Windscribe Review 2025: A Reliable Free VPN

Windscribe is a great VPN for beginners, thanks to its customizable pricing and an accessible interface. Not only does it offer a free plan, but you can also build your own plan where you select your locations. It also proved to unblock Netflix with all the servers we tried and passed all our leak tests.

During our speed tests, Windscribe impated our download speeds more than we would like, causing some slow page loads. It's no-logs policy has never been audited by a third-party, either.  

Let's delve into the details of Windscribe and see how it compares to the top VPNs. 

Overview

Price	$1.00–$9.00/mo
Free version	Yes
Max # of connected devices	Unlimited
# of servers	Unlisted in 69+ countries
VPN protocol	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, Stealth, WStunnel
Encryption	AES-256-GCM
No-logs policy	No logs
Headquarters	Canada
Netflix access	Yes
Learn mores	Get Windscribe

We last tested Windscribe on March 25, 2025.

Our experience

We found the Windows app to be straightforward and easy to use, with a minimalistic style that suits our preferences. If you don’t like big VPN windows on your desktop, you’ll probably like the small but expandable Windscribe app.

We also installed Windscribe on our iPhone and found the app to be near identical to the Windows one. It's easy to adjust from one app to another, which is handy considering Windscribe offers unlimited device connections. 

We found some extras on the phone, like a tab for streaming-optimized servers (labeled as Windflix). We're not sure why these are exclusive to mobile, but luckily we didn't have any issues streaming on desktop either. 

The Windscribe desktop app does have a couple of extras like R.O.B.E.R.T, which blocks ads, trackers, malware, and other annoyances online. 

Overall, we found our experience with Windscribe to be above average. Our test results showed slower than average speeds, but otherwise it aced all of our tests. 

Who is Windscribe best for?

• Recommended for someone who wants a free or affordable VPN that works with different streaming services and provides unlimited device connections.

Windscribe is a virtual private network (VPN) based out of Toronto, Canada, that focuses on being transparent with its users. This includes owning up to any potential security or privacy issues, such as when two Windscribe servers were seized in Ukraine in 2021.^[1]

We know that no technology is foolproof, so it’s nice to see a VPN service openly recognize areas of risk and work to implement solutions. This is far better than trying to brush something under the rug, such as when IPVanish leaked private user information to the U.S. government in 2016 despite claiming it had a no-logs policy.^[2]

From our research and testing, we’ve found that Windscribe employs a strict no-logs policy, provides fast speeds, and works with multiple streaming services, including Netflix.

Windscribe VPN prices and subscriptions

Windscribe ranges from $1.00–$9.00/mo. It has three types of plans to choose from: a free plan, a Pro plan, and a Build-A-Plan option. 

If you want to save money on a VPN, the free plan and Build-A-Plan are your best options.You don’t have to pay anything for the free plan and the Build-A-Plan starts at $3.00/mo, which is relatively cheap for a VPN. 

Here’s how the lowest-priced Windscribe Pro subscription compares with other VPNs and their lowest-priced paid plans:

• ExpressVPN: $4.99/mo (billed every two years)
• Proton VPN: $4.49/mo (billed every two years)
  
• Windscribe: $5.75/mo (billed annually)
• NordVPN: $3.39/mo (billed every two years)
• Surfshark: $2.19/mo (billed every two years)

Windscribe costs more than double some of the other options on the list. But if you opt for the Windscribe Build-A-Plan, you might be paying only $3.00/mo, which would be one of the cheapest VPNs on the list.

Plan	Monthly	Yearly	Best Value Build-a-Plan	Learn more
Price per month	$9.00/mo	$5.75/mo (billed annually)	$1.00/mo per location	View plans

Windscribe VPN payment methods include:

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Cryptocurrency (bitcoin)
• Paymentwall

These are generally common payment methods, other than bitcoin. Although there are some VPNs that offer this option, you won’t find it with every provider out there.

Paying with crypto can help provide increased anonymity over other payment methods because you don’t typically have any personal information attached to the payment. This doesn’t mean your payment is completely anonymous, just that it’s potentially more anonymous than other options.

Build-a-Plan

Windscribe VPN provides a Build-A-Plan variety among its paid plans. This isn’t to be confused with Windscribe Pro plans, which range from $5.75/mo (billed annually) to $9.00/mo and provide access to all servers with unlimited data.

