-rated free VPN, but its paid plans come with plenty to recommend them, like an expanded list of available server locations and a jump from one simultaneous connection to ten. Premium plans also come with:
Servers in 67 locations
Privado Control Tower (threat protection and parental controls)
↗️Unlimited, uncapped data
Last year, PrivadoVPN’s Black Friday sale cut the price of a 2-year plan by 90%, putting it at $1.11 a month – or $30 up front. We haven’t seen an increase since, though PrivadoVPN may drop a new Black Friday discount in the coming weeks.View Deal
Proton VPN: $2.49 per month with 75% off (was $3.59/month)
Proton VPN is a privacy-first VPN with plenty of innovative tools – like a custom Stealth protocol that can evade VPN blocks. Swiss jurisdiction means there’s no need to worry about mandatory data retention laws, either. Users also get:
Servers in 126 countries
Advanced security features
Regular audits of its no-logs policy
Proton VPN’s 2025 Black Friday deal takes the monthly price of a 2-year plan from $3.59 to $2.49 ($59.76 up front in total).View Deal
Windscribe: $5.75 per month
Windscribe is a lightweight and powerful VPN that doesn’t gate the majority of its features behind a paywall. Still, there are good reasons to upgrade to a paid plan, including:
Servers in 69 countries
Full access to R.O.B.E.R.T. (ad and tracker blocking)
↗️Unlimited bandwidth
Windscribe hasn’t dropped a Black Friday discount – yet. Despite this, a 1-year plan is $5.75 a month, or $69 up front, making it a good alternative for anyone looking for a shorter commitment.View Deal
Why should I upgrade to a paid plan?
There are plenty of good reasons to use a free VPN: if you’re in a pinch and need to secure your traffic when travelling and relying on public Wi-Fi, if you only plan to use it lightly, or if you’re especially budget-conscious.
However, a VPN’s main priority should always be protecting your digital privacy, and most free VPNs limit access to their most powerful security-boosting tools to paid users. So, if you’re serious about staying safe online or unblocking previously inaccessible content, paying for a premium plan gives you more ways to do so.
The good news is that there’s no need to spend a fortune. Freemium VPNs are often budget-friendly, so the jump from a free plan to a paid version isn’t massive. Plus, in return, you’ll get all the benefits of the VPN without the limitations, which can include:
- Fewer server locations to choose from
- Features locked behind paywalls
- Monthly data caps
- Being restricted to free-only servers
- Fewer ways to reach out to customer service
For PrivadoVPN, the biggest benefit of upgrading is the removal of monthly data limits, meaning users can stream and game without worrying about hitting the 10 GB cap. Plus, paid users also get access to the Privado Control Tower – a suite of tools that can block ads and trackers, and even implement some parental controls.
A paid Proton VPN subscription is likewise more powerful than a free one. Users get the best speeds, 10 simultaneous connections (an upgrade from 1), and the ability to manually choose the server that they want to connect to, which makes streaming and unblocking content much more feasible.
Windscribe makes the majority of its toolkit available to free users, but there are exceptions. Free users have a limited version of R.O.B.E.R.T., which can block malware and ads, but upgrading expands its functionality, letting users block gambling sites, fake news, and adult content, and more. Plus, with unlimited data, paid users don’t have to worry about the monthly 10 GB cap.
All of the freemium VPNs we’ve highlighted here are also covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can see the difference between a free plan and a paid subscription for yourself, risk-free.
