No annual or monthly membership fees are incurred while using a free VPN service, making it accessible to everyone. Even though these VPN companies provide a free service, how do they make a profit or even continue to operate?

The hundreds of servers that make up a wide network a VPN service uses must be constantly maintained. To keep this kind of infrastructure running, you need hundreds or even thousands of workers and a lot of money.

How do VPNs that are free making money?

VPN providers need to make money to stay in business like any other business. And if people don't pay for it, these suppliers must find other ways to make money. This is where things go wrong.

Tracking your browsing history and selling it

You might think that no one cares what you do online, but the information about what you do online is very valuable.

Advertisers purchase user data from data brokerage firms to better understand consumers' purchasing patterns, tastes, and interests and improve the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

Your data being sold to brokers is one of the key ways free VPNs earn money. They might sell information about the websites you visit, the things you buy, how long you spend online, and what device you use.

What are the cons of a free VPN service?

Not enough safety.

A VPN is a tool that is supposed to make you safer online, but a free VPN might make you less safe. Since most free VPNs don't have good server infrastructure, their security and encryption might not be very good. When looking for a VPN, you should choose the best encryption. If not, hackers might be able to get into your account.

Only so-so results.

A free VPN won't give you the most up-to-date security features as a paid VPN would. Your connection speed will be slow, making it hard to stream or play online. There must be a better method since it's like driving a 20-year-old vehicle with a CD player, manual windows, and outrageous gas emissions.

Too many people. A VPN hides your IP address, so no one can find out where you are or connect your online activities to who you are. But because free VPNs sell your information to third parties, you no longer have privacy.

Why would you want to pay for a VPN?

Several important security and privacy benefits come with a paid VPN service. I have listed the most important ones below.

large-scale server network

More than 5,500 servers spread across 59 countries, the greatest speed is guaranteed. It also has several servers that can be used for different things:

  • Servers that hide information so that people in countries with strict Internet rules can still access it.
  • When going to. For onion websites, you can use Onion Over VPN for extra security.
  • For more security, Double VPN sends your traffic through two servers instead of just one.
  • Users who bought dedicated IPs can only use servers with dedicated IPs.
  • P2P servers make it easy and safe to share files.

Is Surfshark free?

Surfshark is not free, but you can get your money back within 30 days. On Google Play, you can also get a free 7-day trial of surf shark.

Surfshark also has several coupons and VPN deals that let you buy the premium service at a lower price.

Subscription plans for Surfshark are available for one month, one year, and two years. The best choice is always a premium, real Surfshark account. As the best VPN in the world, it employs thousands of people to ensure it always meets privacy and security standards online.

Which VPN should you use?

A free VPN might sound good, but your security and privacy are at risk if you use it. Unlike paid VPN services, free VPN app download services must find other ways to make money.

Some free VPNs can only provide minimal service, which might jeopardize your security. Sometimes, free VPNs may sell your information to make money.

You have to take all required precautions to protect yourself regarding cybersecurity. It may cost you much more in the long run if you don't.

Extra features

Your data is protected from exposure by a VPN Kill Switch function.

Without DNS and IP leak protection, your IP and DNS won't leak out.

With VPN's Meshnet, you can connect devices from anywhere in the world in a secure way.

The Dark Web Monitor from VPN will let you know if your credentials get leaked to the dark web.

Threat Protection stops you from visiting websites infected with malware, bans third-party trackers and dangerous adverts, and scans files as you download them for malware.

Hiding your DNS requests prevents anyone from spying on you or sending you to a dangerous site unknowingly.

Service availability

Social networking sites, Western news sources, and websites and applications are blocked in nations including China, Iran, and Russia. You can't always get around heavy restrictions with a free VPN, and you might not get the privacy you need.

On the other hand, Premium VPNs keep working on getting around these limitations and giving you more internet freedom while maintaining security.