Free VPN for Linux: Which Free Plans Actually Run on Your Distro
The VPNRadarLab ranking lists 65 services that pair a free plan with Linux support, but that support ranges from a native package to a browser add-on, and just 8 carry an independent no-logs audit. Check how the service reaches your distro first, then what the free tier holds back. Read more
Part of Free VPNs.
Sorted by this page’s weighting: ecosystem weighs 35% on this page. Each row also shows the overall score.
Ready-made lists
- Works under heavy blocking
- Anonymous
- Honest free
- Trial without a card
- No price rise at renewal
- Netflix and streaming
- Gaming
- For business
All filters by topic: Price and payment · Anonymity and privacy · VPN security · VPN protocols · VPNs by platform · VPNs by use case · Travel and restrictions · VPN jurisdictions · VPN servers by country · VPN customer support · VPN segments
| # | Service | Page score | Data limit | Speed | Locations | Ads | From | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CitadelVPN | 8.43overall 8.74 | Yes | — | — | No | Data limit: yes; Ads: no | €1.38per month |
| 2 | X-VPN | 6.89overall 6.05 | — | — | 26 regions (UK, CA, AU, 13 US… | Yes AdMob, InMobi, Chartboost,… | Locations: 26 regions (UK, CA, AU, 13 US…; Ads: yes (AdMob, InMobi, Chartboost,… | €2.57per month |
| 3 | Proton VPN | 6.40overall 6.12 | unlimited (no data limits) | medium speed, no artificial limits | 10 randomly selected countries | no ads | Data limit: unlimited (no data limits); Speed: medium speed, no artificial limits; Locations: 10 randomly selected countries; Ads: no ads | €3.00per month |
| 4 | ZoogVPN | 5.66overall 4.36 | 10 GB/month | limited (possible congestion) | 5 locations | Yes in Android app (Google AdMob) | Data limit: 10 GB/month; Speed: limited (possible congestion); Locations: 5 locations; Ads: yes in Android app (Google AdMob) | €2.14per month |
| 5 | LightningX VPN | 5.57overall 4.96 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €4.30per month |
| 6 | Canada VPN | 5.35overall 4.11 | — | — | 6 servers in 5 countries (US, UK,… | — | Locations: 6 servers in 5 countries (US, UK,… | €1.99per month |
| 7 | VMP VPN (VPN Master Pro) | 5.19overall 4.48 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €5.01per month |
| 8 | BelkaVPN | 5.19overall 4.25 | — | — | US; Canada (browser extension… | — | Locations: US; Canada (browser extension… | €2.36per month |
| 9 | Hotspot Shield | 5.10overall 3.94 | 500 MB/day (watch ads on mobile… | up to 2 Mbps | 1 (US, virtual) | Yes ads on mobile | Data limit: 500 MB/day (watch ads on mobile…; Speed: up to 2 Mbps; Locations: 1 (US, virtual); Ads: yes (ads on mobile) | €2.08per month |
| 10 | Symlex VPN | 5.08overall 4.47 | limited bandwidth | moderate | 3 servers / 3 locations | Yes not ad-free | Data limit: limited bandwidth; Speed: moderate; Locations: 3 servers / 3 locations; Ads: yes (not ad-free) | €1.91per month |
| 11 | FreeVPN.com | 4.95overall 3.92 | 1 GB/day | — | 3 | — | Data limit: 1 GB/day; Locations: 3 | €3.43per month |
| 12 | Windscribe | 4.94overall 4.09 | limited | — | some locations | — | Data limit: limited; Locations: some locations | €2.58per month |
| 13 | StelsVPN | 4.74overall 3.81 | 300 MB/day | — | minimum countries | — | Data limit: 300 MB/day; Locations: minimum countries | €3.99per month |
| 14 | Hide.me | 4.46overall 3.97 | unlimited data | restricted speeds | 8 | — | Data limit: unlimited data; Speed: restricted speeds; Locations: 8 | €2.69per month |
| 15 | VPNEU | 4.19overall 3.78 | — | limited | fewer servers | No | Speed: limited; Locations: fewer servers; Ads: no | €1.08per month |
| 16 | ZenMate | 4.15overall 3.19 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €1.99per month |
