Best Free VPN Chrome Extension: Three Picks and the Risks
A VPN extension only covers Chrome and can read every page you open, so the maker matters most. Three with published free plans, and what each allows.
Start with Proton VPN. Its free plan has no data limit and no ads, the extension works without any other software, and the company says outside auditors have verified that it keeps no logs. Pick Windscribe if you want to choose where you connect, and TunnelBear if you only need a VPN now and then.
We read each extension’s listing on the Chrome Web Store, then the maker’s own website and privacy policy. We did not measure speeds, so none are quoted here.
Free VPN extensions compared
| Extension | Maker | Free allowance | Locations on the free plan | What the maker says it keeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | Proton AG, Switzerland | No data limit, one connection at a time, medium speed | Servers in 10 countries, chosen for you | No logs of your activity or your sessions |
| Windscribe | Windscribe Limited, Canada | 2GB a month, or 10GB with a confirmed email address | 10 countries, your choice | Data used in the last 30 days and the time you were last active |
| TunnelBear | TunnelBear, LLC | 2GB a month | Chosen for you. Picking a country is a paid feature | Data used this month. Not your IP address or DNS queries |
All three need an account. Windscribe’s can be a username and password with no email address, at the lower allowance.
What a VPN extension covers
An extension works inside Chrome and nowhere else. Proton says its extension protects only the traffic inside your browser. Windscribe describes its own as a lightweight browser proxy, and TunnelBear says its extension encrypts only your browser data. Your email program, your games, Windows updates and any other browser carry on as before. To cover the whole computer you need the maker’s desktop app, and all three makers have one.
On public Wi-Fi, most of the protection is already there. The US Federal Trade Commission’s consumer advice says that because most websites now encrypt the connection, using a public network is usually safe, and that a lock symbol or https in the address bar is how you tell. What a VPN adds is narrower. The people running the network can no longer see which sites you visit, and the sites see the VPN server’s address in place of yours.
It does not make you anonymous. Proton’s own account of what a VPN can and cannot do says full anonymity is technically impossible, because the provider always knows your real IP address. You are moving your trust from the network you are sitting on to the company that made the extension.
The risk with free VPN extensions
To do its job, a VPN extension takes over Chrome’s proxy settings. Chrome’s developer documentation gives the warning that goes with that permission: “Read and change all your data on all websites”. Whoever publishes the extension is in a position to see what you do in the browser.
Some have used that position. In 2025 the security firm Koi reported that FreeVPN.One, a VPN extension with more than 100,000 users, was taking a screenshot of each page its users opened and sending it to a server. Later that year Koi reported that Urban VPN Proxy, with over six million users, was collecting the conversations its users had with AI chatbots. Koi noted that both carried Google’s Featured badge.
That badge deserves a word. Chrome Web Store Help says it goes to extensions that follow Google’s technical best practices and meet a high standard of design, after a review by the store’s team. It tells you the extension was built with care when it was reviewed. It cannot tell you what a later update will do, and in the FreeVPN.One case Koi traced the screenshots to updates.
Names are no guide either. Search the store for Hola or Urban VPN and several separate extensions come back carrying the name. The ZenMate listing this article used to recommend no longer opens, yet a search for ZenMate returns an extension called Zenmate Gratis VPN Chrome, from a developer who gives only a Gmail address. Nothing on that listing connects it to the original company.
Proton VPN: no data limit
Proton VPN comes from Proton AG, the Swiss company behind Proton Mail. Its pricing page describes the free plan as one device at a time, medium speed and servers in 10 countries, selected at random. There is no data limit and there are no ads. The catch is the selecting: on the free plan you connect where Proton puts you.
The extension needs a free Proton account and nothing else. Proton’s help page says it works without the desktop app, and that each browser you use it in counts as a connection, which on the free plan means one browser at a time. Chrome keeps extensions out of Incognito windows unless you allow them, so switch that on in the extension’s details if you browse that way.
