The Best Free Italy VPN in 2024
Free VPNs can potentially infect your computer with malware and ransomware and are generally slow. A few services are exceptions to this rule. If you need a free Italy VPN, read this guide to learn about your five best options.
Written by Arjun Ruparelia (Writer)
Reviewed by Sandra Pattison (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Vildana Bratic (Video Editor, Fact-Checking Editor)
Last Updated: 2024-09-30T21:02:54+00:00
All our content is written fully by humans; we do not publish AI writing. Learn more here.
Key Takeaways: Read more
- PrivadoVPN — Fast, secure and beginner-friendly Italy VPN
- Hide.me — Access to almost all features on the free plan
- TunnelBear — Offers over 40 servers on the free plan, including Italian servers
- Proton VPN — Unlimited data on the free plan, but random server selection
- Windscribe — Feature-rich VPN with excellent speed
Key Facts and Expert Analysis:
- If you want to access another country’s content library on streaming sites like Netflix or want to secure your connection when surfing the Italian web, you need a VPN.
- A quality VPN encrypts your connection, making it practically impossible to read your internet traffic. Free VPNs aren’t the best choice, but if you’re on a budget, you have options.
- PrivadoVPN is the best free VPN for Italy thanks to its generous server network, fast speeds and excellent security. TunnelBear is ideal for an Italian IP because it offers free Italian servers. We also mention three more services worth considering.
Italy’s internet is rated as “free” by Freedom House in the Freedom on the Net Report 2021. However, a few Italian laws can put your freedom in jeopardy. A VPN can help protect your freedom, and you don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune. In this guide, we help you pick the best free Italy VPN.
There are various reasons you might consider using a VPN in Italy. For example, defamation or aggravated defamation are punishable offenses with prison terms between six months and three years. Also, civil libel suits against Italian journalists, public officials and politicians have occurred in the past.
Even if you’re not too concerned about financial data or posting defamatory content, you might need to use a public WiFi network at some point. When you do, you run the risk of someone stealing your data. A VPN can protect you against any threats on the Italian web. Below, we help you pick the best free Italy VPN, so you can protect yourself online at no cost.
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06/10/2024 Facts checked
We updated the rankings on this list based on changes to Proton VPN’s free plan.
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10/01/2024
We updated the list to reflect the latest advancements in VPN technology and usability.
Top Free VPNs for Italy
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- : PayPal, Credit card, Coinbase, SEPA, Discover
- : 10
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- 2
- : PayPal, Credit card, bitcoin
- : 10
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- 3
- : Credit card
- : Unlimited
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- 4
- : PayPal, Credit card, Bitcoin, cash
- : 10
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- 5
- : PayPal, Credit card
- : Unlimited
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Average speedDownload Speed90 MbpsUpload Speed9 MbpsLatency2 ms
What Makes the Best Free Italy VPN?
The best free VPN for Italy is one that secures your connection and delivers good performance. Most free VPNs can’t outperform or even match their paid competitors. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. We found and shared five free VPNs in this guide that offer excellent security and performance.
Achieve Online Privacy and Security Even as a VPN Novice
- Comprehend the essential role a VPN plays in safeguarding your digital life
- Gain a deep understanding of how VPNs function under the hood
- Develop the ability to distinguish fact from fiction in VPN promotions
Before we discuss what each of these VPNs does well, let’s talk about a few general features you should look for when selecting a VPN.
Security & Privacy
Security and privacy are generally the most important features of a VPN. Most free VPNs lack the security features common to a premium VPN — see our list of most secure VPNs if security is your top priority.
However, the best free VPNs can secure your connection, ensuring that no one can intercept your internet traffic. For that, you need a VPN that offers secure encryption protocols.
The current standard is OpenVPN combined with the AES-256 cipher, but the lightweight WireGuard and ChaCha20 is an excellent combination too. In addition to security, you should also look for a strict no-logs policy.
