13 best VPNs with a free trial allowing risk-free VPN selection in 2022

Given the rise of privacy breaches globally, virtual private networks or VPNs have become a must-have for all. This applies to both regular internet users as well as cybersecurity and IT professionals.

However, picking up the right one from the plethora of VPNs available today is a crucial task, particularly, when you go for VPNs.

Nonetheless, some reputable VPN service providers have your back by offering trials, specifically, free trials. That means you can simply try their services and pick the best VPN with a free trial that best fits your requirements. The entire process remains risk-free. Hence, you don’t have to worry about your money.

Wondering where can you find such VPNs?

In this extensive guide, we have handpicked the best VPNs with free trials for you to try in 2022. You can test any or all of them to find the VPN that serves your purposes the best.

Quick look – Best VPNs offering a free trial

VPN provider	No. of servers and locations	Subscription costs per month	Trial policy	Devices supported
NordVPN	5000+ servers in 60 countries	$3.71 – $11.95	7-day free trial on Android 30-day trial (following upfront payment) with a money-back guarantee	Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS, Chromebook, Chromecast, Fire TV, Raspberry Pi, game consoles, routers, browser extensions
PrivateVPN	200+ server locations in 63 countries	$2.50 – $9.99	Free trial for 7-days (on request) 30-day paid trial with a money-back guarantee after subscription	Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, Linux, routers
Surfshark	3200+ servers in 65 countries	$2.49 – $12.95	7-day free trial for mobile users only (iOS and Android) 30-day paid trial with a money-back guarantee	Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire devices, Smart TVs, game consoles, routers, browser extensions
ExpressVPN	3000+ servers across 160 locations in 94 countries	$8.32 – $12.95	30-day paid trial with money-back guarantee	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chromebook, Amazon Fire devices, Smart TV, Chromecast Roku, game consoles, Blackberry, routers, and browser extensions
IPVanish	2000+ servers across 75 locations in 53 countries	$3.75 – $5.49	30-day money-back guarantee on annual plans only	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Fire TV, ChromeOS, and routers
Private Internet Access (PIA)	Thousands of servers across 84 countries	$2.69 – $9.95	7-day free trial for mobile users (iOS and Android) 30-day money-back guarantee after subscription	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, routers, and browser extensions
VyprVPN	700+ servers in 70+ countries	$1.67 – $6.47	30-day paid trial with a money-back guarantee	Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, Smart TV, routers, Blackberry, Blackphone, Synology NAS, QNAP, Anonabox
HMA	1100+ servers across 290+ locations in 210+ countries	$2.99 – $11.99	7-day free trial (with a credit card) 30-day trial with a money-back guarantee after subscription	Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, Smart TV, routers, Smart TVs, game consoles, and browser extensions
Hotspot Shield	1800+ servers across 115+ locations in 80+ countries	$6.88 – $19.99	Free basic version 7-day free trial (with credit card details) 45-day trial with a money-back guarantee	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Smart TV, routers, browser extensions
ZenMate	4200 servers in 80 countries	$1.64 – $10/99	7-day free trial (no credit card required) 30-day trial after subscription with a money-back guarantee	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, router (DD-WRT compatible – manual config), browser extensions
CactusVPN	36 servers in 11 countries	$3.95 – $9.99	3-day free trial (no credit card required) 30-day trial with a money-back guarantee after payments	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Amazon Fire, Android TV, routers, browser extensions
SaferVPN	1300+ servers in 50 countries	$2.50 – $12.95	24-hour free trial (no credit card) 30-day paid trial with a money-back guarantee	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, routers, Chromecast, Smart TV, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, game consoles browser extensions
CyberGhost	8000+ servers in 90+ countries	$2.25 – $12.00	1-day free trial (no credit card required) 14-day money-back guarantee with the monthly plan 45-day money-back guarantee with annual and biannual plans	Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Amazon Firestick, Smart TV, Roku, gaming consoles, routers, and browser extensions

What does a VPN free trial mean?

Before moving on to the best VPN free trials of today, let’s first make it clear what a VPN with a free trial is.

Basically, you’ll find two types of VPNs in the market – the free VPNs, and paid ones.

The free VPNs are easy to use since they appear to have the least monetary risks. (Although, they have other problems. We’ll talk about it in detail later.) That’s how they pull customers’ attention.

