Best Secure and Reliable Free VPNs for Torrenting in February 2024

Using a VPN for torrenting is pretty much a necessity. To begin torrenting you will, of course, join a peer-to-peer (p2p) network, this means your IP address will now be just sitting there for everyone else in your p2p network to observe and maybe even to steal and do something nefarious with. So what about a free VPN for torrenting? 

If we are being brutally honest, if you are planning to torrent anything even remotely sensitive we would recommend a paid version over a free VPN for torrenting. This is simply because of all the activities you can use a VPN for this is where your information will be at risk the most.

Now a free torrent VPN is not always a bad option, let us not turn you off them completely and lucky for you we have done the work for you and found the three best options. When we say work as well we mean it! Unfortunately, when it comes to finding a decent free VPN for torrenting there are a lot of duds out there and you must practice caution above all else.

We noticed a lot of options did not hide our IP address well enough at all while others blocked p2p transfers. What is the point of a free p2p VPN if they block p2p transfers we hear you ask? Yes, we are wondering that ourselves. 

Torrenting Unlocked: Your Guide to the Best Free VPNs

Taking all that criticism into account there are three free torrenting VPN options that stand out head and shoulders above the rest:

1. ProtonVPN– Unlimited data and reliable kill switch
2. TunnelBear– Fast speeds in torrenting-friendly countries 
3. Hide.me- Best protection for torrenting 

Before we get into what sets them out as the best free VPN for torrenting options let’s just give you a quick guide on what to look for. As we mentioned, above all else you need to look for the most secure options, it is NON-NEGOTIABLE that the free VPN you choose can hide your IP address, that is the first thing you need to be sure of.

The second important factor to check for is whether it will allow p2p transfers. There is zero point in joining a p2p group if the VPN will not allow you to share or download anything. A free VPN with p2p capabilities that also keeps your connection secure is 90 percent of the fight but there are some other things you should take into account too.

As with every other possible use for a free VPN speed is going to be very important and what goes hand-in-hand with this is the number of servers and data allowance. Once you think it is safe to share and download p2p files if you are faced with a very long waiting time it can cause great frustration so look for a free torrent VPN that will protect you but also doesn’t chain you down with slow download speeds.

Secure Torrenting for Free: The Best VPNs to Use

As we mentioned it is slim pickings when it comes to a free torrenting VPN that is safe and works smoothly, however, let’s look at the three we found to be the best and discuss what makes them so good. 

1) ProtonVPN

Anyone familiar with our site will have expected to see ProtonVPN in this list as there is one main reason it tends to finish in the top 3 of our ‘best free VPN for x’ lists and that is data allowance. It is extremely rare to get a free VPN that gives any sort of decent data allowance so the fact Proton gives its users an unlimited amount makes it a regular winner, but what about a free VPN for torrenting?

As we mentioned, data allowance is secondary when it comes to safety while torrenting. We found that there are no P2P optimized servers which was a bit of a disappointment, but we did manage to download the needed torrents so as a free torrent VPN goes it is still decent. You will also be well protected as they promise not to collect your data and crucially they have a reliable kill switch to protect against any accidental leak when your connection drops.

We have already mentioned the main downside when it comes to Proton as a free torrenting VPN and that is the lack of optimized servers. To be honest we are surprised that Proton still allows torrenting as for a free VPN it nearly is the whole package. It is just the way it is that for a fully performing torrenting VPN you will need to opt for a paid version. 

⚠️ We highly recommend a paid VPN for Torrenting. Check here the Top paid VPNs for Torrenting.

2) TunnelBear

Next on our free VPN for torrenting list is TunnelBear, which is very similar to Proton in many ways but also has a few key differences both positively and negatively. That is the beauty of the three VPNs on this list, they all have different strengths and weaknesses so you can choose which one suits you best.

TunnelBear’s free version has excellent speeds and although it has a small number of servers the countries you can unblock are all very torrenting-friendly ones (The Netherlands and Switzerland) so it makes the process much easier. Just like Proton, it does not have specialized p2p servers but you will be able to download the necessary torrents.

The main downside with TunnelBear is the measly data allowance you will have available to you. You will only have 500MB per month available to you so realistically you will only be able to test out its torrenting capabilities once before your data runs out. Just another reason why the paid versions are just better than the free VPN for torrenting options.

⚠️ We highly recommend a paid VPN for Torrenting. Check here the Top paid VPNs for Torrenting.

