GnuVPN opens with a genuinely useful pitch: seven days of unlimited traffic on install, no signup, no card, plus an AmneziaWG build that keeps working on networks that block plain WireGuard. Once the trial expires the free plan collapses to 3 GB a month. That is enough to browse and send messages, not enough to stream, back up photos, or leave the VPN on all day. Anyone using GnuVPN for more than casual traffic hits the wall in a week and starts looking for GnuVPN alternatives.
The seven apps below solve the same problem in different ways. Some give you a bigger free monthly allowance, some run unlimited free traffic, some charge a flat monthly rate with an audited no-logs policy. We focused on Android VPN apps that survive on restrictive networks and match GnuVPN’s bypass-first pitch.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | Unlimited free traffic | Unlimited bandwidth, 5 free countries | Plus $4.99/mo annual | Audited no-logs, Swiss law |
| Windscribe | Generous free tier | 10 GB/mo, 10 free countries | Pro $5.75/mo, Build-a-Plan $1/location | Per-account server picking |
| Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP | Always-on encryption | Unlimited, no account | WARP+ $4.99/mo annual | Cloudflare backbone speed |
| Mullvad VPN | Anonymous flat pricing | None | €5/mo flat | Account numbers, no email |
| TunnelBear VPN | Beginner-friendly setup | 2 GB/mo, 47 countries | Unlimited $3.33/mo annual | Independent yearly audits |
| hide.me VPN | No-signup free tier | 10 GB/mo, 8 locations | Premium $4.99/mo annual | Multi-hop on paid plan |
| Psiphon Pro | Blocked networks | Unlimited with ads | Premium $3.99/mo | Multi-protocol censorship bypass |
Why people leave GnuVPN
The 3 GB monthly cap is the main friction. It resets, which is honest, but 3 GB gets you a few dozen news pages, a short video call, or roughly forty minutes of standard-quality streaming. Users on Reddit describe hitting the limit within a couple of days and being pushed to the paid tier or a second free VPN.
The pricing structure is unclear inside the app. The store listing lists in-app purchases but does not print a public monthly rate. Comparing GnuVPN against a $4.99 Proton VPN Plus plan or a €5 flat Mullvad plan requires opening the checkout flow, which most users skip.
The no-logs claim is not independently audited. GnuVPN mentions the MASA Level 2 mobile security certification, which is a genuine baseline for how the app handles data on the device. It is not the same as a third-party audit of the server-side logging policy, which Proton VPN, Mullvad, TunnelBear, and hide.me publish.
The company footprint is small. GnuVPN runs a working service with 100 plus servers, but there is limited public information about who runs it, where the company is registered, and how it responds to legal requests. Users choosing a VPN for censorship or activism reasons weigh this heavily.
The travel eSIM upsell is not a VPN feature. It is a separate product bundled into the app. For users who only want a VPN, the extra surface adds account friction and support-page confusion.
The alternatives
Proton VPN, best for unlimited free traffic
Proton VPN ships the most generous free tier on the Play Store. Unlimited bandwidth, five free server countries, an audited no-logs policy, an open-source Android client, and a Swiss jurisdiction with strong privacy law. The paid tier adds Secure Core routing, Tor over VPN, and a Stealth protocol that behaves like AmneziaWG on restrictive networks.
Where it falls short: the free server list is small, and evening peak hours slow down. Streaming servers are gated to the paid plan.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited bandwidth, five countries, one device.
- Paid: VPN Plus $4.99 a month annual, Proton Unlimited $9.99 a month annual.
- vs GnuVPN: no monthly cap on the free tier, published audits, and a flat annual price you can compare on the checkout page.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install Proton VPN, register a free account, uninstall GnuVPN. If you paid GnuVPN, cancel the subscription in Google Play Subscriptions.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this as the default replacement. It is the free VPN GnuVPN’s free tier wants to be.
Windscribe, best for the largest usable free tier
Windscribe gives 10 GB a month free once you confirm your email, up from 2 GB anonymous. Ten free server countries, no session limits, and the free plan handles moderate streaming without begging you to upgrade. The Build-a-Plan option on the paid tier lets you buy individual server locations for a dollar a month each, which beats the flat subscriptions if you only need one country.
Where it falls short: the desktop client is heavier than the phone app, and the free servers can be flaky at peak times.
Pricing:
- Free: 10 GB a month, 10 countries.
- Paid: Pro $5.75 a month annual, Build-a-Plan $1 per location per month.
- vs GnuVPN: more than triple the monthly free traffic, and a paid plan you can size to your actual usage.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install Windscribe, sign up with an email, confirm to unlock the 10 GB.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if you want a free tier you can actually leave on.
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP, best for always-on encryption
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP is not a traditional VPN. It routes your traffic through Cloudflare’s network, encrypts the last mile, and does not change your visible country. That is enough to defeat ISP snooping, block DNS-level ad networks, and speed up a lot of everyday browsing on flaky mobile connections.
Where it falls short: it does not bypass geographic restrictions, it does not let you pick a server country, and it is not a good pick for streaming region-locked content.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited traffic, no account, no signup.
- Paid: WARP+ $4.99 a month annual for the faster tier.
- vs GnuVPN: unlimited encrypted traffic on the free tier, on a network Cloudflare already runs at global scale.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install 1.1.1.1, tap Connect. There is no account to move.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if you want privacy from your ISP and public Wi-Fi without touching a server list.
