The good news is there are a few services you can trust. I tested 75 free VPNs and shortlisted the best for India that works well. However, even the best free VPNs have limitations. That’s why I suggest ExpressVPN as the #1 option for India, with high-speed servers for fast connections, plus encryption and obfuscation features to keep your connection secure and private. While it’s not free, you can use ExpressVPN to access Indian content risk-free, as it’s backed by a legitimate 30-day money-back guarantee. Try ExpressVPN for India risk-free
Short on Time? Here Are the Best Free VPNs for India in 2023
The Best Free VPNs for India (Tested in 2023)
1. ExpressVPN — #1 India VPN With Unlimited Bandwidth and Lightning-Fast Server Network
Key Features: ExpressVPN earns the #1 spot for its unmatched speeds and security for India. Although it’s not free, you’re protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you change your mind, you can get a full refund. I tested it myself and my request was processed in minutes — I had my money back 4 days later. During tests, ExpressVPN’s virtual India servers could access popular sites like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Hotstar, Sony Liv, and more. You’ll have no issues connecting to your favorite Indian networks, or accessing foreign streaming accounts if you visit India on vacation. You’ll find ExpressVPN has virtual India IP addresses rather than physical servers in the country. This is due to changes in India’s privacy laws — ExpressVPN refuses to log and share user data with the Indian government, so it removed its India servers. Fortunately, virtual connections via the UK and Singapore are secure, reliable, and fast. Every ExpressVPN server produces consistently fast speeds for UHD streaming, torrenting, online gaming, and more. In my tests, ExpressVPN’s global connections only reduced my speeds by 18% on average. The difference was minimal like I wasn’t using a VPN at all. To keep your connections in and from India secure, ExpressVPN provides the following top-tier features:
AES-256-bit encryption — keeps all data secure and away from prying eyes, hackers, and trackers. Data leak protection — stops accidental DNS, IP, and WebRTC leaks from exposing your true location. Split tunneling — lets you choose which apps are protected by the VPN connection while your other traffic uses the local network. Zero-logs policy — states your data is never logged or stored and verified by third-party audits and real-world scenarios (including the seizure of an ExpressVPN server in Turkey).
With short and long-term plans available, you’ll find an ExpressVPN subscription to suit your budget. Short-term plans are expensive, with the 1-year option providing the best price — just $6.67/month for fast speeds and secure connections in India (it’s one of the top monthly VPNs available!). Try ExpressVPN for India risk-free
2. CyberGhost — Optimized Servers for Indian Streaming Platforms and FREE for 45 Days
Key Features: While it’s not completely free, CyberGhost’s optimized streaming connections in India make it a top choice for smooth, uninterrupted streaming. These optimized servers ensure you can stream without lag or buffering when in India. You can easily watch your favorite shows and movies on Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar. Plus, CyberGhost’s virtual India connections can easily access a variety of Indian streaming services, like Sony Liv, Zee5, and Voot. You’ll also find optimized servers for torrenting, ensuring P2P file-sharing is easy and secure when in India. While CyberGhost’s regular servers aren’t as fast as its optimized servers, I found my speeds were reliably fast across its network — including its virtual India servers. On average, I experienced a slowdown of 24%, with a bigger slowdown over long-distance connections. My speeds were fast enough for smooth streaming, torrenting, and more. All of CyberGhost’s servers are protected by high-level features to make sure your data is always safe. These include:
Military-grade encryption — ensures all data and online activity are secure within the encrypted tunnel, out of sight of anyone watching your connections. WiFi Protection — automatically connects to a VPN server when using unsecured networks or public WiFi, maintaining high-level protection at all times. Audited privacy policy — means that CyberGhost never logs or stores your data when you’re connected to its servers, proven by independent audits of its privacy policy.
