VPN use is quite popular in the Netherlands, and it’s also a widely used tourist destination, so there is plenty of need for free VPN services with servers there. Are there any free VPN options available with Netherlands servers? Can you easily get an IP address in the Netherlands for free?
Thankfully, Netherlands is very well covered on this particular topic, because for whatever reason, many free VPN services choose to locate one of their (few) no-cost server locations in the Netherlands. So if you live here and want a free VPN server, you are spoiled for choice compared to some other countries!
Here is a quick summary of the free option VPNs I found with Netherlands servers:
- ProtonVPN – Unlimited (recommended)
- Hide.me – 10 GB monthly data cap
- PrivadoVPN – 10 GB monthly data cap
- Windscribe – 10 GB monthly data cap
- Tunnelbear – Free and secure, 500 MB monthly data
- UrbanVPN – Free and unlimited, but not private
To be more specific and relevant – all these options have free versions that can be used at no cost, and all specifically have servers in Netherlands available on their free versions. A lot of the current search results on this weren’t great, returning non-relevant content promoting VPN services that either aren’t free or don’t specifically have Netherlands servers that can be used for free. In this post we answer the exact question precisely, so we hope you find it more useful.
Let’s look at each option in more detail.
Free VPN Option #1 – ProtonVPN (Free & Unlimited)
This is undoubtedly the best free VPN option available that also gives you a server in the Netherlands, but also totally unlimited use, even on the free version. You get the best of everything!
ProtonVPN are primarily a Premium VPN service offering servers in around 60 countries, but they also have a free version of their product that covers the Netherlands!
Here are the main benefits of ProtonVPN’s free version:
- Totally unlimited use
- Has multiple servers in the Netherlands (Amsterdam), currently 27 free servers. Also has free servers in USA and Japan
- Strict no logs policy.
- Fast, reliable servers. Even the free version has always worked well when I’ve used it.
- Based in Switzerland with a strong commitment to privacy (like their ProtonMail service).
- Even the free version looks, feels and operates like a proper VPN service (it’s not a browser add-on – it’s a full on proper VPN software)
- You can upgrade to the Premium version with more countries/servers for a very competitive price
Click here to view a full server list and get started with ProtonVPN
It’s a legitimate VPN service, where you download their software and load it up, select your server and go. It covers all browsers you use and is not just built into one browser, so you get comprehensive protection once you enable it.
Many users may need to look no further than this to get everything they need from a free Netherlands VPN. Nevertheless, we’ll also cover some other options, though they can’t quite match up to ProtonVPN.
Free VPN Option #2 – Hide.me (10 GB monthly data)
The second best option I could find is Hide.me’s free version, which also specifically has a server in the Netherlands, and has a 10 GB monthly data allowance. This can’t quite match ProtonVPN’s unlimited use, but it’s still a generous allowance for a free VPN, and you can go quite far with this.
Here are the key benefits of Hide.me:
- Totally free to sign up, with only an email required and no other personal details
- Free version offers a server in Netherlands, as well as Germany, Canada, USA West and USA East.
- 10 GB monthly data allowance on the free version. This is very generous for a free VPN. Once you breach this, you won’t be disconnected, but will connect to a random free server instead, which won’t be in the Netherlands.
- Strict zero logs policy, including on the free version. No user data collected or stored.
- Fast servers
- Paid version also offers competitive plans.
Click here to get started with Hide.me free version.
It’s a great option if you specifically want a VPN that can give you an IP address in the Netherlands, but on the downside, the free version doesn’t offer any streaming support, so you might not be able to get it to work with streaming services like Netflix (you might do with some persistence, but no way close to guaranteed). You might get better luck trying ProtonVPN for this, because they have 27 free Dutch servers to try and get a streaming service working with.
However, 10 GB per month (around 300 MB/day) is a very generous allowance and can literally sort a basic internet user’s entire monthly needs.
For reference, here’s what here’s a quick summary of what you can expect different activities to use in terms of data:
- Basic browsing – Doesn’t use much – 10-20 MB per hour.
- Social media – Uses a bit more – 100-150 MB per hour.
- Multiplayer Online gaming – 50-60 MB per hour.
- YouTube Video (10 minutes):
-
- 480p – 80 MB
- 720p (HD) – 250 MB
-
- YouTube video (1 hour)
-
- 480p – 500-700 MB
- 720p (HD) – 1.5-2 GB
- You can change YouTube video quality using the settings cog in the bottom right of videos.
-
- Netflix movie
-
- SD – 700 MB per hour.
- HD – 3 GB per hour
- Ultra HD – 7 GB per hour
- See here for source plus how to change Netflix data usage settings.
-
For clarity, a GB is around 1000 MB, so 10 GB is around 10,000 MB.
Here’s what you could reasonably do on Hide.me Free plan:
- For just basic browsing and logging into your emails once or twice daily, plus some social media, it could literally be fine for an entire month. I think you could stay within a 300 MB/day allowance quite easily.