| 17 | Norse Labs DVPN | 3.98overall 3.50 | — | — | a few locations permanently free | No policy: no advertising | Locations: a few locations permanently free; Ads: no (policy: no advertising) | €2.86per month |
| 18 | 12VPN | 3.95overall 3.09 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €9.45per month |
| 19 | Fexyn | 3.93overall 3.98 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €2.57per month |
| 20 | Trickbyte | 3.64overall 2.48 | — | — | — | Yes | Ads: yes | €1.79per month |
| 21 | URnetwork | 3.57overall 2.75 | 30 GiB/day | — | — | — | Data limit: 30 GiB/day | — |
| 22 | VpnHood! | 3.48overall 2.84 | unlimited | no limit | 6 countries | Yes AdMob, rewarded ads; Google… | Data limit: unlimited; Speed: no limit; Locations: 6 countries; Ads: yes (AdMob, rewarded ads; Google… | €3.35per month |
| 23 | Anyone Protocol (ex-ATOR) | 3.29overall 3.38 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 24 | FlyVPN | 3.24overall 2.28 | — | — | HK (7); JP (3); KR (5); KZ (1); … | — | Locations: HK (7); JP (3); KR (5); KZ (1); … | €4.27per month |
| 25 | VPN Jantit | 3.23overall 2.82 | unlimited | same as premium (no limit stated) | ~70 countries listed | Yes | Data limit: unlimited; Speed: same as premium (no limit stated); Locations: ~70 countries listed; Ads: yes | €0.86per month |
| 26 | HidzoVPN | 3.22overall 3.58 | session limits | — | automatic server selection only | Yes | Data limit: session limits; Locations: automatic server selection only; Ads: yes | €2.14per month |
| 27 | 7VPN | 3.21overall 2.80 | unlimited (claim) | — | fewer than Premium | Yes | Data limit: unlimited (claim); Locations: fewer than Premium; Ads: yes | €8.59per month |
| 28 | Hiddify | 3.20overall 3.15 | unlimited (own server) | own server | — | No | Data limit: unlimited (own server); Speed: own server; Ads: no | — |
| 29 | VPNHouse | 3.19overall 2.58 | — | standard speed (premium: max… | free servers only; premium… | Yes short in-app ads on free… | Speed: standard speed (premium: max…; Locations: free servers only; premium…; Ads: yes (short in-app ads on free… | €2.19per month |
| 30 | Mudfish | 3.13overall 2.14 | — | no limit (claim) | free public nodes | — | Speed: no limit (claim); Locations: free public nodes | — |
| 31 | ChibaTunnel | 3.13overall 3.12 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 32 | Tcpvpn | 3.09overall 2.08 | — | lifetime account speed-limited | — | — | Speed: lifetime account speed-limited | — |
| 33 | Blokada | 3.03overall 2.18 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | €5.00per month |
| 34 | Safing SPN (Portmaster) | 2.96overall 2.93 | — | — | none (SPN not included) | No | Locations: none (SPN not included); Ads: no | €3.33per month |
| 35 | Geph | 2.90overall 2.74 | — | medium-speed (free); Plus =… | — | — | Speed: medium-speed (free); Plus =… | — |
| 36 | MASQ Network | 2.85overall 2.56 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €6.88per month |
| 37 | Shellfire VPN | 2.84overall 2.46 | unlimited | 1,000 kbit/s | 2 (Germany, US) | — | Data limit: unlimited; Speed: 1,000 kbit/s; Locations: 2 (Germany, US) | €3.26per month |
| 38 | FreeVPN.us | 2.83overall 2.27 | 10 GB OVPN quota per account… | — | all 23 servers (10 countries) | Yes | Data limit: 10 GB OVPN quota per account…; Locations: all 23 servers (10 countries); Ads: yes | €1.53per month |
| 39 | Riseup VPN | 2.80overall 2.82 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | — |
| 40 | Cloudflare WARP (1.1.1.1) | 2.76overall 1.80 | — | — | nearest Cloudflare data center… | No | Locations: nearest Cloudflare data center…; Ads: no | — |
| 41 | Karing | 2.73overall 1.95 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 42 | OnionHop | 2.68overall 2.69 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | — |
| 43 | QubitVPN | 2.63overall 1.99 | unmetered | — | standard VPN locations | — | Data limit: unmetered; Locations: standard VPN locations | €4.30per month |
