Betternet Review 2026

Performance Scores

Privacy & Security

The CSIRO Finding, In Context

The finding that follows Betternet around comes from a 2016 study by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, which analysed a large sample of Android VPN apps. It reported 14 third-party tracking libraries embedded in Betternet, the highest count of any app in that sample. The libraries were the kind used to target advertising, which is consistent with a free product funded by ads rather than subscriptions.

Two things are worth stating for accuracy rather than effect. The study is nearly a decade old, and Betternet has changed corporate hands since it was published, so it is evidence about the app as it stood in 2016 rather than a description of the current build. It is also the case that nothing has been published since to supersede it: Betternet does not release an independent audit of its apps or its logging, so there is no newer document that answers the question either way.

That is why the finding still carries weight here. It is not that the 2016 result is necessarily current, it is that a provider selling privacy has left a decade-old privacy finding standing without producing evidence against it. Providers in our best VPNs for privacy guide publish audits precisely so that old findings do not have the last word.

Who Owns Betternet

Betternet was acquired by AnchorFree, the company behind Hotspot Shield. AnchorFree later renamed itself Pango, and Pango was acquired by Aura in 2020. Betternet, Hotspot Shield and Aura's other privacy products therefore sit under one parent.

This matters in two directions. Betternet inherits real infrastructure from Hotspot Shield rather than running a shoestring network, which is a point in its favour. It also means that choosing Betternet over Hotspot Shield is not a choice between two independent companies. Our Hotspot Shield review covers the better-resourced sibling product.

What the Free Version Costs You

Betternet's free tier needs no account and no email address, which removes one real privacy exposure: there is no signup record tying a person to the service. It is funded by advertising instead, and advertising inside a privacy product is the structural tension at the centre of this review.

An ad-supported VPN has to identify an audience to sell against. That does not require logging browsing history, but it does mean the business model pulls against the product's stated purpose in a way that a subscription model does not. If a free plan is what you need, the options in our best free VPNs guide are funded by their paid tiers rather than by advertising.

The Premium Plan

Betternet's paid tier removes the advertising and the free tier's limits, and is sold on an annual term with a free-trial period before the first charge. Its promotional first-year rate is lower than the rate it renews at, which is standard across the industry but worth reading before you subscribe.

Judged on price alone the premium plan is not unreasonable. Judged against what the same money buys elsewhere, it is competing with audited providers in stronger jurisdictions, which is a difficult comparison for it to win. See the full VPN rankings for what else sits at that level.

Who Betternet Is For

The honest answer is that we do not recommend Betternet for any use case, and the score reflects that. The free tier is convenient for briefly changing your apparent location on a throwaway basis, and that is the extent of what it does well.

For a free VPN that is funded by its paid tier rather than by advertising, and that publishes audits, start with our best free VPNs guide.

Pricing & Plans

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Bottom Line

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