How many providers qualify for this list?

2 of 11. The other 9 are excluded because they do not meet the requirement, and they are named at the bottom of the page rather than quietly dropped.

What does this ranking ignore?

Data caps and location counts on the free tier, which change often.

2 of 11 qualify · Updated August 13, 2026

Free VPN tiers worth using

Most free VPNs are funded by the thing you are trying to avoid: advertising, data sale, or an unclear third party. A free tier is only worth listing when the company has a paying business that funds it and a published audit covering the same infrastructure. That leaves very few, and this page lists only those few rather than padding the count.

The rule for this page. Only providers with a free tier and at least one published audit. Ordered by overall audit and transparency scores.

Answer

Proton VPN, then Windscribe

Free tier, audited infrastructure. The best-documented security stack in this dataset, and the only free tier we consider safe to recommend.

Visit Proton VPN

We earn a commission if you subscribe through this link. It does not change Proton VPN’s score.

Providers that qualify, ordered by the rule above
#	Provider	Deciding fact	Independent audit	Overall
1	Proton VPN	Free tier, audited infrastructure	10/10	90.0
2	Windscribe Unpaid	Free tier, audited infrastructure	6/10	67.0

Why these, in order

1. Proton VPN

90.0

Free tier, audited infrastructure. The best-documented security stack in this dataset, and the only free tier we consider safe to recommend.

Against it: Refunds are prorated against usage, not returned in full.

Visit Proton VPN

2. Windscribe

67.0

Free tier, audited infrastructure. Unusually honest about its own incidents, but Canadian jurisdiction and a three-day refund window are real costs.

Against it: Canada is a Five Eyes member state.

Visit Windscribe

What did not qualify, and why

Excluded providers are named rather than omitted. If one of them is the VPN you already pay for, this tells you exactly which requirement it misses.

Provider	Why it is not on this list
Mullvad	No published independent audit.
NordVPN	No published independent audit.
IVPN	No published independent audit.
Surfshark	No published independent audit.
ExpressVPN	No published independent audit.
Private Internet Access	No published independent audit.
CyberGhost	No published independent audit.
PureVPN	No published independent audit.
FastestVPN	No published independent audit.

Questions

Is there a free VPN that is not selling my traffic?: Proton VPN. Free tier, audited infrastructure. Only providers with a free tier and at least one published audit. Ordered by overall audit and transparency scores.
How many providers qualify for this list?: 2 of 11. The other 9 are excluded because they do not meet the requirement, and they are named at the bottom of the page rather than quietly dropped.
What does this ranking ignore?: Data caps and location counts on the free tier, which change often.