What’s the difference between a Free and a Paid vpn?

Most paid VPN services allow unlimited bandwidth and do not cap the amount of data that can be used or the way that a subscriber can use them; in contrast, free VPN services often have so many limitations or built in advertisements that they are barely usable.

The type of connection is also different in paid VPNs vs free VPNs. A paid VPN service will offer multiple connection types (PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, etc) and different strengths of encryption for the tunnel while a free VPN service might only offer unencrypted connection types.

Both paid VPN and free VPN services usually have multiple users on each VPN server, which helps obfuscate the internet activity by having multiple users using the same IP address. This type of privacy-enhancing obfuscation only works if the VPN does not keep logs. PIA does not keep logs because it is a paid VPN. This is in contrast to a free VPN, which often keeps logs of user activity and use said logs for monetization purposes.

Yes, when it comes to choosing a free VPN vs a paid VPN, it’s important to consider the age old adage, "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product."

Open Source VPN is software that can be setup by anyone to tunnel between two computers or servers. When you set up an open source VPN for yourself, Private Internet Access does not have a restricted free version and even takes it a step further by offering an open sourced client. When it comes to free VPN vs Paid vs Open Source, it is best to use a paid VPN that has an open source client. Private Internet Access’s network of VPN servers are accessible using Private Internet Access’s open sourced clients, or through the open source OpenVPN client.

Private Internet Access offers a 30 day money back guarantee on its paid VPN service, which allows users to trial our VPN free of risk. Private Internet Access allows users to get a full refund if they aren’t satisfied during their trial period. All Private Internet Access subscribers have access to the same unlimited bandwidth and proven no log policy that makes PIA most recommended as the best VPN service. For VPN services that offer both a free tier or free trial of VPN service and a paid VPN, the paid VPN’s free version might contain more restrictions versus the paid version which should remove those restrictions - but doesn’t always.

VPN networks cost money to maintain, customer service requires customer support staff who receive salaries. A VPN company needs to make money somehow to continue operating their network.

Paid VPN services make this money by charging customers a subscription fee. Free VPN services often make this money by selling customers’ browsing activity to marketing and advertising firms. Some free VPN services even sell ad spots to advertisers who are able to inject ads into your internet browsing experience.

Because your data and privacy can be at risk if you use a free VPN that sells your data, it is risky even to test free VPN services. The best free VPN doesn’t exist because there is this risk.

A quick search of the Google Play Store or the Apple iOS store reveals many many free VPN apps; versus a paid VPN service, they all leave something to be desired. VPN use is all about privacy, and it’s impossible to guarantee that your privacy is being respected when you use a free VPN.

In fact, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the opposite is true: free VPNs make money by selling you ads, upsells to a paid version, or by selling your internet activity logs. If you want a VPN service that can provide service to you ethically and meet their bottom line, that’s a paid VPN. Versus a free VPN which will likely need to make unethical decisions to meet their bottom line. A paid VPN service like Private Internet Access only makes that money by charging a subscription fee which allows the lights to stay on without having to compromise the user’s privac2.