Why we strongly advise against Free VPNs

• By SMSPool Admin
• April 3, 2026
• Information

Online privacy really does matter in 2026. You only have to look at the daily news cycle to see why. Between privacy-invasive legislation like Chat Control threatening to scan private messages, invasive age verification mandates forcing everyday users to upload their government IDs, and rampant AI data scraping, protecting your privacy has never been more critical. The truth is, with some internet service providers tracking your digital footprints, websites collecting your data, etc., those who value their online privacy would have to consider the use of VPNs as a standard practice. This increased demand has led to App Stores being flooded with thousands of "free" VPN apps. A search on any app store will reveal plenty of results claiming that they offer "military-grade encryption", "high-speed performance", "anonymous vpn", and the rest of the common VPN buzz words. All for zero dollars. The picture isn't sunshine and rainbows by any means.

However, as an SMS verification platform that aims at delivering easy, fast, private, and secure SMS verifications, we experience user consequences of free VPNs. We are talking about the fact that we constantly deal with support tickets from users who are not able to get their SMS verification codes, only to find out that a free VPN is the very thing that is flagging the SMS verification process.

We do not recommend our users to use free VPNs at all. This detailed article reveals the main reasons why free VPNs pose a huge threat to your privacy, how they ruin your browsing experience and are mostly responsible for failed SMS verifications.

The Hidden Cost of 'Free'

Running a VPN provider is not cheap. It requires leasing servers, paying for bandwidth, and maintaining development. So when you grab a free VPN, ask yourself: how are they covering the bills?

The truth is usually clear. They are making money from you. No subscription means they have to find another way, and that is usually monetising your data such as the websites you visit. The irony? You download a tool meant to help hide your activity, and instead, in most cases it goes straight to a company that profits from watching what you do.

There is, however, a notable exception to some free VPNs. Some VPN Services such as Windscribe and ProtonVPN operate on a freemium model. They offer free plans because the costs of running those free servers are heavily subsidized by their paying VPN subscribers. Their free plans serve as a marketing tool to showcase their product's quality in hopes that you will eventually upgrade to a premium plan, and help users bypass censorship in countries such as the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and Iran. Aside from these specific exceptions, the free VPNs almost always hides a much steeper cost to your privacy & security.

When Security Apps Become Spyware

The situation is much worse when you learn how completely free VPNs make money from your data. For example, simply showing you a couple of targeted ads is only the surface of it. Many free VPN providers are actively logging your web traffic, including your visited websites, bandwidth usage, length of your session and the exact time stamps of your online activities. This data is then compiled and sold to third-party data brokers, advertising agencies, or basically anyone who is willing to pay for consumer insights. What's even worse, independent cybersecurity audits have consistently exposed that an alarming number of free VPNs, especially those topping the mobile app stores, have hidden tracking libraries, spyware, and sometimes even real malware.

By allowing some of these free VPN apps network permissions, you could well be harming your privacy & security. Instead of creating a secure and encrypted tunnel for your data, these bad apps are intercepting your traffic to steal login credentials, put their ads on the websites you visit, or get your device infected with malware.

Turning Your Connection Into Someone Else's Proxy

Some free VPNs quietly let their app use your device's network without your consent. They hide these rules deep in the terms of service. You might not notice them at first. Your internet connection becomes a residential proxy for others. It acts as an exit node for other users, even paying clients.

As you're browsing on a free VPN which is using another IP address, the operator of the free VPN app could be using your home IP address as a residential proxy.

This creates serious risks. If another user runs suspicious software or launches DDoS attacks, the actions trace directly to your IP. Your ISP may flag that activity and block access to sites you use daily. In worst cases, law enforcement could contact you about crimes you didn't commit. The system holds you liable for behavior beyond your control.

For context on how residential proxy networks operate when done ethically, our sister site, proxyapp.net, provides residential IP addresses without ever resorting to these suspicious methods. Instead of sneaking hidden clauses into an app, users are fully informed and actively choose to sell their unused bandwidth. The process is completely transparent and strictly consensual, standing in stark contrast to the sneaky, underhanded tactics employed by free VPNs.

Slow Speeds and Poor Performance

Even if, by some chance, you locate a totally free VPN that does not sell your data, or use your connection as a residential proxy, you are still likely to use a slow VPN. Free VPNs usually provide a very small number of servers to a large number of users. This leads to very bad network congestion. When tens of thousands of people are simultaneously trying to send their high-definition video streams, large downloads, and heavy web browsing through a single, overloaded server, the result is painfully slow internet speeds. Besides that, most free VPNs intentionally limit your bandwidth and/or set you on a very short monthly data quota so that they can lure you to upgrade to a paid subscription.

In case you care about a smooth, fast, and dependable internet experience, free VPNs will always be the source of your complete disappointment.

IP Blacklisting and Failed SMS Verifications

Free VPNs have gained quite a bad reputation for traffic of very low quality.

Since these services are free and anyone can actually get them, therefore botters, spammers take advantage of them. So, the IP addresses that belong to free VPN providers are under constant scrutiny from cybersecurity businesses and major tech companies which result in their being rapidly added to global blacklists. If you using a free VPN while surfing the web, most probably you will come across an unending string of CAPTCHA challenges, regular access denied errors and complete blocks from all the websites.

Moreover, the biggest problem with free VPNs is that they usually cause the failure of SMS verification. So, when you are trying to register to a platform by creating an account such as a social media site, a messaging app, or an online marketplace while being logged in to a free VPN IP which has been flagged, the platform's anti-fraud mechanism will immediately identify the connection as risky. To avoid bot accounts, these platforms may very well decide to block the request without you even seeing this action. You get the message on the front-end saying that an SMS verification code has been sent to you, but the reality behind the scenes is that these platforms don't even send the message to the carrier.

We see this all the time, customers say they're not getting verification codes. However most of the time, it's because the customer is using a free VPN and reusing the same browser session. Therefore, the website or app the user is attempting to register on flags their sign up or verification due to abuse on free VPN IP addresses and due to the fact the IP addresses are overused.

Our Advice?

Use a residential proxy for SMS verification, such as ProxyApp.net (our sister site). For privacy, consider a paid VPN such as Mullvad or Windscribe, both of which are no logs & court-proven. Another notable mention is IVPN. Of course, always do your own research, as this information can change at any time.

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