Whereas, paid VPNs, including those offering affordable subscription plans, still cost you money. That too, (seemingly) for the same services as that of free VPNs. (At least, this is what a regular user perceives after looking at the two)

While paid VPNs are almost always better than free VPNs, you can’t judge them easily unless you risk your money to assess a paid VPN’s service. Thus, it’s pretty clear that the only obstacle for paid VPNs in gaining customers is their subscription fee.

To overcome this confusion, paid VPNs offer free (or free of cost) trials of their services to lure customers. Some of these include VPNs that offer no credit card free trial. It means you don’t have to make any payments or submit payment details to test their service.

Whereas, the others offer a paid trial with a money-back guarantee. In other words, the trial generally remains free if you claim your money back. But you have to make upfront payments.

Since the trial offers for both these paid VPNs generally cost you nothing, they are generally considered as VPNs offering a free trial.

In case you find a paid VPN offering no feature to test its service without money, then it isn’t a VPN having a free trial.

Why you should go for a free trial VPN?

“Why opt for a free trial VPN when free VPNs are all around?”, we hear you ask.

Well, if you compare free VPNs vs paid VPNs, you’ll observe the latter clearly winning as they offer more features and deliver better performance. Also, paid VPNs do not risk your personal data as much as most free VPNs do.

But you cannot precisely assess a VPN’s feasibility unless you try it yourself.

For example, if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock Netflix outside the USA, many free VPNs fail at it. In fact, free VPNs also frequently fail at unblocking other streaming platforms, like iPlayer and Hulu, outside the specified regions.

Whereas, most paid VPNs claim to unblock your desired Netflix library or any other streaming platform anywhere in the world.

So how would you verify if your chosen paid VPN really serves your purpose without risking your money?

That’s where a free trial helps. Whether it’s a genuine free trial or a trial with a money-back guarantee, either way, you get a chance to assess the VPN’s usefulness without disturbing your budget.

In short, availing yourself of the best VPN free trials is the safest way to choose the right VPN for you.

Free trial vs paid trial: Which VPNs are good?

It’s pretty natural if you, after knowing about the two different VPN trial models, ask which trial model is better.

You may think of an entirely free VPN trial better than the paid one because it doesn’t involve money, right? Certainly, it’s safe to try such a VPN with a free trial with no credit card required. In fact, many VPNs don’t even need you to register during the trial period.

However, these facilities come at a cost. Here, this cost is the limitation of feature availability. And that’s where the paid VPN trials get an edge.

Confused?

Let us explain.

The VPNs that offer a paid trial with a money-back guarantee do not put any limitations on the way you use it. You get the same number of servers, the same bandwidth, and the same speed that all other premium users receive. In this way, you get a chance to test the VPN to its fullest capability. You get a better idea of whether the PN is useful for you or not.

Whereas, a VPN with a free trial often restricts how you use the service. Such limitations include the limited number of servers, limited bandwidth usage, and a very short time for trial. These restrictions curb your evaluation capacity to judge the VPN’s performance and suitability.

So, if you really want to get a VPN that supports your extensive online activities, then you should choose a paid VPN trial that offers a money-back guarantee. Doing so will allow you to assess the VPNs’ performance with the trust that your money remains in safe hands.

However, not every paid VPN is as swift and open to sending your money back to you. Some VPNs have set a usage threshold during the trial period, such as a few days or some days with certain Gbs of data. If you cross this threshold, you might not get your money back.

Whereas, some other VPNs are simply lazy to support money-back offers across multiple payment options. Thus, if you make payments via one of the unsupported methods, you won’t get your upfront payments back.

Nonetheless, you can easily avoid these two issues by reading the VPNs’ terms of service thoroughly before subscribing to them. Also, a quick online research and customer reviews will let you have an idea about these policies.

Yet, if you are truly concerned about your money or you don’t want to share your payment details with any VPN unless you are sure to subscribe to it, then VPNs offering no credit card free trials will suit you the best.

Best VPN with a free trial

Now that you know what a VPN offering a free trial means and how you can test the apps, let’s move on to which ones you should try.

Indeed, you’ll find many VPNs today offering free trials or trials with a money-back guarantee. Not all of them follow what they claim. Or even if they do, they tend to set up complicated policies that you often miss to learn – thus becoming ineligible for a refund.