You can use CyberGhost for free for 45 days as it has a money-back guarantee that works like a free trial — a great choice if you only need a VPN for a short time. Plus, CyberGhost is a low-cost option if you want to continue the subscription, with plans starting at just $2.11/month. You don’t have to explain why you want to cancel as CyberGhost has a “no questions asked” policy. The whole process took me less than 4 minutes and the refund appeared on my bank statement within 7 business days. Try CyberGhost for India for free
3. Proton VPN — Unlimited Data Allowance and Free Servers in 3 Countries
Key Features: Proton VPN provides unlimited data and multiple server connections for free users, making it the top completely free VPN for India. With access to IP addresses in Japan, the Netherlands, and the US, you can connect to popular streaming services and more without worrying about hitting a data cap. I found Proton VPN is an ad-free service, so you won’t see annoying pop-ups or targeted ads when you’re connected to its servers. This is reassuring, as it means Proton VPN doesn’t rely on ad revenue to support its free plan — my personal data isn’t at risk of being sold to third parties. You’ll also find the following high-quality features on Proton VPN’s free connections:
Automatic kill switch — stops accidental leaks if the VPN connection is interrupted. Secure protocols — including WireGuard, OpenVPN, Stealth, and IKEv2. VPN Accelerator — performance-enhancing technology that can boost network speeds, particularly useful if your regular speeds are slow (25Mbps or less).
While Proton VPN doesn’t explicitly guarantee access to streaming services for free users, I found Proton VPN could access Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube with ease. However, you may find it difficult to connect to other services as Proton VPN doesn’t provide streaming support for free accounts. However, Proton VPN’s connection speeds drop significantly, especially for distant connections. This is partly due to its popularity, as the free servers are often almost full, causing congestion. On average, my speed dropped more than 40%, causing some lag and buffering. Ping is typically over 100ms too, so you may experience lag in online gaming. You also won’t be able to use servers in India unless you upgrade to a paid plan. Fortunately, Proton VPN’s pricing is low-cost, with plans starting at $4.99/month — and you get access to all of Proton VPN’s features and 2950+ servers. If you change your mind, you have 30 days to request a refund for the unused portion of your subscription Try Proton VPN for India for free
4. Hotspot Shield — Fast Browsing and Streaming in India With Unlimited Monthly Data
Key Features: Hotspot Shield’s unlimited free monthly data and fast speeds make it easy to stream, play games, and even torrent in India. With this generous allowance, you can keep Hotspot Shield connected at all times for constant protection. Plus, my speeds during testing were surprisingly fast, with a drop of just 6% from my normal speeds.
I was pleased to find Hotspot Shield employs robust security and privacy features for your connections when in India. These include:
AES-256-bit encryption — stops hackers, spies, and unwanted third parties from watching your activity and discovering your personal information. Catapult Hydra protocol — proprietary from Hotspot Shield, designed for superfast speeds and top-tier security. Data leak protection — keeps all personal information secure to avoid accidental leaks.
Annoyingly, Hotspot Shield doesn’t offer free India servers — you can only use 1 virtual US server. If you want access to Indian websites, you’ll have to upgrade your account. I experienced some buffering and extended loading times while streaming with Hotspot Shield. Interestingly, Hotspot Shield now gives you two options when you use it: you can either see ads and have unlimited bandwidth or you can not see ads and have limited bandwidth. Unfortunately, this is not an option on mobile devices — you have to watch an ad both before you connect and after you disconnect. The inclusion of ads in its apps means that Hotspot Shield may share some of your information with third-party advertisers. Luckily, none of the information collected is personally identifiable, so your identity is safe. If you’d like to try it for yourself, you’ll need to sign up for a free Hotspot Shield account. The account is free forever, so you won’t have to renew it at any point. You can opt to upgrade later, with plans starting at $7.99/month, and a 45-day money-back guarantee. Try Hotspot Shield for India for free
5. hide.me — Ad-Free Torrenting Supported on All Free Servers With 10GB Data Allowance
Key Features: hide.me offers unlimited bandwidth on its 5 free servers, although none are in India. Since hide.me doesn’t purposely slow down speeds, you’ll have no problems torrenting large files — I easily downloaded multiple torrents with my 10GB allowance. As a bonus, you can still use hide.me in India for free after the 10GB monthly cap is finished. The only difference is that you can’t choose your own server connection. You’ll still benefit from hide.me’s top-tier features, but you’ll be assigned a server by hide.me rather than choosing your own. To ensure your connections are always secure, hide.me provides the following features:
Server leak protection — stops your IP address and other data from leaking and exposing your location and identity. Secure protocols — including OpenVPN, SoftEtherVPN, and IKEv2. Stealth Guard — lets you customize apps so that they work only when the VPN is connected — ideal for secure torrenting in India.
