Planet Free VPN is a one-tap Android client that has picked up around 50 million installs. The free tier keeps six locations across five countries live with no registration, no card, and no bandwidth cap. That is a wide door for anyone who just wants an encrypted tunnel over hotel Wi-Fi. The catch is the same one every free VPN carries: the free plan is limited to a handful of servers, the app is ad-supported, and the operator is a small Romanian company with no independent audit on the record.
For unblocking a video the trade is fine. For sending a bank one-time password over a coffee shop network, the seven Planet VPN alternatives below cover the same one-tap ease with privacy claims a stranger can verify.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Audited | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton VPN | Audited free with unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited, 5 countries | Yes | Yes |
| Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP | Fastest everyday encryption | Unlimited, no account | Partial | Partial |
| Windscribe | Free tier with real features | 10 GB per month | Yes | Yes (clients) |
| Mullvad VPN | Anonymous account model | Trial only | Yes | Yes |
| TunnelBear | Friendliest UX for newcomers | 2 GB per month | Yes | No |
| Psiphon Pro | Networks that block VPN traffic | Unlimited, ad-supported | No | Yes |
| HMA VPN | Familiar consumer brand | Trial only | Yes | No |
Why people switch from Planet VPN
- Six locations on the free plan. The free tier lists USA, UK, France, Netherlands, and Germany. Anything outside that pool needs the paid subscription, and the free servers get crowded at European peak hours.
- Ads inside a privacy tool. The free client is monetised through interstitial ads and rewarded videos. That is the price of free, but the ad SDK sits inside the same app that terminates the tunnel.
- No public audit. The site advertises a strict no-log policy and Romanian jurisdiction. Both are reasonable claims, but there is no third-party audit or warrant canary to back them.
- Kill switch and app filter are premium-only. Two features most competitors ship on the free tier are gated behind the paid plan.
- Speed variance. Reviewers on Reddit and the Play Store repeatedly note that speeds swing widely between sessions, especially on the US and Netherlands servers.
Which Planet VPN alternative should you pick?
- Proton VPN for an audited free tier that does not throttle.
- Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP for the fastest set-and-forget option.
- Windscribe for a free tier with port forwarding and DNS-level ad blocking.
- Mullvad VPN when the account trail itself is the concern.
- TunnelBear when the interface has to feel friendly.
- Psiphon Pro when the network actively blocks VPN traffic.
- HMA VPN when a familiar consumer brand matters more than open source.
1. Proton VPN, audited free that does not throttle
Proton VPN is the reference free-tier VPN in 2026. The free plan is unlimited on servers in five countries, the Android client is open source on GitHub, and the Swiss operator publishes an annual transparency report and a warrant canary. Compared to Planet VPN, Proton VPN vs Planet VPN comes down to who has done the audit work, and Proton has.
Where it falls short: the Stealth protocol that disguises VPN traffic as regular HTTPS is paid-only. Free-tier servers get busy at European peak hours.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited bandwidth, 5 countries, one device
- Paid: from around €4 per month for 100+ countries, 10 devices, Stealth, and Secure Core
- vs Planet VPN: comparable free ceiling on paper, but Proton adds the audit and open-source clients Planet does not
Migrating from Planet VPN: sign up with any email, install, connect. No card required on the free plan. Nothing to import — VPNs do not carry state.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the default upgrade for anyone who wants a free VPN with an audit behind the marketing.
2. Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP, fastest everyday encryption
WARP is a free proxy-style VPN built on top of Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver. No account, no bandwidth cap, no email. It encrypts traffic between the phone and the nearest Cloudflare edge, which is usually a few milliseconds away. That keeps the speed penalty most VPNs impose smaller here than anywhere else in this list. Cloudflare vs Planet VPN is a simpler comparison than most: WARP is faster and simpler, Planet lets you pick the exit country.