Still, some VPNs exist that stick to what they offer and respect your privacy. For them, winning customers’ trust is more important than making money. Hence, these VPNs offer free or paid trials that are worth testing.

Here is a quick list of the best VPNs with free trials in 2022.

1. NordVPN

Indeed, the fast-speed connection and impressive features have made NordVPN one of the leading VPNs of today.

The service offers superior data encryption, stealth browsing, greater anonymity that escapes VPN detection, and hassle-free unblocking of restricted content including streaming platforms.

Besides, the amazing security features that jazz up the functionality of NordVPN are sure to attract every privacy-savvy user. Some of these include split tunneling, obfuscated server technology, and double VPN.

Apart from these key features, NordVPN also brings to you an inclusive cybersecurity pack – the CyberSec. This security suite includes dedicated tools to protect you from phishing websites, DDoS attacks, and intrusive ads.

On top of everything, NordVPN is also a VPN with a free trial – thanks to its risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

It means you just have to sign-up for the service by choosing an appropriate subscription. Enjoy using the VPN to its fullest for 30 days without worrying about your money. If you find the VPN not meeting your requirements, just reach out to NordVPN customer support and ask for a refund. Within a few days, you’ll receive a 100% refund of your amount.

Nonetheless, if you wish to get acquainted with the VPN first without paying, try testing it on your Android device. For Android users, NordVPN offers a 7-day free trial via its app on Google Play.

While you still have to enter your payment details to start the trial, you won’t be charged before 7-days.

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2. PrivateVPN

The next VPN that also offers premium services and is worth a trial is PrivateVPN.

Particularly, what makes PrivateVPN worth a trial is its 7-day free trial offer. Here, by “free”, it does mean free trial since they do not require any payments from you for it.

You can simply reach out to their support team and ask them for the gift code. After you receive the code and register to PrivateVPN, your 7-day trial will start immediately.

After the 7 days, if you are curious to test the VPN for some more days, simply subscribe to one of their pricing plans. Your money remains safe across all these plans for 30 days since the service offers a money-back guarantee.

Plus, PrivateVPN offers all these plans for very affordable costs. So, you don’t have to invest a fortune to test the service.

It means you get an overall duration of 37 days to test PrivateVPN – that too – with all of its features. It’s quite a long time to check a service’s feasibility. If you aren’t satisfied, just ask for a refund from them by sending an email to their support team.

Although, PrivateVPN offers impressive services to make you fall for it. Some noteworthy offers include superior data encryption, good network diversity, and tremendous ability to bypass geographical restrictions.

Moreover, with advanced features like ‘Stealth VPN” mode, you can even use this VPN in repressive regions like China.

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3. Surfshark

The next impressive free trial VPN service on our list is Surfshark. Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark also provides top-notch services that will surely impress you.

Apart from the robust security, stealth browsing features, and user-friendly app design, the most lucrative feature with Surfshark is the bunch of security features that protect your privacy, such as adblocker, malware protection, and email breach alert feature.

Also, Surfshark offers numerous unique VPN features such as double VPN, camouflage mode to evade detection, NoBorders mode to bypass all VPN blocks, app whitelisting, and much more.

Whether to wish to unblock Netflix or iPlayer or you want something to keep your torrenting anonymous without compromising on speed, Surfshark can handle them all.

And the biggest plus is, subscribing to Surfshark gives you 24/7 online security as it offers unlimited simultaneous connections.

But how would you test all of this?

Well, Surfshark offers a 7-day free trial!

But, there’s a catch!

This free trial is only available to Android and iOS users. That means you cannot thoroughly test it (though all VPN features are available to you) during this time.

However, you can still test this VPN on other devices by availing yourself of their 30-day risk-free money-back guarantee.

Don’t like the VPN, simply contact their customer support and have your money back.

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4. ExpressVPN

After reading this name, you might wonder, when did ExpressVPN become free?

Well, the service isn’t free at all – not even for a few days.

BUT, ExpressVPN offers a trusted no-risk money-back guarantee for 30 days.

In simple words, it means that you just have to pay them upfront for the subscription. Then your trial starts immediately, and you get a whole month to test the VPN with all its features.

If you find this VPN unsuitable for your requirements, simply ask for a refund on chat and your request will be processed immediately.

