Both your online privacy and the safety of your MacBook or iMac are safeguarded by the best VPN for Mac in 200. Further, your real IP address is hidden from third parties when you use a secure virtual private network (VPN).
For macOS, we tested 78 and found five safe free VPNs and three excellent paid-for VPNs that are safe to use.
Listed below are the best free Mac VPNs. There are a wide range of best VPN services available for Mac, from $10 to $30 a month, but these free versions are good enough to get started with.
5 Best Free VPN for Mac in 2022
When it comes to getting a free VPN for Mac, it’s only natural to look into free options if you don’t want to commit to another software subscription. These services appear to perform the same functions as paid-for services, but they do so without the added expense of fees. Definitely enticing.
While caution is warranted before downloading, There are hundreds of free VPNs available online and in your app store, but the vast majority of them aren’t that great. There are some free apps that bombard you with unwanted advertisements and may even sell your personal information. And if you were hoping to stream or torrent with yours, you may be disappointed.
1. Psiphon
Psiphon is the best free VPN we have discovered for Mac. It does what it says, no fluff, no nonsense and only productivity. There are many server options available to connect with your desired country. If you are watching something censored, you cane easily bypass that by simply switching the servers.
Unlike other best free VPNs for Mac, Psiphon does not want you to sign in or create an account. However, signing in or creating an account will provide you with higher internet speed by using PSICash, which is an acronym for Psiphon Cash. You also don’t need to pay for that. Instead, keep surfing the web after connecting Psiphon and you will keep gaining Psiphon. Whenever you want fast internet, just switch to Psiphon Speed, and your internet speed will drastically increase.
All in all, Psiphon is the only true VPN and excellent as far as VPN standards go. If you are looking for anything free, durable, and no-nonsense VPN, Psiphon is the way to go. Best of all, it is also available on Mac Store.
2. ProtonVPN
We currently recommend ProtonVPN as the best free VPN for Mac. While its most notable feature is unquestionably the fact that it places no restrictions on the amount of data you can use when connecting to a VPN, there are many other reasons to appreciate it.
The headline selling point would be remiss of us if we didn’t get right to it. Data usage is unrestricted with ProtonVPN. In other words, you can use as much data as you like each month, which is a rarity for a free VPN service, as you’ll see below with the others on this guide.
The free version of this service has servers located in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands, which are spread out across the globe. Windows and Mac clients, as well as apps for Android and iPhone, are all available. Desktop users appreciate the ability to activate automatic connection when the computer is booted. Split tunneling and DNS leak protection are two of the more unusual freebie features.
Naturally, there are restrictions on the free plan to encourage users to upgrade to a paid service. We think the most important thing to note is that paid subscribers get priority over free users when it comes to speed.
There’s no P2P support either, and speeds can drop when there are a lot of people online and paying customers take precedence over non-paying ones. In addition, Proton clearly states that if you want to use your VPN to stream, you’ll need the Plus tier.
However, if you’re willing to put up with all of that, this is an impressive service with a strict no-logging policy that only requires your email address and a username of your choosing to sign up for. The website doesn’t even have any ads, let alone the customer.
3. Privado VPN
PrivadoVPN is a new addition to our list of free virtual private networks. However, it is still one of the best Mac VPN out there. Despite the fact that the company’s paid product has recently made huge strides, the free version is equally impressive.
While Proton does not offer unlimited use, 10GB of data every 30 days is enough for most people to have ready to go on their laptop and smartphone (it works with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android) at all times. In most cases, 10GB should suffice unless you’re constantly using it or consuming a lot of foreign streaming content.
Privado has a leg up on Proton when it comes to the number of server locations it offers. In addition to Switzerland, there are servers located in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The fact that a free VPN can provide such extensive global coverage is a major plus.
It doesn’t have the fastest server speeds, but it does have useful features like P2P servers (great for torrenters), auto-connect, and a VPN kill switch, which we appreciate. As a further perk, it doesn’t block your internet connection when streaming. Free PrivadoVPN apps for Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, and Prime Video didn’t work for us; however, the paid version of PrivadoVPN did.