- If you’re also watching YouTube, then it does use a lot more data, but you’ve still got some room with a 10 GB monthly allowance. For example, you could watch one or two 10 minute YouTube videos daily, plus basic browsing, and you’d probably still stay within your limit over a month.
- If you want to watch more or longer YouTube videos, or some other streaming, especially in HD, then you will struggle to stay within the allowance. Consider ProtonVPN above, or go for a Premium VPN listed at the bottom.
Free VPN Option #3 – PrivadoVPN Free (10 GB monthly data)
This is a very similar option to Hide.me – it’s another VPN that’s primarily Premium, but does offer some free server locations, including one in the Netherlands.
Here are some features of PrivadoVPN free version:
- 10 GB data use per month on the free plan
- Free servers in 8 countries and 12 locations on the free plan – including the Netherlands (Amsterdam)
- Other free server locations – USA (New York, Washington DC, Miami, Los Angeles), UK, Germany, Canada, Mexico, France, Switzerland.
- Strict zero logs policy, even on the free version
- Based in Switzerland with strong privacy laws
- 1 connection allowed on free version
- Apps for all major devices.
- Email address only required to get free version.
- Paid plans start at $5/month for a 12 month subscription.
Click here to get started with the free version of PrivadoVPN – go to their Pricing page and select their Free Plan.
Therefore this one can be a great complement to Hide.me – use them both to get 2o GB of total data per month, which should be easily enough for many users. PrivadoVPN’s free version also offers a few more server locations than Hide.me – 12 locations in 8 countries – which is very generous for a free VPN.
Free VPN Option #4 – Windscribe (10 GB monthly data)
This is third free VPN option that works on basically the same model, identical to Hide.me and PrivadoVPN. Windscribe also offer a free version with Dutch servers and a 10 GB monthly data cap.
Here are some features of Windscribe free version:
- 10 GB data use per month on the free plan
- Free servers in 10 countries including The Netherlands
- Other free server locations – USA, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Romania.
- Strict zero logs policy, even on the free version
- Canadian based company.
- Unlimited connections allowed even on free version
- Apps for all major devices.
- Only an Email address required to get free version.
- Paid plans start at $4/month for a 12 month subscription.
Click here to get started with Windscribe– go to their Features page and select their Free Plan.
With 3 of these 10 GB/month free VPN options, you can combine them all to get a total of 30 GB monthly data using a Dutch IP address, for free.
Free VPN Option #5 – Tunnelbear Free Version (500 MB data per month)
We’re starting to get to more limited options now, but Tunnelbear is still a perfectly usable free VPN with a server in the Netherlands, but on the downside it only gives you 500 MB of data to use each month. This makes it really unattractive compared to the above two options.
Click here to visit Tunnelbear’s site. Click the Tunnelbear logo on the top left to go back to the homepage, and click on “Plans”. If you sign up for the Free account, you get 500 MB of data to use each month.
On the positive side, like ProtonVPN and Hide.me, Tunnelbear is a proper looking and proper feeling VPN service, even on the free version. It’s not a cheap looking VPN built into a browser that’s almost a proxy/VPN hybrid – it’s a full software program you load separately, and that gives you protection on all browsers once it’s enabled.
However, the big problem is the low data allowance. Here’s what you could realistically do with Tunnelbear Free’s 500 MB monthly allowance:
- Perfect for short term holiday use (eg. 1-2 weeks or less in Netherlands), just logging into your emails once or twice a day, making purchases etc. Any more than 1 week away you might need a Premium service (see last section).
- Very light, basic browsing (emails, shopping, directions, news etc), but you will see your 500 MB/month quote drain quickly – just 16/17 MB per day for a month.
- Anything where you really need a secure connection – making payments, logging into sensitive accounts, entering any other personal information – I’d use the Tunnelbear VPN or the above two options and not a shared VPN like UrbanVPN we’ll cover below.
- You can use it to keep your connection secure whilst signing up for an unlimited, Premium VPN service that’ll serve you better long term (see section at the bottom).
Here’s what you can’t really use Tunnelbear free for:
- Videos/streaming services/YouTube – uses too much data as indicated above. You’ll run out of your allowance very quickly
- Social media – might get away with a really small amount, but again it can use up more than you might think.
Free VPN Option #6 – UrbanVPN
Now we’re getting to the least desirable option for Netherlands users, but it’s still a viable option. UrbanVPN are a totally free, peer-to-peer VPN service with a Netherlands server.
They’ve got servers in 80+ countries at present, including in the Netherlands, an use of all these servers is unlimited and free.
Click here to get started with UrbanVPN
Here are the main benefits of UrbanVPN:
- Totally free to use
- No need to set up any account or provide any details – just download the program/app and get started.
- Totally free and unlimited server use.
- Available for all major browsers, devices and operating systems.
- Has a server in Holland.