No questions, no arguments, no convincing. Just tell them why you need to quit, and they’ll refund you with no ill feelings.

The only thing you should keep in mind is to contact them by or before the 30-days window ends. Once the trial ends and your subscription renews, you won’t get a refund.

Certainly, when your money remained safe and you even got it back after the trial, doesn’t it become free?

One thing that we need to mention for iOS users of this VPN is that, if you have subscribed to ExpressVPN via iTunes, then the 30-day money-back guarantee won’t apply to the service in this case. Instead, users need to apply to App Store for a refund by contacting Apple Support.

Though, to avoid the hassle, simply subscribe to the VPN for trial via any other device you own. Once done, you can then download the VPN on all your devices (including iPhones) and test it accordingly.

Although, after using this amazing VPN, you won’t likely ask for a refund. Rather, you may consider a long-term subscription to the service.

Why?

Because ExpressVPN is one of the leading VPNs of today providing a highly secure and fast-speed VPN service. It has established a huge network with over 3000 servers placed globally. Thus, it offers you IP locations from 160 different locations across 94 countries.

Plus, the advanced security, robust encryption, fast speed connection, and superb no-logs policy, make this VPN worth a try.

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5. IPVanish

Another good VPN that you may test for personal use is IPVanish. Just as its names, it truly vanishes your IP address from the online world by masking it with its own.

The VPN has a modest network of 2000+ servers. Yet, it still manages to offer IP locations from 53 different countries.

Plus, it provides users with additional privacy features such as split tunneling and kill switch. Also, it has a customizable ‘Scramble’ option to evade VPN detection.

If you wish to test all of these features yourself, feel free to subscribe to IPVanish by taking advantage of their 30-day money-back guarantee.

Though you have to subscribe to the yearly plan for this, the money-back guarantee applies to annual plan subscribers only. Nonetheless, as far as they abide by their promise for a refund, your money remains safe. So, you get a whole month to evaluate this VPN’s usability for you.

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6. Private Internet Access (PIA)

With PIA, you get a chance to test their service by taking advantage of their 30-day money-back guarantee.

While that’s something common among all VPNs we have listed until this point, PIA gives you the liberty to subscribe to the app from whichever device you want. All you need is to register your account with the VPN and choose an appropriate payment method.

In the case you are subscribing to the app via mobile (iOS), then keep in mind that payments made through iTunes can only be refunded via the App Store (This might make getting a refund difficult). Though, Android users making the payments via Google Pay can simply reach out to the VPN’s support team to ask for a refund.

However, to keep your money safe with a guaranteed refund policy, you may choose any other payment method such as cryptocurrency, PayPal, or even credit cards and more.

Or, you may simply test this VPN first on your phone (Android or iOS) by utilizing their 7-day free trial.

After subscription, you get a whole month to test this VPN using all its features and see if that’s what you need. If you aren’t satisfied, simply send an email to the VPN support, or reach out to them via the contact form. Share your order details with them and have your money back within 5-10 working days.

Wondering why you should try this VPN at all?

Well, PIA is also among the oldest players in the VPN market that achieved a credible stance for providing outstanding services. What you get with PIA VPN is superior security, cost-effective privacy, and the freedom to use VPN on all your devices at any time.

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7. VyprVPN

VyprVPN isn’t precisely a free trial VPN provider. But its outstanding features coupled with top-notch security protocols make it a must-try.

In brief, VyprVPN, together with the common features of a VPN, offers added tools to protect customers’ security. One such innovation is the use of the Chameleon protocol which warrants security with fast-speed connectivity. It scrambles the traffic to evade VPN detection by deep packet inspection.

Plus, the VPN’s Smart IP feature keeps shuffling the IP addresses in the background, thus protecting you from possible IP bans.

That’s how it succeeds in providing an unrestricted browsing experience to its customers even in suppressive regions like Russia and China.

We also liked its customized setting for the kill switch. You can either activate it for certain apps. Or, you can turn it on for system-level protection for thorough security.

The best most enticing thing about VyprVPN is its tested and audited zero-logs policy for all platforms. No matter which device you install the VPN, it will never log any of your details.

Want to try this VPN? While you can’t test it without a credit card, you can certainly avail yourself of its 30-day money-back guarantee.

