Updated on: October 29, 2024
Short on time? Here’s the best VPN free trial in 2024:
- 🥇 ExpressVPN : Provides a 7-day VPN free trial on iOS and Android. While you need to provide credit card details, it’s worth it because you get access to all of the mobile features and are also covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, ExpressVPN has industry-first security features, servers in 105 countries, the fastest speeds on the market, excellent streaming and P2P support, and has affordable plans that start at $4.99 / month.
I don’t like buying a VPN without first fully testing it — this is why I always look for a VPN that offers a free trial.
Unfortunately, many VPNs don’t offer free trials. And many of the ones that do restrict your access to features, throttle your speeds, or set a limit on your data usage.
So, I decided to put together a list of the best VPN free trials on the market. All the VPNs in this article provided me with access to generous free trials that allowed me to fully test their services. Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.
Quick Summary of the Best VPN Free Trials
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
🥇 1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN Free Trial in 2024
ExpressVPN is my favorite VPN free trial out there — it provides a free 7-day trial on iOS and Android that is only available through their respective mobile app stores. While the free trial requires you to confirm your credit card, I still think it’s worth it because ExpressVPN provides the best value on the market.
Plus, ExpressVPN’s free trial gives you access to all of the VPN’s features. And, on Android, once the trial is over and you upgrade to a paid plan, you’re still covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, the refund doesn’t cover subscriptions bought through the iTunes store, but you can cancel the free trial at least 24 hours before it ends and get a paid subscription via ExpressVPN’s site to be eligible for the 30-day refund.
Starting the free trial is as simple as signing up for an ExpressVPN account through one of the mobile apps. The only thing you have to do is make sure to choose the long-term plan since the free trial isn’t available with the monthly plan. Then, follow the usual steps for making a purchase through an app, and the trial will begin immediately without charging the card associated with your Google Play or iTunes account for 7 days.
With ExpressVPN’s free trial, you get all of its high-end security features. In addition to a strict no-logs policy that has been independently audited and proven true multiple times, you also get:
- RAM-only servers — All of ExpressVPN’s servers run on RAM memory, meaning every server reset wipes all data.
- Perfect forward secrecy — This feature changes the encryption key for each VPN session to prevent hackers from compromising past or future keys to spy on your traffic.
- Full leak protection — ExpressVPN provides complete protection against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. I ran dozens of leak tests on servers in 30+ countries and never experienced any leaks.
- Threat Manager — Blocks connections to malicious sites and limits how much browsing data your device shares with trackers.
- Ad blocker — ExpressVPN has the best VPN ad blocker in 2024. It filters out most ads, which will speed up your browsing and prevent unnecessary data consumption. I tested it by visiting several ad-heavy news and social media sites and didn’t encounter any ads at all.
ExpressVPN also provides the best streaming support out there — it consistently works with 100+ streaming services, including popular sites like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer. Also, ExpressVPN allows torrenting on all of its servers and works with top P2P apps like qBittorrent and uTorrent.
ExpressVPN has servers in 105 countries, so it’s very easy to find a nearby server to get fast speeds. In fact, ExpressVPN’s proprietary Lightway protocol maintains the fastest speeds on the market — I always enjoyed lightning-fast streaming, browsing, gaming, and torrenting on both nearby and distant servers.
ExpressVPN offers several paid plans that start at $4.99 / month.
Bottom Line:
ExpressVPN has the best VPN free trial in 2024 — its 7-day trial is available on iOS and Android, and it includes all of ExpressVPN’s features. ExpressVPN also has ultra-secure features, works with all popular streaming sites, provides the fastest speeds on the market, and more. ExpressVPN has paid monthly and yearly plans that start at $4.99 / month and are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full ExpressVPN review
🥈 2. CyberGhost VPN — 24-Hour VPN Free Trial With Dedicated Streaming & Torrenting Servers
CyberGhost VPN provides a 24-hour VPN free trial on all platforms that gives you access to all features, and you don’t need to share your credit card information to use it. If 24 hours isn’t enough for you, you can also get a free 3-day trial through the Android app, and CyberGhost VPN’s iOS app comes with a 7-day trial (but you need to confirm your credit card to use the mobile free trials) — note that you’re not covered by CyberGhost VPN’s money-back guarantee if you upgrade to a paid subscription through the iTunes store (you’d need to upgrade via CyberGhost’s website).
Finding the 24-hour trial isn’t as straight forward as I’d prefer. You need to scroll down to the very bottom of the CyberGhost website, where it’s listed under the “Popular” heading — just click on “Start Free Trial”. The app download for your device will start (in my case, this was Windows).
However, it’s very easy to sign up for the free trial. All you have to do is add your email and password and then confirm your email. The free trial will start right away and show a countdown of your 24 hours. For the mobile app free trials, you have to make an account and confirm your purchase through the app just like any other app payment.
