Best free VPNs for torrenting in 2023

Torrenting is a popular way of sharing files that involves downloading and uploading files using P2P (Peer-to-peer) technology. Unfortunately, when you torrent, your IP address is exposed to others on the network, leaving you vulnerable to numerous security and privacy risks.

Thankfully, you can utilize a VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to improve your anonymity while torrenting. And although you can utilize a completely free VPN for torrenting, they come with limitations, such as slow connection speeds and data caps. Therefore, a paid VPN with a free trial is the best option.

That’s why we decided to test some of the best VPN providers offering a free trial and create a list of the best five free VPNs for torrenting you can rely on!

5 Best free VPNs for torrenting

1. NordVPN – the best overall VPN for torrenting with a free trial
2. Surfshark – free trial torrenting VPN with impressive speeds
3. Atlas VPN – excellent freemium VPN for torrenting
4. ExpressVPN – secure P2P VPN with a lengthy money-back guarantee
5. CyberGhost – user-friendly torrenting VPN with a 24-hour free trial

Comparison of the best free VPNs for torrenting

Best free torrenting VPNs overview

The best free VPNs for torrenting must support P2P connections, grant incredible speeds, and ensure top-notch security. To make things easier, we’ve chosen the best five free VPNs you can safely torrent with.

1. NordVPN – best free P2P VPN

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NordVPN is overall the best free VPN for torrenting for many reasons. It is P2P-friendly, has robust security features, and has impressive download and upload speeds. You can enjoy its benefits using the 7-day free trial on the Google Play store and the 30-day money-back warranty.

Specialized servers: NordVPN has over 5500 servers in 60 countries. You can choose from various countries and enjoy excellent connection quality on the specialty P2P servers.

Security: It comes with a no-logs policy that PwC audited multiple times (most recently in 2023). More so, it provides a kill switch feature for preventing IP address leaks, while the split tunneling feature enables you to optimize your connection on a per-app basis.

Speed: NordVPN uses the in-house NordLynx protocol that ensures lightning-fast speeds for torrenting. During our tests, it showcased unrivaled download speeds. It also comes with a SOCKS5 proxy as an additionally security measure for your torrenting client.

NordVPN subscription plans start at $3.29/month once you’ve utilized the free trial options. Remember to snag the free trial first and take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee before committing.

2. Surfshark – free torrent VPN with impressive speeds

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Surfsharks is one of the best free P2P VPN trial providers. It offers superb download and upload rates, top-notch security, and works with numerous torrenting clients like uTorrent, BitTorrent, and qBittorrent. You can snag the week-long free trial on your preferred mobile app store or use the 30-day money-back warranty instead.

Specialized servers: Surfshark has a wide server range of over 3200 P2P-friendly servers in 100 countries. As a result, you’ll have no trouble finding optimal connection spots for torrenting.

Security: As security is one of its top priorities, it utilizes AES-256-GCM and Chacha20, and Poly1305 encryption features. Moreover, Surfshark uses RAM-only servers that don’t store information long-term and DNS leak protection to prevent data from slipping through while the VPN is enabled. Lastly, its kill switch immediately disconnects your device from the internet in case of a disruption.

Speed: Surfshark utilizes the cutting-edge WireGuard protocol that ensures impressive torrenting rates. However, you have other options to tinker with, such as OpenVPN and IKEv2.

You can get the premium Surfshark VPN package for $2.30/month, but we recommend starting with the 7-day free trial on your preferred mobile app store. If its services don’t fulfill your expectations, you can request a refund due to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

3. Atlas VPN – entirely free VPN with P2P-friendly servers

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If you are searching for an entirely free VPN for torrenting, Atlas VPN might be the right choice. It has P2P-friendly servers, reliable performance, and market-standard security features. But keep in mind that the free plan also imposes a 5 GB/month data cap.

Specialized servers: Atlas VPN has over 1000 servers in 42 countries. The fleet includes specialized options for streaming and enhanced anonymity.

Security: This free VPN for torrent employs the AES-256 encryption and the ChaCha20 cipher together with the Poly1305 authenticator. Therefore, it is one of the most secure budget-friendly options for torrenting. Additionally, it offers a malware blocker, a data breach checker, and a kill switch that further improves your safety while torrenting.

Speed: Atlas VPN comes with the WireGuard protocol, ensuring you enjoy fantastic upload and download speeds.

You can enjoy a free torrent experience, but if you want better features, you can purchase one of its plans that starts at $1.82/month. If it doesn’t work for you, you can get a refund thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

4. ExpressVPN – feature-rich free torrent VPN

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ExpressVPN is an incredible free P2P VPN with specialized servers, robust security features, and impressive device compatibility. You’ll have no trouble using the VPN service with clients like uTorrent, BitTorrent, and Vuze. And although it lacks a conventional free trial, the 30-day money-back guarantee option is just as good.

Specialized servers: ExpressVPN has a vast network of servers. More precisely, it has more than 3000 servers in 91 countries, meaning you can enjoy a top-quality torrenting experience from almost anywhere.

Security: This VPN provider uses standard AES-256 encryption to protect your data. It also comes with ChaCha20 encryption, a kill switch feature, and IP and DNS leak protection, ensuring an additional layer of protection. Lastly, it offers Threat Manager that can detect malware activity and trackers.

Speed: ExpressVPN has some mind-blowing speeds with the proprietary Lightway protocol.

ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPN providers, starting at $8.32/month. However, you can enjoy its free trial and request a refund thanks to the 30-day money-back guarantee it offers.