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8. HMA (HideMyAss) VPN

Formerly popular as HideMyAss, the VPN rebranded as HMA (whilst still carrying the original name) after Avast acquired it in 2016

Nonetheless, this rebranding didn’t really affect the popularity of this VPN that has existed since 2005. Rather it probably added to it, particularly after HMA transformed into a “no-logs” VPN in 2020. It means that, together with its exciting features and impressive performance, it has now gained another plus point for protecting users’ privacy.

It is also a 7-day free trial VPN. But you need to enter your payment details to start the trial. For these 7 days, you won’t be charged. But, if you forget to cancel your trial, your subscription will start automatically while charging the fee from the payment method you provided.

Still, it isn’t a problem because the VPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. It means you get another 30 days to test the VPN with the satisfaction that your money remains safe.

In all, you get 37 days to test HideMyAss VPN. In case HMA fails to impress you during all this time, feel free to apply for a refund.

For this, you should first apply for a refund by signing in to your VPN account and clicking on the “Cancel Subscription” option. Enter the details as required and also send an email to HMA support (as a reply to the email you initially received from HMA at the time of subscription) asking for a refund.

Any VPN with free trial no credit card requirement?

Yes.

While VPNs offering trials with money-back guarantees are always better since you get more time to test the VPN. However, you won’t be wrong to go for an entirely free VPN before risking your money.

So, here we list the VPNs that offer free trials without requiring your credit card details. Pay only when you are sure to subscribe to the VPN.

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9. Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield doesn’t precisely offer a no-credit card trial. Rather it lets you use the service free of cost.

Basically, the VPN comes in a ‘freemium’ mode. That is, alongside a feature-rich premium mode, it also offers an entirely free version for the customers.

With premium mode, you can buy the VPN subscription in three different pricing plans. The most feature-rich here is the ‘Premium’ plan that provides antivirus protection, phishing protection, spam call blocker, and password manager.

Whereas, the other paid plans offer all VPN-related features such as kill switch, Smart VPN (split tunneling), unlimited data, dedicated streaming and gaming modes, 5 simultaneous connections, and support for multiple devices such as Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Chrome, and even Smart TVs and routers.

However, the free version lacks all of these features. Also, it caps daily data use to 500MB, with a slower connection speed. Besides, you can only use the free version on a single device with no support for Linux, smart TVs, and routers.

Therefore, if you wish to superficially test this VPN, only then you should go for the free version.

Otherwise, if you wish to test Hotspot Shield to its fullest, subscribe to a paid plan and test the VPN for free for 7 days.

In fact, Hotspot Shield is the best 7-day free trial VPN since it also offers a 45-day risk-free money-back guarantee. That means you get 52-days of free testing of the VPN in all! (Isn’t it amazing?)

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10. ZenMate

Zenmate is the sister VPN of Private Internet Access (PIA) and CyberGhost, in that all three of them (now) belong to the same parent firm.

It started off as a browser extension, but also offers dedicated VPN apps for numerous devices.

Zenmate is the best option for those looking for a VPN with free trial no credit card requirement. It’s because its browser extension is available for free, works just like a VPN (unlike other proxy extensions), and offers 4 different locations.

Thus, by registering with Zenmate and installing the extension, you can get an idea of how the VPN will work.

If things go well, you can upgrade your subscription to a paid version and enjoy a free 7-day trial. Here again, you can test all the VPN features without being charged.

Yet, if you forgot to cancel your subscription (in case you don’t like it), or want to test it for a few more days, continue using the VPN app for 30 more days. Zenmate has your back with a risk-free money-back guarantee.

It means that if Zenmate fails to impress you even after 37 days of use, just reach out to their support team. Tell them why you want to quit the VPN, and have your money back.

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11. CactusVPN

These guys take care of your convenience and are confident in their services. Hence, they defiantly offer a 3-day free trial with no feature restrictions. You can test the VPN as you like and see if it meets your browsing requirements.

CactusVPN offers dedicated servers for P2P to support anonymous torrenting. Whereas, you can also use this VPN for a secure streaming and gaming experience without speed lags.

If you aren’t concerned about the limited number of locations offered, then CactusVPN is a nice privacy tool that suits your pocket.

If you find the 3-day trial insufficient, feel free to pay them for a subscription. You’ll get a whole month for evaluation with full safety to your money – thanks to their risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

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12. SaferVPN

The next VPN having a free trial worth mentioning here is SaferVPN. It is also not as popular as the leading VPNs of today. Nonetheless, it does offer impressive services that suffice to make it a must-try for privacy freaks.

