One of the first steps toward ensuring your data is protected when browsing the internet is by using a good VPN. Now, there’s no shortage of free VPNs on Windows, and you’d be surprised to know ChromeOS also has a comprehensive catalog of free VPNs, all thanks to Android and Chrome extensions. Besides helping you stay anonymous, a VPN allows you to watch geo-restricted content and access restricted websites. If you’re looking to try out some of the free VPNs, this is the only free Chromebook VPN list you will need.
It’s worth noting that since the apps on this list are free to use, they may log your data and not respect your privacy. The only VPN we could vouch for is ProtonVPN, but we cannot guarantee that others follow a no-log policy, even if they claim they do.
1. ProtonVPN – Best Free VPN for Chromebook
ProtonVPN is, hands down, the best VPN service you can use on your Chromebook. One of the best things about ProtonVPN is that although it has some limitations, it doesn’t have a data cap like other VPNs and is completely unlimited and free to use. Besides, it’s open-source and, like other Proton services, promises to never log or sell your data. ProtonVPN can be downloaded as an Android app and will work outside Chrome and in other apps, including the Linux container.
While there are tons of countries (112) and servers (7100) to choose from, one of the limitations that Proton recently introduced in the free version is that you cannot choose between servers as you could before. United States, Japan, and Netherlands were free before but after this limitation rolled out, Proton randomly selects a region and adds a timer before you could click switch server, and it assigns a random server again. All in all, it’s still a great VPN service that you can use on your Chromebook without paying a dime.
Pros Cons Completely free with no data caps Server selection limitations after new update Great speeds for a free VPN Not invincible to VPN blocks Strict no-log policy Excellent user interface Built-in Ad and tracker blocking
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $4.49 per month with the 2-year plan
2. Windscribe
Windscribe is a great free VPN, but has a few extreme limitations. For starters, it has a data cap of 10 GB per month, which is just not enough even if you intend to use it for regular day-to-day usage. However, it’s great for someone who uses a VPN to access geo-blocked information (mostly consisting of text), and we could see this come in handy for students who may need more information for their thesis and watching a couple of videos here and there.
That said, Windscribe has a bunch of free servers like the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, the UK, and Hong Kong. Besides, Windscribe uses IKEv2, WireGiard, WStunnel, and Stealth protocols all available for free to better protect you. With over 70 countries and many servers, Windscribe is a nice free VPN for your Chromebook, but the 10 GB limit is extremely limiting. Windscribe is available as both a Chrome extension and an Android app.
Pros Cons Free for casual usage 10 GB per month limitation Decent speeds Questionable privacy after data breach in 2021 Lots of free servers Excellent user interface IKEv2, WuireGuard, and Stealth protocols
Pricing: Free 10GB / each month, Paid plan starts at $3.25 /month for the 1-year plan
3. TunnelBear – Best Affordable VPN With Free Plan
TunnelBear can be used on ChromeOS using both the Android app and Chrome Extensions. The extension will particularly come in handy on school Chromebooks, since most of them do not come with Google Play Store support. In terms of servers and locations, Tunnelbear lets you access all of them without any premium subscription, while it caps the data to 2 GB per month which is extremely low. On the positive side, TunnerBear is one of the cheapest VPN subscriptions you can purchase at just above $3 a month.
TunnelBear lets you choose between OpenVPN and WireGuard, both pretty great and secure protocols. Besides, while the speeds won’t impress, they’re more than enough for streaming or any general tasks. Moreover, the app comes with features such as VigilantBear which blocks all traffic until the VPN connects again, and SplitBear. Overall, TunnelBear is easily one of the best VPN services you can use on a Chromebook in 2024.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great for casual usage | 2 GB per month limitation |
| Decent speeds | Questionable security |
| Locations are not locked | Login required |
| Handy features in the app | |
| Supports WireGuard and OpenVPN |
Pricing: Free 2 GB/month, Paid plan starts at $3.33 per month with the 1-year plan
4. Browsec VPN – Best VPN With App and Extension
Browsec is yet another free VPN you can use on your Chromebook. Like Hotspot Shield it’s available as both an Android app and a browser extension and works pretty well. We’d recommend using the Android app if you have a capable Chromebook. You could stick to the browser extension if you need it only when browsing.
Browsec is free and gives you three free locations to choose from – the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United States. While it doesn’t support the WireGuard protocol, it does have IKEv2, OpenVPN, and XRay protocols. Besides, you can choose to exclude apps from using the network with ease. Overall, Browsec is a pretty neat VPN app for Chromebooks.
Pros Cons Completely free Logs data Three free servers with no ADs No WireGuard support No login required Slow speeds 7-day free premium trial
Pricing: Free, Paid plan starts at $3.33/month with the 1-year plan
5. Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is available as both an Android app and a browser extension on ChromeOS. The app is pretty neat and connects instantly. The free version of the app, Hotspot Shield Basic, doesn’t allow you to choose other servers but auto-selects US servers, which is a big limitation. Besides, the app is riddled with ads you must watch to connect to a VPN for just 15 minutes. To extend the same, you need to watch more ads.
The browser extension gives you just 250 MB a day, which is extremely limited. Besides the ability to select the protocol, there aren’t any significant features in the app like other free VPNs on this list. However, if you’ve exhausted all your options and need a free VPN for Chromebook that could let you use a VPN for some time, Hotspot Shield is an option.
Pros Cons Free 250 MB limitation on Extension; 15 minutes on the app Wireguard Protocol available Questionable security No login required Riddled with ADs Only US server for free users
Pricing: Free with Ads, Paid plan starts at $12/month with the 1-year plan
6. Tor Browser – Best Free VPN for Browsing
Tor Browser is not exactly a VPN per se, but it mostly does what a VPN is capable of, i.e., unlock geo-blocked stuff on the internet. It is a browser, so the network won’t apply outside the app. However, since most of us use VPNs to access content outside inaccessible in our countries via a browser, it makes sense to use Tor instead of a free VPN that may log your personal data. In fact, Tor does the contrary and reroutes your connection via different nodes so that no one can find out your real identity on the internet.
To use the Onion network, you can install the Tor Browser via Linux or from the Google Play Store. Besides, browsers such as Brave come with Tor built-in and offer other features such as ad blocking. Overall, if you need a VPN service mostly to browse blocked content on your Chromebook, you can use Tor instead.
Pros Cons Completely free Slow browsing speeds as your requests go through multiple servers Open-source and extremely secure The network only applies to the browser Available on almost all platforms
Pricing: Free
Free VPNs for Chromebooks: Our Choice
Choosing a paid VPN subscription could be hard, but it’s easy to choose the best free VPNs because there aren’t many. If you’re looking for a VPN that balances privacy and speeds, we’d recommend sticking to ProtonVPN. Otherwise, Windscribe, TunnelBear, and Browsec are all great free VPNs too. However, if you’re left with no other option, your last option should be Hotspot Shield as it’s arguably the worst free VPN on this list due to its limitations.
Do you know a free VPN service for Chromebooks that deserves to be on this list? Let us know in the comments.
