Betternet Review: Limited Free Version but Little Else (2026)

I almost never recommend free VPNs over paid ones.

Free VPNs, such as Betternet, can have a tendency to sell your data, show you lots of ads, not be as secure, and not perform as well.

Betternet says that it does things a bit differently and protects your privacy and security better than the other free VPNs out there.

But is Betternet VPN a good choice for protecting your security and privacy?

Is it safe for torrenting?

I took a deeper look to see if this free VPN can stack up to its paid brethren in 2026.

What Is Betternet? How It’s Free?

If you’ve never heard of Betternet, it’s probably because they’re not as prominent in the VPN scene as they once were; they’ve been around since 2015.

The VPN service is now part of the Point Wild company, which also owns other VPNs like Hotspot Shield, Total VPN, and TotalAV as of 2026.

The main draw to this VPN is, of course, the fact that it’s totally free.

You can use their iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac apps, as well as Chrome and Firefox extensions, without paying a single cent. You don’t even need to register, so they don’t get your name or email address on the free plan.

It definitely sounds good. But as we’ve seen in the past, VPN providers need to make money somehow, and they don’t always do it scrupulously.

Betternet relies on displaying advertisements to free users to make money.

Rising costs pushed Betternet to offer a Premium version that’s been available for several years now. The premium version offers access to dedicated servers, more locations and IP selection choices, and 24/7 support. There’s still a free seven-day trial of the premium plan that lets you try out these features without paying.

With the premium version in 2026, you get access to servers in 80+ locations.

But you don’t get to choose which server you connect to on the free plan; Betternet picks one for you. Premium members can choose from various locations, including city-level options in the US.

Betternet VPN Overview

OVERALL RANK:	#21 Out of 30 VPNs
USABILITY:	Average
LOG FILES:	Logs IP Addresses
LOCATIONS:	80+ Locations, 1,000+ Servers
SUPPORT:	24/7 Support for Premium Members
TORRENTING:	Not Recommended
NETFLIX:	Works With Some Libraries
ENCRYPTION/PROTOCOL:	256-bit AES Encryption; Hydra, WireGuard, IKEv2
COST:	Free or From $7.99/mo
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:	www.Betternet.co

Betternet Pros

1. Industry-Standard Security Features

Betternet has improved its security features since our earlier reviews. As of 2026, Betternet offers industry-standard VPN security features, including 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and leak protection.

The service now supports multiple protocols: Catapult Hydra, IKEv2 (IPSec), and WireGuard. The Hydra protocol is Betternet’s proprietary protocol that’s advertised as being faster than standard options.

The kill switch is an important security feature that cuts your internet access in the event of a VPN disconnection, preventing data leaks. However, it’s worth noting that this kill switch is not enabled by default, so users need to activate it manually in the settings.

Of course, we need to be sure that Betternet’s security works as intended. So, we’ve put the VPN client to the test with a barrage of assessments designed to show whether Betternet properly protects your home IP.

First up, we loaded up IPleak.net to see whether Betternet adequately protects against IP and DNS leaks. DNS is essentially the address book for the Internet. Every time you look up a domain name, DNS is the service that provides the IP address associated with it.

So, if someone can see your DNS requests, they can see which sites you’re visiting. That’s why it’s important to make sure your VPN isn’t leaking your DNS requests, as well as being a vector for leaking your IP.

These results from IPLeak.net show that Betternet doesn’t leak your IP to DNS servers, which is a genuine plus for the service.

To confirm our DNS tests, we headed over to BrowserLeaks.com to see whether their DNS leak tests showed anything different. We confirmed that the only DNS servers Betternet allowed access to were the Google ones used to serve requests, so your ISP can’t see what you’re up to online.

We also used BrowserLeaks.com to check whether Betternet protects against WebRTC leaks. WebRTC is one of the major culprits for leaking your IP. It’s a protocol that connects browsers together, but in the process, it tends to sidestep the VPN tunnel used to encrypt your traffic. However, we’ve found that Betternet does in fact protect against WebRTC. Another genuine point in its favor.

We were also interested to see whether the kill switch actually holds up when disconnected from the VPN. We checked and found that while disconnected, Betternet stopped any internet traffic from being routed. So, we can confidently say Betternet is a useful choice if you’re regularly using public networks like airport Wi-Fi and need a way to ensure your traffic isn’t being sent over an unencrypted line.