SaferVPN offers a 1-day free trial to all first-time users without requiring your credit card. This trial doesn’t come with any limitations. It means you get a whole day to test the VPN without fearing for your money.

If you wish to test the VPN for some more days, feel free to subscribe to any one of their pricing plans. The VPN offers a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. Thus, your amount remains safe with them while you evaluate the VPN’s feasibility.

Though, SaferVPN offers really good features to grab customers. These include robust encryption, kill switch, built-in malware protection, amazing device compatibility, seamless evasion of content blocking, and strict no-logs.

Don’t believe it or have queries? Reach out to their support team at any time as they offer 24/7 live chat support.

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13. CyberGhost

CyberGhost also manages to list itself as a VPN that boasts a free trial by offering a 1-day trial.

Nonetheless, followed by this 1-day trial, you can continue to test the VPN for more days by subscribing to one of its paid plans. You will be charged, of course, but your money will remain safe with the service providers as they offer a money-back guarantee.

But you need to remain careful here.

With the monthly pricing plan available for $12.99, you only get 14-days of trial. Whereas, if you subscribe to its 1-year or 2-year plans, you get a 45-day money-back guarantee.

So, depending upon your requirements, you can subscribe to an appropriate pricing plan and see if CyberGhost works for you.

What makes this VPN great is its support for 7 simultaneous connections and more server locations.

However, make sure to carefully select your servers for streaming, gaming, and torrenting.

You may likely not get the best speeds from distant servers.

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Free trial VPNs that we don’t recommend trying

From loads of VPNs offering various temptations to attract customers with below-average services, we have picked up the 13 best VPNs for you. Our team tested lots of different services to find the best VPN with a free trial.

While testing, we also came across some VPNs that we advise you not to ever fall for. Here’s we quickly name those VPNs.

1. IvacyVPN

As for its services, Ivacy is a nice VPN that provides superior data security, server locations in 50+ countries, features like split tunneling, kill switch, DDoS and malware protection.

They also claim to offer a 30-day money-back guarantee on their website. Whereas, the monthly subscription plan only offers a 7-day money-back guarantee.

However, the overall refund policy is so tricky that you shouldn’t fall for it unless you’re ready to bear the loss. Also, they do not support refunds across all payment methods they accept.

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2. PureVPN

PureVPN offers nice features and satisfactory services alongside offering a 7-day trial for $0.99 only together with a 31-day money-back guarantee.

However, due to its demonstrated history of data-logging despite claiming no-logs, we can’t recommend this VPN.

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3. Speedify

It offers a free VPN version with basic features. However, due to the limited data offer (2GB/month), you can’t really judge its functionality. Whereas to test the full features of this VPN, it offers no free trials.

Though, they now offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. But we haven’t tested it ourselves.

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4. Sitelock

Another good VPN with nice security features. But we couldn’t find any free or paid trial offer or money-back guarantee claims on their website.

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Things to consider when choosing the best VPN free trial

After going through the above lists of the best VPN free trials and the worst choices, you may wonder what made us categorize the two.

Apparently, both types of VPNs are… VPN, of course, and offer trials (whether free of paid), isn’t it?

No need to ponder over this anymore. Here we list all the factors that we considered while selecting the best and the worst VPN offering a free trial.

Though this isn’t a comprehensive list. You can certainly add more to it. Perhaps, when you sit down to actually test a VPN, you may come up with some more.

Duration offered for the VPN trial

A free trial would be worthless if it only lasts for a few hours. Of course, you cannot judge a VPN’s feasibility for you within a few hours of use. Also, given the vulnerability of the internet to slow down, ISP throttling, and other technical issues that may arise to ruin your schedule, you cannot thoroughly assess a VPN’s performance.

Therefore, the first thing that you should look for when selecting a VPN that offers a free trial is the duration.

Usually, the VPNs offering a no-credit card required free trial allow short-duration trials. These may last anywhere from 24 hours (1 day) to 7 days at maximum.

Obviously, you can’t evaluate a VPN’s performance within 24 hours only, can you? Ideally, if you go for free trial VPNs, then choose the one that offers the maximum duration of free trial so that you can test it thoroughly while performing all your activities such as video streaming, gaming, or even torrenting.

