The free VPN market is breaking. EventVPN would like to fix it.
Surges in demand for free VPNs have left a growing number of people searching the app stores for no-cost VPNs to help with their privacy and security concerns. And there is a growing hoard of bogus products waiting for them unvetted and unsafe.
At best, they're developed by bad actors looking to monetize user data with invasive ads and tracking browsing behaviour to generate revenue. At worst, they're run by cybercriminals using malicious free VPN apps to spread malware, or unethical service providers sharing data with China or Russia behind your back.
That's where EventVPN, the new kid in the free VPN space, comes in.
There are a few free VPNs that we recommend but each one has a paid version that they would rather users upgraded to. The result is the classic freemium trade-off: you get something of what you want but not quite everything you need.
In the case of freemium VPNs like PrivadoVPN Free and Windscribe Free, the trade-off is that you get all the features (server choice, streaming and more) but you only get limited usage with the data capped at 10 GB or 15 GB or so.
In the case of Proton VPN Free, it's the opposite – no server choice, very few features but unlimited access.
EventVPN has broken the mold and taken a different route. Built by ExpressVPN – one of the best VPNs you can get right now – it promises free, unlimited access from a company that we rate as the most secure VPN with no data cap in sight. The trade-off, this time, is adverts.
How EventVPN seeks to fix the free VPN market
In truth, this something that Hotspot Shield Basic already offers to a far smaller and not very satisfactory degree with adverts a necessary evil on its mobile apps.
EventVPN, though, has taken a unique, whole-hog approach in its bid to fix a market that both lacks quality and security – blending a premium VPN infrastructure with a privacy-first ad model that runs all the way through the user experience. But can an ad-funded VPN remain truly private?
"Users either sacrifice their privacy or their options. With EventVPN, they do neither," Chief Operating Officer at ExpressVPN, Shay Peretz, told TechRadar.
"We wanted to deliver a free VPN with a full and unlimited feature set. Introducing privacy-first ads means we can deliver a free full-fat VPN with staying power – without sacrificing features or privacy."
Specifically, the team is leveraging Apple's in-app advertising (ATT and IDFA systems) to detach user data from the advertising process.
As ExpressVPN explains in an official announcement, "this means that any advertising stays entirely separate and distinct from the hardware that makes VPN connections possible."
In practical terms, this system will enable EventVPN to make revenue from its free subscription, without the need to monetize on people's data.
This means that free users won't be subjected to any throttling or data caps, while enjoying premium perks like secure streaming and P2P support. Put simply: "Everything a user would expect," Peretz added.
Doing so also allows EventVPN to offer ExpressVPN's premium features, such as a strict no-log VPN policy, kill switch, post-quantum encryption, and RAM-only servers, with no bandwidth restrictions.
Ads, really?
According to Peretz, ads don't necessarily need to be bad.
"Ads with built-in privacy mean that EventVPN can be transparent about how it makes its money as a free service," he said.
It's also true that you can customize your ad experience by deciding whether to consent to getting personalized adverts or not. Whatever your choice, you need to be ready to have pop-up ads disrupting your VPN experience.
When we tried to see what this would look like for ourselves, we got stuck behind either 30-second-long or 10-second-long ad displays that we couldn't skip every time we wanted to connect or disconnect from the VPN.
To avoid this annoyance, there's also an option to upgrade to EventVPN Premium for $69.99 per year and completely get rid of ads. If you're willing to pay, however, you get better value at a similar price with the best cheap VPNs, like Surfshark.
"It’s exactly what we think a free VPN should be," says Peretz, "the benefit of a premium privacy product but without the drawbacks of existing free tools in this space."
Proton VPN Free , of course, would argue that it brings the same. Where it offers fewer servers, EventVPN asks you to bear with recurring advertising. At the end of the day, customers will have to decide for themselves which approach they prefer.
Either way, it's certainly positive to have another safe player from a trusted provider up on the app stores with the rest of the free VPNs.
Can it fix the free VPN market? Well that's hard to say – not least because we haven't even tested it yet – but if you're looking for a reliable tool for torrenting or streaming, as well as privacy and security, and without spending a penny, then EventVPN may be just the right tool for you.
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