5 Best Free VPNs for China (That ACTUALLY Work in 2024)

ExpressVPN is one of the leading services in the VPN market. They are a trusted help for individuals in need of anonymity, security, and unblocking of content online. The service is recognized for its no-logs policy, great selection of high-speed servers, and user-friendliness. For use in China, ExpressVPN should be your first consideration.

ExpressVPN is located in the British Virgin Islands. That means the company is under a jurisdiction that does not require them to log your traffic. This way, you can actually have full privacy while surfing on a VPN server through ExpressVPN. If you live in China, this is an absolutely essential point. The Chinese authorities will be unable to work with the VPN provider’s country to access your data.

Furthermore, ExpressVPN provides a vast selection of servers worldwide. At last count, it has 3000+ servers in 160 locations. It does not have any physically stationed in China but has in the neighboring countries of Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, etc. Also, its worldwide coverage means that you can connect to any location from China. This provider is safe, reliable and amazing when it comes to being useful for China.

Finally, user-friendliness is certainly important with VPN services. After all, not everyone is familiar with the technology behind masking your current IP and routing your traffic through a different server. However, ExpressVPN makes it easy. You can connect with simply just one click. If you ever have any questions, ExpressVPN also offers 24/7 customer support. In our test for paid VPNs for China, ExpressVPN also ranked first.

NordVPN pretty much falls into the same category as ExpressVPN. They reign on the top of the market, and few services can compete with them. The company that was founded in the Nordic areas, but has since moved to sunny Panama, offers a great VPN service that will certainly help you greatly. You can trust its excellent features to ferry you across China’s encryptions with no hassle at all.

NordVPN has stellar security features which makes sure that not only do you stay safe but that you stay safe from the Chinese authorities. Thus, you find the AES 256-bit encryption model on the platform. It also supports excellent protocols, including its proprietary creation known as NordLynx. Its obfuscated servers scramble your connection, making you undetectable to even the watchful eyes of the Chinese. More so, it offers dedicated IP addresses for a small fee. Dedicated IP addresses have unique features, separating them from regular identifiable VPN-provided ones. This is also necessary for accessing high-surveillance places like China.

As mentioned, NordVPN is located in Panama. This is of great significance because Panama is located outside of both European and U.S. jurisdiction. In addition, NordVPN’s no-logs policy is top-notch. It has even been verified by independent auditors. You can rest assured that the Chinese authorities will not chance upon your cache of information as this provider retains none.

Furthermore, this VPN service provides servers in pretty much every country one could think of. Its server count stands at about 5000 in 59 countries, including Chinese neighbors like Taiwan and Hong Kong. With such a wide variety of servers, NordVPN helps you essentially to open up the Internet. Even while in China, VPN keeps you updated with content available in various other countries.

NordVPN is easy to install and use. It has compatible apps for various devices and lets you connect 6 at a time. If you encounter challenges while using this service in China, you can contact the customer service personnel available. They will guide you to the best servers and features you can rely on for undetected use of the internet in China.

Tunnelbear provides both free VPN services and paid subscriptions. The free version comes with many perks, as well as some limitations that are to be expected with free VPN services. Anyways, Tunnelbear is a serious competitor in the market, and since McAfee just recently acquired the service, more is to be expected. Specifically for use in China, Tunnelbear is as reliable as can be.

Much like most other free VPN services, Tunnelbear has a limitation on monthly data usage. Their limitation is 500MB of data per month. After you reach this limit, you will have to get a paid subscription. In the big picture, 500MB is not a whole lot of data, although this perception of course also relies on your normal usage.

Unlike many free providers, Tunnelbear does not compromise your security even when you use the free version. This is the reason you can unblock China from that location. Tunnelbear has a feature known as Ghostbear. Ghostbear works with an obfuscation process referred to as Obfsproxy to obfuscate your network and disguise the fact that you are using a VPN. That way, the authorities do not clock in on you. Furthermore, this provider has servers in Hong Kong. Since this is a neighboring country to China, it offers you close access to the region even if Tunnelbear has no servers in China currently.