On the other hand, VPNs with paid trial and money-back guarantees offer a longer test duration. It can last anywhere between 7 and 14 days in most cases. Whereas many top-notch VPN brands offer a 30-day trial with a money-back guarantee. With a little more research, you can even find VPNs offering even longer trial durations, such as CyberGhost that offers a 45-day money-back guarantee.

The only problem with these VPNs is that you need to vigilantly monitor the number of days passed for the trial phase. Since those VPNs already have your payment details, your subscription would renew automatically right after your free trial ends.

Therefore, you should apply for the money-back offer a bit earlier. For example, if you test a VPN with a free trial for 30 days and find it unsuitable for your activities, then make sure to apply for the money-back offer between the 25th and 28th day of your trial. This will give you more margin to become eligible for the refund whilst ruling out any possibilities that may invalidate your appeal.

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Data allowed to use during the trial

Apart from the durations, some VPNs also limit the amount of data you can use within the permitted time.

For example, the free trial VPNs may offer a few MBs (such as 500MB) to a few GBs to test. In fact, some paid trial VPN services also limit this data that they frequently skip mentioning prominently.

In fact, this is the reason why we recommended reading the fine print earlier in this article. Since, as a customer, you won’t find this information, clearly, you won’t be able to manage your usage during the trial period. Eventually, when you appeal for a refund, you get to find out that you’re ineligible for the refund due to excessive data use.

Therefore, before testing a VPN with a free trial, make sure to find out about any bandwidth limitations during the trial phase. You can also contact the VPN’s customer support to seek this information.

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Number of servers and locations offered

Often, the best VPNs boast a huge number of servers for their customers. (Maybe, this is what they charge for.) Some VPNs even offer a few thousands of servers with tens of locations globally.

But how would know if these servers are worth using unless you check them out yourself?

Well, free trial VPNs, particularly the VPNs that offer no credit card free trial, limit the number of servers and locations available to free users.

Though it’s understandable that VPN services cannot afford to open up all the servers for free users. Yet, such a limitation coupled with a short trial duration simply makes it impossible to assess a VPN’s performance.

At this point, VPNs with paid trials and money-back guarantees clearly win since they (often) do not limit the number of servers. You get the same speed and the same number of servers and locations that regular users receive.

Plus, since you get more time for trial usage, you get the liberty to evaluate the VPN’s performance and feasibility for you to the fullest.

Therefore, when choosing a free trial VPN, make sure to double-check the number of servers and locations offered to you.

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Customer support

VPN is a critical security tool that directly manages your online privacy. That’s the reason why we always mention customer support as a major parameter for VPN analysis.

The same remains true for using a VPN during the free trial period.

Certainly, using a VPN with a free trial doesn’t mean you are less important than a regular user. However, many VPNs offering a free trial don’t take this matter seriously and often restrict customer support to the subscribers only.

That’s where such VPNs lose points, at least, for us.

Therefore, before you start using a VPN on the free trial, make sure that you’ll get adequate customer support during the testing phase, too, so that if you encounter any issue at any point, you can seek help from the support team.

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Support for torrenting, streaming, and gaming

The most common reason why most people use VPNs is that they need to change their location to unblock streaming platforms like Netflix, or they want to protect their real identity while gaming or torrenting.

Despite being common, many VPNs often do not provide adequate support for these activities. In most cases, VPNs lack the right infrastructure needed for these activities. Or even if they do arrange for it, they are unable to withstand the harsh VPN blocking practices employed by services like Netflix.

But how would you know about all this unless you test a VPN yourself?

Unfortunately, the VPNs offering free trials without upfront payment often lack the support for these activities during the trial phase. It means that if your chose VPN claims to unblock Netflix USA abroad, you can’t verify it unless you subscribe to the VPN. In this case, it’s a risk for your money.

However, this isn’t the case with VPNs offering trials after subscription.

Since you gain access to all VPN services the moment you subscribe, you can easily test this VPN for gaming, torrent downloads, and streaming activities. In fact, these VPNs are safer to test because if you find them failing to support torrenting or at unblocking Netflix, you can have your money back.

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How to test a VPN with a free trial?

Until this point, we have discussed the best and worst VPNs, what makes a VPN having a free trial good or bad, and the things you should look for before choosing a VPN to test.

