5 Best Free VPN for Torrenting in 2023

Downloading torrents is a sensitive matter, as it's often related directly to your privacy. That's because your Internet provider knows when you're downloading P2P files, as well as what exactly you download. Since you're looking for a free VPN for torrenting, you're probably aware of the importance of keeping your data private. However, free VPNs might not be the answer.

Free VPNs promise to hide your P2P traffic, without you having to pay anything. Sounds too good to be true, right? Sadly, that's precisely the situation here. Free VPNs are often linked to data leaks, and they aren't safe to use (in general).

That said, we'll offer an alternative. As our guide to the best torrenting VPN services explains, the best options do require you to pay upfront. So, we'll focus on those VPNs in this guide - but we'll highlight the best free VPN trials below. More precisely, we'll highlight a couple of trials of VPNs that are highly optimized for torrenting. So, there won't be any financial risk involved.

So, are you ready to learn more about the best free VPN for torrenting? Want to know how to use a free torrenting VPN? Well, just keep reading!

How to Get a Free VPN Trial for Torrenting

Getting started with a free VPN trial for torrenting is simple. You need to subscribe, download your chosen VPN app, and initialize your VPN session. Do the following:

1. Sign up for a free VPN trial (go for ExpressVPN's 30-day risk-free trial).
2. Download and install the VPN on your computer.
3. Launch the software and log in to your account.
4. Select a server that's optimized for P2P traffic.
5. Once you connect, launch your torrent client and download files. That's it!

Keep in mind that you must keep your torrenting constricted to your VPN session. So, connect to a VPN server first, and only then start torrenting. Once you're done, quit your torrent client and disconnect from your VPN. That's how you'll prevent accidental data leaks.

Best Free VPN for Torrenting

The best free P2P VPN must, naturally, provide servers optimized for torrenting. That's a very important requirement since not all VPNs allow P2P traffic. Then, you'll need fast speeds, strong protocols (OpenVPN and WireGuard), solid encryption (AES-256), as well as native applications for computers. Also, it's crucial to use a VPN with a kill switch, preventing your data from leaking if your VPN tunnel becomes unstable. If you're a more advanced user, you'll also care about split tunneling and port forwarding.

Based on the criteria highlighted above, these are the 5 best free VPN with P2P support:

1. ExpressVPN - Our #1-Rated Free VPN Trial for Torrenting
2. NordVPN - Best Free VPN Trial for P2P Privacy
3. Windscribe - Best Free VPN for Limited Torrenting
4. Hotspot Shield - Best Easy-to-Use Free VPN with P2P
5. Hide.me VPN - Best Free P2P for First-Time Users

1. ExpressVPN - Our #1-Rated Free VPN Trial for Torrenting

Without any doubt, ExpressVPN is the best free P2P VPN available today. That's because it has high-end privacy-protecting technologies, plenty of servers, and supports P2P traffic without any limitations. So, it checks all the right boxes.

We'll also mention that ExpressVPN is incredibly simple to use. It offers apps for any desktop and mobile platform, in addition to a range of other devices. All those apps come with a uniform design, which you can use without any prior technical knowledge.

As soon as you launch any of ExpressVPN's apps, you'll get to connect to its 3,000+ servers in 90+ countries. Unlike most other free torrent VPN services, this one supports P2P traffic on all its servers. You also get unlimited bandwidth, which practically no free P2P VPNs offer.

Then, there's a kill switch, which comes turned on by default. It's called "Network Lock" in this case. So, if your VPN connection drops, your P2P file transfer will stop, without exposing your real IP address to your P2P swarm.

Also, when it comes to speed, ExpressVPN is the fastest VPN as per our tests. No matter if you connect to nearby or remote servers, you can expect minimal throttling and speed loss. Also, that's achievable without any fine-tuning, which is a huge plus.

