Best VPNs with a free trial in 2025

VPNs offer the best prices for 1- and 2-year plans, so users are naturally looking to try their free trials before committing long term. Whether a free trial that’s 3 to 7 days or a trial period that promises your money back in case you cancel the service, they usually give you full access to the VPN’s features.

To help you find reputable and secure options, I combined a list of VPNs with free trials that are reliable and let you test the service without risk. You’ll find out their exact trial lengths and terms explained below.

Types of VPN free trials

VPNs usually come with two types of free trials – actual free trials and money-back guarantees, which are often referred to as “risk-free trials.” Here’s how they differ:

• 30-day risk-free trials – these are usually 30-day periods where you pay for the service but can get your money back before the trial ends. It’s an ideal solution because you get a full month to test everything out.
• Free trials – such trials are usually shorter, ranging from 3 to 7 days. The way it works is that you don’t pay up front, but often have to provide your payment details. If you don’t want to continue using the service, it’s important to remember to cancel the free trial before it ends so you don’t get charged.

Both of these options give you full access to the VPN service of your choice. In fact, some VPNs, including NordVPN, let you leverage the free trial and then the money-back guarantee on top of it. This allows you to test the VPN for an even longer period.

Try NordVPN free for 3 + 30 days

NordVPN comes with a free 3-day trial on Android that you can use on other devices after initial setup. Plus, all of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, letting you test the tool out free for a total of 33 days.

9.7

/10

1

• Exceptional speeds
• Unblocks streaming platforms
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Get NordVPN

Best VPNs with a free trial in October 2025

I researched and tested dozens of VPNs to find out which of them offer a free trial and a money-back guarantee. However, I also evaluated their security features, privacy, performance, and pricing. Here are my hand-picked VPNs:

1. 1. NordVPN – best VPN with a free trial (33 days total) in 2025
2. 2. Surfshark – budget-friendly free trial VPN (37 days total)
3. 3. ExpressVPN – VPN with a free trial that’s user-friendly (37 days total)
4. 4. CyberGhost – secure VPN with free trials based on device (up to 52 days)
5. 5. Trust.Zone VPN – VPN that doesn’t require payment details for trial (13 days)

 

Some of the VPNs on this list require your payment details to start the free trial, so if you decide not to stay with the service, don’t forget to cancel it. Now, let’s review each of these VPN free trials in more detail.

1.NordVPN – best VPN with a free trial (3 + 30 days)

NordVPN

1

9.7

/10

Visit NordVPN

Pros & cons

• Free 3-day trial on Android
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Threat Protection for ad blocking
• Ultra-fast speeds
• Effortlessly bypasses geo-restrictions

 

• Requires payment details

NordVPN is the best VPN with a free trial because it’s secure, offers extremely fast speeds, and complete privacy. With this VPN, you can claim a free 3-day trial on Android and get a 30-day money-back guarantee on top of it.

Once you set up the trial on Android, you can then use NordVPN for free on other devices as well. Please note that providing your payment details is required.

The NordVPN app comes with a kill switch on all of its devices, ensuring your internet connection is cut off if the VPN disconnects. I also performed a DNS leak test, which showed zero leaks, so you don’t have to worry about your IP address being exposed.

Then, I tested the VPN performance, which showed an average speed retention rate of 92%. Safe to say, I experienced no significant lagging.

Plus, this VPN comes with 7,800+ servers in 118 countries, so if performance isn’t ideal, you can switch to another one.

NordVPN is also an excellent streaming VPN, which continuously bypasses geo-restrictions on Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ESPN, and loads of other platforms.

If you decide to continue using the VPN after the free trial, the prices start from $2.91/month. You get to use it on 10 connections simultaneously, so you can share it with friends.

Find out more in our NordVPN review.

2. Surfshark – affordable VPN with a free trial (7 + 30 days)

Surfshark

1

9.6

/10

Visit Surfshark

Pros & cons

• Free 7-day trial
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• CleanWeb for ad and tracker blocking
• Excellent speeds
• Great for torrenting
•  

• Requires payment details

Surfshark is another excellent VPN with a free trial that’s also one of the most budget-friendly and family-oriented services. You can get a free 7-day trial on any device when you insert your payment details and claim a 30-day money-back guarantee on top of it.

Surfshark comes with a kill switch and showed no leaks during my DNS leak tests. You also get the CleanWeb feature, which blocks malicious ads, similarly to NordVPN’s Threat Protection.

As for performance, Surfshark showed excellent results. During my tests, it retained an average of 90% initial connection speeds. When I tried streaming with this VPN, it showed no buffering.

I also found out that Surfshark is a great torrenting VPN. Out of its 3,200+ servers in 100 countries, it has plenty that support P2P, and they didn’t show much difference in terms of download speeds.

After the free trial, you can get Surfshark starting from $1.99/month. It’s available on unlimited devices simultaneously, so it becomes even cheaper if you split the cost with friends.

Learn more in our Surfshark review.

3. ExpressVPN – free trial VPN that’s user-friendly (7 + 30 days)

ExpressVPN

1

9.7

/10

Visit ExpressVPN

Pros & cons

• Free 7-day trial on Android and iOS
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Great performance
• Comes with an ad blocker

• Requires payment details

I found ExpressVPN is a suitable free trial VPN for those who value ease of use. The VPN has a free 7-day trial on Android and iOS devices (payment details required), plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can leverage the free trial on other devices after initial signup.

Like other secure VPNs, this VPN equips its users with a kill switch to ensure no IP address leaks. Plus, in our ExpressVPN review, I found that it comes with DNS leak protection, which my tests confirmed.

While ExpressVPN isn’t as fast as NordVPN or Surfshark, it doesn’t fall far behind. My performance tests showed an average of 88% speed retention rates. It resulted in no visible lags.