Rather, Build-A-Plan lets you choose which locations you want to access at a rate of $1.00/mo per location. So if you choose the U.S. and Canada, you would get access to all the U.S. and Canada locations, including both the free and Pro servers, for $2.00/mo.

Not a bad deal, right? Especially if you have no need for other server locations. But how much data do you get?

For each server location you choose, Windscribe will add 10 GB of monthly data to your account. So with two locations, you get 20 GB of data per month.

You also have the option of adding unlimited data to your account for another $1.00 per month. So for $3.00/mo, you could have two server locations and all the servers that come with them, as well as unlimited data.

Keep in mind that you have to pay at least $3.00/mo to choose a Build-A-Plan subscription, which is still lower than the starting $5.75/mo (billed annually) Pro plan price.

Free plan

Windscribe provides a free VPN plan that offers 10 GB of data per month and access to servers in 11 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, and more.

Windscribe doesn’t throttle speeds on any of its servers, whether you’re on a free or paid account. But you might see some performance issues while using a free Windscribe plan because the servers available to free subscribers are generally more crowded.

Pro servers are typically less crowded, leaving more bandwidth available and reducing potential performance issues. Pro accounts also provide unlimited monthly data, access to all 111 server locations in 69+ countries, Ephemeral Port Forwarding, and more custom blocklists. 

Windscribe features

Windscribe offers standard VPN features like a no-logs policy, a kill switch (referred to as a firewall), and split tunneling. It also has unique functions like blocklists, unique protocol like Stealth, port forwarding, and more.

Learn more about Windscribe's features below. 

Server count and countries

• Unlisted servers in 69+ countries and 134 cities.

Windscribe doesn’t officially publish a server count, citing reasons about its number of servers always changing. That’s likely true, but we still think it’s helpful to have some sort of idea of how many servers a VPN provides.

What we do know is that you can find Windscribe servers in 134 different cities across 69+ countries. See how this compares with other popular VPNs:

• NordVPN: 7,400+ servers in 118 countries
• Surfshark: 3,200+ servers in 100 countries
  
• Proton VPN: 11,700+ servers in 117 countries

Windscribe falls short of all these top providers have to offer, but it still provides a reasonable number of countries to choose from compared to these VPNs. And having used Windscribe, it seems like there are more than enough servers to satisfy the average VPN user.

Because Windscribe offers a free plan, you might find certain servers (the ones available to free members) are busier than others. Connecting to a busy server means less bandwidth to go around for everyone and could cause a slower connection.

No-logs policy and headquarters

• Windscribe VPN logs policy: No logs
• Windscribe VPN headquarters: Toronto, Canada

Windscribe is a Canadian VPN with a strict no-logs policy. This means that Windscribe doesn’t keep any identifying logs or logs that can identify you; so no connection logs, internet protocol (IP) time stamps, or session logs.

This type of policy protects users’ privacy and anonymity because outside organizations, such as government agencies, wouldn’t be able to access personal user data. Windscribe backs up its no-logs claims by publishing a transparency report each month showing how many requests for information it receives from law enforcement and other organizations.

Because Windscribe doesn’t keep any relevant data, it can’t comply with these requests to release user information. Simply put, you can’t release what you don’t have.

We like how Windscribe publishes transparency reports, but we’d also like to see an independent audit of its no-logs policy. It’s one thing to claim that you don’t keep logs, but having an unbiased and trusted party verify those claims is also important.

Note that Windscribe is based out of Canada, which is a Five Eyes alliance member. The countries within the Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes alliances are known for their global surveillance tactics, including the monitoring of their citizens’ online activity.

This doesn’t automatically mean Windscribe is untrustworthy, especially because there shouldn’t be any user logs to track anyway.

Kill switch

A kill switch can help keep your internet traffic secure by disconnecting your device from the internet if you lose your VPN connection. 

Windscribe doesn’t have a “kill switch,” but rather a firewall feature that performs similarly. As described on the Windscribe site, the firewall “blocks all connectivity utside the VPN tunnel to eliminate all types of leaks.”

Split tunneling

Split tunneling is a common VPN feature designed to let you bypass your secure connection with specific apps. You might use split tunneling if you don’t have privacy concerns with a certain app and want a faster internet connection.

For example, you could be using your VPN to stream foreign content, but what if you want to browse the internet in your local region? You could use split tunneling to let your web browser bypass the VPN, while you continue accessing regional streaming content through your secure connection.