Where it falls short: WARP is not built for circumvention or region-shifting. Streaming services detect it. There is no exit-country picker on the free plan.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited bandwidth, no account required
- Paid: WARP+ from around $5 per month adds Argo-routed paths and priority
- vs Planet VPN: cheaper (free forever) and faster, but no country picker
Migrating from Planet VPN: install, tap connect. Turn on 1.1.1.1 for Families if you want ad blocking or SafeSearch alongside encryption.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the fastest free option when the goal is encryption, not region shifting.
3. Windscribe, free tier with real features
Windscribe hands out 10 GB per month on the free tier, and unlike most free plans it includes port forwarding, split-tunneling, and R.O.B.E.R.T., a DNS-level ad and tracker blocker. The Canadian operator has been audited, the Android client is open source, and the account model does not force a phone number.
Where it falls short: 10 GB per month is thin if you route video through the tunnel. Some free locations are congested at peak hours.
Pricing:
- Free: 10 GB per month, 11 countries
- Paid: from $5.75 per month unlimited, or Build A Plan from $1 per location per month
- vs Planet VPN: a cap on data instead of a cap on countries, plus features free plans usually gate
Migrating from Planet VPN: create an account with an email (no card), install, connect. Enable R.O.B.E.R.T. from the web dashboard to add ad blocking.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the best free tier for people who want the features paid plans usually gate.
4. Mullvad VPN, anonymous account model
Mullvad does not ask for an email address. You get a random 16-digit account number and pay with card, crypto, cash by post, or vouchers. The Android client is open source, the codebase and infrastructure have been audited multiple times, and the Swedish operator has resisted several government requests for user data because there was no user data on file. Mullvad vs Planet VPN is about who keeps records at all: Mullvad's answer is nobody.
Where it falls short: flat €5 per month is more than most entry prices, and there is no free tier beyond a short trial. Streaming unblocking is not a design goal.
Pricing:
- Free: no free tier, only a limited trial
- Paid: €5 per month, one tier, no annual discount by design
- vs Planet VPN: pricier at the entry point, but no email, no data, no logs
Migrating from Planet VPN: generate an account number, add credit, install, connect. Store the account number somewhere safe because there is no email-based recovery.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the right pick when the account trail is the concern, not just the traffic.
5. TunnelBear, friendliest UX for newcomers
TunnelBear is the VPN people recommend to a relative who has never used one. The interface uses map pins and bear cartoons, connecting takes one tap, and error states explain themselves without networking jargon. The Canadian operator (now owned by McAfee) commissioned public audits from Cure53 for six consecutive years, which is still one of the longest audit records in the category. TunnelBear vs Planet VPN swaps the ad-supported free plan for a data-capped one with a cleaner surface.
Where it falls short: 2 GB per month on the free plan is genuinely tiny. The clients are not open source. Speeds are middle of the pack, not top.
Pricing:
- Free: 2 GB per month
- Paid: around $3.33 per month on the three-year plan, unlimited
- vs Planet VPN: less generous data cap, but audits and a cleaner UX
Migrating from Planet VPN: sign up with an email, install, tap a country pin. VigilantBear inside the settings is the equivalent of Planet's kill switch.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the friendliest onboarding for anyone who found Planet VPN confusing.
6. Psiphon Pro, networks that block VPN traffic
Psiphon started as a censorship-circumvention tool at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and it still shows in the architecture. The Android client runs several tunneling protocols in parallel and automatically switches when one gets blocked. Unlimited bandwidth on the free tier, an open-source client, and a track record of working through active network blocks. Psiphon Pro vs Planet VPN is not really a privacy comparison, it is a "does the tunnel come up at all" comparison.
Where it falls short: Psiphon does not publish a formal audit. The free tier is ad-supported and speed-capped on some routes. It is not designed for streaming.
Pricing:
- Free: unlimited bandwidth, ad-supported, speed-limited
- Paid: around $3 per month removes ads and raises speed caps
- vs Planet VPN: the free plan lets you push more data, but the interface is spartan
Migrating from Planet VPN: install, tap connect. If the default protocol is blocked, Psiphon rotates through others without asking.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the one to keep on the phone as a backup when a regular VPN cannot get out.