CyberGhost VPN has the largest server network on this list — servers in 100 countries. Its server network includes dedicated streaming servers in 20+ countries that work with 50+ streaming apps, P2P servers in 85+ countries, and gaming servers in 4 countries that are optimized to provide low ping. The large server network made it very easy for me to get fast speeds for all online activities by using nearby servers and avoiding overcrowded servers. However, I still had faster P2P and streaming speeds with ExpressVPN.
CyberGhost VPN has affordable plans starting at $2.19 / month. It backs its longest plans with a 45-day money-back guarantee and the shortest plan with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
CyberGhost VPN provides a 24-hour VPN free trial on all devices that doesn’t require a credit card. It also has a 3-day trial on Android and a 7-day trial on iOS (but they require credit card details). You also get a huge server network, great streaming and P2P support, and user-friendly apps. CyberGhost VPN comes with paid monthly and yearly plans and backs long-term plans with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full CyberGhost VPN review
Editors' Note: CyberGhost and this site are in the same ownership group.
🥉 3. Private Internet Access — 7-Day Trial on Mobile Apps With Great Torrenting Features
Private Internet Access (PIA) provides a 7-day trial on its iOS and Android apps. You need to confirm your credit card, but I think it’s worth it because PIA provides really good value. Plus, on Android, you’re covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. The refund is not available on iOS, but you can cancel your trial before the 7th day and get a subscription through PIA’s site to be covered by its 30-day refund.
Getting the free trial is really easy. All you have to do is sign up for an account through one of the mobile apps. Simply subscribe to the yearly plan option (the free trial doesn’t apply to the monthly plan), and the trial will begin automatically. You’ll get access to all the features for a full 7 days.
PIA supports P2P traffic on all of its servers and allows port forwarding (lets you connect to more peers for faster downloads). And it has SOCKS5 proxy support, which doesn’t encrypt your traffic but also helps you get faster speeds for downloading. Simply put, it’s one of my favorite VPNs for torrenting.
It also has servers in 91 countries, provides fast speeds for all online activities, and works with top streaming sites like Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
Private Internet Access has very cheap plans that start at $2.03 / month. It backs each purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Private Internet Access (PIA) comes with a 7-day trial on Android and iOS, but you need to share your credit card details to use it. PIA provides really good privacy and overall value, and it covers all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Private Internet Access review
Editors' Note: Private Internet Access and this site are in the same ownership group.
4. Surfshark — 7-Day Free Trials on Beginner-Friendly Mobile Apps
Surfshark has a 7-day free trial available on both the mobile apps. To get it, you just have to download the VPN app through your device’s app store. From there, click Start Free Trial, create your account, choose the long-term plan, and accept the purchase. The trial will start immediately.
If you’re an iOS user, Surfshark’s 30-day money-back guarantee is only available via purchasing a plan through the VPN’s website — so you’ll have to cancel the free trial before your 7 days are up.
This VPN is really good for beginners since its apps are really easy to use. All settings and features have short explanations to help you understand how they work and which ones you’ll want to customize. Plus, the home screen makes it super easy to find the server you want with a quick scroll or search, or you can opt to let the VPN choose the best location for you with its Quick-connect button.
Like Private Internet Access, it allows unlimited connections (yes, even on the free trial), so everyone in your family can try it out for free. And it has servers in 100 countries, plus works with 50+ streaming services and allows P2P traffic on all servers.
Surfshark’s plans start at an affordable $1.99 / month per month and have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Surfshark has a great free trial for Android and iOS devices that lasts 7 days. Its apps are extremely beginner-friendly with helpful explanations and a great app layout. And it has unlimited connections, great streaming and torrenting support, and affordable plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Surfshark review
5. NordVPN — 7-Day Trial on Android With Great Extras
NordVPN’s free 7-day trial is only available on Android devices. It doesn’t come with the VPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee, so you need to cancel before the week ends to avoid being charged since you’ll be charged automatically when the trial expires. The free trial starts automatically once you download the app from the Google Play store and sign up for a yearly plan. It does require payment details.
The VPN has great extra features to pack a lot of value into its plans. There’s Threat Protection, which includes an ad, tracker, and malicious site blocker as well as protection against file downloads containing malware, specialized servers for P2P, obfuscation, Double VPN, and Meshnet for file sharing over a secure network.
The VPN supports torrenting on most of its servers — in 95+ countries (ExpressVPN supports torrenting on all servers), it works with 10+ streaming sites, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, and it has a large server network in 111 countries.
NordVPN’s plans are affordable and start at $2.99 / month. They’re backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
NordVPN’s free trial for Android lasts for 7 days and provides access to all servers and features. It has great extras with specialized servers, Threat protection, and Meshnet. It has strong torrenting and streaming support, a large server network, and affordable plans backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bonus. Bitdefender Premium VPN — 7-Day Trial With Fast Speeds
Bitdefender Premium VPN provides a 7-day VPN free trial for all devices, which gives you access to all of the VPN’s features. Getting the trial is as easy as downloading the VPN app and making an account. After the trial expires, your account is downgraded to the free plan, which limits you to 500 MB per day (which is barely enough for 2-3 hours of basic web browsing) and doesn’t let you pick which server to connect to — the VPN automatically connects you to the fastest server for your location.
