NordVPN are one of the most well known, longstanding, reliable VPN providers. People entering the VPN space as a customer might want to know if there’s a way of using or trying out NordVPN for free, without paying. Is this possible?
NordVPN is not free; an upfront payment is almost always required to access their servers, though a 7 day free trial is available for mobile Android users. They also have a 30 day money back guarantee where you can use their service effectively for free for 1 month, and then get a refund on your payment.
And that’s really the bottom line on this. NordVPN differ from other VPNs in the market in that they do not offer (and have never offered) any kind of limited free version of their service for commercial/private use. All their plans and servers have always been paid, requiring some kind of Premium subscription to use them.
There are however some minor exceptions that we’ll cover in the rest of this post. But for standard commercial/personal use, it’s not free.
Get a 7 Day Free Trial of NordVPN (Android Users)
This is something that’s buried in the FAQs section of NordVPN’s website and not heavily promoted for obvious reasons. But you can can get a 7 day free trial of NordVPN on Android mobile devices, organized through the Google Play store.
Here’s how you get this free trial:
- Go to the Google Play Store depending on your device.
- Find and download the NordVPN app
- Select the Free Trial option
- Enter your details to start using for free for 7 days (credit card details required).
- Remember to cancel before the end of the trial if you don’t want to pay.
Only one free trial is allowed per customer, to stop abuse of the offer.
How To Effectively Use NordVPN For Free For 1 Month (Upfront Payment Required)
There is a way you can effectively use NordVPN for “free” for a limited time, but you do still need to make some kind of payment and then claim it back (which I don’t really class as “free”, though most VPNs do in their marketing and SEO).
Like almost all Premium VPNs, NordVPN do offer a no questions asked 30 day money back guarantee:
Therefore, although you can’t sign up directly for a limited, free version of NordVPN, you can just pay a subscription for 1 month/6 months/12 months, and then just claim your money back within the first month if you do not like it.
Here are a few important points to note regarding this effectively “free” trial:
- No special reason is needed to claim your money back. Just contact Custom Support here and start the refund process.
- Customers are only allowed to use this 30 day money back scheme once. Repeat uses are not allowed to prevent abuse of the system.
Click here to check full Premium server list and get started with NordVPN
How To Get Free Emergency Access To NordVPN (Limited Circumstances)
There are some very limited cases where NordVPN will grant free access to their service for people that desperately need VPN access.
This can include:
- People living in countries where the internet and/or VPN use is heavily restricted and censored.
- People under targeted surveillance
- People under the threat of violence because of stated beliefs
In these cases, you can contact NordVPN here, explain your situation, and you can be granted discretionary free access to their service if it’s deemed to be an emergency.
Free NordVPN Access For Non Profits
Another more specialized circumstance is for non profit organizations, charities and other advocacy organizations. There is a scheme whereby legitimate non-profits can apply to be donated NordVPN licenses (apply here), which can be another way to get NordVPN for free if you meet the criteria.
But this is a special case, and for commercial or private use, paid subscriptions are required.
Do You Need A Credit Card To Get NordVPN?
Whilst some kind of upfront payment is required to get a NordVPN subscription, this doesn’t necessarily need to be via a debit/credit card if this is of concern, since NordVPN also accept other more anonymous methods of payment.
Here are some other methods of payment accepted alongside debit/credit cards:
- PayPal
- Google Pay
- Amazon Pay
- Union Pay
- Sofort
- Some cryptocurrencies.
- You can also buy NordVPN activation code cards from Amazon and other stores.
Basic Info On NordVPN
Here’s some rapid fire, need-to-know details on NordVPN
- Based in: Panama
- Zero logs policy – Yes
- Devices allowed – 6
- Money back guarantee – 30 days
- Server locations in 60 countries (full list here).
- Streaming support – Good
- Devices supported – all major devices
- Protocols offered – P2P, Obfuscated, Double VPN, Dedicated IP
- 1 year subscription – $4.95/month
Check current plans and pricing
Some Reputable Free VPN Services
If you’re wanting an easy, totally free (zero upfront payment) VPN, NordVPN isn’t really the way to go. But there’s quite a few other perfectly decent, legit, well functioning free VPNs you can go for.
See the table below for some good options to choose from.
| Provider | Free Server Locations | Data Limit | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProtonVPN | 3 (USA, Amsterdam, Japan) | Unlimited | See here |
| AtlasVPN | 3 (USA East, USA West, Amsterdam) | 5 GB/month | See here |
| TurboVPN | 4 (USA, Germany, Singapore, India). | Unlimited | See here |
| ZoogVPN | 5 (USA, UK, Netherlands) | 10 GB/month | See here |
| Hide.me | 5 (Netherlands, USA, Germany, UK, Canada) | 10 GB/month (random server selection) | See here |
| PrivadoVPN | 10 (USA, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand) | 10 GB/month | See here |
| Windscribe | 10 (USA, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, Denmark). | 10 GB/month | Visit site |
| Tunnelbear | 49 | 500 MB/month | Visit site |
Bottom line – ProtonVPN has unlimited server use if one of the 3 free locations works for you, PrivadoVPN has the best free server selection.