Connection Speed
Slow connection speed is a recipe for a terrible browsing experience. The websites will take forever to load and you’ll frequently find yourself waiting for video content to buffer. All VPNs slow down your speed — except in cases where your ISP is throttling your bandwidth. That’s why you should select a VPN that can keep this reduction in speed to a minimum.
Ability to Get Past Geoblocks
In addition to security, you can also use VPNs to get past geoblocks. For example, if you want to access Netflix U.S. from Italy, you’ll need a VPN that has a U.S. server, so you can acquire a U.S. IP address. server.
The problem? Having a U.S. server doesn’t guarantee access to Netflix U.S. and that’s why you need to determine whether a VPN can effectively bypass geoblocks.
Streaming services like Netflix actively ban VPN usage. The same goes for other streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and BBC iPlayer. The only way to find out if a VPN can bypass geoblocks on these websites is to test them. We did the legwork for you and have included free VPN services that can bypass geoblocks on these websites.
Free Italian Servers
Only a handful of free VPNs offer Italian servers. The best free VPN if you want an Italian server is TunnelBear. However, you don’t necessarily need Italian servers — except in a few specific cases — if you already have access to Italian content.
You might need Italian servers to secure your connection when accessing Italian services that are geoblocked outside of Italy. For example, if your banking website doesn’t allow anyone outside of an Italy location to log in, you’ll need an Italian IP address to log in. Read our guide on how to get an Italy IP address.
Free VPNs vs Paid VPNs vs Proxies
Proxies and VPNs are often, though not always, used for similar purposes. For example, both can help you unblock geoblocked websites. However, they differ in various aspects, including effectiveness and performance.
Proxies are generally less effective than VPNs, especially when unblocking websites like Netflix. They also don’t encrypt your connection like a VPN.
VPNs are an excellent tool for securing your connection. An encrypted VPN connection ensures that your data can’t be intercepted by anyone, including the VPN provider. Paid VPNs typically offer better security and performance compared to free VPNs. The best paid VPNs include NordVPN and Surfshark.
We generally don’t recommend free VPNs because they can be dangerous — see our list of the worst VPNs. However, free VPNs like Windscribe and TunnelBear come close in terms of effectiveness and performance to paid VPNs, though with a few restrictions on features.
5 Best Free Italy VPN Choices
Below are five of the best free VPNs for Italy based on their security, performance and feature set, as discussed in the previous section.
1. PrivadoVPN
PrivadoVPN offers one of the most generous data allowances on the free plan. You get 10GB free data each month and access to servers in ten countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
PrivadoVPN is beginner-friendly, thanks to its detailed yet compact interface. Its interface is well-designed and all the options are easy to find. Connecting to a server is also easy and fast.
You also get excellent security thanks to encryption with protocols like OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard alongside AES-256 and ChaCha 20. PrivadoVPN also sticks to a strict no-logs policy.
However, Italian servers aren’t included in the free plan so PrivadoVPN can’t help you get an Italian IP address. You can learn more in our PrivadoVPN review.
Great Streaming Performance
PrivadoVPN is one of the fastest free VPN services. It delivers a decent streaming experience unless you’re streaming in 4K. The service effectively bypasses geoblocks on popular streaming websites like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu, which means you’ll always have access to your favorite content with PrivadoVPN.
PrivadoVPN’s paid plans don’t come cheap. The best value plan is its one-year plan that costs $2.99 per month. The 10 simultaneous connections can help alleviate your per-user cost if you have a few friends looking for a VPN service too. You can also try PrivadoVPN using its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- 10GB
- 1
- *Billed $44.85 for the first 15 months, then $59.88 every 12 months. *Billed $53.73 for the first 27 months, then $95.76 every 24 months.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
2. hide.me
hide.me’s most attractive feature is that it offers unlimited data even on the free plan. However, there is a caveat. Once you use up 10GB of data, you lose the ability to select a server.
hide.me selects a server at random from one of the free servers located in Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, U.K. and the U.S. Note that since there are no Italian servers, you can’t get an Italian IP address using hide.me.