| 44 | OneVPN | 2.60overall 2.53 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €3.44per month |
| 45 | CloudVPN Pro | 2.59overall 2.30 | — | — | Android: LT, NL; iOS: NL, LT, PT | Yes | Locations: Android: LT, NL; iOS: NL, LT, PT; Ads: yes | €3.58per month |
| 46 | Meile dVPN (MathNodes) | 2.45overall 2.55 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €2.70per month |
| 47 | Ultrasurf | 2.38overall 2.23 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 48 | VPNmine | 2.36overall 1.81 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | €1.79per month |
| 49 | Shadowsocks | 2.19overall 1.57 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | — |
| 50 | Free VPN by FreeVPN.org | 2.18overall 1.92 | — | — | 1000s of worldwide locations… | Yes free access supported by… | Locations: 1000s of worldwide locations…; Ads: yes (free access supported by… | — |
Show all 65Show top 50 only
| # | Service | Page score | Data limit | Speed | Locations | Ads | From | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | MyVPN | 2.16overall 2.12 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 52 | Begzar | 2.12overall 1.47 | free/unlimited (without any… | — | — | No | Data limit: free/unlimited (without any…; Ads: no | — |
| 53 | Bitmask | 2.08overall 2.00 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | — |
| 54 | Super Free VPN | 2.04overall 1.37 | unlimited (claim) | unlimited (claim) | all | No meta claim | Data limit: unlimited (claim); Speed: unlimited (claim); Locations: all; Ads: no (meta claim) | — |
| 55 | Lokinet (Oxen/Session) | 2.01overall 2.16 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 56 | VPNBook | 1.99overall 1.65 | unlimited (claimed) | — | US; CA; UK; others (list cut off) | — | Data limit: unlimited (claimed); Locations: US; CA; UK; others (list cut off) | — |
| 57 | Shecan | 1.90overall 1.20 | unlimited traffic; 500… | up to 4 Mbps | — | No | Data limit: unlimited traffic; 500…; Speed: up to 4 Mbps; Ads: no | — |
| 58 | FreeVPN.me | 1.89overall 1.52 | unlimited | — | 1 (Amsterdam) | site ads (Google DART); no app | Data limit: unlimited; Locations: 1 (Amsterdam); Ads: site ads (Google DART); no app | — |
| 59 | Lagom VPN | 1.86overall 0.93 | unlimited (claim) | — | — | No | Data limit: unlimited (claim); Ads: no (claim) | — |
| 60 | Oblivion VPN | 1.74overall 1.38 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 61 | Calyx VPN | 1.73overall 1.59 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | — |
| 62 | Freegate (DynaWeb) | 1.41overall 1.07 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 63 | Decentr | 1.27overall 0.51 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 64 | MxTunnel | 1.21overall 1.02 | — | — | — | — | Not stated | — |
| 65 | playit.gg | 1.13overall 0.90 | — | — | — | No | Ads: no | €2.58per month |
The top three free Linux VPNs and what their free side gives you
| CitadelVPN | X-VPN | Proton VPN | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page / overall score | 8.43 / 8.74 | 6.89 / 6.05 | 6.40 / 6.12 |
| Linux delivery | manual setup, VLESS keys; WireGuard/OpenVPN files on MAX | Linux listed | open-source app on GitHub |
| Free side | ad-free plan; 5-day trial: 5 GB, 2 devices, no card | Basic: no sign-up, 26 regions, ads | unlimited data, 1 device, medium speed |
| Jurisdiction | Panama | Singapore | Switzerland |
| No-logs audit | yes (auditor unnamed, 2026) | ISAE 3000 (auditor unnamed) | published |
| Cheapest paid / refund | €1.38 / 14 days | €2.57 / 30 days | €3.00 / 30 days |
CitadelVPN ships no Linux app, so the manual setup is yours: keys go into whatever client you pick. X-VPN Basic skips registration and covers 26 free regions including 13 US cities, funded by four ad networks. Proton trades unlimited data for one device, ten randomly picked countries and locked streaming, P2P and NetShield.
