What kinds of free trials do VPNs offer?
Choosing the best VPN can be a tricky decision, and bagging yourself a VPN free trial is one of the best ways to get to know the software before you commit. However, if youve been considering your options for any time at all, you may well have noticed that not every free trial is the same. Some providers offer a limited free VPN which you can use for an indefinite amount of time, while others require you to pay initially but give you the guarantee of a refund within a certain period of time. Others may also offer a very short unlimited free trial or cheap monthly VPN plan (in some cases just 1 week) that you can use to avoid paying a large amount upfront, even though youd be able to claim it back. Here, well be running down the pros and cons of each, and which route you should take. By the end, hopefully youll have a better idea of which option will help you pick the right VPN for you. ExpressVPN is the best VPN on the market  We rate ExpressVPN so highly thanks to its excellent all-round power  it's easy to use, great for streaming, and is super secure to boot. Tom's Guide readers can also claim three free months on a year-long plan, and you'll have 30 days to claim your money back should you not enjoy the experience.View Deal  Free trials without payment  If youre looking for a free trial from a VPN provider, this is probably what you expect  about seven days of unlimited use of the product without fronting any cash. However, while these do exist, theyre becoming thinner on the ground. Notable providers that do offer genuine free trials include NordVPN and Surfshark, but these are only available on mobile from the Google Play and Apple App stores. Head to the sites on desktop, and you wont see a thing about any trial. However, while on the face of it a seven-day free trial sounds great  no commitment, no money changing hands  for someone whos really looking to make an informed decision, a week isnt really long enough. You wont want to dedicate every evening of a week looking over features and testing every scenario to make sure the software works as it should. So, while it might seem counterintuitive, we often recommend making the most of the longer money-back guarantee periods  (Image credit: Future)  Money-back guarantees  While a money-back guarantee isnt a true free trial, any money you pay upfront will be refunded if you decide the service isnt for you. But, although you wont be out of pocket if you do request a refund, it does require a small amount of money to invest to get up and running. Although that might seem off-putting, we think the benefits vastly outweigh the cons. Firstly youll usually get 30 days (up to 45 days in some cases) to truly get to know the provider. Within that month youre likely to have the chance to test out any and all of the VPN uses youre likely to want, and youll have a much better understanding of the product as a whole. Plus, while some providers do offer a true free trial, a number of the biggest and best names in the business like ExpressVPN and IPVanish dont offer any way to test out their products without payment. So, the only way to try some of the biggest hitters before you commit is by making the most of a money-back guarantee. If youre worried about claiming back being a huge hassle, dont be. In our experience just about every provider has stuck by their no-quibble promise. Youll likely be asked why you're leaving, but no matter your answer, youll get your refund swiftly and promptly. Totally free services  Your final option is to go with a provider like ProtonVPN or Hotspot Shield that offers a genuine free VPN service. That means no time limits and no subscription fees, but youll also have to contend with some serious limitations. Barring ProtonVPN, almost all free providers limit the amount of data you can use. Hotspot Shield offers 500MB a day, while Windscribe allows you 10GB a month - if you provide your email. Others are even less generous, like TunnelBear, which only delivers a meagre 500MB a month. Server selection will be limited too, and while the amount of servers on offer to free customers varies, youll likely be limited to just a couple of locations. One of the biggest drawbacks, though, is the fact that free services often dont have the power to unblock streaming sites like Netflix. When taking advantage of a money-back guarantee, you can test the true streaming VPN performance of a service. Free versions cant do this, and require you to upgrade to get access to streaming sites  and often you wont have a money-back guarantee to test it out fully after payment, since the free version acts like your trial period. The reason why free services restrict features is that, of course, they do want you to pay. They can be very useful in a pinch, but by limiting data and features, theres an incentive for you to cough up and get the full package. If youre not considering ever paying, a no-fee VPN might be what you need: quick privacy, enough data for light browsing, and no commitment. However, if you plan on streaming or leaving the VPN on all day, youre going to have to upgrade to a paid service  and wed thoroughly recommend taking advantage of a money-back guarantee. While it does require a payment, its easy to claim back, and you get unrestricted access to the software for at least a month without committing. A true free trial with no payment upfront is great, but the unfortunate truth is that not every provider offers one, and the product best-suited to you may be untestable unless you invest. Money-back guarantees allow you to do this risk-free, and in our opinion, they're the best way of getting to know a VPN before you commit. ExpressVPN  our top-rated service today  With over 3,000 servers worldwide and excellent speeds on just about all of them, ExpressVPN is a versatile, secure solution for streaming, torrenting, and day-to-day browsing. You can test it out risk-free for 30 days and claim your money back, and now Tom's Guide readers can get three months absolutely FREE.View Deal