A VPN can help you bypass all restrictions and limitations coming in the way of streaming your favorite content. It also works tirelessly for protecting your IP and overall online anonymity. Here we introduce you to the best free VPN for India.
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Last updated on 19 September 2023
The Best Free VPN for India in September 2023
Finding the safest and the best free VPN for India is not an easy task. We have considered the performance of VPN servers, their presence, and their consistency. Further, we have checked the anonymity protection features, security, no-logging policy, speed, and protection against malware, viruses, etc. Nevertheless, the best free VPNs in India are:
You may have a question about why ExpressVPN is at the top of our list, despite not being a free service. First of all, it comes with a 30-day trial and a money-back guarantee for all users. In addition, it comes with a 7-day free trial for Android and iOS mobile phone users. Also, in terms of privacy and security, it will be much safer if you upgrade to a premium service like ExpressVPN. We will discuss the same topic in detail in the upcoming sections.
Warning! The Risk of Free VPNs
There are many risks to using a free VPN. First, if you choose a free VPN, you are more than likely to compromise your online identity. One of the main jobs of a VPN is to guard your online anonymity. To do the same, it masks your IP address and ensures that the IP address never gets leaked through bolstered tunneling, kill switch, DNS protection, and other features. However, many free VPNs will fail to perform these functions owing to poor privacy features, protocol, and intransparent policies.
Further, a VPN transforms your data into codes so that hackers or scammers cannot steal it. Free VPNs do not have the encryption standard or protocol to protect data. In addition, a reliable VPN will never log into your data and browsing pattern and sell them to a third party. Free VPNs, in most cases, do not follow this no-logging policy. We can say that many free VPNs earn by selling users’ data to third parties.
Along with the risks, free VPNs also come with several limitations. A free India VPN server base may not be enough to bypass Geo-blocking or digital censorship. In other words, a free VPN may not have servers in the foreign location you want, failing to provide you with a local IP address and help you stream the content only available in that territory. Also, unlike a premium VPN, a free VPN may fail to protect your bandwidth. As a result, the bandwidth controlled by third parties and your internet service provider may result in broken streaming.
Because of all these reasons, we recommend you upgrade to a premium VPN.
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Benefits of a Premium VPN Service
Here we will discuss what you can expect while using a premium VPN. First of all, a premium VPN like ExpressVPN will never disappoint you when it comes to unblocking streaming sites. For example, the best premium VPN, ExpressVPN, has servers in 94 countries. With this presence of virtual and physical servers, it ensures that you have uninterrupted access to streaming sites like American Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Further, a premium VPN will never put your online anonymity at risk by protecting your IP address and geolocation. Also, its kill switch mechanism stops the flow of traffic to prevent IP leakage even during the drop of connection. In addition, its encryption protocol will convert your data into codes to eliminate the chances of cybercrime. In short, with a premium VPN, you will remain completely safe and protected even while using a public Wi-Fi connection.
Also, a premium VPN will keep your traffic out of any throttling measures. Thus, you will enjoy good speed while streaming, torrenting, or gaming. Furthermore, a premium VPN makes file sharing safe and enables access to every device connected to the same network. So, premium VPNs are widely used by business organizations today.
Tips on How to Choose the Best Free VPN for India
To choose the most trusted free VPN for streaming in India, you will have to keep a couple of things in mind. Those are:
Presence and Performance of Servers
You are using a VPN to overcome internet censorship and Geo-blocking imposed by various platforms. So, ensure that the free VPN you use has a decent server base. In simpler words, the chance of unblocking streaming sites gets increased with more number of servers. Further, the servers should be streaming-optimized and consistent in their performance.
Anonymity Protection Features
It will be unwise to use a VPN that does not protect your IP address with bolstered features. If your IP address gets leaked, your online anonymity gets compromised. In other words, your attempt to evade Geo-blocking will be revealed if your IP address is leaked, which can bring you under the radar of vigilant authorities.
Security
Make sure that the free VPN you are using has an advanced protocol and that its encryption standard is high. It is essential to protect your data by converting it into codes.