Lastly, know that ExpressVPN isn't actually a completely free VPN for torrenting. That said, we advise relying on its 30-day money-back policy, which is how you'll get ExpressVPN's free trial. In other words, you'll get to experience the best of what this VPN can offer. And if you change your mind, you'll have your money back.

2. NordVPN - Best Free VPN Trial for P2P Privacy

NordVPN puts an emphasis on privacy and security, which makes it a highly reliable free P2P VPN. We recommend getting its trial if your Internet service provider is known for being against downloading torrents, as NordVPN can keep you close-to-anonymous online.

Like any capable free VPN for torrenting, NordVPN is present on a wide range of devices. We're fond of its easy-to-understand interface, which comes with a modern design. And, of course, you can count on NordVPN to work on my desktop computer.

In terms of its server network, you get 5,000+ servers in around 60 countries. However, not all those servers are equipped for P2P. You'll need to use specialized servers for that, which you'll find plenty of. They're also strategically placed, which means you'll find a nearby server that gives you fast performance.

Finding a nearby server in NordVPN is important, as highly remote servers can be slow at times. Still, NordVPN is light-years ahead of any free VPN for torrenting. You also get unlimited data, as well as the ability to connect from 6 devices at once.

Let's also highlight NordVPN's customer support. Just like ExpressVPN, this VPN also offers 24/7-available support with live chat on offer. There are also countless articles, FAQs, and a handy knowledge-base, letting you resolve issues on your own.

In the end, we'll highlight that you can get this P2P VPN for free - if you count on its money-back policy as a way to get NordVPN's free trial. You'll have 30 days to test-drive NordVPN. And if you change your mind, you'll get your money back without any questions asked.

3. Windscribe - Best for Limited Free P2P Downloading

Windscribe is perhaps the most popular free-of-charge VPN right now. That's because you get 2GB of data per month - even if you only register with your username and password. Verifying your email gets you 10GB of data per month.

Still not enough? Well, keep in mind that Windscribe often comes up with promotions. For example, you can tweet from your personal profile about Windscibe, and this gets you 5GB of data. And inviting your friends gets you 1GB of data per month, once they register with their own email accounts.

Free servers of Windscribe can be found in around 10 countries, including the USA, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, the UK, Turkey, and Hong Kong. To get the best possible speed out of this free VPN for torrenting, you need to be in one of these countries - or close enough.

Considering that Windscribe offers free servers across North America, Europe, and Asia, you should be able to download P2P without being throttled. As per our experience, we were limited to 4MB/s, which should still be enough even when downloading large-size files.

When it comes to other helpful features, keep in mind that Windscribe offers a built-in ad blocker, DNS leak protection, and you get IP masking as well. Also, we're talking about AES-256 encryption here, which should keep your information safe at all times.

4. Hotspot Shield VPN - Best When P2P Speed Is Needed

Hotspot Shield is a premium-priced VPN that offers a free tier. As such, the free tier is used as a trial version of the VPN, where you test out some of its features - which should get you to switch to a paid plan.

As you can already imagine, the free version of Hotspot Shield VPN supports P2P. However, the problem is that you're limited to 500MB of data per day. Therefore, you get around 15GB of data per month - but you're allowed to spend 500MB every 24 hours. And, yes - this is useful when torrenting, but not if you want to download large files in one go.

Also, there's another serious limitation to this free VPN for torrenting. Free users of Hotspot Shield VPN can only access a server in the United States. This means if you're somewhere far from the USA, you might get very limited speeds. We're located in Europe, and we managed to download files at 5MB/s - which really isn't all that bad, to be honest.

When you start using Hotspot Shield's free plan, you'll see a message saying that you're limited to 2MB/s. However, as already noted in the previous paragraph, we managed to go over that limit and download P2P files at 5MB/s. In other words, Hotspot Shield isn't really that limiting, despite what it says on its official website.

Let's not forget that even free users of Hotspot Shield get the VPN's proprietary protocol, called Hydra. And you also get AES-256 encryption. Therefore, in terms of protecting your data, you should be good to go - while you're within the bandwidth limits of this VPN.

