PaladinVPN

Good, reliable VPN solutions can be tricky to find, especially if you're concerned with privacy and data collection policies. Mention that you also want something that is "Free" in your search, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find a suitable contender matching those criteria.

There's usually a catch with free VPNs: they either aggressively restrict your internet speed to push you to their paid plans, or involve data collection of some sorts. PaladinVPN is a completely free solution whose speed is satisfactory to handle casual browsing, but with a caveat worth noting for more discerning users.

Prior to installing, the software will present the user with an agreement which lays out the free plan model of the VPN. In short, by using the VPN, you agree for PaladinVPN and its partners to use some of your machine's resources and IP address to download publicly available data from the web. This data includes prices and other such information from those websites.

It's up to the end user whether they want to enter such an agreement in exchange for the VPN. There's no such thing as a free product, and this is an example. Your VPN is seemingly "paid for" by PaladinVPN's partners, who specialize in data research. The service claims to encrypt your traffic to provide a secure and safe solution for users to navigate the web with.

As for connecting to the VPN and surfing the web, it's an overall satisfactory experience. Don't expect to download or upload large files, as there will be a reduction in your internet speed. For casual browsing, it should do the job just fine, though.

What's worth noting, besides the numerous server locations to connect to, is the split tunneling function. Simply put, users can choose to use the VPN only for certain apps, while using their normal connection for anything else. This can be helpful in a number of situations, where the user is able to prioritize where they need internet speed, and where they need the online anonymity.

All things considered, PaladinVPN can work decently if you're fine with the agreement. You shouldn't encounter problems during your web surfing sessions, but don't expect to be able to stream high bitrate 4K content with this solution.