A VPN offers protection and security against online threats while ensuring safe browsing and unlimited streaming. Also, using best cheap vpns allows you to bypass geo-restrictions imposed by different streaming platforms allowing you to watch your favorite shows and movies.
You can find several paid and free VPNs over the Internet. A free VPN certainly seems to be a lucrative offer; however, is it possible to enjoy online privacy for free? We don’t think so. Read along to learn why you shouldn’t use a free VPN for online streaming at any cost.
Five Reasons to Avoid Free VPNs
Do you want to learn the disadvantages of using a free VPN to browse and stream? Keep reading.
IP Address Leak
The primary purpose of using a secure VPN is to encrypt the following information:
- Source IP address
- Online traffic and data packets
- Destination IP address
However, a free VPN doesn’t guarantee the above information leading to DNS and IP address leaks. On the contrary, paid VPNs don’t track or store your data; instead, they only store your email address for a subscription payment.
The free VPNs don’t fulfill their promise of offering online anonymity and encryption while implementing tunneling protocols. Also, some free VPNs contain malware and other bugs that can damage your devices as well as online information.
According to research by CSIRO, 75 percent of around 283 free VPN-based apps track the user’s online session, which is shocking. Also, 82 percent of these VPN android apps ask for the user permission to access text messages and user accounts which we unknowingly accept.
Advertising
A free VPN doesn’t offer a no-log policy meaning it can store and record your personal information and traffic.
How is it possible for a VPN company to offer free services to the users without asking for a subscription fee?
One of the most significant reasons behind free VPN being free is that it collects your information and further sells it to marketing agencies. That’s why free VPNs display annoying ads while browsing, streaming, and playing online games using your proxy server location.
Doesn’t Guarantee Bypassing Geo-Restrictions
One of the biggest disadvantages of using a free VPN is that it doesn’t guarantee to unblock the streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and others. It’s because Netflix uses advanced algorithms to track down the free VPNs to block them and the subscribers using them.
As a result, Netflix has blocked almost all the free VPNs making it nearly impossible for them to bypass the geo-restrictions. Hence, it won’t benefit you if you want to watch US Netflix in your country.
Even if you get lucky by connecting to a free VPN server not blocked by Netflix yet, you won’t be able to stream the online content.
The free VPNs offer very limited bandwidth and slow speed, insufficient to stream even a single episode of a show. For instance, the free VPN plan usually offers 500 MB or 1 GB monthly, which can’t fulfill your streaming requirements.
Once you consume the available bandwidth, you need to upgrade to a premium plan by paying a subscription fee to continue watching the show.
Slow Internet
The free VPNs have very limited servers hosted globally. As a result, the traffic load on these servers is significantly higher as more and more users connect to the VPN.
That’s why free VPNs tend to slow down the Internet connection, and it may take hours to access a website restricted in your country. On the contrary, a robust paid VPN offers unlimited bandwidth and higher speed without any throttling.
Zero Regulation
The cybersecurity department regulates and audits the Internet Service Providers (ISP) and the offered services and security.
Unfortunately, government authorities can’t audit and regulate free VPNs. So, usually, what happens is that free VPNs base themselves in a location outside the jurisdiction of the regulating authorities.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, it’s better not to use a VPN instead of a free one as it won’t do you any good. The free VPNs aren’t designed to do any good to the subscribers; instead, they collect their data for advertising purposes.
The key takeaway of the above guide is to highlight the hidden cost of using a free VPN, such as limited bandwidth and limited server network.
We don’t mean to scare you but share the primary reasons to avoid using free VPNs. Instead, it’s best to invest in a reliable VPN that ensures online security, anonymity, and encryption to access different websites.