7. HMA VPN, familiar consumer brand
HMA (formerly HideMyAss) is a long-running consumer VPN now owned by Gen Digital, the same parent company as Norton and Avast. Wide server footprint (210+ countries, more than any other name on this list), an Avira-backed no-log audit from 2022, and a client that supports IKEv2 and OpenVPN out of the box. HMA vs Planet VPN trades Planet's no-registration free tier for a paid plan with a much longer country list.
Where it falls short: no free tier, only a seven-day trial. Historical baggage: HMA handed over logs in a well-known case in 2011, before the current no-log policy. The Android client is not open source.
Pricing:
- Free: no, seven-day trial
- Paid: from around $2.99 per month on a longer commit, unlimited
- vs Planet VPN: no free plan, but far more countries when you do pay
Migrating from Planet VPN: start the trial, install, connect. HMA's IP Shuffle option rotates the exit IP on a schedule, which Planet does not offer.
Download: Aptoide · Google Play
Bottom line: the safest pick when a familiar consumer brand matters more than an open-source client.
How to choose
Pick Proton VPN if the free tier has to hold up under a full audit and unlimited bandwidth. It is the closest replacement for what Planet VPN promises on paper, with the paperwork to back it.
Pick Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP if speed matters more than country picking. The rest of this list will slow the phone down; WARP usually will not.
Pick Windscribe if the free 10 GB is enough and you want features like split-tunneling and DNS-level ad blocking that most competitors gate behind paid plans.
Pick Mullvad if the account itself is the thing you are hiding. No email, no card if you pay in cash, no state to hand over.
Pick TunnelBear if the person who has to use this VPN is not you and does not want a settings screen. The 2 GB cap makes it a top-up VPN, not an all-day one.
Pick Psiphon Pro if the network at school, work, or in your country actively blocks VPN traffic. Keep it installed as a fallback even if Proton is your daily driver.
Pick HMA VPN if you want a name that has been around for a decade and a country list longer than the alternatives can offer.
Stay on Planet Free VPN if the goal is truly "encrypt the airport Wi-Fi for an hour" and nothing more. It works, the free tier really is free, and the alternatives above only matter once the threat model gets more specific.
FAQ
Is Proton VPN better than Planet VPN?
For most privacy-minded users, yes. Proton VPN publishes independent audits, ships open-source clients on all platforms, and gives away unlimited bandwidth on the free tier where Planet caps free users to six locations. Planet VPN keeps the edge on speed of first setup — no signup at all — but that is the only category where it lands ahead.
Can I get a free VPN with unlimited bandwidth on Android?
Yes. Proton VPN, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP, and Psiphon Pro all offer unlimited bandwidth on their free plans. Windscribe caps at 10 GB per month, and TunnelBear at 2 GB. Anything that promises unlimited bandwidth and unlimited exit countries on a free plan without ads is usually monetising through a data broker instead — check the audit and the parent company before installing.
Is Planet VPN safe to use?
Planet VPN's traffic is encrypted with standard protocols and the operator is registered in Romania, outside the 14-eyes intelligence sharing agreements. There is no public third-party audit, however, and the free tier is monetised through ads inside the same client that runs the tunnel. Treat it as fine for casual encryption and skip it for sensitive accounts.
Which VPN has no ads on Android?
Proton VPN, Mullvad, and Cloudflare WARP have no ads on their free or trial plans. Windscribe and TunnelBear also run ad-free. Psiphon Pro shows ads on the free tier only. Planet VPN and most other one-tap free VPN clients monetise through ads inside the app.
What is the cheapest Planet VPN alternative?
On the free tier, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 + WARP costs nothing and does not need an account. On paid plans, HMA VPN and Windscribe on multi-year commits both dip below $3 per month. Mullvad's flat €5 per month is more expensive per month but does not require a long commitment.
Do I need to uninstall Planet VPN before switching?
No, but two Android VPN clients cannot hold the VPN slot at the same time. When you connect one, the other disconnects. If disk space is tight, uninstall Planet VPN after confirming the new client works — VPNs do not carry state between apps, so nothing is lost.
