No one wants to add another service to their already lengthy list of monthly subscriptions.
And it’s tempting to use a free VPN. There are so many available on the web and millions of people use them every day. Your friends have likely even recommended you a free VPN service. You’d be forgiven for thinking they’re a solution to your daily online surfing and streaming requirements.
But why not? What’s a paid VPN offer that a free one doesn’t? Let’s answer this question with a detailed comparison.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Use a VPN?
There are many perks of using a VPN. You can access and stream any content on the web irrespective of geo-restrictions. A VPN will enable you to instantly change your online location and unblock websites that are restricted in specific countries.
Your ISP is also unable to monitor you. If you’re a privacy-conscious individual with is as good a reason as any to use a VPN.
There are also great discounts you can get online shopping by changing your region. Online courses are up to 70% off when they are purchased in some regions.
Why Some VPNs are Free?
Whenever a company gives away its product for free, it is because they make money in other ways.
The most valuable commodity in the world right now is data. Personal information and preferences are more precious than gold for marketers. You don’t have to pay anything to use a free VPN, because it’s automatically monitoring everything you do online.
This data might be sold to third-party marketers who use your browsing pattern to identify which products appeal to you the most and then you start receiving targeted ads. You can protect yourself by using a VPN that will not track everything that you do online without your consent.
Too Many Annoying Ads and Spam
With a paid VPN, you don’t see any ads. You can just turn on the VPN and start browsing without having to sit through an ad from the provider.
VPNs that are free, will interrupt your browsing experience with irrelevant ads. This is how these VPNs make money.
These ads are not screened by the VPN provider, so they might link to malware, porn, and unsecured sites that can compromise your personal data.
You might be saving a few dollars every month, but you’re also putting your device at risk. You are also always seeing ads while browsing the internet.
Why A Free VPN Will Slow Down Your Internet Speed
Using a VPN will affect your internet. It connects to a server from far away and you have to use an encryption protocol. That means your connection will be slower.
However, you will hardly notice it with paid VPNs. They use faster encryption protocols that have little to no impact on your speed. Some paid VPNs automatically scan every global server on their list and connects you to the best server for greater speed.
However, with a VPN, things are quite different. They employ outdated encryption algorithms that decrease your internet connection speed. According to research by Norton, 84 per cent of free VPNs do not encrypt data adequately.
Some free VPNs intentionally limit your speed in order to pressure you into paying for premium features. There’s also the hassle of frequent advertising and pop-ups. Constant interruptions with advertising and throttling will cause you to see that spinning circle of death more frequently while streaming a movie. All of these disruptions slow down your connection speed dramatically.
Is a VPN Secure?
Paid VPNs give you a lot of security with end-to-end encryption. This means that all data transferred or received will be encrypted.
Paid VPN services employ heavy-duty encryption technologies like IKEv2/IPsec or AES-256-GCM. These are cutting-edge security algorithms that encrypt every data packet in a transaction stream in real-time. So, whether you’re on a private or public network, your connection and browsing activities are protected.
However, using free VPNs means saying goodbye to secure surfing. Not only do these VPNs log your browsing data and sell it to third parties, but they also provide incomplete encryption that is frequently an open invitation for hackers. On top of that, you’re exposed to malicious advertisements and pop-ups all the time. Data security is a crucial component of using a VPN
Final Thoughts
There are several disadvantages to using a free VPN. It reduces the quality of your online experience to the point where it is both time-consuming and unpleasant.
There’s also the issue of your data being sold to companies across the world without your permission. Given these concerns, you should never consider using a free VPN.
Most premium VPNs come with a trial period. You easily try out the VPNs for free before committing to pay any subscription fees.