You can find the split tunneling feature in the connection settings of the Windscribe VPN app.

Encryption

Windscribe uses AES-256-GCM encryption with its desktop applications. This type of VPN encryption is nearly impossible to crack, considering it would likely take billions of years to break.

VPN protocol

Windscribe provides a variety of protocols to help secure your VPN connection. We recommend most users select the “automatic” connection mode to let Windscribe choose the best protocol for you. But if you know your way around VPNs, you can select the “manual” connection mode and choose your settings yourself.

Other Windscribe features

Windscribe Pro users will notice a variety of other, somewhat advanced features available in their app settings, including:

• Proxy settings: Configure your LAN proxy.
• MAC spoofing: Spoof your device's physical address.
• Secure hotspot: Share your Windscribe connection.
• Proxy gateway: Configure your devices that support proxy servers.
• R.O.B.E.R.T. blocklists: Block malware, ads and trackers, social network, pornography, gambling, clickbait, other VPNs, and crypto.

Windscribe lets you play with a lot of different settings, which could be helpful for specific needs. For the average VPN user, you likely wouldn’t need to access much more than the server list.

Windscribe test results

We used speed test and leak tests to see if Windscribe provides fast speeds and high levels of security and privacy. We also checked to see whether you can use Windscribe to watch Netflix and other streaming services.

We ran these tests using the Windscribe VPN Windows app on a laptop PC running Windows 11 from a physical location in the U.S.

Windscribe mostly passed all the tests we conducted. Let’s jump into the details for each test.

Speed tests

• Speed test results: Windscribe had an average drop of 41% on our download speeds.

We ran speed tests while using Windscribe to see whether the service significantly slowed down our internet speed. It’s common for VPNs to slightly impact your bandwidth, but we wanted to see if the impact would be enough to cause performance issues with everyday activities, such as streaming content or playing video games online.

We established a baseline speed by running a speed test before connecting to Windscribe. 

Test type	No VPN	US to US	US to CA	US to EU	US to AU
Download speed	464.71 Mbps	366.87 Mbps	349.32 Mbps	98.80 Mbps	275.46 Mbps
Upload speed	580.28 Mbps	298.44 Mbps	538.97 Mbps	25.65 Mbps	46.65 Mbps
Latency (ping)	18 ms	12 ms	49 ms	121 ms	184 ms
Download speed % difference	N/A	-21.05%	-24.83%	-78.74%	-40.72%
Upload speed % difference	N/A	-48.57%	-7.12%	-95.45%	-91.96%
Latency % difference	N/A	-33.33%	+172.22%	+572.22%	+922.22%

Despite selecting Windscribe's best location option, our download speeds dropped by over 20%. There wasn't any noticeable lag or buffering, but it may be worth selecting a server on your own. 

The U.K. server had the biggest impact we chose had the biggest impact on our download speeds, dropping them by nearly 80%. 

You can expect to see some drop-off in overall performance as the physical distance increases between our location and the server’s location. This decrease in download speed and increase in latency wasn’t unexpected for a server that’s across the world from us.

Netflix tests

• Netflix test results: Windscribe unblocked all regional Netflix libraries we tested. 

Can you watch Netflix with Windscribe? We’re happy to report that, yes, you can.

We tested Windscribe with Netflix by connecting to different Windscribe servers in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia. We then tested whether we could open Netflix (in a Chrome browser) while connected to these different servers. 

Further testing involved seeing whether the content would play without any lag or quality issues.

	US to US	US to CA	US to UK	US to AU
Did it work with Netflix?

We had no issues opening and playing regional Netflix content while connected to these servers:

• Dallas (U.S.)
• Montreal (Canada)
• Manchester (U.K.)
• Adelaide (Australia)

Note that we only saw streaming servers in the Windscribe mobile app but not on desktop. This means you should be able to connect to any Windscribe server if you want to unblock regional Netflix content.

DNS leak tests

• DNS leak test results: Windscribe passed its DNS leak tests.

Domain name system (DNS) leak tests are designed to show whether you have private information leaking through your internet connection. We used the DNS Leak Test tool from BrowserLeaks to test whether we had DNS leaks before and after connecting to Windscribe.

We were able to see private information when we ran the DNS leak test before connecting to Windscribe. This included our IP address, our internet service provider (ISP) and its IP address, and the general location of our ISP.