If you’re concerned about government surveillance, you should know that Betternet is now part of the Point Wild group, based in Boston, USA, which is a member of the Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. This means your data could potentially be subject to US jurisdiction and intelligence gathering.

2. Totally Free Option

Betternet offers a 100% free plan.

Of course, there are several limitations: free users only get access to servers in 3 countries (US, Singapore, and UK), and mobile users face a 500 MB daily data limit. You’ll also see ads, and won’t unlock all of the features without signing up for the premium plan. But if you want a basic VPN service without paying, this could be an important factor.

3. Multiple Encryption Protocols

As mentioned earlier, Betternet now offers several protocol options. While the proprietary nature of the Catapult Hydra protocol means it cannot be peer-reviewed by security researchers, the addition of WireGuard and IKEv2 provides more transparent options.

WireGuard in particular is highly secure and has undergone several technical audits to prove this. So if you’re security-conscious, you can switch to this protocol instead of using the default Hydra option.

Betternet is also compatible with the Tor browser, adding another layer of privacy protection.

4. Customer Support

Premium users get access to 24/7 support, which is an improvement over earlier versions of the service. However, there’s still no live chat option, which would be nice to see in a premium VPN service.

The Betternet team maintains a presence on social media, though customer support questions are usually redirected to the standard support system.

5. App Simplicity

While the lack of features makes for a VPN with less functionality, it also makes for an app that’s very easy to use, especially if you’re not trying to connect to a server in a specific place.

All you need to do is download the app and hit the Connect button. That’s really all there is to it.

That’s all there is to it. Betternet will let you know that you’re connected, and there’s nothing else you need to do.

The premium apps offer more options, such as server selection and protocol choice, but they maintain the same straightforward user interface.

6. Decent Speeds

Betternet’s speed performance has improved somewhat since our earlier tests. It’s now on par with most of the top-end services we’ve tested, but there’s still one or two spots where Betternet falls down.

To get an accurate idea of how Betternet performs in the real world, we’ve performed our own speed tests using a custom testing rig with a 250Mbps download and upload connection. You can see our results below.

Baseline

• Download: 250.84Mbps
• Upload: 251.24Mbps
• Ping: 1ms

Nearest Server

• Download: 234.76Mbps
• Upload: 228.39Mbps
• Ping: 100ms

Europe

• Download: 237.96Mbps
• Upload: 239.93Mbps
• Ping: 27ms

US East

• Download: 229.78Mbps
• Upload: 180.80Mbps
• Ping: 101ms

US West

• Download: 219.98Mbps
• Upload: 238.22Mbps
• Ping: 155ms

Asia

• Download: 214.50Mbps
• Upload: 206.90Mbps
• Ping: 276ms

Betternet performed pretty well across the board. The only result we’re particularly concerned about is the US East upload, which is well below the 20% cutoff point we have for VPN speeds. However, Betternet did offer very strong speeds in Asia, even if the poor ping makes it inappropriate for gaming or latency-sensitive programs like voice calling.

7. Worldwide Servers

Betternet is also much better in terms of offering worldwide locations than it used to be, although it’s still lagging behind the major VPN providers. To date, Betternet offers 1,000+ servers in the following countries.

This makes Bettenet a decent choice if you’re looking for coverage in most parts of the world. Still, other providers like NordVPN and Surfshark offer more in-depth choices in Europe and America while also providing server locations across the planet.

8. Good 3rd Party Ratings

Apple Store

Betternet has pretty strong ratings on the iOS App Store. Currently, it stands at 4.5 stars after 238K ratings.

Google Play Store

On Google’s Play Store, Betternet has over 1.34M reviews with an average score of 4.4 stars, and has been downloaded over 50 million times.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot is where Hotspot falls down, with only a rating of 3.1 stars after 47 reviews.

Betternet Cons

1. Potential Security Concerns

Betternet has been flagged for security issues in the past. In 2017, an academic study found that Betternet was often infected with trackers and malware embedded into the software itself.

While this issue may have been addressed since then, it’s concerning that Betternet was the fourth-highest malware-infected app in the Google Play store according to that research.

More recent testing suggests it’s mostly on Android devices through the Google Play Store, with other platforms seemingly less affected. However, this history makes it difficult to trust a service that’s supposed to increase your security.

2. Ads on Free Version

No one likes seeing ads in their apps. They’re a necessary evil when you want to offer a free product or service, but it’s still unpleasant. Unless you’re using the premium version of Betternet, you’ll be seeing ads.