But unfortunately, there are some negatives to the service:
- There are some reviews that report slow and unreliable servers (unfortunately, this is to be expected on free services)
- An ambiguous privacy policy that doesn’t make it exactly clear how your data is collected, used or stored.
- Zero customer support if the service goes down or you have difficulties (again to be expected with a free service)
- It’s just difficult to know exactly how secure your data is, or where it’s going. Ultimately, security and privacy and too much up-in-the-air with a peer to peer service like this. It’s the same reason I don’t use the Opera browser VPN for logging into really important accounts – I don’t like using generic shared IP address proxies/VPN’s, even if they claim to be “VPN’s”. You don’t know where your data is going, and they don’t offer the same level of security and privacy as a Premium VPN.
UrbanVPN is definitely NOT a 100% confidential, zero logs VPN:

However, if privacy isn’t really important to you, and you just want a VPN that can give you a Dutch IP address with unlimited use, UrbanVPN can be perfect.
Here’s what UrbanVPN could be good for:
- Video streaming on sites like YouTube (because bandwidth is unlimited), as long as your connection is good enough for it.
- Possibly logging into streaming services that require a Netherlands IP address, provided you are happy entering login details on a shared/P2P VPN. However, be aware that these free, shared VPN services RARELY consistently work for unlocking major streaming sites like Netflix or Disney Plus. Even some Premium VPNs struggle to consistently do this, so free VPN’s have even less chance.
- Social media account possibly, again if you’re OK with this. Personally I’d only do this if my passwords for these accounts wasn’t used for any other account.
Whatever you’re doing, just be aware of the privacy policy, and that your personal data and browsing history can still be collected whilst using the UrbanVPN service. If privacy and security is your primary concern, then I’d use ProtonVPN, Tunnelbear or Hide.me instead.
Summarizing Your Free Netherlands VPN Options
All this can feel like a bit of information overload, so let’s summarize what we’ve covered so far to give these 4 free VPN’s an overall ranking:
- ProtonVPN – By far your best option for a free VPN with Netherlands servers. Covers all the bases – free, unlimited, reputable brand, private and secure, multiple servers. No reason to look past this for many users.
- Hide.me – A very good backup option. Also has many good features, but can’t quite match ProtonVPN because it’s not unlimited. 10 GB/month (or around 300 MB/day) is still a very generous allowance though. Double up with PrivadoVPN.
- PrivadoVPN – Very similar to Hide.me, also with 10 GB of data, but a few more locations. Combine with Hide.me for a double dose of data every month.
- Windscribe – Very similar to Hide.me and PrivadoVPN. Combine with them both to get 30 GB of combined free data with a Dutch VPN IP address.
- Tunnelbear Free – Starting to lose features now – a good, secure, professional VPN service, but 500 MB of data a month on the free plan is not very good. Best for short term holiday use, but not much more than that. No good for videos/streaming on the free plan.
- UrbanVPN – More of a hybrid between a VPN and a proxy. It’s good that is has unlimited use, but isn’t really a private service. The above services are usually going to be much better options for getting a Netherlands IP address.
Some Premium VPN Options With Netherlands Servers
If at some point you decide you’d like to use a VPN in more locations and have unlimited use and better support, you might want to consider upgrading to a paid VPN plan. Netherlands users are spoiled for choice here, because there are literally hundreds to choose from, all with servers there.
Firstly, ProtonVPN, Hide.me and Tunnelbear all have Premium plans (with more countries/servers and unlimited use) you can upgrade to for very reasonable prices.
However, we’ve also listed some other Premium VPN services for you to browse through, that also offer Netherlands servers (all Premium VPN’s offer IP addresses in Netherlands), plus unlimited use and 24/7 support.
Some Premium VPN Services With Netherlands Servers (links are affiliate links)
Provider | Price (12 months paid in advance) | Number of locations in Netherlands | Number of Devices Allowed | Main Benefits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Private Internet Access | $3.33/month | 1 (Amsterdam) | 10 | Review here |
VyprVPN | $3.75/month | 1 (Amsterdam) | 5 | Speed |
ExpressVPN | $8.32/month | 3 (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague) | 5 | Country/location choice |
NordVPN | $5/month | 1 (Amsterdam - 200+ servers) | 6 | Double Encryption & Server Choice |
AtlasVPN | $3.29/month | 1 (Amsterdam) | Unlimited | Cheap no nonsense VPN |
These are all great Premium VPN options, but in truth, it doesn’t have to be one of these, because ALL paid VPN services will offer at least one location/server in the Netherlands, and they all do a pretty similar job of encrypting your connection and masking your real IP, providing you with a new one. Simply pick a brand you like and get started!
Signing up for a VPN is usually very easy. You simply visit their site (click on one of our links above for each provider), sign up, pay your subscription, download their product and boot up the program.
Once running you simply select a preferred server location and open the VPN connection. You now have a secure, encrypted connection that will keep all your browsing and personal data safe over public Wi-Fi networks.