Another great thing about hide.me is that you can access almost all features on its VPN app except for the lab features. With hide.me, you get all VPN protocols you’ll want from a standard service, including OpenVPN, IKEv2 and hide.me’s proprietary SoftEther VPN.
However, WireGuard is only available with an upgrade. Learn more about what this free VPN service offers in our Hide.me review.
Fallback Protocol
Hide.me offers a feature called fallback protocol where you can select a backup protocol. If your VPN protocol fails when you’re using the VPN, the fallback protocol takes over to ensure your connection remains secure. For example, if you’ve selected OpenVPN as your fallback protocol and your current protocol (say, SoftEther VPN) fails, OpenVPN takes over.
hide.me is fairly inexpensive if you ever want to upgrade. The best value plan costs only $3.75 per month. It lets you access all the features and gives you the option to select a server location, even beyond 10GB per month. Also, you can try hide.me risk-free before committing, using its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- 5 servers
- 10GB
- 1
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
3. TunnelBear
TunnelBear is an excellent, beginner-friendly VPN with a simple interface. However, the interface isn’t bare-boned. It includes basic security features like a kill switch (aka VigilantBear) and split tunneling (aka SplitBear) — though split tunneling is available only on Android and iOS.
TunnelBear also offers a few advanced features like GhostBear to conceal the fact that you’re using a VPN. GhostBear is a helpful feature if you’re in a country like China, where most non-Chinese services are blocked.
The VPN uses the standard OpenVPN and AES-256 encryption to secure your connection and has a transparent no-logs policy. Your data is safe when using TunnelBear. However, TunnelBear has a downside.
It only offers up to 1GB of free data per month provided you tweet about TunnelBear. That’s enough for a few YouTube videos, but not if you want to binge-watch a sitcom. Learn more about TunnelBear in our TunnelBear review.
Free Servers in Over 40 Countries
TunnelBear offers free access to over 40 free servers, which is more than almost any other free service you’ll find. Free servers also include Italy, so you can use TunnelBear to acquire an Italian IP address to access Netflix Italy from abroad and secure your connection when accessing services like online banking.
TunnelBear’s best value plan costs $3.33 per month. Selecting a more advanced VPN provider like Surfshark will cost you less, but you might still consider upgrading your TunnelBear plan for its simplicity.
- 2GB
- 2GB
- Unlimited
- Unlimited GB, unlimited devices, priority customer service
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
- Unlimited GB, centralized billing, account manager, price per user per month (minimum 2 users)
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
4. Proton VPN
Proton VPN offers a great combination of security, features and user-friendliness. The interface is thorough, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing. The interface houses three encryption protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard. Proton VPN also commits to not logging any user data.
Proton VPN gets into all major streaming services, including Netflix. However, since server selection is random and you only have access to servers in five countries in the free plan — the U.S., Netherlands, Romania, Poland and Japan — it’s not a great choice for streaming unless you upgrade to a paid plan. You can’t get an Italian IP address, since there’s no free Italian server.
Unlimited Data
Proton VPN offers unlimited data on the free plan. However, you can’t choose your preferred server; Proton VPN will select it for you randomly from the five free locations available. Learn more about Proton VPN in our Proton VPN review.
Proton VPN’s best value plan costs $4.49 per month. That makes other VPN apps like NordVPN and CyberGhost cheaper. However, Proton VPN does offer an excellent interface and a rich feature set, which makes it worth the price. You can also take Proton VPN for a spin before you commit, using its 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Unlimited GB
- 1
- Yes
- Renewal prices are different after the first year for the 1-year plan, and after the second year for the 2-year plan.
