Microsoft has announced plans to remove the free VPN feature from its Microsoft Defender app.
The VPN, and Defender app, is currently included in all Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans at no additional cost, but will be removed on 28 February 2025.
The VPN certainly wasn't challenging any of the best VPNs, but it was a handy additional feature and better than no VPN protection at all.
Short lived
Microsoft's VPN hasn't been around for long, having only been introduced in August 2024, but the tech giant has seemingly decided it isn't worth continuing and are diverting resources elsewhere – Copilot AI by the looks of it.
On one of its support pages, Microsoft said: "Our goal is to ensure you, and your family remain safer online. We routinely evaluate the usage and effectiveness of our features. As such, we are removing the privacy protection feature and will invest in new areas that will better align to customer needs."
It says no action is required by Windows, iOS, or macOS users to remove the VPN, but Android users will have to manually remove the feature if they no longer wish to see it. Not removing the feature won't affect your device, or the remaining app protections, but the VPN will not be usable.
Other Microsoft 365 protection features will remain unaffected. These include personal information and credit monitoring, 24/7 identity theft support, and up to $1 million identity insurance coverage – services very similar to ExpressVPN's Identity Defender and Credit Scanner and NordVPN's NordProtect.
The VPN's removal comes as Microsoft increases the price of 365 plans in the US by 45%. The prices of personal and family plans will increase by $3 a month or $30 for annual subscriptions.
It appears as though the price hike is down to the inclusion of Copilot AI in the Microsoft 365 suite of apps. However users who don't wish to access Copilot AI can opt to switch to the "basic plan" and won't have to pay the increased subscription rate.
VPN alternatives
Microsoft's VPN was definitely not a world-beater, and there are plenty of better VPN options available to you – including free VPNs.
With Microsoft's VPN you can't choose what server you connected to, can't stream your favourite shows, and there's a data limit of 50GB. It also promised it doesn't store any "browsing data, history, personal details or your device's physical location," but it will collect some limited anonymized data.
All the VPNs we recommend on our best VPN list offer a wide range of features and some of them are even cheaper than a Microsoft 365 annual subscription. They have thousands of servers worldwide, are super fast, protect your data with rock-solid encryption, and come with a tonne of extra features.
In addition, none of the providers we recommend collect or store your data, with many having audited no-logs policies.
If you're an avid Microsoft fan and Windows user, then consider one of the best Windows VPNs. NordVPN is our top choice and its 2-year plan works out at $3.39 per month ($81.36 up front).
It offers protection for up to 10 devices and can unblock all major streaming sites, making it one of the best streaming VPNs. It's fast, boasts top-tier privacy credentials, and offers device protection in the form of Threat Protection Pro.
For those looking for something a little more affordable, then Surfshark could be for you. Sitting at number two on our best VPN list, Surfshark's 2-year plan works out at $2.19 per month ($59.13 up front) and is the best cheap VPN out there.
In our testing, Surfshark hit speeds of over 950 Mbps, making it one of the fastest VPNs we've tested. You can protect an unlimited number of devices on one plan, and its antivirus is pretty decent too.
If the main pull of Microsoft's VPN was the fact it was free, then you may be more interested in the best free VPNs.
PrivadoVPN Free is our top choice here. It outpaces many of the paid VPNs with speeds of up to 900 Mbps and, for a free VPN, it offers a generous 13 servers in 10 countries. Plus, you can choose which server you connect to – something not always possible with free VPNs.
There is a monthly data limit of 10 GB, which is more than enough for browsing the web but if it's streaming you're after then Privado might not be for you.
Disclaimer
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