5. CyberGhost – free VPN for torrenting with the longest free trial

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CyberGhost is a well-balanced free torrent VPN. It offers robust security features, a staggering server selection, and works well with countless clients like uTorrent. Free trial offers vary depending on your preferred OS and range from 24 hours to 7 days of risk-free testing. On the other hand, the 45-day money-back insurance is available to everyone.

Specialized servers: CyberGhost provides a massive server fleet with over 9299 servers in 91+ countries. Unsurprisingly, the vast network is segmented into various categories so users can easily pick the most suitable server for their needs.

Security: This VPN utilizes AES-256 encryption that offers superb data security. More so, it employs IP and DNS leak protection, a kill switch, and an ad-blocker that provides an uninterrupted and safe torrenting experience. Additionally, CyberGhost hails from privacy-respecting Romania and boasts an independently-audited no-logs policy, guaranteeing confidentiality.

Speed: When it comes to speed, CyberGhost uses the WireGuard protocol to provide adequate speeds while torrenting or browsing the web.

You can try CyberGhost for $2.03/month and ask for a refund if it doesn’t fulfill your needs. You can also try it for free due to its free trial and lengthy 45-day money-back guarantee.

Our methodology for picking the best free torrenting VPNs

Here’s an overview of the features we deemed critical when picking the best free VPNs for torrenting.

• Available for free. All the VPNs mentioned here are available for free in some capacity, be it free trials, free versions, or money-back guarantees. Just keep in mind that the best option for care-free torrenting is a premium VPN subscription.
• Torrent-friendly. We thoroughly tested each VPN on our list to ensure it consistently delivers good results while delivering files via P2P.
• Security. All VPNs on our list take care of your security and protect your data by employing robust security features, such as 256-bit AES encryption, RAM-only servers, and frequently-audited no-logs policies.
• Speeds. We selected only those VPNs with the best connection speeds, ensuring you get the best download speeds while torrenting. Each free VPN for torrenting utilizes fast tunneling protocols and other methods of enhancing connectivity.
• Data cap. Because free VPN providers often have limitations like data caps, we ensured to offer VPNs with little to no data caps for an uninterrupted torrenting experience.
• Servers. Free VPNs are often limited in the number of servers, but we’ve chosen only those with more server locations to help you mitigate the overcrowded servers issue and get the best speeds while torrenting.

Why use a free torrenting VPN?

If you torrent without a VPN, your IP address is visible to others, which increases the risk of potential security threats, such as data leaks.

While using an entirely free VPN for torrenting is not the best idea as it lacks security and speed, you can go for a paid VPN with free trials or a freemium VPN. More precisely, you will be able to hide your IP address and encrypt your data, making it difficult for malicious threats to affect your torrenting experience.

Moreover, ISPs may throttle your downloading and uploading speeds, but the free trial VPN you choose will help you bypass this obstacle and provide faster download and upload rates to improve your experience.

In addition, some countries, like Russia, shut down torrenting sites. Therefore, by using a VPN, you can avoid these geo-restrictions and change your location to a country where you can freely torrent, such as Spain. However, you shouldn’t misuse torrenting even in the countries where it is permitted, as you can face legal action from copyright holders.

How to use a free VPN for torrenting?

Using a free torrenting VPN is much easier than it may sound. If you want to learn how to use the best free VPN for torrenting, have a look at our straightforward guide!

1. Find a reliable VPN that offers a free trial. Our top choice is NordVPN
2. Download it on the device you’ll use for torrenting
3. Follow the installation instructions and click ‘Finish.’
4. Open the NordVPN app, and choose a specialized P2P server.
5. Enjoy secure and unrestricted torrenting anywhere!

Try NordVPN for free

Is a free VPN for torrenting a good option?

Using a free VPN for torrenting comes with a few potential risks.

For starters, some free VPNs can sell your data to third parties to make money, as you are not paying for the service, and they need to ensure money flow. Additionally, some free VPNs can be malware in disguise, infecting your device with malicious software and making it vulnerable to cyberattacks. Also, free VPNs usually have outdated software and tunneling protocols, which decreases performance effectiveness.

Therefore, using a paid VPN with a free trial and a lengthy money-back warranty is best. We recommend starting with NordVPN. And consider purchasing a premium plan if you’re satisfied with the results.

Which free VPNs you should not use for torrenting

Choosing a free VPN can be dangerous as it may leave your device vulnerable to various security threats. To help you avoid this, we’ve created a list of free VPN options you should avoid.

• Betternet VPN – this VPN provider doesn’t protect your privacy. More precisely, it logs personal data like billing details, account information, identity, usage information, and device data. Additionally, they gather the location of their users, and there are a lot of negative comments about this VPN provider.
• Hola VPN – users of this VPN claimed that the VPN used their devices as a botnet and that they weren’t aware of that. This can lead to DDoS attacks and other cyberattacks that can put your data at risk. As a result, Hola VPN has a bad reputation.
• Thunder VPN – this is an Android VPN service that gathers significant information from its users like their OS version, internet service provider, app version, language, and device model. More so, it records the amount of data you transfer daily and collects connection timestamps.

Final thoughts

Using a VPN for torrenting is essential for your online security and privacy. It will help you avoid restrictions while keeping your IP address hidden. Free VPNs are often your first choice, but they usually come with limitations, slower speeds, and a lack of security features.

Therefore, we recommend using a paid VPN with a free trial. Our top pick is NordVPN, as it comes with specialized P2P servers, fantastic download speeds, an audited no-logs policy, and other robust features. Due to this, you will enjoy a fantastic torrenting experience with top-notch protection.

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