Free VPNs and free proxy nodes, with the trade-offs spelled out
One job here: take the free VPNs, free nodes and public subscriptions I actually use, measure them, and write down what they cost you. Speeds, uptime, the catch. Dated, and marked dead when they die.
Start with free nodesPicking a free VPN
Up front: fast, stable and free do not coexist for long. Free nodes are fine for emergencies and light use. Heavy users end up paying. Both paths are covered here.
Free VPN
All →Which free VPNs still work, what each one limits, and what it costs you. Measured results for Proton, Windscribe, hide.me and WARP, plus why they fail in China.
- Free VPNs that still work in 2026, and their real costI installed fourteen free VPNs over six months. Proton, Windscribe, hide.me, T
- Do free VPNs work in China? I tested eight of themProton, Windscribe, hide.me, TunnelBear, WARP and three app-store specials, tr
- Using ChatGPT over a free VPN: why it half-worksAI tools stress a connection differently from browsing. Why free nodes fail at
- How free VPNs make money — four answers, and a checklistServers and bandwidth cost real money, so "unlimited and free" has to be paid
- Free VPN vs paid: same day, same line, seven testsOne free subscription and one paid subscription, benchmarked on the same machi
Free Nodes
All →Where free proxy nodes and subscriptions come from, how to filter the usable ones out of a hundred, and how long they actually last. With lifespan data.
- Free proxy nodes: where to get them and how to test themThe four real sources for free nodes and subscriptions, a fifteen-minute filte
- Free subscription links: four sources, and how to vet oneFour sources for free subscription URLs ranked by reliability, the User-Agent
- Free Clash nodes: importing them and what to check afterGetting free nodes and subscriptions into a Clash-family client, what the YAML
- How to test a free node properly: four stepsThe latency number in your client answers one small question. This is the full
- Is using free nodes safe? The risk, in four layersWhat the node operator can and cannot see, what HTTPS actually protects, the o
- Free V2Ray nodes: decode a vmess link before testing itWhat is inside a vmess:// link, how to decode it in one command, which field c
Tutorials
All →Complete setup for Clash Verge Rev, sing-box, Shadowrocket and v2rayN, with the thing to check when each step fails instead of vague advice.
- Clash Verge Rev setup, with fixes for every stepDownload, import a subscription, pick a node, enable the system proxy, choose
- Shadowrocket setup, and the iOS quirks that drop youBuying and installing Shadowrocket, importing subscriptions and single nodes,
- v2rayN setup on Windows: import, route, troubleshootGetting v2rayN running: subscriptions, latency testing, system proxy, routing
- sing-box setup: free, and every protocol supportedInstalling and configuring sing-box on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Why it
Reviews
All →Head-to-head comparisons with real numbers: free versus paid across seven measurements, protocol selection, and six months of logged time cost.
- Luobo Cloud reviewed after three months of daily useWhich of the five tiers to pick, the traffic multiplier that makes 300 GB not
- Do free nodes actually save money? Six months of logged timeI logged every interruption caused by a free node for six months. The hours, t
- SS vs VMess vs Trojan vs Hysteria2: which to useWhat actually differs between the five common proxy protocols, where each one
Troubleshooting
All →Empty node list, connected but nothing loading, unusable at peak hours. Find the fix by the symptom you are seeing, with a test for each step.