No-Logging Policy
You must be sure about the logging policy of a free VPN before using it. Only choose a VPN that works on volatile memory and is audited for following a no-logging policy. Do not take this tip lightly, as we know how free VPNs earn by selling users’ data and browsing patterns.
Speed
Your chosen VPN should be powerful enough to shield your bandwidth and traffic from throttling entities, including your internet service provider. Otherwise, you may face problems with speed while streaming.
Virus and Malware Protection
Through powerful tunneling and encryption, the VPN you are using must protect you from viruses, malware, and adware attacks.
Along with all these factors, you should also consider how accessible the customer support team of the service provider is and how transparent it is in the documentation of its policies. In addition, it will always be better to go for a service that is compatible with various devices and OS systems. Moreover, choose a service that offers support to multiple devices with a single account.
How to Set Up the Best Free VPN for India
You can easily set up the best free VPN for India. However, we recommend trying out the free trial and money-back guarantee of ExpressVPN. Nevertheless, here is your step-by-step guide on how to use the best free VPN for India.
- First, choose the best free VPN in India. Be extremely careful that you don’t fall prey to services that steal and leak your data and log patterns to intruders. Otherwise, the chances of cybercrimes and malware or virus attacks will be very high.
- Next, decide on which device you are going to use for the best free VPN in India. You will need to download and install the application according to your device’s OS.
- Once you have downloaded and installed the best free VPN India, you will need to subscribe to it. If you choose ExpressVPN as the best free VPN India, you will have to choose one of its plans before you start with the 30-day trial.
- Now, you need to log into the best VPN for India free account and connect to its server. Here, you will have to be careful about the server you choose. If you are connected to ExpressVPN, the best VPN for India free, the Smart Location feature will help you pick the best free India VPN server based on speed, location, etc.
- Finally, visit the site you want to stream or log into the OTT platform you want to use. That’s it!
If the free VPN India server is not up and running already, you can consult the customer support team for help. The support team will guide you in case you need to change the free VPN India server, clear cookies, or take any other steps.
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FAQs
Here are some questions frequently asked by VPN users. Let’s address them and find suitable answers.
Why Do You Need a VPN in India?
You need a VPN in India because of the stringent censorship policies in India. The Indian government has banned many sites in India. Also, to make things worse, issues like internet shutdowns have become quite frequent these days.
Further, leading streaming sites like Hulu, Sling, etc., being USA-bound, do not work in India. In addition, platforms like Netflix allow only country-specific content libraries. You need a VPN so that you can evade these problems caused by Geo-blocking. To put it simply, if you use a VPN in India, you will get access to many sites that do not work in India.
But how feasible is using a VPN, considering India has implemented a new VPN law in 2023? The Indian government has directed VPN services to track and store users’ data for at least five years. Many VPNs are stopping their services in India because of this reason. However, even in this stringent scenario, ExpressVPN, the best free VPN for India, can help.
ExpressVPN now does not have physical servers in the country, but they provide Indian IP addresses through virtual servers. Moreover, thanks to its TrustedServer technology, its entire server network runs on volatile memory. So, it will never track, store or leak your data.
Are VPNs legal in India?
Yes, VPN is legal in India, but all the service providers now need to track and store users’ data. Further, using a VPN does not allow you to commit otherwise criminal offenses like circulating child porn, downloading content with copyright, fraudulent activities, etc. These actions will have legal consequences even if you use a VPN.
A VPN service enhances your online experience and safety, and no service provider wants it to be used for the wrong purpose. If you want to optimize your streaming experience in India, you must choose a VPN like ExpressVPN. It has a sound server base covering more than 94 countries, a kill switch, and a DNS leak protection mechanism. Further, its obfuscation technology ensures additional protection for your traffic.
Are Free VPNs safe?
No, free VPNs are not safe. First of all, you need to be alert when you hear the term “free VPN.” A free VPN does not have a transparent privacy policy. So, it can track, store and sell your online pattern and info at any moment. Further, in the absence of a well-defined privacy policy, it can hardly offer any guarantee for IP and DNS leak protection. Thus the risks of identity disclosure and hacking will always remain. In addition, free VPNs do not have bolstered encryption standards or protocols.