5. Hide.me VPN - Best for First-Time P2P VPN Users

Another contender for the title of the best free VPN for torrenting is Hide.Me VPN. This is a long-standing premium-priced VPN that offers a free tier. As you can imagine, certain restrictions apply in this case, so here's what you need to know.

First of all, you will be limited to 10GB of data per month. Until a few months ago, this VPN used to limit free uses to only 2GB/month, so we're happy to see this limit greatly increased. However, there's no way to increase this limit further.

Also, the free servers are located in 4 countries, including the USA, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands. On the VPN's website, you'll see a message saying that P2P is supported on all 5 free locations. However, once you start using the app - you'll see that you can't use US-based servers as they're clearly labeled as "No P2P."

Of course, we've tried to download a P2P file using these US-based servers (you can pick from two locations in this case - East Coast and West Coast). We have to say that we managed to download P2P files using those - but we were limited to 500KB/s. Perhaps Hide.Me is trying to deter users from relying on those US servers due to copyright infringement.

Anyway, you have fully-compatible P2P servers in Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands. We've tried all of those, and we managed to download P2P files up to 6MB/s - so, you can expect pretty fast speeds. These are fast enough to let you download HD video files.

What YOU SHOULD Expect from a Free VPN for Torrenting

In general, you can't really expect a free VPN for torrenting to work without limitations. These might be suitable for downloading a couple of really small files, and that's about it.

So, here are some of the most prominent limitations of free VPNs, in general.

1. Free VPNs come with limited bandwidth (ranging from 500 MB/day to 10GB/month).
2. You can't rely on leak-free protocols and high-end encryption.
3. Your Web download speed will be severely limited.
4. Don't expect free VPNs to keep your identity hidden, as many of those have leaked the private information of their users in the past.
5. Free VPNs are also unusable for media streaming, due to imposed restrictions.

As you can see, we're talking about pretty restrictive measures here. Running a VPN business is a high-cost operation, which is why free VPNs are forced to impose all those restrictions. The only way to go over those is to buy a subscription.

What YOU SHOULDN'T Expect from a Free Torrenting VPN

There are certain situations where using a free VPN for torrenting can be beneficial. As you can imagine, this applies only to a small number of cases, as described below.

1. Free VPNs are useful if you're not downloading torrent files too often. So, you shouldn't expect unlimited bandwidth, as no free P2P VPN offers that perk.
2. Free VPNs are useful if you're not downloading large files. Therefore, you shouldn't expect unlimited speed, as all free VPNs impose performance caps.
3. You can also rely on free VPNs if you're sticking to legal P2P files only. Remember, don't trust free VPNs to preserve your privacy.

So, what to do if you're not comfortable using a free VPN? Well, the only solution is to get a premium VPN. That's because premium VPNs will meet your every need, as these are helpful for downloading P2P files.

The good news is that many premium VPNs come with generous money-back guarantees. You'll get to try them from 30 up to 45 days - and have your money returned if you're not happy with their performance. Therefore, this could be a risk-free investment.

If you decide to use a premium VPN, consider getting ExpressVPN. To learn why, just scroll up and read our description of this VPN's well-known torrenting capabilities.

Final Thoughts

Using a free VPN for torrenting is possible, but only if you agree to some compromises. As you've seen, a free VPN with P2P support will limit the speed of your connection. It will also put you on a strict data allowance. So, you can use one only to download small P2P files, and only on occasion.

So, instead of going for a free torrenting VPN, you can get a P2P VPN trial. We recommend going for ExpressVPN, which gives you 30 days to decide whether to stick with it. That's the best way to experience how a torrenting-friendly VPN should work, without any limitations.

We sincerely hope you've found our guide on the best free VPN for torrenting to be useful. Once again, we'd like to remind you to be aware of the risks of using free VPNs - and always go for a premium-priced option first (if that's an option for you, of course).