Well, before you get your hopes too high based on the title of this page, let’s get one thing straight first: using a free VPN for Netflix is always tricky. Just like all other main media streaming platforms like Hulu, Netflix is waging a war on users who try to access its geo-blocked TV shows and movies. And, they have a good reason to do so since there are different exclusivities regarding copyrights in different parts of the world.
Netflix takes this war seriously and works hard on being able to detect all users who use a VPN service to unblock geo-restricted shows.
Netflix takes this war seriously and works hard on being able to detect all users who use a VPN service to unblock geo-restricted shows. Therefore, even a lot of paid VPN services fail to provide access after some time as their IP addresses and servers may get blocked. So, it’s not really an exact science, so to speak.
There are four crucial traits a good free VPN for Netflix should have so that you can enjoy watching geo-restricted videos:
- Ability to unblock Netflix without detection
- Good speed for streaming HD videos
- No connection drops
- Good privacy features
A lot of VPN services can usually only offer two or three of these and, therefore, fail to be of use in this field. So, what are the chances for you to be able to use a free VPN for Netflix and enjoy it, too? Well, pretty slim, to be frank. But, we are not saying it’s impossible, either.
As a matter of fact, our top 4 free VPNs ranking below is definitely worth a look because once you find a service that can unblock this media streamer, it’s mostly up to speed whether you can enjoy watching streaming HD shows. And, as you may already know, VPN connection speeds are quite inconsistent most of the time; so, you may as well get lucky.
Even if we report awful and useless speeds for a certain provider sometimes, it doesn’t mean you can’t have better results or even watch HD videos despite our experiences. A lot depends on, for example, your physical location and distance from your chosen server as well as the time of day when you connect. So, without further ado, let’s see what we have for you as our top 4 free VPNs for Netflix.
Free VPN for Netflix – the Top 4
We didn’t have an easier task by trying to find working free VPNs for Netflix than in the case of Free VPN for Torrenting. As we have mentioned before, it’s highly unlikely that you will find a completely free service to bypass the most-feared detection and that you won’t end up with the annoying streaming error message. That said, you can still find services that are sort of free; well, more like freemium since you can use a premium VPN for free for a certain limited period of time.
So, please find our top 4 (sort of) free VPNs for Netflix below:
#1 Goose VPN
This VPN landed at the top because it offers the longest, a 30-day, free trial, which works, too. Actually, all the paid packages come with such a free trial. With Goose VPN, you may enjoy streaming your favorite TV shows or films from Netflix US, Germany, and the Netherlands. This relatively young VPN service is based in the Netherlands and has a network of 100+ server locations worldwide, which is not too big but can still be fine for your needs.
We have found that Goose VPN connection speeds may vary from just about okay to relatively good. The great news is that with such speeds you can use this free VPN for Netflix. However, keep in mind that this can change any time. Another relief, though, is that this service has quite a good live chat support, which comes in handy when you need help with accessing geo-blocked libraries due to encountering technical issues.
Of course, you have to enter your payment details after you choose one package out of the three to get the 30-day free trial. If you go for it, remember to cancel your subscription not to end up with a charged credit card.
#2 NordVPN
One of our overall favorite VPNs, NordVPN, doesn’t really promote its free trial version on its official site. Yet, if you “ask nicely,” the amazing live chat support will provide you with a link to download the 3-day free trial client. All you need to do is enter your e-mail address and click the Get Free Trial button; no credit card required, no questions asked.
NordVPN is one of the best privacy and unblocking tools, though, not the fastest one on the market for sure. Still, you will have good speeds to enjoy any of the Netflix regions supported by this service, including US, CA, NL, and JP. If you like what you get during your 3-day free trial, you can still choose a plan and make use of the no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t want to go on with a paid plan for some reason.
Read our full NordVPN Review
#3 CyberGhost
Once and for all, CyberGhost no longer promotes a free version on any platforms as of last December (2017) as was confirmed by their live chat support. Yet, it comes up as one of the first options in free VPN rankings and lists. With that said, we can confirm that CyberGhost does offer a 7-day unlimited free trial; that’s why it ended up in this free VPN ranking.