So, instead of using a free VPN, try the free trial offered by ExpressVPN, a service that has become synonymous with reliability, performance, and safety.
Should I Upgrade to a Paid VPN?
Yes, you should upgrade to a paid VPN. Free VPNs have limitations and risks. You can never expect to enjoy the full spectrum of features of a premium VPN in a free VPN. To begin with, a free VPN will not have a sound server network like ExpressVPN or other premium VPNs. Further, it will definitely lack in safety and privacy features and can cause inferior streaming with perils like bandwidth throttling by third parties.
Most importantly, free VPNs are infamous for selling user data. So, to optimize your streaming experience and maintain your online anonymity, you must upgrade to a paid VPN.
Will a Free VPN Work with Netflix and Hotstar?
There are very slim chances of a free VPN working with Netflix and Hotstar. First of all, free VPNs always lag behind when it comes to the server base. So, it is highly possible that the server location you need to get a local IP address and stream Netflix and Hotstar will not be available with the free VPN. To explain further, to watch Hotstar, you will need a VPN that has servers in India. At the same time, to watch Netflix, you will need a VPN that has servers in more than 190 countries covered by Netflix. In addition, since Netflix offers country-specific content libraries, you may need to connect to a server outside your country to access any foreign content library. For example, if you want to access the USA content library of Netflix in India, you will need a VPN with USA servers.
There is more to it. Netflix and Hotstar have advanced detection mechanisms. They read the IP address of the users and approve/reject access based on the user’s geolocation. So, to hide your IP and access these platforms outside the permitted zone, you will need to hide your IP. Masking IP addresses is only possible for a premium VPN with advanced mechanisms like a kill switch, DNS leak protection, etc.
Further, Netflix and Hotstar use their detection mechanisms to identify and block VPN traffic. Only the best VPNs with obfuscation technology can help you avoid this problem.
What is the Best Free VPN for Netflix?
The best free VPN for Netflix is ExpressVPN. It is known for its speed-optimized and consistently performing servers all over the world. Because of its wide network of servers, it will give you access to the Netflix libraries of various countries, bypassing Geo-blocking and censorship problems. Further, ExpressVPN will never allow your IP to get leaked with a Network Lock kill switch and DNS leak protection.
In addition, ExpressVPN comes with an obfuscation technology, essential to avoid VPN blocking by Netflix. Thanks to this technology, Netflix fails to differentiate the traffic coming through VPN from the usual traffic. So, you will be able to stream Netflix even in the most restricted conditions.
What is the Best Free VPN for China?
The best free VPN for China is ExpressVPN. It is the most sought-after service, considering it has all the features to combat China’s strict VPN laws and internet censorship. First of all, with a sound server base across the globe, ExpressVPN will allow you to access many sites blocked in China. Further, it will safeguard your IP address and not let the same get leaked. Thus, it will maintain your online anonymity and not be under the radar of prying or vigilant eyes.
In addition, ExpressVPN‘s AES-256-bit encryption standard eliminates the chances of data theft. Moreover, it works under the most restrictive conditions, and thanks to its TrustedServer technology, it works online on volatile memory. So, without tracking or logging user data, the question of revealing users’ data does not arise.
To put it simply, even in the presence of VPN blocking and internet censorship in China, ExpressVPN can function well.
Conclusion
Using free VPNs is dangerous and can fail to secure and protect your online browsing. Some free VPNs might even keep your information on the log and sell your data to third parties. In addition, most Free VPNs often don’t have servers in India so you will not be able to use them to unblock Indian sites.
Our team has tested several free VPNs and has shortlisted the 5 best free VPN for India and are:
- ExpressVPN - Best All Round
- Atlas VPN
- ProtonVPN
- TunnelBear
- Hotspot Shield
The best free VPN for India has its limitations, therefore, we recommend using ExpressVPN as the best for India. ExpressVPN offers a wide range of high-speed servers that can help keep your connection secure and private. ExpressVPN is not free, however, you can try it for 30 days and if you are not satisfied with the service, you can get a full money-back guarantee.