Unfortunately, hide.me’s free servers don’t work with popular streaming sites like Hulu or Disney+ (although it does sometimes work with Netflix). This is disappointing, as I know the paid plan comes with optimized servers specifically for streaming. If you just need a VPN in India for browsing the internet or downloading, it’s a good choice. You can download hide.me for India for free — once you sign up, you’ll receive an activation code through email. Just type it into the hide.me app to log in and connect to a server. If you want to experience hide.me without any limits, it’s an affordable long-term option, with plans starting at $3.84/month. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can get a full refund if it’s not right for you. Try hide.me for free
How I Tested and Ranked the Best Free VPNs for India in 2023
To shortlist the best free VPNs for India, I checked whether each provider offers: However, not all freemium VPNs can meet these criteria — many VPNs don’t have India servers, have slow speeds, and limit your data. To get what you want (like a big server network and unlimited data), you need to sacrifice other features. The only VPNs on the list that satisfy all of the above criteria are ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. ExpressVPN came out on top in my tests, with the fastest speeds both in India and abroad, unlimited data, great protection, and more. It also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try ExpressVPN out for yourself risk-free. If you’re not completely satisfied, you’ll get a full refund.
Easy Comparison Table: 2023’s Best Free VPNs for India
Quick Guide: 3 Easy Steps to Set Up a VPN for India
Avoid These Free VPNs for India — Here’s Why
Even the overall best free VPNs in 2023 restrict your server access, monthly data, and bandwidth. This causes big speed drops, making your connection unusable for browsing, gaming, torrenting, or streaming. However, the worst free VPNs collect your data and sell it to third parties. I discovered multiple free VPNs you should never use: The “freemium” VPNs in this article have paid plans alongside a free subscription, so they don’t rely on selling your data to earn money. The major flaw with these services is their free plans are limited by data caps and slow speeds, and some don’t have server connections in India. However, you can avoid restrictions for free with CyberGhost as it has a 45-day money-back guarantee. This works like a free trial, giving you access to hundreds of secure optimized servers in and out of India. Just ask for a refund through the 24/7 live chat within the 45 days and you’ll easily get your money back.
Don’t Limit Yourself With a Low-Quality VPN for India
Many free VPNs don’t work as well as they promise to and can even put you at risk of identity theft. I found the best free VPNs that keep your data secure, but even these come with annoying limitations like slow speeds, small server networks, and data caps. With a service like CyberGhost, you can take advantage of its 45-day money-back guarantee and use it like a free trial. If you change your mind or are done using CyberGhost, you can easily get a refund within the 45 days. This is ideal if you only need a VPN for a short time or want to test if it’s right for you before committing to a subscription. The reason there are no physical servers in India is due to a change in the law that mandates all VPNs must store user data to share with the government if demanded. To ensure your data and activity are always private and secure, many high-quality VPNs have shut down servers in India to avoid being forced to store and share your information.
Maintaining high-level security to ensure your data isn’t discoverable by hackers or third parties, especially when using public WiFi. Keeping your online activity private by stopping trackers from watching which websites you visit. Avoiding network restrictions that block you from accessing online content that isn’t available in India (like your local streaming account when you visit the country)
Not all VPNs will provide the features you need to keep your connections safe and anonymous in India. Make sure you choose a tried-and-tested VPN with high-quality encryption, a zero-logs policy, fast speeds, and a generous data allowance for the best experience. That’s why I recommend going for a paid VPN. If you sign up to ExpressVPN to watch Netflix India, you’ll easily access your usual streaming account in any country. If you’re not fully satisfied, you can ask for a refund with the 30-day money-back guarantee. Overall, ExpressVPN has the best Chrome extension. With ExpressVPN’s extension, you get full VPN security and privacy features for your entire device (not just your Chrome browser), plus access to all 3,000+ servers — including virtual connections in India. While ExpressVPN isn’t free, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. This means you can buy ExpressVPN in confidence — if you’re not happy, getting a refund is simple. If you want to avoid restrictions, I suggest you download ExpressVPN to browse the Internet freely in India and other countries. ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you won’t struggle to get a refund if you change your mind. I used it and received my money back in only 4 days — no questions asked.