We hope things have been clear to you. Are they?

Good!

Now that you have finally got your best VPN free trial option, how would you test it?

Yeah, we know you’ll install the VPN client on your device and let it connect and takeover your internet connectivity, after which, you’ll start browsing.

But, can you really assess the VPN performance merely by visiting a few web links – that too – during a short time?

Certainly not!

You need to keep in mind a few parameters against which you should evaluate your VPNs performance. If your VPN passes all the tests, you can freely subscribe to it for long-term use.

Below we list the things you should check your VPN for when using it on a trial basis.

IP leak protection

The moment you connect your VPN to a server, check your connection for possible IP leak via DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC.

Ideally, your VPN should offer thorough IP leak protection by default. But, if that isn’t the case and you find your VPN leaking your IP address, try to fix these issues manually and see if things work.

You may also contact the VPN customer support to double-check if the VPN is genuinely leaky or you misconfigured your VPN causing it to expose your details.

Ideally, you shouldn’t use a VPN that keeps exposing your real details online. You can easily check for it while using a VPN with a free trial.

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Kill switch

Apart from the IP leak protection, make sure that your VPN also offers a kill switch as well to prevent accidental exposure of your IP address.

Although most VPNs with a subscription-based trial model offer this feature to all users (if they have it at all). However, the ones offering a free trial may or may not open this feature to free users. In such cases, you should communicate with the VPN’s support to be assured about the existence of a kill switch.

Though, what we suggest is if you don’t find a kill switch with your VPN during the trial period, you should prefer switching to some other VPN app since you can’t risk your money with the former just to end up with a poor kill switch feature.

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Consistency of connection

If a VPN offers kill switch, it doesn’t mean that the VPN should keep interrupting your internet connectivity due to frequent disconnection. The free trial period is best for testing a VPN’s consistency. If you face recurrent interruptions, look for another option.

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Speed

Here again, the best VPN free trials do not cause speed lags. However, most VPNs offering free trials without credit card do not support adequate speed. Or if they do, they tend to cap your bandwidth that also contributes to slow speeds.

But you really can’t pay money to a VPN for not demonstrating impressive performance during the trials, can you?

Contrarily, VPNs that offer trials with a money-back guarantee exhibit little to no deliberate speed lags.

That means you can get the exact picture of connection speed when connecting a VPN to your network. If you get an impressive performance, that fast VPN is for you. If not, don’t worry. Just claim your money back and test another VPN. Simple as that!

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Feature availability

What’s the sole purpose of trying a VPN first before subscription? Perhaps, to test how a VPN works with all its features, right?

Unfortunately, many VPNs do not realize this necessity. Thus, they tend to restrict the availability of all features to free users. Therefore, you can’t test all that a VPN offers yourself.

However, the VPNs offering trials with a money-back guarantee won’t disappoint you since they offer every feature to you even during the trial period.

Hence, when testing a VPN with a free trial, check for the features you can and cannot use. See if it still manages to impress you.

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Bypassing geo-restrictions

Last, but not least, your VPN should still be able to effectively bypass content restriction even during the trial phase.

Whether it’s about unblocking a particular Netflix library or accessing a blocked news media abroad, your VPN should effectively support you. If it doesn’t, it’s a red signal to its subscription.

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Conclusion

We now reach the end of our extensive guide to finding the best VPN with a free trial to subscribe to in 2022.

As you can see, you’ve got plenty of options to choose from from the plethora of VPNs available today. You can even read reviews about various VPNs to spot some good and popular VPN services. But, you can’t blindly rely on others’ reviews to get a VPN for yourself. For this, you need to practically test VPNs on your own devices and see how things work.

Nonetheless, you can’t waste your time by testing every XYZ VPN. That’s why we have prepared this list of the best VPNs with free trials to guide you on the VPNs that are worth your time. Still, you need to evaluate these VPNs on your own to learn which one suits you.

Though we can’t recommend a single VPN at this point. Yet, what we do recommend is to go for a VPN that offers a money-back guarantee. In the initial sections of this guide, we have explained in detail why these VPNs are better than the free trial VPNs.

But if you really have no time to test all 13 VPNs listed here, then you should try NordVPN, PrivateVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN, one-by-one. You will surely find your best VPN among these 4 services.

Good luck!

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