Why You Should Avoid Using Free VPNs

Key points

75% of 283 VPN apps studied used trackers; over 38% had malware flags.
VPN Gate keeps connection logs for 3+ months.
Proton VPN, Windscribe and TunnelBear have honest free plans.

Checked 30 October 2026

Running VPN servers costs money, so a free VPN is paid for somehow: by a paid plan that the free one advertises, by ads and data, or by cutting corners. Some free plans are honest. Many free VPN apps are not, and the risks below are documented, not guesses.

What researchers found in VPN apps

A study of 283 Android apps that use the VPN permission, by researchers at CSIRO’s Data61 and ICSI, published in 2016, found that:

75% used third-party tracking libraries, although 67% promised better privacy or security;
over 38% contained some malware presence according to VirusTotal;
18% tunnelled traffic without encryption;
about 84% did not send IPv6 traffic, and 66% did not send DNS traffic, through the tunnel.

The study is ten years old and app stores have tightened their rules since, but the business model behind many free VPN apps has not changed.

Six risks of a free VPN

1. Your data pays the bill

An app that earns from advertising has a reason to track you, the opposite of what you installed it for. Read the privacy policy: look for who runs the service, which country it is in, and whether it shares data with “partners”.

2. Logs you did not expect

Some free services keep logs openly. VPN Gate, a free academic project from Japan’s University of Tsukuba, says it keeps connection logs, including your IP address, for three months or more and may give them to police. That is honest, but it is not private.

3. Fake and copycat apps

App stores carry apps with names close to well-known VPNs, and unofficial apps for free projects. VPN Gate, for example, publishes software for Windows but no official phone app; the “VPN Gate” apps in the stores come from other developers. Check the developer name before you install.

4. Services that disappear

Atlas VPN, which had a free plan, shut down in April 2024. Its paid users were moved to NordVPN; its free users were not. A small free app can vanish with less warning than that.

5. Weak or missing protection

Free apps are more likely to lack a kill switch or to leak DNS and IPv6 traffic, as the study above found. Test any VPN you use.

6. Limits that push you to unsafe habits

A small data cap runs out in days, and people then turn the VPN off on the networks where they needed it most.

Free plans that are honest about their limits

Free plan	Data	Main limits	Who runs it
Proton VPN Free	No data cap	1 device, 10 countries, you cannot pick the country; no ads	Proton AG, Switzerland; no-logs audits by Securitum every year since 2022
Windscribe Free	10 GB a month with a confirmed email (2 GB without)	10 countries; no UAE server on the free plan	Windscribe Limited, Canada
TunnelBear Free	2 GB a month	Small allowance	TunnelBear LLC; yearly Cure53 security audits

All three have paid plans that cover the cost of the free one, which is the healthiest model for a free VPN. Compare them in detail on our best free VPN for the UAE page.

How to check any free VPN in five minutes

Find the company: its legal name and country should be in the privacy policy or the app store listing.
Look for an independent audit of its no-logs policy or its apps.
Read what it logs, in its own words.
Check the developer name in the app store against the company’s website.
Install it, connect, and run a leak test.

Whatever VPN you use, the law is the same: read what UAE law says about VPNs.

Sources

Checked on 30 October 2026. Providers change their apps, servers and terms, so check the official page before you pay.