This provider is based in Romania and has strong security and privacy features. It’s one of the rare VPN services that can still bypass Netflix and with its good overall connection speeds, you can surely use it for streaming your desired geo-blocked TV shows and movies. Fortunately, you can use the 7-day free trial version with all its features, including unblocking this major media streamer.
Read our full CyberGhost Review
#4 SaferVPN
Last but not least, SaferVPN landed 4th on our free VPN for Netflix rank list with its surprisingly great overall speeds and a 24-hour free trial. You can simply click the Start Free button in the top right corner of the official website and download your app after leaving your e-mail address.
SaferVPN is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, which may not be the best choice for privacy as the country is way too friendly with the global Five Eyes surveillance team. However, in theory, your privacy should be just as safe as with other no logs claimers.
This VPN service offers 700+ server locations, which is quite a good coverage, but still not even close to the leaders of the VPN market with their thousands of servers worldwide. You can probably bypass the Netflix detection for the US and the NL servers, but you could be blocked when trying the UK or CA servers. Unfortunately, there isn’t one VPN provider that could guarantee continuous and permanent access to this media streaming service.
Read our full SaferVPN Review
Free VPNs that can’t be used with Netflix
There are a number of VPNs that come up in search results and are mentioned or ranked on review sites as possible options. However, our research shows that most of these are based on out of date information. It can be quite annoying and misleading to base your choice on false data. This is why we decided to include on this page some of the most frequently ranked and supposedly free VPNs for Netflix that are either not free or simply don’t work with this media center.
TunnelBear VPN
This is one of the most favored free VPNs out there; well, not by us for sure. People just seem to love its “cute” bear theme and easy-to-use interface. However, TunnelBear cannot be used for streaming Netflix. All its servers, including the US, CA, UK, and NL servers have been blocked. But even if TunnelBear could bypass Netflix, how long would it take you to drain the ridiculous monthly 500MB data cap for your free account? This alone could exclude this VPN as a potentially useful candidate from rankings, but it doesn’t even matter because it fails to unblock this streaming service anyway.
Read our full TunnelBear Review
Hotspot Shield VPN
This VPN seems to get on and off the list of VPNs that actually work with Netflix. Right now, it seems that Hotspot Shield VPN may work with the US servers as they managed to circumvent the hated detection. However, you need to have a Premium account to be able to connect to a dedicated server. This doesn’t read “free” in our book. To be frank, it seems that many reviews consider these options just because they have a free version but fail to check if they can be used with Netflix at all.
Read our full Hotspot Shield VPN Review
Keenow
This is yet another paid VPN that appears on rank lists like its free version is good for anything. Let’s see a summary of what you get for your “Lite” (free) plan:
- daily 512MB data cap
- no Netflix unblocking
- no VPN access
- no privacy protection
- no security protection
Sounds like a plan, right? A useful one for that matter. So, please tell us how you could use this free VPN for Netflix and stay anonymous at the same time.
Read our full Keenow review
Windscribe VPN
Somehow Windscribe VPN may also appear in rankings as a free VPN option for Netflix even though it provides no access to its dedicated Windflix server for the free version and, most likely, it has never had. While this is a relatively good free VPN, it’s off the table if your main goal is to watch geo-blocked shows and, if possible, for free.
Read our full Windscribe VPN Review
ProtonVPN
Another new player in the big game that has a good free version with great security and privacy features, good speeds and location coverage; however, the free VPN app doesn’t unblock Netflix. The dedicated US servers are only available for the Plus Plan subscribers. So, once again, not a free VPN for Netflix for sure.
Read our full ProtonVPN Review
Alternative VPNs for Netflix
We are really sorry but, as you can see, even the best free VPNs have their limitations when it comes to specific uses like unblocking streaming services. We tried hard but couldn’t find any truly free VPN for Netflix; one, which we could recommend with certainty. This is a grey area anyway since even paid VPN services get blocked more and more often.
There is no permanent solution; however, you can always vote for a decent top-notch paid VPN that is determined to find new ways to bypass the Netflix detection even if its servers get blocked. Some simply give up and stop supporting the unblocking of this main media center.
We have found that NordVPN, ExpressVPN, PrivateVPN, VyprVPN, Strong VPN, and Surfshark VPN are still good choices and work with Netflix. If you live abroad, are a traveler, or simply want to watch geo-restricted shows real bad, we suggest that you visit our Best VPN for Netflix page for more information.