On logging, Proton’s privacy policy says it does not log your traffic or the content of what you send, and keeps no session data, on the free plan as on the paid ones. The company says the security firm Securitum has verified this. The same policy reserves the right to slow down free users whose consumption is excessive.
Windscribe: you choose the country
Windscribe Limited is based in Ontario, Canada. Its free plan is measured in data: 2GB a month if you sign up with only a username and password, and 10GB a month once you confirm an email address. You choose from 10 countries, which are the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and Romania.
Windscribe calls the extension a lightweight browser proxy and recommends its desktop app for a full VPN tunnel. The extension also blocks ads and trackers, and its store listing links to the source code.
The privacy policy is short and specific. Windscribe keeps the total amount of data you transferred in a 30-day period and the time you were last active, which it uses to enforce the free allowance. It says it stores no history of your sessions, your IP address or the sites you visit.
TunnelBear: simple, with a 2GB cap
TunnelBear gives free accounts 2GB a month, and its own pricing page describes the free plan as being for testing and limited usage. Late in 2025 the company announced that choosing a country would become a paid feature, and the pricing page now lists country selection under the paid plan only.
TunnelBear says its extension encrypts only your web browser data. Its privacy policy lists what it does not collect, including your IP address when you connect and your DNS queries, and what it does keep, which includes the total data you have used in the current month. The company says it commissions an independent security audit every year and publishes the results.
Others we looked at
- hide.me Proxy: free, with no account and no data cap, through servers in Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. But hide.me’s own page for the extension says it is not a VPN and does not offer encryption, while the store listing mentions strong encryption. Until the two agree, we would not rely on it on public Wi-Fi.
- Hotspot Shield: there is a free Basic plan. The company’s page for it lists the plan as having no ads in one place and says the service is ad supported in another. The store listing says the free version has limited locations, and its privacy section declares that the extension handles location data.
- ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark: their listings all ask for a paid subscription. Surfshark’s offers a seven-day trial.
How to check an extension first
- Start from the maker’s own website and follow its link to the Chrome Web Store. Searching the store by name is how people land on a lookalike.
- On the listing, scroll to Details and read the Developer entry. You want a company name and address that match the maker’s website.
- Read the Privacy section of the listing, then the privacy policy it links to. Look for a plain statement of what is kept.
- When Chrome shows the permissions the extension wants, read them before you agree.
What happened to our old list
- ExpressVPN and NordVPN: paid services, as above. ExpressVPN’s listing now says the extension works without the desktop app, but you still need a subscription.
- ZenMate: its website says it is joining forces with CyberGhost VPN, and its original Chrome listing no longer opens.
- DotVPN: still on the store, from Smart Security Ltd of Hong Kong. Its privacy policy says it stores your IP address for 24 hours after your last connection, and the page carries a 2017 copyright line. We would pass.
- TunnelBear: still here.
Which to pick
- Regular browsing on networks you do not control: Proton VPN.
- You want to choose where you connect, or want ad blocking in the same extension: Windscribe, with a confirmed email address for the 10GB.
- A few sessions a month: TunnelBear.
- More than the browser: skip the extension and install the same maker’s desktop app.
Quick answers
Is a free VPN Chrome extension safe?
Only as safe as the company behind it, because the extension can read what you do in Chrome. Choose a maker that names itself, publishes what it logs and pays for the free plan from its subscribers. Researchers have caught popular free VPN extensions collecting their users’ data.
Is there a free VPN Chrome extension without login?
hide.me Proxy needs no account, but hide.me itself says that extension is a proxy without encryption. Windscribe needs a username and password and no email address. Proton VPN and TunnelBear both need an account.
Which free VPN for Chrome has unlimited data?
Proton VPN. Its pricing page says the free plan has no data limits, with one device at a time and medium speed.
Does a VPN extension protect my whole computer?
No. It covers what happens inside the browser it is installed in. Other programs and other browsers connect as usual.