On the brighter side, the service is extremely easy to use. It takes on the popular map interface, where you simply click on a country on the map to connect with an IP address in the respective country. This process only takes a few seconds, and there is no need to change any settings or configurations.

Note: You may want to download the app before you touchdown in China. It is a lot easier if the VPN is already operational before you get into the country.

ProtonVPN is another recognized VPN service with both a free option and several paid subscriptions available. The service differentiates itself from many other free VPN services due to the quality of its unpaid plan. Their greatest perk is undoubtedly the amount of data you can use through their program. We have no qualms recommending ProtonVPN for use while you are in China.

Data is actually unlimited at ProtonVPN, meaning you will not need to upgrade once you have hit a certain limit, which is usually the case with free VPN services. This also means that while you stream or download content from China, you need not worry about exceeding your limit. Furthermore, there are no speed limits. Hence, you can unblock Chinese blocks at breakneck speed.

ProtonVPN is lauded as the best free VPN service, and for good reasons, too. Its free service gives access to 3 countries, including Japan, an Asian country with some similar offerings as China. Thus from China, you can connect to this Japanese server for unhindered internet access. Furthermore, free users get excellent security protection using the Standard of the Swiss authorities. Switzerland is noted for its commitment to privacy; hence, it is unlikely that the country will acquiesce to any data-sharing request from China.

Generally, ProtonVPN provides guidance on how to bypass the Great Firewall of China while using the VPN. It suggests using a Tor bridge for this purpose. Understandably, priority is given to paid subscribers. However, this provider does not throw you under the bus. If you need a VPN to access the Chinese internet space with, ProtonVPN is as good as any.

Hide.me is a modest service provider. Its paid plan is pretty decent. You get access to amazing features. In addition, its free plan is one of the best in the industry. There are no strings attached and no downsides whatsoever. To blaze through the restrictions employed by the Chinese authorities, we have no qualms recommending this provider.

This service provider has a totally free version. It requires just your email address to sign up and use the free version. This is great because the Chinese authorities will be unable to verify your identity when you use this service.

Furthermore, you get 10GB of data per month, connect one device to the free plan and freedom from ads while at it. Your security will not be compromised as the AES 256-bit encryption secures your data. It also maintains a strict no-logs policy. Even if anyone can manage to hack the VPN’s servers, there will be nothing incriminating about you there.

With this option, you have access to 5 servers in Germany, the United States, the Netherlands and Canada. Thus, from China, you can connect to any of these locations to access platforms blocked in Japan. For instance, connecting to a VPN server in these locations makes available Facebook, Whatsapp, Netflix, Chrome, and a host of others.

Hide.me is transparent about its efficacy in China. It mentions expressly that due to the Great Firewall of China, its services may not always be reliable. This sort of transparency is actually commendable. It helps you parse your expectations and know if you want to go along with the service.

In addition, the service provider shares tips on steps to take when you run into challenges when using their VPN service in Japan. These include switching DNS servers on the platform and also changing VPN protocols. The provider provides elaborate steps users can take in each situation, depending on the device you use. If the steps do not work, you then have the option of reaching out to the provider’s customer support system to have the issue resolved.

As a final option in the selection of determining the best free VPN for China, we find Trust.Zone. This free VPN service helps you effectively hide your online activity from third parties, your ISP, and even the government. Trust.Zone is free for 3 days. This may not be as comparable as ProtonVPN’s unlimited offer. However, if you are making a quick trip to China, this provider will be more than reliable for accessing the internet unhindered.

In addition to the 3 days you get, you also can use up to 1GB of data on the platform. 156 locations are available to you, although you can only connect one device per time. Generally, Trust.Zone is a great free provider to use for a short while. In addition, for a free provider, it does reliably well for Chinese users.

Trust.Zone is firm about its capabilities in China. To use the service excellently in the region, you have to download the latest version of the app, choose a nearby server (such as one in Hong Kong, and switch your VPN port to 443, 33 or 22. You may also want to enable DNS leak protection to secure your traffic the entire time you are in the country. Even when you experience difficulties, you can always reach out to the provider’s customer care agents to have the issue resolved immediately.

If you need a good-enough free VPN for China, you can try out Trust.Zone.