How a free plan actually reaches a Linux machine
| Delivery | Examples | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Native package | Norse Labs DVPN (.deb/.rpm), ChibaTunnel (.deb, .rpm, .pacman, .AppImage), Meile dVPN (APT repo, Fedora, Arch, pip) | repo or signed build for your distro |
| Sandboxed | Geph (Flatpak), Symlex (Snap) | network permissions |
| Third-party client | VPNEU (Hiddify, NekoRay), Fexyn (VLESS token), QubitVPN (NetBird) | which client the provider expects |
| CLI client | Hotspot Shield | terminal profile, not a GUI |
| Not a Linux client | OneVPN, Ultrasurf (extensions), Freegate (Wine), HidzoVPN (no download offered) | an add-on covers the browser only |
Extensions leave apt, git and SSH traffic untouched. The package format decides how updates arrive: software from a repository (Meile ships one) follows system updates, a manually downloaded .deb does not.
Free-tier limits that bite on a desktop distro
| Service | Data | Speed | Locations | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | unlimited | medium | 10 random | 1 |
| Hide.me | unlimited | restricted | 8 | 1 |
| Shellfire VPN | unlimited | 1,000 kbit/s | 2 (DE, US) | not stated |
| URnetwork | 30 GiB/day | not stated | not stated | 2 |
| ZoogVPN | 10 GB/month | limited | 5 | 1 |
| FreeVPN.com | 1 GB/day | not stated | 3 | 1 |
| Hotspot Shield | 500 MB/day | up to 2 Mbps | 1 virtual US | 1 |
| StelsVPN | 300 MB/day | not stated | not stated | not stated |
A daily quota vanishes fast when a system upgrade downloads gigabytes. Just 25 of the 65 publish free-data terms (9 of them cap usage); 40 stay silent, and 34 say nothing about ads.
Free by design: non-profit, decentralised, self-hosted
Riseup VPN and Bitmask both run without accounts or ads, and Bitmask asks for no payment on top of that. Calyx VPN, whose open-source code comes from the Bitmask project, keeps its free tier free of ads too. Cloudflare WARP is free but drops you into the nearest data centre, so picking a country is off the table. Eight entries are decentralised dVPN networks; URnetwork gives 30 GiB daily on Ubuntu 24.04+. Hiddify and Shadowsocks are free programs that idle until you supply a server yourself: the software costs nothing, the bandwidth does.
Free Linux offers with strings attached
Some accounts expire on purpose: VPN Jantit lives 7 days, FreeVPN.us two, so plan on re-registering. VPNBook publishes one shared login and rotates it, quietly breaking saved profiles. Super Free VPN pays for itself by routing commercial traffic over capacity you are not using. Blokada limits its free tier to DNS ad-blocking, and Portmaster's free tier is a firewall that leaves out the SPN network.
How this page orders free Linux VPNs
Ecosystem counts 35%, then privacy 21.7%, security 14.4%, value and bypass 10.8% apiece, network 7.2%. That weighting rewards wide platform coverage, so X-VPN (platforms subindex 9.0) takes second place here despite a bypass subindex of 1.9; on overall score Proton is still ahead.
FAQ
Which free VPN is best for Ubuntu, Mint or Kali?
Proton VPN for a desktop; on minimal Kali, prefer config-based delivery without a GUI dependency.
Can you use a free Linux VPN without an account?
Riseup VPN, Bitmask and X-VPN Basic skip sign-up; 26 services register you without email.
Is OpenVPN free?
The software is; the servers cost money, which is what plans charge for.
Free Linux VPNs in short
65 free plans for Linux, 8 independently audited, 25 honest about data limits. Desktop use: Proton. No account wanted: Riseup or Bitmask. Streaming or several machines: paid tiers start at €0.86 a month (median €2.69). Compare the full list in the main Linux VPN ranking or filter the ad-free tier.
The other 15 on this page: page score under 2.2
Below place 50 the differences are small: most of these services publish little that earns points for this page.
- 00.0
- 00.5
- 41.0
- 61.5
- 52.0