After connecting to Windscribe and running another DNS leak test, we could only see the IP address, ISP, and general location associated with the VPN server.

WebRTC leak tests

• WebRTC leak test results: Windscribe passed its WebRTC leak tests.

A WebRTC leak could expose your IP address when connected to the internet. We used the BrowserLeaks website to test if our IP address was leaked before and after connecting to Windscribe.

Our IP address immediately showed up on BrowserLeaks before we connected to Windscribe. Our IP address was then successfully masked after we connected to Windscribe. The only visible IP address was the one connected to the VPN server.

Masking your IP address is important if you want to browse and use the internet anonymously. This doesn’t necessarily mean doing anything illegal, and it could be as simple as stopping your ISP from seeing what websites you visit.

Kill switch test

• Kill switch test results: Windscribe passed its kill switch tests.

A kill switch protects your device from unexpected leaks. If your VPN connection drops, the kill switch will stop the internet entirely to prevent hackers or other third parties from accessing your data.

We tested the Windscribe firewall by connecting to a server away from our physical location. It’s supposed to block all internet traffic if you don’t have a secure connection, so we figured our true location wouldn't leak if we connected to a different server. 

And that’s exactly how it worked. When switching servers, our real location didn't pop up, only our server locations.

Windscribe VPN compatibility

Windscribe supports a variety of devices, operating systems, mobile apps, and browser extensions:

• Windows 10+
• macOS 11+
• Linux (Debian/Ubunta, Arch, Fedora/CentOS)
• Google Chrome 
• Mozilla Firefox 
• Microsoft Edge
• iOS 15+
• Android 5.0+
• AppleTV
• FireTV
• AndroidTV

You can also set up Windscribe on certain routers using tutorials or you can purchase a router that’s preconfigured with the Windscribe VPN.

Windscribe doesn’t have a built-in smart DNS option for you to use some of its VPN features on devices that don’t natively support VPN apps. For example, you can’t typically download VPN apps on many smart TVs and video game consoles.

If you want to unblock regional streaming content on one of those devices, you would need software with smart DNS, like NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Or you can go with CONTROL D, another service from the creators of Windscribe that provides a feature to bypass geo-restrictions on different devices.

Windscribe VPN customer support

Windscribe doesn’t have a 24/7 live chat support option, which is unfortunate because this is often our preferred way to contact VPN providers with questions. Instead, you can contact Windscribe support through an online form and it will email a response.

Chatbot

You can also chat with Garry, the resident Windscribe chatbot. We’ve found that support bots tend to be hit or miss with their usefulness, but we actually received a decent response from Garry about torrenting with Windscribe.

Garry answered our question about whether you can torrent with Windscribe and even provided us with some servers we should avoid for torrenting.

Email

We also sent our same question about torrenting to the human support team and waited for an email response. It took about 21 hours to receive a response, which is a much longer wait than using a live chat feature. But the response was helpful, and indicated that all servers work for torrenting other than a few you should avoid (India and South Africa).

Knowledge base

Windscribe has an extensive knowledge base where you can find answers to questions on a number of topics. Its articles cover accounts and billing, technical issues, setup guides, and other general questions.

Social media

Apart from using the Windscribe knowledge base for helpful guides and posts, you can also interact with the Windscribe team on its subreddit, Discord, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and blog pages.

Top alternatives

Windscribe is a great option if you're looking for a free or low-cost service. But what if you're looking for a VPN that's not based in the Eyes alliances or one that can consistently unblock Netflix? 

Here are some alternatives to consider that may fulfill those needs:

FAQs

Bottom line: Is Windscribe a good VPN?

Windscribe is an affordable and easy-to-use VPN that works with Netflix. You don’t have to provide an email address to sign up and you can pay with cryptocurrency for added anonymity.

We like how Windscribe has both free and paid plans, including the option to build your own plan if you only need to access certain server locations. However, we don’t love how the lowest-priced Windscribe Pro plan is more expensive than lots of other VPN subscriptions. It also struggled with its latest speed tests. 

We also feel Windscribe needs to do an independent audit of its no-logs policy to increase its trustworthiness. And having a 24/7 live chat option would greatly increase its reliability. There are other VPNs out there that cost less, have had independent audits, and provide 24/7 customer support. 

Learn how Windscribe compares to one of our top VPNs in our NordVPN vs. Windscribe review.