The "1-Minute" Review
Verdict
Windscribe offers one of the best free VPNs on the market. And while it might not be the fastest, it offers a slew of useful and customizable features for people who take their privacy seriously.What's good
- Free 10GB plan
- Plenty of features and customization options
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- P2P servers
- Malware and phishing protection
What's bad
- Average performance
- No live chat or direct email support
- Located in Canada (part of the Five Eyes surveillance program)
Who says you need to spend a lot to get a decent VPN service? Besides having a cool name, Windscribe also offers one of the most generous, feature-packed free plans on the market. But is it good enough -- and private enough -- to win out over more established companies?
Pricing
Windscribe offers a very generous free plan which includes 10GB of data. It limits you to only 10 countries and you must provide an email address to set up your account.
If you want unlimited bandwidth and the ability to connect to every country, you can opt-in for a premium plan. There’s no refund policy. But that makes sense considering the free option. That said, their month-to-month plans are expensive. However, their longer plans feature more reasonable costs.
Supported Devices
Windscribe offers official clients for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux. They also offer browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. If you want to protect all the devices connected to your home internet, you can also set up Windscribe on your router.
Ease of Use
Setup is a breeze if you’re using the Windows and Mac clients or browser extensions.
However, if you want to set up your routers, steps are more complicated. Reviewers found the client straightforward and user-friendly. You can easily check server latency and change servers with a couple clicks of your mouse.
Simultaneous Connections
Windscribe doesn’t mess around with limited connections. Even with the free plan, you have unlimited connections.
Included Features
For as simple as Windscribe appears, it offers a lot of features.
Popular ones include:
- Killswitch
- P2P servers
- R.O.B.E.R.T or Remote Omnidirectional Badware Eliminating Robotic Tool) -- blocks malware, phishing, botnets, adware, and trackers
- Double Hop -- connect through two VPN servers
- Time zone spoofing -- change your IP time zone
- Import custom OpenVPN configuration files
- IKEv2, OpenVPN, TCP/UDP, Stealth or WSTunnel VPN protocols
Privacy and Logging
Windscribe is located in Canada, which is part of the Five Eyes online surveillance program.
While not an ideal location for privacy, Windscribe vehemently states that they do not collect any identifying logs. What little information they collect -- such as your username and which VPN you connect to -- are only stored on the VPN server’s RAM. This means the information is cleared once you close your session.
Windscribe also releases a Transparency Report to further prove their stance on privacy and security. It states, “Exactly zero requests were complied with due to lack of relevant data.”
Reviewers also put the client through its paces and found no IP or DNS leaks.
Performance
This is the one area where Windscribe falls short. As a smaller VPN, they only have a few servers across a handful of countries. This was an issue for some reviewers who experienced frequent server outages.
To make matters worse, speeds failed to impress most reviewers as well. Even on the closest servers, VPN performance was average at best. People who want to download or stream should be perfectly fine. However, reviews note the service would not be ideal for competitive gamers.
Customer Support
Windscribe’s beefy support site is the first place you should go to if you run into issues. If you still can’t solve your issue, you can contact support directly via a chatbot. There’s no way to email support directly, though can raise a ticket on their site.
Windscribe doesn’t make any promises for support request time frames. Why? As they state on their site, “As we are a relatively small company, we’re unable to provide support 24/7…”
_
Summary
Windscribe isn’t perfect, but it offers a respectable list of features and an outstanding free tier.
Toms Guide states, “Windscribe doesn’t tick every VPN box, but the service does have a lot of interesting features…”
PC World adds, “Windscribe is a good VPN service... What really sets Windscribe apart, however are the extras…”
What the Critics Are Saying...
- Mike Williams, TechRadarWindscribe has a few issues with speed and support, but mostly it's a great VPN, and a generous free plan makes it easy to try out the service for yourself. Go check it out immediately.
- Stuart Andrews, Tech.CoWindscribe isn’t quite user-friendly enough to be the best choice VPN for complete beginners. All the same it’s very affordable, fully-functional, fast and effective, with a Free version that’s more than good enough to tempt you to pay up for the Premium edition. Windscribe might be a bit of a VPN d...
- K.G. Orphanides, TrustedReviewsIf you’re after a free VPN, Windscribe is well worth adding to your arsenal, and is the best free option now that CyberGhost has withdrawn its free service from new users.
- Stuart Andrews, Expert ReviewsWindscribe is perhaps the best free VPN out there, with a strong set of features, clear privacy policies and respectable performance. It’s not expensive to upgrade to the full, paid-for service either. The design perhaps isn’t as polished as on some big commercial VPNs, but it hits a nice balance be...
- Sven Taylor, Restore PrivacyConsidering everything, particularly the back-to-back speed tests, Windscribe does not earn a recommendation for this review. While it is a is a basic, user-friendly VPN service, there are certainly better options available that will provide you with better speeds and support. The jurisdiction in Ca...