Mullvad VPN, best for anonymous flat pricing
Mullvad VPN does not use email accounts. You generate an anonymous account number, pay €5 a month by card, PayPal, or crypto, and connect. The no-logs policy has been independently audited more than once, and Mullvad publishes annual transparency reports.
Where it falls short: no free tier, no streaming optimisation, and the server list is deliberately small. It will not unblock every geo-restricted service.
Pricing:
- Free: none.
- Paid: €5 a month flat, no annual discount and no marketing pricing games.
- vs GnuVPN: no ambiguous free tier and no upsell path. You pay €5 or you don’t.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install Mullvad, generate an account number on the app, top up with any payment method.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if you value the privacy story and can afford a paid plan.
TunnelBear VPN, best for beginner-friendly setup
TunnelBear VPN wraps a serious backend in a cartoon interface, which is either charming or annoying depending on the day. Under the mascots is a real product: an independently audited no-logs policy, a working GhostBear bypass mode for restrictive networks, and a small free plan that resets every month.
Where it falls short: the 2 GB free monthly quota is smaller than Windscribe or hide.me. Server picking is a map interface, which is cute but slower than a search box.
Pricing:
- Free: 2 GB a month, 47 countries.
- Paid: Unlimited $3.33 a month annual (typical promotional pricing).
- vs GnuVPN: a smaller free tier but a real yearly audit and a cheaper flat annual plan.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install TunnelBear, register with an email, pick a country from the map.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if the interface is what stopped you settling on a VPN before.
hide.me VPN, best for no-signup free tier
hide.me VPN gives you 10 GB a month on the free tier without asking for an email, which is unusual and useful for users who don’t want another account. Multi-hop routing is a paid feature and the client supports WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.
Where it falls short: the free server list is limited to 8 locations, and peak-hour speeds on the free tier drop noticeably.
Pricing:
- Free: 10 GB a month, 8 locations, no signup.
- Paid: Premium $4.99 a month annual.
- vs GnuVPN: same monthly bracket but the free tier is more than triple the traffic and works without an account.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install hide.me, open the app, start using it. No account required for the free plan.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if you want a free VPN without another signup form.
Psiphon Pro, best for blocked networks
Psiphon Pro is a censorship-circumvention tool with a VPN mode bolted on rather than the other way around. It uses SSH, HTTP, and obfuscated tunnels together with server hopping, which is what you want when a network is actively fighting your VPN connection. The free tier is unlimited and ad-supported.
Where it falls short: the free tier is capped in speed, the ads are unavoidable without upgrading, and the paid plan is a straight speed unlock rather than a full VPN feature set.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited traffic with ads and speed caps.
- Paid: Premium $3.99 a month.
- vs GnuVPN: unlimited free traffic, but ads and slower speeds.
Migrating from GnuVPN: install Psiphon Pro, tap Start. No account required on the free tier.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: pick this if a plain VPN keeps getting blocked and you need a tool built for that fight.
How to choose
Pick Proton VPN if you want a flat annual price, a real audit, and a free tier you can leave on without checking a data counter. It is the closest thing to a straight upgrade over GnuVPN for most users.
Pick Windscribe if 3 GB was the only thing wrong with GnuVPN and you want a bigger monthly allowance without changing your habits.
Pick Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP if you only want ISP-level privacy and speed on mobile data. Skip it if you need to pick a country.
Pick Mullvad if the privacy story matters more than the free tier and you are willing to pay €5 a month.
Pick hide.me if signing up with an email is what stopped you sticking with a VPN before.
Pick Psiphon if you sit behind a network that actively blocks VPNs and everything else stops connecting.
Stay on GnuVPN if the seven-day unlimited trial is your recurring use case: install, use for a week of travel, uninstall, reinstall next trip. Its AmneziaWG protocol is also a legitimate reason to keep it around as a backup on restrictive networks.
FAQ
Is Proton VPN better than GnuVPN?
For most users, yes. Proton VPN has an audited no-logs policy, an open-source Android client, and an unlimited free tier with no monthly cap. GnuVPN’s free plan gives you seven days of unlimited traffic then drops to 3 GB a month. The paid plans are priced comparably.
Can I import my GnuVPN account into another VPN?
No. VPN accounts are non-transferable across providers. Cancel your GnuVPN subscription in Google Play Subscriptions, install the new VPN, and register a fresh account.
What is the cheapest GnuVPN alternative?
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP is free forever with unlimited traffic and no account. It is not a traditional VPN, so it does not let you pick a country, but for encrypted browsing and DNS privacy it is the cheapest working option. Among traditional VPNs, TunnelBear’s promotional annual pricing at around $3.33 a month is the lowest paid tier.
Is there a free VPN with more than 3 GB a month?
Yes. Windscribe gives 10 GB a month once you confirm your email, and hide.me gives 10 GB with no signup. Proton VPN’s free tier has no monthly cap at all.
What do people use instead of GnuVPN on restrictive networks?
Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol and Psiphon Pro are the two most common picks. Stealth mode disguises VPN traffic as regular HTTPS, and Psiphon rotates between SSH, HTTP, and obfuscated tunnels until one gets through. Both work in situations where plain WireGuard or OpenVPN fails.
Do these alternatives work on the same devices as GnuVPN?
All seven have Android clients on both Aptoide and Google Play, and every one except Psiphon Pro also ships iOS, Windows, and macOS clients. Mullvad and Proton VPN cover Linux as well.
