In this day and age where the smartphones & tablet users are higher than desktop users, having a VPN for your Android device could come in really handy.
First of all, you should try and stay away from all the “free” VPN apps that you can find on Google Play store. Most of them will simply not protect you at all and in fact, make you more at risk to have your data stolen or sold to other 3rd parties.
Here is a list of the Top 5 Best VPNs for Android in 2024:
| VPN Service | Features | Score | Official Site |
|---|---|---|---|
Editors Pick  #1 On Our List |
1370+ People Chose NordVPN Today! | 9.8 | |
 #2 On Our List - Excellent VPN |
| 9.4 | |
 #3 On Our List - Very Good VPN |
| 9.0 | |
 #4 On Our List - Good VPN |
| 8.7 | |
 #5 On Our List - Decent VPN |
| 7.6 |
Now here is why you should stay away from Free VPN apps for Android:
There are over 250 VPN apps for Android in the Google Play Store. That sounds good, right? Wrong. Many of these “fake” and free VPN apps can actually sabotage your security and privacy.
In a recent study done by the U.S. and Australian researchers, they found that most of the VPN apps for Android are malicious, they share or sell your data with other 3rd parties to spy on your so-called “secured” connection, they also tracked their users and some of the apps didn’t even work correctly as a VPN should.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a few free VPN apps from highly praised antivirus companies, that are better than the rest of them, but most of these have some sort of paid plans, and so you are still better off just using a professional paid VPN service for your Android device.
Here are a few things to keep in mind about Free VPN apps for Android:
Nothing is really free.
In this day and age, especially on the internet, if something is advertised as “FREE” for you, in almost all cases, you are the product. What do I mean by that? Well, most of the times to get something for “FREE” from the internet, such as an ebook, a service, a product etc, you will have to give something in return, it might be your email address, your phone number, your address, zip code, credit card details (how many times have you seen free trials asking for your credit card details?).
So in regards to free VPN apps for Android, well, what do you give in exchange for the free product? Do you think the owner of a free VPN app will simply pay the bills for the servers and the service from his own pocket making you a service in providing you with a totally free and awesome service? Not the case, I’m afraid. To run a good VPN service you need to spend a lot on infrastructure, servers and qualified tech engineers, so now think about how they get money in order to pay for all of that if the app is free. Simple, with your own data.
The lower the cost of the app, the greater the chance that they have security problems. At best, the owner of the app will make money by trying to implement ads into the VPN app, (ads that are tracking your browsing history, and see what you are searching etc..) so you aren’t really browsing the web “securely & anonymously” like some of these free VPN apps are advertising, since most of these ad networks will create an advertiser profile for you, and store details about what things you search online at what times, etc.
Now at worst, the app developer could simply sell your private information to other 3rd party companies.
So in short: If you see something advertised as “FREE”, especially if it’s a VPN app or some security service, you should see a big RED FLAG and stay away from something like that.
There are cases where free VPN services are using your bandwidth in order to supply and support another customer, for example, a user from Argentina will connect through your phone’s bandwidth, in order to access a service that is blocked in his/her country, but by using your bandwidth and IP he or she can now unlock a certain service or website.
Another big risk of free VPN apps is that you may simply lose all your data to hackers and other agencies if the VPN isn’t encrypted right. A shady or poorly configured service could compromise your whole browsing data, and it could be intercepted or decrypted. For example, hackers could be using your connection in order to do shady activities on the internet and to cover their tracks.
Most of the times these free VPNs don’t have the infrastructure, skills, or enough expertise and people in order to provide you with the most secure and anonymous connection.
So in conclusion, you should stay away from free VPN apps, and at least try to get a free VPN app that comes from a reputable vendor, or one that has an upgrade plan.
Better yet, you should choose a VPN service that is well-known and popular on desktop, that can also work for your Android device.
Now that you understand the risks and dangers of using a free VPN app, we put together a list of reputable VPN services, that you can run on desktop/mac but also on your android phone. These VPN services are high quality and are in this market for many years, with millions of customers and they can offer you a highly secure and anonymous connection.
