Top 5 Best FREE VPNs for Android Devices

 

Setting up a VPN connection on Android is a bit complicated unless you use an app for it. In this article and video above we’re going to check out the top 5 best free VPN apps for Android.

These free VPN apps don’t support P2P filesharing such as torrenting. Please check my torrenting VPN video for services which do support that.

#1 Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is a VPN service located in the United States, operated by a company called AnchoFree Inc. It has been around for quite a while on PC and now also has an app for Android mobile devices.

On the Google Play Store the free Hotspot Shield VPN app has had between 50 and 100 million downloads, it also has a 4.2 star rating with over 960,000 reviews.

Their free VPN app comes with unlimited bandwidth, no time restrictions and 17 different country locations.

Connection speeds for Hotspot Shield were excellent.

In terms of privacy it's pretty good, the app does not ask any for additional access when installing it and you are not required to sign up for an account either.

It also has a feature to automatically start the VPN when your device connects to an unsecured wireless network.

The app is ad supported but you can upgrade to a premium version without ads as well.

Hotspot Shield Homepage | Hotspot Shield Play Store

#2 TouchVPN

TouchVPN is another free VPN app which is actually also owned by AnchorFree. It was acquired back in 2015 along with JustVPN. So it is basically tied in first place with Hotspot Shield.

So far TouchVPN has had between 10 and 50 million installs and a 4.5 star rating with over 285,000 reviews.

TouchVPN also comes with unlimited bandwidth, zero time restrictions and over 20 different locations.

Connection speeds were excellent, similar to Hotspot Shield.

Privacy wise the TouchVPN app also does not ask for any extra access when installing and also works without having to create an account.

Additionally it has some more features, for example you can choose to exclude some apps from using the VPN.

TouchVPN Homepage | TouchVPN Play Store

#3 Opera VPN

The free Opera VPN app is managed by OSL Networks in Ireland, which in turn is owned by the Norwegian company Opera Software ASA that also develops the Opera web browser. However the VPN service itself seems to be run by SurfEasy in Canada.

Well that was a bit complicated. Let's get into the app itself. It has been installed between 5 and 10 million times and has a rating of 4.4 stars with over 78,000 reviews.

The free VPN app comes with unlimited bandwidth, no time restrictions and access to servers in 5 different locations.

Connection speeds were very good and it does not ask for any additional access when installing the app. You also don't need an account to use it.

It also has some extra features. For example you can force it to keep running even if your Android device closes Opera VPN in the background and then also you can make it start automatically after you have restarted your device.

Opera VPN Homepage | Opera VPN Play Store

#4 CM Security VPN

CM Security VPN is a free VPN app created by a Chinese company called Cheetah Mobile.

The app has been installed between 1 and 5 million times with a rating of 4.6 stars from over 72,000 reviews.

CM Security VPN has no time or bandwidth restrictions, and it has free servers in 8 different locations. When I ran the connection speed test the download speed was OK, but the upload speed was fairly poor. I ran the test twice but it didn't significantly improve.

When it comes to privacy the app does request a bunch of access such as device & app history, identity, photo media file access and wifi connection information. In their privacy policy they do state that they collect this information and pretty much share it with everybody, including their affiliates and third party marketing partners. This is fairly common in mobile apps, but just be aware of it and this app is not the greatest when it comes to privacy.

CM Security VPN Homepage | CM Security VPN Play Store

#5 Betternet

Finally we have Betternet which is our last free VPN app of this list, operated by Betternet LLC Inc., based in Canada.

In the Google Play Store, the Betternet app has between 10 and 50 million downloads and a 4.5 star rating with over 670,000 reviews.

The app comes with unlimited bandwidth and zero time restrictions, but you can't select a specific location without upgrading to premium. You can only select the optimal location, where the app itself chooses which server to connect to.

In the speed test, the download speed was average but the upload speed was fairly poor.

Privacy wise the app does not request any additional access when installing and no account creation is required to use it.

Betternet Homepage | Betternet Play Store