"The overall performance was extremely smooth, we did not experience any dropouts, and we are happy to say that we did not detect any IP or DNS leaks"
Avira Phantom VPN for Windows
Get secure, private, and unrestricted access to the internet
- Free: 500 MB /month
- Private: Masks your IP address
- Secure: Bank-grade encryption
RATED 4 /5 ON TOP10BESTVPN
177 Ratings
GET PHANTOM VPN ON ALL YOUR DEVICES
Recommended by the industry
"Avira Phantom VPN is fast"
"Quite fast and very easy to use"
Access your favorite content wherever your are
With a choice of virtual locations from around the globe, we help you access your favorite news and streaming services securely and privately
Secure your communications on public Wi-Fi
By routing your data through a secure “tunnel,” we protect you while you shop, surf, and email on public Wi-Fi hotspots such as cafes, hotels, and airports.
Preserve your online anonymity
Phantom VPN prevents advertisers and eavesdroppers from tracking you. As far as they can see, you’re an anonymous user from an ever-changing location.
Privacy made in Germany
As a security company based in privacy-conscious Germany, we don’t track what you do, monitor your activities, or share your data with third parties.
Avira has more than 35 years of online security experience
From our best comments
1400 servers in 37 countries around the world
Select the country you wish to tunnel through to anonymously and securely access your favorite websites—all with two clicks.
See all locationsLaptop, smartphone or tablet?
Protect your privacy on all devices
Looking for the premium version?
Discover Phantom VPN Pro
System Requirements
Free VPN for Windows — greater security & anonymity when surfing
With cybercrime always on the rise, it’s crucial to adequately protect the online traffic on your Windows PC, laptop, and other Windows devices. Dangers lurk around every corner when surfing the internet — especially when using unsecured public Wi-Fi hotspots. That’s because cybercriminals on the same network can access your incoming and outgoing data, such as through a man-in-the-middle attack. This poses a risk, particularly when banking or shopping online, and also threatens your confidential communications. However, help is at hand by downloading a free VPN for Windows
With bank-grade encryption of all your online data traffic, the Avira Phantom VPN client for Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11 helps you protect your sensitive data when it’s transmitted over the internet. It also helps you hide your IP address and browse anonymously. If you regularly use your Windows laptop to surf when out and about by connecting to a public Wi-Fi hotspot — be it at a hotel, on the train, at the airport, or in a café — using a VPN is highly recommended.
How does a VPN client for Windows work
A VPN (virtual private network) is a private communications network that routes data traffic in an encrypted format through a virtual tunnel so nobody can see what you’re doing online — not even us or the internet service provider. The VPN tunnel is established between your Windows device and the VPN server, and the device is assigned the server’s IP address — and a different virtual location. This means that your online activities cannot be tracked, nor can your actual location be determined. Check out our blogpost to learn more about how a VPN works.
What’s the benefit of using our free VPN for Windows?
Our free VPN client for Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11 helps you protect online data traffic on your computer or laptop from manipulation and snooping. You can also use a VPN connection to prevent online advertisers and other companies from tracking what you get up to online.
Here’s why it’s worth downloading our free VPN for Windows:
- Increased protection on unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots: Our VPN helps you prevent hackers on Wi-Fi hotspots from snooping on your confidential data and private information, such as bank account and log-in details or emails.
- Greater online freedom when out and about: Using Avira Phantom VPN is a reliable and convenient way to access your favorite websites and streaming services more securely when on the move.
- Huge range of locations: There are 1,400 VPN servers available in 37 countries, including in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia.
Which Windows versions are compatible with Avira Phantom VPN?
Avira Phantom VPN is available for free for these Windows versions:
- VPN For Windows 7
- VPN For Windows 10
- VPN For Windows 11
The free VPN is compatible with all the latest Windows computers and laptops running any version of the above operating systems. You can also get Avira Phantom VPN for Android smartphones or tablets as well as for iOS devices. It’s also integrated into our freeware Avira Free Antivirus for Android app, which additionally includes antivirus protection and many tune-up tools for mobile devices.
How do I use Avira Phantom VPN for Windows?
You can download our VPN for Windows for free on this website. Follow the installation instructions and then start the VPN software by double-clicking the desktop icon. Select your desired virtual location, then simply click to connect to one of our VPN servers to establish the VPN connection.
The free VPN for Windows includes a monthly data volume of 500 MB. If you register for a My Avira Account, you double that allowance to a huge 1 GB free of charge every month. And if that isn’t enough, choose Avira Phantom VPN Pro for no data cap. Avira Phantom VPN Pro for Windows also offers a kill switch or fail-safe feature. This disconnects your device automatically from the internet if your VPN connection gets interrupted.
Protect your online privacy now by downloading Avira Phantom VPN for Windows today — for free!
Additional Avira solutions to boost your cybersecurity and PC performance
Discover our other solutions, and protect and optimize the various aspects of your digital life. Avira Free Security for Windows conveniently combines free features in an all-in-one solution. Besides Avira Phantom VPN, it also includes:
Avira Antivirus: Protect your data and device from malware and other online threats.
Avira Software Updater: Keep your drivers and programs up to date.
Avira Password Manager: Create strong passwords for your online user accounts.
Avira System Speedup: Clean and speed up your devices and free up space.
Avira Browser Safety: Block malicious websites and ads, and protect yourself from online tracking.
FAQs — Frequently Asked Questions
A free VPN like Avira Phantom VPN for Windows strengthens your online security on your Windows device because it uses bank-grade security to encrypt everything you send and receive. This means you can surf securely even when using public Wi-Fi hotspots, with all your traffic and confidential communications protected from cyberattacks. You can also protect your privacy with a VPN as it assigns your device a new IP address so you can surf anonymously.
A free VPN like Avira Phantom VPN for Windows may slow down your internet connection due to your traffic being rerouted through a secure tunnel, the encryption process, and the protocol. However, this reduction in speed shouldn’t negatively impact what you do online. In addition, connection times may vary depending on your distance from the server you connect to (meaning the country in which the server is located). And if other apps or programs on your device need internet access, this can also impact the speed of your VPN connection.
We do not track the websites you visit nor any info that can link activities back to you.
We do measure how much traffic is consumed, and collect some diagnostic data (e.g. bugs), which you can disable from within the product.
Our policy is as follows: we cannot share what we don't know.
We must legally comply with the legislation in countries we operate, so we ensure we have nothing sensitive to share.
To calculate our costs for hosting the infrastructure.
Think of it as a secure piping service: we offer the infrastructure (“VPN tunnels”), you decide how you use it (streaming, shopping, gaming, etc.), and all we know is how much volume flows through it.
Avira Phantom VPN uses AES 256 (Advanced Encryption Standard), which is currently the global norm. This is a symmetric encryption scheme that’s one of the most widely used and secure encryption methods. The number 256 refers to the key length in bits. The higher the number, the more possible combinations of digits there are — in this case 2^256. In the USA, for example, AES 256 is approved for government documents with the highest secrecy level