Why not a free VPN?

Free VPNs are easy to find and quick to install, and for a lot of people that’s where they start. It’s fair to ask why anyone would pay. The answer isn’t that every free VPN is bad. It’s that a VPN carries all of your traffic, so who runs it and how it pays for itself matter more than they would for most apps. This guide explains how free services can fund themselves, the trade-offs to look out for, and the questions worth asking of any VPN, including ours. It doesn’t name or rank other services.

Why the business model matters

A VPN doesn’t remove the need to trust someone; it moves that trust. Without one, your broadband provider and the network you’re on can see which sites you visit. With one connected, they see an encrypted connection to a VPN server, and the VPN service’s network carries your traffic instead. Our guide to what a VPN is explains how that works.

That puts the service in a position to see a lot about your connection, which is why the way it makes money matters. A service paid for by its customers answers to them. A service paid for some other way may have other people to answer to as well.

How free VPN services can pay for themselves

Servers, bandwidth, apps and support all cost money, so a free service pays for them somehow. These are some of the ways it can, and a service may use more than one:

• Adverts. Some free services show adverts in their apps. Advertising tends to earn more when it’s targeted, which can give a service a reason to learn about the people using it.
• Information about how people use it. A service that carries your traffic is in a position to see where it goes. Some free services fund themselves by collecting or sharing information about their users, and say so in their privacy policies, which is why the policy is worth reading before you connect.
• A free plan paid for by paying customers. Some paid services offer a limited free plan in the hope that you’ll upgrade. Their subscribers pay for the network, and the free plan comes with limits.
• No clear answer. If a service doesn’t say how it pays for itself, that’s worth noticing too.

Trade-offs to look out for

Not every free service has all of these, but they’re worth checking for before you rely on one:

• Limits on use. A free plan may cap how much data you can use each day or month, so it can run out part-way through a trip.
• A smaller choice of locations. You may only be able to pick from a few countries.
• Adverts while you use it. Some free apps show them as part of the deal.
• Fewer devices or platforms. A free plan may cover one device, or only some of the platforms you use.
• Less help if something goes wrong. Support may be limited, or missing altogether, on a free plan.

What to check before you use any VPN

These questions apply to any VPN, free or paid. A good service answers them plainly on its own website.

1. Who runs it? Look for a company name, where it’s registered and a way to reach a person.
2. How does it make money? If it’s free, find out what pays for it. If it’s paid, check the renewal price as well as the first one.
3. What does it hold about you? A clear privacy page says what the service keeps, such as your email address and billing details, and what it doesn’t. Specifics are more useful than slogans.
4. Who runs the servers? Some services run their own network and some work with a network partner. Either can work, as long as the service tells you which.
5. What happens if the connection drops? A kill switch is designed to block traffic if the tunnel drops, rather than letting it carry on over your normal connection.
6. What does it promise? Be cautious of promises no VPN can keep, such as making you anonymous or guaranteeing that a particular website or streaming service will work.
7. Has it been independently audited, and does it say so honestly? An audit is worth having, and a service that tells you plainly when it hasn’t had one is being straight with you.

About us explains who we are and how we make money, and the Trust Centre sets out exactly what we hold and what we don’t.

What you get with DarkMatter

DarkMatter is a paid service, and the answers to those questions are on our own website.

• Paid for by subscriptions. We make money one way: subscriptions. We don’t sell advertising, and we don’t sell or rent your personal data to anyone.
• Clear about what we hold. Our own systems hold your email address, plan, invoices, support messages and the link to your VPN account. The websites you visit, your DNS queries and the contents of your traffic never reach our systems. See what we hold.
• A UK company, with a network partner. DarkMatter is run by Darkmatter VPN LTD, a UK company. We run your account, billing and support, and our network partner runs the servers. The Trust Centre sets out who does what.
• 6,000+ servers in 80+ locations across 65+ countries, with 20 Gbps per server, on the network our partner runs. See server locations.
• Every feature on every plan: DNS and IPv6 leak protection, AES-256 encryption and a choice of WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2 and IPSec protocols, plus split tunnelling in every DarkMatter app except iPhone, iPad and Mac, and a kill switch in our Windows app.
• Up to 5 devices at once, with apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Fire TVWindows, macOS and iOS.
• Renewal prices shown before you pay, and no tiers or add-ons.
• A money-back guarantee on your first purchase on this website: 30 days, or 14 days on monthly plans. It covers one refund per customer and doesn’t apply to renewals, and App Store and Google Play purchases follow the store’s own refund rulesApp Store purchases follow the App Store’s own refund rules. The refund policy has the full terms.