It’s great that Betternet is transparent about how they make money, but there’s no way around the fact that the VPN is selling access to its customers. That’s not ideal from a privacy perspective. When there are so many affordable VPNs out there that don’t show any ads, it’s tough to justify it in a free app.

3. Problematic Privacy Policy

In its privacy policy, Betternet states that some ads can be personalized using your original IP address. While they reassure that VPN activities are not monitored at all, your original IP can be passed on to third-party marketing agencies.

For a service that’s supposed to protect your privacy, this level of data collection is troubling. Premium VPNs typically have much stricter no-logs policies that don’t collect IP addresses or other personally identifiable information.

It’s especially worrisome given that Betternet has not been audited by a third party to confirm that their no-logs policies are correct, or that they safely handle your IP address.

4. Limited Streaming

We’re pretty unimpressed with Betternet as a streaming VPN. The free version is particularly limited for streaming, as it limits your daily bandwidth to 500MB, which is barely enough for casual browsing, let alone streaming HD content.

That’s if you can access any streaming service at all. We tried multiple in our most recent streaming tests and found that it’s really a coin flip as to whether or not you’ll be able to watch a stream.

Betternet doesn’t work with Amazon Prime. We logged in and tried to stream the Bucks vs Celtics game, but Amazon immediately detected we were using a VPN.

However, we had more luck with BBC iPlayer. We were able to stream The Night Manager, although the stream suffered from a little bit of buffering at the start.

We were also able to get Disney+ working, which was quite surprising given that Betternet has struggled with this service in the past.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for HBO Max, where it once again became apparent we were using a VPN. Changing servers didn’t help, either.

While we weren’t able to verify all of Netflix’s regional libraries, we were able to confirm that Netflix DE worked from the Betternet servers in Germany.

Finally, we logged into Paramount+ to watch The Substance. Again, we were quite surprised to see that Paramount Plus worked, given that quite a few VPN services have trouble unblocking it.

All in all, Betternet’s streaming capabilities are mixed. We’ve been able to access a fair few services, but it’s not completely ideal if you’re looking for a top-tier streaming VPN, especially considering Betternet’s relatively small location pool compared to other VPN providers.

Pricing, Plans & Facts

The main draw to Betternet is that it’s free. And you can use it as much as you want without paying (with the 500MB daily limit on mobile). That’s all most people will want to know about the pricing.

But the premium pricing is competitive if you choose the annual membership:

• One month for $12.99
• Yearly for $7.99 per month (billed as $95.88 annually)

It’s not the cheapest VPN out there, and in fact, it’s very expensive for the value you receive in return compared to top VPNs in 2026.

You’ll also get a free 7-day trial to test out the premium version (though you’ll need to provide payment information). One significant upside is that Betternet offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, which is longer than the industry standard of 30 days.

Here’s what’s included and what’s not:

• Kill Switch (not enabled by default)
• Limited Netflix compatibility
• 10 simultaneous connections (premium accounts only)
• VPN protocols: Hydra, WireGuard, IKEv2
• Split tunneling feature available

There are a few details buried in the Terms of Service that are worth noting.

First and foremost, you agree that Betternet can terminate you at any time, without notice, without refund, and they won’t be liable. In some cases, they’ll pro-rate your refund. But if you breach the rest of their agreement, you won’t get squat.

You can terminate the agreement at any time, though the process isn’t always straightforward.

Do We Recommend Betternet?

No.

Unfortunately, Betternet doesn’t live up to its name in 2026. We love that it’s free. And if you absolutely need a free VPN for very basic browsing and have no other options, you could do worse than Betternet.

But the combination of privacy concerns, inconsistent speeds, limited streaming capabilities, and questionable security history is just too much to overlook. The premium version is very expensive for the value you receive in return, making it hard to justify when there are better options available.

You get what you pay for, and free VPNs just don’t cut it for serious privacy and security needs.

You’d be better off with either NordVPN – $3.49/mo (read NordVPN review) or Surfshark – $2.49/mo (read Surfshark review) – both are safe, fast, and secure with strict no-logs policies.

Alternative Recommendations:

• For streaming: NordVPN or ExpressVPN
• For budget-conscious users: Surfshark
• The best free VPN: ProtonVPN
• Need a 45-day money-back guarantee: CyberGhost
• Servers in all 50 states: Private Internet Access