It all looks very promising for a VPN service that is on the rise. As a result, if you’ve heard of PrivadoVPN and were debating whether or not to use it, you can do so with complete confidence.
4. Nord VPN
It’s no surprise that Nord VPN‘s free service is so popular because the paid version is among the best in the online world. Nord VPN is undoubtedly the king of the VPN world.
500 MB of data per day is the limit for those on the free plan (so around 15GB per month). On the surface, this may seem restrictive, but it’s actually one of the more lenient limits on this list (although, of course, not a patch on the unlimited data you get with paid-for services).
Nord VPN has the same military-grade encryption that most premium VPNs boast about, so if security is your only goal, it’s a good fit. In addition to its high level of security, Nord VPN Free was also praised for its ease of use. You won’t find the hair-pulling user experience offered by some of its competitors on either its mobile or desktop versions.
A few times in the past, we’ve encountered a problem with the NordVPN free download. When Nord was turned on for a few weeks at the beginning of 2021, the ability to search on Google was completely wiped out. We tried this from a number of different locations and devices, but each time we got an error. Fortunately, it appears that the problem has been resolved.
The Premium version of Nord VPN costs $3.29 per month and allows you to choose from more than 70 countries to connect to. The free version limits you to one US-based location that Nord VPN chooses for you, and Android users will have to put up with ads.
5. Hide.me
Hide.me offers both paid and free VPN services, with the latter allowing you to use 10GB of data per month. Further, Hide.me is one of the best free VPN for Mac. Additionally, you can only connect one device at a time, and you can only use five of the 50+ server locations that paid subscribers have access to (including the US and a Canada VPN).
In addition, Hide.me promises to keep no logs and store no user data, so it won’t pass on any data to third parties in order to make a profit because it doesn’t have any data to pass on (because it doesn’t have any data). Also, there are no ads, and P2P is supported on the five free VPN servers.
It comes with native software for Windows PC and Macintosh OS X, Android and iOS devices, as well as 24-hour technical support (which is in place even for free users). In our tests, the results were just as impressive. For free, this is an excellent option that tries to protect your privacy without imposing too many limitations.
6. Windscribe
It’s understandable that Windscribe’s employees are ecstatic about the company’s free VPN service… and why should they be? Thanks to its generous data allowance and commitment to protecting your privacy, it’s a very strong option
The standard monthly bandwidth allocation is 2GB, which isn’t much. If you’re willing to provide Windscribe with your email address, you can easily increase that to a more manageable 10GB.
There are 11 remote server locations available in the free version, including the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Turkey, and eight US VPN cities (as of the most recent tally). If you like what you see, you’ll be tempted to upgrade to the unlimited version, but the upselling isn’t overbearing or aggressive. This is a “freemium” model.
In no time at all, you’ll be hopping between servers all over the world using its desktop clients or Chrome extension.
When it comes to free virtual private networks, we don’t expect much from them. Consequently, when Windscribe went above and beyond our expectations in our Netflix VPN testing, we were over the moon with excitement.
Are there Problems After Using Free VPN for Mac?
If a VPN service doesn’t cost anything, it usually means that the provider is making money in some other way, such as through invasive advertising or by selling your browsing history to third parties (rather defeating the whole drive for privacy in the first place).
For one thing, free services tend to limit the amount of data you can use and the speed at which you can use it, making them practically useless for streaming video, torrenting, or as a second layer of reliable online security. If you don’t have the money for the paid services, don’t expect the same level of support or server range.
It’s worth noting, before diving into our roundup of the best free VPNs, that a paid version, which can be had for as little as $2/£2 per month, will provide you with much better performance and security.
The Bottom Line
Well, these are the best free VPNs for Mac. We hope this guide helped you. If you liked this, check out the best iOS emulators on PC. If you liked this, make sure to check out the best games for Mac.