ExpressVPN comes with 3,000+ servers in 105 countries. You can use them to bypass geo-restrictions, such as age verification on Sora 2, Discord, Reddit, and other platforms.

I particularly liked how easy to use ExpressVPN is – the apps are intuitive and connecting to a server takes just one click.

Once the free trial ends, you can get it starting from $3.49/month. Depending on the plan, you can get up to 14 simultaneous connections.

4. CyberGhost – free trial VPN for security (7 + 45 days)

CyberGhost VPN

1

9.3

/10

Visit CyberGhost VPN

Pros & cons

• Free 1 to 7-day trial
• 14 to 45-day money-back guarantee
• No payment details required
• Great for streaming

• Trial length depends on the device

CyberGhost VPN is a secure and feature-rich VPN that comes with a generous free trial depending on your device. You can get a 1-day trial on Windows and macOS, a 3-day trial on Android, and a 7-day trial on iOS – no payment details needed.

While the trial terms aren’t as straightforward as with other VPNs, they’re still generous. Plus, the monthly and annual plans come with a 14 or 45-day money-back guarantee, respectively.

CyberGhost is loaded in terms of security features. Aside from the usual kill switch, you also get a content blocker for malicious ads and DNS leak protection. My tests proved no DNS leaks, so your data is secured.

As for speeds, the results during our CyberGhost review didn’t disappoint either. Similar to NordVPN, it showed an average of 92% speed retention rates, making lagging basically invisible during my session.

I also enjoyed that CyberGhost has 11,500+ servers in 100 countries, many of which are specialized servers for streaming, gaming, or torrenting. They help ensure higher speeds during bandwidth-intensive tasks.

CyberGhost prices start from $2.03/month, which is an affordable option. You also get 7 device allowance on one account, letting you share it with family or friends.

5. Trust.Zone VPN – VPN free trial without payment details (3 + 10 days)

Trust.Zone VPN

1

9.0

/10

Visit Trust.Zone VPN

Pros & cons

• Free 3-day/1GB trial
• 10-day money-back guarantee
• No payment details required

• Short money-back guarantee
• 1GB free trial cap

Trust-Zone VPN is a simple and private VPN with a free trial of 3 days. The free trial comes with a 1GB limit that will end the trial once it’s used up, but you also get a 10-day money-back guarantee. So, you can test the service out for a total of 13 days. However, it stands out because it doesn’t require payment details.

The unusual thing about this VPN’s free trial is that only 1,000 users can claim it per month, so you may not always get it. Plus, it gives access to only 1 simultaneous connection instead of 3 that come with the paid plans. It makes it look more like a free plan instead of a free trial of a premium service.

Trust.Zone VPN comes with a kill switch and shows no data leaks based on my tests. However, it doesn’t have advanced features like NordVPN, such as an ad and tracker blocker.

I could bypass basic geo-restrictions with this VPN, including different Netflix libraries or blocked foreign websites.

The premium plans cost from $1.86/month. You can get up to 3 simultaneous connections, letting you connect cheaply on multiple devices.

How I tested and picked these VPNs with a free trial

I spent weeks researching which VPNs offer great free trials and refund policies but are also secure and private. Here are the key criteria I used to evaluate and choose these VPNs:

• Free trial terms (30%). I took into consideration which VPNs offer at least 3-day free trials and 30-day money-back guarantees.
• Security and privacy (25%). When picking these VPNs, I only added services that have no-logging policies. I also performed DNS leak tests to ensure your online activities are always secure. VPNs that showed leaks were automatically disqualified from this list.
• Extra features (20%). To ensure security and privacy are at their peak, I included VPNs with valuable features. This included malicious ad and website blockers, DNS leak protection, RAM-based servers, and more.
• Performance (15%). All of the VPNs I’ve tested went through performance evaluations. I only included the services that retain at least 80% of the original connection speeds.
• Price (10%). Even if VPNs come with a free trial, it’s only worth considering the options that are worth paying for later on. So, I evaluated the price-to-value ratio to ensure each VPN on this list is worth the money.

VPN free trials compared

Each VPN provider offers different free trial terms and lengths. Here are the free trial VPNs compared:

For me, NordVPN offers the best free trial because it has excellent reviews, great streaming and performance capabilities, and exceptional pricing after the trial. However, other VPNs, including Surfshark and ExpressVPN, offer a few days longer trials. So, at the end of the day, it depends on your needs.

VPNs with free trials that I don’t recommend

Some VPNs come with irresistible free trials, but they pose security risks or reputational issues that make it not worth your time. Here are some of the VPN free trials I highly discourage you from and why:

• Betternet – while the free 7-day trial and 45-day money-back guarantee may seem tempting, the CSIRO study found that Betternet injected JavaScript code for tracking and advertising purposes.
• Hotspot Shield – another VPN with a free week-long trial and 45-day money-back guarantee, but I don’t recommend it because it hasn’t undergone security audits. Additionally, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) filed a complaint stating that this VPN’s free version shared data and redirected traffic without disclosure.
• Kaspersky – depending on your device, you can get a free trial of 7 to 14 days. Yet, Kaspersky has ongoing concerns over its ties to the Russian government, showing high security risks.

Final thoughts

Getting a VPN with a free trial is a convenient method to test out the service you like. It helps you save money and find out the VPN’s capabilities without instantly committing to a year or two.

According to my tests, the top VPN with a free trial is NordVPN. It offers a free 3-day trial on Android that you can use on other devices after initial setup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. While it isn’t the longest trial, it offers the best features, exceptional streaming capabilities, and ultra-fast speeds.

However, there are multiple other free trial VPNs that are worth trying as well. For example, Surfshark offers a 7-day trial on any device on top of a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, in the end, it all depends on your needs.