- Unlimited GB
- 10
- Yes
5. Windscribe
Very Fast
Very Fast
Very Fast
Windscribe is another good free VPN service for Italy, thanks to its generous free plan, excellent feature portfolio and top-notch speed. It’s one of the fastest VPNs around and beats some premium VPNs like CyberGhost. It offers fast connection speeds, best-in-class security and the ability to bypass geoblocks effectively.
The free plan allows access to VPN servers in 10 countries, though that’s excluding Italy, meaning you won’t be able to get a local IP address. You get up to 15GB of free data per month, provided you confirm your email and tweet about Windscribe. The free version also includes partial access to Windscribe’s powerful ad-blocker called R.O.B.E.R.T.
With Windscribe, you get all the security basics, including a kill switch (called “firewall”) to protect your connection in case of unexpected drop in VPN connection and split tunneling to divide traffic between encrypted and unencrypted connections. Encryption protocols include OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard.
Great for Streaming
Windscribe unblocks all major streaming services, including Netflix. Moreover, it’s also one of the fastest VPNs around. Even on the free plan, you get top-notch speeds. Want to stream in 4K? Windscribe can handle that just fine. You won’t need to worry about buffering as much as running out of data. Learn more about its capabilities in our Windscribe review.
Windscribe offers a build-a-plan option, in which you choose only the servers you need to construct a plan that fits your budget. The minimum checkout value is $3 per month. You can add three server locations for $1 per month each, or add two server locations and unlimited data plus access to R.O.B.E.R.T (for $1 per month).
You can also access all Windscribe servers by paying for its best value plan, which costs $5.75 per month. It’s more expensive than many premium VPNs, but with Windscribe’s unlimited simultaneous connections, you could bring the cost well below many competing services by sharing the service.
- Up to 15 GB free with email confirmation and Tweet
- 15GB
- Unlimited
- Unlimited GB
- Unlimited
- Yes
How to Get an Italian IP Address Free
You can get an Italian IP address using a VPN that has an Italian server. Not many free VPNs offer an Italian server. However, TunnelBear does. If you need an Italian IP address, download TunnelBear, connect to an Italian server and that’s it.
Alternatively, you can use one of the best VPNs for better quality service. Most paid VPNs have an Italian server.
Why Do I Need an Italy VPN?
You need an Italian VPN for two purposes. First, an Italy VPN keeps you safe when surfing the Italian web. The government can’t track any activity back to you and nobody will be able to intercept your data — not even your internet service provider (ISP).
Second, you need an Italy VPN to access content that’s geoblocked in Italy. For example, if you want to watch anime on Netflix Japan, you’ll need a VPN with a Japanese server. Once you have a Japanese IP address, you’ll be able to access Netflix Japan, assuming you’re using one of the reliable VPNs.
What Are the Risks of Using a Free VPN for Italy?
Most free VPNs you’ll find with a Google search are dangerous. They can be slow, unreliable and can even infect your computer with malware and ransomware. Since they lack the security and encryption needed to secure your connection, your data may be accessible to the ISP as well as the government, which defeats the purpose of using a VPN.
Exceptions exist, of course. Using any of the five VPNs listed in this guide ensures that you’re using a reliable free VPN service that won’t harm your computer or steal your data, and will effectively secure your connection.
Final Thoughts
A free VPN can help secure your connection and access geoblocked streaming sites. Italy’s internet isn’t heavily censored and attacks on freedom of speech aren’t a common occurrence, but a few laws still warrant the use of VPN to protect your identity online.
Free VPNs are generally not a safe option, unless you’re using one of the few free VPNs from a reliable VPN provider. We recommend using one of the five services in this guide — or you can just pick PrivadoVPN, which we believe is the best free VPN for Italy. Just remember, if you need an Italian IP address, you need a VPN with Italian servers, in which case we recommend TunnelBear.
Have you used a free VPN for Italy before? Which one and how was your experience? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ
TunnelBear is a free VPN that has an Italian server.
You can find an Italian IP address for free using a free VPN that has an Italian server. TunnelBear is a reliable free service that can help you acquire an Italian IP address.