You also get access to 4,000+ servers in only 50+ countries, so some users might have a hard time finding and using nearby servers to get fast connections.
Bitdefender Premium VPN allows torrenting on all of its servers, and it works with top streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer.
Bitdefender Premium is available via 2 different subscription plans. You can get the paid VPN as a standalone purchase ($2.92 / month) or as part of Bitdefender’s top-tier internet security plan, Premium Security ($63.99 / year). All plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Bitdefender Premium VPN comes with a 7-day trial that gives you access to all of the VPN’s features. The VPN service provides fast speeds, strong security features, good P2P and streaming support, and a large server network. Once the trial expires, you’re downgraded to the free plan, which has limited data (500 MB per day). Bitdefender Premium VPN’s paid plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Bitdefender Premium VPN review
Quick Comparison Table
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Testing Methodology: Comparison & Ranking Criteria
I followed our step-by-step testing methodology to make my list of the best VPN free trials. I looked at the requirements to get the free trial, trial length, and more. Here’s the exact criteria I used when making my choices:
- I ensured the free trial doesn’t restrict features. A comprehensive trial lets you gauge the VPN’s complete potential. My preferred trial is ExpressVPN, granting full access to its features on both iOS and Android.
- I chose VPNs with a long trial period. The VPN should offer at least 24 hours of free trials for you to be able to test it properly. My top pick, ExpressVPN, offers a 7-day trial.
- I looked for VPNs that come with a money-back guarantee. Should you choose to switch to a paid subscription after the trial period, your investment ought to be safeguarded by a money-back guarantee in the event of a change of heart. Every VPN included in my list provides a money-back guarantee on its packages.
- I selected VPNs with strong security. I only recommend VPN free trials that provide access to strong encryption ciphers (like 128-bit and 256-bit AES encryption), a kill switch (disables internet access if the VPN disconnects to prevent traffic leaks), a no-logs policy (to make sure the VPN doesn’t collect your data), and protection against DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC leaks.
- I only recommended VPNs with good value. All the VPN free trials on my list provide access to VPN services that allow multiple simultaneous connections, provide access to extra features like split-tunneling, obfuscation, or an ad blocker, have fast speeds (ExpressVPN had the fastest speeds in my tests), and work with top streaming sites or provide good P2P support.
Top Brands That Didn’t Make the Cut
- AirVPN. This VPN provides a free 3-day trial, but you need to ask for it via its contact form, which is inconvenient. Also, AirVPN doesn’t provide great value since it’s not good for streaming, it’s complicated to use, and it has slow speeds on distant servers.
- HMA VPN. This provider comes with a free 7-day trial on mobile that requires credit card details. While HMA VPN is secure and easy to use, it doesn’t work with top streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu, has really bad customer support, and its quick-connect feature is buggy.
- PureVPN. PureVPN has a 7-day trial, but it costs a small fee. And while this VPN is secure and good for streaming, it has slow speeds on distant servers, limited P2P support, and its live chat and email support need improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a VPN free trial without a credit card?
Yes, some VPNs provide access to a free trial without requiring you to confirm your credit card details — for example, CyberGhost VPN has a 24-hour VPN free trial that only requires you to share your email address. And, on its Android app, you can actually get a 3-day trial without sharing any credit card information.
That said, ExpressVPN’s 7-day trial on iOS and Android requires credit card details, but it’s worth it because it provides excellent value — you get access to high-end security and privacy features, servers in 105 countries, excellent streaming and P2P support, user-friendly apps, and more.
Can I use a VPN free trial more than once?
Usually, no. VPN providers don’t allow people to use a free trial more than once to prevent abuse. If you need more time to try out the VPN, most top providers that have VPN trials provide a money-back guarantee, which allows you to upgrade to a paid subscription risk-free after the trial expires (ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee).
Do VPN free trials have limitations?
Not all VPN free trials limit your access to the service’s features, but some do. If you’re looking for a VPN trial that lets you test all features, I recommend ExpressVPN — even though its 7-day free trial only lets you use its iOS and Android apps, you still get full access to all of its features.
How do you cancel a VPN free trial?
It usually depends on what type of trial you signed up for. If the VPN free trial doesn’t require any payment information (like CyberGhost VPN), it will automatically expire. However, if the VPN trial requires you to provide credit card details (like ExpressVPN), you’ll need to manually cancel the trial through your VPN account or by contacting customer support. If you got the trial through the Google Play Store or iTunes, you can also cancel it from your app store account.
VPN free trial vs money-back guarantee: what’s the difference?
A VPN free trial lets you test out the VPN without paying upfront for a subscription. It usually only lasts a few days and doesn’t always require credit card details or account information. A money-back guarantee, on the other hand, gives you a time window (usually 30 days) to get a refund for your purchase in case you change your mind about the product. It requires full upfront payment for a subscription term.
The VPNs on my list have excellent free trials as well as generous money-back guarantees, so you have lots of time to try them out and make sure they’re right for you.