3) Hide.me 

Last on our free torrent VPN list is Hide.me, and where it stands out is security. Anyone with torrenting experience will certainly love Hide.me because along with the general levels of security, they also allow their users to change the settings until they suit you best.

When it comes to facilitating torrenting Hide.me is probably the best free VPN for this. It puts your privacy first and is based out of a very torrenting-friendly country (Malaysia) so there is a no logs policy. They also do not have optimized servers for torrenting but everything else is there to make downloading the necessary torrents a breeze. You will also have a 10GB data allowance per month which is pretty decent for a free VPN.

Where Hide.me falls down is its speed. We found, especially during peak hours, it was a very very slow process downloading anything. As we said none of these free VPN for torrenting options will be the full package as they are designed just to give you a taste of the good stuff in the hope you will then sign up for the paid version.

⚠️ We highly recommend a paid VPN for Torrenting. Check here the Top paid VPNs for Torrenting.

Why Free VPNs Won’t Cut it for Torrenting: A Comparison to Paid Versions

As you will have gathered by now we are more in favor of using a paid version of a VPN than any free VPN for torrenting. This is nothing against the selections we have listed above; they go further than any other free torrenting VPN option.

It is just the good free VPNs exist just to tempt you into using a paid version. It is here you will really be able to get some decent speed and quantity while torrenting and not have to worry about any data allowance. All of this while being even more secure and using optimized p2p servers. So let’s take a look at our 3 best-paid VPNs for torrenting:

1. ExpressVPN– The most secure connection for torrenting 
2. NordVPN – The most trusted brand with years of industry experience
3. IvacyVPN – Nice extras to help torrenting 

These are our rankings of the best 3 so let’s take a look at why they tested best.

1) ExpressVPN

No one with any experience using VPNs will be surprised to see ExpressVPN top our list here. It tends to lead the pack when it comes to most VPN uses and that is no different when it comes to torrenting. Fast speeds, a huge number of servers, and lots of little other tricks like split tunneling make it the best all-around VPN for torrenting.

You will have a huge amount of countries to choose from thanks to the number of servers ExpressVPN has and it also has a strict no-log policy so you don’t have to worry about any of your search history being stored. If we were to pick one downside to ExpressVPN it is that it’s one of the more costly VPNs, however, it is the best so you pay for the quality.

2) NordVPN

NordVPN is probably the only VPN that people that aren’t familiar with them would still recognize the game. That is because for years now they have been providing a top-quality product alongside a very good marketing strategy. NordVPN is a great choice for torrenting as it does everything well, especially security.

With over 5,500 different servers in 60 different countries, you can guarantee you’ll be able to use them for your p2p downloads especially since they also have specialized servers for any of these activities. However, not every server is a specialized one as some of them are not p2p friendly, it is a bit of a factor but it is the only red mark that we can give NordVPN.

3) IvacyVPN 

IvacyVPN comes in third on our list but it is not far behind the big two of ExpressVPN and NordVPN at all. We love a lot of the features this VPN has that allow the best possible torrenting experience. A good example is port forwarding which allows you to download files much faster on your device.

Its servers tend to be located in countries that allow torrenting so you can be guaranteed your safety, they also have a no-logs policy just like the other two VPNs. It also has special threat-level technology that will monitor your downloads and make sure no third party is trying to target them. The one downside to IvacyVPN is its speed, while serviceable it lacks a lot compared to the top two.

Finding the Right VPN: Final Tips for Secure Torrenting on a Budget

By now we have exhausted you with information on how to find the perfect free VPN for torrenting, but there is no harm in leaving you with some final points to remember. So first and foremost you will need to decide if you want to go the free torrenting VPN route or the paid one. For security and performance reasons we recommend a paid one, but if you maybe cannot afford one or only need it for a small period of time here’s what to look out for.

We are sure you know this by now but your security has to come first. Make sure that the free VPN for torrenting you are going to use can protect your IP address, has a kill switch, and will not keep any data logs of your search history. These three are just the starting points but if the free torrent VPN you are looking at has these you should be okay.

Everything else kind of comes second to security but some other factors to look out for are data allowance, server quantity, and speed. It is great if a free torrent VPN protects you but if you can’t use it for any p2p sharing or downloading it is kind of pointless. You will never get all of these together if you are not paying for a premium service but perhaps you can get one that suits your torrenting needs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Free VPNs for Torrenting: Your Complete Resource