But just in case you’re not, here’s a brief overview of what a VPN can and can’t do.
Many people just want a VPN for unblocking streaming services, but the most important thing to know is that, first, you need to subscribe to the streaming service you want to unblock and, second, free VPN services generally don’t unblock them. That means you’ll almost certainly need to pay for a VPN subscription in addition to what you pay for the streaming service itself.
Also know that there are no guarantees that a given VPN will unblock a certain streaming service on a particular day. Some are better than others, and have a variety of different servers you can try if one doesn’t work.
VPNs aren’t just for unblocking entertainment of course. They also give you access to services and websites that your university or college might have blocked. However, you’ll want to test out if VPN can unblock whatever you need to use without committing to a long subscription. Although most services don’t offer free trials, they do offer money-back guarantees – usually for up to 30 days.
It isn’t always easy to get your money back, though, so we’d advise paying for a single month rather than one or two years.
There are some great free VPN services which might well do what you want, and we’ve included those below so be sure to try them out first before you pay for a VPN. We know you want to save money wherever you can, and that’s a real possibility here. It just depends upon what you need a VPN to do.
If it isn’t unblocking, you might just want the extra privacy that comes from using a VPN, as all your data is encrypted. This is also handy if you’re connecting to open Wi-Fi on your campus (or anywhere, really) as it adds a useful layer of protection.
What a VPN won’t do is to protect your devices and data from viruses and other malware: you should run antivirus software in addition to a VPN.
Neither will a VPN stop you from handing over your login details in phishing scams: dodgy links in emails or messages that take you to a website that looks genuine but is actually fake. Good antivirus software can help here, warning you when you click on those links.
It’s also an excellent idea to choose and use a password manager so that you have different passwords for all your accounts. Using the same one for everything might be convenient but is a bad idea if you care about security.
Generous free plan Unblocks streaming services
10GB per month limit for free customers
Those servers also unblock some streaming services, but they’ll only do that if you sign up using the link here.
Privado is registered in Switzerland – great for privacy – and operates a zero-logs policy. You’ll have to take its word for that, as there’s no independent audit to back it up.
The only other limit, aside from choice of servers, is that you’re allowed 10GB of data per month. That’s generous, but it means that you may reach a point where you run out before the month is out, meaning no protection until the allowance renews.
If you’re just browsing the web, rather than streaming Netflix, 10GB should be plenty, making Privado a brilliant choice for a lot of students.
No data limit, even for free customers No adverts
"Medium speeds" Free plan doesn't unblock streaming services
There are limits to Proton’s generosity though. Non-paying customers don’t enjoy the full speeds that paying ones do, and can choose between just three servers: Japan, Netherlands and the US. Perhaps the biggest limitation – though not for everyone – is that the free servers don’t support video streaming or downloading files using P2P (i.e BitTorrent files).
So long as you want a VPN for privacy and an extra layer of security, ProtonVPN is ideal for students wanting to avoid paying for a service.
Free and affordable plans available Unlimited devices on Premium plan
10GB data limit for free customers Based in the USA
If you do use it for free, you’ll get 10GB of data to use per month – just like Privado – but you can’t use any more than 2GB of that on any given day.
There are three servers to choose between (750 for paying customers), but even trying the two US-based servers we couldn’t unblock Netflix. When we queried Atlas about this, we were told that subscribers to its Premium tier have a better success rate.
The fact that Atlas VPN makes its Fire TV Stick and Android TV apps available only to Premium subscribers is another hint that the free version isn’t designed for streaming.
The good news is that speeds even on the free tier were quite respectable – 70Mbps – and in our tests we found Atlas VPN did its job well, keeping our online activity private.
One slight snag, if this sort of thing would bother you, is that the company is based in the USA which is bad for privacy. Atlas VPN claims that – like most VPNs – it operates a no-logs policy. That means it doesn’t record or store any details about how you use its service, so even if the government or any authorities asked for that data, it wouldn’t exist.
But as with Privado and Surfshark, there’s no proof of this. Some reassurance comes from the fact that Atlas VPN is owned by Nord Security which also owns the well-known NordVPN.
Relatively affordable Unlimited devices
Steep renewal pricing No independent audit of its no-logs policy
There are a few extra features, too, including Multi-Hop servers that route your connection through not one but two servers, and there’s also the relatively new Nexus feature which sort of replaces Multi-Hop and routes the connection through numerous servers in its network to really hide your true location and – in turn – your identify.
Add to this fantastic speeds, easy-to-use apps and good track record for unblocking streaming services and it’s good value, even on a student budget.
Just watch out: the price jumps steeply upon renewal, so if you subscribe for two years, make sure you don’t forget to cancel if you want to avoid paying over the odds.
Finally, although Surfshark’s website claims it has undergone an independent audit, this isn’t what it seems. It was an audit of its Chrome and Firefox extensions which, by the way, is not at all the same thing as its VPN service, and did not check out its server infrastructure and therefore did not verify it operates according to its no-logs policy.
Choice of 10 countries on free plan No speed limits imposed for free users
10GB of data per month Doesn't unblock streaming services
Free users get the same speeds as paying customers, and with support for the latest WireGuard protocol, that’s pretty fast. Plus, there’s no limit on connections either, so you can use a VPN on multiple devices at the same time. Then again, you’ll get through that 10GB quota in no time.
Note that the free tier doesn’t let you access any of the Windflix servers, so you won’t be unblocking different regions of Netflix or any other streaming service.
If you did want to, Windscribe now offers a ‘build your own plan’ option which costs $1 per location. If you only wanted access to one or two countries, that could be tempting. But a couple of dollars or pounds per month is all many VPN services charge for their ‘pro’ or ‘premium’ tiers, giving access to hundreds, if not thousands, of servers around the world.
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