Details
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Canada |
| Pricing/Sign Up | |
| Starting Price (per Month) | $4.08 |
| Plans and Pricing | Visit Site |
| Free Trial | No |
| Money Back Guarantee | 3 Days |
| Payment Options | Credit Cards, PayPal, Bitcoin |
| ID Required | Valid email address |
| Features | |
| Server Locations (# of Countries) | 60 |
| Number of Servers | 300 + |
| Devices Per License | Unlimited |
| Simultaneous Connections | Unlimited |
| Unlimited Bandwidth | Yes |
| Double-Hop / Double VPN | Yes |
| Accesses Netflix | Yes |
| P2P / Torrenting Allowed | Yes |
| Accepts Bitcoin | Yes |
| Non-US Company | Yes |
| Protected | |
| Protocols | IKEv2, OpenVPN |
| Encryption | AES-256, RSA-4096 |
| No Logs / No Tracking | Yes |
| Dedicated IP Available | Yes |
| VPN Over Tor | Yes |
| Wi-Fi Leak Protection | No |
| Private DNS Server | No |
| DNS Leak Protection | Yes |
| IP Leak Protection | Yes |
| WebRTC Leak Protection | Yes |
| IPv6 Leak Protection | Yes |
| Kill Switch | Yes |
| Supported Platforms | |
| Operating Systems | Windows, Mac OSX, iOS, Linux, Android |
| Mobile App | Yes |
| Router | Yes |
| Browser Extension | Yes |
| Customer Support | |
| 24/7 Support | No |
| Live Chat Support | No |
| Telephone Support | No |
| Email Support | Yes |
| More | |
| Additional comments |
Other Names (AKA): Wind Scribe |
| Terms & Conditions | Official Terms & Conditions |
| Suggest a correction |
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Critic Reviews
Has one of the best free VPN plans around
Windscribe has a few issues with speed and support, but mostly it's a great VPN, and a generous free plan makes it easy to try out the service for yourself. Go check it out immediately.
Windscribe has a few issues with speed and support, but mostly it's a great VPN, and a generous free plan makes it easy to try out the service for yourself. Go check it out immediately.
A good, well-priced VPN
Windscribe isn’t quite user-friendly enough to be the best choice VPN for complete beginners. All the same it’s very affordable, fully-functional, fast and effective, with a Free version that’s more than good enough to tempt you to pay up for the Premium edition. Windscribe might be a bit o...More
Windscribe isn’t quite user-friendly enough to be the best choice VPN for complete beginners. All the same it’s very affordable, fully-functional, fast and effective, with a Free version that’s more than good enough to tempt you to pay up for the Premium edition. Windscribe might be a bit of a VPN dark horse, but if you have a little expertise it’s well worth giving it a try.
Has a lot of strong features
If you’re after a free VPN, Windscribe is well worth adding to your arsenal, and is the best free option now that CyberGhost has withdrawn its free service from new users.
If you’re after a free VPN, Windscribe is well worth adding to your arsenal, and is the best free option now that CyberGhost has withdrawn its free service from new users.
A fantastic free VPN - and it gets even better if you pay
Windscribe is perhaps the best free VPN out there, with a strong set of features, clear privacy policies and respectable performance. It’s not expensive to upgrade to the full, paid-for service either. The design perhaps isn’t as polished as on some big commercial VPNs, but it hits a nice bal...More
Windscribe is perhaps the best free VPN out there, with a strong set of features, clear privacy policies and respectable performance. It’s not expensive to upgrade to the full, paid-for service either. The design perhaps isn’t as polished as on some big commercial VPNs, but it hits a nice balance between simplicity and advanced controls, making this a great all-rounder.
Sub-standard speeds, slow support
Considering everything, particularly the back-to-back speed tests, Windscribe does not earn a recommendation for this review. While it is a is a basic, user-friendly VPN service, there are certainly better options available that will provide you with better speeds and support. The jurisdiction in Canada (Five Eyes) is also not ideal.
Considering everything, particularly the back-to-back speed tests, Windscribe does not earn a recommendation for this review. While it is a is a basic, user-friendly VPN service, there are certainly better options available that will provide you with better speeds and support. The jurisdiction in Canada (Five Eyes) is also not ideal.
You will love the speed
Even the free version may suprise you! Windscribe gives us what we do need. Servers are extremely fast. It works great with Netflix. However, torrent and Popcorn time download speed may let you down.
Even the free version may suprise you! Windscribe gives us what we do need. Servers are extremely fast. It works great with Netflix. However, torrent and Popcorn time download speed may let you down.
Easy-to-use yet powerful VPN
Windscribe is a great choice if you’re looking for an easy-to-use yet powerful VPN that offers some strong privacy features. If you sign up to the annual plan it works out at a very reasonable price, and the free option provides you with a generous 10GB of data to test out the service. Performa...More
Windscribe is a great choice if you’re looking for an easy-to-use yet powerful VPN that offers some strong privacy features. If you sign up to the annual plan it works out at a very reasonable price, and the free option provides you with a generous 10GB of data to test out the service. Performance is decent on local connections, with low latency and quick uploads making it very appealing to gamers and torrenters.
One of the top free VPN services
Highlighting the perks of Windscribe, we can count their freemium service, extensive range of server locations, an exclusive extension for browsers and strong OpenVPN encryption protocol. But, not to forget that Windscribe VPN has some drawbacks including lack of dedicated IP address, fewer encr...More
Highlighting the perks of Windscribe, we can count their freemium service, extensive range of server locations, an exclusive extension for browsers and strong OpenVPN encryption protocol. But, not to forget that Windscribe VPN has some drawbacks including lack of dedicated IP address, fewer encryption protocols, and no live customer support system.
Top performance, lots of platforms supported
Windscribe's free tier is our top pick in free VPN services because it offers 10GB of data without any speed restrictions or other drawbacks.
Windscribe's free tier is our top pick in free VPN services because it offers 10GB of data without any speed restrictions or other drawbacks.
Best free VPN
While only servers in 11 countries are accessible with the free version, you are able to use it for P2P file sharing. You can also take advantage of security features like a built-in ad blocker, the same encryption as is available with the premium version, and its zero logging policy. The free ve...More
While only servers in 11 countries are accessible with the free version, you are able to use it for P2P file sharing. You can also take advantage of security features like a built-in ad blocker, the same encryption as is available with the premium version, and its zero logging policy. The free version may not be one of the best VPN services around, but it will certainily get the job done in a pinch.